Topic: THE WHIRLING DERVISH (Read 17730 times)

Dan (the Man) · « **Reply #150 on:** June 03, 2005, 09:08:23 PM »

And I do loves mega-corny!

One of the great things about those Movies of the Week was how they allowed a lot of established TV stars step out of their normal TV persona and do something different. I wish they would start packaging some of them into DVD sets.

Tomovoz · « **Reply #151 on:** June 03, 2005, 09:11:14 PM »

I recently watched "The Blackwater Lightship" and it was wonderful to see Angela Lansbury step out and away from Jessica Fletcher.

Rodzinski · « **Reply #152 on:** June 03, 2005, 09:11:32 PM »

I feel like I recently saw a DVD bootleg of WILDCATS. But, yeah, they should package them right, especially since there are all-star casts in some of those.

If they have nicely packaged the ABC After School Specials, why not the Movies of the Week?

Dan (the Man) · « **Reply #153 on:** June 03, 2005, 09:12:01 PM »

Um...er...

Rodzinski · « **Reply #154 on:** June 03, 2005, 09:12:51 PM »

Oh, you done did it!!!!

Tomovoz · « **Reply #155 on:** June 03, 2005, 09:14:08 PM »

And speaking of Andy Griffith, I watched Don Knotts in "Pleasantville" earlier this week. The movie really works for me - more so than Back To The Future and Peggy Sue Got Married. Only jarring notes (no pun intended) was the use of "Take Five" on the soundtrack. The setting of the show seems pre 1963 to me.

Dan (the Man) · « **Reply #156 on:** June 03, 2005, 09:14:24 PM »

Quote from: Tomovoz on June 03, 2005, 09:11:14 PM

I recently watched "The Blackwater Lightship" and it was wonderful to see Angela Lansbury step out and away from Jessica Fletcher.

I loved that telepic. It was shown here in the states as a Hallmark Hall of Fame presentation. Lansbury was terrific. I cried at the end of that one two. It was a very emotionally draining movie.

JoseSPiano · « **Reply #157 on:** June 03, 2005, 09:14:34 PM »

Good Evening!

Despite being up for almost 18 hours already - which usually doesn't "happen" to me until around 3:00am or later - I'm actually feeling pretty bright-eyed and bushy-tailed. -Whatever that means...

Catching up on e-mails...

Catching up on posts...

Laters...

Rodzinski · « **Reply #158 on:** June 03, 2005, 09:14:35 PM »

For those reading later, Dan (the Man)'s second-to-last post was his 2000th. And he says, and I quote:

"Um...er..."

Tomovoz · « **Reply #159 on:** June 03, 2005, 09:15:18 PM »

Great words of wisdom for the post too. Congratulations Tom and Dan on achieving this high level of posting trivia.

Dan (the Man) · « **Reply #160 on:** June 03, 2005, 09:15:58 PM »

Quote from: Rodzinski on June 03, 2005, 09:12:51 PM

Oh, you done did it!!!!

Whew! Thanks!

Now the pressure is gone.

Dan (the Man) · « **Reply #161 on:** June 03, 2005, 09:19:25 PM »

Probably would be a good time to change my avatar, too. I would take a new pic right now, but I think I'm wearing the same t-shirt.

Rodzinski · « **Reply #162 on:** June 03, 2005, 09:20:26 PM »

Thanks Tom. Now if I'm not careful I'm gonna hit 1100 before 1 am eastern time. So I better reign it in!

Dan (the Man) · « **Reply #163 on:** June 03, 2005, 09:29:36 PM »

Well, good night Rodz! Thanks for keeping me company.

You, too, Mr. Tomovoz!

Off to read the lastest issue of Y, the Last Man.

Tomovoz · « **Reply #164 on:** June 03, 2005, 09:31:14 PM »

DtM: Irish writer Colm Toibin is worth checking out. Interesting and well written books. "Lightship" led me to others. The movie really captured the tone of the book. Wonderful roles for women.

Tomovoz · « **Reply #165 on:** June 03, 2005, 09:32:13 PM »

Time for my afternoon nap. See you tomorrow (today!) guys.

JoseSPiano · « **Reply #166 on:** June 03, 2005, 10:14:42 PM »

Good Evening!

What a wonderful day I had today! And what a long one too!

I left here around 7:30, and got to Andy's house a little after 8:00. As I was getting on the highway, I realized I had not accounted for the morning rush hour traffic - I just haven't had to deal with it recently. Thankfully, I was basically going against most of it, but there were a few slow spots. It was also raining this morning, so that was creating problems too.

Andy needed to take care of an errand before heading to Richmond, so we took care of the errand. -Which turned out to be a good thing. It helped to delay our "arrival" onto the Beltway, and, consequently, helped us to miss the prime time morning rush hour traffic.

We arrived in Richmond around 11:15, and then the walking and shopping and eating began!!!

JoseSPiano · « **Reply #167 on:** June 03, 2005, 10:19:14 PM »

Once in the Richmond city limits, I took care of my post office stuff and my banking. Then it was off to Carytown for some walking, window-shopping, shopping-shopping and lunching.

My first order of business was to find my mother's birthday gift. Well, the first store I had in mind turned out not to have anything. Neither did the second store. Nor the third store. Etc., etc., etc.

However, I did find a great gift for my friend Rachel's new baby girl at Posh. It basically looks like a giant stuffed bunny rabbit, but it's structured in order to make it like a seat, sort-a bean-baggish. It's actually labelled, "My First Sofa". Very cute. And washable too! (And it was on sale too since Posh is closing up shop at the end of the month.

- but, still it was on sale.

)

JoseSPiano · « **Reply #168 on:** June 03, 2005, 10:22:33 PM »

Then came a "brief" stop at For the Love of Chocolate. We were both like kids in a candy store... well, we were in candy store, so... I stocked up on some Violet Crumble and Yorkie bars, as well as some salted - and double-salt - licorice - it's just something I inexplicably like. Oh, and Swedish Fish too! Andy picked up a box of Maple Sugar Candy, some amazing Italian chocolate bar, and some peanut brittle for his father. *Andy went through more than half of the Maple Sugar Candy on the ride home. -Boy is he funny when he's on the Sugar!

-Oh, and no gift in sight at For the Love of Chocolate either...

JoseSPiano · « **Reply #169 on:** June 03, 2005, 10:29:54 PM »

Then came lunch...

Can-Can (French bistro). Andy had the "Quiche de la Semaine" - Ham and Brie, and I had their Crocque Monsieur" (the "classic" ham and cheese sandwich). Classic? Hmmm...

Well, when my sandwich arrived at the table, I thought they had got the order wrong... Well... It turned out that their version of a croque monsieur is covered with bechamel sauce and then put under the broiler. -I'm just used to them being pan fried in butter. Lots of butter. In any case... It was fork and knife affair. It was quite good, but I do have to admit the bechamel sauce did add some unnecessary richness to the proceedings. Good ham, good cheese, good bread.

And for dessert.. Of course, there was dessert... I tried their Meyer Lemon Curd Tart. Very good. Very rich. Very Meyer Lemony. Oh, and some Cafe au Chocolat too.

The only disappointing thing about the meal was the table bread. The bread itself tasted very good - nice and yeasty, just the right amount of salt - but the crust was very soft. Not stale, but soft. I'm guessing it's a concession to the "Richmond palate". It was just a bit strange eating nice slices of pain au levain with no crunch to it. At least to me...

-Oh, and no gift in sight at Can-Can either...

JoseSPiano · « **Reply #170 on:** June 03, 2005, 10:44:48 PM »

We then head over to the Schwarzchild's Jewelers. I've found a few things for my mother there in the past, so...

Well, "Cindy" showed me a few things in the cases. A diamond here. Sterling silver. Gold. White gold. Platinum. Pearls. I was basically in sticker shock the whole time - at least in regards to the items she was showing me. Nothing was below $700! Now, I love my mother, but...

I just started checking out things on my own. Where were the "cheaper" items that I've seen - and bought -there before.

As I was browsing, a gentleman came into the store asking to look at some place settings. He needed some new China for his beach house. It turned out there was a nice table set up in the front of the store. Great nautical pattern, ocean scene, but not reeking of "Pirates of the Caribbean". He really liked it. The manager called "Cindy" over since she was the "Place Setting White Witch". She explained to the gentleman that she had combined two different designs and two different designers for the display. He liked the whole thing. She said that usually happens to her. She explained the pricing. He thought about it. For about 10 seconds, then asked for 8 sets. -And that's when "Cindy" abandoned me and Andy, and headed for the stock room. In any case...

The gentleman was talking with the manager - while Cindy was in the stock room - and mentioned that he was buying the plates for his beach house. More specifically for the dining room hutch in his beach house. They were mainly going to be "displayed" rather than used. In any case...

After a few more seconds of thought, the gentleman decided that he would like 12 place settings rather than 8. And that he would liked the shipped to his beach house in Hatteras. The manager was more than happy to oblige.

OH!!!!

And the price tag for EACH place setting (charger, dinner plate, salad plate, soup bowl and bread plate, and the coordinating stemware)... $850.00!!!!! Again, that's for EACH place setting! And he was buying 12 of them!!! After only a few minutes of seeing/considering them!!! And for DISPLAY! -Well, I'm not sure I'd want to eat off a $180 dinner plate either!

Needless to say, I didn't find a gift in there either... But I was tempted to see if the gentleman wanted to buy something for me!

MBarnum · « **Reply #171 on:** June 03, 2005, 10:45:11 PM »

Madagascar was a fun movie...not great, but fun. Taylor and Uncle Mike had a grand time and went to McDonald's afterwards where Tayor joing a gaggle of other 3 year olds on the giant play-crawling-slide thing that they have there while Uncle Mike chomped on chicken McNuggets.

Now, back home my mom is spending the night as she is attending a wedding shower in Tigard tomorrow.

She keeps telling me that my sister has been suggesting that she (my mom) and I purchase a house together so that I can take care of her (my mom) as she gets older....I think sis and I are gonna need to have a little bit of a talk!

JoseSPiano · « **Reply #172 on:** June 03, 2005, 10:49:57 PM »

We started back toward the car, and, on a whim, I decided to check out Alter-Natives. It's one of those stores that features "fairly traded" goods, and they have a nice selection of "reasonably" priced jewelry too. So..

I walk over to one case...Nothing in there. I walk over to another one.. Nothing. Then.... TADA!!! There it is!!!

I found a neat pendant/pin in the shape of a turtle. Sterling silver setting, with a center piece of red cinnabar carved with some Chinese symbols. In other words, something perfect for my Mom! Five minutes later, we were back in the car and started heading back up to NoVa.

*The clerk polished it up before boxing it up, and it looked even better after being buffed and polished.

**And once I finally got home after the show, my Mom was very happy to receive it too.

MBarnum · « **Reply #173 on:** June 03, 2005, 10:50:16 PM »

Oh, I learned that the actor who played the doctor on LITTLE HOUSE ON THE PRAIRIE lives near her...it seems her friend saw him at her doctors office and the nurse confirmed who it was.

JoseSPiano · « **Reply #174 on:** June 03, 2005, 10:55:55 PM »

Since I ended up getting called in to play the show again tonight, I was not able to catch Big River. But I'm only playing one Mamma Mia! tomorrow, so I may be able to catch one of the closing Big River performances. We shall see...

When I first got to the theatre, I was feeling a bit run down. Being up since 6:45. The trip down to Richmond. The shopping. The eating. The shopping. The trip back up to Fairfax. -Oh, and the traffic-filled trip into DC after dropping Andy off. There was a Nationals game tonight, so there was lots of late reverse-rush hour traffic on the 14th Street Bridge.

But after settling into the pit for a few, my energy level started to pick up again. The main conductor was back at the podium and keyboard tonight, and he was having a "fun" night too tonight. It was fun hearing "new" things in the orchestration.

Then I came home. Made the presentation of the gift. Had a late dinner - leftover Chinese. And now I'm here, so...

JoseSPiano · « **Reply #175 on:** June 03, 2005, 10:57:47 PM »

DR Ben - Thanks for the Spelling Bee report. I hope you get to see Pillowman sooner rather than later.

JoseSPiano · « **Reply #176 on:** June 03, 2005, 10:59:15 PM »

DR elmore - Do you know which dates you'll be at the LoC? We should definitely get together while you're in town.

JoseSPiano · « **Reply #177 on:** June 03, 2005, 11:06:57 PM »

DR MattH - My usual "solution" for not being tempted to listen to an OCR before seeing a show is just not to buy it until after I see the show.

Myself, I don't have a problem with hearing and/or reading a show before seeing it. There will always still be surprises in store once I get to see and hear the show in the theatre. The book. The parts of the score that did not make the recording. The physicality of the production. Etc., etc., etc.

*Reviews actually tend to "spoil" things for me rather than OCRs. Just too much analysis sometimes.

But I do understand the element of surprise too, so...

To each his own.

JoseSPiano · « **Reply #178 on:** June 03, 2005, 11:09:32 PM »

DRs Jed and TCB - I hope your Official Opening Night was a smashing success!

JoseSPiano · « **Reply #179 on:** June 03, 2005, 11:10:09 PM »

DR MattH - Hope you had a good time at the party!

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Author Topic: THE WHIRLING DERVISH (Read 17730 times)

MBarnum

MBarnum