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Wednesday, May 1 and I call Jeff Marshall to wish him a happy birthday!
“A strange, symbiotic alien creature boards the Enterprise, captures crew members, and cocoons them in its web, feeding off their bodies to survive” in a new episode of Enterprise, directed by Roxann Dawson.
CJ (Allison Janney) gets a death threat, prompting President Bartlet to assign her Secret Service protection (guest star Mark Harmon, “Chicago Hope” and “St. Elsewhere”) on a new episode of The West Wing.
Thursday, May 2 and we’re heading up to the Upper West Side to attend the theater. Through Chowhound, Bryan has discovered Niko’s Mediterranean Grill & Bistro (on Broadway).
From
Monday through Thursday, all their wines
by the glass are only $5 for the first and $4 for the second, provided
you try a different type. Well, that’s easy! Bryan has a nice
dry white while I stick with a traditional retsina.
Since we’re going to be sitting for the next few hours, we eat light, and
split a platter of hot mezedes
(appetizers) containing fried calamari, crabcake, zucchini croquette, cod
croquette, spinach and feta cheese pie, stuffed grape leaves and baby octopus.
We also try Anginares
a la Polita, which are artichoke hearts in a lemony stew. With
tip, the whole meal is less than $50. Niko himself says,
We have reduced the traditional amounts of oil and find that taste is enhanced. Lighter sauces and marinades focus the blend of herbs, aromatic vegetables and spices within a dish.
But
we are here to see Mr. Alan King in “Mr. Goldwyn”
— a one-man show with the assistance of Lauren Klein as his secretary.
It’s in 2 acts, set in Goldwyn’s office and separated by 4 months in 1952.
Samuel
Goldwyn was unique among movie moguls in owning and controlling his
studio without partners or board of directors, and also for his use
of language.
Alan King is fantastic as Sam Goldwyn, and the occasional missed line is nothing compared with the eye contact with the audience. In particular, since we’re sitting in the fourth row center, he makes eye contact with me! I wanted to see the play because of my knowledge of movies and Alan King (Bryan didn’t even know who he was!), but we were surprised to find out how enjoyable it was. Directed by Gene Saks at the Promenade Theatre. Recommended.
Friday,
May 3 and we go to the Beacon
Theatre to see Nick
Cave and the Bad Seeds. Unfortunately, it was standing
room only. And no one knew anything about the opening act, other
than they seemed to be the bastard sons of Soft Cell and Suicide.
But for the last two songs, they invited
David Lynch chanteuse Julee
Cruise to sing! Where has she been hiding? And also, why
didn’t Nick Cave use her later for the songs
that were duets on the albums? Ah, questions, questions.
Since we were on the back wall, Bryan saw the show by by looking at Nick Cave’s shadow on the wall, while I craned my head around people. I did get a full line of sight during the encores; still, we were mightily impressed. Some of the songs performed were Fifteen feet of pure white snow snow, Red Right Hand, Mercy Seat, Hallelujah, God is in the house, Weeping Song, I Let Love In, Henry Lee; for the first encore, it was Ship Song followed by And no more shall we part; and for the second, the incredibly profane version of Stagger Lee.
Saturday,
May 4 and a beautiful, sunny day. We find our first street
fair of the season, but save our appetites for cheese steaks at BB
Sandwich Bar. And were they good! Written about in
the NY Times the previous week, there was a line out the door.
But at only $4 per sandwich, well worth it.
So Graham Norton has Molly Ringwald and England’s Davina McCall. Then another episode with UK TV presenter Craig Doyle [yes, that is his pic] and William Shatner [please check his link]. VH-1’s Behind the Music is about Metallica. One of the talking heads is Michael Alago, who signed them in 1984, and of whom it has been said “is the only A&R guy on the planet with a clue.”
Sunday, May 5 and it’s the Museum of Modern Art; they will be closed for the next two years while they renovate. Instead, they will use their new branch in Queens. I received a post from our artist friend, Tabitha Neal [no, not that Tabitha Neal] in London:
My news is vague and nebulous (my new word for 2002 because it so aptly describes my life at the moment). I turned 35 a fortnight ago, and am mentally chewing wearily on the fact that, if I haven’t been getting married and having children, OR been pursuing a career and having lots of wild sex, then precisely what HAVE I done with the last 35 years?
There’s
some comfort in knowing that I am not alone in this. God, don’t you
hate birthdays? I did, however, have an excellent birthday party
made excellent by an idea I procured myself and shall let you in on: I
was worried that different groups of friends would not talk to each other
and ‘mingling’ would not occur.
Therefore I went to the local pound shop and purchased a large number of cheap, but quite funny presents which I wrapped and labelled with one or two details about the person whom the present was for. Each present was the given to other individuals as they arrived at the party. Thus one arrived at the rather comical situation of people walking up to each other saying things like ‘do you always carry a pink pencil case?’ or ‘are you an art therapist?’ in a quest to find the person whom the present was for. It was quite possibly one of the best ideas I have ever had and if I had any sense then I would patent it.
The most successful present was for Paul and was a small, furry black gorilla with surprisingly ugly features. Paul was smitten … or just drunk!
Monday,
May 6 and dinner at It’s
Greek to Me, just off Tompkins
Square Park (which has a long NYC history).
The food is simple and clear; I have a traditional lemon chicken soup while
Bryan has kolokithakia skordalia
(fried zucchini with garlic dip). But these are wafer thin slices,
very lightly breaded and sublimely scented. Ah. For dinner,
we both have souvlaki
platters, mine with bifteki (spiced ground meat) and Bryan with
grilled vegetables. With a glass of wine apiece, the total was less
than $40.
We return on Thursday, since we’re a block away from the theater. That night, I have fried zucchini for an appetizer; for entrées, Bryan goes for Imam Baldi, a sublime baked eggplant with onion, parsley, garlic and tomato sauce, while I try Lamb Kokkinisto, which are pieces of lamb in a cinnamon-spiced tomato sauce over orzo (a small pasta). This one is ok, but not exciting.
Tuesday,
May 7 and Brother
Cleve is down for his second monthly gig at the Beauty
Bar on E 14th Street, spinning lounge and world music to the stars.
We had decided on a group dinner and gathered in Brunetta’s
fabulous back garden on First Avenue.
Joining us were Cleve’s friends Dennis Kelley and his wife Margie, Joe Garden (a head writer at The Onion) and his fiancé Anita (USA Films). And making a special appearance, after not having seen him physically for many years, was my friend Thom Lane, the man who gave me my first break on radio. He actually drove from Boston just for dinner, and drove back after 11 pm.
After
dinner, we all walked over to see Cleve spin. The original Beauty
Bar opened in the East Village in 1995 (it operated as Thomas Beauty
Salon since 1960). All the fixtures and most of the furniture is
original.
While there, we ran across David Meyer (former Sub-Genius and ‘The Coach on Culture’ on the Late Risers Club). Now an instructor of film at the New School (just a block away from our apartment), he is currently working on biography of Gram Parsons.
Wednesday,
May 8 and a new episode of Enterprise
featuring Fionnula
Flanagan as a Vulcan. She is known for James
Joyce’s Women, playing six different women.
In his, um, cogent analysis for TrekToday, Scott Bakula said, “She just kicks it. She’s an ambassador, and she is like Indira Gandhi. She is incredible. She has this whole thing with T’Pol and me. It’s a really good episode.”
I
prepare a pasta dish of zucchini, baby spinach and sun-dried tomato paste,
while we watch a
new episode of The
West Wing. The best lines? Rob Lowe: “But
he’s a friend of mine.” Campaign strategist Ron
Silver: “I don’t care if he did your bris.”
Recurring guests include John Amos, as head of the armed forces, and Mark Harmon, as special agent Simon Donovan, assigned to protect C.J. (Allison Janney) from her death threat.
Ascension
Day, Thursday, May 9 and we see Shakespeare’s
Much
Ado about Nothing. The Pearl
Theatre Company is a resident company, producing a full-range repertory
rooted in the classics. First performed in 1598, Shakespearean comedy
is hard to do well while keeping an audience captivated. After all,
the jokes are done in an obsolete dialect.
But the actors are easy on the eye and give it their all, engaging us almost immediately. The standout actor is Joanne Camp as Beatrice. She has received an OBIE award for her work with the Pearl.
For Ascension Day, your scriptural reference is the Great Commission [Matthew 28: 18-20]:
And Jesus came and spoke to the apostles, saying, “All power is given to me in heaven and on earth. Go then, and teach all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Spirit. Teach them to observe all the things which I have commanded you. And remember, I am with you always, even to the end of time.”
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Friday, May 10 and a quiet day as we prepare for a journey to Staten Island. Yes, Dima and Alona have bought a new home in Staten Island, and a new dog, and we’ve been invited to dinner along with Michelle and Art, and Vanessa.
So
at 7:30 pm (after passing a Bruce Springsteen concert at the dock), we
board the famous Staten
Island Ferry for the fifteen minute trip.
Not only is it a smooth ride, but it goes right by the Statue of Liberty, and it’s free!
We all have a great time, drinking much wine and vodka while Alona prepares Russian specialties. We didn’t get home until after 3 am.
Saturday, May 11 and Pangea for a lunch of salad and spaghetti Bolognese; in the afternoon, New Jersey and pizza at Rusty’s in Garwood. Oh, the best pizza is in NJ. No, not NYC and certainly nowhere else. The best, the finest, the thinnest crust (no Chicago, you don’t know how to make pizza) is in New Jersey.
Woody Allen discusses his work in a documentary on TCM. Woody Allen: A Life in Film, is produced by Time contributor Richard Schickel, in conjunction with an 18-film retrospective on Turner Classic Movies. Later, TCM screens Manhattan with Mariel Hemingway. Bryan seems willing to see the Woodman’s 32nd film, Hollywood Ending, but it’s certainly gotten mixed reviews so far.
Mother’s Day, Sunday, May 12 and we’re up at 7 am to take the white recliner and AR 10pi speakers back to the city and take the dining room table to Cranford. Since it’s “her” day, Mom cooked at home around 1 pm. That’s her pleasure, not standing in line for two hours only to be rushed out of the restaurant. For dinner, Bryan grilled the Omaha steaks, purchased in Westfield during the afternoon. Boy, were they good.
Monday, May 13 and in a letter to the May 13 edition of Newsweek, William P. VanderWyden (Associate Dean of Students at the University of Miami School of Law in Coral Gables, Florida) writes:
“Many bishops and pastors have forgotten who they are. They fail to minister, but rule in autocratic style reminiscent of imperial times. Pastors need to get out of the business of the church, leaving that to laypersons, and preach the Gospel and administer the sacraments as they were ordained by God to do.”
My personal mail brings the final paper from my Marketing class, telling me that I got an A on the paper … and an A for the semester! Bryan is bowling with the office, so doesn’t get back until 10 pm. Then he grills up two of the Omaha burgers, which are just as good as the steaks.
Tuesday,
May 14 and I got a surprise phone call from my college roommate,
Steve
Pelle. He’s doing well in his business, and said he was going
to a Jethro Tull
concert in two days. Yes, I have every Tull album, most on cd as
well.
“And I get so high I just can't feel it.” I listened to BBC Radio 1 and hear the new single by Oasis (“The Hindu Times” from Heathen Chemistry) and read the Gallagher brothers interview in Q magazine.
Wednesday,
May 15 and “Kafka meets the Marx Brothers,”
says Variety
about our play at The
Culture Project on Bleecker Street. “3
Dark Tales” is a three-act avant-garde
production by Theatre O, a four-actor troupe based in London,
who also wrote the stories. Directed by the founder, Joseph
Alford (who also performs), the tales
are about “struggling against the things that
grind us down and wear us out on a daily basis, striving to find a way
to break free, by whatever means.”
The first act is done in pidgin Esperanto; the amazing Sarah Coxon to her husband, “Oh, Tibble, Tibble, la smooch!” and about her boyfriend, “Oh, Doktor Sauvage, con Jaguar!” An Australian critic said, “special mention must go to Sarah Coxon for her turn as the diabolical Mrs. Tibble. She is brazen, emasculating and outrageously funny as she talks stridently in pseudo-Spanish and demolishes her henpecked husband.”
The next two acts are in English; the characters based somewhat on the first act (i.e., there always seems to be a Dr. Savage and an Amelia). The simple set transforms itself by context, not physical structure. This international touring company certainly lifts “productions out of the theatre and into the realms of the imagination.”
Thursday, May 16 and dinner at A Salt and Battery for fish and chips. Yes, it’s a silly name but it’s real English, including the staff. Not cheap by any means, but so good it’s worth it. Bryan has the sole ($7) while I have “a load of shrimps” ($8), along with a pineapple fritter ($2.50) which is literally a thick slice of battered pineapple for dessert. The batter is the same for everything, and you can see the large vats behind the staff. Very light and fluffy. Perfect. Oh, yes, we skipped the chips as we heard they were very authentically English, that is, “shite.”
Also, we bought two cans of non-alcoholic beverages; one was a Ben Shaw’s Original Bitter Shandy, a carbonated lemon soft drink with beer and sugar. The other was a Dandelion & Burdock made from, well, dandelion and burdock. It comes from Glasgow and tasted somewhat like a Jagermeister soda!
Television: It’s the season finale for Friends, as Rachel delivers her child by Ross and names her Emma Geller Green. The cliffhanger? Will she and Ross get back together, romantically as well as to raise the child? Or will it be unrequited lover Joey, who Rachel mistakes as a suitor. Wait until fall! On Will & Grace, guest stars are Cher (who plays a fabulous God in a dream sequence) and Rip Torn (one of the great eclectic actors).
Friday, May 17 and pina coladas at Pangea before returning home for the M.A.S.H. reunion special. Dinner at the Flea Market; we split roasted goat cheese and olive tapenade, and Bryan has his steak tartare (almost the equal of the Villa Cora in Florence) while I have steak au sauce béarnaise.
Saturday, May 18 and the temperature has gone from 84° on Friday to 44°! At noon, the Ukrainian festival on Sixth Street; I get a Dobbs Rainbow vintage, beaver fur, porkpie hat, for only $24. At 2 pm, we go up to the Ninth Avenue food festival, covering the area from 36th Street to 57th Street.
At Norman’s Sounds, the prices are very fair, they have a great selection, and, as Norman told us, “we’re friendly.” I buy the live Laurie Anderson album, Live at Town Hall: New York City, September 19-20, 2001. A double cd that you do not want to miss, if you are a fan of hers (although there are other opinions).
Sunday, May 19 and we have brunch at Portfolio on 20th Street, near Fifth Avenue. Very nice and reasonably priced. We watch the current episode of Enterprise; director and former Klingon Michael Dorn said, “It’s a pleasure-planet episode, and that’s all I’m going to tell you.”
On DVD, we watch Serendipity with John Cusack. I’m not a big fan of Cusack, and I particularly don’t care for movies that spend the whole two hours keeping the protagonists apart. On the other hand, Eugene Levy (from SCTV) steals every scene that he’s in, including getting the last lines of the script. As droll as ever and the savior of the film.
Monday, May 20 and I begin the first day of my Internet publishing class. I learn more about HTML in those 3 hours than I’ve learned in years of playing with my site. I wrote a note to a cleric friend:
Just finished the first semester of my new graduate career, which has been wonderful. Speaking of which, when I started, the goal was to learn skills that would be useful to Church Publishing. The “capstone” course (the final semester, which is a dedicated project) was going to be the establishment of a personal imprint, Ambrose. C’est la vie! So now, the capstone has changed slightly; I am working on establishing Ambrose-Anthony Ltd., Publishing Services. A full range, from editing, proofreading, consulting, marketing, etc.
Tuesday, May 21 and we meet Joe Fiore at the Hammerstein Ballroom. Our concert tonight is the one and only Pet Shop Boys.
This one is different than when we saw them in the same place a couple of years ago (check my website); it’s a stripped-down show with only lights for stage design. And instead of backup singers and costumes, Neil Tennant and Chris Lowe are in jeans and a backing band (which also includes Martin Frye on guitar). Of course, they haven’t forsaken electronics entirely, with an additional keyboardist supporting Lowe and taped voices.
They played heavy doses of their new album, Release, while playing most of the crowd pleasers. The two I’ll talk about are Go West, which closes the show before the encore, and West End Girls. “Go West” because of its feel good attitude, the crowd sings along with the punctuation “together!” and it’s the Village People all over again! “West End Girls” because I believe it was the first song that showed us where dance music was going at that time. I remember Tom Lane and I discussing it as part of Nouveau Disco, the term we had come up with for music which would later be techno, etc. I had heard it in the gay clubs, but we really didn’t think it qualified for new wave. But it did, didn’t it?
Wednesday,
May 22 and on television it’s the season finales; first is Shockwave
on
Enterprise. Would you be surprised to know that
the Temporal Cold War features prominently in Enterprise?
I like temporal issues; they’re at the heart of all religious belief among
other things. And, satisfyingly, at the end, Captain Jonathan Archer
stands looking out at the Earth of the 31st Century … destroyed.
And on The West Wing, Mark Harmon’s work with C.J. is finished; Lily Tomlin, former gambler and alpaca farmer, goes to work for the president; Adam Arkin plays the shrink; James Brolin is the Vice-President, and everyone goes to see Wars of the Roses while the defense minister of Qumar is assassinated.
Thursday, May 23 and we watch Guy Pearce in Memento on DVD. Although I didn’t think I wanted to see the movie, I watch the whole thing, feeling strangely coincident with this man’s lack of focal point. I share this comment from a priest:
I’m sorry that you’re separated from CPI – for their sake, not your own. Going back to one of my “former lives,” the observation is that it helps when an organization has a clear mission. CPI, alas, has several, not necessarily coincident, and the staff will be where the rubber hits that roadway.
Friday,
May 24 and Bryan gets home early as he gets a Mohawk haircut
at the barber. By 8 pm, we’re at Pangea.
We split a fried calamari; then Bryan has the blackened tuna while I try
their new pepper-coated beef with mint and greens. This is going
to be a new menu item for the summer and should be a big hit.
Saturday, May 25 and on our flight to Denver; Bryan has arranged an upgrade on Continental to first-class. The movie was “Oceans 11” with George Clooney and Brad Pitt (and was better than we expected, but we didn’t expect much!).
In
Denver, we picked up a Pontiac Grand Prix rental. Oh, don’t expect
much about American mid-size cars; this was rather boring. The Ramada
Inn on East Colfax Avenue is a good recommendation for reasonable rates
in the downtown area. As the picture shows, one looks down the avenue
to the state capitol on the left and the Roman
Catholic cathedral on the right, with the Rockies in the distance.
Our first stop is the Compound, the gay bar where we always seem to have a drink. At 8 pm, we meet my ex-boyfriend Mark Enos at Paris on Platte, a coffeehouse/eatery just off 15th Street in the renovated Union Station area. We had a great time together, and I recommend this restaurant for casual sandwiches and pizzas. Quite the hippy joint, as we used to say.
Bryan’s favorite comment of Mark’s related to Boulder, Colorado, which is known for its extreme political correctness (and which is probably the basis for Nick Cave’s “God is in the House”). Referring to the residents smug self-appreciation, in the midst of pure white middle-class living, he said, “You want to celebrate diversity? Move out of Crackersville!”
Sunday,
May 26 and, unfortunately, the antiques stores on Broadway don’t
open until noon on Sunday (10 am on Saturday); but we must head off to
our final destination, Riverton Wyoming.
Our first stop is Fort Collins, Colorado; there is a whole new set of antiques/flea markets on Lemay, just south of the town, and we spend around an hour window-shopping.
Then
it’s up to Laramie,
Wyoming, then Rawlins
and past Muddy
Gap (where I photographed this antelope), and arriving in Riverton
around 6 pm.
We make a brief stop at Bryan’s mom’s house but soon we’re at our real destination, his father’s. The reason for our trip is the imminent passing of his stepmother Cherie. We sit with them, and her mother Dorie and Howard’s mother Ruth before going back to Pam’s to see Bryan’s niece and nephew.
Memorial
Day, Monday, May 27 and we pick up Pam to see the Riverton parade,
which consists of four fire trucks and about twenty veterans … and there
were more people in the parade than watching from the sidelines!
We stop by to see Brett and Karen (that's Bryan on the left with them) and take little Bryan and Angel to Pizza Hut for lunch (yech). Later in the evening, we pick up steaks for a bbq at Lee and Pam’s.
Tuesday,
May 28 and we pick up his grandmother Ruth and go to Lander,
the cowboy town west of Riverton. Lunch is at the Gannett Grill,
where we’ve eaten before and then we stop at our favorite antique store.
By 3 pm, we’re back at Howard’s and soon afterward the doctor comes by to give Cherie the news; her cancer has reached the point where further chemo is useless. Her kidneys have failed and now it’s a matter of weeks before her body will turn against her and her time with us will end. Naturally, this is an intensely private moment for the family, and I stay downstairs while they talk. We have a simple dinner of meatloaf (made with buffalo meat).
Wednesday,
May 29 and the 65th birthday of David Littler. Bryan
gets coffee and some fine doughnuts from a regional chain, Daylight
Donuts and we visit with Dorie (this is the view from the backyard).
We have lunch at the Country Cove (you
can find it in your Damron guide) with Pam, Brett and Karen, and Chico.
We spend the rest of the afternoon window-shopping and buffet at the Golden Corral. Unfortunately, this isn’t as good as I remember.
Thursday, May 30 and would you be surprised to find that Bryan has gotten coffee and donuts by 7 am? Of course not. We sit with Cherie until 11 am. Interestingly, for someone who was a leader in Reading Recovery in Wyoming and an educator, she asks me “do you mind if we watch trash?” So it’s “The Price is Right” with the ageless Bob Barker.
The early part of the afternoon is spent at school where Bryan’s niece Angel has gotten straight A’s for the semester; she is also receiving an award for reading at the fifth grade level … and she’s only in first grade! We also tape the ceremony so that Cherie can view it later at home.
Friday,
May 31 and the morning is spent with saying good-bye to Dorie,
Ruth, Pam and Lee, Chico, grandma Mary and finally Cherie for the last
time before we leave Riverton.
For lunch, we stop at The Pantry in Rawlins, Wyoming. In 1881, this Victorian Italianate wood frame home was built by a foreman for the Union Pacific Railroad, utilizing the same type of stoves and mantels used in Pullman Palace Railroad Cars of the period. The house retains much of its original integrity; in 1985 it became a family restaurant and was added onto. It was built on the site of the first cemetery in Rawlins, which was abandoned in 1877.
On
the way to Denver, we pass a field of wind turbines just outside of Laramie;
Bryan tells me that the oil industry in Wyoming quashed this project before
it became successful. And considering the winds we encountered, it
certainly would have been!
In Denver by 7 pm and get the exact same room at the Ramada. We drive around, undecided for dinner before arriving at Dario’s on 17th Street near Race. I had desired Italian food; silly, really since there are no Italians out here. But the food, really Swiss, was passable; and certainly sitting outside with Bryan on a quiet street was worth it. Then, the traditional round of bar hopping at the Compound, the Brig and the Triangle.
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Adelante!
Hombres. Sailors. Comrades. I know your mind.
I know your heart.
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| TVOD home | write tony or bryan | |
| april 2002 | june 2002 |
For the summer semester, on Monday, I attend Publishing on the Internet, and on Wednesday, I attend Publishing Law at New York University for my Master of Science in Publishing.
The
Society
of Anglicans of Saint Ambrose (SASA) reject the tyranny of the laity
and the moral equivalency of some of the current priesthood. It calls
upon ECUSA to reject corporate corruption in favor of Christian precepts.
Yet, unlike its right-wing splinter groups, it rejects material acquisition
and remains committed to worshipping with its brethren in established parishes,
with the current Book of Common Prayer and approved extensions.
Once
you’ve learned to correctly pronounce every word in the following poem,
you will be speaking English better than 90% of the native English speakers
in the world. If you find it tough going, do not despair, you are
not alone:
Multi-national personnel
at North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO) headquarters near Paris found
English to be an easy language… until they tried to pronounce it.