A Fantastick Reunion

So three separate thoughts for this post.  First of all, it's been snowing a bit here in the big apple.  Kari and I had dinner Friday night after work and she wanted to take pictures in the snow on our way back:

Snow!

Basically it's been very cold here.  And actually yesterday the boiler in my apartment broke so we had no hot water or heat for 24 hours.  It was extremely cold but we bundled up and got out the space heaters so all in all it wasn't the worst evening of my life.

There were 2 exciting events that I went to this weekend!  The first is that I saw the musical The Fantasticks.  It's a very old musical that started in 1960...and it definitely shows.  Basically you can tell it's dated when watching it.  Not to say it isn't good, I enjoyed it, but it's not a musical I could see a million times.  I had seen it before by a rep company in Portland and I liked it but I probably would not have wanted to see this version if it didn't star anybody famous.  Aaron Carter was in this version, which was fun because he was a pop singer when I was in middle school.  The best part was I got to take a picture with him after the show.  13 year old me would be so proud.

If you're interested in a then and now, this is what Aaron Carter was like when he was really big and I knew who he was:



The other thing I did this weekend is I went to a concert that a friend of mine from high school did.  We were both involved in the Youth Rep theatre and did Les Miserables and The Secret Garden.  I haven't seen him probably in 9 years maybe?  So it was amazing to see him again, and he is so talented! He wrote all of the songs that were sung and sang one of them himself.  I also ran into a couple of other guys from Youth Rep and I had the best time catching up with them and seeing how well they are doing for themselves.  Now I just hope we can get this Youth Rep reunion figured out!!

The poster for Blake's concert

Monster's INC....in 3D!

Well the title actually sums up what this post is about, so oh well.

On Saturday I went with Monica to see Monster's Inc in 3D.  They rereleased it and since that is one of the Disney/Pixar movies I've always really loved I thought it would be fun to see it in 3D and on the big screen.  It was definitely worth it to go!  I had actually forgotten how much I love that movie until I saw it again.

My favorite thing about Pixar movies is twofold.  1) They usually include a short film before the movie actually starts and 2) they usually include bloopers.

So for fun, here is the short film at the beginning of Monsters Inc:


And here are the bloopers:

Cupcakes and Plays

This last weekend was fairly eventful actually.  It was the weekend of the big theatre booking conference so I was previewing a few shows for my dad that he might bring to his theatre.  Here are my reviews of the shows I saw:

5 Lesbians Eating A Quiche

This was a strange play.  It started out super cute and funny.  It was basically about a group of women in 1956 at their annual quiche breakfast.  It started out and they were being silly and overly proper...and then everything went downhill as soon as the atomic bomb hit.  Yes, you read that correctly.  Basically the atomic bomb goes off, all the women come clean about being lesbians (which wasn't surprising considering the title), but then one of the women is pregnant and there's talk about how the baby must be the one to repopulate the world (creepy), and then how he will never know the egg (because all the quiches are outside still) so one of the women decides that she will be heroic and go get the quiches from outside.  The door, meanwhile, can be opened once and only once.  So she goes out, comes back in, but then they accidentally let the door closed and she is trapped on the other side.  Everyone is sad and they stare at her out the window and apologize that she isn't going to make it and then the actress falls back and you stop seeing her face in the window...and then someone squeezes some kind of red gel-ish liquid at the window.  Yes...she exploded.  So...basically a very strange play that didn't end so amazingly.

King Kong Radio Theatre

This was basically watching a radio show.  It was pretty interesting.  The actors were very talented and their voices were very much radio voices.  Technically it was pretty cool too.  There was a smoke machine at various points and great (pre-recorded) orchestrations.  The only problem with this show, however, was that it was a little boring.  I think it just had to do with the fact that I'm not super into King Kong as a story and I felt it kind of dragged.  I think it would be interesting to see this same troupe perform a different story however.

Celebrity Autobiography

This was by far my favorite show of the weekend.  It's basically a show where actors (generally B-list celebrities) come up on stage and read various excerpts from other celebrities' autobiographies.  It was hysterical to say the least and the group of readers was a fun selections of celebrities I know including: Mario Cantone, Tony Danza (!), Rachel Dratch, Janeane Garofalo, and Alan Zweibel.  The dramatic readings were so funny and the way they grouped the readings made it that much more enjoyable.  I would definitely go see this show again, especially because depending on the performance the readers and what they are reading is different.

Also this weekend, Kari and I were bored so we decided to make rainbow cupcakes!  We took a funfetti cake mix and turned it different colors and layered the colors so the cupcakes were a rainbow!  It was a fun and tasty evening for sure :)

Christmas and New Years

Well better late than never, right?

Yeah...we're going to go with that one.

Anyway, here's a pictorial account of my fun visit to California for Christmas!

This strange fellow was riding the airport shuttle in Seattle during my layover...

My grandfather has a museum where he keeps the old things he's collected.  This is him with his saddle!

My grandmother and I made cookies out of leftover pie crust!

Again in the museum - this was what my grandparents' cattle was branded. Heart Bar!

This picture is hanging in my grandparents' house.  I'm just so cute I wanted to share :P

In the Christmas spirit!

My grandmother and I also made pretzel candies

The Mission Inn always has this great light display at Christmas. This is the first time I've seen it!

My aunt and uncle's kitty cat :)

More lights at Mission Inn

Christmas morning!

Making boxes at my aunt's house

My aunt's dog, Bubba

New Years Eve - On my way home from work.  They had started blocking everything off in the morning.

New Years Eve party supplies!

Happy New Year!

Happy 2013!

So far in 2013 I have partied with friends, old and new, slept, and now I will make cinnamon rolls.  I think it seems like a pretty good year so far!