Whine & Cheese

AI7: Diamond Not A Girl's (or Guy's) Best Friend

It was a wild and wacky night on American Idol.  I was pretty much exhausted by the end thanks to the unwise decision to cram 10 songs into a hour... no wonder our little Paula was confused by it all!  Of course, tonight they're going to strrrrrrrrrretch it out to an hour... why, why, why!

And on top of it all, it wasn't a very good night.  I have nothing against Neil Diamond, but as we are at the stage where all the remaining contestants will likely have some sort of music-related career, it would be more interesting to give them more freedom to choose their own songs... or heck, maybe have the theme be "songs from the the past 10 years!"

Since we are down to five contestants, figured I would picture them all... but as you can see I've done some visual editorializing...

David C ("I'm Alive" / "All I Really Need Is You") - David likely made a smart move by going with two lesser known Diamond songs.  I kinda sorta maybe knew them, but they sounded good enough and new enough for me.  Didn't blow me away on either of them... but by far the only two songs of the night that would ever make it to the radio today.

David A ("Sweet Caroline" / "America") - Unlike his cooler David counterpart, Archie went with two of Diamond's biggest hits.  I preferred the first song. David hasn't gone up-tempo much this season (and when he has it hasn't been "da bomb"), so this showed me something slightly different.  Though no fault of his own, "America" is just one of those kitsch-ier songs and the swelling orchestra and the American flag waving behind him was just a bit too much for me.

Syesha ("Hello Again" / "Thank The Lord For The Night Time") - Now that we're at the end, I am starting to like Syesha... and even contemplated having her crash the David #1-#2 party.  Thought she sounded strong on the first ballad, without pushing it too far... and the second gave her that theatrical chance to perform a song... which does seem to be her wheelhouse.

Brooke ("I'm A Believer" / "I Am... I Said") - As you can see in the above visual, my goodwill stops with Brooke and Jason.  It is probably a good thing that the judges didn't get time to critique the first round as "Believer" was pretty darn painful... better on the second song, but don't think she knocked it out either.  And couple of oddities on that one too... nice lyric change from "New York" to "Arizona born and raised"... but not sure it quite works with next line ("... I'm lost between two shores")... and did she actually write the lyrics on her palm... before she was going to play the piano?!?

Jason ("Forever in Blue Jeans" / "September Morn") - I think Jason is starting to wonder, what the heck am I doing here and/or what have I got myself into?  As mentioned, towards the end of the competition, contestants should just sing what they want to... Jason is never going have to sing showtunes or Neil Diamond... he is certainly showing "theme night" fatigue. That said, other are stepping up to the proverbial plate... but just feeling like Jason is "done"... whether his fanbase will let him go, well not too sure about that for at least this week. 

 

King Of Clay

Since the last one was in January, I am pretty overdue for a Rafael Nadal post.

Last week kicked off the European red clay court season in Monte Carlo... and as has largely been the case for the past few years... the top 2 clay court players in the world met in the final with the best clay court player taking the title... Rafael Nadal defeating Roger Federer.

Of course, I have some pictures to share...

The left pic had me amused me since, if the photographer is anything like me, he/she probably kept waving Rafa over until he head was under the Rolex "crown" on the backboard.... and the picture to the right, is Rafa doing his traditional "bite" on the trophy... and well umm, it just got my attention.

Non-Demon Barber Meat Pie

Last week, I wrote of being inspired to create a meal inspired by the Sweeney Todd.  Seems innocent enough, unless you know anything about the Sondheim musical.  Mrs. Lovett's meat pies only become a hit after the arrival of the murderous barber of Fleet Street and new supplier of "meat."

Well, no worries... there is not an ounce of cannibalism in this recipe... so only vegetarians and vegans need to look away.

Also, this is not my recipe...  I won't be pulling a "Cindy McCain"...errr, excuse me...  a McCain campaign intern who unbeknownst to the Senator's wife posted a McCain "family recipe" that appeared to be directly lifted from the Food Network website.  This recipe from the May issue of Everyday With Rachael Ray caught my eye even before seeing Sweeney... but afterwards, it seemed a bit amusing to create my own "meat pie"... though RR and Company call it Crustless Tex-Mex Meatloaf Cheddar Pie.
 

Basically it's a meatloaf in a pie dish... besides it not being a loaf, what gives it a bit of a "ta-da" factor is that first you create a "crust" using roasted red peppers.  From there I just made my usual meatloaf recipe (not following RR's recipe per se)... ground beef, egg, bread crumbs, salsa (in lieu of tomato sauce)... and diced up whatever veggies I had on hand and that made sense ... this time around it was garlic, onion, green bell pepper, carrot.

Here are a couple of pictures:

On the left, is a kinda pretty shot of the pie plate lined with th red peppers and topped with a layer of cheese to serve as "glue" to hold the "crust" together... to the right, is the finished product (topped with more cheese!)... IMHO, it doesn't look all that great, but it tasted pretty good.

Picture This

Our upcoming international trips had me thinking it was definitely time to get a new camera.  While I have no complaints with my current one, it was starting to get embarrassing that it was (gasp!) a mere 4 megapixels.

I wasn't opposed to get another "point and shoot" type camera.  While my last "film" camera was one of those pretty nice ones that I could swap in a big-ass lens, I felt I never took advantage of all of its features.  Additionally, I remember it not being terribly fun lugging that one around... so these "fit in a pocket" (and getting smaller all the time!) digital cameras fit the bill.

Still I was conflicted, I would certainly be fine with upgrading to a new "point and shoot"... and they're pretty affordable... as with most technology, it seems like every 3 years or so you can get something infinitely better in basically the same price range... but those fancier (and more expensive!) SLR cameras were pretty distracting.

If you are a regular W&C reader, it's not terribly difficult to predict the outcome... so I'll just cut to the chase, here's my new camera:

Canon EOS Rebel XTi 10.1 Megapixel with EF-S 18-55mm f/3.5-5.6 Lens...

Of course, the above picture was taken with my Canon PowerShot A520 4 Megapixel camera.  So quite exciting... though granted after I tacked on an extra battery and memory card (and tax!) the final $$$ was a bit gulp-inducing. 

But having already thought I spent my "stimulus" check on my the iTouch purchase (another long overdue, woefully out-of-date gadget upgrade) at the beginning of March... I guess I still had that patriotic fervor running through my veins... and with the iTouch already paid off, why not stimulate the economy a bit more with that $$$ arriving in the next week or so?!?!

I did successfully fend off the Best Buy salespersons attempts to get the extended warranty and a bigger and better lens.  I understand they're "sales"-people, but I hate how they make you instantaneously feel like whatever you are buying is inadequate without additional item B, C, and D.  As you may have read in my Twitter sidebar updates, it took two BB trips to get it done.  After lunch on Saturday, I camped out in front of the camera for about 10 minutes without anyone asking if I needed assistance (or even a "be right with you")... so I left that store in a huff... but conveniently (or not!) we ended up by another/different BB store at dinner time... and got sales help in a more timely manner and just had to work my way through the expected and above-mentioned annoyances.

While I was pretty much "there" in getting an SLR, thanks to Jen for helping me out with my lingering questions and concerns.  I often swoon at Jen's photography and I am sure it will inspire me to explore the "bells and whistles" of this new camera and take some great (and more interesting!) photos.

Until then, I got a pretty pricey "point and shoot"... and certainly come as no surprise who was the very first subject of my first pictures with the new camera.

Let's just say it's quite a challenge to get any watering done in the backyard with a Boston around!

Or maybe it's just Rocky, who has the fascination with the garden hose and, in general, water.  This pic was taken a good 20 feet away, and I was quite impressed with the increased quality... guess that's what happens when you more than double your megapixels and have a decent lens.

Amsterdam (#9)

As usual, I am a bit backed up on my reading/book posts.  I am starting to get into a bit of theme with my recent reads as our trip to Europe approaches...

... and since it is one of our destinations, it made sense to read Ian McEwan's Amsterdam.  Or I should say re-read?!   I read this one a couple of years back.  I am pretty sure Amsterdam was my first venture with McEwan and he has yet to disappoint me... Atonement was my first book of this reading year... and Saturday was the W&C Book of the Year (Fiction) in 2006.

I say pretty sure... since this re-read certainly proved my shaky memory when it comes to me and books.  I don't know if it's an age thing (can I hyper-link any more in this post?!?) or just that I read a good number of books it is the brain/memory capacity just isn't there... or else my uncanny ability to recall song titles and artists from the 1980s is taking up all my cranial space.  The good thing about this phenomena is that given my ever-growing library, I will always have something "new" to read!

Fortunately, the one thing I did remember about the book is that it is only briefly set in Amsterdam.  Now that sounds like it would shoot a big 'ole hole in my desire to read something about where we're going strategy... but alas the bulk of the novel (or more accurately, at under 200 pages, novella) takes place in London which, conveniently enough, is our first vacation stop.

The novel opens with the untimely death of Molly Lane.  At the funeral, we meet two friends and former lovers of Molly, Clive and Vernon, who tangle a bit with Molly's widower George and soon learn of her interesting relationship with Julian Garmony, a right-winger tabbed to be Britain's next prime minister.  The friendship becomes strained as both make some bad decisions ... and well... to say anything more would not be wise or nice of me!   

But I will say, I have crowned McEwan the king of the "downward spiral."  Once his characters make that leap (or sometimes just a hop) over to the dark side of the moral fence, things generally don't go very well.  If you are looking for happy endings, I suggest you look elsewhere.

2008 1-2-3-4-5 Reading Challenge: + 190 Pages (Total: 3,133 pages - Finished: 3/29/2008)
+21 pages ahead of pace (+21 change in pace since last book).

Sweeney Todd

Well, this week has become a bit of Musical Theater Week here at W&C... there were a couple of posts about Andrew Lloyd Webber night on Idol and today we have slightly overdue post about seeing Sweeney Todd (the stage version) this past Friday night. 

Going from Webber to Sondheim (well, actually it's the other way around), is an interesting contrast.  Theater... now how can I put this ... "purists" will tell you Sondheim is the man when it comes to modern musical theater.  Webber is more often than not dismissed as pedestrian, appealing wildly to the simple-minded masses with flash and bombast.  So, in that way, ALW and Idol was a perfect marriage.  Last night, I joked with Todd in that SAT Verbal "analogy" would be:  ALW is to Musical Theater as American Idol is to... Television.

My take on ALW?  I find that each musical contains at least one brilliant song, but generally have some issue with the entire work.  But that's typically the case for 95% of the musicals I have seen, ALW or not.  And I have seen a lot of them, I've updated my Musicals Seen Page... and Sweeney Todd is... ready for this... the 66th (different!) musical in my lifetime.

... and despite that number... shockingly enough, it was the 1st time I had seen a Stephen Sondheim musical... so I have to 'fess up to having just some very general familiarity/knowledge of his work (Is that the gay police that I hear knocking on my door to revoke my gay card?). 

Sweeney Todd had me worried pretty much within the first minute (btw, never did see the Johnny Depp movie version)... it just seemed incredibly odd and I just wasn't getting it.  And if I was thinking that, I knew I was in deep trouble with Todd.  I don't know if this has always been the case... but I know in this most recent Sweeney incarnation on Broadway (and had been done with the recent revival of Sondheim's Company), the cast was also the orchestra.  The cast is always on the stage (and a small one) and sometimes just appearing to randomly walk around.  So it took a quite a bit of soaking it all in... and the story is not exactly My Fair Lady... with the psychopathic titular barber returning to London and ultimately partnering with Mrs. Lovett, a no less psychopathic baker who brainstorms a way to deal with an escalating body count, while giving a little extra zing to her meat-pie business.

While I offered to Todd and contemplated an intermission exit, ultimately I think we were glad we stuck with it.  Granted it won't rank up there on our list of all-time faves, but it wasn't bad... and we did end up appreciate the staging and even the quite odd story.  David Hess as Sweeney and Judy Kaye as Mrs. Lovett (pictured above) were quite good... though with Kaye, my initial reaction was... "Great!  We're going to see Karen Walker (from Will & Grace) in a musical!?"  Though the more I thought about it, the more I thought that that wouldn't have been such a bad thing... ha!

An interesting night of theater, that's for sure.  And it proved to be an inspiration for one my dinners this past week... imagine Todd's surprise when I told Todd we were having "meat pie"!   But since, I've gone on way too much already (wasn't anticipating that whole ALW digression), I'll just tease it for another post... so stay tuned!

AI7: Cats Can Sing?

It was a fun night on Idol as Lord Andrew Lloyd Webber schooled the contestants in an honest and often sassy way.  It was also quite entertaining with some really good performances, a dramatic stutter-start, and a bit of a train wreck.

Of yesterday's "advice" post, myself and EW's Michael Slezak only had one of our song suggestions each taken on by the Idols... and both were successes.  As predicted, we didn't get through the night without ALW's most iconic song sung... but who ended up doing "Memory" was the Idol who I least expected to take it on... and the result, well...

Here is my Top 3... or should I say, Top Half... things are getting down to the wire:

David C ("Music of the Night" from Phantom) - I thought this would be a good fit for David thinking he could "creep" it up pretty well.   However, I was expecting he would give it his usual rock edge, but for the first time this season, David sang it pretty much "as is."  And not going for the change-up, was well... a nice change. 

Syesha ("One Rock 'n Roll Too Many" from Starlight Express) -  I have not been shy expressing my disdain from Syesha for most of this season... but if last night was her "true self"... well, where the heck have has this been?  She wisely stayed away from the predictable (the big diva song)... didn't go for a note that reached to the stratosphere and back... but delivered an entertaining performance and looked great doing it.  With the numbers dwindling and her overall popularity in question, staying out of the Bottom 3 from this point on is going to be a challenge... but she certainly deserves to stay based on this performance.

Carly ("Superstar" from Jesus Christ Superstar) - I got a little excited when Carly started her "master class" with "All I Ask of You" (one of my all-time fave ALW songs), but when the Lord poo-poo'd her opening notes and suggested she try the rock anthem and Slezak's suggestion of "Superstar" it proved to be the far better choice pretty much instantaneously.  It was nice to see Carly feel comfortable out there and genuinely happy... sure it got a bit shouty, but ALW's stuff (particularly his earlier work) does tend to go there.  One of my all-time favorite theater moments was at an intermission for Evita when an elderly gentleman seated next to me turned to his wife and asked... "Why does she have to sing so loud?"

David A ("Think of Me" from Phantom) - While I don't think he is any danger thanks to his adoring tween fanbase, "Archie" didn't blow me away last night.  While I was impressed that he did turn this song sung by and operatic diva into a pretty contemporary sounding pop ballad... it ultimately was a bit too snoozy for me and didn't allow him to hit those trademark soaring notes that make him stand out.

Brooke ("You Must Love Me" from Evita) - Oh boy, where do we start?  I am not a fan of the song.  This was one of those add-on songs for the movie version.  These days whenever a musical makes the transition to the big screen a song is added, pretty much with intent of earning an Oscar nomination for best original song.  But even when Madonna as Evita warbled out this angsty dirge, the overwhelming thought running through my head was... DIE ALREADY!   

But back to Brooke.  I simply guffawed (yes, guffawed!) when ALW said of Brooke's initial run-thru... "I don’t think that girl had a clue about what she was singing about."  Snap!   So granted she does get to capturing the desperation of the song, but then we get the performance and she freezes on the first line and requests the band start over... marking her third re-do... the first one during Hollywood week and marginally forgivable a few weeks back during "Every Breath You Take" when she was only had to re-boot her own piano opener, but an entire orchestra?!?  Eeek.  While I feel bad from her, she is cracking under the pressure and it is pretty cringe-inducing.  She's not cut out for this anymore and I hope the voting public did her a favor and didn't send sympathy votes her way... that said, the implosion was not enough to land in my bottom spot of the night...

Jason ("Memory" from Cats) - As I keep saying, I knew someone would sing it... I just never in my wildest imagination thought it would be Jason.... and I am sure most people would agree, Jason included, that there were probably better choices out there... if we were only let in, ala Carly, what his "second choice" song was maybe we would have known what could have been.  That said, it could have had potential okay, but the confidence wasn't there and it's just too much of a big-belting show-stopper to be successfully reinvented.

That said, I enjoy the kid... and best. bumper. EVER!  I won't embarrass myself to tell you how many times we re-wound it, just to watch Jason say of the song "I didn’t know a cat was singing it"... the facial expression and stoned/duuuude delivery was priceless.  Also highly humorous was Jason's face when ALW told him a "ancient old glamourpuss" sings the song... or Jason timidly said "Oooh, I'm kinda nervous... it's like... a popular song."   This alone was worth the price of supremely bad song choice.

As far as tonight's elimination, from this point on it seems that anyone not named David is in danger... though when it does happen, and it likely will, I suspect Cook will land in the bottom group before Archuleta.  Given the above, I don't feel Carly or Syesha deserve to go... but at least one of them will under the dimmed lights... Jason seems primed for a second trip to the bottom, but given she was alone with Kristy Lee last week, I'm guessing America is probably done (and lost patience) with the Nanny Brooke.  But I've been wrong pretty much every week of late, so who knows...

What ALW Songs Should The Idols Sing?

I usually don't do an American Idol preview, but since it's Andrew Lloyd Webber night... the musicals queen in me just couldn't stop itself from offering up some coaching/suggestions.

I am guessing you can probably find out what the Idols are singing somewhere on the web, but I am going into this without any prior knowledge.  I see (via Bloglines) that my EW guru, Michael Slezak has done some guessing too...but I will not watch that video until after I am done here.

What I do know is that Kristy Lee Cook, in her exit interviews, said she had planned to sing the Evita anthem "Don't Cry For Me Argentina"... which kinda of surprised me, if anything, the Tammy Wynette-ish, country twang of U.N.C.O.U.P.L.E.D from Starlight Express seemed right up her alley!   We'll see if anyone picks up the slack on that one... though I doubt it... sounds like they get their songs at least a week in advance.

I have no doubt that we won't get through the evening without hearing the biggie... "Memory" from Cats.  My guess is that Carly and Syesha had a cat-fight (ha!) over that one... but given Syesha's disposition to go after the big songs, my gut tells me she'll take it on.  If not there are the diva worthy songs from Sunset Boulevard, "With One Look" and "As If We Never Said Goodbye."  Personally, I think Carly's voice is perfect for "I Don't Know How To Love Him" from Jesus Christ Superstar. 

And speaking of Jesus, one joke I heard going around was the whether David A would sing some from JCS or from Joseph and The Amazing Technicolor Dreamcoat.   My guess is the latter and I'll go with the "Any Dream Will Do."

For Brooke, this genre I think is even worse for her than Mariah... but I think the heartbreaker of "Tell Me On A Sunday" would work for her.

And that leaves... David C and Jason, both who would also be challenged by the night... but somehow always seem to rise for the challenge.  I think they could both put their own trademark spins on "All I Ask Of You" from Phantom -- which is probably my favorite ALW song.  Given his skill at "creeping" up a song (and I mean that as a compliment), I could see David C pulling off "Music of the Night" as well.

So that's my take on it.... now I'll go and watch that EW video.  Ok, done... here are Slezak's (along with EW compatriot Missy Schwart's) suggestions....

David A - They fear he'll do "Memory" or any song with with "miracle, hope, faith, Jesus, or puppies" in it, but ultimately select "No Matter What" from Whistle Down the Wind.

David C - The rocked-out "What's the Buzz" from JCS.

Syesha - Saying she should avoid another ballad... go up-tempo with "Buenos Aires" from Evita, since she obviously thinks she has "star quality."

Carly - Go the full-out rock with "Superstar" from, of course, JCS.

Jason C - Two Evita selections ... "Another Suitcase in Another Hall" or "I'd Be Surprisingly Good For You"... the latter, is a particularly good suggestion... sly and sexy.

Brooke - The bubbly "Everything's Alright" from JCS.

A bit too heavy on JCS, but some good suggestions... anyone else care to chime in?

Old

This past week or so I've been a bit befuddled about some of the things that are going on with me physically.  No worries... there is nothing graphic to tell you here.  But Todd provided one easy explanation... and I was remiss in coming up with angle to disagree... he said "you're getting old."

Exhibit 1:  I have been falling asleep at around 8pm... on Saturday night! 

We'll be watching TV and pretty consistently I have been nodding off.   For a couple of those weeks, Todd blamed it on my alleged disinterest in the HBO mini-series John Adams.  While I am not the history buff in our house, I do think the mini-series is incredibly well-done and interesting... but alas I have faded away each time... and so consistently that Todd is threatening to watch the remaining episodes without me.  This past Saturday night, we ended up watching one of the myriad of Prophet of Doom (copyright to JD) shows that have recently been airing on the National Geographic (excuse me, "NatGeo"... they're trying to sound hip these days) Channel... but even the total disappearance of humans via Aftermath: Population Zero didn't keep my eyes open.  Though I did wake up in time to see the Eiffel Tower and Statue of Liberty tumble just mere centuries after everyone left the planet.

I think part of the blame lies in "sleeping in" on the weekend.  Any sleep "expert," will tell you should go to sleep and wake up at the same time every day regardless of whether one has to go to work in the morning.  Even our high-energy dog is agreeable to a couple of extra hours on the weekend... so I'm guessing getting more sleep is just making my body crave more sleep... and thus the early "lights out" on what used to be the big night on the town a decade or so ago!

Exhibit 2:   Muscle and body aches.

After the relative early night on Saturday, I woke up to an incredibly stiff neck on Sunday morning.  I have been known to throw out my back on occasion, but this is the first time in a long while that it seemed so centered on the neck region.  At least I was able to move it around a bit, but occasionally I would get a shooting pain or spasm... fun!  And my trapezius muscles (don't think I didn't just have to look that up) -- the ones that go from your neck towards your shoulder -- were so tight/tense you could bounce the proverbial quarter off of them.  I applied heat to the area and it seemed to help a bit, but only time seems to be the cure for these back/neck muscle ails.  Things are a bit better this morning, and hopefully in the next day or so things will get back to normal.

Exhibit 3:  You can eat whatever you want for dinner

Now, this getting old stuff isn't all bad!   Occasionally, we'll have a late big lunch/brunch on the weekend or was the case yesterday when we went to the Diamondbacks game munch or way (at semi-great expense) through the afternoon.   So when it gets to dinnertime, one is not terribly hungry... but still there is the desire to eat something.  The solution: ice cream for dinner!   Okay, my medium Birthday Cake Remix concoction from Cold Stone will not rank high on healthy dinner options... but it sure was satisfying and filled me up... and was no authority figure to tell me I couldn't do it!

Express Lane: Issue 48

'Brothers & Sisters' Star Comes Out - Coming out stories are always good, but have to admit I would have been more surprised if Luke Macfarlane (Kevin's BF Scotty) had announced he was straight. (4/16/08)

Does TiVo Predict 'Idol' cast-offs? - If rewinding or fast-forwarding is correlated to the voting, David A is in great shape and Syesha maybe be waving goodbye tonight.  Update:  Wrong!  Michael Johns went home in arguably the first "shocker" elimination of the season. (4/10/08)

Joey Fatone, Mel B. to Co-host TLC Show - The DWTS alums set to head a show that sounds like 'Idol' meets 'The Office.'  (4/7/08)

'Idol' Download Rankings Appear On iTunes - It's the second time the "to remain anonymous" sales rankings have leaked... and once again it is good news for the guys ... David A, Michael, David C, and Jason were the highest pre-orders for Dolly week. (4/4/08)

Mariah Carey surpasses Elvis in No. 1s - Correct me if I'm wrong, but isn't this one of the signs of the apocalypse? (4/2/08)

"Rent" Extension - Due to high ticket demand, the Broadway hit gets one more season of love as closing night shifts from June 1 to September 7. (3/26/08)