Jukebox Wednesday

Whoa! I just realized I haven't posted anything here since Sunday when Kathy Griffin and Bette Midler got me laughing. I've been running, spinning, working out (all in the name of trying to lose the winter weight).

I'm still a pit p!ssed off at NTB; let a grudge go, I know. You see...

A couple of months ago I needed a battery so I went National Tire Battery (NTB). I took three hours to replace a battery because they didn't have one for the The Cal Mobile! Uh...isn't battery part of your name? THEN for a third of the cost, I probably could have replaced it myself.

So while I was there the guy tells me that I need two new tires. He said my car would never pass inspection.

So I needed to get The Cal Mobile inspected and in these Tough Economic Times I really wasn't looking forward to spending several hundred dollars on tires. Now, I'm not a mechanic and I don't play one on tv but I do know something about tires.

So yesterday I was looking at the tires and I couldn't remember which two he said needed replacing because they all looked the same to me.

So I decided that before I went and spent several hundred dollars on two tires I was gonna see if the car would pass inspection. And guess what? It did! And they said my tires were fine!

So my advice to you: Don't patronize NTB!

Now about Jukebox Wednesday...

I figured y'all were due a showtune and today's selection is an abbreviated version of Rose's Turn from Gypsy. Bernadette Peters performed this at the Tony Awards one year.

When she was on Broadway, USA Today did a review of her performance and also interviewed her husband. She got rave reviews. Her husband said that it was eerie to watch her transform herself each night on stage; it was a person he didn't know.

So for your viewing pleasure, here is Bernadette Peters!

Ramblings Of A Caffeinated Mind 13.1

World AIDS Day Houston 2008

The first meeting to start making plans for World AIDS Day Houston 2008 will take place tomorrow (June 17). The meeting will begin at 6:30 p.m. and will be held at Montrose Counseling Center (401 Branard Street, Houston, TX 77006). If you are interested in helping make plans for December 1, please attend or get in touch with me. Bring your ideas and suggestions

Tony Awards

OMG! Patti LuPone (La LuPone as I like to call her) cracks me up! I am so glad that she won for her role as Mama Rose. The reviews that I have read say that she knocks the socks off of you. Her intensity last night in Everything's Coming Up Roses made me ooze just thinking about what she must do with Rose's Turn.

photo: Jeff Christensen AP

What had me laughing though was when she wouldn't shut up! LOL Sort of like Elaine Stritch a few years ago. La LuPone said that she had waited all of these years to finish thanking people. You see...

Her only other Tony (hard to believe she only won one other time) was for Evita in 1980.

It was great to see the original cast from RENT. I need to do some research but I'm sure all of them were in the show when I first saw it on Broadway. Watching them perform put a lump in my throat. The enthusiasm of Laura Benanti for her winning an award for her role in Gypsy also put a lump in my throat. I just love live television!

photo: Jeff Christensen AP

Speaking of live television...Did anyone else see the stagehand run out and pick up Stew's microphone? You see...

At the beginning of the performance for Passing Strange, Stew was jumping up and down. He isn't light on his feet and the vibration made the microphone fall off of the stand. I wondered if Stew was going to pick it up but instead a stagehand ran out and put it back on the stand.

And I really liked the comic relief that Whoopi brought to the awards. I think she needs to be put on the rotation for hosting the show. They haven't had a real host since Hugh Jackman.

photo: Jeff Christensen AP

It was fun watching the show and emailing and texting Running My Mass Off. We had comments on everything!

OK...last night in the production number for Xanadu, Cheyenne Jackson was wearing Daisy Dukes and not knee length cut-offs. Running My Mass Off took notice of his legs. I thought I had nice legs until I saw him. Guess I'll start wearing Clam Diggers.

And just for laughs, they rolled out Liza. Poor thing. Seriously though, I'm glad she was able to walk out on her own.

photo: Jeff Christensen AP

For a list of all of the winners, click here.

Conversation
This is how my day started at 5:45 a.m.

Me: Hold on. I need to tighten up my shorts. They're falling.

Running buddy: How old are they? They look new.

Me: I bought them after Tropical Storm Allison. Jerry at RunSport had placed an order for a track team and part of the shipment got damaged so he had them on sale.

Running buddy: So the elastic is all stretched out.

Me: You could have said, 'You've lost some weight, guess that's why they're loose.'

Running buddy: LOL

Me: Thanx

Theater & Politics (Theatrical Politics?)

Picture this. Houston. 2008. Starbucks on the edge of River Oaks. The big one not the little one.

I'm sitting there reading the paper and reading blogs; multi-tasking reading is what I call it.

I hadn't checked Lazy Circles in a couple of days so I'm reading his blog while the man at the table next to me is reading the New York Times.

Lazy Circles posted the footage of Chelsea responding to the question about Monica Lewinsky and Lazy Circles asks, "When can she run for president?"

I look over at the man next to me and he is reading a review of Patti Lupone in Gypsy on Broadway.

Sara Krulwich/The New York Times

So then I go to the comments section and read this from one of Lazy Circles readers: "I too love Chelsea, but fear of a very Gypsy Rose Lee situation if mother doesn't win the nomination."

LOL THAT is too funny! The timing of it all!

If you're not familiar with the story of Gypsy, read the review. Oh...to be rich and live in NYC and to be able to go the theatre.

I guess now I'll have to watch the Gypsy dvd this weekend because I'm humming showtunes now.

I had a dream

Before I go into details about a dream last night (or was it two dreams), I need to tell you what I did last night which might explain part of my dream.

Last night The Empire of the Royal Sovereign, and Imperial Court of the Single Star Incorporated (E.R.S.I.C.S.S.) held Investures at E.J.'s. I had never been to this event so I might incorrectly describe it. The new Emperor & Empress were introduced and they presented their court. The outgoing Emperor & Empress and Board of Directors presented a check to Legacy in the amount of $41,000. This is money they had raised over the past year. THAT folks is a BUNCH of money to be raised in one year...and we're talking one dollar at a time. And a BIG THANK YOU goes out E.R.S.I.C.S.S.!

So...there were many former monarchs in attendance and visiting monarchs from out of town and out of state. As well as Board members and staff members from Legacy. I didn't read the invitation in detail so I was dressed on the casual side while many in attendance were in black-tie, formal attire or cocktail attire. And with all of the royalty in attendance there were crowns, tiaras, jewels, rhinestones, etc.

Here's the dream:

I'm at Mood in New York City. (Until Project Runway I had NEVER heard of Mood.) Tim Gunn is there. Katy Caldwell (Exec. Director of Legacy) is there and she needs a dress to wear because she is getting married. She doesn't want to wear a traditional wedding dress so the challenge is to design something that Katy likes. I am pulling bolts of material (blues, reds, browns, black) and draping (thanx Rami) material before it is cut. Katy was a tough client to please and I don't know that we ever decided on anything. We were also pulling out rhinestones and bracelets and necklaces trying to make it work.

I finally had to take a break and when I do I realize that Mood is actually part of a store that I shopped at (for real) in Sydney. (So am I in NYC or SYD?)

I go for a walk and next thing I know I am at a trade conference with former business associates. My responsibility is to take photos of them while they are riding in hot air balloons. To do this and to get the closeups, I have to be at the same level. So I am in a gigantic cherry picker that is moving as the same speed as the hot air balloons and I'm getting some good pics.

Well...we are on ground level on a Houston freeway and I realize that the balloon is going to run into an overpass. They're having too good of a time to hear me yelling at them and...

...they slam into an overpass and the balloon deflates. This in turn halts all traffic and brings the conference to an end. No one was hurt.

***end of dream***

I think I have commented before that I have always had vivid dreams. I was often ridiculed by my own blood relatives (i.e. immediate family) because I could remember in detail my dreams. Oh...and I do dream in color.

So if you're wondering what that clip is about, it is Everything's Coming Up Roses from Gypsy. Mama Rose sings, "I had a dream..."

When you got it, flaunt it

Towleroad posted this pic yesterday. It is David Beckham modeling for underwear for Armani.

As is often the case in my life, I have a song or two running through my head at anytime during the waking hours (I don't sing in my dreams).

So this photo made me think of Gypsy and the song You Gotta Have A Gimmick. "If you wanna make it, twinkle while you shake it. If you wanna grind it, wait till you refined it. If you wanna stump it, bump it with a trumpet!"

But the one song that I think really sums up this photo is When You Got It, Flaunt It from The Producers. Enjoy!