Shallow Thinker

So, you’ve read my in-depth review of our meal. Now brace yourself for my stellar review of the play:

Wait…scratch that. Looks like Queen Kelley has already beat me to it. Here’s her review that uses fewer words, better imagery, and a lot less nonsense than mine. Go on, read hers first….I’ll wait here….

The music and the performers were all very good, but I was most impressed with the girl (woman, lady….female) that played the role of Rafiki. (UPDATE - Her name is Phindile Mkhize and she is a native of South Africa.  Apparently, she was on the original broadway soundtrack in ‘94…and understandably so.) Her ability to stay perfectly on key through some intense vocal work was simply amazing.

As far as the play goes, here are my two highlights:

After Mufasa’s death, there was a scene to deal with those in mourning. As the choir faded from their solemn chants, Rafiki, Nala, and Sarabi were left alone on stage singing their own laments. Each melody, similar to character’s grief, was unique and followed its own pattern. Amazingly, these melodies joined together and became interwoven to create a beautiful sound that echoed across the entire theater. The scene was incredibly poignant and when the lights closed out, I’m pretty sure that my wife may have let a tear or two slip away.

Early in the show, Mufasa sat with Simba and told him about the kings of the past. The song “They Live in You” was introduced and to be honest, it sounded like a regular ‘ole song to me. Fast forward to the second act. Simba was trying to come to terms with the man/lion that he should be. As he began to realize what he must do, Rafiki and Nala move into a reprise of that same song, but with the words “He Lives in You” emphasizing Mufasa’s relationship with Simba. The laments mentioned earlier started with a chorus and ended with quiet solos. This song was the opposite. It began slow, and was then filled with a chorus of voices. Rafiki went on a vocal run that I’ve rarely heard before. There’s really no way to express the goosebumps that I got during that song. Not only were the vocals stunning, but the lyrics were compelling, and the actors and effects were almost perfectly choreographed to portray that emotion. I don’t know if the original writers were aiming for an allegory, but that song could probably be performed in and number of churches and the congregation would be none-the-wiser. (Well, the lion costumes might give it away.)

So there you go…I suffered through a meal and a show with my wife. I hope that she’s aware of all the sacrifices that I make for her.

*Photos are all taken by Joan Marcus from the New York showing. I would have put some of our own pictures up, but the whole “no photography” rule was tough to get around.

On occasion, my wife talks me into letting someone else watch the girls, and we take some time away for a special date. This weekend, we drove up to my hometown and took advantage of my parents’ generosity. Late in the morning on Saturday, Queen Kelley and I stole away and drove to downtown Atlanta for a special date.

Our date started with an amazing lunch at Cafe Intermezzo. The city was quiet, as was the restaurant. We even had a room all to ourselves with a table by the window. The view was beautiful as we watched construction workers going to and from lunch. Here’s a photo of the interior of the restaurant taken from our table.

Kelley debated her menu options, but I settled pretty quick on what I wanted. Usually things with “Alfredo” in the name go to the top of the list so the Spicy Tortelini Alfredo with Shrimp was a winner. Kelley finally ordered the Pasta Primavera. Here’s our quaint little table with our quaint little lunches.

The waitress must have known how quickly my interest wains, so she made sure that I had different colored noodles. Every single one, I might add, was filled with cheese.

My allergies had been bothering me most of the morning, but the “spicy” portion of the alfredo cleared those away. I didn’t really care for Kelley’s dish, but she loved it and I suppose that is what counts. Mine was awesome. Cheese-filled noodles in a cheese-based sauce with a light covering of cheese. Now that’s a good meal.

After that, I was informed that this location just so happens to have tons of desserts. Here’s how it works…There are two large cases filled with large desserts. You go over and look at these delectables to see which one you might like to try…but all you do is stand there drooling. Eventually, you mumble something to the waitress and she guides you back to your seat. While you wait for your desserts to arrive, you and your date become giddy with excitement.

Kelley got “Derby Pie” which was a bunch of chocolate, nuts and sugar cooked together. It probably wouldn’t have tasted very good with all that sugar crammed into a small space, so she had them add some ice cream to it. The waitress interpreted my droolen-mumbles as “White Chocolate, Raspberry Tort.” Here’s what it looked like:

I didn’t care for the cake at all…

As we finished our meal, we relaxed and breathed in the atmosphere. Peace. Quiet. No Kids. Good Food.

It was an excellent start of a date. The it was on to the show…

There’s this guy I know who is a journalist. I keep wondering when he’s going to read my blog and come to the conclusion that I’m an insanely great writer, full of insight and sophistication. But just to make sure that he understands that I am versatile, I take a little time on occasion to work on my investigative journalism skills. Let’s see what this attempt has dug up.

Fresh off the presses from the latest trade magazine in the Orient comes these advertising beauties…

This ball holds a “realistic dolphin”. The ball is 1 and 3/8″ in diameter. How many dolphins have you seen that can fit into a tiny sphere?

These are little tools on a keychain…and the really work! I can’t tell you how many times I’ve been working on a project and needed a hammer that is slightly over 2″ long. Oh, and that time my really tiny pipes burst, I could have really used that wrench.

I know I’ve been having some fun at these people’s expense, but you gotta be honest, this description is like they weren’t even trying. I imagine that it was close to 5:00 on a Friday afternoon when they got to this one. “Hey boss, should we claim something like ‘You can really ride these ponies’?” and the boss yells back “Nah, it’s too late to worry about outrageous claims…let’s just say that they look pretty.”

That’s all I have for this installment. If any newspapers out there would like to employ my keen journalism skills, you can get in touch with me on the contact me page. If you are a television station, then you’d not only get access to my keen journalism skills, but you’d be able to watch as I dazzle the screen like none other before. Think it over…let me know. I’ll keep looking through this magazine while I wait.

My little girls are an endless source of delight.  This morning, for instance, Ladybug wanted her daddy.  She did not want her mommy and she did not want to play on the floor, she wanted her daddy.  It made going to work tough, but it is a good feeling to know that she longs to spend time with her father.  And when I finally broke free, Butterfly demanded that  I receive her hug and kiss.  Without a second though I obliged and received a great big hug and a mid-waffle kiss.  The maple syrup dripped from my cheek as I closed the door behind me.

This evening, though, I think that I had one of my proudest moments as a father.  There we were, all sitting at the table enjoying a nice meal prepared by my wife.  Suddenly, an ominous, low, rumbling sound filled the room.  Ladybug looked up at me, grinned from ear to ear, and said “Poot!”

Now where do you think she learned such a thing?

I remember when CSI (the original one) first came on TV. I was enthralled. Science, mystery, graphic autopsies…what’s not to love? I remember thinking to myself that since the show was so good and had such amazing attention to the scientific details, there’s no way it would survive the ineptitude of the American public. But America proved me wrong and eventually it was I who parted ways with the show. It was still enjoyable, but my priorities waxed and waned and we had to say our goodbyes.

This past Thursday night, I was sitting down for a couple of minutes and decided to flip channels. There was CSI. Some cast member had changed, but several were the same. And then I noticed something odd…

Here these guys are processing a crime scene. It’s important to collect as much evidence as possible and to maintain its integrity. So, they wear latex gloves, have special liquids and glasses and lights and all kinds of other gizmos. Why is it that they do this with their shirts half-unbuttoned and their hair flapping in the wind? You’d think they’d need to at least wear a hair net or something…

The folks over at Google have a great sense of humor.  A portion of this is evident by some of the random things they do.  This year, they had an April Fool’s prank about e-mail.  Last year’s April Fools announcement involved using the sewer systems for internet access.  But I’ve discovered another funny…

Today, I was searching for a ballpark cost for commercial shipping scales.  (As in the big thing that you sit a big pallet on and it tells you how much it weighs.)  Usually, Froogle is a great place to get an idea how much stuff costs.  So, I did a search for “shipping scales” and I noticed a bit of humor on advertisement portion of the results:

Today’s post is just to let you know that I’ve finally started the page about things that I’ve read.  Head on over and give it a look…

Saying goodbye is never easy…but that doesn’t mean that it can’t be fun. We have a longstanding tradition at work that requires us to belittle, insult, and generally make fun of the person who is leaving. It’s not an easy task, but we do our best…well, actually, that’s not true. We probably only give it about 75%…unless they leave on a Friday, in which case we give about 20%, which is pretty good effort for a Friday. At any rate, the departing parties sometimes get custom songs, slideshows, and poetry. Heck, one lucky lady even got a calendar of some of our most out-of-shape guys wearing tight, sleeveless t-shirts. She cried…I guess she was really happy.

I came across this picture that was taken when someone left us this past fall. When he arrived on his last day, this is what his office looked like. Sure, we missed some spots, but like I said, we put just enough effort into it to get the point across and then we went back to surfing the internet.

The only thing worse than doing a bad impression….is doing it in a different language. For your viewing entertainment here’s a remake of “We are the World” by Japanese impersonators.

The concert last night was indeed amazing. Steven Curtis Chapman never fails to put on a great show. I’ve gone to a few concerts in my day and I usually enjoy them, but the two SCC ones that I’ve been to have left me thinking that it was well worth the money. But last night’s was cool for another couple of reasons, too…

First, my father-in-law and sister-in-law (Empress Katie) watched the girls so that we could enjoy the concert. (I think that the girls love their Aunt Katie.) But with their help, we were able to breathe for a moment and actually enjoy the music.

Second, our seats were awesome. The story is a bit convoluted about how I got such good seats so late in the game, but we were 10 rows back and I was dead center. I think that Steven had to consciously avoid making eye contact with me all night.

Third, Steven played had his sons playing with him at the concert. His oldest son, Caleb, opened the show and then did some back-up vocals and accompanying guitars the rest of the night. His youngest, Will Franklin, played the drums. Young Will was quite impressive, I might add. I told the wife during the concert that perhaps the only thing cooler than doing something like that with your kids would be siting back from a distance and watching them do it by themselves.

Finally - and this is the coolest part - Steven had a thing on his website where you coud request a song for them to play. Since this was the last night of this concert tour, the band and the stage hands were joking around a bit. But, my friend Rob had his song sung Steven even said that it was requested by “Rob”. He did several other songs, all were told who they were requested by…first name only, though. Then, the last fan-requested song of the last night of this entire tour was requested by….ME!! (That’s right. I told you that I was gonna ask Steven to play a song!) And not only that, but he told the entire audience that I had requested it. First and Last name! My wife was so excited…because the closest I’ll ever get to performing on stage is having a performer call my name…on stage. I’ll take it!

I’m reading the local paper today to see if there’s any mention of it, but I haven’t found it yet. I suspect the headline will be something like “Fan Requests Lead to Fun Times: Local Man Requests Best Song Ever” - I’ll post the article as soon as I find it.

I know that I take pride in having a good place to *cough* ahem….um…*cough* “sit and think“, but this lady must have had a La-Z-Boy for a pooper…

Lady Sat on Toilet for 2 Years

What will you be doing on Sunday evening? I’ll be jammin’ with my friend, Steve. That’s what I call him when we’re chatting….”Steve” or “Stevie” or sometimes “S-Man”.

Apparently you can request a song for him to play for this tour. So I requested “Baby Got Back” - I hope he plays it for us. Looks like the place will be packed:

…but why so many clocks?  And why aren’t any of them set to the same time?  I’ll ask the “Steve-Meister” about that next time he calls up…