The New Days of Disco

Joey B, Ianovich and I are flying out tomorrow afternoon for the annual pilgrimage to Buffalo NY for the world's Largest Disco.

My wonderful friend Anne entertains us all every year with her rants brought on by people who come to the disco in outfits not representative of the disco era (or even of the 70s). Here's Anne's advice for all you disco lovers:

Anne`s Guide to Disco

When attending and event as large as the World`s Largest Disco one must come prepared. This guide will help the masses prepare for the event and make sure that they are not stepping on the boundaries of various era as well as not piss me off with their choice of apparel.

When beginning the journey to transcend into disconess, one must know the true meaning of disco.

Disco was a popular dance music, especially in the late 1970`s, characterized by strong repetitive bass rhythms. Discothèque comes from the French language meaning “record library”. This was then shortened to disco and used to described music, dance and fashion.

Disco Fashion

Please be aware that psychedelic miniskirts and white boots were not part of disco fashion. These are the garb worn by go-go dancers in the 60`s. Disco fashion was much more sophisticated and glamorous. If you would like to flip your hair, wear a headband and flash a peace sign at every opportunity, please choose another venue. The disco is not the place to come with your mixed up ideas of disco. When someone truly has the essence of disco thoughts of polyester suits, Kaftan dresses, flared trousers, platform shoes and catsuits should come to mind. There was also no shortage of sequins. If in doubt check out this website: http://www.fashion-era.com/1970s.htm

Disco music and moves

Signature dance moves for anyone who loves the night life and wants to boogie can take cues from the most infamous disco goer, Tony Manero. Tony Manero is the character played by John Travolta in the 1977 classic “Saturday Night Fever”. He had moves that made the ladies crazy. If you want the same effect, practice the Hustle. It`s a classic and easy to do. Take notes and dance along to Saturday Night Fever, rent it, watch it, and be it.

These tips and techniques are here to help guide you through your disco experience. Remember, it may be easy to pick up a miniskirt and a fringed vest but when you choose to be a hippie for a disco party you are not only hurting yourself, your also hurting my patience. In closing I would also like to indicate that if you show up in any Cyndi Lauper garb then you are seriously mistaken your eras and shouldn`t be there because you are most likely not old enough to consume alcohol (I’m just saying).

Donna Martin Graduates

I started this post early this morning, while sitting in the pavilion at UIC, waiting for Joey B's Commencement to begin. Unfortunately, though I could enter the title and tags, I could neither enter copy into the body of the blog, nor could I upload photos from my blackberry. Not sure is it's a blackberry, or Blogger issue. I plan on complaining either way.

The ceremony was like nothing else I've ever witnessed. The highlight, besides seeing Joey B crossing the stage to receive his degree, was the pre-recorded address from the ailing Ray Bradbury, who was too ill to attend in person. It was a very heart-warming address on the merits of a higher education from a man who was too poor in his youth to pursue one. Throughout the majority of his speech a cat perched on his shoulders, which was absolute perfection.

I, being allergic to long, boring ceremonies, was surprised at how moved I was. I could not stop misting up. I am so proud of Joey B and all the hard work he has put into his academic career. I am excited to see what is next.

The class Valedictorian leaned on the words of the animated duo, Pinly & The Brain, as she wrapped up her speech by encouraging her peers to spend tonight, and every night doing one important thing, "Trying to take over the world."

On The Watch

As someone who prides himself on his pop culture awareness I have to say - The Watchmen came out of left field for me. The first I heard about it is when Joey B pointed out my old high school classmate, Malin, on the cover of Entertainment Weekly.

I have never been much of a comic book fan. When I was a kid, I would take a look if they happened to be lying around, but I was much more interested in novels of the young adult oeuvre. I am proud of the fact (but not in that pompus "I'm too good for this" kind of a way) that I have managed to resist all peer pressure and thereby haven't seen any of the Spiderman or Batman films (I broke down and watched Ironman with Joey B In December... meh). The truth is that these films hold very little appeal for me. I detest car chases, fight scenes and explosions. I could have cut at least an hour out of the final LOTR movie - without sacrificing a second of plot. Frankly, I'd rather have a Shamrock Shake (available now for a limited time!)

For some strange reason, I am totally jonesing (note: SpellCheck recommended replacing josesing with minnesinger) to see this film, to the point where I tried to get Joey B to go see a screening at 7am this morning in the IMAX theater on Navy Pier (I would have still been able to get to the office on time) but he thought we should purchase the Graphic Novel (read: comic book) before we see the film. I have been thinking about popping out of the office to grab a copy, but the weather and the huge number of slow walking tourists on Michigan Avenue have kept me firmly at my desk.

Still, the lure of this film (with reported full frontal CGI nudity) is palpable. I am definitely planning on checking it out as soon as I can sharing my thoughts with you. If you happen to catch a glimpse of a fast-moving blur progressing up the Magnificent Mile, there's no need to fear. It's not a bird (or a plane) it's just a man on a mission.

This is How we Roll

Ianovich is in town for the week and we are trying to make the most of the brother bonding time before we fly back to Niagara this weekend. Yes, I am flying into Buffalo airport, and out again on Sunday night when I return to Chicago.

Monday night we joined Jason Fab and our friend Matty at Sidetrack to enjoy show tunes, cocktails and good company. We had such a wonderful time and I will definitely try to go more often. I did get a free drink from one of the bartenders, so at least my foregone days of glory haven’t completely disappeared. Though, I did have to endure a very intoxicated woman who kept telling me that the bartender was “really into me.” She assured me that she was never wrong, with a knowing gleam in her eye, but then fell halfway off her stool – destroying all her credibility.

Last night we joined Joe O at Halsted Bar & Grill for some pre-volleyball food and then headed home to play our new Wii Agatha Christie Mystery game. We were super excited, and then dropped off like flies, one by one until the entire household was asleep by 9pm. To say that we can’t party like we used to was an understatement.

Tonight, an early show of Confessions of a Shop-a-holic and then dinner at Chelsea Grill. Hurray!

Disco is all the Rage

As I do every year, I spent my birthday weekend in Buffalo NY, attending the World's Largest Disco. This year, despite a huge rise in ticket cost (it's for charity, what are you gonna do?) the event was still sold out by the first week in September.

The best part of this year's disco, is that they shifted the event hours form 8-12 to 9-1. This allowed us additional time to get ready, and take a billion pictures in the hotel before we took the shuttle to the convention center. Ianovich, though he flew in from the UK to attend, was suffering from Jet Lag and slept through the entire event.

This year sold out faster than it ever has before and, as a result, I was left without tickets for myself and Joey B. Thankfully, the fabulous Natalie Ventresca had an extra for me but I had to buy Joey B's ticket on stubhub.com - for twice the face value. The kicker is that I forgot the ticket in Chicago so I MAY have had to trade a certain amount of money PERHAPS in exchange for another ticket the day of the event with a man who could POSSIBLY be considered a scalper. If I had done such a thing, I may have felt doubly stupid because the man might have charged me only half of what the aforementioned website charged.

The night was, as always, incredibly fun and the fast bar service and additional washrooms just added to the really positive vibe. This year's guests were four of the Brady children; Greg, Peter, Bobby and Cindy, respectively. They taught everyone how to do a dance from their variety show days. There was also a group of Village People who led everyone from the stage when they played YMCA - the cowboy was DREAMY.

The only (mild) downer for me was around midnight, they showed a slide show presentation showing the children of who attend Camp Good Days (the chosen cancer charity for this year's event) set to a very sad song. Suddenly, all these people around us were crying.

My friend Anne, whose personal pet peeve, is people who dress from the wrong era at themed events, ranted every time she saw a girl in gogo boots. As a result of these hilarious tirades, I offered Anne a chance to guest blog and very soon you will all learn the error of your ways - not that any Rage Reader would ever dress inappropriately!

Due to the crazy snow storm yesterday here in Chicago, I have not been able to upload my photos from the event, but here are some shots by Chris Brown. I Hope everyone had an amazing Thanksgiving weekend.

In the Velvet

Joey B and I caught a matinee of "Wicked" yesterday at the Ford Center for the Performing Arts in downtown Chicago. I have seen the show a couple of times before but, as always, was blown away by the unique take and new life that every subsequent cast brings. Joey B had never seen the show and was impressed by the score, the superb acting and the wonderful set.

As I have mentioned before, I attended a Performing Arts high school and had the distinct honor of staging our high school productions in the World Famous Shaw Festival's Royal George Theatre. I have loved the stage for as long as I can remember but, due to stage fright that I developed about 8 years ago, I have not been on one in some time.

Last night, following the show the cast entreated the audience to provide donation to Broadway Cares: Equity Fights AIDS by dropping whatever one could spare into the silver buckets being held by cast members in the lobby. They also mentioned that there was a raffle (at $20 a ticket) to win a chance to perform for one night along with the cast on stage. The odds are 1 in 500 - cross your fingers.

Theater for me has always elicited a very visceral reaction. I have, many times, found myself welling up as the lights dim and the orchestra strikes up the few opening bars. Yesterday was no exception. As a caveat, I should mention that my house warming/birthday party was this past Saturday night and I have been known for years to cry easily when suffering from the "Booze Blues". But in the theater, this is never the real reason.

In the fall of 2003 my Mother purchased tickets for myself, my younger brother Ian, my older brother Andrew and his wife Sheelagh to see an evening performance of "The Lion King" in Toronto on a Wednesday night. I was working at a job that I didn't really enjoy and was very, very resistant to working an entire day and then driving, in rush hour traffic, all the way to Toronto for a show. I was short tempered, irritable and (in case you haven't already guessed) not much fun to be around for the drive up.

When we arrived I kept up a steady stream of comments about the parking lot attendant, pedi-cabs, our fellow theater-goers and a number of other topics - I am amazed that my brother didn't see fit to drown me in the nearest puddle as we walked along King Street to the theatre.

We settled into our (very nice) seats and I was obstinately prepared to thoroughly detest the show (being a purist, I thought that no good could come of a musical based on a cartoon). Then the lights went down and actors, in the wonderful costumes created by Julie Tamour, began to pour through the audience toward the stage and I was overwhelmed with emotion - tears pouring down my cheeks. I was suddenly so happy. I was exactly where I should have been on that dark, damp October night. I was in the velvet and everything was right with the world.

My Brain Hurts

Friday night we (being Joey B, Vix and myself) decided to stay home and force the world to come to us. How did we accomplish this? We set a trap with Cranium as the bait. We managed to rope in Jason Fab and a couple of Vix's friends - Ryan & Caroline.

Due to my tendency to be very (though charmingly) competitive Joey B has a long standing rule where he will not be on my team. As a result, I played the first game partnered with Vix and the second with Jason Fab. I won the first and lost the second (in a dismal third place finish). Regardless of the outcomes, we had an amazing time.

On one particular turn, Joey B created the fabulous sculpture below. If you think you know what the answer is, enter your guess in the comment section below. The correct answer will win two $30 gift certificate to Blue Jean bar in Chicago. (click photo to enlarge)

After our guest made their way home, there was the craziest storm yet here in the Midwest. There was psychotic thunder and lightening and, following a particularly bright strike and a window shaking roll of thunder, Vix and I looked at each other and just knew that lightening had struck in the neighborhood. Once the worst of the storm had passed, we headed out into the street to determine what damage had been done. This is what we found:

This tree was struck by lightening, split into three pieces and fell across Wilson ave. It was really
cool, though I did feel really, really bad for the owner of the grey sedan. Afterwards, Vix and I walked to the bridge over the Chicago river and watched the fireflies and the moon reflected in the water. Then we made our way home and listened to music on Vix's laptop by candlelight until the power came back on.
It's amazing how candlelight totally changes the way your home looks and feels. I totally recommend trying it for yourself - the storm and power failure are, of course, optional.

House Proud

Our House is currently on the market which means that I have to keep it in tip top shape. On a regular basis I have to vacuum and Joey B and I stay on top of the dishes at all times. It really doesn't take too much time but, like everything I do, I have taken it to an extreme. I have become obsessed (Joey B would say to an annoying degree) with keeping the house spotless. I realized it had gome too far this morning when I suffered a bout of what I will call "Paul Gravelle" syndrome - I was on my hands and knees polishing the floor in my bedroom. Yes, this is not a typo. I hand-polished my floor with orange oil at eight o'clock in the morning. Medical intervention may be necessary.

Moving on. I figured since many of you have not yet had the opportunity to visit my fair pied-de-terre I would do a quick tour so you can feel like you have. As I was editing I realized that I included some pretty crazy pans (it's not the Blair Witch project, but nausea may be experienced!) I left out the basement as well, which isn't much to look at but IS clean, clean, clean.

Enjoy!

Lazybones

Joey B just bought me a new camera, and I am in the slow process of learning how to use it's many features. I am trying to use the editing software that came with it, but if anyone has a suggestion for a more user friendly program, please send it my way!

Moving on.

Getting Joey B up in the morning is not an enviable task. Unlike those of us who emerge from our bedrooms perky (and perfectly put together) he requires kid gloves for the first hour or so after he arises. In this sense, Soleil takes after her Papa 100%. Though she is willing to follow you around in the morning, as soon as you stop she promptly flops down onto the closest surface for a much deserved nap.

Here is a little taste of our baby girl in the morning:

Taking care of baby...

So Joey B is riding a massive hangover and I, being a dutiful (if slightly self-absorbed) boyfriend have been taking care of him since I got home from work. This is a rundown of my evening:

• Returned home bearing the sure-fire hangover cure - a cheese burger from "What's the Beef". Joey B eats with relish.
• (insert lapse of 30 minutes) Joey B throws up said cure
• Joey B is instructed by loving caretaker to take some Gravol - as this will surely settle his stomach. Joey B is instructed on exactly where the Gravol is located in the medicine cabinet.
• (insert lapse of 30 minutes) following an inquiry as to whether the Gravol is working it is ascertained that Joey B was not able to locate said anti-nausea medication.
• (insert lapse of 1 minute) Gravol is located exactly where it should be. Loving caretaker brings pill and glass of water.
• Dinner is ordered from Thai Oscar. Joey B does not vomit. Progress.
• Joey B's new computer is delivered. Loving caretaker sets up wireless router and provides speakers, keyboard and mouse to ailing bf.
• Celebrity Apprentice (YAWN) and Lipstick Jungle (YUM) are viewed and parsed.
  
• Loving caretaker tucks ailing bf into bed and proceeds to write a lame time-line instead of an actual post due to complete exhaustion. Apologies tendered.