DCI 2011: It begins!

DCI 2011 Tour Premiere

Alhambra Renaissance Theater (Fathom Events)

Monday, June 20, 2011

Round Rock, TX (06/19/11)

It's drum corps time!  This year, Drum Corps International has decided to start off its season by pitting all 8 of the top-finishing corps from 2010 during the first weekend of Summer Music Games.  This means that the corps have to step up their games at a quicker pace so that they'd be ready for their rivals.  The scores from the first two shows would not be announced until the second show  would be seen onscreen nationwide in movie theaters.  They did post them on Facebook after the East Coast showings, but that's what I get for looking at FB during intermission.  ;)

For this showing, the corps played in order of placement in 2010, from 1st through 8th, which is the reverse of what usually happens.  The show's commentators were Steve Rondinaro and Dennis DeLucia, as usual, which made me smile.  Michael Cesario was there at the end to talk about his new role as Artistic Director of DCI.  We were told that it was very windy in Round Rock. 

BLUE DEVILS

Repertoire: "The Beat My Heart Skipped" -- A House Is Not A Home, Summer of 77, Walk On By, One Less Bell to Answer, Woman, I Say A Little Prayer, Wives and Lovers, God Give Me Strength by B. Bacharach

We were advised by the visual director to watch the cubes.  How am I supposed to do that when I'm so distracted by the uniforms?  Yes, I've returned to not liking BD's color guard uniforms.  They're too busy, and the corps' uniforms are quite busy as well.  The 5 lines on the jacket signify the 5 lines of a music staff.  There's just too much on there for me.  They build a house with their props.  I would have never envisioned Bacharach's music as a basis for a drum corps show, but OK.  I'm wondering if it will grow on me.  Maybe I'll like the recorded singing someday, but I kinda doubt that.  It's weird to see BD play while it's still light outside.

CAVALIERS

Repertoire: "XtraordinarY" -- Nature Boy by E. Ahbez, Fugue in G Minor by J.S. Bach, Footprints by W. Shorter, Jungle Tango  by Jazz Mandolin Project

Oh, the title, with the X and Y capitalized, represents the XY chromosome of the all-male Cavaliers.  OK, I really like this show.  The green drums look like they're something out of a forest, as do the CG uniforms.  The CG walks on stilts for part of the time.  At one point, some of the tenors are playing their drums UPSIDE DOWN.  You read that right.  One guy is standing normally while the other guy has his legs on the first guy's shoulder, with his head to the ground, playing a drum that has been turned over.  UPSIDE DOWN, I tell you!  The tenors showed the director what they could do, and the staff decided to put it into the show.  It's nice to have creative input!  I love the music, the craziness, everything.  Well, everything except the little bit of recorded singing of Nature Boy.

BLUECOATS

Repertoire: "Brave New World" -- Creep by Radiohead, Harvest: Concerto for Trombone by J. Mackey, Deus Ex Machina by M. Daugherty

Creep!  It's my favorite RockBand song to sing!   OK, one of them.  I really like "Maps", too.   No, there was no actual singing or recorded singing; it was just coooool.  There was a "What The Hell Am I Doing Here" phrase stated over and over, but that was OK with me.  The drums were awesome.  I really like this show, which is about what it's like when you join a drum corps:  you pick up a mellophone, you're a mellophone player.  Something like that.

CAROLINA CROWN

 Repertoire: "Rach Star" -- We Will Rock You by B. May (Queen), Symphonic Dances by S. Rachmaninoff, Iron Man by Black Sabbath, Paint it Black by K. Richards & M. Jagger (Rolling Stones), Bohemian Rhapsody by F. Mercury (Queen), Piano Concerto No. 2 by S. Rachmaninoff, Piano Concerto No. 1 by K. Emerson (ELP)

They start with a star formation, and, of course, they have their crown formation in there, too.  Wow, it's windy, and the camera made me dizzy.  I think it fell or something.  The corps has short sleeves now, and the pit members get to wear t-shirts.  That's rock and roll, man!  I like the mix of the music.  Fun show.  I'm torn, though, because the keyboard player figures so prominently in a show that's taking place on the field.

--Intermission--

THE CADETS

Repertoire: "Between Angels and Demons" -- Angels in the Architecture by F. Ticheli, 160 BPM (from Angels and Demons)  by H. Zimmer, Doxology by L. Bourgeois & T. Ken, Amazing Grace by F. Ticheli

I like this show.  It's about, well, Angels.  And Demons.  Half of the corps is wearing the cardinal red uniform, and half is wearing the cream color.  I see that wing formation!  Hopkins stated that they're marching at 176 in some points, but end at 220.  That's fast.  Hopkins also stated that it was too windy for the corps to be wearing their shakos tonight, as it would be dangerous.  Really?  Is that why all of the other corps were wearing their shakos/aussies/helmets?  They all have feathers, Mr. H.  Then he chastised the people that don't hydrate enough while on tour, saying that's their problem.  OK, whatever.  Nice percussion feature in this show, both from the battery and the pit.  The dissonance of the Doxology is interesting, and I'm really glad that the chord finally resolves at the end, because that would make me crazy.

Next, we got to hear from a member of the corps:  Nathan Medina of Bluecoats.  A bunch of people in our audience cheered, because he's from So Cal.  Remember when I met a drum corps mom on the plane last year?  That's Nathan's mom!  So I cheered, too, thinking to myself, "I met your mom!"

PHANTOM REGIMENT
Repertoire: "Juliet" -- East of Eden by L. Holdridge, Requiem by G. Verdi, Requiem by W.A. Mozart, Love Theme from Romeo & Juliet (A Time For Us) by N. Rota, Romeo & Juliet by S. Prokofiev, Elsa's Procession to the Cathedral (from Lohengrin) by R. Wagner


You read that right:  Elsa!  So awesome to hear their theme song in their actual show.  This show focuses on Juliet's experience in the love story, with the corps uniforms donning a Montague crest, showing that they are the Romeos.  The music is really pretty, and the show is beautiful.  I think that somebody might cry on July 3.  I'm just saying.  I really like the purple and gold double flags. I'm really looking forward to seeing this show a lot of times this year.  :)


SANTA CLARA VANGUARD
Repertoire:  "The Devil's Staircase" -- First Essay for Orchestra, Op. 12 by S. Barber, Piano Sonata No. 2 by A. Dorman, Eternal Knot by K. Jenkins, Etudes for Piano, No. 13 (The Devil's Staircase)  by G. Ligeti


Corps director Jeff Fiedler described the show as "You're in hell, and you want to get out."  There is a lot of running around on the field by individual corps members.  The drum major didn't take off his aussie, not that I even saw him salute.  Are they going to keep those on this year?  Or was it a wind thing?  I'm digging this show!  Are you surprised?  It's Vanguard!  Total Vanguard.


BLUE STARS
Repertoire: "REBOURNE" -- Main Titles from The Bourne Identity by J. Powell, Burly Brawl from The Matrix by D. Davis, Bourne Gets Well from The Bourne Identity by J. Powell, Trinity Definitely from The Matrix by D. Davis, Treadstone Assassins from The Bourne Identity by J. Powell, Bullet Time from The Matrix by D. Davis


They have a catwalk in the middle of the field.  DeLucia thinks they should move it back so that the corps has more room to move.  Yeah, it's pretty big.  As usual, they'll have images on the scaffolding later in the season.  There's a ramp to go up to the catwalk, upon which a CG guy threw up his rifle, walked down the ramp, and caught it.  I like the music for the show, but that catwalk is distracting.


Encore:  SCV
They played a piece from the show, as well as "Send In The Clowns", which made me happy.  


Scores:
66.200 Blue Stars
67.500 SCV
69.100 Phregiment
70.150 Bluecoats
70.600 Crown
72.550 BD
72.600 Cadets
74.350 Cavaliers


BD's undefeated streak finally ended on Saturday in Austin.  It was a great run, BD.


I hope that this becomes a tradition.  It was cool to see the top corps at the beginning of the season, so that I can see how they've progressed when we get to Finals Week.

It's Mint!

Linda and I saw "Super 8" today.  My posts about shows and movies always contain spoilers so you are especially forewarned this time, since the trailers don't give much away.

• I was watching the film wondering which actor kid would break through to fame first (aside from Elle Fanning whom is already well-known), and I think that they'll all get quite a bit of attention from their roles in this movie.  I really liked all of them.  All of their exchanges made me giggle.  
• Now THAT'S a train crash.  Wow.
• "Do you have any Sparklers?"  "Are you kidding?"
• "Ohhh...drugs are SO bad!"
• I love how Charles the director kid is always mentioning "production value" to justify getting the right background for his scenes.
• Great music, probably because it's my formative-years era.  I love the insertion of the disco music, too.
• The Walkman started a slippery slope.  Did you know that?
• I thought at one point the the Air Force was trying to rebuild a Transformer.
• I'm glad that the reason that the dads didn't like each other was not due to some affair that the mom had in the past.  Because that would have made siblings out of our cute young couple and it would have been icky.
• I see the Spielberg/Hitchcock influence in this movie all over the place, especially in that we don't actually see the full monster/alien until the end.  It really kept the suspense going.  I was pretty tense during the attack scenes.
• I've decided that this is a mix of "Stand By Me" and "E.T. The Extra-Terrestrial"...if E.T. had not escaped the clutches of the scientists/military.  
• Seriously, when the alien finally opens his eyes, he *is* E.T. And his ship looks like E.T.'s!  We actually felt compassion for the alien even after all of the scary attacks.  Yup, even after that scary laugh it let out when he was about to kill the guy in charge.
• What a cool movie to see on Father's Day, due to the underlying story with the dads disliking each other and wanting to keep the kids apart.
• Yay!  We get to see Charles' movie during the end credits.

I really enjoyed this movie.  I look forward to seeing it multiple times when it comes to satellite TV.  :)

Meeting Rays, Tortugas and Adonis

Rockapella Cruise

Day 5 -- Grand Cayman

Wednesday, January 26, 2011

Tender to Port

When the alarm rang in the morning, I did not feel like going to Sunrise Stretch, so Liz went without me.  It must have been the vodka in that mango martini from the night before.  Jenn and I met up for breakfast at Red Sail, which was ehh.  Then we went to the Ebony Cabaret Lounge to gather for the different excursions to go on the tenders.  The "tenders" are the transportation from the boat to the island, as there are some places where the boats can't actually dock.  The reason that we didn't go to Belize was that there was a problem with the tenders at the time.  

 Liz, Jenn and I were on the excursion titled "Discover Cayman -- Stingrays, Hell and Turtle Farm".  Turtles will hereon be called "Tortugas" because I can't say that word enough.   Gerald was our van driver.  I sat in a little middle seat that made me feel shorter than I already am.  He gave us a lot of information about the Caymans, and was quite entertaining.  The national bird is the African Parrot.  The national flower is the Cayman Banana Orchid.  The national seal includes a pineapple, a tortuga, a part of the British flag, and blue stripes that signify the ocean.  If you do not have car insurance and get caught, you spend a year in jail.  If you are caught for illegal gun possession, you serve a 10-year prison sentence plus 1 year for each bullet.

Gerald and Tortuga

Our first stop was the Cayman Turtle Farm, where Green Sea Turtles have a safe home.  Gerald picked up a tortuga and showed us how to handle it, and then we got to have some time to touch the tortugas, pick them up, and walk around the farm.  The ones that we got to pick up were small, of course, and still young, but there were really big ones around the farm as well.  I picked up a tortuga, posed with it, and gave it a kiss. 

Sher Kissing Tortuga

 We all did, actually, although Jenn had a bit of a difficult time trying to get hers.  We then went to the gift shop and Jenn saw a sign in the lobby showing that her company, DeLoitte, was one of the sponsors of the farm.  So she posed by the sign with the big coconut that she bought for coconut juice.  She realized that she didn't have an underwater camera for later that day, so she went back to the gift shop to buy one and I held her coconut.  A lady saw me and told me not to hold it against my clothes or it would make a stain that resembles blood.  So I made sure to hold it away from my clothing.  

Big Green Sea Tortugas

Bananaman and Sher at Hell

The next stop was at Hell.  They call it Hell because of the limestone formation which is black, and what some imagine that Hell would look like.  You can see the formation from viewing areas, but you can't walk around it, so the stop was a short one.  Some people bought postcards to send from Hell, but I didn't really like the ones I saw, so I bought a ring for myself instead.  They also had some really pretty black coral jewelry that I didn't buy.  

We then had a 30-minute boat ride to Stingray City, during which time we ate the snacks that we had packed on the boat.  We were already wearing our bathing suits underneath our clothes, so we didn't really need the changing room/bathroom, but there was one available. The view from the boat was beautiful, with that really, really blue water for miles.  We stopped at a sandbar, which they call Stingray City because of all the rays.  There were other boats there with tourists playing with the rays.  Liz actually went into the water for a few minutes, touched a stingray, then got back into the boat.  The rest of the time, she took pictures.  The water was a little bit cold for Liz, but I thought that it was perfect once I was in it for a minute.   We were told that kissing a stingray brings 7 years of good luck, but I did not partake in that activity, nor did I partake in feeding squid to the rays.  I just kind of bent down and touched them as they swam by me.  The rays have a rough back and a soft underbelly, and they eat from the bottom with suction.  The big ones are female, and the little ones are male.  We thought that they were just mothers and their babies, but we were wrong.  The guide said, "The females are dominant in Stingray City, and in our culture, the females are also dominant."  Jenn did some snorkeling away from all of the people and took her underwater pictures.  Before that, though, as she was wading, she said to me, "Sher, stop touching me!"  I was 10 feet away from her, and was confused.  She realized that it was a stingray swimming next to her.  My black swimsuit has a skirt on it, so I think that's why she thought it was me.  It was not. 

Female Stingray By Our Boat

Then it was time for our group to take the boat back to Grand Cayman.  Gerald was still there, but he had another van driver take us back to town.  We went to the Diamonds International to get our charms, and we also went to Effy to get our free garnet pendant, and I also bought earrings to go with it, because that's my birthstone.  Then we got into the very, very long line to take tenders back to our ship.  

Back on the ship, the 3 of us were very hungry, so we got in line for burgers at Red Sail.  Some blond guy wearing just white shorts and no shirt walked toward us and in my head I thought, "Who is THAT?!"  Then I realized that it was Scott and I waved to him with my effed-up hair.  He walked up to us and said "Hi, ladies!" and I asked if he was coming to dinner that night.  He said, "Maybe."  I'm pretty sure that I demanded that he join us at dinner, but I don't know, because in my head, I was screaming, "AAAAH!  He's so...AAAAH!"  Ever since that moment, I have referred to CSL4 as "Adonis".  No, not to his face.  I swear that the 3 of us held our collective breath during that exchange, except when we were talking.  Jenn is surprised that none of us fainted.  Yeah, it was that amazing.  SWOOOONNNN!!!

We went back to our rooms after not really eating all of our food despite the hunger because of our Adonis Sighting, and got dressed for the second Rockapella show.  Yup, 2 days in a row!  Again, the show will be a separate post, but to sum up, we sat closer to the stage this time, and the guys did songs that were most requested on the board that we had tallied while waiting in line to get in.  

After the show, we went to the gallery to look at some pictures, but couldn't find our pictures with our formal wear.  I ordered pics of JT with bags of money, as well as our group photo from Cruise Elegant night by looking through the thumbnail shots.  I don't know why the other staff person told a customer to just check with their friends to see if they have pictures, as it's really easy to just go through the book with the thumbnails.  Whatevs.  

We went back to the Platinum Dining Room for dinner.  Adonis actually showed up and we asked if he could sit with us since June was finally moving Fred to another table.  Not that he wouldn't have been welcome, but Fred and Tim should be able to rotate, too.  Adonis was about to take the seat next to Liz, but she pointed to the empty chair next to me.  I told him that he makes Liz nervous, so he should come sit by me.  So he did.  We told him stories about our excursions so far.  Jenn arrived late because she kept stopping for all of the photographers, then she told her drowning story and cracked up our entire table, making people at the other tables stare at us with jealousy.  Or annoyance.  I prefer to think it was jealousy.  Anyway, Adonis had left the boat in Grand Cayman and walked around for a little bit.  He was really attentive to everyone's stories, and it was way sweet.  We talked about "Back to the Future" and I said that I saw it at the Puente Hills mall, where they filmed part of it. He said that was cool.  He wanted to know when we would get our hoverboards and flying cars.  I told him that it would be in 2025 (but that's wrong because it's in 2015).  We told Adonis about our suggestions to market the cruise for next year.  When it came tiem for dessert, Adonis said that cake with ice cream is always good, even chocolate covered Oreos with the cream.   At one point, I took a picture with Karla and Adonis.  Then I said to Karla, "OK, now get out."  Sorry for the sass, KP.  I also sassed about people not moving on from past Pella members.  I'm feisty like that.  Yeah, I sassed about that in front of Adonis.

Sher & Adonis

So after dinner as we were leaving, and after all of the sassing, I confessed to Adonis that I thought to myself this afternoon, "Ooh!  Who is THAT?!" 

Adonis:  "Really?"

Sher: "Yeah."

Adonis: "That's what I do on the ship: I'm a gigolo."

Sher: "Does Lisa know?"

Adonis: "That's actually how I met her."

How can anyone not love him?!

I was tired from all of the activities of the day and all of the swooning, so I went back to the cabin, where a Frog made of towel greeted me.

Bananaman, Big Frog, and Gloria

Next up after the set list: Isla Roatan

Fill In The Blank

Rockapella on a Boat

Carnival Glory: Ebony Cabaret Room

Tuesday, January 25, 2011

Liz and I found the rest of the Posse toward the back middle of the room.  We sat on the comfy leather couch, and I wanted a mango martini.  Yes, I know I had one the night before.  Yes, I know I got one later that night. Shut up.  The stage was the same one used for the Rock Star events, so there was a drum set in the back of the stage, with a sound shell in front of it.  

The guys, classy as always, still wore their snazzy suits.  Dan and June made sure that nobody got into our private concert by standing by the door and guarding us.  APPARENTLY, there were some people that wanted to go on the cruise at a cheaper rate, which would mean that they weren't part of our group, and they wanted to still see the shows.  Well, folks, there's a reason we paid to go on the cruise and hang with the Pella, so you're just out of luck.  Perhaps, though, they could have done a live feed to the cabin TVs, or at least do one show open to the rest of the boat, after they give reserved seats to those in our group.  It would be good marketing, I think.  But anyway, this show was ours, and we were very, very happy.  

Tonight

I was distracted by the lady taking our drink orders.  Why didn't she do this before the show started?  She was in the room and just talking to the other employees.  UGH.

Scott said that he'd never been on a cruise before.  Then: "For those of you who have not seen us 180 times, let me introduce you to the band."  I love how Scott thinks that he still needs to do the actual show script for the Pella Faithful.

Zip

I like when Steve and JKB sing "Get my money" and Steve acts like JKB is mugging him.  

Just My Imagination/Imagine

I love the way Geo does his "RUN" all cool-like.

I can't read my notes. Perhaps I had a drink by then.  Sorry.  I wrote something about Scott saying that John had a Holy Land Experience in church.  Scott went to church and learned "White Gospel."  

Tell Me What You Want

"Baby, push back your mind"

Scott:  "So...the New Guy"...he thanked Dan and June for organizing the cruise.  He told us that Rockapella used to play at a place in New Jersey.  Then he spotted a guy in the audience and said, "This guy is wearing a Red Sox hat.  I don't really like that at all."  He just rambled on.  "Steve's Armenian, but your mother isn't."  No, he wasn't talking to all of us about our mothers.  Just Steve's mom.  I guess Scott gets really distracted when he hates another baseball team.

Cupid 

Scott was getting water at the start of the song, and listened instead of coming in on time.

Scott asked a couple of fans, Pat and Dave, "How did today go?"  They rode Segways in Cozumel.  Scott said, "I didn't go off the boat.  It was kinda..."  (I told you he rambled a lot).  BTW, Pat had written on the memo pad on our door that she wanted a shirt.  Sorry, Pat.  It was a limited edition.

Hard Time

Scott acted like he was driving a Segway.

Geo: "I think they should give us a Segway."  I would love to see them do a whole show on Segways.  It would need to be recorded for posterity.

California Sad-Eyed Girl

Cali representin in da house!  Scott pointed us out to everyone.  Hi!  The chairs that they had were barstools with backs.  Scott said, "We've called you here for our meeting tonight."  Jenn all of a sudden missed Elliott.  (She had something to drink, too...not that I don't miss El, but this was a weird song for her to miss him.  Kevin, yes.  El?  OK).  

They were talking too fast for me.  My notes:

"Scott: I don't know if you know what Geo is doing on this.  But he's (an entire blank line)"

"JT:  Colleen gets around."

"Scott regarding JT: blank line of spit.  It's like a tape that you can't work."

"JT: This is my best!"

OMG, Sher.  Writing quickly in the dark while possibly tipsy.  Yikes.  I'd blame it on the fact that I'm writing this months later, but I don't think I'd have figured it out the next day anyway.

Scott talked about Geo being in what would become Boyz II Men.  Geo:  "Sucks, huh?"

John said that Scott is the original James Bond.  He also drinks 48 ounces a day of Diet Mountain Dew (yes, that was a trivia question).

Paper Doll

Rock the Boat

Dubbed the theme of the week.  Zabadap zebo din Zabada (yes, that's in my notes).  Ooh, ooh was sung higher.  Scott's dance for the night is called "The Poseidon".  John jumped and pirouetted only once, yelling "Aha ha!"  He ended the song with more pirouettes.  I like it when JT gets to sing.  I was worried, though, that John (and the others) would fall down because the boat was rocking a little bit while they were dancing.  Their moves were, indeed, a little toned down.

Bang

Scott forgot the key.  "Should we ask to do something that's pure energy?"  "Some people think I sing it, it should be Bond."  Then he chastised all of us: "You've been here too much.  You know already." 

John said that in Cozumel, he rented a car and drove around town.

My Girl/Beg

Liza was chosen.  John told her, "Act like you don't know me."  Scott asked her, "What's the octopus on your neck?"  I, of course, only wrote "L:"  Um, WTF, Sher?!  

Steve pretended to let her off the stage, announcing loudly, "I'M PRETENDING!"

"Baby, baby, I got what you need."  They twirled her around instead of letting her dance, presumably so she also would not fall down.  

Sher's note: "JT pretending to (blank line)"  AUGH!

Geo said, "I'd like to sing a song for all the women."  We all swooned like he was Frank Sinatra or Elvis or someone.  He's so much better!

Babygirl

"DO IT, ROCKAPELLA!" 

Scott:  "Wow, you really know what it is!"

Carmen

JT during his solo:  "Please forgive me.  I'm still recovering from the buffet."

I thought that he should stand behind the drum shell.

JT:  "I have to do that or something will happen."  (No, I don't know what.  That's silly of you to think that I would at this point).

I like how the guys watch JT during his solo.

Scott:  "Where on the Glory is Carmen San Diego?"

Karla got her prize for winning the trivia contest.  Kyoko won a hat for coming the farthest: from Japan!

Encore:

Up On The Roof/Wonderful World

Meet and Greet was short, since we'd be meeting and greeting all week.  :)  I had the guys sign the picture frame that Jenn bought for me, and they also signed Wendy & Jeff's awesome movie poster. 

What a nice, intimate, hilarious show!  From what I can remember.  ;)

Phone Rings, Door Chimes, In Comes...

..."Company", starring Neil Patrick Harris and an all-star cast, filmed at Avery Fisher Hall in NYC.  I was excited when I saw this event listed as a FathomEvent, and didn't even wait to tell anyone about it before buying my ticket to the movie theater.  I had never seen the actual show before, but I'm familiar with a few of the songs in the show.

• Y'all know that I love Stephen Colbert, right?  I love him even more now.  His piece with Martha Plimpton was hilarious and he sang, and he danced, and he made me laugh.   Sigh.
• I've decided that Sondheim thinks vocalists have an endless supply of air.  Wow, when are they supposed to breathe during all of those lyrics? Anika Noni Rose, as Marta, had quite a mouthful of words to sing, and she did that, as I expected she would, with much skill, in "Another Hundred People".
• When Robert sings the name "JoAnne" in "Someone's Waiting", it sounds like he's going to sing "Joanna" from "Sweeney Todd".  I kept expecting him to go there, but he didn't.  I'm thinking that's on purpose, knowing Sondheim's trickiness.
• Oh, Ms. Lupone, your rendition of "The Ladies Who Lunch" was quite well-deserving of the heaps of applause thrown upon you.
• I loved the reaction in the audience when Robert, played by NPH, is asked if he's ever had a homosexual experience. :)
• I also loved NPH's face as he observed everyone else on stage.  He clearly enjoyed every moment of the show.  I'm pretty sure that Colbert and Plimpton almost made him laugh more than he was supposed to.  NPH did a great job in his leading role, as he let the ensemble do their thing, and then took his place at center when needed.  And he got to do magic!  And kick up his heels!  I heart him, can you tell?  ;)
• Katie Finneran was hilarious as Amy in "Getting Married Today", especially when she wanted the wedding music to stop and broke the conductor's baton.
• Jon Cryer kind of freaked me out when he showed what a controlling man he is at the end of his scene with Robert and Jenny.
• Yay, Christina Hendricks!  I enjoyed how incredibly odd she was in her role as flight attendant April.
• I had tears in my eyes during "Being Alive", not only because NPH had a tear in his eye, too, but also because the lyrics to that song really hit me personally.

There needs to be a DVD and CD of this performance.  NEEDS.  I loved it.

Bloed Van Druiven

After celebrating my friend Lori's birthday at an Argentinean restaurant called Malbec (yes, they do serve that wine there), Lo and I went to the nearby Laemmle Theater to see "Bride Flight".  

• The movie was in Dutch with English subtitles, so it was kind of good that Mo didn't join us, because she didn't bring her glasses with her to dinner.
• By the end of the movie, I totally had a crush on Frank.  OK, maybe at the beginning of the movie, through to the end.
• How did Karina Smulders get to be the "lucky" one that got to show off her entire body, and nobody else had to do so?  The dress she stripped off was really cute, though, and easy to take off, apparently.  I loved that she was so embarrassed that she kept right on babbling, even about her husband, whom, um, wasn't there.
• I love that you could totally tell which one was Esther in the first shot of the reunion scenes, since she still had the really red nails and was still smoking a cigarette.  I don't think there was any scene that didn't show her smoking.
• Oh, Marjorie.  So protective that it was overbearing for me, and I'm not even her kid.  Yet it was all understandable, and I genuinely felt compassion for her, as well as I did for all of the characters.
• I didn't know that New Zealand had so many Dutch immigrants.  So do they have "New Zealand Dutch", like we have "Pennsylvania Dutch"?  
• Dude that Ada married was practically Amish in the way that the elders had so much say in their marriage.  I did not like Derk from the moment he made her sit in the back of the truck for their 5-hour trek.  I mean, don't bring the minister if you know that you don't have room inside the cab, for goodness' sake!  What a jerk.  I guess it's a cultural thing, though, where women don't really matter.  But Frank was so good to her, and polite and everything.  I guess Frank's not practically Amish.
• "Have you grown?"  That made me giggle when she then took off her heels for her short fiance.
• Esther was particularly hilarious when describing everything about being a Jewish wife that she did not want to be.
• I wish we could have seen Rutger Hauer actually speak in his native Dutch.
• Oh, I get it now!  The metaphor of the wine and time and relationships!  Nice.

Great movie, great performances, and great story.  I highly recommend it.

First Frenemies

After a wonderfully delicious wine dinner at Catal, my friends and I saw "X-Men: First Class".  OK, some of us saw it.  ONE of us was sleeping through a good chunk of it, but I dared not interrupt their peaceful dreaming.  ;)

• Yay!  Origin story!!!
• Yay!  Vintage comic book uniforms!
• OMG, it's Kevin Bacon, whom is now just one degree of separation from a slew of new people.  He was a fun villain.
• James McAvoy and Michael Fassbender were a great team as Professor X and Magneto, and I loved seeing what drew them apart.  They were both dreamy to look at, too.
• I really liked January Jones as Emma Frost.  I also love that her actual name fits for the character she portrays.  :)  Along with her icy portrayal as Betty Draper in "Mad Men", it makes me wonder if she's actually a nice person in real life.  I know that she looks just as fabulous in real life, having seen her in person, but I've never met her.
• Yay, Jennifer Lawrence as Mystique!  I liked seeing her vulnerability.  It made me care a lot more about her than I had in other movies.
• I also liked Hank McCoy as Beast, and I couldn't wait for him to turn blue.  ;)
• Yes, I did see Storm when Cerebro was looking for all of the mutants in the world.  Cool.
• Sequels?  Yes, please!
• I heart Hugh Jackman, even when he only says 3 words.  

I'm looking forward to watching this over and over again when it reaches HBO.  Great movie.

DLR LotD 06/03/11

Disneyland Resort
Line of the Day


Friday, June 3, 2011


"It's been a long, hot, sweaty day." -- Mox, at Catal

DLR LotD 05/31/11

Disneyland Resort
Line of the Day


Tuesday, May 31, 2011


"I've been on this ride 4 times!" -- Little girl in queue for Ariel's Undersea Adventures, holding up 8 fingers

DLR LotD 05/30/11

Disneyland Resort
Line of the Day


Monday, May 30, 2011


"They have midgets picking the beans from the lowest branches." -- Glenn, explaining "Low-Vanilla Fat Yogurt", at the Uva Bar

My Unicorn Name

My unicorn name is Bluebell Celestial Pony
Bluebell is an eccentric genius with a big imagination.
She is as dark as the night sky,
and she brings the sunshine and chases away clouds.
Get your own unicorn names from The Unicorn Name Generator!






Fitting, right? :)

DLR LotD 05/29/11

Disneyland Resort
Line of the Day


Sunday, May 29, 2011


"All Ariel, all the time." -- Cindy, on Main Street

Red 5, Standing By

Rockapella Cruise

Day 4 -- Cozumel

Tuesday, January 25, 2011

Liz and I got up for the Sunrise Stretch, then went to breakfast in the Platinum Room.  Liz was a bit dismayed to see that her chicken sausage was not the correct color.  Perhaps they should have burnt them or something.  

We arrived at our first port: Cozumel, Mexico.  We brought our shopping pass to the shops there and got a free charm bracelet and a charm.  Jenn bought something at the jewelry store which matched a piece of jewelry she had at home.  I bought a pretty silver hair clip.

We met up with the rest of Team Pella and went to the excursion meeting area for The Amazing Cozumel Race.  This was an excursion that I had been excited about ever since we had signed up for the cruise, and I had organized our team and we all agreed to wear our red Rockapella shirts (or just a red shirt if we didn't have one).  Liz couldn't find hers, and Jenn didn't have one, but we were all still wearing red, and we looked great!  We had 5 members on our team (like the Pella!), and we also ended up being Team #5.  This is Wendy's favorite number, so she was already happy.  I was already happy because we were doing The Amazing Cozumel Race!  We were also wearing red, so we were Red 5.  If you don't know the significance of this, I refuse to help you, because this means that you are not a geek like me.  I can't remember how many teams were playing but we were all very excited.  We were given badges which would have to be returned, so we didn't get to write "Team Pella" on them.  While we were waiting, we took tourist-y pictures on huge furniture.  

Seriously, I almost fell down.

All of the teams took shuttles to a shopping center, where we were given a map and clues about our quest.  It had something to do with a serpent.  While planning for the cruise, Jenn had already agreed to be the designated snorkel swimmer, so she was ready with her equipment.   We walked along the beach and found our clue, which led us to a henna tattoo stand.  Wendy volunteered to get the tattoo, which was of the aforementioned serpent.  

Happy Sher, staying on the boat

We were then given a clue which led us to a boat with other racers.  It was snorkel time for Jenn!  The captain took us pretty far out onto the water, and we were told that there was a sunken pirate ship with a clue for our diver to find.  Our boat had a partial glass bottom, but we couldn't see the sunken ship, even though the water was quite clear...and a beautiful, beautiful blue. 

Not-so-happy Jenn

Not all of the teams had people brave enough to dive, which was OK because we were given the clue while Jenn and the other guy dove.  I won't say how we were given the clue, but we were.  Jenn came up for air and said that she couldn't read the clue, and she was really tired from swimming down to the ship.   The guy from the other team did read the clue, and when he came up for air, he tried to calm down a now-hysterical Jenn.  She was yelling to us, "I'm not kidding, you guys, I'm really tired!!!"  The dude kept telling Jenn to relax.  She eventually yelled at him, "YOU RELAX!"  Our captain finally let Jenn out of her misery, and we picked them up.  Jenn  swore that she almost drowned.  Poor Jenn.  She was so happy until that point.  

We then got off the boat, and went to the Scuba Divers sculpture, where words needed to be counted and unscrambled.  This led us to a museum about the coral reefs, where we had to fill in blanks for our clues and such.  Then we had to go to a miniature golf course.  I do not enjoy mini-golf as much as my friends do, but I still did a stroke for the team.  The course we got was really difficult, so we switched courses, in which Liz got a hole-in-one!  Once we were done, we were told to go to a nearby store, where we had to husk an ear of corn to find the clue inside.  This clue told us where to go for the finish line, which was at a thatch-covered Mexican restaurant .  We ended up in 5th place.  Yes, FIVE AGAIN.  Whoa. We were hungry, so we ordered food, which was less than yummy.  I bought a white polo shirt with the race logo on it before we took a shuttle back to the port.  The race was just way fun (well, maybe not so much for Jenn, whom was exhausted and decided then and there that she was not yet cut out for the real Amazing Race).  

Team Pella/Red Five

Who should appear when we got in line to board the ship but Geo and Sandra!  He totally lied to us about going windsurfing and stuff.  Sandra straightened him out and said that they actually did a bunch of shopping.  APPARENTLY, Sandra is quite the haggler, and Geo was impressed with her bargaining skills, as well as her Spanish-language skills.  Liz and I want her to come with us when we go shopping.

Since we were still hungry after the non-yummy food, Liz and I ordered room service, and I had a BLT.  We took our showers and got ready for the first Rockapella show of the cruise, which took place in the Ebony Cabaret Lounge.  (There will be a separate post about the show).  Jenn had bought me the picture of the two of us that we took together at the Port of Miami, and placed it in a fancy leather folding frame, so I had 4 out of the 5 guys sign it after the show.  Scott was not liking a dude's Red Sox shirt.  Afterward, we went to the picture gallery and I bought a bunch of pictures.  We would have tried out the sushi bar, but the selection was limited and boring.  

We returned to the Platinum Dining Room for dinner, and Jeff T sat at our table.  At first, he sat by Karla, but then June told him where to sit.  I ended up sitting between him and Wendy.  Scott was a no-show again.  I had the Tiger Shrimp Cocktail, Short Ribs with Rice, and Molten Chocolate Cake.  The rice had a lot of ginger in it, which I did not enjoy.  Fred, who was seated at our table again, ordered the sherbet, but he was given the cake.  He didn't mind, though, because he said "It's Destiny."  We talked about the race, and Jenn told everyone about her "near-death experience".  She's funny.  Jenn talked to JT about her awesome cooking, and I told him that I thought about him when we were eating roasted garlic with our bread back at our hotel in Miami.  He loves the stuff.  Jenn asked him how it feels for us to know everything about him.  He responded, "They don't know EVERYTHING."  Jenn said, "Good for you."  Clearly, Jenn has forgotten how to be a stalker.  ;)  JT left for Bingo as the rest of us decided who was going to do the "Thriller" dance.  The boy loves the Bingo, I guess.  

A much happier Jenn, with Jeff T

Karla, MJ, Liz and I went to the White Heat room to learn the "Thriller" dance.  Well, Liz went to watch us and take pictures.  I had a mango martini, which was REALLY strong, so I didn't enjoy it as much as I had during the Martini Tasting.  We learned the dance, did it for real, felt silly, and left.  Liz and I sat in the lounge area of the corridor.  Fred came by, so we invited him to sit with us.  He talked about the comedian/juggler that he had just seen at the Ebony Cabaret.  JT and Tim passed by on their way to the comedy club to see Steve's bro.  MJ and Ross came by and said hi. Sandra and Geo came by and I finally got the 5th Pella to sign the frame that Jenn gave me.  Steve waved to us as he passed by.  It was a happening scene, man!

Karla, Sher and MJ Zombies (courtesy of Amy K)

After all of the socializing, we returned to our room, where we found our towel creation of the day:  elephant!  :)

Next up:  Grand Cayman

Messed Up in Asiatic Town

Yesterday, I took a walk to my local movie theater to see "The Hangover: Part 2".  I watch the first one almost every time it plays on HBO, so I was looking forward to seeing this one, too.

• I think the monkey is the same on as was shown in "The Big Bang Theory", because he smokes cigarettes, too.
• The monkey has a banana on his helmet.  Awesome.
• Funny to see Stu covering his drinks so that he doesn't get rufied again.  You'd think that he'd learn not to accept *anything* from Alan.
• Really glad that my tattoo did not look like that (not the design or the placement, but the aftermath of it).
• "I'm confused.  Is this a magic trick?"
• Why were the guys portrayed by kids in Alan's memory of the previous day?
• Love that they borrowed from the "Chess" soundtrack, although it wasn't sung well, not that I'm surprised given the singer.
• Even with the hangover, Bradley Cooper is gorgeous.
• Stu's song is funny again, but I wish it had been one of his original works, and not a cover.  Still, the lyrics are funny.
• Wow, the scenery around the wedding area was beautiful.

This one was funny, too, but not as hilarious as the original.  Lots of laughter in the audience, and not just from me.  :)