Haines His Way

Si.

Time to get dinner cooking

A simple Stroganoff

No, Tomovoz, I am not the least bit surprised that you also don't care for "While You Were Sleeping."

It's up there with "Dreamgirls" and "Steel Magnolias" as huge puzzlements to me as to why their charms elude you.

I can relate to DR tomovoz' reaction to STEEL MAGNOLIAS; I don't know what he has against DREAMGIRLS, however.

I can relate to DR tomovoz' reaction to STEEL MAGNOLIAS; I don't know what he has against DREAMGIRLS, however.

It's what he's told us about Australian audience reactions to "Dreamgirls" that has me stumped.  He once wrote that they pretty much laughed at the film and the performers in it.

What was funny?  It's slick, beautifully made and extraordinarily performed (with exception of Jamie Fox).  Jennifer Hudson is amazing.  It gets better each time I see it.

PROJECT RUNWAY MINI-SPOILER NOTICED ON THE RERUN

















Michael Kors was saying one designer's effort was "sophisticated," and almost on the word "sophisticated," they cut to the back where that designer was  ungracefully shoving food into his mouth.  It was garish yet adorable.  

DH Richard and I are back from a glamorous Saturday evening outing - dinner at a local family restaurant and grocery shopping.  While we were eating we received a phone call from DS Rob, reporting from the road.  They've left the ski resort and are on their way back to Mary Linda's family's home.  No broken bones - whew!

TOD - What Women Want

Whew!  I am tired.

Church all morning tomorrow and then a rehearsal at a synagogue in the afternoon.

Popping in to say "Good Night" to all!

After I eat some foodstuffs it will be time to watch another Bollywood film...this evening it will be SHREE 420 (1955) starring Raj Kapoor, Nargis, Nadira, Nemo, Iftekar, and Lalita Pawar.

This is one of the great classics of Hindi cinema and I am expecting it to be quite good.

Saturday night and the DEBATE is on.  I watch it now and then, but mostly I watch COPS.

Time for dinner.

I ended up dining with currently errant and truant DR Jason.  He's back at the Q, but he'll be transferring a few doors down next week to start being the merch manager over at A Chorus Line.  He survived his tour - which included having to perform the last three stops/shows with a severe case of laryngitis.  And then once he was back in the City, it was right back into the merch biz - along with a trip home to Kentucky to see his family.  *He also got a laptop for Christmas, and once he transfers over to the Schoenfeld and only has to worry about "walk in" and "walk out", he hopes to be popping back in here to post.

BTW - I wanted to like "DreamGirls".  I'm not yet brave enough to try and watch 'Hairspray" (I thought the old movie was cute).

The audience laughter at the preview screening was at yet another over emotive song and then another one and then another one. I don't care for that type of vocalising.  I guess a bit like FW's musicals - all big ballad heavy.
It was way too late to introduce a character song rather than a performance song for the musical to "work" for me.  The spotlighting the theatre in those end scenes was total clichéed corn.
I thought Jennifer's performance was great. Beyoncée was way out of her depth!
The movie had some appeal to a younger audience here (the ones who watch Idol).

Then after a stop at Amy's Bread - Omigod! The Monkey Cake was sooooo fresh - the icing was actually still on the warm side, and the cake layers still had a hint of "crust" to them - I headed on up to meet Michael - yes, that Michael - to catch a movie.  It was between "Juno" and "Atonement", and we were just going to walk up to Lincoln Square and buy tickets to whatever was screening first.  Well...

We stood in line at one of the self-service kiosks, and  ended up behind this young woman who was on her phone trying to convince her friend to come see "I Am Legend" (in the IMAX screen).  Of course, she starts panicking when the manager comes over the PA system and starts announcing that various showings are Sold Out of very close to selling out.  She's already punched in her quantity, "2", but she's still jabbering away with her friend on the phone.  "Oh... Are you sure you don't want to see it? Come on, it should be fun.  I mean, I really should buy the ticket now since it may sell out in the next few minutes... Well, maybe I'll just buy the tickets now even if I don't end up going to see the movie..."

-Excuse me? Are you going to talk or buy your tickets?

(Pause of acknowledgement)...  "Well... I mean the movie should be really cool on the IMAX screen... I know it's raining, but it's not too bad right now, come on over, I'm nearby...."

She finally buys her tickets.

Of course, in the interim, we had realized that all the showings for ALL the movies were sold out at that hour.  Nothing was available until 10:00.  Ah, welll...

Since we were on the UWS, we wandered here and there.  We walked by Levain - they had closed an hour earlier anyway.  We walked by Crumbs... Not really in the mood for cupcakes.  We did want to sit down for a bit and catch up, but we didn't feel like squatting in a Starbucks.  So... We ended up in Grom.  It was Michael's first time at the gelateria, and my umpteenth time there.  Oh, they added Green Tea gelato to the seasonal menu... and Cinnamon... Hmm..  Well, I decided to have a cup of their Cioccolata Calda di Latte - hot chocolate - (with whipped cream!) and Michael had a small cup of their Nougat gelato, then we settled into the seating area in the back of the store for a bit of chit-chatting and gossip-ing.

While we were there, a family came in.  A mother, a father, and five girls - all in their pre-teens and teens!  They sat at the table next to us, and started talking about their flavor choices for the evening.  It was quite the lively discussion.  Then they moved on to the BEST chocolate and hot chocolate in the city.  Well... I just had to speak up when they I realized they were leaving out the new Jacques Torres location just a few blocks away.  -They even thanked me for my recommendations when we were leaving.