Adam's Blog Goes CLASSIC

Tim has challenged me to blog more. Clearly, as evidenced from his many many posts (see NEW! Tim's Blog in the "Things I Like" section), he blogs a lot....

New blogs are coming. And you're going to like them. I promise. But genius takes time. And so does blogging. So be patient.

To kick off a string of CLASSIC entries, please enjoy the following video.

Musical Mondays: VOTE!

OK. I was searching YouTube last night, not looking for anything in particular. Do you ever do this? Just see where YouTube takes you?

I can't tell you who I was searching for, because if I did it might bias your vote..... but, I came upon many different versions of "The Worst Pies in London." I think I saw one last night that I could term the BEST VERSION....then I thought, let me open this up to the readers and have you vote on your favorite version. So below are several versions of the song, sung by different people. Leave me a comment and let me know which is your favorite and then I'll let you know which is my favorite. There will not be another blog for a few days (what else is new) so you can space your viewings out over the next couple of days, thus enhancing your Adam's Blog experience. Enjoy!


Dorothy Loudon


Patti LuPone


Angela Lansbury


MissBroadwayDork (that is her YouTube screenname)

And then just for fun.... Here is MissBroadwayDork doing Poor Unfortunate Souls....oh God....

Adam's Blog Gets Political

I support Hillary.

However, I thought maybe I should just check out my views on the issues versus her views on the issues...you know, just to make sure.

So I took the CANDIDATE MATCH GAME from USAToday.com! It asked 11 questions and told me which candidate I was most like. AND WOULDN'T YOU KNOW! I'm most like Hillary. Thank goodness this internet test exists to re-affirm my political choices.

Take the test: http://www.usatoday.com/news/politics/election2008/candidate-match-game.htm

Let me know who you are most like!

Fashion Friday: Two Boys, One Dress

For this week's FF, Peter and I decided to film our reactions (in the style of "Two Girls, One Cup") to the dress that Kelly (Jean's daughter) has picked for her wedding in October.

The dresses that we liked are pictured below the video. The color Kelly is planning to go with is called "orange peel."

The Lyndsey (above)

The Lydia (above)

CAUGHT ON FILM

Marco sent these pictures to me this morning.

HOLY SHIT!

I can't believe the size of this hawk....I would have freaked out if this happened at my apartment.

The cat (Doofey) looks very well behaved despite whats on the other side of the window!

Cooking with Adam: The story of Peter and the fondant

Fondant is a confection used as a filling or coating for cakes, pastries, and candies or sweets. In its simplest form, it is sugar and water cooked to a point, specifically the soft-ball stage, cooled slightly, and stirred or beaten until it is an opaque mass of creamy consistency. Fondant is commonly used to decorate wedding cakes. This gives the cakes a smooth appearance.

They use A LOT of fondant on the Food Network show "Ace of Cakes." Recently, Peter became obsessed with this show and decided to make some fondant of his own. I was lucky enough to be there and witness this concoction.

Fondant is basically an entire box of confectioners sugar and corn syrup. It looks like bubble gum and tastes VERY sweet. We decided to dye our fondant "happy purple" (thats the name the food coloring box gives it.... 22 drops blue and 12 drops red). By the time we were done, it looked like a big blob of grape gum. Peter rolled it out and then put it on top of a cake and decorated it with royal icing flowers!

MMMMM....Fondant!

Adam's Blog Limonade Brault

Peter was bored.....

Total Impulse Buy

Last night I took my car out for a drive to see how it was doing after the accident. It hasn't healed yet...I'm going to need to bring it to the car hospital to have the wheels re-aligned.

I stopped at the supermarket and picked up a few things for lunch. I was very upset because they didn't have the jar of hot peppers I was looking for. I figured I could buy all the things I like to have on a sub at the supermarket and make them myself, thus saving money. Well Stop&Shop did not have the little tiny chopped up pepper things. I was able to buy some pickles and horseradish sauce, which I'm excited about.

So then I drove home and found parking (thank goodness). Then I realized I wanted something sweet or chocolaty and hadn't bought anything like that at the supermarket. I did, however, remember to buy paper towels, which I badly needed because my apartment was/is a mess! OK, so I decided to drop my groceries off and then go to 7-11 to buy a chocolate something...

So I go into 7-11 and did a loop. In the past, I have been known to maybe buy a Stouffer's French Bread Pizza from 7-11, however, last night, I saw something new...they now carry Ellio's Pizza! And because I hadn't had dinner and because Ellio's reminds me of my childhood days being babysat by Amy Delesky, I bought a box of Ellio's pizza.

Once, while Amy was babysitting, she actually burned the Ellio's pizza. She did not put tin foil down on the oven rack (which I do, however, Ellio's seems to stick to the tin foil so you have to peel it off of the bottom before you eat it) so the cheese stuck and burnt on to the rack. Amy, not knowing what to do, stuck the oven rack out on our deck.

A couple of nights later we all heard noises on the deck. My father turned on the outside light and discovered that a possum was licking the cheese off of the oven rack! When the light came on, he ran away. Unfortunately for the possum we would later discover him floating face down in our swimming pool...but thats another story.

The moral of the story is:
Ellio's pizza is obviously delicious, but don't try licking the cheese off of the oven rack or you'll end up drowning like the possum!

Musical Mondays: Interrupted Because I was in a Car Accident

I don't know why I decided to drive this morning....

Thank you to the woman at the parking garage who gave me a discount this morning. I was able to sleep in until 10am and still only pay $10 to park.

So to the accident....

It was a stupid thing, only me involved. I was on Storrow trying to change lanes and I lost control of the car. The car began heading for the median curbing which I tried to avoid...but I couldn't. So I hit the curb and I hit my head at the same time. The car then goes shooting like a pinball across to the other side of Storrow. Thank God there weren't other cars on the road!

So, does anyone else do this? After I richocheted across the road and somewhat re-gained control of my car, I was like "do I just keep driving?" "am I ok...is the car ok?" "it doesn't seem like the tires are flat" So I just kept driving to work....

Obviously I didn't get away without some minor damage. The wheels need some major re-alignment. However, by the time I made it to work, the tires were still ok and I managed not to do any damage to the side of my car!

Today's Musical Monday was going to be about Liza Minnelli. Did I already do a Musical Monday about her? Perhaps, I can't remember... Well, Peter was like, "you should focus on one famous broadway person and write about one each week." Its a good idea. So I will start next week... not with Liza, since I still feel like this was her week.

Here's a video of her:



My head still hurts....

Sheri:
You should have seen his entrance this morning...it was so dramatic. It was like something out of a broadway show.

Marco:
So is the blog just about you and Bob now?

Me and Bob:
YES

[Later] Bob:
So the goal of the night is to make sure I don't lose my plastic tooth...... Are you gonna put that on the blog?

Me:
YES

New Shoes

me:
i seriously cant believe that happened last night
i really am way too dramatic
what the fuck is wrong with me

bob:
it's why I want to live with you

everyday will be an adventure

and something out of a movie

Last night....

Congratulations to Hillary!

Bob to me: "You were actually fun tonight...."

Thanks Bob.

I've got to find these!

As I was buying a coffee cake this morning at the supermarket, I stopped in the seasonal aisle. Valentine's Day candy is out in full force!

This year, I have so much red glitter left over from Christmas that I may ask Peter to create some Adam's Blog Valentines. HOWEVER, I really want to find High School Musical Valentines. You would think this would be easy.... well, it hasn't been so far! I found some on Ebay.UK....but I'm not crazy enough to buy little valentines in pounds....yet. So if anyone finds them in America, let me know!

Musical Mondays: Hedwig and the Angry Inch

"So you want to know about Tommy Gnosis? Alright I'll tell you about Tommy Gnosis...."

In 2002, I auditioned for the role of Buzz Hauser in Love! Valour! Compassion! using a monologue I concocted from the show Hedwig and the Angry Inch. Needless to say, I got the part and the rest is history.

But today's blog is not about me, its about Hedwig: The first time I heard of Hedwig was in 1999. My friend Lucas gave me a copy of the original cast recording. I never listened to it though....I'm not sure why--and it sat on my shelf for 3 years.

In 2001, the movie version of the musical came out and Steven and I went to see it. The DVD of the movie comes with a great documentary attached with all sorts of great info about how the production of Hedwig developed....if you decide you really like Hedwig, definitely watch this.

QUICK SYNOPSIS TIME
In the stage show most of the plot is delivered by Hedwig's monologues. I think the movie works so well because these monologues were expanded beyond one character.

Hedwig (Hansel) lives in East Berlin until he meets an American captain, Luther, who wants to bring him back to America. Unfortunately the only way to get Hansel out is for Luther and him to get married...but there's one hitch. "To be free, one must give up a little part of oneself." The operation to remove Hansel's "little bishop in a turtleneck" goes horribly wrong, leaving him with "an angry inch." But Luther and Hansel (now Hedwig--using his mother's passport) leave the country and move to Junction City, Kansas. Well, shortly there after, Luther leaves Hedwig for a young twink and Hedwig is left to pick up the pieces of his ridiculous life. Thankfully, Hedwig has vocal talent and can perform a night club show in local Junction City diners.

Meanwhile, to support herself, Hedwig takes up babysitting gigs and odd jobs (mostly the jobs we call blow). While babysitting, he meets Tommy Speck with whom he forms a beautiful musical relationship. They write songs and perform together. Hedwig renames Tommy Speck Tommy Gnosis (for the Greek god of knowledge). Unfortunately Tommy gets freaked out when he finds Hedwig's angry inch. "What's that?" "....its what I have to work with." He runs out on Hedwig, starting a very VERY successful music career of his own based on the songs he wrote with Hedwig. So while Tommy is touring throughout the states, Hedwig follows him and performs her own show at tiny venues next to the stadiums where Tommy's concerts are. (most of the stage show happens at one of these concerts)

The original show and movie starred John Cameron Mitchell who wrote Hedwig. Once, while I was taking the train from New York up to Boston, I actually saw him. At first, I didn't think it was him--he was just sitting in a normal seat on the train, he blew his nose a lot--I thought, this can't be the genius who created Hedwig. WELL IT WAS! When I got off the train there was a woman waiting with a sign that said "Mr. Mitchell" and off he went with her. He was obviously coming up from New York to attend the Boston premiere of Short Bus.

The music is great and the costumes are insane. I definitely recommend you see the movie and if you ever have a chance to see it live, see that too!

Welcome to your nose bidet

This is an article that Steven just sent me from the New York Times (the Adam's Blog of newspapers, really). Of course....we've known about the miracles of neti-pots for quite some time. I've included the Sinucleanse instructional video at the bottom of this entry for your enjoyment. Seriously, this is the grossest but most helpful thing EVER! Go to CVS or Wholefoods and get one!


Short, Stout, Has a Handle on Colds
By CAMILLE SWEENEY

GABY HAKMAN worked as a chef in professional kitchens in Miami for nearly 20 years, standing in the vacuum of powerful venting fans, inhaling smoke. But she had even bigger nasal challenges ahead. “I work as a personal chef now, which is a lot less toxic, but I also moved to New York City, and because of the city’s pollutants and dry heat I developed painfully dry sinuses,” Ms. Hakman said.

DON’T TRY THIS AT HOME Neti pots are now so mainstream, they are the stuff of jokes. An Ohio man called Drew, right, spoofs them on a popular YouTube video.

Seeking the advice of a masseuse and acupuncturist, Jana Warchalowski, Ms. Hakman was urged to try something she didn’t even want to think about. “Jana said she had two words for me: neti pot,” Ms. Hakman said. “I’d heard about it before. I just kept thinking, ‘No way, that’s gross.’”

But this fall, Ms. Hakman relented.

“I went out and bought a pretty little ceramic neti pot from Whole Foods,” she said. “I’ve used it every day since. Now, I can breathe again. It’s even gotten rid of the bags under my eyes.”

Originally part of a millennia-old Indian yogic tradition, the practice of nasal irrigation — jala neti — is performed with a small pot that looks like a cross between Aladdin’s lamp and your grandmother’s gravy boat. The neti pot made its way into this country in the early 1970s as a yoga meditation device, but even as yoga became mainstream, the neti pot remained on the fringes of alternative culture.

That is, until now. Due to a confluence of influences, the neti pot is having what can only be termed a moment, sold in drugstores, health food stores, even at Wal-Mart and Walgreens.

The practice gained wide exposure last spring when it was introduced on Oprah Winfrey’s show by a frequent guest, Dr. Mehmet Oz, a cardiothoracic surgeon and an author of health books. Dr. Oz explained that bathing the sinus cavities in a warm saline solution can reduce symptoms of allergies, cold, flu and other nasal problems.

He called upon a chronic sinusitis sufferer, identified as Amy from Texas, to demonstrate the neti pot. “Welcome to your nose bidet,” Ms. Winfrey said enthusiastically as the woman inserted the spout of a ceramic pot into one nostril, tilted her head and let a solution of non-iodized salt and water flow up her nose and out the other nostril.

A month later, in a follow-up, Amy spoke by phone on air and reported she’d used a neti pot every day since, with happy results. She had not had a single sinus headache, she said.

A star was born.

The neti pot became a hot topic online, featured in blogs and daily journals, chatted about on message boards, demonstrated in some 60 YouTube videos. It was billed as a cure-all to ward off cold or flu, improve a sense of smell or taste, sharpen vision and even reduce snoring. “Nose bidet” became one of the most popular topics searched on Google.

Neither Whole Foods Market, where neti pots have been sold nationwide for almost a decade, nor the Himalayan Institute, one of the largest retail and wholesale distributors of neti pots in the United States, would disclose sales figures, but representatives of each company said that after the Oprah shows there were sharp spikes in demand.

Jan Mathews, the chief executive of East West Living, a seller of spiritual books and supplies with a store in Manhattan, said: “After Oprah, we went from selling dozens of neti pots a week to dozens a day, and sold out. For two weeks we couldn’t restock fast enough. It may have started with Oprah, but then it became word of mouth.”

In December, Ms. Mathews began in-store neti pot demonstrations in the store’s cafe four times a week. “There’s a growing clamor for natural alternatives to cold and allergy medicines,” she said. “In my demo, there may be about a dozen or so people in attendance, but sometimes I’ll look up and realize the whole rest of the cafe is watching.”

PROMOTERS of the neti pot link it to other methods of purifying and detoxifying the body that have become popular at spas and from providers of alternative health care, procedures like seaweed facials, liver flushes and coffee enemas.

Few if any Western medical schools teach the use of the neti pot. But Dr. Bradley Marple, the chairman of the rhinology and paranasal sinus committee for the American Academy of Otolaryngology — Head and Neck Surgery, said that nasal irrigation is a well-known remedy for various respiratory complaints.

“There are an estimated billion viral episodes of the upper respiratory tract a year,” said Dr. Marple, a professor of otolaryngology at the University of Texas Southwestern Medical School in Dallas.

“Studies indicate that saline nasal irrigation is a highly effective, minimally invasive intervention for people suffering from nasal issues,” Dr. Marple said. “But it’s just not as sexy to talk about. People want to hear about surgery or antibiotics.”

He added that there are many commercially available products that deliver a saline solution to the nasal area, including squeeze bottles and spray cans. They may be more convenient than using a neti pot, he said, but because of its gentler pressure, a neti pot can be an advantage for patients who suffer ear discomfort due to pressure.

Amy Neunsinger of Los Angeles, a commercial and fashion photographer, says she’s made using it fun for her toddler son.

“Last year when he had a sinus infection, instead of putting him on antibiotics as the doctor recommended, I had him try the neti pot,” Ms. Neunsinger said. “He was 3. I told him, ‘Hold your breath, just like in swimming lessons,’ and he tried it and it worked. He felt so much better, and his infection went away quickly on its own.”

“Now, we do it together once a week,” she said. “He loves to tear open the little packets of salt and mix it up.”

One user’s neti pot video has had nearly a quarter-million views on YouTube. In the video, “How to Irrigate Your Nasal Passages,” a self-styled comedian from Ohio who goes by the name Drew, demonstrates (to a song titled “I Like to Watch the Rain Come Down”) how to use a neti pot with salty water, then with black coffee, then with Kentucky bourbon, exploding with an expletive a millisecond before the video snaps off.

In an e-mail message, Drew, 28, wrote: “I haven’t had any sinus problems in a few months. Maybe the whiskey did the trick?

“The last time it was used, I filled it with half and half to serve with coffee — bad idea. The cream went everywhere when you tried to pour it, and our guests immediately recognized the neti pot as ‘that thing I saw you put in your nose.’”

Happy 2008

Happy New Year and welcome back to Adam's Blog!

The holidays were very enjoyable. Christmas was wonderful! The blog took a break while I rested and FINALLY recovered from my cold. Including my recent cold and the fried chicken incident last summer, I think I was sick 8.5% of the year.

This New Year's was oddly similar to last years....

2006-2007
I drank a ton of champagne, threw up, and passed out. The next day Bob went and bought a new phone.

2007-2008
I drank a ton of champagne, went out clubbing, and got kicked in the head. The next day Peter went and bought a new phone.

For the rest of the week on Adam's Blog you'll have an opportunity to enjoy an illustrated year-in-review according to Adam. Stay tuned....