Friday Funnies: Stairway to Stardom

Have you heard of Stairway to Stardom?

I hadn't, until Heidi shared some of its glorious clips from YouTube with me.

The public-access TV show "aired in New York City from 1979 to the early 1990s" [source]. I'd say it was kinda like our current American Idol or America's Got Talent, but without money or talent.

It is indeed amazing/hilarious/tragic to watch.

We're talking pure train wreck stuff here.

Since it's been a long week, and we could all use a laugh, here are a few of my favorite clips:

This is the theme song, sung by the show's emcee

Best rap by someone who shouldn't be rapping

Best comedy routine featuring the entire Nat King Cole "Christmas song"

Best song performance by this amazing lady 

And finally, best dramatic monologue (warning: hilarious graphic language)

"That was beautiful, Precious."

To be fair, all of these people deserve props for having the guts to go on TV and perform.

I certainly don't have the cajones to do it.

Of course, more can be seen on their YouTube page.

Have a great weekend, everybody!

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My Six Degrees of Kevin Bacon

Kevin Bacon's birthday was just a couple days ago.
Not sure how it hasn't been declared a national holiday yet, but Congress is probably working on it as we speak. I can't wait for next year's Kevin Bacon Day parade.
Sorry, getting off topic. I'll bring it back.

Yep, the prolific and well-traveled actor turned 55 years old.

Crazy to think that Tremors was 23 years ago and Footloose was 29 years ago!
I guess he's aged a little, but in my mind he's still the same.

Anyway, have you ever played the game 'Six Degrees of Kevin Bacon'?
I used to play it with a mission buddy while we walked from door-to-door in Guatemala.
You just link actors/actresses through their work until you get to Kevin Bacon, because pretty much everyone can connect back to him in less than 6 moves.

Considering I've never been in a movie, here is mine with stage productions being fair game:

1. I was in the Murray Arts Council production of Oklahoma! with Megan Smyth
2. She performed in Cottonwood High School's My Fair Lady* with Charlie Halford
3. Charlie played a role in The World's Fastest Indian with Anthony Hopkins
4. Sir Hopkins worked with Elliott Gould on the film A Bridge Too Far
5. Elliott had the honor of being in The Big Picture with none other than Kevin Bacon

Got to Kevin Bacon, and with a degree of connection to spare.

Neato, huh? 

I found a great quote from Kevin while prepping for this post. Speaking of his show biz start:

"I wanted life, man, the real thing", he later recalled to Nancy Mills of Cosmopolitan. "The message I got was 'The arts are it. Business is the devil's work. Art and creative expression are next to godliness.' Combine that with an immense ego and you wind up with an actor." [source]

I'm with you on business being the devil's work, Kevin. If only I had the talent for performing.

Oops, getting off track again.

If you know someone who has been credited in a TV show or movie, you can find their 6 degrees of Kevin Bacon by going to the Oracle of Bacon website.

So what's your Bacon line of separation? Put it in the comments if you'd like.

*Correction: I had previously listed this CHS show as Oliver! Thanks for the heads up, Megan.

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A Merry Night with 'Robin Hood: Legend of the Sherwood Bandit'

On Friday, my parents and I were able to go see my sister Megan perform in Robin Hood: Legend of the Sherwood Bandit. And let me tell you, she and the whole cast rocked it!

The show is playing in Clearfield, UT, and Monday night at 7:30 pm is the final show.
Only $7 for adults and $5 for seniors and kids under 12 (bring cash).

If you don't have plans for FHE, I'd recommend making the drive up. It's an original version, and the writer is actually in the play (Guy of Gisbourne). They've added some new characters, including my sister's role (Rowena), providing added depth and humor to the story.
There's action, romance, and plenty of comedy, so it's good for all ages.

Great job to everyone in the cast, and have a great closing show on Monday night!

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'Oh What a Night!' at "Jersey Boys"

My sister invited me to join her in seeing the musical play Jersey Boys last night.

I really needed some entertainment to take my mind off things, so she's good like that.

And, although many of the Four Seasons songs kept reminding me of my current woes, it was in a good way, and it felt like we were at a concert of a lot of the music that our parents raised us on. Awesome.

I'd highly recommend getting down to the Capitol Theatre and seeing this show. It's fantastic!

If you're going to take your kids, be aware that there's lots of swearing. I mean, the guys are from Jersey, so that's to be expected. But don't say I didn't warn you.

All that Four Seasons music about love has planted a blogpost idea in my brain, but it could go two different ways, depending on how my hail mary is received. So look for that in coming weeks.

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Celebrating SLC Community Theater

The theater is a wonderful thing.

Whether it be a big production on Broadway in NYC, a traveling company at the Kennedy Center in DC, or a 4-person cast in Midvale, UT, there is great value to be gained from their work.

And as most people who've visited can attest, Utah has got more than its fair share of theater talent.

So I was excited to see two very different shows in the space of 3 days a little while back.

Hansel & Gretel
Maybe I didn't know beforehand that Draper Historic Theatre was doing this as an opera, but I'm still very happy we went to support Marissa in her final performance as a 12-year old boy (she convincingly played Hansel). She was hilarious, and the small troupe (6 main players, as I recall) had great voices and made it a very entertaining time.

The Marvelous Wonderettes
The South Valley Theater Association hosted a sort of 'community theater review' night where groups from around the Salt Lake valley shared a few songs each from their recent productions.

Many of the groups had very strong singers, and some fun choreography as well. If only these had been previews rather than post-views (is that a word?), because now I wish I could go see the full shows.

Perhaps I'm a bit biased, but my favorite was of course my sister's set of the Marvelous Wonderettes.
The energy, singing ability, and humor of these 4 ladies blew me away.
(read my sister's more in-depth blogpost here)

It'll be fun to find out what local theater production I see next. Any suggestions?

Note: this event was on October 17, 2012.

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Not-Flat Stanley Visits DC

My buddy Stanley had a work retreat out here in DC for a couple days, and he was able to finagle it so that he could work from their DC office the next week. Score!

Always good spending time with him and catching up, and we took advantage of some good ol' DC fun.

Medieval Madness

One of my friends had worked here and said it was a fun dinner theater, so I wanted to go. About 6 months ago, I'd even bought a Groupon for 4 people. Now it was about to expire, and I figured who better to take than Stanley?

To friends!

We played good king, bad king. Guess who was which.

We convinced our friends Milan [check out her blog] and Meg to join us. Not sure who was the luckiest in that scenario, because look how pretty and awesome they are.

Girls worth fighting for.

Acting like the princesses they are.

The show was lots of fun, and I even got to yell out, "Wench, bring me more ale!" Ok, I didn't say ale. I said Sprite. And no, I wasn't being disrespectful. That is actually what the serving wench told us to yell out to get her attention.

Meg had been to Medieval Times before and said that the food at Medieval Madness was vastly superior. The meat was quite tasty, and there was lots of it. Definitely not a place for vegetarians...

Also, besides the witty jokes and semi-crass songs and elaborate costumes, the folks at Medieval Madness treated us to a sword fight. Very cool. Between the food and sword fight, it was easily worth the price.

This romance lasted about 12 hours, I think.
Right up until he mentioned his other job at Home Depot.

Matchbox and Ted's Bulletin

We went to brunch one day that Stanley was here, and it just so happened that Milan and Meg joined us again. I swear, we didn't spend all week as a friends foursome, even though that would have rocked.

GQ called, your photo shoot appointment is set.

A virgin Bloody Mary to start the day off right.

Milan likes her drinks fruity and uber-girly.

So authoritative.

After our scrumptious brunch, we needed to satisfy the sweet tooth. Fortunately, Milan knew about the homemade pop tarts at Ted's Bulletin a few doors down. Go get one. You won't be disappointed.

Meg loves showing off her blueberry pop tart and ring.

Yes, that's a bacon and peanut butter poptart.
It's even more delicious than it sounds.

Nationals v Phillies
As baseball fans, it was only appropriate that Stanley and I do our best to get to a game while he was in town. Bryce Harper was recently called up to the majors, and Steven Strasburg was on the mound, so you know we had to see the Nats in action.

Beautiful evening to spend at the ballpark with a best friend

While Bryce Harper didn't have a great night at the plate, we were both impressed with his hustle. I even got our whole section to clap for him after he attempted (unsuccessfully) to run down a foul ball. He drew two walks and did a great job defending the plate, though; Stanley and I estimated that the opposing pitcher spent 1/3 of his pitches on Harper. That's impressive work.

The trip was so much fun, and you are certainly welcome back in DC anytime, Stanley! Or maybe next time I'll come out to LA and we'll entertain ourselves in your neck of the woods.

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Not My Unbirthday Weekend

Alice and the Mad Hatter can celebrate all the unbirthdays they want. I prefer when it's not my unbirthday.

Like this weekend.

Friday
I took the day off work, and that was a great idea. Might have to make it a yearly choice.

After sleeping in a little, I made an egg-whites and spinach quesadilla, went for a short run around Crystal City, and got a haircut so I'd look sharp for all the weekend fun. I felt like a new man.

For lunch, I met up with Emily and she treated me to American Tap Room in Bethesda. We sat in big, comfy chairs right by the fireplace. Our sandwiches were delicious. Even better, she was super nice and got me some gifts, including Swedish Fish (one of my kryptonites), manly body-spray deodorant, and personalized golf balls (which I'll do my best not to lose in two or three rounds on the golf course). So great!

Later that evening, I picked Emily up from DuPont Circle and we headed to the Kennedy Center for the Nutcracker.True confession time: I've struggled with staying awake in previous attempts at the Nutcracker, but this time I was able to get into the show and keep the eyelids open the whole time. Also, I think Emily's enthusiasm was contagious, so I couldn't help but be excited for whatever dance was next.

Saturday
My roommate Seth had a Groupon/LivingSocial for Skyline Paintball in Strasburg, VA, and he generously offered it for my birthday. We rounded up 16 of us, woke up early, and hit the road.

Due to the cold and our fear of massive welts, everyone was bundled up at the beginning.

The green team (aka Venom aka C.O.B.R.A.)

The pink team (aka Rainbow Brite aka My Little Pony aka they-didn't-tell-me-a-name)

There's just something about holding a gun of any type, caliber, shape, or size that makes you feel tough.

While we all may have started out a little timidly, after a few games our skills had vastly improved. Some excelled at being snipers, while others (I'm looking at you, Mike Merrell) could go on a mad-rush rampage and decimate an entire flank of defenses. Communication and team-work often proved to be the key, and results seemed to vary depending on the battlefield terrains. Not sure why, but maybe woods/towns just suited each team's personnel differently.

Such a great group, and I believe everyone had enough fun that we'll be returning to Skyline Paintball again soon. And this time, we'll actually know what we're doing. Watch out, because we're coming for ya!

You think that's enough fun for a Saturday on a birthday weekend? Perish the thought!

Since Marriott doesn't do a big corporate holiday party, I was very excited to be invited by Emily to join her for her work party. We got all dolled up (clearly, Emily looks way cuter than I do, which is expected), and headed up to Bethesda for an evening of dining, dancing, and raffling.

She is rocking that LBD

The only semi-sad part was that karaoke didn't happen. I think the organizers realized that the space wasn't the best for it, or that they might have too many people interested and it would detract from the popularity of the dance floor (which admittedly is more classy and inclusive for all). There will be other nights for karaoke. This one was plenty fun with all the socializing and dancing we did.

Remember how I mentioned raffling? All of the company employees that had RSVP'ed for the party were entered to win prizes throughout the night. Lo and behold, as we were chatting with Emily's coworker and coworker's parents, we heard Emily's name get called out by the emcee. She was so excited and ran up to claim her award with her arms high in the air. $200 for Lululemon. Not too shabby, eh?

What a wonderful birthday weekend it was. I'm so glad it wasn't my unbirthday!

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An Expensive 48 Hours

Are you usually pretty good about saving, and then you'll just go on a quick spending spree?
I guess that's my style, and it's been an expensive last 48 hours.

Here's the rundown, in order of purchase.

100 die cut felt Movember mustaches - Etsy: $20

1 round-trip ticket to Utah for Christmas - kayak.com: $695
2 Nutcracker tickets - Kennedy Center: $240

1 Deco TV stand - Craigslist: $70
2 fancy massages - Groupon: $105

That's a grand total of $1,130, or almost $24 per hour.

Ouch.

Looks like my dinners will be based on tuna fish and Top Ramen for the next couple weeks.

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