Something to see

Something to save for another day.. I've never noticed this artwork before:

What's up with that?
Keith-Haringesque art

Q I’ve noticed a few pieces of sidewalk slabs around SoHo that have some Keith-Haringesque art. The one on the corner of Broadway and Prince Street seems to be signed by “Ken ’84.” I love them and worry they’ll be destroyed/removed one day, and wonder, Who is Ken? What happened in 1984?—Michele Perez, East Village

A The man behind the masterpieces is Kenichi Hiratsuka, a native of Japan who moved to NYC in 1982. In those days, the Cold War was on everyone’s mind and Hiratsuka wondered, “What would be left over in human society, just in case humans go extinct?” So he started carving into the city’s sidewalks. Since the artist planned on his work surviving atomic warfare, you can probably quit worrying about the artsy walkways being demolished.

Hiratsuka’s newest sidewalk carving was just completed in February 2008; check it out at 25 Bond Street between Lafayette Street and Bowery. It’s based on the same concept as his earlier works: “If I start carving one continuous line, a spiral, that never crosses itself…just expanding, expanding, expanding, expanding, then I can carve all the earth into a sculpture,” he says.

Legally Blonde The Musical

First off, we are total suckers for punishment. When Legally Blonde the Musical was first announced I was one of those who was crying Broadway blasphemy (that title now goes to Shrek the Musical). However when it opened it was pink and sparkly and I love things that are pink and sparkly. I wanted to see it but not bad enough to pay even TKTS prices.
Then came the MTV show "search for the next Elle Woods". Hook. Line. Sinker. I had to see the show so naturally when I saw it was going to Shea's I thought it was a good compromise. I wouldn't be wasting valuable Broadway viewing hours but I'd still get to see it.
Well.
It was mediocre. Definitely not the worst show I've seen (that would be Disney's On the Line) or even as bad as We will rock You. It had it's moments.... however... it was pretty much what I should have expected from a movie made into a musical. I know the Broadway set was more elaborate so maybe that helped?
That said, what I didn't expect was it to have the following extremely offensive song. I know that this was part of the movie and it was stereotyped there too but it just wasn't anything like this. You have to see it, there's no description.

Fast forward to 4:14....



Anyway... pretty crazy, huh? No wonder this closed on Broadway!
D and I have decided that from now on we probably wont do tours. Most people do not see the difference but a Tour is never the same as the Broadway show. The blocking and set will almost always be different so If you want to see the Broadway show you really should go to NYC. I know that is not realistic but at the very least we stand by our rule to never ever ever see a Non-Equity production.

Buffalo

We're back from our "Shopping/Legally Blonde the Musical" trip to Buffalo.
Shopping was excellent, Legally Blonde was mediocre and slightly offensive. I'll elaborate on Legally Blonde in a separate post but as for shopping... we're almost done for Christmas and got some great deals.

For my Dad - 2 Ralph Lauren Polo shirts & C.O. Bigelow Shaving Cream and Body/Shave Gel. There was an amazing sale at Ralph Lauren, $12.99 for polo shirts. The Shaving Cream/Body wash was buy 1 get one free at Bath and Body Works. I'll buy him some lotto tickets to top this off.

For my Step-mom - 3 Yankee Candle Co. jar candles, PJ's - on sale for $4.98 at Target but quite nice and Slippers from Bath and Body Works. The slippers were also buy one get one free so I got a pair as well! My step-mom is done.

My Brother - So far only a funky hoodie with guitars on it, 50% off at J.C. Penny. I have tons left to buy for him.

My Mother-in-law - A Japanese Cherry Blossom purfume gift set from Bath and Body Works, PJ's (same as my step-mom), 3 picture frames. We have more to buy.

Nephew J - Birthday Present - Nick and Nora PJ's from Target. They look like flannel and are really soft and stretchy with a cowboy theme. Christmas Present - Football Hoodie from The Children's Place, and a Shake N Go playset (Cars).

Nephew E - Birthday Present - Nick and Nora PJ's from Target. Same as Nephew J but different pattern, sock monkey and stars. Christmas Present - Hoodie from Children's Place, and a "Bling, Bling" Lightning McQueen (also Disney Cars). I can't find it online but it's a giant car that has buttons you can press to make sounds and lots of stuff to touch like the rims which spin and and the ability to move his eyes. Nephew E is blind so we wanted to find something with lots of things to touch and buttons to press.

Niece - A - Christmas Present - A cute Hoodie from Target, leggings and a Nick and Nora nightgown. We need to buy her a toy.


Since we're banned from the kids we're buying less than last year. We don't know how my SIL will react to the presents. Hopefully she'll understand the children shouldn't suffer and not throw them out. Normally we go crazy buying clothes for them but this year we won't. When they need/want our help again they can ask.

My family is big on buying for kids, not adults. This means I have a lot of work to get my brother's gifts ready but I can finish up my Dad and step-mom quickly. D's family isn't like that so we'll need to still do some shopping for her mom.

Great...

Our dishwasher is leaking.
We just paid $88 for the repair guy to tell us it's the motor and we'd need to replace the whole thing. He thought it "wouldn't be under $300" so it would probably be cheaper to buy a new machine.
We'll have to see what he says when he calls back with our quote.
I doubt we'll be getting a new one for a few weeks since we're pretty busy and I don't feel like appliance shopping. Maybe if Sears sells Whirlpool brand we'll be able to get one there. That would be easy because it's just downtown.
Damn it. Our luck seems to have run out lately.

KD drama ended

I saw our KD yesterday and told him we would not be needing his services. He seemed very relieved. My guess is he only offered because he's known how hard this has been on me and how upset we were when D's brother was no longer an option. I don't think he fully understood the commitment he was making when he offered.
Also, I didn't want to say it but my BIL would actually be a better option at this point if we were going to use a KD but that is in no way my priority. We're just hoping he calls us back (we've been trying for 2 weeks) so we can try to patch things up. All I want from him is access to his kids. I think he'll fold soon but unfortunately the kids are old enough to report back to mom who they've seen so sneaking around is not an option. I can just see my nephew telling his mom he saw Aunt Jushie (what he calls me) and her having a fit.

Frank

Frank is feeling much better...

I found him in this position when I went upstairs to grab something. I had to run back downstairs to grab the camera and was pleased to see he hadn't moved.
You can see his shaved tail and both shaved arms. Poor boy. Clearly he hasn't been negatively impacted by the recent ordeal. He's a pretty cool cat.

Also...
My little Monster in his Halloween Costume: Frank as Frankenstein! I thought it was brilliant.
I'm sure this was intended for a dog because cats are not usually this accommodating. Frank doesn't seem to complain when I take away his dignity.

Driving, Moving, etc.

The car we have this week is a 2008 Yaris sedan - how appropriate. Although we've driven the hatchback numerous times (it's one of our zipcar choices) this is our first time with the sedan. We were surprised how the trunk space on the sedan really makes up for what the hatchback is lacking and we are enjoying the car.
As for my mom and her new hatchback, what can you do? I wish she'd bought a car with a little more CAR but since she's happy I didn't say anything other than "congratulations".
As for us, since we have a car we've been doing "car things" like going to the drive-in and shopping at Bed Bath and Beyond - which isn't in Downtown Toronto. Having a car makes me feel like I need to leave and go to the burbs. I know there will be a trip to Vaughan Mills. I know it's coming.
We went to visit my parents yesterday. My dad is obsessed with me moving home. We even toured a house that was for sale around the corner from him. He said that he thought his neighbour would be selling soon and said I could move next door to him. I'm not sure how well that would go over when we need to take in my mother after she's spent all her money and needs to move back. I'm sure my step-mom would love that!
The house around the corner (a better distance) was pretty nice. It's a split level with 3 bedrooms and a huge yard attached to my brothers elementary school playground. It needs work to rescue it from the 70's but it had tons of potential like exposed brick walls, a new kitchen and a wood burning fireplace. I love my dad's neighbourhood and living around the corner from him would have a lot of perks - like his hot tub and pool! Unfortunately this is not something we can do right now. We've been talking a lot about moving back but it won't work if we both continue to work in Toronto. We'd need to start looking for jobs first. I tried to explain this to my father but he didn't get it. He doesn't get how little we pay for transportation right now. If we were to commute we would need to pay $700/month in GO fare, I would need to still pay TTC ($100), and we'd need a car. We'd essentially be paying a $1000 more per month and would have less time at home since we'd be spending so much time commuting. Sorry, but that doesn't make sense at all. D spent one summer commuting to Toronto when she was in University and she said it was pure hell. I'd have to agree and say it doesn't sound like fun at all.
So we have a desire to move closer to family but it would mean a drastic change since it would involve finding new work. We'll have to see. I think I'll start looking and see what I find.