Friday the 13th

I'm happy to say that Friday the 13th mostly passed me by without any strange Friday-the-13th-ness.

Granted, the pup would probably disagree. You see, as we were anticipating a break in the midst of our hot weather, we found out that we could get storms.

As I was on my way home, I got caught in some wind, some rain, a little hail, and some really stupid driving. And I kept looking toward home wondering if the lighter sky would mean that it would be nicer at once I got there. It's not that nicer weather was a better time to put the car in the garage. It's that nice weather would make it possible to take the pup for her late-afternoon constitutional.

You see, as we've discussed in the cooler months, the pup doesn't like to have stuff falling from the sky onto her. She's fine with walking through puddles on the sidewalk, and will do her duty in damp grass (although she's understandably not thrilled by that). But snow, or rain, or any other precip falling from the sky or dripping from the trees is bad.

Today, I decided to be smart. I left the main garage door open when I parked, thinking that she would have to be outside for a shorter time before getting to grass. And that worked. Sort of.

She walked out into the garage. She walked outside. She even walked over to the grass. Then she looked at me as if I am the worst person in the entire world, and we came back inside.

About 20 minutes later, the rain was down to a drizzle, and we tried again with better success.

Here's to Saturday the 14th, when the walks are predicted to have dry weather.

A Sack of Beans

Someone at my work, it was announced today, is leaving the company and going to work for a competitor. Well, not really a competitor, as they don't do what most of our company does. But they do do the same things that his division of our company does.

Of course, this was kind of a surprise to most of us because we all have boilerplate "non-compete" clauses in our contracts.

But it seems that the person in question had been approached by the company in question a couple of months ago and then discussions ensued regarding whether or not it would be okay. Since he's going to be doing something mostly different from what his division does, there was some grey area.

At which point, apparently, our boss decided to bargain a little (I'm not entirely sure upon whose behalf). But it seems that, eventually, a deal was struck which included allowing person A to move to company B, as long as company B would throw in a sack of magic beans.

Okay, so the sack of magic beans was actually other compensation - kind of like when some sports team drafts a player based on so much pay and then a random future draft pick or something.

But, well, I kept thinking about "Into the Woods" and how Milky White gets traded for the sack of magic beans. And I kind of wonder what part of this trade is going to result in the giant crushing our house.

Movie-ish Monday - Roman Holiday

So you may (or may not) be wondering why I put the "-ish" in that since we all know that "Roman Holiday" is, in fact, a movie starring Audrey Hepburn, Gregory Peck, and Eddie Albert. And it is such a very sweet movie. Audrey Hepburn (in her first big movie role as Princess Anne), Rome (in its first on-location movie role playing... well... itself), Gregory Peck as the "newsman with a heart of gold" Joe Bradley, and Eddie Albert as the photographer with more morals than he admits to.

There are some incredibly iconic scenes in it. Riding the Vespa through Rome. Putting a hand into the "Mouth of Truth." Tossing a coin into the Trevi fountain. Having a "barroom" brawl on a barge/nightclub. It's a movie that makes most people laugh and cry every time they see it.

And, as of last month, it's now a stage musical at the Guthrie Theater, here in Minneapolis. They've taken the movie, added in a fabulous new Italian nightclub singer and a slight twist to our newsman's backstory (he now also wants to write a Broadway show), and mixed it all with a liberal number of Cole Porter tunes.

They've kept many of the iconic scenes, and the look and feel of the production are enhanced by background images which splash across the back wall of the stage from time to time. (My own odd little complaint: They took the time to construct a Trevi fountain complete with running water, but from a distance it just looks damp - you can't see any water actually running.)

Of course, when you're seeing something which is already so ingrained in your memory (sort of), you compare everything to what came before. Luckily, the cast are up to the task of taking what was on the page and bringing more out of it.

Stephanie Rothenberg is playing both Princess Anne AND Audrey Hepburn, and she does it so that you forget that you already know the end of the story. Edward Watts (although with something odd about his hair that I can't put my finger on - maybe they're trying too hard to put him into the 50s?) has a perfect matinee-idol chin and the voice to go with it.

I have to admit, though, that my favorite characters were Francesca Scabulo, played with a diva voice and the curves to go with them by Christina Baldwin, and Anne's aunt, the Countess, played by Michelle Barber. It is in these two more worldly women that we see all that Anne has to live for - and all that she has to give up. Though wildly different, they ground the show both in its humor and its sentiment.

And I would be remiss if I didn't mention the ensemble - the dance numbers and street scenes are to die for, if for no other reason than the costumes... well... they're amazing, and you get to see more of them each time the ensemble is on stage. (Want to see more of the sets and costumes? Check out the info and pictures here.)

I had a discussion last week at work about a movie-versus-book situation. I was told that I'd have liked a movie better if I had read the book first. And I have to wonder, if - on some level - I would have liked the musical as much without having first seen the movie. I think I would have. I think the ending would be more bittersweet if I hadn't known it in advance. I think I would have been able to pay more attention to the music and the characters without the comparisons going on in my brain. But, that's obviously not possible.

In the meantime, if you want to get as close as possible to a lovely spring day in Rome in the 1950s with some of the most charming tour guides you'll ever hope to meet, I would highly recommend driving your Vespa over to the Guthrie and taking in the show.

Overall rating: A-. I think I've worked in too many theatrical situations to let the not-quite-right Trevi fountain slide. But, honestly, the rest of it was a perfect afternoon's Holiday.

What a Difference a Day Makes

After multiple days of ridiculous heat in Minneapolis, today was glorious. When the pup woke me up at five this morning to let her out for a constitutional, it was actually almost chilly out.

Not believing my own internal temperature gauges, I came back inside and turned on the TV to verify the outside temperature. It was in the low 60s. Considering that the A/C was keeping the house at no more than 76 degrees, I figured it was time for drastic measures. So I opened windows and doors, set up fans, and stretched out on the chaise in the porch to catch a few more Zs before getting up for the day.

Walking 'round the block at around 8:30 was equally nice. Puffy white clouds. Upper 60s. A light breeze. I actually walked farther than the pup wanted to go, I think, for the first time in ages.

Considering that I'd been cutting the walks short, all week, this was practically blissful.

Of course, considering that Minneapolis is really only supposed to top out in the 80s in the summer - at least according to the historical averages - I guess that means that I ought to be spending the entire summer blissed out.

And, this being Minneapolis, we simply couldn't have that.

Historical Fireworks

I should start by saying, for the record, that I am a big fan of pyrotechnic displays. When I was a kid, we would shoot off all sorts of fireworks in the yard, in the street, in my grandmother's "way back" yard, at the golf course - all the regular places.

I love smoke bombs (the little round ones with the fuse that you had to fray just a little so it would light easier), and I liked those weird ash "snake" things, and the spinning things that didn't lift off the ground, but just bounced around and changed colors. And, yes, I've lit my share of bottle rockets which launched from bottles, through culverts, and even from my hands (don't tell my parents - and definitely don't remind them of the year I held Roman candles in my hands and shot them off that way).

But the great big watch-em-explode-then-feel-the-thud-in-your-chest ones have always been my favorites. I've watched them from a distance, and I've watched them up close, and they never cease to make me happy and a little wistful.

Last night, Christopher and I had a great Fourth of July at a friend's condo in downtown Minneapolis. She had invited us over to cook dinner and then go outside to watch the fireworks - since she only lives about a block off the river and right near the main Minneapolis fireworks. And it was a great evening. There were five courses - from a bruschetta appetizer all the way to a dark chocolate souffle - and sangria and some dancing, even. And then there were the fireworks.

We watched the displays start off in the distance from her living room before heading outside to watch the close-up ones. And after we got ourselves to a bench, we watched the sky explode and felt those thuds in our chests. And as I sat there next to Christopher, I started thinking about all the fireworks from before.

The fireworks in the alley next to my parents' house with coordinated "ooo's" and "ahh's." The fireworks out in back at my grandma's house - which almost always ended up in at least one incident of people screaming and running from something that went awry.

There were New Year's fireworks that I watched alone from my apartment in Baltimore. And fireworks above the castles in multiple Disney parks where I stood with family and friends. And a year when we actually braved the crowds to sit on a blanket on the National Mall to feel all that patriotism wash over us.

There was even one Fourth of July when I remember standing with friends and we spontaneously started humming/singing the 1812 Overture, just because the fireworks seemed to need some accompaniment.

The fireworks last night were pretty cool. Between the distant ones and the ones that were so close that we felt the thud and heard every single echo off the buildings. And the fact that Christopher put up with the threat of bug bites in 90-degree temps to go out and see them with me will definitely add them to the list of some of the best.

I suspect it's a good thing that fireworks always shoot off at night. I'm not sure the emotions they bring with them would survive the harsh light of day. At least not without a box of Kleenex close at hand.

Movie Monday - Dudley Sings

As many of you know, "The Wizard of Oz" has been a lot of things, along with being multiple movies. Today's post, though, focuses on a stage production of the show. Or, rather, it focuses on a very specific player in one stage production of the show.

A friend of mine out in Maryland works at Toby's "The Dinner Theater of Columbia," and her dog had the supporting role of Toto in their production. I've been hearing about this online for a while, but haven't really paid too much attention. Until she posted a video from curtain call of one of the final shows.

It seems that Toto (played by Dudley) just couldn't hold back during the finale and had to sing along. This may have shocked some of the folks behind the scenes, but the audiences seemed to love it (you can hear it in the video), and although I'm not usually partial to the "cute animal" videos everyone always shows online, this one makes me very happy to see. (Yes, I've watched it multiple times.)

Here's the link to the video: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=R4-qDWG2IaM . (If you want to share it, you can either have people check out my blog, or just send them that link.)

May it offer you a moment of peace beyond the rain - be it literal or metaphorical - of your Monday.

Calm in the Morning

When I've been walking the pup, lately, the world has been oddly calm. I'm not really sure what has seemed different, but it's just been really quiet out.

Maybe it's that the schools down the street are out for the summer, so there aren't kids and parents coming and going. Or maybe a lot of the neighbors are already gone for the Fourth of July, so when we're walking around the block at 8:20, they aren't driving through the neighborhood.

All I know is that the world has seemed kind of insulated, for lack of a better word.

I've been able to hear the birds, and the rustle as a rabbit bolts across a yard. And, yes, way off the distance, I can hear the low hum of the traffic. But, for the most part, it's just felt like the two of us walking through the quiet world.

I fully admit that a lot of mornings I'm running a little late and don't have a lot of time to spend on a long walk, but even for a short time it's nice to be able to let the world just be.

Me and Zen in the middle of Southwest Minneapolis. Who'd'a thunk it?