Part the Fourth: In Which We Return to the Real World...

Once again we got to enjoy the bus trip back to Salerno and then we got on the train back to Roma. This time though we got to sit in a compartment with some very friendly Sicilianos. They were all very eager to talk but spoke no English. We therefore had a very interesting conversation which was more reliant on my phrase book than I would have liked. I learned how much this book sucked during this conversation. I've outlined below some phrases I wish I knew how to say and some that I can say thanks to the Berlitz Italian Phrase Book:

I was here in January. - ?
I have a vaginal infection. - Ho un'infezione vaginale.
Yes, I have a sunburn. - ?
I don't want it extracted. - Non voglio un'estrazione.
How long does the train take from Syracuse? - ?
Can you recommend a good steakhouse? - Puo consigliare un buon ristorante specializzato in bistecche?
No, I'm American but I live in London and I have Irish skin. We're in Italy on holiday. - ?
I am famous. - Mi famoso.
Oh, he likes the cover. - ?
This is really a crap book. - ?
I want a specimen of your stool. - Voglio un campione feci.
25 - ?
We're both 23. - ?
Do you speak German? - ?

Anyway, we had a nice chat even so. The one with down syndrome was apparently taken with my crap book because the signorinas on the cover were hot. I ripped off the cover and gave it to him as a souvenir of the two American kids that couldn't talk.

We flew from Roma to London on Saturday with Ryan Air which is a very cheap but also very inefficient airline. We met a crazy, semi-sober, elderly British woman who was very upset about the queuing (or not, as it were) in Ciampino airport. At one point she muttered to Becki and I, "I'm losin' the will ta live." We laughed. After a bus, a plane and two more buses, we finally got to my flat and crashed. On Sunday morning we woke up and watched The Music Man on TV and then headed to Hyde Park to take advantage of the perfect autumn weather.

Later on Sunday evening we met up with Marcelo and some other Brazilians for 'Gay Bingo' in Shoreditch. We drank many drinks and played a lot of bingo and it was crazy fun. Who knew gay bingo was where it's at? It was hosted by an insane drag queen (think Brent Barkhaus on speed) who called the numbers by weaving them into disgusting stories or scatting them like a punk rock jazz singer. So much fun!! We had an awesome time and it was the most cliche, bestest vacation ever. Ciao Becki, see you soon.



Then it was over and back to work on Monday. At least I get views like this from my office:

Stay Tuned...

I'm back from Italy and will be posting about my adventures with Becki soon!

A little news recap through my eyes...

So, Scooter's been indicted, Harriet's said a long-overdue 'goodbye', Alito's up, and then there's bird flu:

Some in the blog world have called last Friday Fitzmas in honor of Special Prosecutor Fitzgerald. I'm not satisfied though. Sure, Libby got nailed for lying to the grand jury which is inexcusable but so far, no one has gotten in trouble for leaking the name of a CIA operative. I refuse to believe that it was all circumstantial and that it wasn't a crime because the leakers didn't know she was an op. That's bull shit, they knew-the hard part of course, is proving they did. I'm also worried that the investigation is over without really looking into how much Dick and Bushie knew. I don't think a chief of staff would leak the name of an undercover op and then lie to a grand jury about it just because. He's obviously protecting someone and it's shameful. Also, it's very hard to judge the response of the public from this side of the pond. I'm willing to bet that the average American didn't know the investigation was going on, much less that the office of Chief of Staff exists. It's so depressing... So, someone tell me what's playing out in the States, outside of the NY Times.

Let's all say a collective 'Ciao' to Harriet Miers. She will be remembered for inadvertently bringing the parties together; united in disdain. Bye bye Har! Now we have a new ideologue to contend with in the form of Samuel A. Alito. I don't really know enough about him yet to legitimately dislike him. All I know is that President Bush has more adequately covered his bases and indeed his base with this one: the dude's a judge, a hardcore republican with a clear history of right-wing decision-making, he's religious but Catholic rather than Baptist. This is going to be a tough fight for the dems. Opposing a nominee on an ideological basis may be necessary but will not be well received. Thoughts?

Bird flu freaks me out. Yesterday's Metro told of the declaration by the Minister of Health for Australia that, should an outbreak of a human strain of bird flu occur in SE Asia as is feared, then virtually all international travel will be halted. I really don't want to be stuck in Britain in the face of a pandemic. All of the world's leading authorities on disease are calling a human strain and subsequent pandemic inevitable. The only question is when it will occur. I don't like it one bit. Here's an interesting tangent though: scientists say the virus WILL mutate to become a human disease. Is this evolution or intelligent design? Is the designer just sick of us and being creative by bringing death-by-bird or is this in the mold of the previous millennia of history which have shown that Darwin actually was on to something there?

They say everything is bigger in Texas....

but I bet England would win in a battle of the slugs. From my kitchen:

You know that scene in 'L'Auberge espagnole'...

where everyone is drunk and having so much fun and then they end up singing 'No Woman No Cry' in the middle of Barcelona at 4am? Well, I had a night sort of like that last night. It was really the kind of night that I came here to have. Leaving work around 6:30, a few of us walked to Soho to Pop, a downstairs club that was delightfully kitschy. We had come to see some 'new and promising' young band that Jenny had received an email about. It was one of those totally off the cuff type things except that we had to organize a list of who was coming. In the end, about 10 of us went. It was a great group of people that I knew well, a little bit or not at all. We had such an awesome time sharing wine and listening to what turned out to be some pretty great bands. The second group was more engaging than the first but they both earned our seal of approval. You can sample the second group, Mr. Hudson and Friends by going here. I had that totally cliche experience of scanning our round table and watching everyone watch the band and I felt so happy. These are the experiences that I'll remember. After Mr. Hudson got done, a couple of people wanted to go dancing so we thought we'd check it out. Olga, my new friend from Moldova, loves to Salsa so we went to some place called, I think, Salsation. I was not expecting to see people legitimately Salsa-ing but they were. Naturally Alicia, the resident es-Spanish chica was all over it. Jenny and I couldn't hack it and were afraid of missing the tube so we reluctantly left. Such a fabulous night. In general, since I moved, I just feel happier. It also helps that I now have a ticket back home which puts some finality on my adventures and is really making me look at things through a somewhat nostalgic lens.

This post needs editing and hopefully will get it soon. You get it tho.

Diva: 2003-2005

It's with a heavy heart that I report the death of my cat, Diva. After struggling with a urinary tract infection and kidney trouble, my rambuncious little fireball had to be put down. Many of you met her/were lovingly attacked by her over the last couple years. She will be remembered for her crazy, unique personality and affable charm. Although she only got to be with me for a relatively short time, she was totally mine and loved me unconditionally. I feel sad that I couldn't see her in her final days. I remember coming home to always find her laying on some tiny shred of clothing I had discarded or sleeping in a box that was always too small for her. Ciao Baby, love ya!

Germans/Dildos/Queens

It's so nice to have Germans in the house. I feel so much happier at home with more people there. Sabine and Niklas are visiting this week for a few days. The dynamic seems a bit more balanced with more friends at home. Anyway....I'm moving this weekend and I'm nervous/excited.

Not much else is happening. Monday night I left work early to walk with a couple coworkers to Soho. It was so cool to walk there. I never really see how the city is put together, I just pop up from the tube in the area I need to be. So, we walked for about an hour and then went shopping because the girls needed, ahem, some toys. Soho, for those of you who don't know is the hip, happening, sex district of London. It's also right in the heart of the West End. So, we found a promising store and went in to look at the dildos. While Amie and Jenny discussed the pros and cons of each, I looked at the vast array of strange gadgets and pointed out the really 'special' ones to the girls on the other side of the store. One thing in particular, in a special display on the counter caught my eye. It was mounted on a base, sticking straight up and was made of stainless steel. Of course, I wondered what it did. So, I grabbed it and nothing happened. Wondering what was up, I started toying with the knobs on the control console. Still nothing-so I just cranked the knob really fast and wham - I screamed and almost threw the thing across the store. NEVER make a dildo that causes a reaction like that. The thing pulsated with electrical current and I, in my inquisitiveness cranked it to the highest setting it had. So embarrassing. I looked like I had tourette's syndrome. Of course, after that the girls and I had to stand around and poke at it like it was alive and about to bite us. All of this very much amused the staff of the store.

After the porno store fun I met Rachel at the Apollo Theatre for a performance of Mary Stuart, about the last few days in the life of Mary, Queen of Scots. It was really a terrific production featuring two of the best female characters that we've seen. Both Mary and Elizabeth I were expertly played with such attention to detail and the other's character growth. The nuances were so pinpointed. It also had a wonderful design featuring a lot of rain in one scene. Here're some pics:

I found this pic...

Of the Woyzeck production I saw:

Large Man-Little Piano

So, Woyzeck rates as one of the all-time best things I've ever seen on a stage. The whole production was very appropriately stylized but also tight. These people knew what they were doing. For those of you that aren't familiar with Woyzeck, let me give you a brief summary from the program:

A hostage to fortune, class and his sadistic superiors, Woyzeck's fate is played out in a series of nightmarish encounters. He stumbles through a world of macabre carnival, sexual betrayal and cruel oppression, pursued by the demons of his own paranoid fantasies. Pushed beyond breaking point, Woyzeck's last love-crazed act tragically destroys the only thing he truly cares for.

Sounds deep, no? With a play so layered with meaning, it would be easy for any company to mess it up. Luckily for me, Vesturport knows. Firstly, I have to mention the music; this was a semi-musical with new music and lyrics having been written by Nick Cave and Warren Ellis of The Bad Seeds. It was really superb. Every song worked both lyrically and stylistically. It was really a cool achievement. Also on the aesthetic front, the set was amazing. There were two levels, a la the Greek stage, both covered in grass and a crazy tangle of metal ducts and pipework upstage with people crawling around. Then, at one point, the outer surround of the higher level was removed to reveal the glass-enclosed POOL underneath. SOOOO much water imagery. As Marie went about her first act of sexual betrayal, in the pool, a chorus sang and the water bubbled. I've never seen something so sexually charged and emotionally riveting on stage. Also, while they consummated their affair, flowers fell from the ceiling and stuck into the stage, staying straight up and the water shot into the air in spurts-uh huh. Speaking of the affair, I should mention his entrance, which came via the ceiling, on bungee cables while singing a rock anthem. About half-way through the song, many people in the audience stood up and sang, as they were of course, his back-up singers.

At the end, for those of you wondering, Woyzeck has finally gone slightly mad (or has he?) and Marie must die. In the real-life story, he stabs her several times but in the play, he drowns her. The final act had been so expertly foreshadowed that when it finally happened, it was not really shocking but sort-of beautiful and cathartic. The genius of German expressionism is that it forces the audience into the head of the main character. In this case, when the time finally came, it felt, for the audience like a giant release; what we'd been waiting for. Throughout much of the play, Woyzeck and Marie had interacted with the water. It became almost home. Woyzeck, when spying on her, swam back and forth in the skinny tank while stripping down to his briefs. Emotional rawness/animal instincts played out with physical near-nakedness. Finally, nudity (while not complete) that wasn't gratuitous. The image that stays in my mind is not the final image as would be expected with both Marie and Woyzeck, having taken his own life, floating in the red-lit water but rather, the image I keep is from a few minutes before. Woyzeck is beat to a pulp by Marie's lover and left lying. The icon was so specific. For a brief moment, nothing happened and the audience was confronted with the image of a very strong man, soaking wet, naked to the world but for his briefs, lying defeated on the perfect green grass of his home. C'est magnifique!

Experimental Theatre...

I am very excited. Tonight, after work, I'm off to the Barbican Theatre for a performance of Woyzeck (yes, that Woyzeck). I have high expectations for this play. It's being performed/produced by Vesturport Theatre from Reykjavik, Iceland, which previously brought an acrobatic version of Romeo and Juliet to London to great acclaim. I think it'll be awesome.

I bask in cliche...

Today, as I was thinking about the sorry state of our world (a topic I ponder most days), this poem kept coming into my head. Although written almost 100 years ago when India was fighting for independence, this poem's prescience is still there. I'll let you all think of it for yourselves. Please don't let the overt religious-sounding sentiments get in the way of the meat.

Where the mind is without fear and the head is held high
Where knowledge is free
Where the world has not been broken up into fragments
By narrow domestic walls
Where words come out from the depth of truth
Where tireless striving stretches its arms towards perfection
Where the clear stream of reason has not lost its way
Into the dreary desert sand of dead habit
Where the mind is led forward by thee
Into ever-widening thought and action
Into that heaven of freedom, my Father, let my country awake

-Rabindranath Tagore (1910)

Even if Rome were a stop on the Piccadilly Line...

it wouldn't matter since I am paying so little for my flight there! For just about £33, I've booked a round trip flight to Rome. I pay almost that for a weekly ticket on the tube. So, Becki is officially coming for a visit for the first two weeks of November and I couldn't be happier. We're going to have a few days here (during which I'll have to work) and then we're off to Italia. Part of me feels guilty for spending my week off going somewhere I've already been but, Italy in general and Rome in particular are fuckin' cool. I can't wait to see stuff that I loved last time and stuff I didn't have time for. Also, it's gonna be so great just being outside London. Especially somewhere warm and with a sea nearby. It's gonna be awesome!!

In other news, I've become proactive about my living situation. I finally had enough of feeling like an intruder in the house I pay to live in. While Rachel was in Scotland last week, I was playing that stupid game of leaving before Elias was up and coming home after he was asleep just because I didn't want to see him or talk to him. So, I found a new place that is closer to work, costs the same, has a bigger room, and is filled with gay guys. I think it'll be fun to live with new people for a couple months. The only down side is leaving Rachel. We'll still live in the same city though, just on opposite sides of it.

In honour of Becki's visit, here's a cute pic of us:

Should I be more concerned...

Because the President has nominated a "close, personal friend" to the Supreme Court or because that nominee, in correspondence with Bush uses language like this?:

• "You are the best governor ever...",
• "I was struck by the tremendous impact you have on the children whose lives you touch.",
• "Hopefully Jenna and Barbara recognize that their parents are 'cool' - as do the rest of us."

Never be in a situation where George W. Bush sounds more intelligent than you. Also, the hero worship kind of stuff she was writing to him is NOT a good sign. OOOOFF, she's so rough!! Read the NY Times article here.

And if you threw a party, invited everyone you knew...

Thanks to Pam for pointing this out to me. Please watch, laugh/puke.

Excuse me?

Call me old-fashioned but, I just prefer my Supreme Court nominees to have some experience as a judge. I also would like it if they didn't come from President Bush's "inner circle". Nice half-assed President!

"Dahling, don't woory, I vill make you a mediceen"

so spoke my fabulous Russian boss before presenting me with a lunch-time cold remedy; honey and fresh lemon juice in a large shot of vodka. She's so Russian!

Remember 'Hooray for CA'?

Back in early September, California became the first state in the country to allow same-sex marriage through an act of it's legislature. On Thursday, Arnold Schwarzenegger vetoed that bill saying that the issue should be decided by the voters or the courts. The republican party in action...this is the party that declared that the courts were over-stepping their bounds and trying to legislate after the MA supreme court said that denying gay and lesbian citizens equal rights was illegal. Now, when the legislature has enacted the same principle, the party says the court should decide. Oh, or the voters...never mind that the voters elected the legislature to represent them. How often are people offended by the actions of their "representatives" on other issues? Shall we now have a public vote on absolutely every bill to come up? Where is the line between what is appropriate for the legislature to decide and what should be left to the voters. I doubt that, were it left to a public vote, we would have declared war on Iraq but, our representatives did decide...same-sex marriage though, should be a court or voter issue. Be disgusted! Be angry!

Some things I mean to talk about...

Can you believe this is our nation?

• Karl Rove and perhaps other administration officials aided in the disclosure of a CIA operative for political gain
• Katrina fuck ups
• Reporter jailed for upholding journalistic integrity
• Former Secretary of Education at best stupid, at worst horribly(!!!) racist: reduce crime rate by aborting black babies
• GAO finds Bush white house guilty of spending money on propaganda and fixed news
• Supreme (?) Court
• Creationism?!?!?!?! excuse me...Intelligent Design (bullshit!)
• the new McCarthy; Vatican will hunt out the catholic gays in all the seminaries
• American soldiers torturing prisoners/American government illegally detaining foreign nationals/American soldiers trading war pics for porn

and 1 really great thing for ya'll to think about. this is really what we fight for: the same people that proposed the amendment in MA that would undo the court-ordered same-sex marriages, voted against it after seeing what those marriages did for society. Knowledge and fairness win!

Does anyone else feel like the country is in limbo? Like we're sort of waiting for the storm to subside and then we'll assess the damage and begin the long work of fixing it? I'm sick of watching this government run rampant...I'm afraid of the damage that is and can be done.

Today was a sick day...

It was inevitable I think, that I would get sick. Everyone else at the office has been or is sick and we are a pathetic sight. So, today I woke up and realized that I needed to just stay in bed. It's been a wonderful day of just lounging and relaxing.

In other news, it's autumn! After taking a few tentative steps out of summer, Mother Nature has now fully immersed us in the fall splendor. The summer/fall change always gets me real excited. I think it has something to do with heading back to school and going shopping but, every year I get reminded of something. Overnight, it seems, window displays have changed and trees have changed colors, the smell of autumn is everywhere and scarves are out in force. I love it.

The living situation has gotten increasingly ruff. Elias has been running his law practice out of our living room and just doesn't get why that makes us uncomfortable. I think most people would agree that it sucks to come home after a long day of work and be made to feel strange because you want to eat at the table but, there are clients there. I feel like I should be able to use the living room that I'm paying for without feeling like I'm intruding in an office. Try explaining that to a Kenyan though. OOF! So, what should have been a simple discussion of "this is what we find ruff" turned into a 2 versus 1 all-out argument. I don't have the energy. I used to be nice, everyone was friendly, things were as they should be or were promised to be improved. Now, two months on, the excuses are wearing thin and, I kinda want to move. Besides it being annoying, it's also very far from the places I want to be. I may start looking for somewhere else to spend the rest of my London time. blah blah blah

Rachel and I saw a play the other night. It feels like we've been away from the theatre for a long time. It was nice to return, even if we did have to stand for the whole thing. It was in the Donmar Warehouse which was a space I had wanted to see for a long time. We both agreed that the play was wonderful and, in fact, we even discussed it at some length afterwards which is always nice. It was a very wordy, funny, witty play, in a very well put together production. If you have the chance to see The Philanthropist, it is highly recommended.

Anyway, I've rambled, I've bored myself and possibly you, I'm tired, I'm sick, I'm going to bed.

30 Italians singing 'Crazy for You' makes me happy...

I had an absolutely delightful weekend. For some reason, I awoke in such a happy mood on Saturday, drank my coffee at a leisurely pace and then went out. This is particularly exciting because I am usually so tired after a week of work that on Saturday I have a hard time motivating myself to do anything. Not so this weekend! I had read a review of a particular art exhibit and I was determined to see it. I'd never been to the Old Street area of town and was so happily surprised to find a chic, bohemian, artsy-fartsy area, ripe for exploring. So, I found Hoxton Square and the White Cube gallery and, in my arty way, sat and pondered the exhibit. It was very urbane and pretentious and I loved it. Candice Breitz' current exhibit, Mother + Father consists of two rooms and twelve televisions. In one room, six tvs were arranged in a semicircle, each portraying some famous film actress in a semi-seminal mother role. Breitz had pulled the characters out of their film context and by cutting and splicing their dialogue, made them sort of speak to one another on the topic of motherhood. Julia Roberts cried, Faye Dunaway as Joan Crawford freaked out, Shirley Maclaine sang like a crazy person. Same in the second room but this time with fathers played by the likes of Dustin Hoffman, Donald Sutherland and Tony Danza. White Cube's website, in characteristic gallery speak has this to say:

Pirate, composer and DJ, Candice Breitz uses darkly humorous, often subversive tactics to strike out at stereotypes and visual conventions in popular culture. Breitz's acclaimed two-part video installation Mother + Father will be shown downstairs at White Cube. In mirror sequences comprising six channels each, Breitz has edited iconic silver-screen mothers and fathers into shrill fugues of parental breakdown. In one, Faye Dunaway, Diane Keaton, Shirley MacLaine, Julia Roberts, Susan Sarandon and Meryl Streep protest and proclaim their respective maternal roles; in the second, Dustin Hoffman, Tony Danza, Harvey Keitel, Steve Martin, Donald Sutherland and Jon Voigt perform an entire spectrum of paternal frustrations. Digitally extracted from their original movie contexts, the cast members of Mother + Father are enlisted to perform new dramas of Breitz's making. The actors emerge from the artist's mixing-desk coerced into taut, abrasive compositions.

After that fun, I headed to the upstairs gallery where I found a wall of thirty TVs, each with a different Italian person singing along to Madonna's greatest hits. These people had such an unbridled love for her that the audience couldn't help but feel happy watching these fools sing, tone-deafly, at people in a different country. The best part was when half of them would attempt the back-up vocals, "liv.ing. in. a. mat.er.ial. world.--Materiaaaauuh hull"