goddess of clarity: a blog about politics, culture, and serenity

Archive: May 16 - May 31, 2006

May 24, 2006 — 20:32 EDT

Just as Rochester emerges from two solid weeks of overcast gloom, I'm heading off to the land that invented overcast gloom.

Mr. Goddess and I are off for a two-and-a-half week(!) vacation to Britain tomorrow. We'll be spending about half that time with the Goddess in-laws up in Scotland, but we'll also be spending a week playing tourist in merry old London.

I've been to Scotland many times, but I've never spent any real time in London (I don't count the day I spent wandering aimlessly around the city, jet-lagged to the point of comatose, waiting for the overnight bus to Glasgow). There are so many things I want to see and do, it's hard to know where to begin. I had only one deal-breaker: I require one entire day at the Victoria and Albert Museum. Other than that, I'm easy like Sunday morning. I've got lots of ideas, but I'm trying to keep it flexible. I'd like to try to go to Jamie Oliver's restaurant for breakfast. And Harrod's. And Portobello Road. And Westminster Abbey. And a play in the West End. And how does one *do* the British Museum, anyway? Wow, vacations are exhausting.

I can't wait.

—lori.

May 23, 2006 — 20:02 EDT

Did you know that Rochester has its very own Gilbert & Sullivan society? I'm going to hazard a guess that you didn't.

That's OK, because until last weekend, I didn't either. But the Off-Monroe Players (they're so off-Broadway, they're not even on Monroe Avenue; that's how off-Broadway they are) have been striding the boards since 1977, performing nothing but the collected works of Gilbert & Sullivan. And last Friday, Mr. Goddess and I took in their spring production of The Pirates of Penzance. The performances are free(!), though donations are gratefully accepted.

On spring and summer evenings, the group takes over the gymnasium of the Salem Church in downtown Rochester, and a delightfully silly atmosphere pervades the scene. Even the audience was infected by the restless energy of the performance, which would ordinarilly drive me nuts, but on this night it added a sense of chaming raucousness to the evening, like we were in some baudy, rundown London theatre of the 19th century. But with basketball hoops.

Don't let the modest surroundings or the nonprofit status or the self-deprecating name fool you, though. These Off-Monroe Players can play. There were some seriously good pipes among the lead performers, and the choruses of pirates and cops had me basically grinning like an idiot for the entire show. I dare you not to be happy while listening to Gilbert & Sullivan. Go ahead, I'll wait. There, see. Can't do it, can ya?

One note of caution, though: the happiness starts to fade slightly when for the third straight day you find yourself sitting at you desk singing "Tarantara! tarantara! Tarantara! tarantara!" But it's a small price to pay, trust me.

—lori.

>May 17, 2006 — 19:20 EDT

Any other PBS junkies out there having a hard time dealing with the new theme music and graphic look for The News Hour with Jim Lehrer? I had only just recently stopped calling it The MacNeill/Lehrer News Hour, and now this?! The pace of change over at PBS is just too great. The new music in particular will take some getting used to. It's a bit whimpy; I liked the old tune; much more authoratative. "Bum ba-da bum bum BUUUUUUUUUM / bum! bum! BUM!

And did anyone else think tonight was the seaon finale of Lost, and not next week? OK, so it's just me then, on both fronts. That's cool.

—lori.