Shining

Here's another one, I love this new genre of YouTube silliness.

YouTube rocks

Holy crap I love Youtube.

Potter dish

Anyone who has finished Harry Potter definitely needs to read this. Rowling is interviewed by Meredith Viera and not only talks about how she decided who was going to die (Arthur Weasley was originally supposed to die in Book Five) but also gives a few more details about the epilogue. It is a long article but well worth it.

You can't stop the beat

Yesterday we went to the movies and saw Hairspray. We both loved the original movie, and were able to see the musical when it opened on Broadway (they were competing against us that year in the Tonys) and enjoyed that as well. So it was no surprise that the movie was a lot of fun. The cast was mostly great, especially Tracy and Seaweed. Adam Shankman, the director/choregrapher, was on SYTYCD a few weeks back, and seemed pretty manic which I hoped would make for some fun choreography, but I felt a little let down in that department. Jerry Mitchell, the original choreographer, is always good for fun, inventive choreography that surprises you. The dancing in the movie is competent, but decidedly background. Maybe it was a choice. And who in Amanda Bynes? She must be famous for something, but she was no Kerry Butler. Not terrible, just kinda boring. And did the editor hate Allison Janney or something? Weird editing killed most of her humor, which was really odd.

But overall it was a lot of fun, still with a good dose of subversive John Waters humor hidden amongst all the fluffy entertainment. John Travolta as Edna as a Spanish dancer gave me a good belly laugh. And I hate to admit it, but I really liked James Marsden. I've been enjoying not liking him ever since X-Men, where he sucked, and have avoided seeing him in just about anything else. But dang he was really good in this. I guess I'm just a sucker for anyone who can sing, what can I say?

Pirate Master update

It has been pointed out to me (thanks Scott!) that, no, my TIVO didn't just freak out last week and not record Pirate Master, but it has actually been cancelled. The remaining episodes will be online only. I guess I am sad about that, if just because it was such a good idea for a show to begin with. But casting and challenges are important, and they dropped the ball on both fronts. Anyway, we'll see if I'm still in the mood to keep blogging about it, since clearly Radha and I are just about the only people in America watching it in the first place. I'll keep up with it though, I'm too invested to not find out how it ends at this point. Remember the days that when a show was cancelled it was just gone? At least Wonderfalls came out with a DVD of the episodes that were never aired so I got to see those like three years later. But now they just throw them up on the website. Technology is definitely my friend today.

Worn out...

A word to the wise. After working five days in a row, don't get up all perky Saturday morning to go to a 75 minute-long Yoga class at the gym, do a couple of sets of chest and tris, and then decide you still feel fabulous enough for a 60-minute cardio workout. It catches up with you, trust me.

Now I'm going to dinner theatre to see "Ragtime". I'm not a huge fan of the show, with the notable and significant exception of the score, which is pretty remarkable. We know the musical director and I'm sure he will make sure the music slides through our eardrums like honey that has been infused with cinnamon and nutmeg by Martha Stewart herself. (Which, of course, is good thing.) I just hope I can stay awake after my little overexcertion this morning. Oh, after class the instructor came over to David and was like "You did really well, you are very limber and athletic, a real natural at this." Then he looked at me and said "Oh, well, and you are good too." LAME! No one would ever deny that D is way awesome at yoga, but spare me the pity compliment! lol (There were several grandmothers in the class and I was way better than them at the reverse double Warrior pose, so harumph!)

Did I mention we have sliced hallah bread on the counter going stale so we can have real french toast tomorrow? It feels like Christmas Eve and I can't go to sleep, tomorrow is going to be such a happy day.

Replies to comments:

Colin, you will make a great dad someday. You'd just better come visit before you start working on that and get all preoccupied.

Also the title of this blog doesn't refer to nursing. Well, it does, in that I liked the title because it could have several different interpretations. But nursing wasn't where the idea came from. Anyone who saw David's cabaret or knows the musical "Charlie Girl" could figure it out though.

And Michelle/Radha, there are male nurses in the hospital, I'm sure I'll start to meet more. Just not in this section (the first of three) of new grads starting. At least, I hope.

Pirate Master 7/27

Well I hate to say it, but the show that had the potential to be the best reality series ever has pretty much lost me. I'm vested enough that I will keep watching, but Pirate Master continues to disappoint. I'm even bored with commenting on it, because I just don't care. The casting director should be hung in the gallows. They cast exactly ONE person (Jay) who was ready to be a pirate. There are a few others that are good TV (Louie, Nessa) but they don't really seem to "get it" in full. I'm tired of people who think everything should be "fair". Whining is boring! The challenges are boring! And I guess Jeff Probst has just ruined me, but why is it so impossible for ANY other reality show to find even a halfway decent host. They are all so boring! (Excepting of course Paula Abdul who may be crazy but is never boring.) Anyway, at this point I just don't care much about anything beyond what Jay does. If he doesn't win, well, I won't even care because this show is so lame I totally expect the only good player to be kicked off at any moment. I will say I thought Christa was super smart the way she handled the black spots tonight, making the crew feel like they picked them even though it was the same two she wanted, but she took all the pressure off of her and like Louie I think will not make anyone hate her. She has been totally invisible (thanks, producers) in the show up to this point, so I can't say I care much about her beyond that though.

More entertaining has been SYTYCD, at least in that even the people I don't like as much (Lauren! Neil!) are still totally fierce and are fun to watch. It has been annoying watching the judges pick off some of the best characters on the show, but again I'm not vested enough to get too worked up about any of it. I was sad about Cameron going though. Even if he isn't the best dancer, he is by far the best looking, and on TV that counts for a lot. Neil can do some sweet tricks, but he is still too gay to dance with a girl. Ditto Danny. Maybe if they danced together it would be more fun than watching them only look into their girls eyes to see their own reflection in them. That sounds way more bitchy than I meant it, they are both great dancers, especially Danny. But on TV all I want to see is Cameron and Lacy dance together. My personal top two now are Lacy and Sabra. Also, I want to throw things at the TV when Cat says "Say hello to our..." and makes the crowd yell "JUDGES!!!" as if she has a limit on how many words she will say per episode and that is where she draws the line. I'm convinced she uses her special leggy tall girl magic to bewitch the crowd into thinking some of her gorgeousness might spill onto them if they only scream loud enough. That, or some poor PA just spent twenty minutes before the show started threatening the crowd with attack by hungry wolves if they don't yell it loud enough. Either way, it totally bugs.

When does Survivor: China start again???

Friday!

My first week of orientation is done! Dang that was one long week, I am so glad that this is likely the last week I will EVER be working five consecutive days in a row. Woo Hoo! This morning I finally got to get onto my floor, if just for a silly "where is the fire exit? Where is the crash cart?" kind of orientation where I felt like a total nerd walking around my new co-workers with a heavy binder marking things off as I found them. At least there are two of us starting so I wasn't all by myself. My preceptor was also the charge nurse today, again confirming the fact that she TOTALLY ROCKS. I also met the other preceptor, who was wearing a sweet pair of red glasses so of course I immediately complimented her on her fabulous taste. I lamely showed her that my glasses also have some red, but only on the part that goes behind my ears, and she rightly mocked me. But hey, I did the best I could with the resources I had as a student, and now that I'll be getting nurse paychecks I can buy my own red glasses and strive to be as fashion forward as she is. Dilemma: Which comes first, a pair of rad glasses or an iPhone? Isn't it crazy how life throws these unanswerable questions at us???

As far as the hospital goes, they fed us every day this week, which shows me how smart the are. There is no better way to my heart than through my stomach via the deliciously tasty blueberry bagel I had this morning. I mean, does anything else really matter if they are feeding me?

Also, I can wear a t-shirt with scrub bottoms. I'm gonna love dressing for work. I may get tired, but I will always be comfortable! The good news just never seems to stop.

While I was off posing for ID photos and getting fitted for a TB mask and signing form after form after form, poor David was stuck at home. But dang if that boy isn't productive when I'm not around to be a bad influence. He painted an accent border complete with flowers and surfboards in our Hawaiian bathroom. He re-stained all the bannisters and railings. He even started scrubbing the cracks between the tile in the kitchen and that is unbelieveable. But best of all, he got busy in the kitchen and made me the most AMAZING dinners like every night this week. He made some unbelievable risotto the other night, and today he went to the farmers market and bought some perfect little tomatos and made some homemade bruschetta that almost made me cry out of sheer happiness. For tomorrow he has already made some homemade pesto, and from our hero Alton Brown got a recipe for some amazing sounding french toast - the hallah bread is already sliced and sitting on the counter to get stale. This post is turning to be all about food, but all I can say is I am going to pout when he finally starts working and can't wait on me like this. I'm so spoiled sometimes.

Orientation has begun

Yesterday was my general hospital orientation, and today started the orientation for the nurses. Fifty girls and me. And I mean that literally, there are 51 of us. Just one other girl will be working on my floor, so I expect I'll never see most of them again once classes are over. Another group starts in another month, which includes most of the ICU units, so I imagine there will be more boys there. But still. This morning, one of the girls looked at me and all the other girls and said, in a very self-flattering tone, "Well aren't you lucky!". I was a perfect gentleman and laughed at her "joke". (Was she flirting with me? I'm not always good at picking up straight girl vibes.) Actually she was probably just being nice, I was just crabby because I'd just gotten poked with a PPD, which was painless but two minutes later inexplicably started to bleed all over my arm. Just obnoxious. Then practically every speaker came in and said "Good morning ladies...(long pause)...and gentleman!" Thank God I was an actor and don't mind always being the one-of-these-kids-is-doing-his-own-thing-kid.

My fellow alumni will be glad to know that while the building we were in was gorgous (I mean, it is fricking Georgetown) the room was about half the size of our classrooms at UNM. And problems with the overhead projector is clearly a universal problem.

Broadway

So we saw three Broadway shows while we were in town. The first was "The Drowsy Chaperone", and unfortunately it was the most disappointing. The show itself is a little gem, very self-effacing and funny. But by now most of the cast is replacements, and few (if any) of them really seem to "get" the tone of the show. Granted, none of them probably had more than a day or two of actual rehearsals, so their job was hard. And certainly every one of them was competent, no one was outright terrible. But competent does not translate to zany hillarity. This showed the most anytime Danny Burstein was onstage. One of the few original cast members left, his work is just crazy brilliant, and he and Beth Leavel drew the biggest laughs by far. Bob Martin and Georgia Engle were especially missed. I hear they are both doing the tour, if it comes anywhere in the area I'm gonna try and go again. I think had I been able to see the show with the entire original cast this would've been one of my favorite shows ever.

Next up was 110 In The Shade, with John Cullum and Audra McDonald. This show is based on what is probably my favorite play of all time, "The Rainmaker". I'm not sure the musical improves on the play, and in fact really pulls some of the power from the powerful ending. However the music is fun and it is certainly an entertaining piece. But the reason to see this production is Audra. Holy crap! I don't know how she does it, but if she hadn't already won four Tony Awards I'd say this was the performance of a lifetime. Powerful, heartbreaking, full of sparkle and energy. Not to mention that voice!

Finally was Grey Gardens. This is one of my favorite documentaries ever, so I've been looking forward to seeing it. To my surprise I didn't like the show as much as I thought I would. The movie is fun, because even if it is just a lot of gawking at a couple of very eccentric old ladies, they are quite endearing and sympathetic. The play however, by showing us what their life might have been like when they were young and still relatively normal (i.e. not mentally ill), makes the whole proceedings rather sad. It is still fun to see how accurately Christine Ebersole and Mary Louise Wilson nail the two women in voice, looks and mannerisms. Spooky even. I like the music in Act Two better, just because it is more, well, weird, which I thought was appropriate. But reservations aside, it was still very fun, and I was very glad I got to see it before it closes next week (along with 110 In The Shade).

But for the record, I would've given the Tony to Audra. They were both amazing performances, but seeing them back to back, Audra was, for me, the more powerful.

NYC

So, NYC. We had a great time with friends. Tiffany was gorgeous! I loved her hair short, but now I remember why I liked it long back when we first met. And without giving away all her secrets, let's just say I am totally jealous of all the cool people she gets to meet in the course of her job. (I can say that I am way excited to see Julie Taymor's new Beatles movie-musical, which Tiffany worked on as a casting director). But everyone we saw seemed to be doing great. I love good friends that even if you haven't seen them in years, within 30 seconds you feel like you never left. Kelly, Michael, Brian, Orville, Heather, Anna, Mark, and of course Bob who gave us a place to crash. We even saw Jerry Mitchell at Virgin Megastore, we just happened to walk in the store while the cast of "Legally Blonde" was doing a mini-concert/signing for the release of their cast album. Unfortunately he was signing CDs and we didn't have time to wait in the very long line to get to him to actually say hi. But that Orfeh, man, can she sing!

We also saw Joanne Worley walking her dog. And then we walked by this restaurant, and Jenn Colella was deep in discussion with her dinner date at an outdoor table. She is engaged to a good friend of ours (whom sadly wasn't at the restaurant also), but it was several years ago that we actually met Jenn and haven't been in touch since. (Jenn was in a reading of a musical called Chrysalis written by our friend Gilles Chiasson.) She looked up and had a glint of recognition in her eye when she saw us, but we didn't notice her until we were walking right by and she was so deep in an obviously heavy conversation that we didn't stop. Awkward! I wish we'd stopped, but it was a split-second decision to not interrupt her conversation. If only we'd noticed her a second or two earlier. What can I say, David and I are both dorks. ::grin::

We just missed the volcano on 41st Street. We were on the train about two stops away when they made the announcement that the subways were not stopping at Grand Central "due to a partial building collapse". When we got off the train we could see the steam billowing high into the sky. Interestingly no one panicked, probably most people didn't ever realize anything had happened until later when they turned on the news. But no one, even on the train, seemed to think terrorism. New Yorkers always impress me, they don't have time to live in fear.

Oh, and Tiffany has the new iPhone. I wanted to weep it was so beautiful in its awesomeness.

The end of Harry Potter

Where to start, where to start. I finished Harry Potter last night just in time for bed. I'm not sure how long David stayed up reading it, but I'm dying for him to finish so we can discuss. If you haven't read the book, don't read this post!

Overall, I was pretty thrilled with the book. It surprised me in places, but it also took me to places that I really wanted to go. I was shocked with the death of Hedwig early on (which curiously was never mentioned again, but David maintains that Hedwig was always rather a neglected pet) but then the death toll just kept mounting. Part of the problem with a magical world though, is I'm always slightly hesitant to believe what I'm told. It took another four chapters or so before I finally believed that Mad-Eye was really dead and not just injured or captured or something.

As usual, all the childish bickering and flaring tempers was annoying filler, but since she wasted no time at all getting to the meat of the story it never dragged on too long. Even if I wanted more from Petunia, I loved the closure with the Dursleys. Call me a sucker, but all it takes is a handshake and I love a character. George losing an ear was strangely remnicent of Xander losing an eye in Buffy, but whatever, it was still in character. I enjoyed the return of Ollivander, and of course Luna and Neville are especially satisfying characters. Although this wasn't their story (or Ginny's either), it felt good to know that there were other stories happening. I'm sure it won't take long before some talented fan fiction comes out detailing the adventures of the kids left back at Hogwarts.

I loved Percy's redemption, even if it seemed a bit abrupt, it still was the right thing to do. I understand about Fred, but it is so tragic that I can't yet decide if it was necessary or not. The wounds are still raw! heh Lupin and Tonks, ditto. And, who raised the baby? At the end Harry says "He's over for dinner four nights a week", but does that mean he was raised by his grandma instead of his godfather? It that how it is really works? I guess at 17 Harry was too young to raise a baby, but when they died that was what I was expecting somehow. Crabbe? Didn't see that coming. I have a fondness for the Crabbe/Goyle actors in the movie, and never really thought of them as evil like that, but it was deserved after all.

The whole final battle was just fun, I can't wait for the movie! But good thing the movies have been getting darker, because with all the death it is going to be dark indeed. But I will pee my pants when I get to see Julie Walters scream "GET AWAY FROM THEM, YOU BITCH!" Stolen, perhaps, from "Aliens", but just as satisfying. Snape's story was very close to what I'd imagined, my only regret that we didn't have more for Alan Rickman to do when the movie comes out.

I realize this is all very fragmented, but it is all just bumping around in my head. Dobby? Heartbreaking, and I never even liked the character much. Kreature? Awesome, and I never even liked the character much. The dragon escape will be terrific in the movie. How did Neville get the sword back from the goblins? Is there finally peace amongst the wizards and the goblins/house elves/cantuars/giants/spiders etc?

Again the political stuff was the scariest of all. Dolores deserved more than just a stun.

I'll have to read it again to get more of the details. It is kind of sad that the story is finished. What a great ride in pop culture it has been over the last, what, well for me I think like 8 years. It is fun participating, giving knowing looks to strangers carrying the books. In NY the subways used to be full of people reading. Yesterday I took a break from reading to run to the gym, and a 45 year old guy was sitting on a stationary bike reading. He had taken off the dust jacket, but it was still obviously Potter. It is fun to talk about with strangers and acquantences and friends. It is a shared experience, the like of which doesn't really happen all that often anymore. So I'm sad it is over. While I do hope the Harry Potter Theme Park I keep hearing about does indeed come to pass, I'll be surprised if Rowling really writes more books. Other than the last two films, for all intents and purposes Harry Potter is, figuratively speaking at least, dead. ::sniff::

Waiting for Potter

I'm back from my trip, and have a few things to say about it. But right now I'm stuck waiting for my stinking boyfriend to get his lazy butt out of bed so I can go get the new Harry Potter book. The store opened at six (I was up at 6:15) and now it is 7:15 and he is still asleep? I ask you, why is it that he is the one asleep while I'm the one suffering the nightmare!?! And just watch, when he finally gets up he will blame me for not waking him up earlier.

However, we did have a great trip in NYC. Saw some shows, saw some friends. Because I've moved around so much I always have a hard time answering whenever I'm asked "Where are you from?", but I have to say the second I got into town I just felt so comfortable. I love the city, in many ways it just feels like home to me. Even after being away so long, I just feel like I belong there, I'm not sure how else to decribe it. The funny thing though, was that while this was a great feeling in the beginning, it did come as a double-edged sword. Once the initial euphoria had worn off, we had some time to kill, and neither of us were sure what to do. We'd have a few hours between lunch and dinner plans or whatever seeing people, and had nowhere to go. Normal people on vacation go see the Statue of Liberty or Empire State or whatnot, but we've done all those things. Our friends all had to work so couldn't just hang with us all day, so we had hours where we'd just wander the streets which was kind of boring after a while. When you live there you just go home or run errands or go shopping. As a visitor that feels like he is at home but without the actual home to go to, well, it was odd and, at times, a little boring.

Anyhoo, David FINALLY woke up, so I'm gonna run. I will make some more posts soon, well soon meaning after I finish reading Harry Potter. Unless he wrests is away from me for a bit, that probably means tomorrow.

Just missed a corpse

Yesterday David and I went to the, uh, I forget what it is officially called, but the National Gardens or something. We went to see a rare display of a corpse flower, but were extremely disappointed to find the flower only lasts a little more than a day and had collapsed the night before. Double D'oh! So we just took a guided tour of the facility (which is a mile from our house so was an easy walk) and it is a pretty cool place. I'm sure we will go back to get a better look at things, the tour was pretty cursory but still lasted about 45 minutes. We'll have to keep our ears open for future corpse flower displays, I didn't realize their bloom was so short. But my life will not be complete until I've smelled one in person! ::grin::

So we are about to leave, heading up to NYC to celebrate my pass of the NCLEX and see some friends and see some shows and eat some Burritoville. Sorry Albuquerque, but culinarily speaking the only thing you have over Burritoville is green chile, which is a strange but true fact. So soon I will be sinking my teeth into the best burrito ever just off of Times Square, being really, really happy. Also maybe we will go to Zen Palatte and get some of the best vegetarian sweet and sour chicken you've ever dreamed of. Bonus: seeing lots of great friends who just might share in the aforementioned gastric delights.

Speaking of, David and I just found a sandwich place here called Potbellies. Um, super yum! As if my toasted roast beef sandwich wasn't good enough, they were giving out free tasters of their cookies, which I usually hate non-homemade cookies because they are invariably hard, but these were the best cookies I've ever had in a store that wasn't named Tony Romas (who doesn't even serve them anymore.) So we'll be going back there again I'm sure.

OK, so we get home Friday, I'll have some updates then.

Harry Potter

Before I knew whether or not I was a real nurse or a very embarassed want-to-be-nurse, we went to see the new Harry Potter movie. Now it should be said that I am something of a fan. In the last week I read the first two books, watched all four movies, and had read 200 pages into book five to get ready for the movie. I'd have waited another day until I could finish book five, but David was having none of that, so we went today. Major spoilers ahead, so you might not want to read this if you haven't seen the movie yet.

Order of the Phoneix is my least favorite of the books (my faves so far are 1, 4 and 6). On an intellectual level I understand that Harry is growing up and teenage boys go through moody phases (except for me of course, as I was an Infallible Angel of Virtue don't forget.) But it isn't all that interesting to read about, my hero being all lamely emotional and fighting with all his friends. But the movie accomplishes some nifty magic of its own here - not only does it simply cut most of it out, but it explains the remaining bits away by tying it directly to Harry's mind connection with Lord Voldemort. Movie one, book zero.

Cut to the chase, while the book is my least favorite of the six, this movie is my favorite of the five. I had such a great time! After watching the other four movies, it is just so much fun watching these kids grow up. Obviously lots of great stuff was cut out, but that was expected. But what remains is the essence of the story, and results in some great filmmaking. From the beginning the series has been helped along by a very shrewd casting director. And when I heard Imelda Staunton was playing Umbridge I was excited. But give that woman an award now, she was so delicious I couldn't stop grinning every moment she was on-screen. She chewed it up with gusto, and left me hoping Umbridge has more to do in the last book. The scene where she tries to kick out Emma Thompson was a master class in good acting by three amazing women. Also crazy good was Luna. Where the heck did they find her? I fully expected her to be somewhat of a cartoon (sort of like Ron), but her honesty really blew me away, and so surprised me in a few places I almost wanted to cry. (Good art does that to me sometimes.) I wonder how old she is really, I just can't believe that a 15 year old would have that kind of depth and self-awareness to give a performance like that.

What else? Other than one little bit that sounded suspiciously remniscent of "Les Miserables", I thought the music was especially effective. All of the DA montages were spirited and had just the right sense of urgency. And this is the first movie where I was really excited when the final battle drew near, which I thought was excellently done. Yes, there were loads of cuts. But rather than just acting out the book, I was totally in the moment. I loved the smoky whizzing around in the air stuff, what a great visual. And how much do I love Dumbledore? I was so concerned when Richard Harris died and they had to replace him, but I love the energy and vigor Michael Gambon brings to the character. His and Voldemort's battle in the end was exciting. I am of course going to have to finish the book to remember just what was cut and changed, but I love it when Voldemort sends a volley of glass at them and Dumbledore puts up what looks like a shield and then the glass cuts through anyway but then you realize that he has changed the glass to sand - brilliant! Smarts over brutality.

A few nitpicks - I didn't like the shaky-camera crap, this isn't "Cops". And remember back in the 90s when Helena Bonham Carter was a good actress? What the heck happened to her? Not that she was terrible or anything, but compared to the rest of the near-perfect cast, she was a definite weak addition. Mercifully her scenes were few. Everyone else though - Maggie Smith, Alan Rickman, Gary Oldman, Jason Issacs, Julie Walters - was awesome. And after not seeing him for a few movies, how fun to see Dudley grown up too!

Oh, and how much did you love how Sirius' house was clearly designed to be a haunted house ride for the new Harry Potter Themepark? Yeah, haunted mansion rip-off to be sure, but still I loved it (and can't wait to go!)

A better writer than me could, I believe, make some very interesting commentary on how even politicians in the wizarding world will do whatever it takes to maintain power whether it is good for the people or not. But I'll leave it at that.

Ultimately, I though book five was a let-down from the brilliant excitement of the final few chapters of book four. The movie, on the other hand, captured that momentum and hurled it farther forward. Book six was excellent as well, and now I just have one short week to wait until the final book comes out.

A prediction: Snape is a good guy. He isn't nice, but I refuse to believe he is evil. I don't know exactly how it will work out, but I fully expect him to save Harry in some way in the final book.

I do wonder how they will market the last two movies? Right now everyone is all caught up in it because we still don't know how it is all going to end. Once we do, will the movies still be as exciting? I wonder.

3...2...1...NCLEX

So I took the NCLEX. I have to be very careful about what I say, since I signed all this paperwork that basically says if I spill any beans I will be unable to ever feel happiness again, or be forced to do an edition of "Big Brother" with Michael Moore, Ann Coulter and Sean Hannity as my roommates, or have my genetic code altered to make me permanently allergic to pizza, Cinnabon and cheese fondue. Or something along those lines anyway, I didn't read all the fine print, but it is definitely bad.

I don't know what I expected, but it was surprisingly formal with fingerprints and all. I took the test along with a girl named Sarah. I know her name was Sarah only because it said so on her earrings. Now of course I am fascinated with people who feel the need to wear their name, like unless it is somewhere visible on their bodies they might just forget. Especially if said name is bejewelled, I mean, how many of us have the guts to do that? But I thought, if you have to wear your name, how the heck do you remember acid/base balances or med side-effects or the principles of non-violent communication? Also, it would have been more awesome if her name had been Laverne, but I digress.

Anyhoo, the test was fun, and by fun I mean it sucked. The very first question was reasonable, but after that it is just a blur of me going "You're kidding, right?" to the computer. It stopped at 75 questions leaving me quite freaked out. Sarah was still going, I'm not sure if she was just slower or if she was being unfairly given more opportunities to pass the dang thing. I left feeling quite confident. Quite confident that I had failed. I graduated summa cum laude just to fail my boards?!?! Instead of getting on the subway I walked the three miles home just to start planning where I might get accepted into nursing school again, because clearly I hadn't learned anything and was going to have to start over from the very beginning. Let's see, which end of the needle goes into the patient? Oh right, the sharp end. That would be a good place to start from.

But a strange thing happened. I passed. I really don't know how, because based on that exam I'm a complete boob when it comes to anything related to nursing. But it is their mistake, and now the world will have to forever suffer Robb, RN. Bwa-ha-ha!!!

I have one more week before I have to grow up and start the first "real" job of my life. So of course we are running off to NYC for a few days to see some friends and a few shows. Then next Monday the fun starts.

Crap.

Catch up...

Sorry I've fallen behind, but I'll start from the beginning and try to get caught up. But for you SYTYCD fans, wasn't this week awesome? I was satisfied with the results - Shawna was a kick-ass dancer, but she didn't have the TV personality to win, so I wasn't too bummed to see her go even though I still blame her partners for her problems. Having never watched the show before I don't know how things play out as we get down to fewer people, but for now I'm loving the sexy couple (with mohawk guy) and Hawk. Neil and his partner have been my least favorite, but they really did great this week.

And a big yay for Hairspray! I hope the movie is as fun as the Broadway show!

Fortune Cookie

After enjoying some delicious General Tso's Chicken (no offense Albuquerque, but I am SO GLAD to be back on the east coast again!) I had the following fortune:

Before you wonder "Am I doing things right," ask "Am I doing the right things"...in bed.

Always a good question for us all, no? heh

Pirate Master 7/12

I am so easily manipulated by reality television. As you start getting to know the people you of course start to develop favorites, but depending on the editing that can of course change. But then I also have a tendancy to root for the underdog, whomever that is, I love a good comeback from behind. And at the end of the day, all I really want is some good entertainment. So I root for the people I like, the underdog, and the ones that are just fun. Often that means several different people at once.

I think the basic premise of the show is flawed, as the three strong guys seem to have created a lock on winning. The openly call themselves "The Triad", a kind of cockiness which on any other show would get them into trouble. But since every single challenge is near identical and always favors the physically strong, and since they can force the competing team to do chores like scraping barnacles off the underside of the pirate ship in the hours leading up to the challenge (simply to tire them out) and deny them much food, well, how exactly are they going to be beat? Survivor is great at mixing up the challenges so that sometimes the strong win, sometimes the light little girls win, sometimes the puzzle people win, you never know what asset you will need on your team. Here it is always strength (mixed with a bit of luck.) I still think Jay is the best player, since he is just about the only player to really embrace the pirate code and actively manipulates the game. But now he is kind of floating through, which is more boring. The other players all seem to want to be "nice", which 1) is boring, and 2) is boring. There is always the specter of mutiny against the captain, but the bar is set so high that it seems impossible to achieve. So the last three episodes have been virtually interchangable, with the "Triad" picking off the people they don't want around.

This week it was Joe Don's turn. I don't particularly like him, like at all. However he has become the underdog (and represented the losers best hope at ever winning anything), and also he is so weird he is good tv. So even though I don't personally like him, he hit two of the three requirements for me to want him to stick around. His speech at the end was priceless. He zeroed in on one of the weak girls (who the triad had spared because she wisely told them she would be their pawn and do whatever they wanted her to do, which was vote for Joe Don) and told her "Remember the other week when we had to swim to shore, and you were struggling, and I stayed behind and helped pull you to shore? I kinda feel like I saved you man. And tonight I kinda feel like you have to save me." Now, he did pull her to shore, mostly because he was in a hurry and wanted to win the challenge. But to turn that around and say "I saved your life, you owe me" was just awesome. As a bonus he called her "man", a quirk of his speech patterns that annoy and delight me. And the best part is she fell for it! Better yet, she was the *only* person that didn't vote for him, which means that not only did Joe Don still go, but now she has double-crossed her protectors for no reason. So the end was a bit delicious.

I'll keep watching because, well, pirates you know. But the show needs a major overhaul as far as the rules go. The good news is I still get tingles everytime the host guy says "Let's see what you've done." heh heh

More than meets the eye?

Yesterday made yet another Ikea run. (You poor Albuquerque peeps have no idea what you are missing.) Unfortunately they were out of the small bookshelf we wanted so we'll have to go back again. But we did get the last load of blinds, finally all our windows are covered! We also bought an extra-wide spatula, because, when don't you need one of those?

So this morning, after David made some delicious pancakes made even more delicious by the use of our new extra-wide spatula, and then after I did yet another 125 practice NCLEX questions, and then after a run to the local hardware store to get screws to come home and hang up our kitchen blinds, THEN we went to see the new Transformers movie.

Now this is weird. While I was aware of Transformers as a kid, I have absolutely no memory of ever watching the cartoon. I never played with the toys, it was just sort of a peripheral awareness kind of thing. Yet even so I am clearly the product of some nefarious subliminal merchandising plot, and can sing the theme song by memory.

The Transformers!
More than meets the eye!
The Autobots wage their battle to destroy
the evil forces of the Deceptecons!

I have no idea how or why I know that, some kind of childhood osmosis I guess. But I digress. I expected the movie to be a big fun summer flick, and it was. It made the mistake of trying to take itself seriously which causes some unfortunate laughter at times. You expect the cliche romance, but the kiss in the sunset comes right in the middle of the battle and the kid needs to run away fast and it is moments like that that make the movie feel long.

Actually it was like there were two separate movies going on. The serious action flick (we're not supposed to giggle when the huge robot alien says "But you can call us Autobots") and then all these long comedy sequences featuring supporting cast members. Some clever casting helps make the comedy sequences entertaining, even if they are completely tangential to the movie itself. Bernie Mac just cracks me up, even though his sequence ends on a peculiar make-no-sense note. The kids parents are very funny (FYI his mom just beat Angela Lansbury, Swoozie Kurts and Vanessa Redgrave for the Best Actress Tony this year so you know she's hot). But did I really need to see one of the Autobots (heh) "pee" on John Turturro? He is lamely miscast, but I hope he got paid extra for that.

When Michael Bay guest hosted "On The Lot" a few weeks back, he critiqued one of the short films by saying something like "You took a two minute movie and stretched it to three minutes, and it just started to feel repetitive." Well Mr. Bay, while I appreciate the nudge-nudge joke where someone in the movie yells "this is so much better than Armaggedon!" (one of your previous movies), I still think you took a close to two hour movie and stretched it to close to three.

Overall, better than Silver Surfer (which is like saying you smell better than burnt microwave popcorn), but looses big time to Die Hard as far as sheer fun factor.

No doubt though, the special effects of the - I'm sorry, but I giggle everytime I have to say Autobot - are pretty amazing. Too bad the cameras move around so fast that you really have no idea what is happening during the fight sequences. I still don't know which one of the robots died. (But I think it was the "Black" one, which is unbelievably cliche, is this a horror movie or something???) I liked the kid a lot, Shia whatever. David didn't. He liked the girl. I didn't. She had some super lame dialogue ("I am NOT leaving without Bumblebee!"), but mostly it was the thick makeup. I can't stand that.

Anyway, I walked out happy, and the more we talked about it, the lamer I realized it was. So I'd suggest having something really fun to do right after you see the movie to distract you from ever talking about it. Then you'll get your ten dollars worth without having to feel guilty about liking something so formula.

Bonus: the very beginning of the movie was filmed in White Sands New Mexico. Then the next part of the movie is set in DC. How super awesome is that??? Then they go to Hoover Dam for a bit of silly movie fun, and drive minutes away to the huge metropolis of Boulder City. Um, as someone who has driven through Boulder City many times, I'm pretty sure there is no massive tangle of freeways or concrete jungle of skyscrapers. There isn't even one skyscraper. I know it was movie-world, but still it was kinda funny. Plus the movie world version of Boulder City is populated by morons, who can't seem to figure out that when giant robots in the shape of tanks and helicopters and stuff start knocking down buildings while they fight, maybe it would be a good idea to just run in the OPPOSITE direction? If you are too stupid to just run away, I don't have to feel bad when you get squished by debris, I'm just saying.

Ooh ooh ooh! But wait, we saw a killer preview! I missed the title of the movie, it doesn't come out until January, but was an awesome preview of some kids in NY at a party, like being filmed on a camcorder, and it looks sort of like a horror movie but I'm thinking there are way too many people around. And then there is a huge explosion and something throws the head of the Statue of Liberty down the street. Way awesome destruction, and I always love the preview that doesn't give much away. So I'm all excited by that, and I just pray the producers are smart and that is all I ever see about it until the movie comes out. I'm positive that if I find out what the monster is (aliens? Godzilla? Mini-Me?) the movie will be less fun. I wish I didn't have to wait until January, but I'm stoked. Way more than for the movie called "Superbad". Now, while you may have noticed I'm a fan of the hyperbolic adjective, I somehow think that calling your movie "Superbad" is like giving the critics a rope to hang you with. Just saying.

Cool flowers

Yesterday morning we went to the nearby Aquatic Park. No, it isn't what it sounds like, exactly. It is an actual park, and old aquatic garden actually that has been made a national park. Right along the river, it is a series of ponds that some rich guy a hundred years ago made for his wife, and filled them all with different kinds of water lillies. It is a pretty big park, and we did some very nice walking, even though the river was at low tide so we saw a lot of mud. But the lily pads are great with some pretty awesome flowers. The really cool lily pads, the big amazonian Victorian Lillies that look like big platters weren't out yet. We talked to a ranger who said the weather has been so weird they've been keeping them in the greenhouse, but they should be planted next week sometime, and by August should be ready to bloom. He said they only bloom for two nights, the first night a white flower, the second night a pink one. Love that. Anyway, so we'll go back in August to see those.

But in addition to all the cool plants, there were also lots of really awesome dragonflies. There were these ones that were white with black wings that looked like Asian fans, I'd never seen any like them before. And we even saw a beaver in one of the side creeks! It bolted when it saw us, but that was my first wild beaver sighting, so I was pretty excited. We could hear frogs, but never could find one. And there were a bunch of Canadian Geese bathing in one of the smaller ponds, so that was funny to watch.

A nice morning. Crazy the cool stuff that is just minutes from our house. Have I mentioned I love it here yet?

Pirate Master 7/5

Well, at least we still have the guy with the fake accent. The three most powerful guys seem to have something of a stranglehold on the win at the moment, though things like that always find a way of failing. I'm torn, because Jay is the only person playing hard enough to deserve the win, but I have a terrible weakness for rooting for the underdogs. Which leaves me in the curious position of not caring as much as I want to. I still can't get over how everyone is trying so hard not to play the game like pirates. Joe Don seems like he could be conniving, but then almost everytime he opens his mouth to talk to his competitors he says the most stupid thing possible. Plus he's a jerk, and now that he is making out with the slut girl (er, wench?) I can't say I find him terribly classy either. But if he goes, Louie won't be far behind, and at least he *looks* like a pirate and can make me laugh. Fake Accent Captain is just annoying me with his ego - I hate it when people get a bit of power and suddenly start feeling comfortable like they deserve it. Yeah right. But I will give him credit for picking Jay and blondie as his crew to keep them on his treasure-hunting team. Smart. But the crew needs to mutiny like now, just to see what happens, we've never really been told how that works.

But they kicked off the right person at least. Weak links are boring, even if they are nice. This is strategy folks, not just who you want to be BFF's with. If this show miraculously makes it to another season (has anyone been paying any attention to ratings?), the producers need to sit the contestants down and give them a good talking-to about strategy. Pirates! You are Pirates for crying out loud!

Leslie Uggams is Bustin Out All Over

This video is required viewing material for all theatre nerds, and never stops being funny to me. Whoever posted this does a little of their own editing which is cute, although totally unnecessary. Anyway, Leslie Uggams was performing years back at a 4th of July celebration in the Mall, and made a lot of people happy with her rendition of "June Is Busin' Out All Over" from "Carousel". The resolution isn't great, but try and check out the one gay guy in the audience who seems to be the only person aware that something might be going wrong. Heh - only a true star can *almost* get away with this, and she would have to, if it hadn't been for those pesky video cameras...

Happy 4th!

We were invited to the home of our fabulous friend Tom for a BBQ last night. Originally we'd been thinking we'd brave the madness of the National Mall to see the big firework show, but just as we arrived at Tom's we learned the entire Mall had been evacuated because of a tornado warning. It reopened in time for people to come back to see the fireworks, but still, outside in the rain isn't where I'd have wanted to be.

Plus we met some terrific new people at the party. Mainly a bunch of fellow theatre geeks - Tom has a new grand piano, so he played while we all sang show tunes. David got up and sang "Oh What A Beautiful Morning" and everyone was appropriately impressed. I wanted him to sing more, I love listening to him sing. Right at the end we got into a great conversation with another couple about Harry Potter. They are convinced that Harry is a Christ-like figure and, as such, must die at the end of the next book. I say, nice theory, but there is no way Rowling is going to kill Harry. I also still refuse to believe that Snape is evil. Nasty yes, but not evil. Another two weeks and we'll see though. ::grin:: In the meantime we're having a Harry Potter fest and renting all the movies. I wanted to re-read all the books, but I don't have books 2 or 3 and the library is all checked out. Yikes, I'm such a nerd.

Get out of jail free

Politics never cease to amaze me, how standards change depending on if "our" guy is in power or not. President Bush keeps Scooter Libby out of jail because suddenly he feels that the normal sentance for perjury is just "excessive". But I do find it interesting that while we impeached our last president for perjury (about sex), we now say punishment is too harsh for perjury over leaking classified information concerning national security. And remember, Scooter Libby wasn't prosecuted for what he said about Valerie Plame, so whatever you believe about her is besides the point. He was prosecuted for lying to a grand jury. So is lying under oath no big deal anymore?

As far as this being a political prosecution, I think Orin Kerr sums that up nicely:

The Scooter Libby case has triggered some very weird commentary around the blogosphere; perhaps the weirdest claim is that the case against Libby was "purely political."

I find this argument seriously bizarre. As I understand it, Bush political appointee James Comey named Bush political appointee and career prosecutor Patrick Fitzgerald to investigate the Plame leak. Bush political appointee and career prosecutor Fitzgerald filed an indictment and went to trial before Bush political appointee Reggie Walton. A jury convicted Libby, and Bush political appointee Walton sentenced him. At sentencing, Bush political appointee Judge Walton described the evidence against Libby as "overwhelming" and concluded that a 30-month sentence was appropriate. And yet the claim, as I understand it, is that the Libby prosecution was the work of political enemies who were just trying to hurt the Bush Administration.

I find this claim bizarre. I'm open to arguments that parts of the case against Libby were unfair. But for the case to have been purely political, doesn't that require the involvement of someone who was not a Bush political appointee? Who are the political opponents who brought the case? Is the idea that Fitzgerald is secretly a Democratic party operative? That Judge Walton is a double agent? Or is the idea that Fitzgerald and Walton were hypnotized by "the Mainstream Media" like Raymond Shaw in the Manchurian Candidate? Seriously, I don't get it.

Coming days after this Administration flat out refused to comply with Congressional subpoenas over the illegal politicalization of the Justice Department, I think this, once again, emphasizes the fact that this President thinks he and his people are above the rule of law. And it just stuns me that the so-called "conservative" party thinks that is okay. Since there are few politicians that ever willingly give up ceded new powers, it will be fascinating to see what happens when the next Democratic president pulls these same stunts. How will the Republicans argue against them? How many Democrats will feel uneasy but not say anything because they'll feel the Republicans deserve the payback? It is a vicious cycle, and I believe this is bad, bad news for this country.

The Witches of Eastwick

Tonight David and I took a quick drive over to Shirlington Village to see a production of "The Witches of Eastwick" at the Signature Theatre. We'd both heard of the theatre for years, it has quite the reputation, so it was a bit exciting to get to see a show there in person. Also exciting was that this was the first bit of professional theatre I'd seen since, well, the last time I was in NY and caught "Taboo" and "The Boy From Oz". So I was definitely ready for some good theatre action.

It's been years since I saw the movie version, which I remember as a lot of fun. I'd like to see it again now though, because I think it just works better than as a musical. Or at least better than this musical. The show is at its best during the scenes, especially anytime Daryl (the devil?) is around. The dialogue was sexy and clever and extremely funny. Unfortunately no one else fared quite as well. The women are never really fleshed out as individuals to the point you really care about them. The poor ensemble was really left with little, though I'll give them credit for finding some fun characterizations. The ingenue couple were just bland and boring (and saddled with the most bland and boring love song), but at least the girl (Erin Driscoll) had a crystal clear voice and had opportunity to make some interesting choices right near the end.

But the biggest flaw was the score. I was pretty much bored anytime they were singing, unless Darryl was around. Most of the songs fit slots, The Ingenue Love Song, the Mean Lady Rant, the Ensemble Gossip Song. But they were undistinguished and mostly irrelevant to the story.

It wasn't all bad though, and despite my problems with the show, I still had a great time. The only thing wrong with Emily Skinner was her wig, which was unfathomly awful. (Like Jessica Alba's fake tan in the Silver Surfer movie, I simply cannot tolerate bad hair or makeup. There is just no excuse.) But her voice just excites me, and she worked it. A big surprise was Christiane Noll. I've never been a fan, but she was funny in the Susan Sarandon role, and her voice was just sublime. But by far the show's biggest asset was its devil, Marc Kudisch. He was in one of the first Broadway shows I saw when I first moved to New York, the underrated "High Society", and also one of my favorite Broadway flops, "The Wild Party". He was in fine form this evening. He sings, he dances, the man can even do the splits. There wasn't hardly a thing he did that didn't garner a laugh from the audience. He was the life blood of the show, and anytime he was onstage the show was delicious. There are few male Broadway stars, but he deserves to be one of them.

Nitpicks aside, it was a very fun evening, and I'm very glad to have gone. I laughed a lot and really enjoyed being in a professional theatre again. Talented people just make me happy, and there were many in this company. Next season they are doing Kander and Ebb's "The Happy Time" and Chita is coming back with "The Visit". So we'll be back for sure.

Spoiler Alert

Today David and I walked over to Union Station for a little old-fashioned summer movie fun. On the agenda: Live Free or Die Hard. Unlike our previous attempt to see a fun summer flick, this one was an unbridled success. First of all, Bruce Willis is like my favorite movie star ever. He embodies all things that are cool, like God took cool and made it into human form. He sweats cool. In this movie he bleeds cool. If I were somewhere in peril, he would absolutely be the action hero I'd want to come rescue me and save the day making jokes all along the way.

The movie itself is just one tongue-in-cheek joke away from "Charlie's Angels" territory, but from me that is a compliment. This is a movie where the hero runs over a fire hydrant so that the spray of water shoots up and knocks a would-be assassin with a machine gun out of the pursuing helicopter. Seriously. They go there. Reality is nowhere to be seen, but you are having so much fun in the process you don't care. I was laughing out loud at some of the stunts, but I was totally laughing with them, not at them. The rest of the audience, again unlike my previous experience with the Silver Surfer movie, was also laughing and hooting along. But it was all participatory, which is the best crowd to see a movie like this.

So thank you Bruce Willis, and your producers who understand how to make a fun movie. One suggestion, Kevin "Silent Bob" Smith plays a small part as a computer-geek with skills. With a movie this silly, just try and convince me that it wouldn't have been the ultimate of awesomeness had they cast John Hodgman instead.