Last night went to see ‘Dreamgirls’ with Bill and we didn’t get home until 10:30 or so, and I didn’t want to get started on a blog. I just wasn’t feeling it. So here I am making up for lost time. The movie was good, not as good as ‘Chicago’ which was written and directed by the same guy I believe. Both are movies of Broadway musicals so the comparison is justified, especially with Bill Condon at the helm. One of the problems I had was that the songs that take place in the sixties, sound like they were written in the seventies.

Jamie Foxx was great as usual and Eddie Murphy was pretty good in his composite characterization of James Brown, Jackie Wilson, Marvin Gaye and a touch of Ike Turner. The girls were good, Beyonce as Deena, the Diana Ross character, Jennifer Hudson as Effie, the Florence Ballard role, the third role is thankless, Anika Noni Rose as Lorrell or Mary Wilson. Of course this has a happy ending, Effie/Florence lives and rejoins the Dreamgirls for one last song. All in all it was an ok movie, something to see and get you off the couch and into the theater.

They can change the theaters on 42nd Street but they will still have an odd assortment of people that go to see movies and sometimes talk back to the screen. An interesting threesome in front of Bill and myself, I overheard one of them talking about Catherine Deneuve in Belle du Jour. Not the sort of people you’d expect to overhear talking about a Luis Buñuel film.

Came home and watched SNL with Bill for a spell before he crapped out. I watched the whole show, Forrest Whitaker was pretty funny. After that ended it was time for me to go to bed. Bill’s been wrapping his arms around me as soon as I hit the bed and if I don’t position myself correctly his arms which are so heavy can wind up squeezing my ribs which can be uncomfortable. It takes a few minutes of positioning and adjustment before I actually drift off to sleep. It is nice to be wrapped up in someone’s arms though.

Woke up at around 8:00 this morning, Bill getting ready for church, me getting ready for nothing in particular. I walked out and got the papers and some bagels, remembering to get Julio and Stine their paper and bagels to hang on their door knob as I passed the third floor landing. Bill was off to church when I got back and I had some eggs and read the papers and had my coffee. I was finally able to access my computer at work and did some data entry for about an hour and a half which will be counted as overtime.

Talked to my brother Frank for an hour on the phone, just shooting the shit talking about music mainly. That was fun. Don’t have too many opportunities to talk to him on the phone like I used to with Frank and Annemarie among others when I had an 800 number at Wanker Banker. But that was in the past and I’m tired of staying too long looking at it. Annemarie reminded me of that when I was talking to her on the phone a little while ago.

I walked around the city for a couple of hours, stopping into Farfetched to buy some Valentine’s Day paraphernalia for Bill this week. Some cards and an empty heart shaped box that I plan on filling with Starbursts which is his candy of choice lately. I hope I don’t have to pick up the wrappers.

Friday has finally arrived. Slept pretty well last night, Bill in Stuyvesant Town left me with the bed all to myself. It was lonely but still I drifted off to sleep without any hassles or sheets or bed covers to share. I woke up and immediately shut off the alarm clock, giving it tow days off, much like myself. Then I shuffled into the kitchen, made some coffee, poured some cereal and then jumped into the shower. A rather slow going morning but everything was going according to whatever schedule I do follow. The Today show was on and when I hear the commercial for the Broadway show ‘Spring Awakening’ I know it’s time to get a move on.

‘I don’t do sadness/not just a little bit’ is what the teen with the overactive hormones sings in this show, supposedly written in the 19th century, about the sexual awakenings of teenagers that seems modeled on ‘Rent’, though that would defy all rules of time and space and AFTRA. But when I hear that young man singing about his avoidance of sadness I know it’s time to shut off the television and head out the door. It wasn’t as cold as it had been lately when I walked up to Washington Street. It was close to 20 degrees which made quite a difference, but not enough to ditch the hat, coat and scarf.

Got on the bus and got a nice roomy seat that usually goes to the handicapped but since there was none for this ride, I took it. I sat and read ‘I, Claudius’. A new chapter where Augustus is falling ill and soon to be murdered by his wife Livia so she can install her son, Tiberius as Emperor. Claudius is still being treated as an idiot cripple which is to his advantage since everyone thinks he’s a fool and not worth killing since he’s no threat to anyone. Augustus will only eat figs that he picks from the trees himself and I know what’s going to happen next.

I was back on the street in no time, walking down 42nd Street, listening to Air, ‘Talkie Walkie’ which is a couple of years old but I never really played it that much. I don’t know why, but it’s quite good and mellow which made for a nice soundtrack as I walked to the office. Wally was out today, having an operation on his ear. Naomi was on her throne and I was third in the office after Isobel. I made coffee and started the day, reading the Daily News online, as well as the New York Times.

After that the data entry began and the phones started ringing. A lot of people can’t speak clearly so when I phone ahead and tell, say Naomi that so and so is on the line I usually imitate the sounds that caller makes. They say it’s ‘Urgle Urgle Urgle’ and I just repeat the sounds into the phone back to them and them to whoever it is they are calling. Maybe the do talk clearly only they are calling on a crap phone. Maybe it’s my hearing, though it still seems pretty good despite years of concerts and working in the back room at McSwells.

After work I walked over to the Museum of ‘Modern’ Art where outside the museum there is an installation on the facade of images projected. It’s by Douglas Aitken and it’s called ‘Sleepwalkers’. I took some picture but they were mostly fuzzy and dark due to the cold temperatures. At least I hope it was because of the cold weather. It was in the 20’s but if you’re just standing looking at the outside wall of a building, it does get a bit chilly real fast.
Cut n’ paste
http://www.moma.org/exhibitions/2007/Aitken.html

and here are two out of 18 pictures, what I consider the best. I’m still trying to figure out a new picture editing program that Rand installed called ‘The Gimp’. I prefer xnview which is what I’ve been using for years.