pbray

Yesterday, jpsorrow, Tom and I went down to New York City, where we had dinner at Bar Americain, then saw Daniel Craig and Hugh Jackman in A STEADY RAIN. Dinner was very nice, and the play was amazing. The actors were so in character that they didn't distract from the story (though as a crime/forensic junkie, one reveal wasn't a reveal to me because the minute they started describing the situation I knew exactly how it was going to turn out.) It was only at the end of the show, as Daniel and Hugh started taking off their shirts so they could auction their t-shirts off for charity, that we once again paid attention to the fact that these were indeed very pretty boys.

The actors complimented the audience for our discipline (not a single ringing cell phone,) and the auction set a record for the show (11K was the previous record, but last night they got up to 20K, with two determined bidders finally agreeing that they'd each pay 10K, and each get two autographed shirts, plus the opportunity to hang out backstage with Daniel and Hugh and have their photographs taken.)

Then it was off to the Perfect Pint (I had a perfect half-pint), followed by train to Beacon, and then getting on the road. I was the most awake, and it was my car, so I drove back, while Tom and Josh took turns keeping me awake. Drive was long but uneventful, and after dropping Josh and Tom and their respective dwellings I pulled into my driveway at 3:30 AM.

Woke up at usual time, then managed to go back to sleep for another hour. Current ambition is lunch at the Lost Dog while working on marketing promo stuff, and then high probability of a nap this afternoon.

In a fit of genius or madness I put together a spreadsheet for the fall television season, listing the shows I want to watch/record for each night of the week. I almost always watch the first episode of any sci-fi show, and in years past when there were only one or two offerings it was easy to remember. This year there are five new shows I want to check out (Journeyman, Reaper, Pushing Daisies, Bionic Woman and Moonlight), plus returning favorites (Heroes, Stargate Atlantis, and non-genre shows Criminal Minds, CSI and Dexter). All things considered it's impossible that I'll find time to watch 10 television shows on a regular basis, so it's perhaps for the best that some of them will undoubtedly turn out to be crap.

Because of my schedule, most of the shows will wind up being taped and then watched later, which has the added advantage of letting me fast foward through the commercials.

In other news, on Wednesday friends and I went down to New York city where we scored half-price tickets for a Broadway matinee (Curtains, with David Hyde Pierce). Unlike most tourists in Manhattan, though we window-shopped extensively, our only purchases were books. At Barnes & Noble's textbook store I scored the latest editions of "Criminology: The Core" by Larry J.J. Siegel and "The Casebook of Forensic Detection" by Colin Evans, and was persuaded to pick up "Forensics, A Quiz Deck from Court TV." jennifer_dunne insisted on quizzing me from the deck during the trip home--my recent studies have paid off since I answered nearly all of them correctly, and even spotted at least two answers that were either misleading or flat out wrong, as in the question on hair analysis which was clearly out of date.

We found a new Irish place for lunch (The Perfect Pint), and after the show went to St. Andrews to admire their selection of single-malts before grabbing dinner and catching a train to Beacon where we'd left the car.

Went down to NY City on Saturday to see Avenue Q. Haven't laughed that hard in a long time. I was thoroughly charmed from "It Sucks To Be Me" to the true purpose of the internet, and all of the rest of the delightful, singable, never ever going to be worksafe lyrics.

Fun time but long day--up early to meet Tom and Jennifer, and catch the bus down. Quick lunch, matinee performance and a really nice dinner followed by drinks at St. Andrew's, which gives equal weight in its advertising to its extensive single malt scotch selection and the kilt-wearing servers. Then wandered back to Port Authority and caught the bus back, arriving home a little after midnight.

Would have spent more time exploring the city but heavy rain put a literal damper on our urge to wander. Still a good time had by all.