REDONDOWRITER'S SACRED ORDINARY

Steve Wozniak on Dancing With the Stars

So, did you watch Steve Wozniak on Dancing With the Stars last night? I love this guy! But, then I love all things Apple and I rarely watch Dancing With the Stars, but I HAD to see this guy who, with Steve Jobs, helped launch Apple in 1976. How many geeks do you see with the spirit he has? He reminds me of my big teddy bear long time friend Bruno who is one helluva enthusiastic and expressive dancer. There's more than one way to enchant a ballroom.

Though he and his partner Karina Smirnoff got the lowest score of the evening, I (and a whole lot of media and the general audience) hope he hangs in there for a while. What a great sport and lover of life he is. I'm so tired of perfect technique and movie star looks as the show's main criteria. If you didn't see the dance, here it is: 

Chris Gaither at L.A. Times blogs reports that, “The man known as the Woz created the original circuit board used for the Apple computer and teamed up with Steve Jobs in 1976 to sell it. He quit working at Apple full-time two decades ago and, after years working on different projects, reemerged last week as the chief scientist at Fusion-io, a computer storage start-up. -- Not only must his computer chops be pretty sharp still, but he must also feel pretty good about his dancing skills. -- Wonder if Wozniak, who's 59, has programmed an algorithm to calculate his odds of winning? -- It wasn't Wozniak's first appearance on reality television; He was a regular on "Kathy Griffin: My Life on the D List" because he was dating the comedian." 

At Wozniaks blog, Woz.Org, he commented today, "Someone has to try things a bit out of the normal. 

Well, the judges gave us the lowest score. But the audience applauded one of the judges saying that what we did was what the show was all about. I don't believe that they did much similar applauding for any of the other dances. 

Afterward we spoke with press for an hour. They all said how in the press room they had cheered us only, loving our dance. One press person said she was getting lots of messages saying how much people loved our dance. She didn't get any such messages for any of the other dancers. 



When Karina and I returned and finished our post-interview, the other dancers all told us how much they loved our dance and how fun it was. I have made a lot of good friends among the dancers and celebrities, and being nice helps.

Karina and I did exactly as we planned, so we came away extremely happy. I hit every beat. I didn't hear any specific comments about not leading with toes or having toes pointing wrong, or a hand upside down, or leaning forward, or having a foot miss even a single beat (it didn't happen). All I heard was some teletubby comment, which might be valid. I would say that there is a big mismatch between the judges' votes and the audience responses. That might be a matter for the producers.

I went into the dances deciding in advance how little the judges' scores mean. Through the dress rehearsal, it was easy to see two equal performances getting very different scores. I truly expect, from things I'm seeing and hearing, that I may even wind up winning last night's contest once the online voting ends. 

I do love all my fans who actually vote for me, via phone or online. We can show the DWTS people that we represent a large demographic that is new to the show. 

More tomorrow after I see the doctor.
floating, Woz -- -- tv is wake zone"

I didn't realize until today how the voting works at Dancing With the Stars, but you have to call or text in during the night of the performance. All I know is that I am going to at least e-mail and say how much I loved he and Karina's first dance. Let's hear it for one of my two favorite geeks! 

Don't Miss "The Visitor"

 

The indy film “The Visitor” was released in April 2008, but in Los Angeles it is playing in very few theaters, which is mystifying to me. I saw it tonight at a small theater in Manhattan Beach and it’s one of the best films I’ve seen in a long time. So far it has won at the Toronto Film Festival, Sundance, South by Southwest Festival and the Miami Film Festival. I sure missed this one on my radar screen.

If you haven't seen it, the film is about a worn-down-by-life college professor and his synchronistic encounter in the world of illegal immigrants in New York City. Set predominately in Greenwich Village, the story, the acting, the filmography, and the music are all incredible. The website says, “In a world of six billion people, it only takes one to change your life. In actor and filmmaker Tom McCarthy’s follow-up to his award winning directorial debut “The Station Agent,” Richard Jenkins (Six Feet Under) stars as Walter Vale, a disillusioned Connecticut economics professor whose life is transformed by a chance encounter in New York City. Through new-found connections with virtual strangers, Walter is awakened to a new world and a new life.”

I don’t want to spoil this film with further descriptions. When I saw it tonight, I did not know one thing about it except friends highly recommended it—and so do I.

 

Joseph and His Amazing Technicolor Dreamcoat

What a beautiful day this was--the sun was shining and it felt like spring was really here. I went to a few yard sales, grocery shopped, did some clean up and cooking, spent an hour doing yard work, then began reorganizing my office/art room once again. Spring must be here when I get in this mood.

This evening I went to dinner with friends Mary, Don and Jennifer before we went to El Camino College to see the twins, Elena and Emily, in Joseph and His Amazing Technicolor Dreamcoat. Mary and Don are the twin's grandparents. Several friends and their grandkids also attended. Here's the girls after the performance. When the TV series Providence first began, the twins played Joanie's baby, two seasons, I think. Then they were replaced with another set of twins. Twins are often used to play one baby or child. Both of them sing beautifully in a local children's choir and it looks like they might be hooked on theater.

Joseph runs for several more performances. If you live in Los Angeles, I'd sure check out this company doing a masterful Joseph. It actually is amazing. I saw this one other time, probably in the late 1970s, but I'm older now, more appreciative, I think. And I have a hunch I'll be able to say in not too many years that I knew Elena and Emily when----

So, What's on Your Bucket List?

Photo by Warner Brothers

As soon as I heard that Rob Reiner’s “Bucket List” opened city-wide today, I wanted to be at my local theater tonight to see it—and I was along with three friends—all of us in our 70s. Putting Jack Nicholson and Morgan Freeman together in a film, even though I knew it would be schmaltzy, was also very entertaining. Two men, a ruthless, rich corporate boor (Nicholson) and a cultured mechanic who would have made a great college professor (Freeman), meet in a cancer ward. Both have limited time left and Nicholson talks Freeman into living out their fantasies while they can and provides the money to make it possible. In addition to being funny, the world famous sites were fabulous to see.

I laughed a lot and I’ll admit I cried, too, but mostly I just thoroughly enjoyed the film, its humor, philosophy and even the sentimentality. The ending has a twist that I’m still thinking about as I type this. If you like these actors, you can’t go wrong and if you are like me, you get to see it at the senior rate—which is $7.50 at the Regal.

But, I’ll admit I didn’t pay. A nice man named Joe treated me as our friends Rick and Orma introduced us for an evening out. It’s the first time I’ve a blind date (or any date) for a long time and he was a wonderful man. If he calls me sometime, I’d like to spend time with him. Coincidentally, though we didn’t specifically remember ever meeting before, we know many of the same friends and activities in the late 1960s and 1970s as we had actually been in the same parish. Small world.

So, I'm thinking about what I'd put on my own bucket list. What would be on yours?

The Big Bad Swim or Why I Love Indie Films

Don’t you just love it when you watch a movie you never even heard of before and find yourself transported? That’s just how I felt about the 2006 Indie film called “The Big Bad Swim” which I rented at the library this afternoon and watched tonight.

Indie Wire says, “Set in scenic South Lyme, Connecticut, 'The Big Bad Swim' follows twelve novice swimmers ranging from ages 17-75 who've taken time out of their complicated lives to take a swim class. The film focuses on three people in the class. Noah (Jeff Branson), the swim class teacher who's battling depression; Jordan (Jess Weixler), an exotic dancer/casino dealer who has little desire to trust men due to her jobs; and Amy (Paget Brewster), a high school teacher who is going through a divorce with another teacher at the school."

The film is the debut feature of Ishai Setton, who co-wrote the script with friend Daniel Schechter, and admits one of the biggest challenges the two had with the story was its size. Indies usually don't have the funds to have complicated, multiple characters, but somehow they pulled it off.

It won several film festival awards and all I can say is that I planned to use the movie as background while I was addressing Christmas cards. But, I was instantly engaged--and I didn't get very many done. I can’t remember the last time I have seen such good and thoroughly natural actors and I thought the plot and script were excellent.

Have any of you seen it? If not, I sure recommend it—and I’ll watch for Ishai Setton and his Settonsun Productions in the future. I am so partial to the Indie films.

Ron Weasley Becomes a Man in Driving Lessons

When I got home from work this afternoon, with an armload of books and DVDs for the long weekend ahead, I felt “down” and pissed off with myself that I was. I am fully aware of all the things I have to be grateful for, going into this Thanksgiving holiday, but I’ll admit to being mercurial, often for no obvious reason except than I am Fran aka Redondowriter. This penchant for occasional darkness, however, always blindsides me, no matter how momentary the feelings are. I took Cookie for a walk and then hunkered down in bed (it’s even cold and nasty in Redondo Beach) and began to read the first book—“Summer Reading” and slowly began to perk up.

Then I heated up left over tuna casserole (one of my comfort foods) and settled down to watch the British film "Driving Lessons", which has left me feeling “up,” the opposite of how I felt when I first got home. Our little Ron Weasley from Harry Potter (Rupert Grint), a dorky mamma’s boy, and Julie Walters from Billy Elliott, an aging actress, star in a coming-of-age, celebration of life plot. How I wish I had someone to talk to about this wonderful film tonight.

"Driving Lessons" reminds me of that old classic “Harold and Maude” which I’ve seen countless times over the years. Give yourself a treat and rent Driving Lessons and tell me how it made you feel. And I'm curious what some of your comfort foods are--and what kick-starts you when your adrenalin runs out.

Enchanted With Cirque de Soleil's Vegas Version of Mystere

Cirque de Soleil's Mystere at Treasure Island in Las Vegas, which I saw last night, was absolutely the best of the three Cirques that I have seen. It is described as a mystical, primordial extravaganza celebrating the human condition. With a show room built for it, the sets, lighting and all the multiple action going on down stage and in the air transported me to a world I have not been in for a very long time. My nephew Jim, my sister's youngest son, who is the same age as my oldest son, (he's also one of my Godsons) got seats for the two of in aisle three from the stage, near center. You could see every muscle ripple on the extraordinary performers, their body hair, make-up and incredible costumes; I actually felt like I was participating. I realized at some point that I had a grin on my face throughout the show, even in between the ohs and ahs My favorite was the "hand to hand" routine of two men who stood atop a rotating dome, with a remarkable display of sheer strength and endurance go through gravity-defying body positions.

The entertainment critics say that Mystere should be "upgraded" as it has played since 1993, but as for me, it was one of the most exciting evenings I've had in a long time.

Afterwards Jim took me over to the Venetian , which I had seen before, and we headed toward the Bellagio where the outdoor fountain show was playing. At that point, we decided we didn't want to deal anymore with the traffic. I say haughtily sometimes that I've outgrown Vegas, the adult Disneyland of the U.S., but I realize I'm just playing the age card. The showroom was smoke free and I was utterly enchanted. The new construction going on on the strip is mind-boggling, including one complex which is purported to cost $7 billion. Can you even imagine?

Tonight we have a family dinner with others at a restaurant, but if Jim gets home from work early enough, we'll visit Red Rocks, the newer hotel and casino in NW Vegas where my sister lives. I don't gamble much but each of these hotels are like architectural museums in their own right.

My sis and I have spent a lot of time together with me driving her to appointments and to go shopping. She has absolutely no interest in the strip or shows, but she didn't even when she was younger. She has slowed down far more than my sis Betty, even though she is "only" 81. It saddens me, but she chooses how she wants to live her life and is quite reclusive. My two sisters who have passed on were also the same way, so I can only I just keep this zest I have to continue being with people as much as I can, and seeing and doing things I haven't done before. I can't change her, but I can certainly let her be my teacher. I close this post with an extreme attitude of gratitude.

Hollywood Bowl: Brian Stokes Mitchell & Reba McEntire in South Pacific

photo by Joe Sinnott – Thirteen/WNET

Last night I went to the Hollywood Bowl with my friend Charla and her friend Beth to see Reba McEntire and Brian Stokes Mitchell in South Pacific. It was a balmy night, our seats were decent, but the bowl has large projection screens now so you can see the details on the stage even if you are further up in the amphitheater. There is something magical about this place.

I was excited to go as in these later years my friend Lorita and I sometimes went; she died very unexpectedly last summer right before the event we had scheduled. Needless to say, I was surely thinking about her last night as our Hollywood Bowl night in 2005 was the last time I actually saw her.

The performance was wonderful. That was one of my favorite musicals along with Seven Brides for Seven Brothers and Oklahoma when I was growing up. I imagine there are few Americans in my age bracket who don’t know every song by heart. It was hard not to sing along. Stokes Mitchell, who performed in my school’s amphitheater a year ago when it was dedicated, was magnificent as were all the other cast members. McEntire, however, is not a Mary Martin—or a Mitzi Gaynor, but was a wonderful treat nonetheless. She is very down-to-earth and is best in the humorous dialogue.

We intended to eat at old Miceli’s off Hollywood Blvd. last night before the musical, but the town was absolutely jam-packed with tourists and we couldn’t get served in time to make the beginning. Just going four blocks on the boulevard took 20 minutes. At Grauman’s Chinese there were many people in costume and it was more or less a zoo. Wicked is at the Pantages but the Kodak Theater was apparently dark. A few people just stopped their cars and started shooting photos out the car windows. I was brimming with memories as we fought the traffic because when I was in high school, my girlfriends and I would go to Hollywood to “cruise the boulevard” in the 1950s. We were also regulars on Santa Monica Blvd. and Sunset Blvd. You’d actually see movie stars sometimes then. We used to park near a boarding house where starlets like Kim Novak lived, but we were always searching for Jimmy Dean, Natalie Wood and the gang from Rebel Without a Cause. Kids from all over Los Angeles came to Hollywood on the weekends and you thought nothing of hopping from car to car even when you didn’t know the people. It probably wasn’t safe to do then, but it would be a disaster today. The first bar I ever went into was Jazz City at the corner of Western and Hollywood—Chet Baker was playing.

My folks relocated from Michigan to Los Angeles right after the depression and my dad managed a gas station at the corner of Sunset and Gower so early Hollywood was always in our family stories. I wasn’t born yet then, but my other four sisters were and they all lived in a tiny house right on the gas station property. I’ve got photos of that—somewhere. Times were really hard then, my sisters told me, and the summer food consisted primarily of fresh peaches from a tree on the property and day old bread. Or so the story goes.

I was taken aback last night when I found that I couldn’t march right up the hill from the parking areas to where the seats start in the Hollywood Bowl. I had to rest a couple of times and catch my breath. Many other people older than me were trucking right along—and many were going even slower than I was. It was a full house last night and we were like sardines in a can. I thought I was going to have a panic attack at one point, but my shallow breathing and mild paranoia lifted as soon as the musical began.

This theater is a traditional summer “must”, but I must admit that if my friend hadn’t driven, or I hadn’t taken the bus, I would definitely have passed. I am beginning to feel less and less comfortable in extremely crowded venues.

So, what are your favorite musicals?

Mt. Shasta, Anton Mizerak and Friends

What do you think of when you see this beautiful photo of Mt. Shasta which is on Jack Trout's blog? I think of peace, tranquility, healing, of being one in nature, and tonight I got a dose of Mt. Shasta after an early birthday dinner with my friends Rick and Orma—and then a concert at the Unity Church billed as Anton Mizerak and Friends, an evening of acoustic world music, by Shasta Song.

What an incredible surprise this group was—totally unknown to me, but definitely on my radar screen forever and ever. They’ll return to Southern California in late January, but if you check the tour schedule at Shasta Song, you'll see their whereabouts in the months coming up. They describe themselves as primarily touring on the new thought circuit these days, but each is a performer in his or her own right and records independently of the tour.

There are several musicians on the Shasta Song label and tour and tonight’s concert brought four people together who had not played as a group since the Asilomar Conference last year. Anton Mizerak of Shasta Song, grew up in Palos Verdes and he lives—where else? in Mt. Shasta, CA. Celtic guitarist and Celticstan music inventor Michael Mandrell, hails from Taos, if I remember correctly. Richard Hardy, who toured for 13 years with Carol King and records solo and with several orchestras, is from Oregon. Tracy Rae Clark musician, singer and composer is the youngster of the group hailing from Arizona. Looking at her reminded me of what a genuine flower child looked like back in the 60s.

At Shasta Song’s site, there are MP3 downloads of Anton’s music with various members of his tour group. The music has a deeply spiritual base, but is often very lively and rhythmic including group chanting which gets the crowd really moving.

For the first time in weeks, I sit here typing with a song in my heart and on my CD player. I've been in a yukky emotional place the last few weeks, but this group really jump-started me on "getting over myself." I particularly smiled when Anton recalled a Rainbow Gathering several years ago in Taos where he poked fun of himself over his choice of music. That particularly made me smile because I happened to be in Taos at the time and the new agers were everywhere in tie dye, VW bus campers filled with dogs and kids—an incredibly carefree set of folks. I didn’t go to the Rainbow Gathering, but I understand it still happens the first week in July in various “power” locations.

What a wonderful evening this was reminding me of music I truly love and people who are trying to impact the world in a positive way through music. They were having so darned much fun playing together.

Sicko Hits the Nail on the Head

I've had a tummy bug all day, but went with my friends Rick and Orma to dinner and to see Michael Moore's Sicko tonight--and I actually feel more nauseous. It is the movie making me feel even worse now.

Sicko really hit the core of inequity in our American health and drug industry and Moore laced the dire news of a failing healthcare system with bursts of humor as well. I highly recommend this film, but I don't want to be a spoiler, as IMDB puts it. There was one sequence toward the end that went a little too far, I think, but I don't want to go further in case you haven't seen the film. I have heard Moore interviewed on NPR and seen him on CNN--and he is always controversial. But, he makes us think.

Seeing examples of the Canadian, British and French healthcare systems and hearing the stories of people living in those countries, it is a travesty that the wealthiest, most powerful country in the world doesn't have universal healthcare. Bush's Medicare Part D, which seemed like the best thing he had done in his years in office, has not been beneficial for me because I quickly exceeded the $2,250 (by March) and have been paying out of pocket ever since. When I was in Canada last summer, I took my drug list with me to a pharmacy in Victoria and the drugs were far cheaper than in the U.S. In Washington state, there are whole tours that go into Canada to buy drugs.

I do not belong to an HMO, but I belong to the privileged middle class; I am fortunate to be on Medicare, but I carry a private supplement so I can choose my own doctors and hospitals. But, I know that the critics say that Medicare is running us into financial disaster. (What if we didn't have a war in Iraq?) I am blessed to be able to afford that supplement. I am blessed to be able to pay for my drugs out of pocket now that I'm in the Part D donut hole. It's hard, but not disastrous for me. But, I worked full-time far longer than I had planned specifically to keep medical coverage. As a two-time breast cancer survivor, I have one of those pre-existing conditions that would exclude me from getting a new policy. But, I personally believe we should ALL have health care available, not just those of us who can afford it. But, what in the heck do we do to help start moving toward that? Awareness is the first step, I guess, and Moore is a master at making us aware, whether we agree with his politics or not.

As we left the theater tonight, the California universal health care initiative volunteers were handing out fliers. I'll explore that, too, and as the primaries come closer, I'll explore what each candidate is saying about this issue. If you have seen the film, I'd like to hear your feedback. If you haven't, I highly recommend it.