I realized last night that this July has brought forth five new babies amongst my friends and family. Apparently last October was super boring. So welcome to the world, Leah, Emma, Caleb, Phineas and Dashiell! To the parents of Caleb, Phineas and Dashiell, I'm beginning arranged-marriage proceedings for my niece Leah.
(Apparently weird names are making a comeback.)
But don't worry, I haven't become baby-obsessed or anything. I have yet to encounter a baby that has whatever that "new baby smell" is that so many women crow about. To me, they all smell vaguely of spit-up. There just hasn't been much to write about lately. Work, cooking, no money, et cetera. You know.
I did finally get the wedding pictures! So those will go up on Facebook/Flickr this weekend. Keep your eyes peeled!
Friday, July 30, 2010
Thursday, July 29, 2010
Sunday, July 25, 2010
Saturday, July 24, 2010
I'm an aunt!
This morning I became an aunt for the first time! To Leah, 8 lbs, 3 oz. Pictures to follow.
In honor of this, I'm hosting another giveaway at http://www.brokefoodie.com/. Go check it out!
In honor of this, I'm hosting another giveaway at http://www.brokefoodie.com/. Go check it out!
Tuesday, July 20, 2010
I'm having my first giveaway!
On my other blog--that's http://www.brokefoodie.com/, you knew that--I'm having my first giveaway! Register as a follower of Broke Foodie by midnight tonight and you could win a VinniBag! That's one of these:
Nifty, huh? It's an inflatable cushion thingey for wine bottles. So if you want to transport a bottle of wine in your checked luggage, for example, you just pop it into your VinniBag and you don't have to worry about it breaking and getting cabernet all over your clothes.
To sign up as a follower, scroll down the right-hand column until you see the box that says "Followers." Under the Facebook fan box. Add your name there!
And really, you should be following my blog ANYWAY. Let me feel the love!
Tuesday, July 13, 2010
Theatre review: The Taming of the Shrew
Petruchio: Come, come, you wasp, i’faith you are too angry.
Katherine: If I be waspish, best beware my sting.
Petruchio: My remedy is then to pluck it out.
Katherine: Ay, if the fool could find where it lies.
Petruchio: Who knows not where a wasp does wear his sting? In his tail.
Katherine: In his tongue.
Petruchio: Whose tongue?
Katherine: Yours, if you talk of tales, and so farewell.
Petruchio: What, with my tongue in your tail?
The Taming of the Shrew is the Old Globe’s third repertory production this summer, rounding out King Lear and The Madness of George III. We’re all familiar with the basic story, having been made into such other plays as Kiss Me Kate and movies like 10 Things I Hate About You. Katherine is a sharp-tongued, obdurate woman whose younger sister Bianca is desperate to marry. But their father won’t let Bianca marry until her older sister Katherine is married off first. Enter smooth-talking rogue Petruchio, who marries Katherine and “tames” her through a series of psychological torments (like withholding food, sleep and sex), until she’s as biddable and compliant as her giggly younger sister. Who then promptly marries.
Yes, it’s wildly misogynistic. But, also funny. It’s one of Shakespeare’s bawdier comedies, and while there are plot holes you could drive a truck through, no one cares with all the raunchy jokes and pratfalls. It’s a nice change of pace from the somber seriousness of King Lear and The Madness of George III.
Stylistically, this production is muddled. While ostensibly “period,” in the sense that the costumes and props are (mostly) sixteenth-century Elizabethan, there are several jarring touches, including a neon “The Taming of the Shrew” sign blazoned across the stage. The male leads are all dressed like gaudy Renaissance pimps—one with designer sunglasses—and the male ensemble members all look like Gumby the Village Idiot from early Monty Python sketches. There are several strange dances involving the ensemble and very long sticks, and a couple of dumb shows involving a horse costume (which handily defecates onstage). There’s a lot of the wink-wink slapstick comedy that sustained Shakespeare’s plebian audiences. So kudos to director Ron Daniels for upholding the play’s brash comedic authenticity, at least. While I appreciate the clever double-entredre wordplay around words like “bush” and “tail,” I could have done without the fake horse poop and the stick dances. And the neon sign.
Fortunately the actors know their stuff. With a lesser cast, this production might easily have devolved into a lot of sequined sound and fury, signifying nothing. This Petruchio and Katherine have a palpable chemistry together, which is often lacking, and this cast is the most energetic of the three plays. Jonno Roberts as Petrucio is as happily charming and charismatic as you might expect; Emily Swallow’s Katherine is strong and acerbic, almost too much so—her capitulation to Petruchio’s charms seems forced, like she’s waiting until they’re alone offstage to kill him. I can’t say that I’d blame her. But hey, it’s not often we get to enjoy a strong Shakespearean female lead (or at least one that doesn’t have to resort to cross-dressing somewhere in the play).
Written by William Shakespeare
Directed by Ron Daniels
With Michael Stewart Allen (Tranio), Shirine Babb (Widow), Donald Carrier (Hortensio), Craig Dudley (Tailor, Vincentio), Charles Janasz (Pedant, Curtis), Joseph Marcell (Gremio), Jordan McArthur (Biondello), Jonno Roberts (Petruchio), Adrian Sparks (Baptista Minola), Emily Swallow (Katherine), Bruce Turk (Grumio), Bree Welch (Bianca) and Jay Whittaker (Lucentio) with Andrew Dahl, Grayson DeJesus, Ben Diskant, Christian Durso, Kevin Hoffman, Andrew Hutcheson and Steven Marzolf (Ensemble)
Set Design: Ralph Funicello
Lighting Design: Alan Burrett
Sound Design: Christopher R. Walker
Costume Design: Deirdre Clancy
Original Music: Shaun Davey
Running Time: Two hours and fifty minutes with one fifteen-minute intermission
The Old Globe; 1363 Old Globe Way, San Diego; 619-23-GLOBE
Tickets $29 - $78
Schedule varies
June 16 – September 26, 2010
Katherine: If I be waspish, best beware my sting.
Petruchio: My remedy is then to pluck it out.
Katherine: Ay, if the fool could find where it lies.
Petruchio: Who knows not where a wasp does wear his sting? In his tail.
Katherine: In his tongue.
Petruchio: Whose tongue?
Katherine: Yours, if you talk of tales, and so farewell.
Petruchio: What, with my tongue in your tail?
The Taming of the Shrew is the Old Globe’s third repertory production this summer, rounding out King Lear and The Madness of George III. We’re all familiar with the basic story, having been made into such other plays as Kiss Me Kate and movies like 10 Things I Hate About You. Katherine is a sharp-tongued, obdurate woman whose younger sister Bianca is desperate to marry. But their father won’t let Bianca marry until her older sister Katherine is married off first. Enter smooth-talking rogue Petruchio, who marries Katherine and “tames” her through a series of psychological torments (like withholding food, sleep and sex), until she’s as biddable and compliant as her giggly younger sister. Who then promptly marries.
Yes, it’s wildly misogynistic. But, also funny. It’s one of Shakespeare’s bawdier comedies, and while there are plot holes you could drive a truck through, no one cares with all the raunchy jokes and pratfalls. It’s a nice change of pace from the somber seriousness of King Lear and The Madness of George III.
Stylistically, this production is muddled. While ostensibly “period,” in the sense that the costumes and props are (mostly) sixteenth-century Elizabethan, there are several jarring touches, including a neon “The Taming of the Shrew” sign blazoned across the stage. The male leads are all dressed like gaudy Renaissance pimps—one with designer sunglasses—and the male ensemble members all look like Gumby the Village Idiot from early Monty Python sketches. There are several strange dances involving the ensemble and very long sticks, and a couple of dumb shows involving a horse costume (which handily defecates onstage). There’s a lot of the wink-wink slapstick comedy that sustained Shakespeare’s plebian audiences. So kudos to director Ron Daniels for upholding the play’s brash comedic authenticity, at least. While I appreciate the clever double-entredre wordplay around words like “bush” and “tail,” I could have done without the fake horse poop and the stick dances. And the neon sign.
Fortunately the actors know their stuff. With a lesser cast, this production might easily have devolved into a lot of sequined sound and fury, signifying nothing. This Petruchio and Katherine have a palpable chemistry together, which is often lacking, and this cast is the most energetic of the three plays. Jonno Roberts as Petrucio is as happily charming and charismatic as you might expect; Emily Swallow’s Katherine is strong and acerbic, almost too much so—her capitulation to Petruchio’s charms seems forced, like she’s waiting until they’re alone offstage to kill him. I can’t say that I’d blame her. But hey, it’s not often we get to enjoy a strong Shakespearean female lead (or at least one that doesn’t have to resort to cross-dressing somewhere in the play).
Written by William Shakespeare
Directed by Ron Daniels
With Michael Stewart Allen (Tranio), Shirine Babb (Widow), Donald Carrier (Hortensio), Craig Dudley (Tailor, Vincentio), Charles Janasz (Pedant, Curtis), Joseph Marcell (Gremio), Jordan McArthur (Biondello), Jonno Roberts (Petruchio), Adrian Sparks (Baptista Minola), Emily Swallow (Katherine), Bruce Turk (Grumio), Bree Welch (Bianca) and Jay Whittaker (Lucentio) with Andrew Dahl, Grayson DeJesus, Ben Diskant, Christian Durso, Kevin Hoffman, Andrew Hutcheson and Steven Marzolf (Ensemble)
Set Design: Ralph Funicello
Lighting Design: Alan Burrett
Sound Design: Christopher R. Walker
Costume Design: Deirdre Clancy
Original Music: Shaun Davey
Running Time: Two hours and fifty minutes with one fifteen-minute intermission
The Old Globe; 1363 Old Globe Way, San Diego; 619-23-GLOBE
Tickets $29 - $78
Schedule varies
June 16 – September 26, 2010
Monday, July 12, 2010
Pregnancy, cancer, lawyers
It's not really that apocalyptic. But that title caught your attention, didn't it? It’s been a while since I’ve done an actual update, so I’ll sum up.
1. My best friend is pregnant! This means my brother, my sister and my best friend are all expecting. I didn’t realize I was in a baby race until just now. Don’t get me wrong, I’m still not in a baby race, but it does seem like the universe is trying to tell me something.
2. I had to have a “precancerous” mole cut off the inside of my thigh. Aren’t stitches fun?
3. More legal bullshit. I emphasize the word bullshit. You know what I'm talking about.
4. However, the wedding photos are posted—check them out HERE. I’ll be uploading them to my Flickr ACCOUNT soon.
5. And my name change is official! I now officially have the weirdest name ever.
6. And while the rest of the country is 147 degrees, it’s been 60 and grey here for weeks. I may snap if I don’t see some extended sun soon.
1. My best friend is pregnant! This means my brother, my sister and my best friend are all expecting. I didn’t realize I was in a baby race until just now. Don’t get me wrong, I’m still not in a baby race, but it does seem like the universe is trying to tell me something.
2. I had to have a “precancerous” mole cut off the inside of my thigh. Aren’t stitches fun?
3. More legal bullshit. I emphasize the word bullshit. You know what I'm talking about.
4. However, the wedding photos are posted—check them out HERE. I’ll be uploading them to my Flickr ACCOUNT soon.
5. And my name change is official! I now officially have the weirdest name ever.
6. And while the rest of the country is 147 degrees, it’s been 60 and grey here for weeks. I may snap if I don’t see some extended sun soon.
Sunday, July 11, 2010
Addison
This was the first wine:
And this was the second one:
The first was a Rhone Valley Chateauneuf-du-Pape. Really lovely, fruit forward but also earthy, with some nice hints of truffle and blue cheese. Lush, good mouth feel. I'll be drinking a lot more Rhone Valley wines in the near future.
The second was Californian, so we had an Old World wine and then a New World one. It was just what you'd expect from a big Californian cab--big, jammy, tannic, lots of alcohol. Good, but anything would have been a disappointment after that first wine.
The experience was wonderful--getting dressed up, sitting at the elegant bar drinking our expensive wine, acting like sophisticated-type adult people, and not like old married people who can't afford to eat out ever and will be going home to change into old bathrobes and reheat some leftover chili for dinner. Alas that our budget can't stretch to cover evenings like that more often!
Wednesday, July 7, 2010
Theatre review: The Madness of George III
“What do you know of my mind?...I’m not going out of my mind. My mind is going out of me!”
--George III
"The state of monarchy and the state of lunacy share a frontier."
--Dr. Willis
King George III would be a historical footnote, were it not for the fact that he caused the American Revolution. Best known for his short-sighted tax policies which sparked the Revolution (and the Boston Tea Party), he was also clinically insane for long stretches of his sixty-year reign. (Perhaps the Revolution was a direct result of his insanity?)
When not insane, or pissing off American colonists, he was a sober, steadfast monarch. He remained faithful to his queen during their long and arranged marriage, producing 15 children (Queen Victoria was his granddaughter). Alan Bennett’s 1991 play The Madness of George III (which became the 1994 award-winning film adaptation, The Madness of King George) chronicles George III’s mysterious illness and dramatic mental decline five years after the end of the Revolution (now thought to be the result of porphyria).
George fought tooth and nail to retain both his sanity and his throne. His son, the Prince of Wales, was waiting anxiously for his father to die, and made no attempt to hide his hunger to rule. George’s court was ill-equipped to handle his mental instability, no policies having been made to handle a temporary transfer of power. England’s government devolved into petty power struggles; the minority party allied itself with the Prince of Wales and plotted to overthrow George, his Prime Minister William Pitt, and their majority party while trying to get the Prince named as regent. Meanwhile, Queen Charlotte brought in a host of ineffective doctors, laboring under the uninformed medical practices of the time. George was treated with blistering and purges and finally with an early form of behavior modification therapy, but nothing helped. Eventually the disease abated on its own, and George was able to return to the throne.
The play is less about George III specifically as it is about the boundaries between order and chaos, sanity and madness, good government and bad, and about the general human inability to control ourselves. How can we control millions if we can’t control ourselves? It’s also a thought-provoking companion piece to another of the Old Globe’s repertory season, King Lear. Both kings go mad; both lose power, at least temporarily; both are the subject of complicated plots to seize that power.
Lear is a more nuanced production; the supporting players in George III are often little more than caricatures in a vintage political cartoon. Miles Anderson as George is by far the best of the bunch, with the rest of the ensemble sadly one-dimensional. Even with Lear as a bookend, this George III is a victim of its own exaggeration. The subtleties of the various power struggles are often lost. The Prince of Wales (Andrew Dahl) is a fat buffoon, the doctors are bumbling idiots, William Pitt (Jay Whittaker) is apparently incapable of any emotion outside ruthless efficiency.
That being said, it’s not often performed, and it’s a fascinating look into a royal life few Americans are familiar with. While I’d recommend Lear over George III, it’s worth it to see both for their overlapping views on the downfalls of absolute monarchy—and, by extrapolation, the downfalls of government in general.
--George III
"The state of monarchy and the state of lunacy share a frontier."
--Dr. Willis
King George III would be a historical footnote, were it not for the fact that he caused the American Revolution. Best known for his short-sighted tax policies which sparked the Revolution (and the Boston Tea Party), he was also clinically insane for long stretches of his sixty-year reign. (Perhaps the Revolution was a direct result of his insanity?)
When not insane, or pissing off American colonists, he was a sober, steadfast monarch. He remained faithful to his queen during their long and arranged marriage, producing 15 children (Queen Victoria was his granddaughter). Alan Bennett’s 1991 play The Madness of George III (which became the 1994 award-winning film adaptation, The Madness of King George) chronicles George III’s mysterious illness and dramatic mental decline five years after the end of the Revolution (now thought to be the result of porphyria).
George fought tooth and nail to retain both his sanity and his throne. His son, the Prince of Wales, was waiting anxiously for his father to die, and made no attempt to hide his hunger to rule. George’s court was ill-equipped to handle his mental instability, no policies having been made to handle a temporary transfer of power. England’s government devolved into petty power struggles; the minority party allied itself with the Prince of Wales and plotted to overthrow George, his Prime Minister William Pitt, and their majority party while trying to get the Prince named as regent. Meanwhile, Queen Charlotte brought in a host of ineffective doctors, laboring under the uninformed medical practices of the time. George was treated with blistering and purges and finally with an early form of behavior modification therapy, but nothing helped. Eventually the disease abated on its own, and George was able to return to the throne.
The play is less about George III specifically as it is about the boundaries between order and chaos, sanity and madness, good government and bad, and about the general human inability to control ourselves. How can we control millions if we can’t control ourselves? It’s also a thought-provoking companion piece to another of the Old Globe’s repertory season, King Lear. Both kings go mad; both lose power, at least temporarily; both are the subject of complicated plots to seize that power.
Lear is a more nuanced production; the supporting players in George III are often little more than caricatures in a vintage political cartoon. Miles Anderson as George is by far the best of the bunch, with the rest of the ensemble sadly one-dimensional. Even with Lear as a bookend, this George III is a victim of its own exaggeration. The subtleties of the various power struggles are often lost. The Prince of Wales (Andrew Dahl) is a fat buffoon, the doctors are bumbling idiots, William Pitt (Jay Whittaker) is apparently incapable of any emotion outside ruthless efficiency.
That being said, it’s not often performed, and it’s a fascinating look into a royal life few Americans are familiar with. While I’d recommend Lear over George III, it’s worth it to see both for their overlapping views on the downfalls of absolute monarchy—and, by extrapolation, the downfalls of government in general.
Written by Alan Bennett
Directed by Adrian Noble
With Michael Stewart Allen (Fox), Miles Anderson (George III), Shirine Babb (Lady Pembroke), Donald Carrier (Sheridan), Andrew Dahl (Prince of Wales), Grayson DeJesus (Ramsden), Ben Diskant (Greville), Craig Dudley (Dundas), Christian Durso (Braun), Robert Foxworth (Dr. Willis), Kevin Hoffmann (Duke of York), Andrew Hutcheson (Fortnum), Charles Janasz (Thurlow), Joseph Marcell (Sir George Baker), Steven Marzolf (Captain Fitzroy), Jordan McArthur (Papandiek), Brooke Novak (Margaret Nicholson), Ryman Sneed (Maid), Adrian Sparks (Sir Lucas Pepys, Sir Boothby Skrymshir), Emily Swallow (Queen Charlotte), Bruce Turk (Dr. Richard Warren), and Jay Whittaker (William Pitt) with Catherine Gowl, Aubrey Saverino and Bree Welch (Ensemble)
Set Design: Ralph Funicello
Lighting Design: Alan Burrett
Sound Design: Christopher R. Walker
Costume Design: Deirdre Clancy
Original Music: Shaun Davey
Running Time: Two hours and forty minutes with one fifteen-minute intermission
The Old Globe; 1363 Old Globe Way, San Diego; 619-23-GLOBE
Tickets $29 - $78
Schedule varies
June 19 – September 24, 2010
Thursday, July 1, 2010
No words needed
My great-grandmother's kitchen knife. Look how worn down the blade is. And still going strong.
In other news, this is my 250th post!
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