Cyndi Lauper Benefit Concert-Awesome Night!

We went to see the Cyndi Lauper & Friends Home for the Holidays concert last night in New York City. It was an amazing night. We had 6th row seats, though they were on the side, we were still only feet away from some of the show.

The show started with Norah Jones coming out and singing and playing a couple of numbers on the piano. Then Cyndi came out and sang "Do You Love Me" with Harvey Fierstein from Fiddler on the Roof. It was great.

Carrson Kressley, from Queer Eye and Dancing with the Stars, emceed most of the night, and was very funny. He did a little dance with Kathy Najimy, who also did some hosting duties and told some jokes.

Highlights of the evening included Vanessa Carlton singing a new song, Alan Cumming singing a mash-up of Adele, Lady Gaga, and Katy Perry (see post below), and stand-up by Wanda Sykes. Clay Aiken did My Grown Up Christmas Wish

Cyndi also was amazing. She worked all night singing with Lou Reed, John Secada, Deluka (a British rock band) on She-Bop, a group version of Girls Just Want to Have Fun, Time after Time with Nona Hendryx, and a very moving finale of True Colors with a choir of LBGT Youth that put a face on who the benefit was all about.

The show was a benefit for the True Colors Fund, a non-profit organization founded by Cyndi to help homeless gay, lesbian, bisexual and transgendered youth. For more information and to donate, click here.

Inside the BeaconTheater just before the concert. 

From the Cyndi Lauper Benefit: Alan Cumming

I did not record this, but this was one of the highlights of last night's Cyndi Lauper and Friends Home for the Holidays benefit at the Beacon Theater in New York City. It was a mash up of Adele, Lady Gaga and Katy Perry. Awesome!

Patti LuPone & Mandy Patinkin's Broadway Show

We saw Patti and Mandy on Broadway last night, and I have to say we were a little disappointed. It didn't knock my socks off like I was hoping.

The highlight of course was the two songs they did from Evita. Mandy did "What a Circus," which turned out to be the best performance of the night. He did an amazing job. Next, Patti's "Don't Cry for Me Argentina" was a bit anti-climatic. It was just OK.

Most of the show was scenes from other Broadway shows, some mildly familiar, some very obscure. Patti did do "Everything's Coming Up Roses" from Gypsy (her best moment by far), but much of the rest was uninspired caberet. Patti's voice seemed a bit strained, and like much of the audience, she had a bit of a cough.

I'm glad we got to see these Broadway legends, however, and we couldn't have asked for better seats--6th row back and dead center.

Shane Gets Mandy Patinkin's Autograph

After seeing An Evening with Patti LuPone and Mandy Patinkin, Mandy signs autographs, including for Shane. Patti, on the other hand, made a mad dash for the car and drove away to Connetticut.

Christmas Tree at Rockefeller Center

Shane loves big Christmas trees and cold weather. He is in Heaven! Is he getting a chin dimple? Can you develop dimples in your 40s?

Arrived In NYC--Bed Bug Search Commences

Though Shane wasn't happy with some brownish-red stains on the mattress, which he has chosen to ignore, there were no signs of bed bugs! Yea!

Taking the Train to the Big Apple

Shane and I are taking at Amtrak train to New York City today. I'm actually posting this from the train. I didn't take the photo though. The free WiFi on the train is slow, but usable.

We have tickets to see An Evening with Patti Lupone and Mandy Patinkin tonight and tomorrow night we're seeing the Cyndi Lauper benefit concert I posted about previously. We are very excited about having an amazing weekend! More details to come...

Very Cool iPhone App: Star Walk

Star Walk is an amazing iPhone app that gives you an interactive guide to the sky. The app takes advantage of just about every aspect of the iPhone (touch, accelerometer, and even the magnetometer and digital compass in the 3GS) to make constellation searching and identification as easy as looking up.

When you first launch Star Walk, it will ask if it can use your current location to determine what you can theoretically see in the night sky. Additionally, Star Walk will show you things not visible at night due to light pollution, especially when living in DC. But what you can see, Star Walk can identify for you.

Even when you can't see the stars (like during the day), it shows you what is up there and even what is below the horizon. It is mesmerizing. I can hardly wait when we go back to Maine, because the star view at night is amazing. Light pollution is not a problem then.

Bachmann Walks the Talk about Gay Marriage

As reported in the Washington Post, Jane Schmidt, a student at Waverly High School, in Waverly, Iowa, recently asked Michele Bachmann, “Why can’t same-sex couples get married?”
“They can get married,” Bachmann responded, “but they abide by the same law as everyone else. They can marry a man if they’re a woman. Or they can marry a woman if they’re a man.”

She later expanded on this in a response to someone else: “Every American citizen has the right to avail themselves to marriage but they have to follow what the laws are. And the laws are you marry a person of the opposite sex.”

Obviously, Bachmann believes this mantra so whole heartedly that she lives it by being married for years to an obviously gay man. We may not agree with her politics, but you have to admire her conviction. 

Mall Shoppers Sing about Sitting on Santa

Another crazy musical by Improv Everywhere featuring the Jolly Old Elf in a New Jersey Shopping Mall.

The Biggest Loser Finale--Not the Biggest Loser

This is finally the last week of the Biggest Loser competition at work, and today was the final weigh-in. Ten of us are competing to lose the most weight for a 1st prize of $140, 2nd prize of $40, and 3rd prize of $20. My photoshopped results are above.

I did pretty bad during the last week. I gained 1.5 pounds for a final weight of 176 pounds. It was Thanksgiving and I just started running again after my marathon (I took a week off). Of course I was going to gain. My total weight loss since my first weigh-in on September 21 (with a starting weight of 189 lbs.) is 13 pounds. Though I did not reach my goal of losing 20 pounds, I still managed to come in second in the competition and won $40! That's something. I had been winning the whole time until slipping into second in the last week. Wahhhh Wahhh... I also haven't given up on losing those 7 pounds.

New Yorker Cartoon Caption Contest #313

Hey Woody... Moustache rides in the conference room in 5 minutes!

This is my idea for the New Yorker Cartoon Caption Contest #313.  Let me know if you have any ideas for a caption too.

Time for a Haircut

I went to get a haircut today. I always have trouble describing how I want it cut, so I showed the stylist the photo below. 

Below is the result. I realize I don't look exactly like the guy above, but I was fairly happy with the cut. I think she took too much off the top though. It doesn't stick up in the front like his either. I have had worse though. Much worse. 

Top 10 Movies that Could Be Awesome Musicals

I recently read that the movie Ghost is coming to Broadway as a musical. It seems most musicals these days are based on movies. They've done Billy Elliot, Sister Act, Legally Blonde, Priscilla Queen of the Desert, Mary Poppins (all Disney movies)... the list goes on and on. It got me thinking what other movies would be fun to make into musicals. Here are my top 10.

10. Sling Blade

9. Ernest Goes to Jail

8. The Birds

7. Jack and Jill

6. Forrest Gump (with the big hit song, "Life is Like a Box of Chocolates")

5. The Shawshank Redemption

4. Jaws

3. Cannonball Run

2. The Exorcist

and the number one movie to make into a musical is...

The Human Centipede--The Musical!

Decorated the Christmas Cactus

Maude lays on the couch with the cactus decorated for Christmas in the background.

GOD I'M GORGEOUS

This picture was taken after thanksgiving dinner at my sister's house. My sister and three nieces are the most caring, thoughtful, and inspiring women that I know. The following bible verse reminds me of them:

Proverbs 31:15-17

She gets up while it is still dark; she provides food for her family and portions for her servant girls.  She considers a field and buys it; out of her earnings she plants a vineyard.  She sets about her work vigorously; her arms are strong for her tasks.

Would Obama Drop Biden for VP Clinton?

I saw this on Joe. My. God., which links it from the Wall Street Journal, that speculates the following:

Paul Starr, co-editor of The American Prospect, a liberal-left magazine, has observed that 45 percent of the people who disapprove of Mr. Obama's performance view Mrs. Clinton favorably. It is fair to say that Mrs. Clinton's addition to the ticket would be a substantial gain for President Obama that he badly needs next November, since she is, as Mr. Starr notes, a member of the part of his administration that has the highest approval rating, and more important she has not at all been a part of the disastrous economic policies that have caused the Obama drop in popularity. 

Even better for Election Day, she would gain support among older white voters, who did not support Mr. Obama very much in 2008. Mr. Starr also cites a Suffolk University Florida poll that shows that Mrs. Clinton on the Obama ticket would win Florida for the two of them, even if Sen. Marco Rubio is the Republican's vice presidential candidate. One more advantage: With Mrs. Clinton comes her husband, who would very much want to get his wife elected, and also might be interested in a position in the Obama-Clinton administration.

It might be smart. I don't think anyone would miss Biden too much.

Happy "Be Thankful You're Not a Turkey" Day

The Biggest Loser Week #10--The Home Stretch

This is week #10 of the Biggest Loser competition at work. Ten of us are competing to lose the most weight for a 1st prize of $140, 2nd prize of $40, and 3rd prize of $20. My photoshopped results are above. My total weight loss since my first weigh-in on September 21 (with a starting weight of 189 lbs.) is 14.5 pounds.

There are only one more week left in the competition.This is the one week of the year nobody wants to think about losing weight. I'm happy that with all the carb loading I did before the marathon I still managed to lose a little weight. I'm just going to try to not go too crazy over the holiday and perhaps get back to some running. Happy Thanksgiving!

Launching a Child Via Air Mattress-Fail Blog

Sorry if you have to sit through an ad. I realize the child in this video probably was hurt, but it still made me laugh.