Cyclists.

I am all for people getting fit and/or staying fit and enjoying themselves while they do it.  With two caveats.  One: DO NOT expect me to do the same.  Two: Stay out of my way when doing so.

Fair enough I think.

However, is anybody as annoyed as I am by the mass amount of cyclists that think they own the whole darn road?  Hello, people are driving here!  They just continue to make me so angry every time I see them.  When there is a bike lane, they don't stay in it.  They jump out into the driving lanes and are going at speeds that are not fast enough and I end up having to slow down because of them.  On top of all that they NEVER seem to obey the traffic laws, going through stop signs constantly.  

Sorry if this offends anyone with the cursing,
but it totally reinforces my point, so I had to share it.

Does that strike anybody else as odd?  Them not stopping at a stop sign?  What is it too much work?  Isn't the point of cycling to be getting exercise, and following that logic, would it not follow that they should want to stop and start again so they can burn even more of those calories and "feel the burn" in those muscular calves of theirs?

I just do not understand why they think they are above the law.  It drives me nuts!  Has anybody else had a similar run in with cyclists?  Feel free to share your stories so I know I am not alone!

Warhorse -- definitely NOT what I expected!

A few years back, my gammy and I decided to buy season tickets to the Segerstrom Center for the Arts in Costa Mesa, so we have seen quite a few musicals and other productions over the last couple years.  The performances are always excellent, they are national touring productions after all, but few have been presented as well as Warhorse was tonight.

Going into this I was wary.  I had not seen the movie, nor had I read much about it.  All I knew was that it was about a horse.  In a war.  I knew a lot, didn't I?

Well, I want to see the movie now because OH MY GOODNESS this thing was amazing!  By the end of the first act, I was in tears.

A brief synopsis: The show starts out with an auction for a horse, two brothers that hate each other bidding each other up for this horse.  Albert is excited when his dad wins the horse in the auction and the two (the horse and Albert) quickly bond.  That bond is absolutely incredible and is truly what drives the entire story.  The dad ultimately ends up selling the horse, Joey, to the military so that he can be an officer's horse.  Albert is so distraught over this, he eventually lies about his age so he can be in the military so that he can try and find Joey... Their search for and devotion to each other is absolutely beautiful.

Joey, the title character. An amazing feat in crafting.

This seems like it is an impossible story to tell on stage.  How can you train a horse to be able to do this every night?  Exactly, it is not going to happen.  So, the stage workers have developed a puppet to play the part.  And no, before you go thinking this is something coming out of a kid's toy box or what you might see in a Disneyland parade, think again.  These creations were incredible and so lifelike.  Their movements were so natural and the three people that were guiding this creature just blended in and became apart of it, not acting as a distraction to the rest of the display on stage.  The way they were able to create this horse, and all the other animals in the play, allowed this to be an absolutely incredible production visually.

Due to the ever changing setting of this play, they kept the backdrop simple, relying more on the integration of visual media to help set the scene.  A basic black background, with a beige strip at the top was the backing of the entire show.  However, what they did with that beige strip was absolutely brilliant.  They used line drawings that would change to show ships sailing, a mass of soldiers and horses crossing a battlefield, a sky changing.  In addition to that, they would display the date, like a journal entry, to allow you to know at what point in the story it was, since the play takes place over the course of seven years.

This performance was incredible and the cast truly brought their "A-game."  Each cast member really invited you into the story, so that you couldn't help but be engrossed in the performance.  In other productions I have been to it was easy to say "I really like the actor/actress who played ____________," but in this production, there is no one person that stands out above the rest.  The actors truly became that characters and wanted you to feel their emotion and struggle.

I am just still in utter awe of this production and if anyone has a chance to see it at Segerstrom or any other theater  I highly recommend doing so because you are honestly missing out on an incredible performance if you don't.

Parenthood -- Robbed Again?

Am I the only one that recognizes the brilliance that is Parenthood?  Scratch that, I KNOW I'm not.  

I like many others, think that Parenthood continues to be robbed year after year when it comes to award nominations.  What other show is as true to life as it is?  This show -- on a weekly basis -- makes me laugh and cry, all in the same hour of TV.  The cast is second to none.  I WISH I was part of the Braverman family.  

This show continues to hit on issues that have been lacking from many shows: teen pregnancy; a Marine returning from Iraq; a mom with cancer; Asperger's; adoption; bullying.  Not to mention the "normal" topics it hits on exceedingly well: marriage woes; sibling relationships; kids going off to college; grandparents; teenage romance; dating your boss; divorce; mothers-in-law.  They talk about all of these topics and they do it with humor and realism, allowing you to truly become invested in the characters. 


Parenthood really does it all, but yet, still no award nominations and an increasingly shorter season each year.  I love this show and I love the Bravermans.  

Rock of Ages

Last night, my gammy and I went to see the new musical Rock of Ages.  It was PHENOMENAL.  I highly recommend it to anybody, especially those that enjoy musicals or 80s music.  


I have been to several musicals now at Segerstrom Hall at the Orange County Performing Arts Center, sitting in the same area (the cheap seats at the top, I'm a college student, it's all I can afford!).  This most recent performance was by far the most incredible of the four I have now seen there. South Pacific, Hair, and Beauty and the Beast were all fantastic shows and the performers had incredible voices, but they still fell short to the Rock of Ages cast (that include Constantine from American Idol).  


This cast did two things that I was always taught as a performer: they projected and performed to the audience members in the very back of the auditorium.  Sitting in the back, the performances can tend to be a bit lacking, but this was an exception.  Every cast member on that stage made me feel like I was a part of the show, living in the 80s, fighting to keep Sunset Strip alive.  


Throughout the show, I found myself singing along to practically every song.  Despite being born at the end of the 80s, my parents raised me on that music.  I went through my phase of begrudgingly listening to it when I was in middle school, but now I am so grateful that my parents put me through that "torture."  I have been able to enjoy some of the greatest music there is thanks to it. 


If you love the 80s, love musicals, or just plain love a good time, then go see Rock of Ages if you get the opportunity, don't just wait for the movie.