So after my attempt at running yesterday, I woke up today and my legs didn’t feel so good. In fact they hurt, a lot, a lot more than they do from using cardio equipment at the gym. That was pretty telling to me. I thought they’d get better as the day went on. Nope! They still hurt. Needless to say I didn’t even attempt to run today, except to run across the street . . . and that hurt a lot.

Last night I watched the Tony Awards on TV. One of the presenters was Alec Baldwin and he brought his brother with him . . . no not Billy . . . Stephen! I was shocked and pretty appalled. They showed a shot of them sitting there and Stephen smiled and waved at the camera. I wanted to throw something at him, and I hope someone at the Tony Awards did . . . and that they hit him in the head . . . hard . . . real hard.

For those not aware, Stephen has become a born again Christian recently, but the insane kind like Kirk Cameron where they feel the need to tell everyone how they are going to burn in hell and it will really hurt. Stephen also got into a war of words with his brother Billy, who stars on “Dirty Sexy Money.” Billy plays a character having an affair with a post-op transsexual on the show, who is played by a real life post-op. They’ve gotten into arguments over gays, gay rights and gay marriage. Yeah you can pretty much guess what Stephen thinks and had to say about the subject. So color me shocked that he had the balls to show up at the Tony Awards, gay central.

I hope Cheyenne Jackson kicked him in the balls.

Okay so since I’ve got a lot of incoming links to the blog because of the soap site stuff, I figured I’d use this post to talk about myself. It will let people who might be new to the blog get to know a little about the guy who ran that page, but they may not have really known aside from his name and that he watched soaps.

First off, let’s just talk about the elephant in the room shall we? I am a 32 year old man who for 14-some years ran a website dedicated to soap operas. In case you never figured it out, yes I’m gay. It wasn’t something never outright addressed by me on the soap page, but if someone really wanted to know the answer they could have easily found out with some exploring. I tried to, but a few times failed, to keep anything political in nature off the page and keep it a neutral place, with only soaps being the issue.

So yes, I’m gay. Now contrary to what some might believe, I’m not here to molest your kids, statistically your straight relatives are more likely to do that. I’m not here to ruin your holy sanctity of marriage, statistically you along with Britney Spears are doing a damn good job of that on your own. I was not molested, I was not abused, I did not chose to be this way anymore than you chose to be straight. If you want to argue whether or not it’s a choice, please go down to your local zoo and argue with the animals there, as some of them seem to make the choices too.

If your still with me, I’ve been in a monogamous relationship with my boyfriend for over 6 years now. We live in New Jersey and in our very own haunted house! Yup, I’ve made several postings about it, you can read about it on the blog in the paranormal section. I’ve seen, heard, felt and yes been touched by the ghosts. I’ve always loved ghosts and the learning about views of and beliefs in the afterlife. I never expected to actually end up living in my very own haunted house. Growing up I always wanted to be either a parapsychologist or an archaeologist, because I also enjoyed learning about how different people buried their dead, which by the way IS what I’m studying now. Seeing a theme here?

We share our house with two dogs and five, yes five cats. I know, it’s a virtual zoo here. The dogs are my terriers Princess Bumbles and Nikko. Princess is a westie and I got the Bumbles part from “Rudolph the Red Nosed Reindeer.” Nikko is a cairn and is named after the captain of the flying monkeys from “The Wizard of Oz.” The cats are Lance(alot), Galahad, Moo Kitty (real name Gawain), Percy (Percival, also called Orange Kitty) and Grim (short for Pilgrim, finally breaking away from frickin Arthurian names!).

Many people might who might have read my pages always noticed I went on my vacations in January. Yes an odd month to go. That is because it’s when my boyfriend was off work. He works on a farm, yes a farm. It’s a family business, so they are closed in the winter months and it’s his only chance to get away. So for the past six years we had our vacations then, which were always cruises. Oh and yes, I kept running the page as much as I could while I was on a cruise ship. Talk about obsession!

Seriously though, I made some amazing friends through the page, people I know I’ll be friends for with life. One of my oldest internet friends Ive probably known for ten plus years and we till try to see each other at least once a year when her job brings her anywhere nearby. Other friends are a few years old, but they are whom I would take weekends to see in New Orleans or what not the past few years. Two also just came to stay with me, they are who I went to New York back in February with. We all talk almost every night online.

A little other fun facts about me. I love horror films, I have since I was a kid and rented out the local video store’s selection the summer between 4th and 5th grade. I’m more into the old school slashers and anything supernatural. The new horror flicks I find to either be really bad remakes of 80s stuff, Japanese movies or basically just a guts and gore fest that is too much for me to take. Growing old, and advances in film make-up, has made me a bit squeamish.

I also love videogames and have since a little kid. The first videogame system I ever had was the Intellivsion, followed by various Sega systems. Once upon a time I used to run a fairly popular Sega fan page, but gave it up a long time ago. I still love videogames and have pretty much every system out there. I’m just now finding the extra time to start playing games again regularly. I have been trying to stay away from on-line gaming until school is done, that’s just another distraction for me!

I also love Broadway shows, something I really didn’t get into until more recently and thanks to various friends. The odd thing is, growing up I was in the band and orchestra and we always, I mean always, did an Andrew Lloyd Weber show at least once a year. Well we played a medley of the music from one show. So I don’t know why I didn’t get into them earlier. I’ve seen Mamma Mia, Phantom, Hairspray, Xanadu, Wicked, Evita, Scrooge, La Cage, Aida and . . . umm . . . I think that may be it? I am sure I’m missing some.

I guess that is enough for now. I was going to try and link to various posts in the blog that I’ve done over the years, but I never got around to searching and choosing the ones I liked. I guess if any fun fact here sparked your interest you can peruse the various categories on the side bar or the linked ones in this post for more info.

-Dustin

The people behind turning “Hairspray” into a Broadway musical are hoping to strike gold twice with another John Water’s film “Crybaby.” Like “Hairspray,” the movie has a very musical theme to it, so it will probably translate well to the stage. I honestly don’t know if it was the best pick though. I mean if the movie is on I usually will watch it, but it’s not one of my faves and is so incredibly cheesy. Personally I would have much preferred to see “Serial Mom” be turned into a musical. I mean can you just imagine how much fun the prank phone call song would have been? Let’s not even get into the pussywillows song!

For fun see: http://www.crybabyonbroadway.com/

I’m home in Virginia for a few days. I get to visit the dentist tomorrow. Fun fun fun! Not not not! I was warned last time one of my old fillings is breaking down and I might need a crown or worse. I’m hoping I do NOT need a root canal, that would just top off all the other crap going on in my life right now!

While on the way home I saw a huge billboard for some colon hydrotherapy clinic. That was not the image I needed in my head while driving home. Talk about getting some crap out of your life!

Anyway, before I make anymore crap jokes that are in poor taste, enjoy the following crap which is good. The new trailer for “Mamma Mia!”

Tonight we went out to dinner and then hit the theater to finally see “Sweeney Todd.” A very, um, interesting movie? Violent and twisted for sure! I can see why it didn’t last long on Broadway back in 79 when it opened. For those who don’t know the story, it’s about a barber who is wrongly imprisoned by a judge so the judge could get to his wife and child. The barber returns for revenge and starts killing people, and the woman he hooks up with bakes them into her meat pies! It was an interesting movie, one of the more twisted and darker musicals I’ve ever seen. I don’t know if it’s something I’d feel the need to see again though.

The show had a reprise a few years ago and I actually wanted to see it but didn’t. The original Broadway production though has been put on DVD, so you can go back in time and watch the role Angela Lansbury won a Tony award for (I think one of many actually). I could also hint that if your searched on YouTube you could also find someone has posted the whole DVD/show there as well, but that would be wrong of me! I’m in the process of watching it now to see how it compares to the new movie.

Speaking of the movie, I wanted to play a little Sweeney Todd myself with the three teens sitting behind us who wouldn’t SHUT THE HELL UP. What made it all the worse is they were clearly dragged there by their parents, who were probably the ones who wanted to see the film. The parents did NOT sit with the kids and I was tempted to yell at the parents after the movie, telling them if they insisted on dragging their children to movies with them then at least sit with them so they could be bothered by their talking.

After we finally got home from our vacation I was worn out! The last day of our cruise I felt my throat getting a little sore. Then we stayed a day in Miami and walked everywhere. This coupled with the fact that I actually didn’t sleep as much as I normally do while on vacation, I was ripe to get sick. So I’ve basically been taking a vacation from my vacation these past few days and been a lazy bum and sleeping a lot. The BF keeps bouncing on me saying “What’s wrong are you sick? Do you have a headache?” Thanks! He did at least put Christmas away. Before we left we didn’t put Christmas away. I hate putting it away, it’s so sad. He took care of most of it, I helped a wee bit.

Anyway, I have to snap out of being lazy, time to get back to work! Of course in about two weeks my friends Shannan and Nica will be here for an extended weekend visit. Along with Emily we are headed to New York for a night to see “Wicked” on Broadway and go to a club or something. I’m sure it will of course be the one weekend we hit below zero, because anytime I go to New York in the winter it always ends up being bitterly cold.

OMG Yes Please! Found at Hot Lunch

So tonight I ran out to the store and bought Cresents, mash potatoes and stuffing. I have turkey fillets, I figured I’d get a few more things for a classic dinner. This way I can cook a quick dinner up for myself if I need/want to. I bought a small Boston Creme for desert since it is what my mom usually gets for me. I don’t do pumpkin pie, we actually never did it in my house so I just don’t need it. Tried it once I think, I’ll pass!

More importantly, I bought movies! I picked up “Hairspray” tonight. I never got to see this in the theaters, so I was glad to get it. I love the original John Waters movie, love love love it. I own it, but it if comes on TV, I’ll still watch it. I saw the Broadway show years ago with the original cast, loved it. The movie? Loved it! It was so good. I just finished it and actually want to watch it again. The show took some liberties with the movie, and the new musical movie takes liberties with the Broadway show. A few numbers from the Broadway show were cut out, a few new numbers added in, the story was changed a bit as a result. Still a very excellent movie. I wasn’t too keen on John Travolta’s performance as Edna until the end number. Everyone else I really enjoyed overall.

I also picked up “Miracle on 34th Street” on DVD. I have it on VHS, but no VCRs really hooked up anymore. The DVD has the black and white and later faux colorized version. I figured what the hell! I’ll watch it after the parade on Thursday probably.

So last night Emily and I saw Xanadu on Broadway. OMG It was amazing and just so much fun! For those who don’t know, or have blacked the experience out all together, Xanadu is based on the 1980 movie staring Olivia Newton John, Fred Astaire and featuring the music of ELO. The movie is about a Greek muse named Kira who comes to life from a mural. She meets Sonny Malone, who is a struggling artist. She becomes his muse. Sonny gets the idea to basically open up a roller disco and finds the place he wants to build it, an old theater/building called Xanadu. As it turns out, the builder (Fred Astaire) was inspired by Kira decades ago. So the two form a partnership and end up opening the roller disco Xanadu.

The show keeps the same basic story, but adds Kira’s sister muses to the story as other characters, as well her enemies. Two of the sisters set out to sabotage her out of jealousy and provide the villains for the show. Equally hilarious is the fact that two of the sister muses are actually played by men, who without the show seriously wouldn’t be half as funny as it is. Each actor also plays double parts in the show, which is why they have some male muses. You’ll just have to see it, I don’t want to spoil it.

Do you need to see the movie to enjoy the show? No. Honestly if you see the movie you probably won’t WANT to see the show, because the movie is just horrendous. However if you have seen the movie, it actually does make you appreciate the show a little more. For example the jokes about the movie in the show you’ll get, and it is interesting to see how they incorporate some of the songs and scenes from the movie into the show, such as the introductory number where they come alive from the mural. The one plus upon seeing the movie comes with the introduction of the Fred Astaire character. I felt in the show his introduction and his past with Kira (the boogie woogie tap dancing number) wasn’t clear. It was explained well after the scene to the audience, but if you hadn’t seen the movie it just comes out of no where and it’s kinda like huh?

The songs from the movie are there, as well as some extra ELO songs (such as Evil Woman). They are incorporated into the show amazingly well. Musically it’s great show and if you know the songs you’ll want to sing along. Kerri Butler, who plays Kira (Olivia’s character) is absolutely amazing. There are several instances where you literally laugh out loud as she’s singing because she’s purposefully overdoing Olivia’s wispy voice and huffs. The way they add the cheesy 80s “video effects” to some of the numbers is hilarious as well. Wind machine anyone?

One thing that struck me and many people was the size of the theater. The show is playing at the Helen Hayes theater, which is a very small theater for a show like this. This is a blessing and a curse. It’s a blessing because no matter what seat you get, your pretty much guaranteed a good one. It’s a curse because as this show probably becomes more popular, tickets may become more difficult to get because of the theater size.

There is actually seating on stage believe it or not. The stage is set up like a Greek amphitheater and for an additional fee you can sit on the stage. This has it’s pluses and minuses. You are a whole lot closer to the actors, and the actors at times sit with you and even interact with you. However at the same time you’ll see a lot of their backs as they are performing.

The show is not serious like other broadway shows, essentially a spoof Broadway itself and of the 80s. It is filled with references and jokes throughout poking fun at the decade. This is probably what makes it just so enjoyable and fun to watch. However at the same time, some of the jokes and references might go over people’s heads. For example if you don’t know what “Clash of the Titans” is, then the best joke of the show will be lost on you.

If you are in New York anytime soon, be sure to see this show. You’ll love it. If you don’t, something is wrong with you!

-Dustin