Who's Afraid of Virginia Woolf?

On Saturday night I was sitting at home, thinking, What am I going to do this evening? I didn't want to waste a Saturday just sitting at home doing nothing (which is fine if that's what you want to do, but I wasn't in the mood for that).

It was 6:45pm and I thought, I really want to go see this play, Who's Afraid of Virginia Woolf, but it starts at 7:30, and I have no one to go with, and would I even make it in time? I'd heard about this play for many years, and just never knew anything about it. So, without even thinking twice, I dashed out the door and headed to Granville Island and made it in the nick of time to purchase a TICKET FOR ONE.

Yep, I went by myself! For some, it's no big deal. For others, it's the end of the universe. I have friends who can't fathom doing something like this. I've gone to movies and shows alone in the past. Heck, in New York, I went to a number of musicals on my own and thoroughly enjoyed myself. In fact, when my shrink tells me to "think of a happy place" (seriously, he does), the place that I pick in my mind is during my first trip to NYC when I was sitting in a theatre on Broadway, waiting for the show to begin, just by myself, surrounded by strangers, chatting with my neighbour every so often, and being absolutely HAPPY.

So, on Saturday night, I recreated that feeling just a tiny bit. It was no New York, but surprisingly, the acting was REALLY GOOD. As well, the play was interesting and well written and has absolutely NOTHING to do with Virginia Woolf!

I ran into my Grade 7 teacher yesterday at my favourite tea place during my lunch break. I always run into him actually, and we often converse. He too is gay and I remember when I was in Grade 7, Madonna's "Vogue" was a big hit on the radio. He knew I was a huge fan and came up to me and asked if I knew who all the hollywood stars were that she mentions in the song. The next day, he brought in a hardcover book full of old hollywood stars and he had bookmarked each one that's mentioned in the song for me to read up on. Anyhow, this play is his favourite of all time, he told me. Then he suggested I watch the Elizabeth Taylor movie version. Judging from these screenshots, I'm going to have to! How fabulous does this look?



Local theatre here can be hit or miss. I'd say this is a definite hit! If you've got time, I'd recommend checking out Who's Afraid of Virginia Woolf! On now till March 12 at the Granville Island Stage.

Catan

It's been a long while since I went to or hosted a Board Games night. That was back in the day when my Ex and I still lived together and we'd have friends over. February seems like the perfect time for this as it can be cold outside and people don't really feel like spending all that much. So, why not have folks over for some good ol' fashioned Board Games?

I went to one last night and the game of choice was something called Catan.



I had never heard of it before, but apparently it's one of the best selling games in the world and comes from Germany. It took my friend about 25 minutes to explain all the rules to me on how to play. I had a slight headache afterwards trying to abosrb everything, which is why I reached for the closest glass of wine.

In the end though, it was a pretty fun game, easier to play than you'd think, and with beginner's luck, I won! Who knew?! Has anyone else out there heard of this game or played it before?

Falsettos, Tales, and Kylie

British singer Adele had a beautiful performance this week at the Brit awards. The song "Someone Like You" is powerful and I love the lyrics. Her voice is strong and the accompanying piano is all she needs to pull off one of the best performances of the night.



However, I just can't commit myself to saying I'm an Adele fan. I mean, I get that she's an artist and doesn't need her voice to be auto-tuned and complex choreography to impress audiences. I get that her song Rolling In The Deep is good and worthy of attention.



But I think I need a bit more melody for me to actually like her stuff. Or maybe her voice is a bit too gravelley for me? I'm not sure. I get that she's a good artist, I can see she's talented, but I just don't think she's for me.

And that's kinda how I felt about last night's musical Falsettos, which I went to watch with Chris and Calvin. As part of the Jewish Chutzpah performing arts festival, Falsettos is the Tony-award nominated musical about a man who leaves his wife and son to be with his male lover.



I later read that the show is actually two one-act musicals combined into one, with the first Act written and performed in 1981, while Act Two wasn't written until nine years later. The actors in the show were great. For local theatre, they were superstars and could sing. The show was sung completely from beginning to end, and it's been a while since I've seen a musical along those lines and I wasn't expecting it. The lyrics reminded me of Sondheim with its repetitive lines and refrains. Unfortunately, I'm not a huge Sondheim fan.

I guess you can't win them all. It's always hit and miss when I sample what our city has to offer in terms of theatre - and musicals are especially hard when they have to compete with the big Broadway productions that occasionally make a stop here. There is another play that's happening right now that I wouldn't mind seeing, if anyone out there feels so inclined to join me: Who's Afraid of Virginia Woolf?

Other than that, I'm looking forward to a trip I have coming up in May. I'll be heading down to San Francisco to check out the brand new musical Tales of The City (based on the Armistead Maupin books, and written by Jake Shears of the Scissor Sisters!)



And I love that this musical will be making its debut in the city it's set in, before heading to Broadway! With Jake Shears at the helm, I'm hoping the music will be just as fabulous! Can't wait!

And even better, guess who will be gracing San Francisco with her presence that same weekend I'm in town? Kylie Minogue!!!



Yeah that's right! Kylie will be on her Les Folies/Aphrodite tour and I'll be meeting up with some friends to catch her San Fran show with our general admission floor tickets!

Then the following night, we'll all be flying over to LAS VEGAS to catch Kylie's show again! I'm meeting up with Philip and Ambrose in Vegas, where we have ROW 7 tickets for Kylie!!! I stayed up into the wee hours of the morning one night for the concert pre-sale, and after much aggravation, shouting, screaming, sweating, crying, and pleading - the computer system managed to get my order through and I nabbed Row 7 seats. ROW FRICKIN' 7 !!! I'm super excited and May cannot come fast enough!

I thought that my trip last Fall to Folsom coupled with the Dreamgirls musical was the Gayest Weekend Ever - but this May, with Tales of the City and Kylie x 2, it's going to be the Gayest Weekend Ever Part Two!!

And speaking of weekends, it's Friday! Hope you all have a fabulous weekend ahead of you!

Return of the Crazy Coworker

So it's been about three weeks since I've seen or talked to the Crazy Coworker.

At times I felt a nagging guilt, but remembered that if I were to go up to visit him, he'd just rain down on me with his negativity and self-absorbed narcissism.

Yesterday, he came to visit me at my desk. It wasn't awkward like I anticipated our running into each other would be. He seemed normal, and I acted normal in return. He did make a point of saying he was on my floor for another reason ("I had to drop something off at Security...") I mentioned how busy I've been lately and he also stated that he had been extremely busy too. I later found out that all the people that he usually chats with in his department were away on vacation, so perhaps he was feeling a bit lonely and sought me out after weeks of me averting him?

An hour later, I did wind up in his office catching up on his life and going-ons. That's what he enjoys the best, when he's running through his agenda like a checklist, telling me who's visiting him when, what's he got planned where, and etcetera etcetera.

He asked what I was up to, and told him bits and pieces: how I've been doing a bit more writing lately, how I've taken up swimming (!), and what movies I've watched recently. It was fairly uneventful I gotta say. He did moan about the weather we've been having. Actually, he spat it out, "I'm so SICK of this rain!"

There were no tales of people being deleted from his Blackberry (I can only guess that there's no one left in there for him to delete). I'm quite sure I've been deleted weeks ago.

So far, this is what I wanted - distant but cordial. Let's hope we can keep it that way.

Happy Valentine's

I've never been that big into Valentine's Day. In fact, because I've pretty much been single most of my life, I've scorned it. I remember as a child in school, we'd make little envelopes that we would tape to our desks and then people would slip a Valentine's Day card into it.

As an adult, it loses a bit of that innocence and good spirit between loved ones, and instead focuses on romantic love instead of just general love all around.

Recently, I've learned to embrace it a bit more. So what if I'm single? Why not express a Happy Valentine's day to people I care about? Why not wish couples that I know a very happy Valentine's?

I also know people - single or coupled - who scoff at it say it's a made-up holiday by Hallmark just to sell chocolates and cards. And so what if it is? In the end it can be a nice sentiment, this whole "love" thing, yes?

So with that said, I wish you all a Happy Valentine's, whatever you may be doing!

What I Learned at The Vancouver Art Gallery

Yesterday I headed down to the Vancouver Art Gallery on the first day of its new exhibit. It was also open free to the public to celebrate the one year anniversary of the 2010 Olympics, held here last year. There were other festivities going on around town too, like free ice skating at the Olympic Oval out in Richmond, a lantern festival downtown, and the pedestrian-only Granville Street where vendors set up and makeshift street hockey tournaments took place. Too bad it was pouring rain yesterday which probably kept people from coming out.

The art gallery interested me the most, so I lined up for about 20 minutes before getting inside. The first exhibit is titled WE: Vancouver 12 Manifestos for the City. On till May 1st, this exhibit highlights the talent and creativity that our city has to offer.

I learned about Laneway Housing, which are dwellings built in the space where a garage normally inhabits on a family lot, and faces onto the alleyway.



Then I was surprised to see on display photos of Vancouver's only cemetery, Mountain View, which I had walked through a few months ago when I went on a big walk for some exercise. I remember cutting through the cemetery because it was more peaceful and quiet than walking along the street with all the traffic and noise. Plus there were other people jogging through it and also taking in the serenity. I remember seeing the building in the middle of the cemetery that I could only assume was used for services and administration. It was a beautiful design and looked new, and I was shocked I had never seen it before.

Turns out that "Celebration Hall" as its called, is a product of a recent renovation and has won design awards from the city, hence its inclusion in the gallery's exhibit.





And I kinda liked this "Mycologic Chandelier" which is based on mushrooms and the way they grow.

I rounded a corner and read about Univercity Childcare, an initiative of Simon Fraser University that includes one of the most sustainable and environmentally conscious buildings in Canada. Here's a photo I snapped of one of their outdoor shelters that will be part of the centre's landscape:

There was also a model of what the new Visitors' Centre will look like at the Van Dusen Gardens:





And speaking of renovated buildings, our city is definitely going through lots of change as of late, and one of the biggest projects around is the redesign of BC Place, turning it into an open air stadium with a retractable roof. It will be ready for November of next year, when we host the Grey Cup. It's gone from being a puffy looking marshmallow:



to something akin to a crab/crown, spiking up the Vancouver downtown skyline:



Upstairs at the Vancouver Art Gallery is their other new exhibit that has just opened, a collection from Vancouver Asian-Canadian artist Ken Lum. I didn't know his work before, either. At least, I thought I didn't. If you're a Vancouverite and you've seen the famous East Van cross that lights up at night, then you've seen a Ken Lum piece.



I loved these couches that he created:

And I used to see this piece all over the place, but I never knew what it was. I didn't get it. But when you put it into the context of "art" and you see Lum's other accompanying pieces, it actually made me laugh and I quite enjoy it! It's Melly Shum!

And the last part of the exhibit that was really cool was Lum's "Mirorr Maze With 12 Signs of Depression." As you walk through this mirror maze, there are phrases imprinted on the mirror that are "signs of depression" and according to a psychology test, if you have 6 or more of these symptoms at a given time, then you're depressed!

After I was done at the Art Gallery, I headed off to meet up with Calvin where we both watched as the Olympic cauldron was lit to commemorate the one year anniversary of the Vancouver 2010 Olympic games.

All in all, a perfect Saturday!! And I didn't even mention my meeting with The Guy mid-afternoon or my evening date (though the date really is NOT worth mentioning).

Hope everyone else had a terrific weekend as well!

The Tourist

What is all the fuss about this movie? I mean, it's really not so bad. It was actually somewhat enjoyable. Who knew!? To me, I felt like it was a throwback to those campy espionage films of the past. The plot is simple and easy to follow. And the setting is Venice, Italy for crying out loud. That alone made it wonderful to watch just to imagine yourself floating through the canals of the city! I want to go to there!

Johnny Depp sort of sleepwalks through the entire movie like a doped-out Willy Wonka. But then we have the glamorous Angelina Jolie who literally glides through the entire film - seriously, she's either drifting by on a motorboat or she's floating through the room in a fabulous evening gown.

If you're up for a bit of intrigue and glamour and wish to be transported to being a high roller in Italy, then by all means, The Tourist is for you!

Download it!

Fake Marriage Market for Chinese Gays

Only in China. Here's a Shanghai surprise alright! It's a meeting place for gay people to arrange a marriage with someone to appease the hopes and dreams of their parents by entering into a fake heterosexual marriage. Hope my mom doesn't hear about this one!!

Read more here.

Tales From My Crazy Coworker

Okay, I received this email exchange with my crazy Debbie Downer coworker last week but I didn't want to blog about it, because it was Chinese New Year and all, and I didn't want to be bringing any bad luck with me into the new year.

Anyhow, here's a glimpse of how he communicates:

------------------------
To: BrandNewWoo
From: Crazy McCrazy
Subject: movies

I didn't let you "to die for", did I? I have no idea what I did with it.
------------------------

Me:
Nicole Kidman? Nope, it wasn't me. How was your weekend?

Him:
Half good and half shitty. Yours?

Me:
Why and why. Mine was quiet. I took like a four hour nap on Saturday. Saw The Guy on Sunday for brunch. Watched a bunch of movies I downloaded (Tangled, The Tourist, Love and Other Drugs).

Him:
I went to dine out at ___ on Friday night, that was nice. I shopped in Kits on Saturday and found nothing. The bus system was unreliable, so I walked all the way from macleod and broadway to the bay downtown. I was wet and in a bad mood. Then I tried to find an old movie at black dog, which is like trying to find a needle in a haystack. Then B*** came over, but I didn't really feel like company. She brought her dog, who I don't like very much. She comes over and eats all our food and lets her dog play with my dogs' toys and it annoys me. She was drunk and talked through the whole movie. ON Sunday I went shopping in gastown and found nothing, had to deal with more bad buses, but enjoyed my evening watching damages. Until B*** called again at 9:30 to talk about this annoying relationship that she's in. She also let me know that she went for a hike yesterday with her friends S**** and J***** (or something like that… both of whom I don't like). She hasn't aske me to go for a hike since she ran into my leg. I'm annoyed wtih everyone and hate everyone. I deleted more people this morning.

---------------------------------------------------------

There's so many things wrong with this. First off, to greet me on a Monday with an email asking if he had loaned me some stupid DVD is not particularly friendly. I could've nipped it in the bud and just replied with a simple, "Nope, I don't have your DVD." and be done with it.

But because I am a civil human being, I opted to be cordial and ask how the weekend was. The response I got was indeed magical now that I can view it from a comedic perspective, instead of getting wrapped up in his bitterness and anger.

Though, it still irks me because the fact that he was bothered by his friend B*** bringing her dog over is a bit hypocritical. Here's why: this past holiday season, he brought his TWO dogs over to his coworker's Christmas party, where they ran around the house while he chased them trying to keep them under control. Why did they need to be kept under control? Because when they go to a stranger's house, they like to SHIT ON THE CARPET.

Yeah. So, why in the WORLD would you bring your dogs over? "Because she has a really huge house and property and I wanted them to run around cause they never get to do that." Yeah. But they like to SHIT ON THE CARPET.

Which by the way, they did.

So, to have to listen to him complain about his friend bringing her dog over to his place and playing with his dogs' toys is laughable.

Then to whine about having to listen to his friend complain about an annoying relationship she's in? Um, HELLO? That's all he does to me everytime I visit him!!

So, I did not reply to his email. He did not comment on my weekend, thus I did not feel the need to comment on his. This exchange was last Monday. There's been zero contact since then.

I feel a bit awkward about it. Like maybe I should go up and say hi. But then I remember his negativity and self-centeredness. And friends whom I have shown these emails to have all emphatically told me to AVOID HIM AT ALL COSTS.

What to do?

Happy Chinese New Year!

Happy year of the rabbit to everyone!!