| Saturday, March 29, 2008 |
| 36 Hours in Berkeley |
The New York Times spent three whole days in Berkeley and they want to warn you: "Public transportation in the Berkeley area is limited, so rent a car."
Not only is Berkeley served by BART (three stops), but there are at least a few dozen AC Transit bus routes going through town. Plus, the city is small enough that you can walk most places you'd want to visit. Most importantly, though, THERE'S NO PARKING ANYWHERE. And every single side street is blocked by some kind of traffic calming device. To drive in Berkeley would reduce an out-of-towner to tears in no time.
The only place in Berkeley that offers free, convenient parking is Shotgun Players, which is across the street from the Ashby BART station and is allowed to use its lot at night. New York Times readers: check it out! Now playing is "Mrs. Warren's Profession," a George Bernard Shaw play that was considered shocking in its day (the late 19th century and even into the 20th) because the titular profession is running whorehouses. If I hadn't known that going into the play, it might have taken me a while to figure it out, because everything is so heavily couched in euphemism. Something of an early forerunner of the Joan Crawford weepie "Mildred Pierce," "Mrs. Warren's Profession" is about the estrangement between mother and daughter when the latter finds out just how her mum has been paying for her fancy education. It's interesting to consider the fact that daughter Vivie's own profession -- she works as an actuary and studies law, and, she says, "when I'm tired of working, I like a comfortable chair, a cigar, a little whisky, and a novel with a good detective story in it" -- was nearly as shocking as the fact that her mom was a madam.
How times have changed: meanwhile, over a century later, Dennis Lehane (Mystic River) can pepper a script with about 100 F-bombs and it attracts an appreciative audience of grayhairs at a senior citizen matinee. (What was I doing there? Hey, no one asks you for proof of age when you buy those discounted tickets.) Lehane's noirish play "Coronado" is having its West Coast premiere at the SF Playhouse, a tiny theater tucked away in a second-floor space on Sutter St. The elevator wasn't working, which meant a lot of folks with canes were moving up and down the stairs very slowly. The play's first act switches back and forth between three couples in a Texas bar -- a pair of adulterous lovers, a father and his son who's freshly out of prison, and a therapist and his patient/lover. After a while, you start to realize that these seemingly discrete couples are somehow connected; the mystery unfolds before you in a most clever and satisfying way, as the theater's small stage makes an impressive transition from a saloon to a desolate plot of land in the middle of nowhere. |
posted by 125records @ 9:20 PM  |
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| Friday, March 28, 2008 |
| The five stages of "Dancing With the Stars" |
1. Disbelief: "That is the stupidest idea for a show I've ever heard."
2. Mocking: "These aren't even stars! Monique Coleman? Shandi Finnessey? Sabrina Bryan? Who are these people?"
3. Curiosity: "Paul McCartney's ex-wife with the fake leg is going to be on? Marlee Matlin is going to compete even though she's deaf? I wonder how that will go."
4. Anger: "Dammit, now they've actually gotten one of my favorite celebrities to appear on the show, which means I have to start watching it."
5. Acceptance: "Wait a second, this show is really fun and entertaining!"
The celebrity who finally got us hooked on DWtS was comedian and radio DJ Adam Carolla. I mean, we'd even watched the entire run of his home-improvement show, "The Adam Carolla Project." We had to find out if he could dance!
The answer: well, kind of. At least he was better than Penn Jillette, the tall, vocal half of magic duo Penn & Teller, a man with two impossibly large left feet. We made several phone calls voting for Adam and were extremely excited when he advanced. I suspect he will have to make almost superhuman improvement in the next week to survive further into the competition -- there are some really good dancers on the show, especially ice skater Kristi Yamaguchi and R&B singer Mario. But who knows, he might best Steve Guttenberg.
The thing is, even after Adam gets eliminated, I'm going to keep watching the show, joining the ranks of people around the world (local versions of DWtS are popular in over 20 countries, from Austria to the Ukraine) who have discovered that ballroom dancing is fun to watch. Plus, it's beautifully shot and looks fantastic in HD.
I suspect that the long-awaited release of Adam's movie "The Hammer" was somehow timed to coincide with his appearance on DWtS; it had played at film festivals in 2007, but no studio wanted to touch it because Carolla had insisted on playing the lead himself in the underdog story he created with writer Kevin Hench.
The movie finally got into a handful of theaters through a company called International Film Circuit, and, lo and behold, critics and audiences have been discovering its charms. Most of the reviews of "The Hammer" seem to have a tone of mild amazement that a film starring the former co-host of "The Man Show" is sweet and charming instead of crude and rude.
In "The Hammer," Adam plays Jerry, a just-turned-40 L.A. loser, a construction worker and part-time boxing instructor who was a promising fighter much earlier in his life. A couple of flukes bring Jerry to the attention of a boxing coach who invites him to an Olympic try-out. Jerry's powerful left hook knocks down some younger and seemingly stronger men, and he becomes a most unlikely contender. In a cute romantic subplot, Jerry woos a public defender played by Heather Juergensen.
One of the nice things about the movie is that Juergensen and Carolla seem like real people, and the supporting cast is equally authentic: for instance, Jerry's best friend is played by Oswaldo Castillo, a close pal of Adam's in real life who was one of the construction workers on "The Adam Carolla Project." The gym where much of "The Hammer" was shot, Pasadena's Bodies in Motion, was one of the construction sites Adam and Ozzie worked on together during their pre-showbiz careers. He may be an amateur actor with a heavy accent, but he's also funny as hell in the movie.
"The Hammer" is being held over for a second week in Berkeley, and is opening at a bunch more theaters today, so check and see if it's playing near you. If it helps his film get noticed, Adam's spins on the dance floor will have been worthwhile.
One final note about "The Hammer": It's rated R. I have no idea why. I don't even remember any curse words in it, though I guess there must have been a couple. In a just world, a movie like this would get a PG while "Saw" and "Hostel" and their sequels would be rated NC-17. |
| posted by 125records @ 11:05 AM |
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| Sunday, March 23, 2008 |
| South by Southwest (to Palo Alto) |
Joe & I went down to Palo Alto yesterday to visit his dad and check out "North by Northwest" at the Stanford Theater. I've wanted to see "NXNW" for years, and have kept missing it (I believe its last local presentation was at the Cerrito Theater, but we were in Florida that weekend). And no, renting the DVD was not an option. Anyway, perhaps it was the years of build-up, and seeing that Cary Grant-running-from-the-cropduster footage during every Chuck Workman "great movie moments" Oscars montage, but I found it a bit disappointing, especially compared to other Hitchcock films of his Hollywood era (I'm partial to "Vertigo," which came out just one year earlier, and "Rear Window"). I loved the noir set-up, with Grant's ad man being mistaken for a spy, but the film just seemed a bit too long and convoluted, and Eva Marie Saint's character seems like a lesser blonde when compared to the likes of Grace Kelly and Kim Novak. Not that it was bad, mind you, I just don't think I'd call it a masterpiece.
We had lunch at Caffe Riace, which was, sadly, free of celebrities, but had a lovely ambiance on its outdoor plaza. A nearby couple was dining with their two poodles, which were dressed in tiny country club logo'ed tennis outfits and sitting in a pink baby carriage. A woman happened by at one point and started talking to them, I overheard the couple say they live in Atherton, which is an incredibly wealthy Silicon Valley community and the home of the most affluent ZIP code in the U.S., according to Forbes. If you're rich enough, I suppose, you can push your poodles around in a baby carriage without anyone laughing at you. Of course, I'm enough of a dog nut that I found it slightly adorable.
One of the fun things about visiting Joe's dad is seeing all the new technology he's accumulated since our last visit. He is an early adopter and always buys stuff the day it comes out. This time, he had an Amazon Kindle, which unfortunately didn't seem to be working (at least I couldn't figure it out -- I don't think he's used it much yet), and one of those super-thin Mac laptops that the ad shows being slid into a manila envelope. If I traveled a lot, I would definitely consider getting one of those because it's so light. As for the Kindle, since I'm such a dedicated library user, I can't see spending $400 for an e-reader, but it would be cool if a lot of out of print titles were somehow made available for the Kindle. Not sure how that could happen, but really, if you could download, say, the collected works of Lenore Glen Offord (a rather obscure mid-20th century mystery author my book group will be reading next month), that would be an incentive to buy it.
Before heading home, we had dinner at Darbar, where we got enough Indian leftovers to last us a couple days at least. |
| posted by 125records @ 6:41 PM |
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| Thursday, March 20, 2008 |
| New challenge |
I've chosen two projects for this challenge: the aforementioned Battle of the Books in Columbus, OH and Bridges to Beautiful Cultures in Alameda, CA. If you're reading this, you have probably already donated (thanks!), but with the help of a friend, I have a new plan underway that should fully fund these projects. You may as well stay tuned and find out what it's about. Details to follow... |
| posted by 125records @ 5:21 PM |
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| Wednesday, March 19, 2008 |
| WE DID IT! |
Yesterday, I challenged my readers to help buy books for a local schoolteacher who had placed a request on DonorsChoose.org. She needed $344. I figured if my friends could come up with half of it, I would match the remaining $172.
Well, I woke up this morning and the request had been fully funded... plus, I still had an additional $95 in my purse that I'd collected at my book club last night. I was able to apply that money to fully fund the teacher's second project.
I'm stunned and delighted that so many people out there wanted to help put books in kids' hands... and to do it in under 24 hours is amazing!!! I can't thank you enough.
But perhaps you don't check this blog every day, and you're sorry you missed out on this opportunity! Well, thanks to my friend Janet I-D, here's another teacher in need, in her hometown of Columbus, OH. Mrs. K teaches math and science and facilitates a reading group for fourth and fifth graders. She writes: "Many of the students have no way of getting to a public library and can not afford to purchase the books we read. They truly enjoy reading and love the discussions and projects." Unlike the other two projects, which were for an in-school library, this one will give low income students their own books which they can take home. What a great gift for these kids! Help encourage their love of reading my donating today! I've kicked it off with my promised $172 in matching funds, so we just need to raise $404 to complete the request. That sounds like a lot of money, but after yesterday, I believe it will happen!
Donate to this project |
| posted by 125records @ 10:29 AM |
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| Tuesday, March 18, 2008 |
| Let's help kids read! |
The local schools have been in the news here lately due to budget cuts. Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger has demanded a 10 percent cut across state services to help reduce a state budget deficit, and it looks like class sizes will be getting bigger and programs like music and sports will be drastically reduced or eliminated. Oh, and if you think you can avoid the problems by home-schooling your kids, think again.
These days, a lot of teachers have to resort to private donations to afford things like basic school supplies, audiovisual equipment -- even books! I was browsing the DonorsChoose.org database -- that's a 501(c)3 nonprofit organization that matches givers with needy classrooms. The title of this post, "We Love Mysteries!," caught my eye, because, well, I love mysteries!
Reading teacher "Ms. F" is looking for $344 to buy books for her students (grades 3-5). "Our stock of books is sadly deteriorating after years of use," she writes. "Having their hands on books is what these kids need, since many of them come from families who simply cannot afford to buy books whenever they want!" She notes that the kids love reading mysteries, but also wants to "include more genres and more topics to motivate struggling readers."
So far, Ms. F has raised... $0 in the 5 weeks this post has been up at DonorsChoose.org. By the end of this week (March 23), I would like to fully fund Ms. F's request. I will match every dollar you donate. Every day this week, I'll check back in and see how the challenge is going. It will be really, really embarrassing if it's still $0, so please don't disappoint me. Even $1 or $5 will help.
Did I mention that DonorsChoose.org is a Charity Navigator 4-star charity, and that every DonorsChoose project must meet stringent eligibility requirements to make sure that your donation will go directly to help students?
Help fund this project!
Edited to add: I have no way of knowing who is donating; the people I thanked in the comments are the ones who let me know that they had given. If you do donate, you should receive a thank-you from the school.
Also, as I mention below, if my readers donate over $172 to this request, I will add the rest of my matching funds to another Ms. F project.
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| posted by 125records @ 8:54 AM |
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| Thursday, March 13, 2008 |
| We're going to need a bigger broom |
Updates:
Me vs. the leaves: The Tree Guy came back yesterday with his Trio of Tree Dudes to trim everything in sight except for the squirrel-harboring oak. The Tree Dudes climbed ladders and chopped and sawed; then they toted away the branches, and blew away the leaves with a leaf blower. For 10 minutes, until the leaves started to fall again, the backyard looked wonderful. I started fantasizing about buying my own gas-powered leaf blower. Sure, the city council's threatening to make 'em illegal, but it's a small yard; it would only take, like, 5 minutes a day to clean! Who would notice the noise? Instead, I went out and bought a big wide push broom. Then it rained last night and the leaves got all soggy. Ugh.
TiVo woes: I am furiously knocking on wood, but since friendly & helpful Luis, whom I am starting to think of as our own personal Cable Guy, made a couple trips over to our house to install new cable cards, there's been no macroblocking.
Apropos of nothing: Hey, you can listen to Eliot Spitzer's hooker's music at AmieStreet.com! No need to pay .98; just click on the little arrow and you'll get a free preview. Of course, if you really want to hear the whole thing, then you can pay .98. It'll take Ashley a lot of downloads to earn the equivalent of one night with the Luv Guv. |
| posted by 125records @ 10:06 PM |
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| Tuesday, March 11, 2008 |
| Leaf me alone |
A few weeks ago, the brick in my backyard started attracting a cover of leaves. I thought this was a bit odd, since aren't leaves supposed to fall in, well, the fall? I swept them up and put them in the green trash bin, which is for organic waste (it's composted).
More leaves fell. More sweeping. More leaves. At this point, I figured something had to be wrong; I was also starting to feel some empathy for gardeners who use leaf blowers, which I have railed against for years. Maybe the big oak tree in the backyard had some dead branches that needed to be removed. I called a tree guy.
The tree guy, who had maintained the tree for the house's previous owners, looked up and pronounced the tree healthy. He said it wouldn't need pruning again 'til the fall. "Look at that," he said, pointing to a brown clump far up in the tree. "That's a squirrel nest."
Yes, it turns out squirrels are to blame for my leaf woes. They have been chomping branches in order to gather material for their nests, in the process killing them off and causing brown leaves to tumble to the ground. The tree guy seemed sanguine about it, with kind of a "whaddaya gonna do?" shrug. I guess I'm in for a summer of sweeping.
The previous occupants had a couple people come in twice a month to do the gardening; I am going to try to do it myself, figuring that it'll be a nice, healthy thing to do, and hopefully 15-30 minutes a day will keep it under control. So far, I've tried going out with a set of clippers to cut away anything that looks like it doesn't belong. Still, the greenery is growing larger and bushier by the day; I stand alone against the onslaught of plants and squirrels, pruning shears in hand. |
| posted by 125records @ 4:18 PM |
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| Monday, March 10, 2008 |
| Shouldering the burden |
About a week and a half ago, I started experiencing some excruciating pain in my right shoulder. It hurt pretty much all the time, but especially when I was on the computer, so I wound up sending an email to the clients I was working with at the moment telling them I had to take a few days off. I spent a few days taking tons of ibuprofen and lying in bed a lot -- about the only time my shoulder didn't hurt was if I was lying down on my left-hand side.
I went to see my doctor, who diagnosed me with a pinched nerve -- and it turns out the best thing to do is to rest and take ibuprofen, which is exactly what I was doing. A few days later, my shoulder felt OK. However, the experience was pretty scary; as a self-employed person, I'm really vulnerable to anything that could prevent me from working. There's no one around to pick up my slack.
Needless to say, blogging fell by the wayside while I was recovering and then trying to catch up on work.
If you are reading this after spending more than 1 hour in front of the computer without moving anything other than your arms, get up and do some of these exercises (especially the pec corner stretch, which was recommended to me by a massage therapist who treats a lot of heavy computer users). |
| posted by 125records @ 11:37 AM |
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| About Me |
Name: Sue
Home: San Francisco Bay Area, California, United States
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