sherlell

so, the Hugh Laurie directed episode of House was fine. nothing mind-blowing, obviously heavy on the supporting characters so as to give hugh laurie less to do, which sadly meant that david strathairn (whom i love) wasn't used probably to his best extent, but whatever.

( more thoughts )

and in gossip girl world, i really enjoyed chuck calling nate on being a total airhead tonight. and saying the only problem nate and serena have is arguing over whose hair is shinier. hilarious! nate's eyebrows were particularly pretty tonight. sigh.

i was scrolling through an old document with random old away messages i had, looking for a specific lewis black quotation that i apparently don't have anymore, and there were these snippets of IM conversations between gruber and me. they're hilarious.


Knightbg42: "Leslie. Your contributions to the world of geekiness have been profound. As a high school english teacher, you have corrupted young minds that formerly had a perfectly good chance at a normal social life. Furthermore, your commitment to 6 hour shakespeare is well known."
Knightbg42: oh wait i forgot
Knightbg42: "i thereby award you the degree doctor of geekiness, honorus causum."

Knightbg42: and leslie wins the special oscar for frightening insight into brian's psyche

knightbg42: LESLIE
knightbg42: YOU HAVE TO MARRY DEREK JETER
knightbg42: SO THAT HE DOESN'T LOSE HIS BET TO HIDEKI MATSUI

Knightbg42: maybe you can win a grammy for best pajamas
sherlell: best pajamas, long form!
Knightbg42: a;s fkdnj

Knightbg42: ooh, i wonder if it's for LENT
sherlell: you think everything's for lent

Knightbg42: the e train is to me as the bathroom was to the fonz
sherlell: that's quite the analogy

Knightbg42: the terrence mann show
Knightbg42: starring terrance mann!
Knightbg42: and featuring colm wilkonson w/ his nuts in a vice
Knightbg42: and a special appearance from chairman kaga

Knightbg42: well go to sleep then
Knightbg42: i hope you don't have anthrax

so tonight i watched the American Masters special on Jerome Robbins on PBS, and what an amazing guy. i mean, he was occasionally vicious to the people he was working with, named names to HUAC, and had life-long issues with his own homosexuality, but what absolute genius. i mean, he basically changed the American musical with West Side Story, and he's the greatest American-born ballet choreographer. i've seen a fair amount of his choreography, both in musicals and ballet, and tonight while i watched some of the ballet pieces they showed, i actually cried. dance makes me cry, a lot more than conventional drama does, and usually more than music. it's partially like a kind of a lost-limb feeling, of i used to do something approaching that and i remember how wonderful it felt, physically and emotionally, when it was done right. and part of it is that i appreciate expression, of thought, of emotion, in movement, sometimes more than in what words can convey. ballet is poetry, and in many ways i love it more than poetry.

anyway, before this gets too schmaltzy, here are some clips of jerome robbins' best work:

from West Side Story, of course. while "Cool" has more of the "jerome robbins-y" moves, i think this is the best number in the musical.


and from my favorite ballet work of his, Dances at a Gathering, which is choreographed to Chopin piano pieces. i love it b/c a) it's beautiful, adn 2) i have danced to this music a million times. it's often played when warming up at the barre, or doing floor exercises. plus the movements, especially in this section, are so basic in many places, basic arm movements and reverences and stuff, but then there's a movement once in a while that's so jerome robbins. it's excellent.



Afternoon of a Faun is also pretty awesome.

so how much of a shitshow is it going to be, getting Shakespeare in the Park tickets this summer? I'm thinking SO MANY WHALES shitshow.

a) it's al pacino.
2) it's al pacino doing Merchant of Venice, something he's already done (pretty well) on film.
gamma) it's FREE.
unicorn) it's al pacino. and also jesse l. martin! whom i heart second most of all Law & Order cops, after of COURSE jerry orbach.


so the upshot is, while i for realsies want to see this Merchant, i'm not that confident that it'll happen. and al pacino won't be in Winter's Tale, the other play they're doing in repertory (although jesse l. martin will be), but i frankly find The Winter's Tale really annoying. i've been forced to read it 3 times now, and i've seen it done at BAM by the Propeller company, and blech. i mean, it's free yadda yadda, but i just can't get it up for Winter's Tale.

or, BLARG HEROES SEASON FINALE.

this was the most anticlimactic season finale heroes has ever had. the world definitely ended not with a bang but with a whimper. a whimper distinctly from douchebag samuel. it was kind of amazing how it just sort of fizzled out... at like 9:53 i actually shouted at the tv, "that's fucking IT?" doh.

( you know the drill )

-speaking of, NEXT SEASON???? VOLUME SIX???? ugh christ almighty. JUST LET IT DIE. i mean, we all know i'm going to watch it, no matter how much of a piece of shit it is. as long as sylar and peter are still around, i'll watch for the hotness. but sweet sassy molassy.

tonight's Heroes episode, or at least the Sylar/Peter plot, was totally a fanfiction come to life. i don't understand how it could have been anything else. not that i cared, b/c finally the only two characters i give a crap about anymore came together, in fantastically homoerotic fashion, but still. fanfiction, i swear to you.

( to the evidence! )

i honestly don't know how they're going to end this shit. b/c next week is the season finale, and by all rights it should be the SERIES finale. Heroes was once great, now it is lucky if it hits mediocre, and it just needs to be put to bed. Zachary Quinto is apparently going to be George Gershwin in some movie, and then he has Spock again, so he'll do alright. and i'm sure milo ventimiglia can find another WB drama that i'll probably watch b/c he's in it. put it to bed, Heroes people!

yesterday in Union Sq., Rich Sommer, a.k.a. Harry Crane on Mad Men, a.k.a. the advertising dude who wears glasses and is nebbishy and is not gay, nor blond, nor bearded, nor the douchey one who knocked up Peggy. and who takes over the television division, or something? in season 2.

yes, i of course had to look up his name.

oh sweet sassy molassy, Heroes.

( every episode is now 90% boring, 10% interesting. )
ugh show. you disappoint me. HOW many months left until Glee????

oh, Heroes. you were back for TWO HOURS. and i was bored for about 75% of it!

( does anyone even care about spoilers anymore? )

turns out i had a lot more to say than i expected!

so, i've only watched the first half of David Tennant's last episode as the 10th Doctor Who, and it was immeasurably disappointing. for a variety of reasons:

( gruber, you've already seen this part, so no spoilers in this section. )
here's hoping part two is better, though i'm not holding my breath. which is sad, b/c i love the Tenth Doctor more than a lot of things in this world. and he deserves a better send-off than this.

EDIT: I HAVE WATCHED PART TWO. ( GRUBER THERE ARE SPOILERS NOW. )