The Iceman Cometh

As a newish but diehard fan of It's Always Sunny in Philadelphia, I just got a very nice little accidental information surprise while searching for a book at work. Until now, I was unaware that "The Iceman Cometh" was a famous play by Eugene O'Neill (also wrote "A Streetcar Named Desire") which Amazon sums up like this:

O'Neill mined the tragedies of his own life for this depiction of a ragged collection of alcoholics in a rundown New York tavern-hotel run by Harry Hope. The saloon regulars numb themselves with whiskey and make grandiose plans, but they do nothing. They await the arrival of big-spending Theodore Hickman ("Hickey"), who forces his cronies to pursue their much-discussed plans, hoping that real failure will make them face reality. Hickey finally confesses that he killed his long-suffering wife just hours before he arrived at Harry's, and he turns himself in to the police. The others slip back into an alcoholic haze, clinging to their dreams once more.

O'Neill's play was clearly the inspiration for Charlie's masterpiece: "The Night Man Cometh" was already genius but this gives it a nice satirical literary twist and adds some funny insight into the writers' view of the characters on the show. I love finding out things like this.

Welcome President Obama!

I wrote a bit about the inauguration yesterday on my other blog but just to reiterate: yesterday was a very special day. I wasn't feeling very well and was in a terrible mood for no real reason, but still Obama's inauguration and the festivities that followed brightened my outlook. The first inaugural Neighborhood Ball - the first inaugural ball to be open to citizens and also the first to be fully broadcast on television - was surprisingly impressive. I didn't catch the entire thing but what I did catch was awesome.

'Jay-Z' and 'beautiful' never went together so well in a sentence as they do when describing his performance last night. He actually looked handsome in a fitted suit and black plastic glasses as he crooned to an insanely large and diverse crowd. Then Alicia Keys did her thang - who doesn't love her? Then this weird jumping dance troupe came on wearing these crazy kangaroo-ish pogo sticks, and acrobats fell from bouncing ropes in the ceiling. Hostess Vanessa Williams (whose father was an eye donor) looked normal, and I realized at one point that these gigs must pay a fortune.

Then Shakira came on, and she sucked. Her dress was too tight and she sang off-key and her song wasn't good, and she tried to play the harmonica and sucked at that too. I didn't know who she was until I looked it up today, but my notes during the show read: who the f is chiquita? why is she famous?! Well I still don't know why, but I'm not a fan.

And then... Obama!!! He did a mini-interview and then... wait for it... he danced to Stevie Wonder!! Our new president danced to Stevie Wonder! Stevie - now he can play the harmonica. He sang "This whole world will be all about love again." In one of the night's best moments, the Obamas danced to Beyonce singing "At Last." Obama's first words to the ball's attendees were "How good does my wife look?" On ABC's special afterwards, Beyonce was interviewed and could not fight back the tears. "It's probably the most important day in my life. He makes me wanna be smarter, he makes me wanna be more involved. I'm embarassed but I'm so overwhelmed!"




Leo DiCaprio came out and introduced the Bidens for their dance. Joe Biden made a little speech and said "The reason I wanna keep talking is cause I can't dance...but I sure like holdin' her..." and he and his wife (who looked incredibly stunning) danced to a cover of Van Morrison's "Have I Told You Lately That I Love You?"

Then Sting, looking oddly sexy in an old British drunken sailor way, came out and sang "Brand New Day" with Stevie Wonder on harmonica (while Shakira cried backstage).

I flipped to another channel during commercial and when I flipped back, they cut into Obama who was talking over "Don't Stop Til You Get Enough" about the importance of America working together. Then, a group of aerialists took over the stage and did crazy things while the lights went all berserk and dub house music blasted. The audience was visibly confused as this continued into the closing credits, with some official-looking Inauguration 2009 White House seal filling up the screen... the dub house music continued in the background.

The Daily Show with Jon Stewart was, as I anticipated, pretty funny. But I wonder where they'll get their jokes now. Clearly, they wonder too, as this was the main topic of the episode. Jon Stewart made fun of Elizabeth Alexander (Obama's inaugural poet) and even Maya Angelou (the last inaugural poet, for Clinton - Bush didn't have poetry at his inauguration), admitting "I'm not into poetry." He praised Rev. Lowery for his awesome "when brown can get around..." speech-closer and added some of his own: "When we rise above the minutia of fuschia." But at one point, Stewart and correspondent Jason Jones admitted sadly that they didn't know how they'd make fun of Obama. Correspondent Wyatt Cenac came on and apologized that he had nothing funny to report - that "The new president is cool. He was dancing to Stevie Wonder 2 hours ago. I want to make fun of it, but I can't - he's too good. And I'm black!" aaand then he asked Jon Stewart for pot.

Probably the most awful yet most sadly articulate clip was with correspondent Samantha Bee, who tried to give Jon Stewart a report of all ten balls the Obamas had to visit last night...but Jon Stewart would not let her get a sentence out without making a sexual innuendo joke. "We're headed in a new direction" became "Did you say nude erection?" It was incredibly immature yet demonstrated a new point, something we're not used to: Without resorting to "balls" jokes, how are we going to make fun of Obama? The world may be headed in a more intelligent direction, but comedy may be going the other way.

Southern Oregon Coast

Southern Oregon Coast
Originally uploaded by rasone

this photo just blew me away. oregon is so beautiful, and a perfect example of its stunning landscape is captured so well here. not that i know much about photography, but this is an awesome sight.

man, i want to move to oregon!!

Same Zip Code, Different World

Today, supposedly the coldest day in 2 years, I had to pick up a package from the post office. I knew it was the fleece blanket I'd ordered from Target, so I definitely wanted to pick it up asap. There is a post office right down the street from me - just 1 block away - but I went there and the attendant told me that because of my zip code I had to go to another post office about a mile away. Makes sense. So I bundled up, put some Kleptones on my headphones, and walked over. It was extremely cold, but I entertained myself by reading the progressively more ridiculous awnings and advertisements decorating store windows. I was entering the heavily Jamaican neighborhood around Church Avenue and Flatbush, where you can get vegetables from "The Farmer in the Deli" or frozen goat meat for 99 cents a pound. Did you know there is a Jamaican Rolling Stones? According to a flier, they have a new single coming out - "Taste the Flava". The McDonalds, Burger King, KFC and Kennedy Fried Chicken all within a one block radius seem to be enjoying good business, but Veggie Garden Healthy Foods was closed by the health inspector. Naked mannequins line a sporting clothes store window splattered with "Clearence" signs. And of course, the post office is next to a DNA Testing Center - "Does he really have his father's eyes?" Things that make you go hmm.

My fleece blanket looks pretty warm, and I think I've made a good segue to watch Knocked Up, which I surprisingly haven't seen yet. Stay warm.