Trrrrraaashyyyy Television

So this entry comes a bit late, but what the hell I decided Friday is for honesty and full disclosure. What am I going to disclose, well my latest guilty pleasure. It is not Project Runway, it is a new TV show, that the Argentinian initiated me to, and one which has me spell bound. It is the quintessential trashy show, very soap opera-ish, geared to 15 year old girls and boys, with steamy soft porn at times and great one liners.

So no it is not a reality show. It is not my super sweet 16, nor any of those shows, it is ... Gossip Girl. Yes, the heir to Dawsons's Creek and all those other crappy shows on the CW network. I know what you are thinking, those shows are terrible, the acting is awful, the writing is lunch time quality, the story is repetitive and ohh so predictive. But still admit it, they make great TV. I sit the couch and watch spellbound. Yes they are stupid teenagers in a prep school in Manhattan, and yes they drop a grand on a purse without thinking. But the fights and the situations are soo entertaining. And admit it, who doesn't like a villainesse (is that the female term for villain?) with a name like Blair Cornelia Waldorf. She is so crazy, she makes me and the Imelda sounds like Dr. Freud. The good girl, is this pretty blonde called Serena Van Huffenstrap, or something like that and she is the poor little rich girl that falls for the middle class, pretty boy. It doesn't get more complex than that in this show and because of that, and the great scenery and crazy outfits I love it.

Besides any show that portrays High School in such a bitchy and sex manner, makes me look back on my days as UN Model Queen, wait not Queen, Empress and think that I was not such a bitch. To top it all off, i get so much pleasure from turning to the Argentinian and telling asking him if there is any Trrrraaashyyy Television on, and get a positive answer.

One problem we have, is that after watching all the old episodes during the Christmas break, we have to wait till January 28th, to watch the next one.


Note. When saying Trrrraashyyy Television, one needs to chanel Ricardo Montalban, selling Corrrrrinthian Leather back in the 80's.

Theater Whore (or every gay man's fantasy)

My last week in NY was very hurried, I had lots to finish and I was excited I was coming back to a semi local project. M and L, wanted to party like it was 1989, but I remember 1989 and I was not in for a week of late evenings and tens of G&T’s. I thought and thought, and the solution came to me via the NYT Theater page, why not just get tickets for shows, and then have an excuse to not have to go out. Monday I got my credit card out and bought three tickets, one for a Broadway tradition, one for a new show very off-Broadway and the last one for the next big hit. So happily I did what any other theater loving fag would in NY, watch a show every night.


The first show is Forbidden Broadway, this year’s show is called Rude Awakening, and it contains spoofs on Spring Awakening, Company, Grey Gardens, Les Mis, The Little Mermaid, Lion King, etc, etc. Almost every show was made fun of. I specially enjoyed the ones on Spring Awakening, that were dead on and made me think about how Broadway manages to be very shocking at first, but after they have done something, it becomes almost main stream. The show chide all the other shows, for being too commercial, for not being original enough, but it does it with love and admiration and with a big dose of reason. The women seated behind me, clearly a pack of Midwesterners on the prowl, thought they had come to see a completely different show, and when they saw the small theater and the lack of great decorations were a bit disappointed, but as soon as the songs started targeting the better loved musicals knowing by everyone they were fine. The leader had to apologize for choosing this show and not The Phantom.


The second show was a small production, with three actors in a theater that holds maybe 60 audience members. It is called Speech and Debate, and it is the story of three teenagers that come together for a Speech and Debate Club, because they are all outcasts, the club allows them to tap into the schools resources for purposes all their own. There is the attention starved girl, the new gay guy and the nerd. I can not give the plot away, cuz I have a feeling we will be seeing this show in DC soon, it managed to meld blogging, chatting and a traditional school format very well. The show was produced by Roundabout Theater Company as part of the Underground Program. This program tries to produce new author’s work, in a professional environment. One of the strengths of the show was the setting; it looked and felt like a classroom, and the direction. For this piece the Roundabout got same person that directed Avenue Q. This is why I like their productions; they try something new but make sure it is never amateurish. I am sure Studio Theater will have to bring this to DC, besides the production was cheap.

The last show I saw, as Young Frankestein, the new Mel Brooks musical. It is a big show, I mean big, with big stars, great sets, special effects. It has it all except great songs; well I guess Deep Love is a memorable song, but not really a musical hallmark song. The same criticism can be made of The Producers, it has no timeless songs, that can be taken out of context. Still the show is worth it, the cast is great and the story is very funny. I do recommend buying the tickets at the box office, because no one else (except scalpers) will have them in the near future. Andrea Martin, playing Frau Blucher, steals the entire show, even from the ever watching eye of Megan Mullaly, and a nymphomaniac Bride of Frankestein, er Frankesteen.

East Side Story

How funny of me to name this entry East Side Story, but that is because for the last two weeks I stayed in Chelsea and Mid town West, which were nice. But I knew the areas so there was little surprise, I knew what to expect of the barren that is the Garment district next to Penn Station and was entertained in the streets of Chelsea by the gym, the stores, the restaurant and the passers by. This week, I had to find a cheap but good hotel and they only thing that look right was on the East Side, to be more precise at the corner of Lexington and 30Th.

After work, I walked through Midtown until I found Lexington (It was a heck of a walk, like 6 huge blocks) and then walked down to 30th. I was not sure what I was going to find, I am not even sure the neighborhood has a name, but it is lovely. I was won over when i saw no less than 3 sushi restaurants by the hotel, and what seems like an upscale American dinner thing called Penelope across the street. The neighborhood feels quite like a neighborhood, a lot of brownstones and apartment building - with door mans of course - a lot of little stores, and dry cleaners and things like that.

The hotel this week is fine, the bed is a total disaster - that is worth another entry though. The carpets could use a change, and the furniture is circa 1984, but other than that the room is spacious (I am not saying big, I am saying spacious),clean and the bathroom is enough. It is lacking some space for my toiletries, but hey the entire La Prairie collection of potions doesn't fit in most places. So far so good, they even have complimentary breakfast, but I woke up too late today to make use of it.

If I have to walk one more block

NY is a city of pedestrians, and I had always thought that I was a walker. I like to walk and I am infamous for parking far away from my destination and walk around an entire neighborhood. But NY is different. Last week, I was going out with the co-workers to dinner and we walked here and there, and back and then we walked some more and finally got to the restaurant. Of course after dinner there was some more walking.

When I got back to the hotel and called the Argentine, it finally struck me. I was tired of walking - I have been tired for 2 weeks now. It was like a rebellious stance, where the driver in me, worse the commuter in me, had just decided that there was no way I could walk another block. Of course the next morning I walked to work and walked to a show and even walked back to the hotel, but that was cuz I had no cash to pay for the cabs, and because I had dessert with my dinner and thought it better to just walk and at least burn some calories.

I never thought I would say this, but I miss my car and I miss not having to walk everywhere, specially where there are all these slow tourists and people everywhere crowding the sidewalks and walking like they were on a a procession or something, instead of late for work.

There I said it, aghh I became an angry New York pedestrian in all of 2 days. Hey at least it will help me no gain more weight ? Maybe,please,,,

Starting at 6 am

For the first time in my life I woke up at 6, not be at work at 7, but to hit the gym before work. Somehow I feel invigorated but my legs are about to "give". One of the problems faced by social people like myself is that after work, we want to go socialize, and when you are in a little town like Wilkesboro, well its easy to go the gym, cuz there is nothing really to do. NYC on the other hand is completely different proposition all together and the two coworkers love to go out and they do not have to do much to convince me to just tag along. So workouts in the morning - tripple yawn - here I come.

Next on the list

Today as I browse the NYT, found this (see the above picture) so I guess that is one of the things I will try and do this week. The following is from the article and links to it:

The shark has landed. On Tuesday Damien Hirst’s killing-machine-in-a-box begins its three-year stay at the Metropolitan Museum of Art. It lies in wait on the second floor, close to a bank of south-facing windows, entombed in a steel-and-glass tank that suggests a collaboration between Donald Judd and Sol LeWitt. On sunny days the light should intensify the azure cast of the 4,360 gallons of formaldehyde. After dusk, when I saw it, the window reflects the tank back at you, doubling the piece into a shark gantlet.

Vegan and drinks

I will start by saying that I am not a vegetarian, never been, probably never will, but I am open to try anything, at least once. Last night, the coworkers took me out to Gobo, a strict vegetarian place in the East Village, where there was not even butter to spread on the bread. The location is beautiful, an open kitchen, a long communal table in the center and sets of tables all around. The restaurant is all in blond wood, and the china is Asian inspired. One of those places with real pretty silverware.

But enough of the decor, we reviewed the wine list and chose a Spanish White, Albarinio, from North Western Spain and ordered 5 small dishes to share. And they were all very good, the best of all a set of soy cutlets grilled in a teriyaki sauce. They were yummy, I mean they were "meat like", they were crispy, they sauce was not too sweet. Just perfect. Then we also had some spinach dumplings, that were terrific and some fried rolls all using tofu or soy one way or another. Finally, I had order sweet potato and yuka fries - I was good and did not eat them all, actually was too full so only had 1/4 of the order - but they were perfect. Crispy and not greasy, just perfect. Then the coworkers guilted me about eating fries, and hence my good behavior.

After Gobo we visited a couple of bars in the Village, I sticked to water until we stumbled upon this little bar, Massif Central, a charming little restaurant with a terrific bartender who made the most complicated cocktails I have ever had. There I had a Barbelle, a champagne cocktail, with bitters, and different citrus juices, raspberry liquor, too many ingredients too mention, but it was one of those drinks that is pretty to look at and great to drink. So that was my evening, NYC, like the Argentinian says has the best restaurants in America because there is a culture around food, and enough people and money to keep all these unique 40 people places running. Coming from DC, where we rarely eat out of the norm, last night was refreshing and exciting.

Friday

Today is my 5Th day here, and its all been good, still have no desk, but I have gotten my work done, have enrolled at a Gym, have explored Chinatown, the East Village and even - gasp - visited Alphabet city. Yeps, it helps to work with two young straight coworkers that make a ton of money, so been whisked away to many new and exotic places. For some reason when I was told I was coming here I never thought about the garment district - do they really need another gay - or the East Village, but that is where the Girl resides, and you know how girls make the world go round.

Today the Argentine is coming, and that thought alone makes me smile. He is not coming alone, the Diplomat and one of the Architects are also coming. With the Diplomat we are going to see Spring Awakening which won the Tony, and they say it is one of the best musicals to hit the big white way in a while, I will report next week.

Today seems like Fall is on its way, me thinks this will be a year with a quick fall and a very prompt winter. Lets hope not, but that is what my instincts tell me.

Have a great weekend y'all.

Cold and gray

Incredibly, sometimes even NY can get boring and depressing. Today it is overcast and rainy and it seems that this is the way it is going to be for a couple more days.It is one of those days where all I want to do is get in bed and curl up, or just fall asleep. On of the problems I have been facing here is that I have no access to chat, so I feel completely disconnected, and I know that is bullshit, but when you are sitting on a training room waiting for a desk and equipment and have no one to talk to, that is the way I feel. I do not want to sound whiney, but I am just struggling today, maybe it is the weather. I think I am going to go with that, and blame it for my mindset.

Today I am thinking of going and watching a movie or just walking around a bit after work, need to find a cute place to sit down and finish "The Brooklyn Follies" which is this month's book club selection and send an email with my review, since I will miss the discussion.