ALIVE, COUGHING, AND LAUGHING
Yes, I remain alive. The cold of 2004 (which was threatening to become the Killer Cold of 2004) did not become fatal, despite efforts to that effect.
The cough lingers on, even a little productive. Blecch! But better to expel and expectorate than to contain and contaminate. Catchy slogan, eh? As fate would have it, there's a little bit of Chicken Soup left in the refrigerator. I will have it tomorrow, as a last bit of over-the-counter antibiotic. The Jewish Penicillin works; I am here to prove it.
A DIFFERENT AILING ENTITY
Recovery for me meant I was able to slightly enjoy this holiday weekend. No barbeques or parties. Actually, my car died as we attempted to escape suburbia and go out to the grassy farmlands in the near northern reaches of a county or two beyond what is commonly known as "the New York Metropolitan Area." But the transmission and the clutch decided to have a spat. My trusty 15-year old Honda may need some major surgery.
After we got towed to our trusty mechanic's garage, his weekend mind-the-station guy recommended putting in a new clutch. When he heard that I'd had the car for four or five years, and that it hadn't had any clutch work during that time, he was impressed. This may be the only time I have ever impressed a guy who knows something about cars.
"You've been working that clutch and stick for four or more years and haven't had any trouble?!"
He said that as a sort of hollering statement of incredulity.
"These Hondas, man, they never die. Put in a new clutch and you'll have this one running at least another four years. You obviously know how to drive a stick and treat it right. This car is good for lots more miles. It's one of those great Hondas before they changed the engine, man!"
At this point he was speaking so far over my head I just nodded, and called a friend to ask for a ride home.
The Honda has over 300,000 miles on it. When I bought it the odometer was at 67,000 miles. A few years later a notice arrived from the DMV, telling me that the dealer who sold it to me had done a mileage rollback, and that the week before I bought it, the odometer was at 197,000 miles. Gee, I thought, what's a mere 130,000 miles among civilized, urban dwellers? The answer to that question is this: $2500. I should have paid $2500 less for the car. BUT - the car has worked extremely well. Each year I've spent less in maintenance and repair than one would spend on a note in car payments. And it gets a minimum of 30 miles to the gallon, more on the highway.
No complaints from me about the car. I could whine and moan about the overcharge and the rollback scam. But I am getting value received, so no need to grumble. And the authorities caught the dealer who did the rollback, it made the local papers.
HOLIDAY WEEKEND ON BROADWAY
Stuck at home and lacking transportation did not put a damper on the holiday weekend. Sunday we had tickets to see 20th Century [1], starring Alec Baldwin and Anne Heche on Broadway. Public transportation got us there, no problem. I would recommend you see this play, but unless you are in New York and willing to pay scalper prices, forget it. June 6th is the last performance of this limited run [2]. 20th Century is a farce, with a stellar supporting cast.
Tom Aldredge [3], a character actor of great renown, most recently seen on The Sopranos as Hugh DeAngelis, Carmella's father, plays the secondary comic foil to the lead roles. Dan Butler [4] (Bulldog from Frasier, and numerous stage roles) and Julie Halston [5] (she's [6] been in everything [7]) are in the roles of the loyal supporters of Baldwin's character. If timing truly is everything, these two must have it all, they should own the world.
The next day, Memorial Day, held a special event in store. At 8PM, in the New Victory Theatre [8], we had tickets for the very final performance [9] of The Flaming Idiots [10].
No description can do them justice. The Flaming Idiots were (boo hoo, so sad to write of them in the past tense) jugglers, physical comedians, comic wordsmiths, and gonzo animated conceptual artists. They adopted the names of Gyro, Pyro and Walter for their stage shows. Walter, known for his shaggy shock of very long hair, even went so far as to have his locks shorn (by the other two, of course) at the very end of the finale performance.
Good clean fun, satire, audience participation, even the creation of a bologna and cheese sandwich (on whole wheat bread, with mayonnaise, pickles) . . . all done by the feet of Pyro. Yes, he washes his feet in advance, using disinfectant, then drying them with paper towels - all via the feet, no hands at all.
The three of them also manage to escape from straight jackets and catch a blindfolded audience member as he falls backwards after an audience countdown (from 20 backwards to 1), into their grasp. It takes great timing, skill, and showmanship to conduct this feat, show after show. And also a tremendous rapport with the audience, since, after all, it is an audience member who trusts them to catch him, and the entire audience participates, doing the countdown as the Idiots escape from the straightjackets.
We've seen them time and again as they came to the New Victory Theatre, and are intent on buying the DvD of their final performance. We even changed our seats at the request of New Victory Theatre management, who called (we are members of the New Vic [8]) to tell us that our seats were where the Cameraman would be, and could we please move. They offered us some of the best seats in the house in return for the change. How could we say no to such an offer? And, of course, we wanted to do our part in saving this final performance of The Flaming Idiots, to maintain their act, and this final performance, for posterity.
Again, public transportation did the trick. Got into the City, got to the New Vic, and thoroughly enjoyed the show.