oda.com

the rants and raves of oda

August 31st, 2007

Last Summer Friday

It’s my last Summer Friday of 2007, sad. I’m home working, not too exciting. But tonight, I’ll be going to a Yankees game tonight with Henry, Ben and Steve Judy. Hopefully it’ll be a good game and Yankees win!



August 27th, 2007

Rent

Rent (1996 Original Broadway Cast) Henry and I saw Rent for the third time. It really makes a difference when original cast members return, especially the main two, Adam Pascal and Anthony Rapp. The audience was way more into it and Adam Pascal was amazing as Roger. Anthony Rapp was good as Mark, but Adam was just such a good Roger. Tamyra Gray was also pretty awesome as Mimi.

Even before it began and the actors just got into place on the stage, everybody went crazy. A note wasn’t even sung yet, it was the oddest thing. When “One Song Glory” was on, the girls in front and behind us were bopping along and were so excited for Adam’s solo. When it was the scene with Maureen and the mooing, this was the first time that there was so much mooing from the audience.

Honestly, if i could, I would want Rent everyday to hear Adam Pascal as Roger. And, both Adam and Anthony have extended their return until October 7, so I may be able to watch at least one more time. Yes, I’m crazy.



August 26th, 2007

Mets Game

I haven’t watched a Mets game since the summer before my junior year in college. We went today with our old high school friend Howard and his family to celebrate his 30th birthday. It was a 4pm game against the Dodgers. We had relatively high seats, but they were behind home plate and in the shade, so I can’t complain. The view was good, we got to see everything from our seats and when there was a breeze, it felt really comfortable.

Things I learned?

  • Something weird at Shea Stadium, when you buy a bottle of water or soda, they open it for you and you don’t get the cap. Apparently they have problems with people throwing the bottle caps onto the baseball field. Who knew??
  • I’ve never seen this at Yankees Stadium, but if you get drunk enough, they will escort you out. There were about three security guards who had to go all the way up to help a drunk guy all the way back down and escort him out. He was so out of it, but I think he made a half-hearted attempt to punch one of the security guards, but in his drunken stupor even I could have knocked him out.
  • It was Irish Heritage Day at Shea Stadium, so there was some Irish dancing for the pre-game show. There were three groups of children. Two groups had the girls wearing these ridiculous mops (I guess they were wigs) on the tops of their head. It must have been so hot! The third group made the girls wear stockings. What was it, torture the girl’s day??
  • After giving up two back-to-back home runs to the Dodgers, the Mets can still win a ball game, they won 4-3. Go Mets!
  • If you go with children under 5, they are probably still too young to last through the whole game. We went with Howard’s daughters, one will be 5 soon and the other 2. The 2 year old would go to anyone with food, very adorable. It was harder to keep the 5 year old occupied. Howard’s sister walked around with her a few times, but by the 7th inning, she had fallen asleep half on her seat and half on my lap.
  • Kettle corn popcorn is damn good!
  • I think they stop coming around with beer after the the 6th inning. I don’t drink beer, but I heard the guys behind me complaining and that was a rumor that I heard.
  • When going to the bathroom I am used to lines waiting to go to the bathroom, but this was the first time I actually had to wait on a real line to wash my hands too. Unbelievable!
  • A game can last for less than three hours. We were happy about that because we had to rush back to the city for dinner with Kin and Ming and felt bad if we had to leave early.
  • The worst part about leaving the stadium to come back to Manhattan is getting through the turnstiles. And please, learn how to use the Metrocards, you really don’t want masses of people behind you waiting while you try different swiping techniques before the turnstile will let you through.
  • Even at Shea Stadium, while playing against the Dodgers, there will be some fans that yell, “Yankees suck!”

That’s it for now. If I think of anything else, I’ll add it on.



August 24th, 2007

Summer Friday

I had a Summer Friday today and for me that means I can take the whole day off, but I think you’re supposed to get in earlier the rest of the week, but since I get in around 7:30AM and don’t leave till around 7PM, that more than covers the Friday I take off.

Anyway on this Friday, Henry and I went into Queens to play golf. Sounds easy enough except we had to get on the 7 train to Flushing, get on the Q27 to my parents house to eventually get my car. But of course there were delays on the 7 train and at 111th Street they made us get off the train because they announced that would be the last stop on the train. Great! And then the bus driver was a horrendous driver and I was so nauseous when I got off the bus. We were late for our 10:45AM tee time, but luckily Henry called in earlier to let them know we were running late and they were able to hold our spot for us. But I had a pounding headache and was still very queasy from the horrible bus ride.

We got paired with this amazing Korean couple. By amazing I mean, the guy was playing from the black spots and the girl was playing from the blue spots. Henry played from the blue spots and I played from the red spots. I’m sad to admit, but the girl was better than Henry. The couple was very consistent an looked like they probably play golf every day. I am so jealous at how good the girl was. But I actually boogied two holes and parred one hole too. Please don’t ask about the other holes. =( But I had lots of fun in the five hours it took us to play the course.

We had one minor accident that led to Henry and me not finishing a hole. What happened? Well, I hit my ball and went back to our cart to wait for Henry to take his shot. We were at the right of the fairway, so he had to hit it left. I was standing on his right, off to the side. He swings and the next thing out of my mouth is “OWWWW!!! You hit me!” The couple paired with us turned to look over because they heard me yell and there I am holding my knee. Luckily 1) Henry wasn’t swinging with his full strength, 2) Henry didn’t take a full swing and 3) Henry missed my kneecap by 1/2 an inch, at most. He was extremely concerned and all I could do was laugh because I was in shock and I kept saying, “I can’t believe you hit me.” It was one of those moments you never think will happen. He is pretty good with his aim and I don’t even know how he shanked his ball, right at me. We were both pretty shook up after that near miss and ended up losing three balls on that hole (he lost two, I lost one), so we decided to sit out the rest of the hole. And now I have a huge bruise right above my right knee. People on the train were giving my bruise long looks, I’m sure they’ll never figure out how I got the bruise. But again, I had fun and now I have a story to tell about my golfing trip.

August 23rd, 2007

Big Shots

I’m flipping through this week’s Us Weekly and I see an ad for Big Shots. What made me stop and take notice? Michael Vartan!! Don’t know if you guys know, but I love him. I watched Alias because I was flipping channels and saw him and started watching, and was hooked after that. I also watched Never Been Kissed because of him. Back in my TV Guide days, Michael Ausiello actually asked him to marry me during one of his interviews with Michael Vartan about Alias. I had jokingly asked Mike to ask him that, who knew Mike was going to take me seriously!?

Anyway, I have no clue what Big Shots is about, but I’m ecstatic that Michael Vartan will be back on TV and will watch the show even though I have no clue what it is about. It also stares Dylan McDermott from The Practice, Christopher Titus and Joshua Malina. Again, no clue what it’s about or if it will be remotely interesting since I’ve heard nothing about it, but I will give it a chance. It premieres September 27th at 10pm.