Archive for the ‘Entertainment’ category

Life Mapped Out

August 15th, 2010

I can’t believe how fast the summer if flying by. It’s only four weeks until the Rochester Half Marathon (which I will be participating in providing my stupid heel gets better), and just two and a half weeks until I fly down to Texas to spend time with Lisa and Abby. There’s been a lot going on the past few weeks, including seeing the Barenaked Ladies on the last stop of their summer tour at CMAC with Heather and Linds last night. It was a gorgeous summer night on the lawn, including fireworks from the Canandaigua pier. Above is a self-portrait of the three of us, and here are shots of Heather and me and Linds and me during the concert.

Last weekend, Linds and I drove out to the Genesee Country Museum for Little House on the Prairie day, where we got to meet and greet Almanzo Wilder himself, Mr. Dean Butler (who also played Buffy’s dad and is married to the woman who played Felice Martin on 90210. Multiple worlds collide!):

Today, the Sorensens paid a visit to Grandma and Grandpa’s for coffee. Here are a few pictures. First up, here’s Dad, Bob, Grandma, Mabe, Sarah, and Debbie:

Cousins! Donna, Howard, and Tracy:

Jennie and Tracy do… something…?:

Gathered around the kitchen table:

Grandpa in the foreground; Bob laughing in the background:

And here’s Howard, with Dad showing off the walker/seat he’s going to need when he turns 61 on Thursday:

In other news, I’ve been booking more audio gigs, working out like mad with Jillian Michaels, and watching Supernatural, of course. I also found out that at the Gilda’s Gala on September 25th, I’m going to be receiving an award! Paul, Alex, and I are all receiving the Come As You Are Award, which “is given to an individual(s) demonstrating meritorious, outstanding or heroic distinctive personal involvement in the Gilda’s Club Community, positively affecting the lives of members living with a cancer experience. This/these individual(s) are welcoming to all, are involved in multiple facets of clubhouse activities and events, provide outreach to further the Gilda’s Club mission to new partners and contributes to keeping the red door open.” Time to buy a fancy new dress!

The title of this post is from the Bon Jovi song “Summertime” (so sue me, I like Jon Bon and the boys!):

I was a warm breeze with a cool tan,
Life mapped out on the back of my hand.

Goodbye, Lost

May 24th, 2010

This is photo of the amount of kleenex I went through during the finale.

Top Five Series Finales That Made Me Cry The Most

  1. Doctor Who (the last episode with David Tennant)
  2. Fame
  3. Buffy the Vampire Slayer
  4. Lost
  5. Beverly Hills, 90210

Bonus: MacGyver*

*because of how ridiculous it was

Finally, here are two of my favorite Lost-related photos, from Best Week Ever (I think I’ll miss their episode recaps more than I’ll miss the show itself!):

See you in another life, brutha.

But the Story Never Ends

May 6th, 2010

I love my new t-shirt (thanks for the link, Mandy!). In other news, spring is busy here in the Roc. Class is over (just now, as a matter of fact), so yay to that! Gilda’s Gang is getting ready to kick off next month, and I’m on two new committees as well. Planning a road trip to my old stomping grounds in Nashville (thinking dry thoughts for everyone there!), as well as trips to see Mandy over the Fourth of July and Lisa and my new “niece” in August. Also spending lots of time with my local favorites: Heather (and Sam and Dean), Julia, Linds, and Jojo. It’s a good life, even if it lacks a TARDIS!

While he wasn’t technically my first Doctor, Tennant is my favorite, so the title of this post comes from his swan song, “The End of Time”:

We will sing to you, Doctor. The universe will sing you to your sleep. This song is ending. But the story never ends.

Always Hugh

April 25th, 2010

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Hugh Panaro was in town this weekend, performing in a concert version of South Pacific with the Rochester Philharmonic Orchestra. Johanna, her mom, and I went to the show, and afterwards I got to visit with Hugh for a little bit (photo by Jojo). The only thing missing was Sarah!

Fright Night!

January 17th, 2010

Even though Julia and I were brave (or foolish?) enough to see Paranormal Activity in the theatre, when it came out on DVD we knew we had to suffer through the experience again. This time, we invited Heather to join us, and of course we had to have Linds on hand as the voice of reason/eye-roller. Here’s a shot of me and Heather doing our best Zak and Nick impression from Ghost Adventures (which we also watched, of course). “Dude! The hair on my arm is standing up! Did you see that, bro?!”

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And here’s Linds, practicing the eye rolling, and Julia, showing off her Ghost Adventures reaction skillz. And OMG it’s an orb!  ”Is that you?! Did you do that? Are you here right now?”

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Here is an accurate recreation of how Julia and I endured the scary scenes in the movie. Yes, I could see the screen through the holes in my sweater, and yes, this time I actually watched the ending!

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And finally, here’s one last shot of all of us, with no scared faces or GAC impressions:

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Other than Fright Night with the girls, life in 2010 has been busy with work, Gilda’s, getting ready for grad school, Wii Fit-ing, and fitting in outdoor miles when the weather cooperates. The Mardi Gras Half Marathon is just about six weeks away! Yesterday I did eight miles around my neighborhood. Here’s to 13.1 in a more temperate climate!

Illuminate the Stories

October 17th, 2009

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I survived my week in New Jersey – and my whirlwind trip to Manhattan on Thursday night! After some anxious moments trying to navigate the NJ Transit system, I made it to Penn Station and, in the freezing wind and rain, caught a cab (and took some photos on the way, like the one above) to the theatre district.

I had a few minutes to spare before they let the crowd into the theatre, so I walked down to Times Square to grab a pretzel from a street vendor (dinner!) and snap a shot of the neon and chaos:

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In The Heights plays at the Richard Rodgers Theatre on 46th Street, directly across the street from two landmarks: the Church of Scientology, and… The Hotel Edison! That’s where we stayed during our high school trip to NYC, when SarahBeth Panaro first met her namesake. Whee! Okay, back to the present. Here’s a picture of the In The Heights marquee:

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The show was amazing. I was actually in the second row (apparently “CC” comes before “A”), but it was still incredible to be so close to the action. The cast was phenomenal. I wish I could have seen Lin-Manuel Miranda as Usnavi, but Javier Munoz was… hmmm, I’m running out of adjectives. He was, simply, a joy to watch. I love that these people so clearly love their jobs so much that they give one thousand percent every night on stage (and twice on Wednesdays and Sundays). My favorite performer was Kevin Santos, an ensemble performer who stepped up to play Sonny. Fantastic. I can’t wait for this show to tour so I can see it again!

It was a long and sometimes shady commute back to Basking Ridge, but I’m so glad I made the trip. There are a few more pictures from the Manhattan adventure in the Fall 2009 album.

The title of this post comes from the number “Finale” from ITH:

Yeah, I’m a streetlight chillin’ in the heat.
I illuminate the stories of the people in the street.
Some have happy endings, some are bittersweet,
but I know them all, and that’s what makes my life complete.

Nature’s First Green Is Gold

October 12th, 2009

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Off to New Jersey for a week for work, but before I go, here’s a little weekend recap. It was a cold but gorgeously sunny day yesterday, so I snapped a few photos on the walk Mom, Bussey, Jennie, and I took around PY. Above is a photo from the courthouse lawn; below is one from the Main Street bridge over the Outlet.

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Yesterday we also celebrated Jennie’s gold medal in Special Olympics bocce. Great job, Jen! Here’s the champion showing off her medal at Grandma and Grandpa’s:

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Thursday night I’m going to see In The Heights – from the front row! I can hardly stand the wait.

The title of this post is from a poem by Robert Frost:

Nature’s first green is gold,
Her hardest hue to hold.
Her early leafs a flower;
But only so an hour.
Then leaf subsides to leaf.
So Eden sank to grief,
So dawn goes down to day.
Nothing gold can stay.

Fears I Know I’ve Left Behind

September 15th, 2009

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(Two posts in one day – don’t faint!) I was just sitting here watching the season premiere of The Biggest Loser (yes, I teared up within the first ten minutes), and it made me think about how big I used to be, and how far I’ve come since the days when I weighed 240 pounds and wore a size 24 pant (ha – I love the word “pant”). The contestants just faced their first challenge: running/walking a mile. They were intimidated, scared, excited, overwhelmed… all of the things I felt when I first decided, “Heck, I think I’ll try to walk a half marathon.” On that random day over two years ago, I never imagined I would someday complete five of them! So, here’s a photographic ode to what I’ve accomplished. The title of this post comes from TBL theme, “Proud”:

I look into the window of my mind
Reflections of the fears I know I’ve left behind
I step out of the ordinary
I can feel my soul ascending
I am on my way
Can’t stop me now
And you can do the same

A Significant Experience

September 15th, 2009

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A slew of celebrities have died this year, and I didn’t feel the need to write about any of them here (even though I was a huge Charlie’s Angels fan, and of course I loved Thriller, just to name two). But when I heard Patrick Swayze lost his battle to pancreatic cancer yesterday, I wanted to post a little tribute. Of course we’ll remember him as Johnny Castle in Dirty Dancing, but two of my favorite roles are from two very different movies: Darrel Curtis in The Outsiders and Miss Vida Boheme in To Wong Foo, Thanks For Everything, Julie Newmar. A greaser and a drag queen, and he was completely believable as both. Goodbye, “Tex”!

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The title of this post comes from a line by Miss Vida in To Wong Foo:

Oh! No one say anything frivolous for the next few moments. I am having a significant experience.

Oh, What Can It Mean?

August 29th, 2009

Playing around with the theme for the blog. I found a great one for Halloween, but I guess it’s a little too early for that. :-)

Meanwhile, check out these clips of Davy that I took with my camera when we were at Krazy Deadwood Nites last week. The image quality isn’t very good, but the audio is! First, Davy singing “She Hangs Out,” and doing that famous dance move:

And a super short clip of Davy (and the crowd) singing “Daydream Believer”: