8 Points on the Past Week

This update has been a long time coming.

It's been a busy week between 3 papers (one of which I still have yet to begin), Nikki Ferry Live, classes, Magic Mountain, Throughly Modern Millie, the Dungeon, La Vie en Rose, and shopping on Melrose.

1. 3 Papers: a one pager in classics, a 4 pager for my darkness class, and a 5 pager for art history. The one pager in classics I wrote quickly and without concern. I hate the instructor. I usually fall asleep in the class. And who, in all seriousness, assigns a 1 page essay to college students? With disdain, I am taking the class Pass/Not Pass. The darkness paper I wrote about Sondheim's score for Sweeney Todd and how the compositions in minors, rearrangement of traditional vocal roles and dissonant harmonies underscored the dark themes of the play. The art history paper I have decided will be on Hannah Hoch's Dada Ernst. I have to explain why this work is meaningful, what skills Hoch has sacrificed to make it, why she gains by it, the significance of the work, the effects it produces, and how it achieves said effects. Other than setting up this nice 6 paragraph structure, I have no idea where to begin.

2. Nikki Ferry Live: After clsses on Tuesday, we (the roommates and Richie and I) piled into Nikki's VW Beetle and drove to Los Angeles to see her do 3 minutes of stand-up at the laugh factory. We chilled on Melrose before the show and Heather got a hole put in her nose. Nikki was performing with about 13 other comics, half of whom were first timers like herself. She was definitely funnier than 2/3 of them and about 1/3 of the veterans. She is snugly in the middle and will definitely get better with practice. Later that night, we had after-show dinner at Denny's in Northridge. The waiter never brought our check. So we left. We drove back to Santa Barbara feeling morally corrupt, well, some of us anyway. Ultimately, we justify our actions by saying that a good wait staff would never allow a table to sit for 30 minutes after everyone had finished their meals without bringing a check. And we never got refills on our water.

3. Classes: Yes, I go to them.

4. Magic Mountain: Friday we all ditched class to go to Magic Mountain, thereby negating my previous statement. It was good times, save for the fact that I wasn't there long because Marcus and I had to leave for a show that evening and my friends spent 2 hours of my time with them waiting in line for 1 roller coaster while Marcus, Dani and I ate (because I am anemic) and went on 3 rides. We then spent the rest of out time at the park waiting in line with everyone for a coaster we didn't even get to go on. Suck.

5. Thoroughly Modern Mille: How in God's name did this beat Urinetown??? Inspid show. I can't fault the production value or the talent of the actors and dancers, but this show is really ridiculous. It doesn't mean anything at all. And it has a very bizarre subplot about white slavery, the only good part of which is that it provides medium sized roles to two Asian male actors . . . however they must perform the entire time in Mandarin. And sing in Mandarin. Which is rather degrading because it doesn't treat them as talented actors but rather charactures of their race. Suck.

6. The Dungeon: Oh, I love goth clubs! Two rooms of goth on goth dancing. (Which is at times a very bizarre version of modern dance and at other times in the style of european discotechques.) A sushi bar. A normal bar. 2 small stages where either patrons (or employees, I'm not certain) perform floggings, homoerotica, bondage and period bondage. I watched two very attractive, scantily clad women caress and lick one another for a long while and left when a couple were performing some 18th century French Revolutionary bondage. I put Marcus in a collar and leash and was complimented by a couple of nice looking goth girls for my impressive control. I will be going back with Eric someday. We shall have a field day.

7. La Vie en Rose: Marcus' new apartment. It's a really nice place. I am afraid of the gas oven. I'm not used to cooking with gas . . . and I find it mildly distubing that an apartment containing two Jews has a gas oven. As I said the place is really nice, far superior to anything you'll see in IV. It's clean, spacious and has a weird little balcony thing. I also find it comical that what I thought was grass in the courtyard from pictures online is actually weird 60's astroturf stuff. It's very funny looking.

8. Melrose: Fantastic vintage stores. Aardvark's is excellent. I will be returning and poking about. Bought a very Charlotte York style dress. It's cute and green. Rather summery. Don't know when I'll wear it, but I'm sure it will serve me well in Italy.