Fun, Fun, Fun in NYC

I just got back from a short trip with my boyfriend to New York city, where I met up with his family to watch his sister debut in the new musical, Good Vibrations.

Here are some highlights (and lowlights):

My boyfriend, Todd, catches an awful cold and then passes his germs to me.

Amanda (Todd's sister) stars in Good Vibrations as "Bikini Girl" (that is actually how she is credited) and is the cute girl in the show.

NYC was freezing. At one point, it was 4 degrees outside. (WTF!) Yet all my boyfriend's beautiful sisters and stylish mom all persevered in cute little dresses, skirts, and fancy open-toed shoes, dodging piles of ice and snow on the sidewalks.

Todd's dad rents a limo for our ride to the theater. It was my first limo ride!

A reporter from Akron Beacon Journal follows us around on both nights that we saw the show. (I think Amanda and her family will have to start getting used to this media attention as she becomes a big star.)

NBC cameras stop my boyfriend's family for a brief interview outside the theater. When they ask the parents if they ever thought their daughter would be "Bikini Girl" on Broadway, Todd's dad says "No," but Todd's mom says "Yes!"

The first night we see the show, we sit in the very front row. So at the finale, of course Todd's family stands up cheering, dancing, and singing. His dad high-fives the lead guy, "Eddie" while he's dancing/singing, and then Eddie takes Todd's mom's hands and boogies with her while standing onstage.

Mike Love of the original Beach Boys, Micky Dolenz of the Monkees, and Neil Patrick Harris (Doogie Howser, M.D. and also once starred in the musical, Rent) are spotted at the show and at the after-party.

After the second night we see the show, I go into the bathroom to hear all the ladies raving about it. One woman says, "Next time I come back to see it, I'll be wearing a swimsuit!"

At one point in the show, the girls onstage are running around in bikinis and multi-colored Uggs.

Amanda brings the family and me backstage to see her teeny dressing room filled with flowers and bright costumes. We also see where the band sits, which is a teeny cramped platform beneath the stage.

I get to check out the new MOMA down the street from the hotel and bought some wacky Japanese creature figurines and a mini screwdriver set by Muji.

I go window-shopping in Soho with my cousin Bill. I didn't buy anything, but we were very impressed that Jack Spade carried a ping-pong paddle case (in camouflage canvas that also holds ping pong balls). Bill buys gloves from Coach. Coach is already sold out of the new white purse with polka dots that I want. Boo!

I meet my cousins for a yummy and highly filling Japanese dinner at Ise. I got to see my tiny cousin Miranda and her pregnant tummy (which just looks as big as my non-pregnant self)-- she is expecting a girl! Yay, girls are rad. I know too many people w/ baby boys.

I wish I stayed longer to see more of NYC, and to spend more time with my cousins and Todd's family, but I am also glad to be back in warmer weather so I can recuperate from this annoying cold.

If you're in NYC anytime soon, see Good Vibrations! It's a lot of fun, with an amusing teenage love story (similar to Grease). And who doesn't like the musical harmonies of the Beach Boys? My favorite songs in the show are "God only Knows" and "Good Vibrations." And if you're lucky, you might leave with a free beach ball. :D (You won't miss Amanda; she's the tall-leggy blonde with the big glowing grin.)

(note: Images were taken from ohio.com, by Lew Stamp/ABJ)

(See other pics by Todd's dad)

SpongeBob Squarepants, a symbol for tolerance

What has the world come to? Apparently there are certain overzealous Christians accusing SpongeBob Squarepants of promoting homosexuality.

We are talking about a CARTOON SPONGE.

I can't believe the cartoon creators have to even defend themselves, saying that SpongeBob was created as an asexual character.

If anyone paid attention to their marine biology class, they'd know that sponges are very simple cells, or rather a colony of cells. Where does sexuality enter in this case???

Okay, granted the cartoon takes artistic license with biological truth, so any arguments about scientific properties of a sponge don't necessarily make a good case. But why is there even an assumption that even this anthropomorphized sponge is gay? Just because he talks a certain way wears his pants too high, has pretty eyelashes, and is very close with his anthropomorphized buddy, Patrick the starfish?

What about all the effeminate heteros? Are they allowed to be effeminate even if they are hetero? Not that there's anything wrong with homosexuality!! AAAAAaaaa!

How is there such animosity against a nerdy little sponge who lives so gleefully in a pineapple under the sea??

Milk and Cereal, Cereal and Milk!

Hey all you cereal-lovin' Seinfeld-wannabes, this video is for you. And for the Asian kids and Berkeley fans, here's another one for ya.

Here are lyrics (by G-Love and Special Sauce) to help you sing along.

Je ne veux pas travailler...

... which means, "I don't want to work" in French. It's also the opening line to "Sympathique," one of the many delightfully nostalgic songs of my new favorite band, Pink Martini.

This mini-orchestra performs songs in English, Spanish, French, Italian, and Japanese. Listening to their music is like an exotic and romantic audio trip back in time to all the classiest jazz clubs around the world.

Go to their site and click on the radio to listen to both of their albums, and you will decide that you have to buy their music.

Sadly, I missed their sold-out new year's eve concert at the new Disney Music Hall (designed by Frank Gehry). I'll have to watch out for their next concert in California!

Chucky's family wears these on ski trips

You thought you got an ugly holiday gift??

Just be glad you didn't get any thing like these horrifying ski masks. I think they would suit a new freaky metal band or wrestling team. This one looks like material for a new horror movie series. If you like to scare people, here are knitting instructions to get you started.

(forwarded from valerie, who usually likes much cuter things.)

Baby Naming, Run Amok!

A Romanian couple named their child "Yahoo". I probably can thank Yahoo! for a lot of things, but I would not go as far as naming my child after it. Especially when you see how Yahoo Serious turned out. (maybe we'll see him on a future season of The Surreal Life!)

Meanwhile my cousins and coworkers are poppin' out babies, so naturally they are trying to figure out names. No wonder "baby names" is always in the top most searched terms on Yahoo!

I am advising them to check popular baby name lists, to avoid picking overly common names. Remember when "Michael" was the most popular boy's name? Well that ended at least a few years ago.

Now people probably think they are being really original by picking names like Jacob, Ethan, or Aidan for boys and Madison, Emma, and Isabella for girls, but really, they are not.

Quick, name that Lego-Man!

Over New Year's, I stopped in L.A. to visit my favorite block of Japanese food and shopping, on Sawtelle north of Olympic.

I happened upon an exhibit of paintings of pop icon caricatures in the style of lego-men at Black Market (a vintage hipster clothing shop right next to the Giant Robot store).

Most of the caricatures are done as lego-heads, but he also does a few full-body series, usually in sets of four, like the Karate Kid (Mr. Miyagi, Daniel San, and the 2 bad guys) or Sgt. Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club band (shown below).

The celebrities represented range from classic 60's superstars to 80's new wave bands to today's notorious rappers and politicians.

You can buy these sweet little pieces of art, for $65 each and up. The artist also prints these works on tiny buttons and even on skateboards.



Maybe it's a little gimmicky? You might say that about any pop artist. At least this is more affordable than buying an Andy Warhol and small enough to fit in your over-priced dinky studio apartment.

"This ain't no Mario KINGDOM!!!"

Who knew that Princess Peach had a supafly slam dunk?!

Watch this preview video for the new NBA Street V3 game, featuring Mario and his homeys! The soundtrack is pretty fly too. I also like how Princess Peach sports pink gym shorts and wears her tiara while throwing her shots. (Thanks to kawabunga for finding this link.)



If you like this, I also recommend the Mario Tennis game. It's like fantasy tennis, where you can send crazy power serves, lobs, and slices with all kinds of special effects. Princess Peach wears a tennis skirt and Princess Daisy wears tennis shorts. As usual, I favor the playing the Yoshi character. (I also like that I can beat my boyfriend at this game, unlike real tennis.)

Wiped out from holiday travel

While waiting in San Diego, for my 2-hour-delayed flight connection to SFO, I browsed in the gift shop and found these "Govenator" mugs, caps, and shirts. I am embarrassed to be a Californian.

After stopping back in Nor-Cal for a night, I flew out yet again to L.A. to spend New Year's weekend. I enjoyed a wonderful meal with a few friends at A.O.C., where we spotted Henry Winkler and Elizabeth from the last season of The Apprentice. We then karoake-d the night away at our friend Scott's.

The rest of the weekend, my boyfriend and I visited my relatives, ate lots of food, shopped, and checked out the LACMA and Getty museums, where we saw Renoir's Luncheon of the Boat Party and a fun Americana color photography exhibit.

My return flight from Los Angeles was also delayed 2 hours! Luckily the kitschy Jetsons-esque Encounter restaurant is at LAX, so my boyfriend and I ran over there for a drink and appetizers and watched the daylight end as the glowing LAX towers turned on. The elevators emanate with Lounge music, lava lamps decorate the counters, and psychedelic space sounds come out of the bar taps. I felt like I was visiting Ulala from Space Channel 5.