Fun Video

I was in Minneapolis this weekend for an AAP meeting and caught a video parody of Christina Aguilera's Ain't No Other Man video, called (I guess) Ain't No Weather Man. Maybe this "video interpretation" thing is hot or whatever but since I don't get out much it surprised me and I thought it was clever enough to post here and share.

Avenue Q

We went to see Avenue Q, the other night at the Cadillac Palace in Chicago. For those who don’t know, this is a Broadway musical that’s basically an adult-themed Sesame Street, with puppets and actors teaching “lessons” about sex, racism, etc. We knew the songs and they are hilarious, but the show hadn’t toured yet so we hadn’t seen it. It was SO FUNNY. Better than I expected. Even though we knew all the jokes in the songs, the script was really good and there were some surprises that kept it interesting. My favorite parts - which were not on the album so they were totally suprising - were when the “Bad Idea Bears” showed up – two cute puppets who encourage characters to make bad decisions – “You could buy beer!” "Why buy a 6-pack if you can save money buying bulk? Yaaaaaaaaaaay!” “You could play a drinking game!” “Take her home – she’s wasted!” Very fun.

Opening Up the Trailer

Steven, Kathy, Jim and I opened up Poplar Tree Bay this weekend – no dead mice or fallen ceiling tiles (yea) but crappy weather all weekend (boo). Saw Bev, Jim, Diane and Chris and family for a barbecue. Trying to figure out when this summer we can go back since right now we are only really planning to go in late August/early September.

On the way in (we fly to Buffalo and drive, since it’s cheaper than Syracuse) we stopped in Rochester for lunch and stumbled upon the transgendered district. At least that’s what I’m calling it. We were eating lunch and two very butch women walked by the window – you couldn’t help but notice them and think they were men, either in drag or before the surgery. A nearby bar had a rainbow awning, so later we looked it up online and found out it hosts meetings of the Rochester transgendered society or something like that. We also hit a used book/CD store and found a cheap copy of Liza Minnelli's "Results" album – this was late 80s dance music mostly written and produced by the Pet Shop Boys and it’s actually pretty good. But it IS Liza Minnelli. We already had it on vinyl but it skips. (Yes, we now own two copies of Liza Minnelli’s disco album. Jealous?)

But the best part of the trip was a rare find at an “antique” store in little Governeur, NY, which we hit upon while driving aimlessly around on a gloomy day. We found a vinyl copy of Leonard Nimoy’s 1968 masterpiece “Two Sides of Leonard Nimoy” – where he sings one side as Spock and one as himself! It plays really well, too. Hard to find., and hilarious – especially the songs “Highly Illogical” (Spock) and “The Ballad of Bilbo Baggins” (Nimoy the nerd). Another blogger has a shrine to this album posted so read it, it’s funny.

March 2008 Work - McDonalds and Cher

Our association started doing an Annual Meeting again and this year it was in March at Hamburger University in Oak Brook, IL. This is the McDonald’s offices and training center (and also a Hyatt and conference rooms). Actually a very nice property, but it’s very odd to be surrounded by the Golden Arches and to have your coffee breaks at self-serve drink stations like in the restaurants. Here are some pictures - a display on the history, a sign that says "Hamburger University," and a display with all the old uniforms.

Also in March, I had to moderate a conference for other AAP Chapter Executive Directors – about 50 of us come. It’s a great group of people and so much fun, particularly since we are all doing the same thing (basically) but we are spread out pretty much one per state – so it’s a blast to get together. Last year as an ice-breaker we had a dinner and “talent show” – no I didn’t sing or anything. But this year I had a really good idea for an “act” – I took head shots of nearly all the other Executive Directors (they are posted on the AAP Web site) and used this Web site, http://www.myheritage.com/celebrity-face-recognition, to upload them and find their celebrity “matches.” I had the idea to do this and then one of my staff, Jana, told me about this site, which made it much easier. Then I did this long (and complicated) PowerPoint that showed the pictures and unveiled their matches one by one. Very fun and hopefully it wasn’t too embarrassing for everybody. A few matches were really good, but most were just silly – the Web site is pretty bad. I uploaded two pictures of myself - a good one matched Harrison Ford and Oded Fehr (of the Mummy movies, below), mainly because of my goatee .... and then a really bad photo of mine matched Cher's photo, below.

Album Recap 2007

Our new weekend “hobby” is visiting area record stores and searching for CDs and vinyl that’s hard to find – mainly old Broadway shows (no jokes please). Here are a few choice finds we either bought or burned from vinyl in 2007.

• Cheesy 60’s music in Broadway shows was a 2007 theme for us. We bought Canterbury Tales (1968 London and 1969 Broadway), Tom Jones (1964), and It’s A Bird, It’s A Plane, It’s Superman! (1966). The songs are so dated and frankly, bad. Canterbury Tales were great finds – the London vinyl and Broadway CDs are both pretty rare. And yes, they made a Broadway musical about Superman. It’s by Charles Strouse, who did Annie and Bye Bye Birdie. Linda Lavin (TV’s Alice) is in it and has two great songs. Another song is called “Pow! Bam! Zonk!”
• Do Re Mi (1961). By Styne, Comden and Green and starring Phil Silvers and Nancy Walker. Not my favorite show at all, but it’s really cool since it’s the original vinyl has a cut-out front cover with a neon red insert.
• Goldilocks (1958). Only because of Elaine Stritch singing “Give the Little Lady a Great Big Hand,” which is a great song.
• Mame (1974). Movie cast - Lucille Ball CANNOT sing!
• Mayor, the Musical (1985) Again by Charles Strouse. It’s about NYC’s Ed Koch. Sample songs: Hootspa, March of the Yuppies.
• Mr. President (1962) By Irving Berlin, starring Nanette Fabray. Really good songs, and some cheesy 60s songs too like “The Wasthington Twist,” which is a twist. Another fun song: The President’s daughter sings about the Secret Service (“The Secret Service, makes me nervous. When I am dating, they are waiting, to observe us …”).
• A Star is Born (1976). Not rare or anything, and we are NOT Barbra fans, but it brings back memories from my childhood (I was 8, but I liked this movie). Especially “Queen Bee” and “I Believe In Love.” I could do without Kris Kristofferson trying to sing, though.
• The Ethel Merman Disco Album (1979). Enough said.

I also still buy a lot of non-Broadway (non-gay) stuff, BTW. Stuff I got in 2007 that I highly recommend The Editors, Jill Cuniff, The Bird and the Bee, The Bravery, VHS or Beta, Blonde Redhead, Hellogoodbye, Tracey Thorn, Tahiti 80, Paul Weller, and Morningwood.

Shows in NYC

Steven and I went to NYC for the first time in a while – we would like to make annual trips to see shows but it’s too expensive. This time we stayed in Soho, which was interesting – grittier but less touristy than the theatre district or upper E/W sides. Highlights included celebrity sightings: Alec Baldwin at Tribeca Grill, the bleached blond from America’s Next Top Model hailing a cab, the young kid from Queer as Folk (Showtime) – probably looking for work – and Ty Pennington at a restaurant (not obviously drunk, as his recent admission might suggest). I guess it’s not very special if the “celebrities” are of such a caliber that you only know half their names.

We were incredibly lucky – the stagehands were on strike so nearly all shows were closed, but the three we bought tickets for were not! They were Xanadu (very silly and fun), and Young Frankenstein (pretty awful except one number by Megan Mullaly).

Star Sighting in Pittsburgh

I was in Pittsburgh this week for the National Academy of State Health Policy conference. (This is the third one I've been to, as a guest because of a grant project we have - this time I was on a panel planning a new project for states to work on developmental screening.) I was working out in the hotel and guess who was there - Jude Law! He looked familiar, then I realized he looked like Jude Law, but I put it out of my head since, well, I was in Pittsburgh. Then I looked around and this woman on another treadmill was frantically trying to make eye contact with the other hotel guests and when she caught me she mouthed "is it him? is it him?" I just smiled and shrugged, but eventually she got up the nerve to ask and he confirmed, yes, it was him. I later saw on the local news that Sienna Miller, whoever she is, was in town for some film festival (and apparently insulted the city while she was there.)

He was smaller than you'd think (especially after Gattaca - wasn't he the tall one and Ethan Hawke had to have his legs extended to be his double?). Web sites say 5' 11'' but I don't think so. Very charismatic and attractive in person even though I've never thought that watching him on screen. He had those grungy workout clothes on that, upon closer inspection, were probably designer clothes that cost thousands of dollars. He answered his cell phone maybe 10 times during his (pretty intense) workout. He also brought down his iPod and speakers ... maybe he expected a private fitness center?

Pittsburgh, BTW, was very pretty and seemed like it could be an interesting city. (Steven was there for a longer period for his association's conference, and would probably disagree.) I had the same positive response to Cleveland when Steven and I stayed there for one night on the way back from Poplar Tree Bay in August ... it felt like a big city, and a few blocks from downtown there were gorgeous, huge houses which I assume (perhaps offensively to the citizens of Cleveland) must be really cheap. The more I visit these mid-size cities the more I realize I could probably live in any one of them. Somewhere in the south would be nice ... cheap real estate, a few good restaurants (which is all we really need anymore - we are in such a rut in Chicago), little traffic, and (ideally) better weather. Like we will ever be motivated enough to move, but the thought does cross my mind.