An unsuspected gift!! (a late bit of tid due to illness)

This was supposed to go up on 1/29/11 but I have been sick at home with my yearly dose of TB. I hate it when illness keeps my blog from blogging!!


I think it's so sweet that Lady Gaga is releasing her new single "Born This Way," on my BIRTHDAY!!!! 2-13-11!! What a treat!! I'm a grateful little monster indeed! RAH RAH RAH RAH!!

THUNDER SNOW!!

The “Weekender” Cast got together last night to support our super talented director, Paul Urcioli, as he put on his acting hat and shook his jelly in the new play Point Last Seen. The snow had been pretty steady all day, but the streets and sidewalk were still passable. So getting to the Atlantic Theatre Company was easy, getting out well……

As per the usual, we headed to one of our favorite pubs, The Crooked Fork, for some post show libations. Things were merry indeed until we heard a banging sound and looked out side to see gale force winds whipping the snow back and forth. You know like Willow Smith's hair. When we emerge an hour of so later, the streets where gone, nothing but white and the snow still falling. No cabs to be found we headed into the subway with one side trip on the Q to no where (thanks Neptune!! lol) the trip got me back to the Eastside and I started my stumble home....and stumble I did. I took these pictures in case I fell and couldn't get up, so that when they finally dug up my body they would at least know the power of THUNDER SNOW!!!!



Finally a snow fairy left a trail home...but as you can see it only got me so far.

My Daddy Taught Me Good On The Auto-Tune!

This is my new most favorite, F'd up thing EVER!! Thank you Ned Noyes for introducing me to the genius that is The Gregory Brothers. Lord I just can't take it!!! Plus they share the profits with the people they sample from the news. Well kids that's just good Karma!!

Back it up!!

TID BIT FRIDAY!!

On Fridays I will post weekly "tid bits" that have inspirational meaning to me. They can be anything; poems, songs, scenes from plays or movies. They will also serve as a way to remind me from where my whimsy and happiness spring. Of late, I seem to have misplaced the address.

We start with my fond affection for Noél Coward....It all started with an album my grandmother had in her HiFi collection. The songs made me giggle and even though I didn't understand all the words I was determined to find out what this dapper man in a tux was singing about and what I had to do to attend "a marvellous party".

Then came Blythe Spirit it's a show that I have loved for a very long time. It was one of my mother's favorites and I got to perform a scene or two in college. Of course I played Elvira....not quite as graceful & chic as Lauren Bacall, my Elvira well she was more Dawn French in a Gunny Sack Dress. I can't speak to the recent revival as I did not see it, partly as a silent protest against a Broadway producer who wouldn't listen to me, and partly because I'm always broke.

Below is a tid bit from a LIVE Broadcast on CBS staring Mr. Coward, it aired on 1-14-56 (55 yrs ago). Time she does fly doesn't she...

Cast:
Noel Coward as Charles Condomine
Claudette Colbert as Ruth Condomine
Lauren Bacall as Elvira Condomine
Brenda Forbes as Mrs. Bradman
Mildred Natwick as Madame Arcati
Philip Tonge as Dr. Bradman

Dir. Noel Coward & Frederick De Cordova

Painfully funny....

After watching the first two episodes of “Episodes” on Showtime, all my fears are confirmed. Los Angeles is nothing but a wasteland of yes men and artistic compromise. Where you sell your soul for truck loads of money while your play, script or pilot gets masticated on the molars of mediocrity and your uniquity is obliterated because it didn’t “test” well with people who have no idea that life did manage to toddle on without them before 1986. But hey at least it’s always sunny.

If you have showtime check it out, TAMSIN GREIG "Beverly Lincoln" is a treat as are some of the periphery characters, especially the woman in charge of "comedy" at the network. I'm looking forward to seeing how it all plays out. I find myself wincing more and laughing less because you know deep inside this is how the game is played.

"Episodes" a snippet:
Sean and Beverly Lincoln are riding high. The hit British television show they created, Lyman's Boys, just won another in a string of BAFTA Awards, and a major Hollywood television network wants to turn it into a stateside series and bring them over to run it. But it quickly becomes clear that the network has something different in mind for their high-brow comedy about an erudite, curmudgeonly headmaster of an elite boarding school - especially when they cast Matt LeBlanc (aka "Joey") in the lead. Will Sean and Beverly be able to navigate the shark-infested waters of Hollywood and survive with their careers, their marriage, and their sanity in tact?

Who can say???

Cleaning House

Dear Double Chin,

This letter is to notify you that your time has come. Time for you to pack up your bags and leave the premises, your lease has expired. I am tired of seeing you in pictures and reminding me that eating double bacon cheese burgers after 11pm is not a reward but a future punishment yet to be revealed.

You slumber across my larynx with a lethargy reserved mostly for three toed sloth’s and the occasional tranny on the nod. It's been a lazy four years of self apathy which is not entirely your fault. My surgery made for an excellent excuse to back slide into a comfortable bean bag lifestyle.

I miss my jaw line, my hard biceps, and my graceful curves that used to be sexy, but now just remind one of an eggplant. I’m tired of being winded from subway stairs and standing up. I spent so much money on getting fit four years ago that most third world countries would have increased their GNP, but instead in the wake of injury I increased my BMI.

This is not a resolution but a plan to live a more healthy life and hope that there is still time to wear my skinny jeans before 2012 and the world ends.

So pack up your overwhelming fear of change, your self doubt and leave, the reconstruction begins immediately.

sincerely,
brandy

Wildely Entertaining!!

On Tuesday night I spent a glorious 3 hours with Tom, Brian and the divine Lady Bracknell. A txt was sent post haste to inquiry if I was free for an evening of, “The Importance of Being Earnest” at the American Airline theatre. Straight away and without a moment to waste I replied via txt, "YES PLEASE!"

We entered the theatre around quarter of 8pm and made our way to the ample seats of the rear mezzanine. Which at first thought might have made one think that the seats were too far back, but that wasn't the case at all. We three simply hung as if honey from a spoon hovering over the spectacle that Oscar Wilde wrote nearly 116yrs ago.

This play continues to surprise and delight especially when in the capable hands of Mr. Brian Bedford who simultaneous serves as director and as the perfect Lady Augusta Bracknell. The 3 acts and 2 intermissions fly by as quickly as the witty banter falls with bounce and flair from the mouths of the cast. Effortlessly this romp through Victorian society makes one giddy over what used to cause a fuss in proper circles. Name, birth, land, money, cucumber sandwiches and the likelihood of finding a baby in a handbag at Victoria Station, the Bright Line of course, gives one pause to ponder the absurdity of what people deem “important”. Oscar was right then and he is right now….I think he would be overjoyed at the longevity of his work and this production in particular. So if you get the chance go! The laughter and the country air will do you good!!

(these video bits don’t do the show justice, but like cucumber sandwiches they’ll tide you over till supper)

The First One in 2011

I look to my sister in spirit and in truth for my first blog of the New Year. Dorothy Parker's, Résumé seems fitting for my current state of mind.

Life is like quicksand the more you resist and struggle the faster you go under. So here's to just dealing with the cards you're handed and having another shot to cure what ails ya...

Razors pain you;
Rivers are damp;
Acids stain you;
And drugs cause cramp.
Guns aren't lawful;
Nooses give;
Gas smells awful;
You might as well live.

-Dorothy Parker