This Can't Be Broccoli

This is a list of my favorite things, as of February 28th: 1) Running in Heels . Blatant Devil Wears Prada knockoff? Oh, yes. Do I care? Hell no. These are some of the best people on Reality TV. I already hate Ashley. Talita is a lovable disaster. And I get the feeling Samantha is going to cry a lot and then become an uber-bitch a la Blair. That's not even taking into account that Nina Garcia can remain on television until the lost season of Project Runway appears, which brings me to-- 2) The EW Article on PR's Sixth Season . Heartbreaking. And the final collections? I'm not sure I even want to watch at this point. 3) The Coast of Utopia: Voyage by Tom Stoppard . I went back and re-read it. It's so fantastic, and not nearly as daunting to produce as I originally thought it would be. Hmm... 4) Make Me a Supermodel. A modeling competition where I don't have to listen to Tyra? I'm in. 5) Everyone Who Came to My Solo Show So Far . Mwuah.

What I Loved: 1) Sean Penn besting Mickey Rourke . I truly believe Sean Penn gave the better performance, and Mickey Rourke's "I don't give a shit" attitude has begun to get on my nerves. 2) Past Oscar winners introducing the nominees . I wish they had varied the lists a little bit (People did win Oscars before 1990, you know) but unlike E! Online, it was great hearing past winners salute new talent. My favorite--Shirley Maclaine introducing Anne Hathaway. I agree with her completely; it's nice to see a young star not be a total screw-up. 3) Slumdog beating The Reader , because, well...Harvey Weinstein spreading rumors about the film was utterly disgusting. 4) Kate Winslet winning--FINALLY. 5) Dustin Lance Black , but that goes without saying. How OLD is he? Twelve? And he already has an Oscar. I need to get moving. What I Didn't Love: 1) Hugh Jackman . He tromped around that stage like a lounge singer. I thought the scaled down awards was a o...

As of February 21st, here are a few of my favorite things: 1) Paranormal State. I love nothing more than docu-ghost shows, and this one is by far the best. (I'm sorry Ghost Hunters, but the cinematography is sooo much better on PS.) Plus, each episode is a bite-sized half hour, so you get all your scares and still attempt to be productive. Oh wait, they usually run this show in marathon form--so much for that. 2) "How Do You Sleep?" As guilty pleasures go, I still feel I could do a lot worse than Jesse McCartney. I love that all his songs sound like they should be sung by The Tony Rich Project. Don't know who I'm talking about? Then shame on you! 3) A Journal for Jordan by Dana Canedy. It's not what I would call the most well-written book on grief (I believe Joan Didion holds that title until the end of time), but it does completely change your outlook on the soldiers fighting the war in Iraq. This very eloquent book is simply this--a woman writ...

My favorite things as of February 14th: 1) Bernard and Doris . If you want a fun night in, rent this HBO movie starring Susan Sarandon and Ralph Fiennes. It's campy, touching, and very well-acted. It takes a little while to get going, but once it does it never lets up. I imagine that if I drank, it'd be a fun movie to watch after having a few glasses of something or other. 2) Kevin James . Yes, I went to see Paul Blart: Mall Cop . Why am I not embarrassed? Because I think Kevin James is adorable, and he actually turned that one-note Adam Sandler wannabe comedy into a genuinely funny movie. Plus, he's just so darn cute. 3) The Return of J.Hud . Not only did she just become a Grammy winner, Jennifer Hudson swept at the N.A.A.C.P. awards, beating out a certain Sasha Fierce. Wow, are there any more awards this girl can take from you, Sashay? 4) Grey's/Private Practice Cross-Over . Since we're going to lose Izzie and George, can we please just be done with...

I've wanted to do this for the LONGEST TIME. Have you ever gone to see a play/musical, and the audience doesn't seem all that responsive? The show might be good or it might not be, but the audience just isn't giving anything at all? Then you talk to your friends after the show, and they say-- "The audience was SOOO good tonight. They were way better than last night." And you think-- "What show were you performing? Apparently, I needed to see that one." But you don't say that, because you're not rude. You're not, I am--at least for the moment. A friend of mine was in a show, and every performance was taped for one reason or another. They wanted to piece together the best moments of each performance to make the ultimate bootleg college production video, which, I suppose, if it ever decided to grow legs and attack a city, would only be able to be killed by the Power Rangers. So I asked my friend to do me a favor. ME: Are you going to watch ...

I don't care what he does, because he's an athlete. That's all. He is NOT an American hero. Firemen, police officers, soldiers who are dying--those are American heroes. Let's not pretend he didn't get his spot in the limelight because he's cute enough to put on magazines, and let's not pretend that anyone who sees an Olympic athlete as someone worthy of being on EVERY TELEVISION SHOW POSSIBLE isn't a total tool. The kid screwed up, and he got in trouble for it because he's a celebrity. But he shouldn't be a celebrity in the first place. So let's call it even.

Last night, I watched the movie 2046. It was highly praised by critics, and I didn't understand any of it. I mean, I sort of did. I got that it was about a writer, a really mean-spirited guy, who has affair after affair with pretty women, and writes a science fiction story that comprises a section of the movie that relates to the people in the writer's life. I guess when I say I didn't understand it, I mean I didn't understand why I was supposed to care about this guy, or his women, or what was happening. Confession: I'm not big on romantic movies. I don't like any movie that is simply romantic. Perhaps that was my problem with the movie. The film did illicit a discussion about Asian cinema that makes its way into America. It seems like the idea behind all the Asian movies I've seen have the same idea-- "Forget the plot. Look how pretty everything is." Now, I have to say, that's certainly a better idea than most of America's action mo...

Random Notes: - Every time I watch the clip of Bruce Springsteen at the Superbowl, I get choked up when he gets to the chorus of "Born to Run." I have no idea why, but I have a feeling it's the closest thing to patriotic I'm ever going to get. - When asked about Hillary Duff playing Bonnie Parker in "The Story of Bonnie and Clyde," Faye Dunaway, the iconic Bonnie, said what everyone was thinking--"Couldn't they have gotten a real actress?" Hillary then had the GALL to respond with--"I don't think many of my fans who will be coming to see the movie remember who Faye Dunaway is anyway." Bitch, EVERYONE will be remembering Faye Dunaway LONG after you're gone. - Top Chef bullshit of the week? Stefan picking the easier dish to copy and winning the elimination challenge. This was after Carla deduced something about her dish that wasn't even on the menu. She apparently lost because her little potato chips weren't crisp ...

This is a list of my favorite things as of February 6th, 2009: 1) Bob on The Biggest Loser . I've come out of the closet; I'm a Bob fan. Don't misunderstand me. I still think Jillian is the better trainer, and I usually want someone on her team to win more (Last year I couldn't have been happier when Heba the Hutt got defeated). Aside from all that, Bob is dreamy. He's got that cute Southern lilt, those stupid tattoos, and when he gets mad it's so queeny it's adorable. Yup, I'm a Bob-lover. Sue me. 2) The Little Flower of East Orange by Stephen Adly Guirgis. I'm working on a production of one of his plays now, and when I saw that this play was published, I spent an hour in Borders just reading it without fear of being bothered. I won't say it's my favorite of his plays (Judas is my favorite, hence why I'm co-producing it) but it's a great story about the elderly that pulls away just when you think it's going to start ...

So, as many of you know, I work at a library. Today, a tutor/teacher wanted to use the computers to have his student print out an assignment. To use the computers, you need a library card, and you need to have the card on you. The student he was tutoring needed to use the computer. Neither the student nor the tutor had their cards on them. When my boss informed the tutor that she couldn't make an exception for him because there are lots of kids around who will be all too happy to notice the hypocrisy taking place and bring it up ad naseum. The tutor seemed fine about it at first, then mentioned something about tax dollars and privileges. I then mentioned that I thought the bigger issue is that many of the kids in my town have bad attitudes and problems with authority, and that I would hope that someone who is supposed to be an authoritarian figure would be more concerned with setting an example for his student instead of showing that rules can be broken when you need them to be. ...