Thanksgiving wrap-up

My long weekend in photos...

A most delicious feast to celebrate my favorite holiday...:

...Highlighted by the addition of a fried turkey (tastes much better than it looks):

Max, the Pilgrim, gets creative with disposable dinnerware during our hour-long, neighborhood-wide power outage. We ate by candlelight, which was actually kind of nice and romantic for a Thanksgiving dinner:

I went to the Redskins game today, thanks to an invitation from Bi-Anh and her company's club-level seating. Seats were great, atmosphere was fun, but as we all know, it ended in all-too familiar Redskins fashion. This has easily been the most heartbreaking and frustrating season in recent memory. We needn't get into the details, though. About 45 seconds after this photo was taken, the game ended in an anticlimactic overtime:

Twas a great Thanksgiving weekend overall, including a nice range of all my favorite things: food, friends, family, football (F's galore!!!), and a wee bit of shopping (just a wee). But after the fun and a 2-hour escape from FedEx field, I'm pooped...Just like Billie after another memorable Thanksgiving:

Current Music: Seen it All Before, by Amos Lee

Random blurbs

-Well, Laguna Beach Season 2 is history, Talan's getting married and starting a music career (um, was I the only one listening to him perform at the fashion show benefit? He wasn't good.), and Season 3 does not look promising. I just hope Laguna Beach doesn't go the way of the Real World Vegas, but that's what it's looking like. Sigh... once again, at least we have DVDs to relive the memories. I kind of missed the boat on this link, but in case anyone else hasn't seen it, read about how the kids of Laguna match up with our favorite professional athletes.

-Signed onto AIM the other day and realized I had new buddies automatically added to my list. This disturbed me at first, but then I discovered it was a new AIM bot and I actually found it useful! I didn't really find ShoppingBuddy useful (it seemed more like a Gap Ad than anything else), but I'll definitely be keeping MovieFone on my list. By "chatting" with this bot, you can quickly and easily find movie times for your preferred theater by entering a couple key terms. It may not be that much better than actually going to moviefone.com, but the idea of a buddy 'bot is kind of fun!

-Just finished reading A Million Little Pieces, the James Frey memoir and Oprah's most recent Book Club selection. It was fantastic. Graphic, raw, emotional, moving. Super intense. But really great. I recommend it. But then again Oprah already recommended it and over half a million people already listened, so what the heck does my opinion matter? Next up? James Frey's sequel, My Friend Leonard, which apparently picks up right where A Million Little Pieces left off...

-Speaking of Oprah... being one of her biggest fans (laugh away), I picked up her 20th anniversary DVD set yesterday. I'd kind of been waiting for something like this to come out, namely because there have been a number of really incredible Oprah shows I wish I'd taped (her trip to South Africa being is the first one that comes to mind). To make things better, Oprah, being Oprah, is donating 100% of the profits to her Angel Network. As one of my friends once quipped, she really is somewhere between Santa and Jesus.

-I'm looking forward to the next new episode of "Commander in Chief," as Zack Morris (sorry, Mark Paul Gosselaar, you'll always be Zack, especially with a hard-to-spell last name like that!) joins the cast to spice things up in the West Wing. I was also excited to learn that the first son, Horace (unfortunate name) enjoys blasting Interpol in his White House bedroom! Very cool.

That's all I've got for now. Looking forward to Thanksgiving, my favorite holiday week/weekend!


Current Music: Autumn Sweater, by Yo La Tengo

Seen and Heard update

It's been a while since I've done an update on the things I've been watching and the music I'm listening to, so here's my chance to catch you up:


Sex and The City: The Complete Series

After holding out on purchasing individual seasons, I rewarded myself with an early Christmas gift and purchased the entire "Sex and the City" DVD catalog. That's right, all six seasons--94 episodes worth--along with bonus features in one beautifully packaged pink suede album. All for a great bargain price (gotta love Costco!). As Steph said, for SATC fans, this is like the Holy Grail.

This is a great moment to tout the wonder of TV-on-DVD, as this week marked the sad announcement of Arrested Development's cancellation. It's always been a scary possibility, but it appears that this week FOX really gave the Emmy-award winning show the ax. It's such a shame, because I really think it's one of the most creative and entertaining shows on TV right now. Hopefully a diehard fan campaign can convince those FOX execs to keep it going. At the least, we'll have 3 seasons of DVDs to watch and enjoy...


Charlie and the Chocolate Factory

I finally saw this Tim Burton flick last night, and damn was it good! I mean, totally weird and occasionally dark and not really for kids, but that aside, it was really well-done and Johnny Depp really shined as the quirky and slightly freaky Willy Wonka. The two-disc deluxe edition DVD set was a nice purchase, as the bonus features offer some great insight to the making of the movie. Deep Roy, who I found out is only 4'4" tall, plays every one of the 165 Oompa-Loompas in the film, and the DVD offers a behind-the-scenes look at just how much work he put in to make that happen (while also giving you a chance to learn all his choreographed dance moves!). Another exciting bonus was a featurette on how the crew actually trained squirrels to star in the movie as nut-crackers. That's right, in a world of computer animation and special effects, that crazy Tim Burton insisted on getting 40 squirrels to learn how to act. Pretty amazing, if you ask me. Anyway, despite being a diehard fan of the 1971 version of "Willy Wonka and the Chocolate Factory," I was definitely entertained and impressed by Burton's adaptation of the original novel.


Cat Power :: The Greatest

Having never been a Cat Power fan in the past, but knowing that she (Chan Marshall) was big in the indie scene and also a Matador Records artist, I was not surprised when I heard and loved samplings of some of her new music from her upcoming album, The Greatest. I've been playing the title-track on repeat for the past few weeks...It's at the top of my current nightly On-The-Go playlist. As I understand it, this new album is a departure from her earlier sound, but as a new fan, I'm really digging it and will be sure to check out her older stuff.


Arooj Aftab :: Hallelujah

Everybody Cares, Everybody Understands is a fantastic music blog, and last week there was a great "Hallelujah Showdown" post in which a different versions of Leonard Cohen's Hallelujah were posted (including his original). I'd heard most of them, and I still think Jeff Buckley's version reigns supreme, but I was impressed after hearing Arooj Aftab's beautiful rendition. Arooj is an aspiring musician from Pakistan, currently studying at Berklee College of Music. My guess is that through Internet buzz, she'll be getting some great press soon enough. From the sound of her voice on this song, she shows some great potential.

The vacation is officially over

As you all may have noticed, I haven't updated since I started my new job. As predicted, it leaves little time for computer leisure, which we all know is one of my favorite hobbies. Suffice it to say, the dear old blog has and may continue to suffer.

But, onto the job! My first week went well. Starting on Wednesday and being allowed to wear jeans (since it's earnings period and we're ridiculously busy) was a good way to ease into it. So far I've just being doing a lot of paperwork, calling into orientation conferences (during which they actually call on you to answer questions, so you actually have to pay attention!!), and getting acquainted with the company. One thing I've learned is that there seems to be an endless amount of information about PR Newswire and all the products and services it provides (not to mention its "sister" companies), so I definitely haven't had a shortage of things to read.

I know once I get fully trained and start doing real work, I'll never be bored. It's constantly buzzing in the office, phones ringing and new press releases coming in and needing to be sent out at a moment's notice. In that sense, this is all very exciting to me! I likened it to being in the ER (or so I've seen on TV's "ER") in that you've got a big board of patients and your job is to clear the board. For us, we have a log of releases that keep coming in, and our job is to always keep it clear. Kinda cool!

Anyway, that's that. I'll try to keep up with this as best I can. Thanks for bearing with me!


Current Music: #41, by Dave Matthews Band

Oh What a World

What better way to top off my Halloween than to see Rufus Wainwright in concert? My concert-going buddies and I anticipated many more drag queens and people in costume than we actually witnessed, but that didn't matter. Rufus put on one hell of a show, and in terms of performance and bang-for-your-buck, it may have topped my list for 9:30 concert of the year.

OK Go was the opening band, and they really did a terrific job of warming everybody up for the main act. They do some great indie power-pop, sometimes gritty, other times light and fun, but most of the time catchy (as on "You're So Damn Hot," which they dedicated to Rufus). The highlight was definitely their last number, when lead singer Damien Kulash admitted the reason why Rufus picked them as the opening act was for their dance skills. He then announced something to the effect of "At the end of the day, it's all about selling CDs. They're back there and you can buy them. Instead of performing our single, we're going to play it right off the CD and dance to it." This seemed a bit odd at first, but then I realized OK Go has become known for this closing dance number. I won't try to describe it for you, but it was amazingly entertaining. And to give Kulash credit, it really did make me want to buy their CD. Lucky for you, the video of the "A Million Ways" dance can be played off their website.

After getting energized by OK Go, the crowd was pumped and ready for our man Rufus, who--even without his music-- never fails to entertain. This was Rufus's first of only five U.S. shows before he heads up to Canada and then Europe, so it was quite a treat to be able to see him. I was particularly excited to see how he would be with a big band, since the last two times I'd seen him he was solo on his piano/guitar. For one, I knew we could expect to hear a lot more off Want One (DreamWorks, 2003), which is definitely one of my favorite discs.

Rufus opened with "Oh What a World," which ended up being one of eight songs he performed off Want One. When he launched into "Natasha," I immediately got that warm and fuzzy feeling inside from hearing his incredible voice. Rufus is truly one of the best vocalists out there and probably my personal favorite. His classical music training has really made him an incredible talent, and his voice can fill up the corners of any room.

Admittedly, Rufus was still a little rusty from not having been on tour in a while, and he struggled to hit some high notes which he's had trouble with in the past ("Go or Go ahead"). On "Vibrate" he even beckoned the crowd to sing a verse along with him. Other highlights were old favorites "Poses" and his cover of Leonard Cohen's "Hallelujah." I also enjoyed hearing a jazzy/funky version of "The Art Teacher," one of my favorite tunes off Want Two (Geffen, 2004).

By far, though, the talk of last night's show was Rufus's theatrical performance toward the end of the show. During the instrumental section of "Old Whore's Diet," Rufus and his band ran off the stage and reappeared in white choir robes and performed a choreographed dance (no doubt inspired by Ok Go, to whom Rufus dedicated the song). They segued this directly into "Gay Messiah," which began with two roman guards carrying a huge white cross onto the stage. Rufus de-robed to reveal a turquoise toga/dress, and the guards placed a gold crown of thorns on his head, along with a glittery facemask and lipstick. This was certain to be the night's point of debate, as Rufus walked a fine line between blasphemy and pure entertainment. I definitely love Rufus for his ability to always shock and surprise us, that's for sure.

After all was said and done, Rufus performed for 2 hours and the crowd seemed extremely pleased and in absolute awe of him (and he seemed equally grateful). In my personal opinion, Rufus is truly one of the best live acts out there, if only for his ability to command the stage and transfix the crowd. He's one of those rare acts that I enjoy watching as much as listening. It's his mannerisms, his quirks, his charisma, and ultimately the idea that I can see the words he sings as they so effortlessly come out of his mouth.


Finally, if I kept your interest up til this point, here are some samplers of my favorite songs:

Poses (Poses)
A heart-wrenching ballad that illustrates Rufus's incredible songwriting and contains one of my favorite lyrics: Life is a game and true love is a trophy.

Go or Go Ahead (Want One)
Starts off with Rufus and guitar, but slowly builds to a fantastic crescendo and full-band theatrics for the chorus.

The Art Teacher (Want Two)
Beautiful song showcasing Rufus's voice. Featuring only Rufus on piano with a lovely french horn solo in the middle of the piece.

Happy Halloween!

This past weekend was filled with lots of Halloween spirit! Here are some fun photos (thumbnails) to guide you through the festivities...

I started out with a trip to NYC to hang out with Kyle, the cutest baby ever, and to see his other young friends. Here they are--all six of them--at a Halloween brunch. From left to right we have a pea in a pod & a chili pepper (twin girls), a fish, Darth Vader & Yoda (twin boys), and last but definitely not least, Kyle the bumblebee:

And because he's just so adorable and squeezable, here's a close-up of the bumblebee:

Yesterday was my last day at Treetop, so naturally I got all decked out in costume to go out with a bang on Halloween. Since I'm all about the homemade costumes, and since The Incredibles seemed to be a popular and sold-out store selection anyway, I put in a few arts & crafts hours last week to prepare for Halloween. (So did the twins' mom, who appears here as a toxic crayon!) Along with Batman (Max) and Snow White (Mira), here I am as Violet, the Incredible:

Finally, as part two of my costume-making work this year, I present Auddie as a Pepsi can (with her other mealtime friends):

Current Music: One More Night, by Stars