Bob over at TV Squad posted about Caterer.com’s Little Gordon videos. Anyone who enjoys Gordon Ramsay’s shows Hell’s Kitchen and Kitchen Nightmares will like these videos. In other words, anyone who enjoys watching a blonde British guy cuss and yell at people who don’t deserve such treatment will love these videos. The kid is great. He even has some of the real hot-tempered chef’s mannerisms.
Our flight is early: 7:15 am on Virgin America. I like to fly early when going from LA to NY because of the time change. You lose five hours of the day flying and when you go from west to east, you lose even more time, three more hours to be exact. We’ll get in at 3:50 p.m., just in time to wash up and have dinner at Gino’s, a mom-and-pop Italian restaurant in my hometown. They have THE BEST food. What they lack in sophisticated service and atmosphere, they make up for ten-fold with their yummy pastas.
I can’t wait to get home. We’ve been here a year and a day. I’m ready to start a new chapter of our life. I’ll be directing a musical this year, working with Preston’s administration, finishing my book and securing an agent (fingers crossed on those), and probably starting back at Fordham. I have five classes of my second Master’s completed so I want to finish. Hopefully, all of those credits are still good. My first Master’s, also from Fordham, is in English. Now this one will be in Adolescent Education. I believe it’s an MST (Master’s of Science in Teaching). Didn’t think teaching was a science though. I’d say it’s more of an art form. But whatever.
It’s no coincidence that I titled this post “Escape from L.A.” Kurt Russell is one of my favorite actors. Overboard. Captain Ron. Backdraft. Big Trouble in Little China. He’s been in some classics. I know Kurt Russell would want us to escape from Los Angeles. He seems like a a good egg.
The power of the Bowie. What has Labrynith just taught us? That goblins ask a lot of damn questions and David Bowie should skip to the point. This is one of my favorite movies. It still gives me a good dose of the creeps (creepy in a good way though, not creepy-creepy like HBO’s Carnivale. Pause while we mourn the loss of Carnivale).
And I think I will forever be disturbed by David Bowie’s gray leggings and codpiece in this film.
I love when he throws the baby up in the air at the end.
I went to my last dance class here on Thursday. Jill Strauss put together a great combination to Heather Headley’s “Your Love is Like Rain.” I enjoyed dancing it. There were lots of moments were you had to fill up the counts because of the reggae beat behind the song.
Afterwards, some of the ladies from the class took me out to lunch. They also gave me Good Night, California (a new regional version of Good Night, Moon for future “Samplers.”) I totally lost it. I don’t even know why–the tears were flowing. The gesture was so sweet. I will truly miss Jill’s class and those ladies.
If you’re ever in LA and looking for a great jazz class, be sure to take Jill’s class. Her Luigi-style jazz class is a great workout, a great workout to say the least. She’s a phenomenal teacher. I credit her with teaching me that I can do this for the rest of my life as long as I take care of my body. Some teachers don’t push self-preservation and feeling how your body is different each day. A little twinge in your lower back should be attended to, not ignored. If you ignore it long enough, that little twinge becomes severe pain and all of sudden you can’t wear high heels anymore or sit in certain desk chairs for long periods of time. I think I’m over the whole self-inflicted punishment makes you better. I got a bad right ankle from that attitude.
I’m so excited for Joshua, the winner of So You Think You Can Dance this summer. He was a brilliant dancer. Here’s his first routine to “No Air” choreographed by Tabitha and Napoleon. He’s dancing with one of the final four dancers, Katee. This was the last routine of the night when the Top 20 performed. By this time, I was ready to turn in. I thought SYTYCD had gone all Idol. The talent would be sub-par and the judges would continually tell us that it was the BEST. SEASON. EVER.
The latter happened time and time again. I really hate it when judges on those shows use superlatives (the best cast, the best hip-hop dancer they’ve ever seen, the best routine of the season). On SYTYCD, the judges have clear favorites and use a lot of their screen time to stroke the choreographers’ egos. Don’t tell me who I’m supposed to like. And stop saying how brilliant Mia Michaels is. The woman is certifiably insane.
While this season wasn’t as good as seasons past, it was not bereft of talent either. In fact, I think Joshua is one of the best and most relatable dancers to ever grace the stage.
It’s been a busy week for CK and I. However, it looks like everything is basically done for the move back home. Now, I just have to get everything organized at our apartment in Westchester before I start back to work for the school year. The books and DVDs will be easy. But organizing our clothes again, our files, and just the general setting up shop will be some work. (I just realized I have absolutely nothing in my pantry. No non-perishables. No cleaning supplies. It will be some trip to Super Stop & Shop. Or maybe to Stew’s! How I’ve missed Stew’s!)
The car was picked up Wednesday morning for shipment. Probably one of the best things about shipping a car is that you can fill the trunk with clothing and linens. The contents of the trunk can’t look suspicious for check points. It can’t have anything breakable (for obvious reasons). And it can’t make the car look bottom heavy.
Just a note for anyone who needs to ship a car. They give you a rather broad schedule for when they will pick up your car. Of course, anyone who needs to ship his / her car is probably moving a long distance and therefore needs said car for a long as possible beforehand. Last summer when I shipped the Passat to LA, they gave me a week–we will pick it up any time between this Monday and next Monday. Then, the driver still called me four days prior to that first Monday and told me he needed the car the next day. This time, it worked out better.
The birdies are already in NY. The books are on their way. The DVDs are getting shipped. About twenty other boxes are following them. Tomorrow the Passat will make it way back home. And next Tuesday at 7:55 am, CK, Thatcher, and I will go back to the “right” coast.
I’m a little weirded out. I’m watching the Flipping Out reunion show and Jenni, Jeff Lewis’ loyal assistant, just rapped. Like on Miss Rap Surpreme except she’s not a rapper from the streets, she a personal assistant to a house flipper–a neurotic, arrogant, crazed house flipper. She just freestyled. I feel like I’ve entered an alternate universe. Here’s a clip from the first season of the show. It’s what got me hooked on Flipping Out.
I love this scene from The Princess Bride. The battle of wits. It’s inconceivable! And I know I will say “inconceivable” way too many times in the next few days.
I was asked to be in my friend Tara’s wedding yesterday. I’m honored to be a part of her and Jay’s big day next fall. Furthermore, when asked about plans for dresses, Tara replied that she thinks she wants everyone to wear black. Ahh, bridesmaids everywhere would be grateful. Black–simple, elegant, and reusable. I think her choice will look very nice–black gowns and tuxes offsetting what is sure to be a gorgeous white wedding gown. I can’t wait to see what she chooses.
Cute Cowgirl: This is not to say that in past weddings I’ve been forced to wear anything I didn’t like. As a kid, I was in two bridal parties: my Uncle D’s and my Aunt Lisa’s. For Uncle D’s wedding, I wore a lacey shirt with a prairie skirt and cowboy boots. Oh yeah, it was a cowboy-themed wedding. I know that sounds suspicious but the pictures are fantastic. Everyone in hats, boots, belt buckles. Very cool. As a little kid too, I was psyched to wear cowgirl boots. And I got to wear a pretty ring of baby roses in my hair.
Kristin Sample is the author of North Shore / South Shore, a novel about two competing families on Long Island. Kristin is looking for an agent, a publisher, and an audience for this novel. This blog will document that progression. She's also a blogger for TV Squad, where she writes a weekly column called Super Skank Wednesday and covers shows like The Tudors, Big Brother, and Lipstick Jungle.
