The Most Amazing Things the Internet Has Ever Wrought, For About 0.05% Of the Population

Not to post the same thing here and on twitter and on tumblr, but this is a special occasion.

would it kill you to rotate, little .gif?

Lea Salonga.

Singing "Poker Face."

Really, really well.



Mind = blown. Heart = full.

Theatre nerds, you're welcome.

VERY IMPORTANT YOUTUBE FINDS!!!!!

OMG, guys.

You may remember, as many unsuccessful google searchers see, that long ago I posted this, re: my inability to find the "Are You a Wasteroo?" cartoon from Sesame Street on YouTube.

Travesty NO MORE.



(Wasteroon? Sure, whatever.)

And ALSO. A picture of a baby beluga led me to THIS unembedable gem. Raffi, A Young Children's Concert, part 1.


And yes, there are more parts. ALL the parts. I don't know about you, but I grew up with this video, and watching it again is completely awesome. "Down By the Bay," "Baby Beluga," and copious crowd shots of beautiful 1980s people, little kids nestling with parents and blankies and singing when the spirit says sing.

A Second Chance and, Like, a Fifth Chance or Something

You slackers are lucky. Normally, theatre is fleeting - it's not like a movie you can watch on DVD, a book you can reread, a record you can reset the needle on and play again on your turntable. Sure, you can go see a production again, but when a show closes, that's it. So if you missed a wonderful play like Circle Mirror Transformation or a hilarious, joyful pirate puppet rock musical like Jollyship the Whiz-Bang, and missed them again when they extended or, in the case of Jollyship, then played a couple of concerts, normally it'd be like, Tough shit, you lazy bum. Way to miss out on some really awesome stuff.

Except now both of these shows are coming back, so even though you're a complete failure of a human being, you have a chance to redeem yourself!

Berating you like this is the way to convince you that these shows will enrich your life and fill your heart, right?

Circle Mirror Transformation is coming back to Playwrights Horizons for another month or so of performances. I really can't reccommend this play highly enough - it's a compelling, hilarious, really moving little play with five brilliant performances. Seriously, do not miss it.

And Jollyship the Whiz-Bang. What can I say that I haven't already said? Is it the funniest piece of theatre I've ever seen in my life? Maybe. Does it fill my heart with rock music, awesome puppets, dirty pirate humor, and a surprising amount of heart? Absolutely. And it's back for ONE NIGHT ONLY, January 11, as part of the Under the Radar Festival. If you haven't seen Jollyship, GO. If you have seen it, you probably love it madly, and will be going again. Do not be scared off by the pirates, or the puppets, or the "musical." It's amazing.

Jollyship tickets are $15 (plus a couple bucks of service charge, alas), and are available here. Tickets for Circle Mirror Transformation can be gotten here - they're $50, which, if you aren't broke, is completely worth it, but I'll keep my ears open for discounts.

yeeeeeaaaaaahh

New York: Do Something

First of all: What the FUCK, New York State Senate?? Seriously?!

Second of all: With one exception - Toby Ann Stavinsky - every State Senator in Queens voted against gay marriage.

Third of all: Do something. Some of these neighborhood/Senator corrolations may be a little off - Allison just walked by, and I was like, is your Senator George Onorato? And she said no, though she lives in Astoria - so check, but please, Queens, or anyone else, call and e-mail your Senator. Even if it's to say Thanks for standing up for civil rights. Please keep fighting.

But especially for these folks, because what the fuck?:

If you live in Astoria, Long Island City, Woodside, or Sunnyside in Queens, call and e-mail your Senator:

George Onorato
onorato@senate.state.ny.us
518 455-3486
718 545-9706

If you live in Jackson Heights, Corona, or East Elmhurst in Queens, and e-mail your Senator:

Hiram Monserrate
monserra@senate.state.ny.us
518 455-2529
718 205-3881

If you live in Middle Village, the west side of Forest Hill Gardens, Ridgewood, Woodhaven, or Ozone Park in Queens, call and e-mail your Senator:

Joseph Addabbo, Jr.
addabbo@senate.state.ny.us
518 455-2322
718 738-1111

If you live in Kew Gardens, the east side of Forest Hills Gardens, Jamaica, Richmond Hill, or Laurelton in Queens, call and e-mail your Senator:

Shirley Huntley
shuntley@senate.state.ny.us
518 455-3531
718 523-3069

If you live in Parkchester, Hunts Point, Castle Hill, or Melrose in the Bronx, call and e-mail your Senator:

Ruben Diaz, Sr.
diaz@senate.state.ny.us
518 455-2511
718 991-3161

If you live in Brighton Beach, Sheepshead Bay, Midwood, Mill Basin, or Manhattan Beach in Brooklyn, call and e-mail your Senator:

Carl Kruger
kruger@senate.state.ny.us
518 455-2460
718 743-8610

(stolen wholesale from Chris)

On How It's Not My Fault, And Thanks For Nothing, Blogger - You Suck.

Okay, yes, I know, I did not NaBloPoMo, to turn that into a verb, yesterday. But I have a good reason! Not my fault, once my leaving things to the last second is discounted! I got home last night all ready to reluctantly blog some half-assed junk, and discovered that my (neighbor's) wireless was down. But, lucky for me, I now have an iPhone, right? I already knew that Blogger doesn't have an actual iPhone application, but no worry, I took the phone's little web browser to blogger.com, to work it that way. Put in some sort of title, and went to click in the body field of the editor and-- nothing. Tried again. Nope. Apparently you cannot in any way access Blogger from an iPhone.

And so because of that I forgot the very important, lucid, entertaining, thought-provoking thing I was going to write.

Thanks, Blogger, for ruining EVERYTHING.

(via)

Thanksgiving TV, Deferred

Thanksgiving is without a doubt my favorite holiday. The actual dinner, of course, the gathering of family and eating of delicious food - and yes, shut up, there is plenty for a vegetarian to eat, the turkey is like the least exciting part - but so much more than that. When my sister and I were little, my dad used to take us to the Thanksgiving Day Parade - my memories are as vivid of the Egg McMuffin breakfasts and rationed hot chocolate (for the sake of little kid bladders) as they are of the parade itself. I remember a lot of freezing morning, a little rain, and the last time, when I was about twelve and pretty much too old for it, leaving the dripping rain parade half way, to read a newspaper I found in a Starbucks until my dad and Marissa came and met me.

So yeah, I was that sort of kid.

But I still love the parade, and have spent the last few Thanksgiving mornings with the parade on the TV in my little bedroom at my mom's house, listening from the kitchen as I cook, standing in the doorway to watch the awful performances of Broadway shows. The TV-watching gets more serious when the dog show comes on after the parade - I could just straight-up watch that forever.

This year, though, plans got jacked and I would be meeting Marissa at Thanksgiving dinner at our cousin's house on the Upper East Side, before heading back with her to mom's for the weekend. Which meant I'd be at my own place Thursday morning.

And I don't have a working TV.

Crisis! Crisis! Crisis!

But, uh, yeah, I actually live in New York City. Where the parade is. And so that's where I was.

It's much less of a production when you're a grownup, and it's 50 degrees and sunny. Quite a fun thing.

But that still left the awful Broadway show performances and the entire dog show unwatched! Lucky for me, my sister's a champ and has DVR, and I'd be spending all day Friday at my mom's house, so that's what led to me watching (fast forwarding through) the parade yesterday afternoon, and watching the dog show now, on Saturday.

And thanks be to god, my beloved Brussels Griffon, which I first found through the dog show a few years ago, is in the rotation! I don't think one had made it to the televised competition for the last couple of years, and damn if I don't love those little Chewbacca dogs. I love the whole dog show, though. Where I made it through the three hours of parade in 30 minutes of fast forwarding and cringing (and loving Sutton Foster and Daniel Breaker, Shrek be damned), I wish I had time to watch the entire dog show. It's a seriously enjoyable program, and if you have a few hours to kill early next Thanksgiving afternoon, I recommend you give it a shot.

Except - see I'm watching it as I'm typing this - apparently they left the Brussels Griffon's judging moments to be skipped over during the commercial break. Assholes.