I went to the Wrentham Outlets yesterday to do some summer clothes shopping, and while it was a pain in the arse finding a parking spot, it was totally worth it. There were great deals all over, and I gave my credit card a good workout buying new pants, shirts, shoes, and other stuff.
But parking was a challenge and it reminded me of two long-held thoughts I’ve had about parking lots. Continue reading
As the ZZ Top song goes, “She’s got legs … she knows how to bruise them.” (Or something like that.)
Jennifer Garner was on The Late Show recently, and David Letterman got the chance to play doctor for her. Suffice it to say, he made me really jealous. 🙂 Watch for yourself.
http://www.cbs.com/e/CwGhXfH7nckEBOgDFS3T2OgSMU9IMw8Y/cbs/2/
It took three or four loops around Harvard Square Thursday night before I finally found a parking spot, and I must not have been paying any attention to where I was driving. I was there to have dinner at Border Cafe with Amy, Amy’s mom, and AmyMac, and as good as the margaritas were (especially on such a hot day), you can only imagine how excited I was when AmyMac mentioned that a new cupcake place had opened in the Square. What was funny is that I had driven right by it those four times and didn’t even notice. How could I have been so blind?
Well anyway, this was no “new” cupcake place. It was a new, second location for Sweet, the Back Bay store that didn’t really blow me away when I tried it last year. And I have to say, I don’t know if it was the company I was with or the cake itself, but I certainly enjoyed my Sweet Cake with chocolate buttercream frosting more last night than the one I had exactly one year ago today. There was a very strong vanilla flavor, the icing was, well, sweet, and while the cupcake was small, it was definitely an ideal size given how full I was from dinner.
What I also missed while driving around: Tory Row had opened in the space formerly occupied by the Greenhouse. Next time I’m driving around Harvard Square looking for parking, I’m going to have to be better about looking around and seeing where I am. I can only imagine what other tasty treats I may have missed.
Last week some coworkers grabbed me on their way out the door and invited me to join them at a local driving range.
Now it’s a weekly thing, and I’m happy to say that my golf clubs are officially out of storage.
Part of the appeal of buying my condo was its proximity to a public golf course, but I’ve lived here for more than a year and I’ve never taken advantage of it.
Now I don’t feel as bad about that because I work a short distance from another course and I’m taking good advantage of that one.
Did you watch the pilot episode of Glee on Tuesday night? No? Well do not wait another minute: Sit at your computer and watch it right now, right here. It’s funny, the music’s great, and I really liked it. There’s an instant-classic peppy cover of Amy Winehouse’s “Rehab” at the 28:30 mark that’s worth watching. And let me just say that Lea Michele, the adorable actress who plays Rachel Berry, sure can sing (fast-forward to the 40-minute mark for proof of that). Alright, stop reading, click “play,” and enjoy!
http://www.hulu.com/embed/Fq-gwzQizV6MdAgIlglF1Q
I predicted it yesterday and I said it as far back as the semifinals in February, and now it’s come true: Kris Allen is the new American Idol! Woo hoo! What an upset! What a great surprise! This is awesome. Kris has been a consistently good singer all season — maybe not the best ever, but he’s got a great sound that I like — and I’m very happy he won. Hell, even that lame winner’s song, “No Boundaries,” sounded good tonight. Wow … this is really cool. Maybe now Adam Lambert will go back to obscurity, taking that screechy/yelling voice and his memories of being totally overrated with him, and we can all get on with our lives again … till next season, at least.
All season long, people have been genuflecting to Adam Lambert like he’s the second coming or something. Most talented American Idol contestant ever? Puh-leeze. Have they totally forgotten about Carrie Underwood? Adam can’t hold a candle to her — or to Kelly Clarkson. Hell, I haven’t seen an Idol contestant this overrated since, well, ever. So now that the season finale is finally here, and Adam is going mano a mano with Kris Allen, I think it’s time to put an end to all that hoo-hah.
You may recall that back in February, after only two weeks of semifinals, I predicted that Kris would win it all. Today, I’m standing by that prediction. Just wait for it. Tomorrow night, after all the random and unnecessary musical numbers are over and Ryan Seacrest finally gets around to announcing the winner, there will be an upset, and naive little girls will be crying all over the country (again). Tonight, all the people who voted for Danny Gokey are going to shift to Kris, and all the people like me, who agree that Adam sucks and have had it with his overly dramatic, screeching/yelling singing style, will finally pick up their phones to vote against him. I’ll be voting for the first time all season, as much to support Kris as to prevent Adam from winning.
Really, I don’t care that much — it’s been a pretty lame season of Idol overall. Heck, it’s like season six all over again. And I mean, Kris isn’t really someone I’d support in a better season. But IMHO, he’s the best one they’ve had on this year and he’s had my support almost from the beginning. And, alright fine, I’d just love to see Adam lose. So who’s with me? Vote for Kris!
Dear Uncle Martin,
I know you can’t understand anything I say, so I thought I would write you a letter.
Thank you so much for coming down to New York this weekend for my first birthday party. I know it was really crazy with all those kids (and their parents, and our family, and my mommy and daddy’s friends) in my house, but I had a great time and I hope you did too. The cake (from Costco) was yummy, but I think my favorite part of the party was singing and dancing and shaking the bells along with Zev, and his songs about bath time and farm animals. Then again, as much as I liked the music and having all my friends here, I enjoyed all the “bah bah bahs” (i.e.: balloons) most of all.
The food was so good, wasn’t it? I loved the kids-only macaroni and cheese — it’s my favorite. Thank you so much for going with my daddy to Stew Leonard’s at 7:45 a.m. to pick it up. Daddy said he bought you some cider donuts there. Did you really need them? Uncle Martin, I think you need to watch what you eat. Please tell me you didn’t eat more of them on your drive back to Boston. Continue reading
Generally, I have a bias against seeing Broadway shows not on Broadway. They just never quite feel real to me, especially if I’ve seen the original cast and I’ve listened to the soundtrack more times than I can remember. So I was nervous about how much I’d enjoy Spring Awakening when I went to see it Thursday night at the Colonial Theater here in Boston. After all, when I saw the show in New York a year and a half ago, I was blown away by how much I liked it, and I’ve just about worn out my copy of the original cast recording.
Well, the good news is that this touring production is, in fact, quite good. The voices of this cast are not as strong as those of the original cast (which included, among other folks, the beautiful Lea Michele, soon to be seen in the FOX TV show, Glee), but the actors certainly give impressive performances — especially the lead trio of Blake Bashoff, Kyle Riabko, and Christy Altomare, who play Moritz, Melchior, and Wendla, respectively. And all the same choreography and music that I enjoyed in New York has arrived intact. Highlights include “The Dark I Know Well,” “Don’t Do Sadness,” “The Mirror-Blue Night,” and of course, “Totally Fucked,” the high point of this production — in enthusiasm, anyway.
If you don’t know Spring Awakening, it’s a musicalized version of the controversial 1891 play by Frank Wedekind about sexual repression and rebellion in Germany. This adaptation, with contemporary music by Duncan Sheik, includes heavy themes of rape, abuse, homosexuality, suicide, and abortion, and it’s definitely not your parents’ type of show. Based on the half-empty theater tonight, it’s safe to assume plenty of tickets are still available for the Boston leg of the tour (here through May 24). Good ones too — we bought mezzanine tickets but were moved down to the orchestra, row J. It’s not the original cast on Broadway, but I still recommend seeing this production.
Like Casino Royale did to James Bond, the new Star Trek movie reboots the franchise, doing away with the history that so many fans have grown up knowing and living by, and making the story accessible to folks like me who aren’t even fans of the genre to begin with.
My Star Trek knowledge is limited, but I know I should be embarrassed to admit that the only film of the first 10 that I saw was number four, The Voyage Home (aka: the one with the whales).
I love the classic SNL skit where William Shatner tells the fans to get a life.
Point is, the fact that I really liked this film only goes to show what a great job director J.J. Abrams has done. Continue reading
Martin's Musings 