A round of applause...

On Sunday night, Applause! Musicals Society held their third annual Ovation Awards at the Vancouver Academy of Music by the Planetarium. It was nice to see so many talented people connected with the muscial theatre community in one place. I actually knew quite a few people there including Fiddler and Flower Drum cast members, people I've watched in shows, and other people I've performed with.

The evening was emceed by my friend Ryan. He did a great job and had people laughing in their seats most of the night. His brand of humour is quite, how you say, "unique" but luckily it's my kind of humour. He did good.

Flower Drum Song didn't win best concert sadly but my friends Jenn and Chris did win for their production of Waking Up a Generation. I was really happy for them both because they their hearts and souls into it. It was well deserved.

Fiddler did very well. It won Best Director, Best Music Director, and tied for Best Musical with Urinetown. Jenn won for best supporting female for her portrayal of the whacked out Fruma Sarah.

There were 26 songs performed (or something like that). It was very cool to hear songs from so many of the musicals from 2006 all in one evening for only $10!! Lots of my friends performed and it was really great to see them on stage again. Tara performed in a number from Anything Goes. Jimmy and Jaclyn performed a song from Flower Drum Song. Jenn performed a number from the Diary of Adam and Eve. Eric sang a song from Waking Up a Generation (my favourite number of the night). Tracy sang in a duet from Urinetown. Amanda, Joel and Ian performed a great number from You're a Good Man Charlie Brown. Plus many, many others. Twas a solid night of entertainment.

Vancouver's theatre scene is filled with many wonderful people. There is such a passion for musical theatre here and there are some great, great people raising the bar of excellence with each production. I feel really priveliged to be a part of this performing community and I'm honoured to work and perform with so many talented people. I've developed a lot of great friendships through this little hobby of mine. I only wish I had started doing this a long time ago!

So this week, it's preparing for Very Good Eddie rehearsals which start on Sunday! Better learn those songs. It's coming along...slowly.

Good episodes of 24 and Heroes last night. Although I must admit that I'm getting a little impatient with all of these long series. I want everything to be solved in 30 minutes or less. I guess that's what I get for watching so many Three's Company episodes growing up. If Jack, Janet and Chrissy/Cindy/Terri could figure things out within 30 minutes, why can't CTU?


PS - I ate the reindeer meat on Saturday and it tasted like pepperoni. Actually the "stick" was more beef and pork than reindeer so I was a tad disappointed as I was hoping there would be some antler or fur or sleighbells or something.

Do it while you can!

Very impulsively, Susan and I booked a cruise last night!!! That's right, this March Susan and I will be cruising the Hawaiian islands aboard Norwegian Cruise Lines Pride of Hawaii for 7 glorious nights.

We had absolutely no intention of going on any kind of trip this year but the deal was too good to pass up. Anyway, it all started with me looking for a cruise for my parents to go on. I found them this March 19th sailing from Honolulu. It just happens to be during Susan's spring break so we decided to go along with my parents and my aunt! We'll be their tour guides I suppose!

We are so looking forward to cruising the islands - it's the best way to see them! Just unpack once! No planes, no hotel reservations, no looking for places to eat...it'll be perfect!

We spend 2 days on Maui and 2 days on Kauai as well as visiting a couple ports, Kona and Hilo, on the Big Island.

It's also whale watching season! Humpbacks have come down from Alaska and are feeding in the warm Hawaiian waters. I hope we get to see a pod or two!

We've only been to Honolulu so we're looking forward to seeing the rest of Hawaii.

I'll be researching like mad until we go but for those of you that have been to Hawaii, any recommendations on what to see?

The bird, not the country...

urgh...I hate turkey. I've had WAY too much of it in the past 30 days. We cooked a 22-pounder on Saturday. We had some no-shows at our choir party so now we have a ton of leftovers!

So I guess it's turkey sandwiches for me this week. I'll probably make some turkey tetrazini, turkey mac and cheese, turkey udon soup, turkey potpie, turkey vegetable soup, turkey congee and did I mention turkey sandwiches?

Anyway, it's Heroes and 24 tonight! That's good! But, I have choir practice. That's bad. But I can watch both shows earlier because I get the eastern US channels. That's good! But then I have to make dinner at the same time so I may miss some. That's bad. But we can just eat turkey leftovers. That's good! No, wait - actually that's bad. I HATE YOU TURKEY (the bird, not the country).

I think I found a very telling sign that I am no longer young - I get VERY excited when I can buy clothes of any kind for under $10. I am all about the shockingly well priced, bulk-purchased, drastically-reduced, clearance clothes now. I am getting to the point where I'll walk out of Costco and the staff will give me the eye because it looks like I've just shoplifted all of my clothes!

In other news, did anyone see Steve Irwin's last documentary? It was called Ocean's Deadliest and it aired on Discovery Channel last night. After the documentary, they had a very touching half-hour tribute to Steve Irwin. His little daughter Bindi spoke about her dad and I have no doubt in my mind that she will be following in her dad's footsteps one day! She was very cute and spoke so lovingly about her dad and about the conservation of wildlife. I was very impressed by her eloquence.

There is hope for this world yet!!

Mickey is ALIVE!

Those Disney theme park characters sure have come a long way! No more are their smiles frozen upon their faces - that's right, your favourite Disney characters now have "talking heads" that blink too! For the past year, Mickey, Minnie, Goofy and Donald have been using the talking heads during a couple different shows at Walt Disney World.

Check out this video at LaughingPlace.com to see it for yourself! It's pretty amazing, but I must admit, seeing the heads for the first time was a little like seeing Bigfoot or a flying saucer...

VPL, JLA, and Birdzilla

I sang at the VPL last night for the Jerome Kern 101. It went well considering that we had very little rehearsal time. The women were really great. They have such amazing voices. Chris, our accompanist, learned all the music in one day! Amazing! Lots of friends and family came out including: Jenn, Ryan, Eric, Jaclyn and Dane, Brian and Lorraine, Marilyn and Kelly, Adam, my parents, & Susan's parents. Tonight we're taking the show on the road to the West Van Memorial Public Library to do it all again.

After last night's show, we went with Jenn, Chris, Ryan, Eric, Vanessa, Jaclyn and Dane to Earls. I'm not a huge fan of Earls but Susan and I shared a pizza - pretty good I must admit. Anyway, it was nice to see all of them as it’s been a while since we last got together.

Warning: About to speak geek...may contain Smallville spoilers and traces of nuts



After Earls we headed home to watch the latest episode of Smallville featuring the fledgling Justice League! That's right, if you've been watching Smallville you'll know that the Green Arrow has banded together with Aquaman, Cyborg and the Flash (called Impulse in the show) for one episode. It was not as great as I thought though - too much slow motion dramatic walking. The costumes just looked sort of strange too. It sort of looked like a low-budget movie - which I guess is what a tv show is, I suppose.

Heroes News

Oh and for Heroes fans, I heard this morning that they will be introducing a few more superheroes including a lady who can hear wireless communications. But most excitingly, George Takei (from Star Trek fame) will be playing Hiro's father!! How cool is that??

End spoilers

This weekend we have our choir Christmas party. We've had our 22 pound bird defrosting in the fridge for days so we're looking forward to actually eating it. We can then FINALLY take down our Christmas decorations this weekend.

Oh and Susan brought home her new glasses yesterday. I quite like them. Stylish and retro. Playful yet professional. She has a striking resemblance to pictures of her aunts from 40 years ago. Like I said – retro. Anyway, she has 30 days to test them out and see if she likes them. I’m sure she’d appreciate your comments…

I’ve been quite stressed this week so I’m looking forward to the weekend more than usual. Good times will be had by all.

Have a good day all!

NOT FORGET ME

It's going to be another busy week. On Sunday we had our first read through of Very Good Eddie. I got to meet the cast (minus one). Everybody seems to have been well cast for their roles. I think it will be a great show. It has the potential to be very funny. Ryan gets all the best lines. Feb. 13th-17th. Mark it down.

On Monday night we watched episodes 3 and 4 of 24. Man what a great show! Between the stabbing in the knee cap and the nuclear bomb going off, I'd say 24 is off to another fast start. I can't wait until Heroes starts up again - Monday nights will be an hour of Heroes and then an hour of 24. What a freakin' great combo!!

Tonight, I had the one and only rehearsal for the Jerome Kern 101 at the Vancouver Library. We practiced out at Granville Island at the Arts Club theatre. Chris King is playing the piano for us so I'm excited about that. Tracy, Susan and Tamara are the other three people singing and man, their voices are incredible! I'm in awe of them and I'm not really sure why I get to sing with them - I'm soo not in their league. It should be another fun evening of song. Then on Friday night, we perform at the public library in West Van. Swanky West Van!!

Oh, and Jaclyn asked me to sing in an arts night she is putting together with Ryan and Jenn. That's on the 24th of February. I'm looking forward to singing with Jaclyn and Jenn again.

So what else is new?

Our department at work won a safety award and so we get a free dinner at the Fairmont Hotel (spouses included). I won't be able to attend though as I'll have a performance that night but we also get a $150 gift certificate to either Famous Players, HBC or the Fairmont. I think I'll take the Famous Players gc.

Susan got new glasses - plastic frames that make her look like a cat! She picks them up this week sometime so I'm looking forward to her new look - not that there was anything wrong with her old look but she admittedly said it was time for a change. Change is good.

She also got a new cell phone with a $50 credit so we've been downloading all sorts of junk including tv theme song ring tones, a Superman Returns and X-men game. Awesome.

Oh yeah, and on Friday night (sorry I'm jumping around a bit here) we went to Superstore and saw a scarf-toque-mittens set for what we thought was $2.94 each. We took 10 sets but found out at the register they were a little more than that. Anyway, we bought the ten and donated them to our church so they could bring them to the shelter on Cordova Street. We're hoping they'll help keep 10 people a little warmer this winter.

Let me leave you with last thing. I teach a marketing class at BCIT every year and I love to find international marketing mistakes. Anyway - here's a great example of really, really bad proof reading.

This is from a label on a package of plastic cups from a dollar store. I have the label so it's not some internet photoshop job. It's REAL I TELLS YOU! If you know what any of these sentences mean, please let me know.

Baby, it's cold outside!

It's a tad chilly outside but then again, I've lived in Calgary and Kingston so I'm no stranger to minus 40 degree weather. I must admit though that I love the cold and the snow and I especially love it when it's all sunny outside. Is there anything prettier than a blue sky and a blanket of white snow? Oh and due to leaky gutters, our house is sporting some sweet looking icicles. Good length and shape and crystal clear ice. I'll try to take some photos of them.

This weekend should be fun. We're going to eat at Kam Do tonight (pronounced "kam doe")- our favourite super cheap Chinese restaurant and then off to Superstore. If you've never been to Kam Do (on Alexandra Rd. in Richmond), you must try it. The menu is gigantic and the portions are just as big. The menu is sorta eclectic though. There's the main menu (which we never order from) and then there are 5 smaller laminated menus all with set meals. Most of the set meals for dinner are in the $8-$10 range and they each come with a specialty drink, a choice of 2 soups and your main dish. Those in the $10 range also come with a choice of appetizers, and a dessert. There are afternoon specials and breakfast specials too.

Not only is there a fine selection of Chinese food (my people just call it "food"), but also a seemingly curious melange of Western dishes - with an Asian flare. Par example, for breakfast, you can have spam and eggs, and a bowl of macaroni in chicken broth for $5. At dinner, you can have baked seafood on fried rice for $8. You can share a cauldron of noodles in soup with seafood and vegetables for under $10 (we barely finish this between the two of us). It's a perfect place to bring a few people and share a bunch of dishes. It's not the prettiest place but if you want fast, cheap, Chinese food- Kam Do is the place. It's the best value in town.

This posting is brought to you by: Kam Do.

On Saturday, we're going to Steve and Milah's place to make Vietnamese salad rolls and dessert crepes . A bit of a weird combo but whatever. AND, we're going to try some of Milah's reindeer meat. I'll let you know how that tastes...I'm guessing it will taste a little Rudolphy...mmmmm...Rudolph.

Then on Sunday we're going to see our friend Greg who is leaving to go back to Boston for school. I also have my first rehearsal for Very Good Eddie on Sunday. I'm looking forward to meeting the entire cast!

Oh, and if anyone is looking to go see a movie this weekend, I encourage you to go see Blood Diamond or Children of Men. Both are good flicks although I liked Blood Diamond more - Leo D. was excellent in it. I also want to see Clint Eastwood's Letters of Iwo Jima. I love epic WWII movies and this sounds like it's a good one.

Anyway, enjoy your weekend everybody and stay safe out in the cold and ice!

Call me Eddie!

I just found out last night that I got cast to play the meek and ever-timid Eddie Kettle in Very Good Eddie! I'm really excited about it! The music is really fun and I think it will be a lot of fun to play this role. This musical in concert will be at the Shadbolt Centre in Burnaby (again). Show dates are February 13-17th if you're interested! The first rehearsal is this Sunday!!

Last night I drove out to Surrey to meet with the Encore Project group - Chad, Erin, Heather, Dann, and Scott. We were all in Fiddler together so it was really nice to see them again. They are writing an original musical and their dream is to perform it in New York one day. I'm very flattered that they asked me to join their group as it would be an honour to work with such hilarious and talented people. They're a little twisted, but twisted in a good way. I just have to think about my schedule for the next 6 months and see if I have the time for it. I hope I can make it work.

I really need to practice those 5 songs for my performance at the Vancouver Public Library next week... better do that tonight!

Anyway, hope you are all doing well!

Very Good news

It's my first day back at work after the holidays. My co-worker Mike isn't here today so it's going to be nice and quiet. Getting up this morning didn't kill me as expected so that was nice.

The house is STILL decorated and I think we may leave up the Christmas decor a couple weeks longer because we're hosting our choir Christmas party on the 20th. We even bought a 22 pound turkey the otehr day which is currently absorbing all the coldness from our freezer. The bird is massive. It scares me a little.

Last night I went to a callback for Applause Musical's next show Very Good Eddie. I knew 2 people there - Ryan (who directed me in Flower Drum Song) and Tamara (who I sang with at the VPL once). There were eight performers there in total and they were all quite talented. I was pretty nervous as usual and it took me a while to get into the swing of things. We sang through bits of songs and did some cold reads. The show itself seems quite funny though and I think it'll be a blast to do. I'll hopefully hear if I got a role in the next couple of days. I'll keep you posted.

Oh, speaking of the VPL, on January 18th, I'll be performing in the Jerome Kern 101. It's completely free! I get to sing about 5 songs including the classic Smoke Gets in your Eye. I'm looking forward to that!

In the TV world, I'm really looking forward to three shows starting up again:

1) The next episode of Heroes.
2) Smallville (looking forward to the Justice League episode)
3) 24 - Jack's back baby...

Did anyone watch Grease - You're the One that I want last night? I'm hoping they'll give out a lot of free advice during the show...

And really, is anyone else getting tired of the ubiquitous "angry Brit" on all these reality tv shows? Would you find it less appealing if there wasn't a Simon-character?? I know the formula works, but can we not please be a tad more original?

Happy New Year!

I haven't posted anything since last year! Wow. Seems so long ago.

Let's see, what have I been up to? Well Christmas went very well. Cooked ribs on Christmas Eve, sang at midnight mass, had a nice Christmas breakfast with the family, had a big Christmas dinner for 17, stayed up until 4 am that night and then had another big 10-course Chinese dinner on Boxing Day for my mom's birthday.

Santa was very good to Susan and I as always. We are very very spoiled people. My sister-in-law and Susan's bro and wife were in town for the holidays as well. It was great seeing them again as always.

Between Christmas and New Year's we prepared for Susan's grandma's 80th birthday celebration. For our part, Susan put together a lovely scrapbook with old pictures and write-ups from her grandma's 5 kids and their spouses and her 15 grandchildren. I put together an 8-minute movie/slideshow for her and we showed it at the restaurant on December 30th. 220 people came to the dinner!

We also had time to have dinner with our friends Chris and Jenn. We've been meaning to have them over for a long time so it was really nice to finally get together. That was a lot of fun.

For New Years, we invited friends over after dinner and we got into our comfy clothes (read fat pants), ate snacks, and played games until 5am (we did take a ten minute break to ring in the New Year with Dick Clark).

I was pretty well a zomby the next two days. I just can't stay up that late anymore. We had to get up early to go sing at mass on January 1st, so that didn't help matters. Still sleepy.

I watched a bunch of college football Bowl games on January 1st - the best of which was the Boise State-Oklahoma game. Go to Youtube and look for these highlights - it was the best game I have EVER seen. There are no words to describe the last 4 minutes of play.

As for my beloved Notre Dame Fighting Irish, well they got killed by the LSU Tigers in the Sugar Bowl last night. I don't want to talk about it anymore.

I've decided to take the rest of the week off since Susan is off from school too. We've been running lots of errands and watching the new dvds we got for Christmas (Pirates 2, Superman, Cars, Monster House, High School Musical...).

All in all a very good Christmas vacation.

Susan and I hope you all have a very propserous and blessed 2007!!