Haines His Way

right after this dance that is!!

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I'm listening to my watch right now!  I can't remember where I got it, but Lea Salonga is singing a Filipino song called "Bakit Labis Kitang Mahall."  Does anyone know what this title means??  She does have a lovely voice, but I have no idea what she's singing.

Okay, I'm having a Twilight Zone moment (okay, an hour after the fact)!  I've started to actually place book orders on the library's new acquisitions system (my job) and one of the first books that I have to order is "Learn Filipino" by Victor Eclar Romero!  According to the flyer, it's "written for the non-native Filipino (Tagalog) reader who wants to learn the language to communicate with Filipino family and friends."  What a co-inky-dink!

DR SWW - of course you are correct.  The wait staff cannot serve food until it is prepared....and the weather was wreaking havoc on the entire city it sounds like.  So I stand corrected.

DR JOSE'S show was delayed by bad weather - causing MANY inconveniences for a LOT of people!

Enjoying an unexpected "at home" evening, because a snowstorm kept my book group from meeting.  I stopped at the hostess' house and when my footprints were the only ones in the snow leading to her front door knew that I'd be heading on home.  So, I'm having fun loading more music-to-work-by into my iPod.  

I shan't even think about pastries.   You might end up with a tome worthy of Marcel Proust (although you all know how I feel about cake).

Well, SpongeBob is now in good company-- alongside Barney, Bert and Ernie and Winky-tink (or was it Tinky-wink?).   Apparently the Christian Right feels that Sponge Bob's sexual indentity is a threat to our youth.   I am so glad they have nothing more important to worry about.  My God, what next, another Murphy Brown boycott?

I was at the library yesterday and got the CD of Bernard Herrmann's score to "The Ghost and Mrs. Muir."  It's very Bernard Herrmann, but still more subtle than the stuff he did for Hitchcock in later years.  The themes are quite lovely.  You can certainly see where John Barry got some of his inspiration.

I had gone to return the DVD of "Brief Encounter."  It has been marvelously restored, and the blacks and grays are very rich.  The movie made quite an impact on me decades ago when I first saw it, and Iwas not disappointed.  Celia Johnson's performance is so understated and yet so accurate.  I had not improved it in my memory over the years; it was as good as i had hoped.

Oh dear...does anyone else find it disconcerting that my school's library carries no poetry by Emerson, no Cummings, no Melville, no Nabokov (too controversial)...yet it carries at least five different versions of the Christian bible.  Since it's the only literature my school's library provides, I decided that I would read the new testament.  I was looking for a nice traditional version, when I noticed a psychadelic blue book called The Way that was apparently given out on college campuses in the seventies.  It involves lots of photos of hippies who are filled with Christ love and illegal substances praying in harmony, and the text is translated into hippie-speak.  I just read Mark.  It was quite amusing.

TOD: I love fruit tarts passionatly, but the best pastry in the world is surely that pink puffy thing that the American tourists eat in the first act of Sunday In The Park With George.  Does that not look delicious?

When I was little, Bismarks could also be a chocolate covered custard filled doughnut OR a glazed jelly filled doughnut.  The term seemed to apply to a number of things depending on the bakery.  With a place like Phoenix being mostly made up of people from other places around the country, a lot of regional terms were used and applied to different things.  To me, "jeans," Levi's," "blue jeans," "denims," "dungarees,"etc. ALL meant blue jeans.  Yet these same terms meant slightly different things to different people depending on where they were from.

It is not The Tin Man who is gay in the Wizard of Oz. It's the Lion and he freely admits to Dorothy.

Yeh, it's sad, believe me, Missy,
When you're born to be a sissy
Without the vim and verve.
But I could show my prowess, be a lion not a mou-ess
If I only had the nerve.
I'm afraid there's no denyin' I'm just a dandelion,

Oh dear...does anyone else find it disconcerting that my school's library carries no poetry by Emerson, no Cummings, no Melville, no Nabokov (too controversial)...yet it carries at least five different versions of the Christian bible.  Since it's the only literature my school's library provides, I decided that I would read the new testament.  I was looking for a nice traditional version, when I noticed a psychadelic blue book called The Way that was apparently given out on college campuses in the seventies.  It involves lots of photos of hippies who are filled with Christ love and illegal substances praying in harmony, and the text is translated into hippie-speak.  I just read Mark.  It was quite amusing.

I remember The Way.  This version came out about the time the phrase "born again" was born.  At the time, the phrase had an innocence implied, that the person who was "born again" had experienced a spiritual rebirth, a revelation as heady as a drug experience, through the teachings of Christ.  These people were fully genuine in their beliefs.

I've often felt that the "born again" experience has been diluted by people who have taken the phrase as part of a social one-upsmanship, who have not had that spiritual rebirth.  It's the popular thing to do in their community, so they plaster on the smile and talk the talk and walk the walk.

But then, I'm one of those people who look at a person's eyes more than his or her mouth.  Eyes don't lie, but mouths can be twisted into a smile.

The saddest part of this is that there are those out there who do have that spiritual rebirth, even now, who feel "born again," but the phrase has been co-opted and made suspicious.  I wish I were meeting more of this kind of person.

As DR JRand pointed out, the various delays yesterday were caused by the snow and ice and subsequent accidents and traffic snarls.

However, tonight's show did start on time.  Alas, the show was only 50-70% sold tonight, and, apparently, a bunch of people called to re-schedule their seats for another night, so... There were a lot of empty seats tonight.

Oh dear...does anyone else find it disconcerting that my school's library carries no poetry by Emerson, no Cummings, no Melville, no Nabokov (too controversial)...yet it carries at least five different versions of the Christian bible.  Since it's the only literature my school's library provides, I decided that I would read the new testament.  I was looking for a nice traditional version, when I noticed a psychadelic blue book called The Way that was apparently given out on college campuses in the seventies.  It involves lots of photos of hippies who are filled with Christ love and illegal substances praying in harmony, and the text is translated into hippie-speak.  I just read Mark.  It was quite amusing.

TOD: I love fruit tarts passionatly, but the best pastry in the world is surely that pink puffy thing that the American tourists eat in the first act of Sunday In The Park With George.  Does that not look delicious?

...And I've mentioned this before too...

I went to a Catholic High School.  Our summer reading lists consisted of a lot of titles that were banned in the public schools.  "Catcher in the Rye", "The Adventures of Huck Finn", etc.  Heck, we even read sections of "Lady Chatterly's Lover" in my Junior Year AP English class.  It always amazed me - and still does - at just how "progressive" my Catholic high school was compared to the so-called "liberal" public high schools in the area.  And as the years go by, I become more thankful for the extremely well-rounded education I received there.  I will admit, I do have issues with some of the Diocesan policies, but...

And I also have to Thank my parents for sending all four of us boys to private schools for our education.  Quite the financial sacrifice.

As for that "pink puffy thing"... I've done Sunday in the Park twice, and one of the funnest things was watching the props department come up with a "pink puffy thing".  Ah, the things one can do with a can of Redi-Whip!

-Umm... DR TCB... I think that was your cue!

RE: Bakeries in New York - My favorite stand-by lately has been Amy's Breads.  I usually go to the 9th Ave. location.  There are a few Italian bakeries in that neighborhood too.  Always fun stopping in and getting a pound or two of various biscotti for snacking while in NYC.

Dancing with the Reverend Mother during her solo "A Carnival Christmas."

A Napoleon should always have custard.  It has been a long time since I have had a good Napoleon.  

There is a patisserie in New York City that specializes in napoleons.  In fact, I think the the name of the place is Napoleon - I'll need to double check my facts later...  In any case...

When you walk in, the bakery cases are filled with napoleons - chocolate, vanilla, various fruits, custards, etc.  And they're big too - big enough to share - if you dare!  Sooo good.  The Chocolate-Hazelnut and the Almond Cream-Raspberry are/were my favorites.