MEL GIBSON IS A DAD. AGAIN!!!

Mel Gibson is a father. Again. I’m emphasizing on the again part, since you probably know that this is his 8th child. OK, so he has like 1o siblings and I guess we can conclude that he likes big families. But the problem is, only one of these 8 children is from another woman- his current girlfriend Oksana Grigorieva. The rest of the “klan” is from his wife he is getting divorced from. I don’t know which is worse really? To be getting divorced or to be getting divorced from the other parent of your 7 kids?

I used to have a huge crush on Mel Gibson when I was a teen. Don’t get me wrong, when I watch his old movies- I still have a crush. It is the whole drunkenness, weird comments and religion mania that turn me off. Of course he is not the looker he was in the 80s and the 90s, but he used to be the one of the most good-looking men in Hollywood.

Now it is not uncommon for us regular folk to fantasize about celebrities and wish we could date them- but as much as I wished I could play Michelle Pfeiffer’s part in Tequila Sunrise or Rene Russo’s in Lethal Weapon 3 ( The list is longer, I’m just making a point here), I really and literally couldn’t fantasize about being his romantic interest. He was always married- since 1980 and he started to appear in films in the late 70s anyway- and he had so many children!!! I mean it is OK to want to have kids with someone you love but 7 is just way too much. It means his wife Robyn Moore spent more than 5 years of her life pregnant. Please, Mel- a little birth control would really do you good.

He is a good actor and a film-maker I respect. His personal life aside, I admire his talent. I just wish that he can channel his energy to his work. A lot of us can barely make time for a career and a personal life. How can you be an actor/director/producer and have 8 kids? Unbelievable.

 

Here is a nice video from Tequila Sunrise, prepared with a song from the movie: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=v7rhw8ulFcQ&feature=related

Mel Gibson, young

 

ALIAS

Some of Sydey's many disguises in Alias

Before 2001, I had no idea who Michael Vartan, Jennifer Garner and Bradley Cooper were. I had no idea the terrific actor that is Victor Garber existed and that Ron Rifkin made such a great villain. In 2001 – before Lost- there was Alias. The connection between the two shows? The creator/executive producer J.J. Abrams. The two shows could not have been more different. Yes, both include mystery, some unexplained supernatural possibilities (Alias will remember “Rambaldi”) and lots of action. But for the life of me, I can’t figure out why Lost became the phenomenon that it still is. Sure it is captivating and all, but Alias had created an addiction in me that Lost didn’t. For those of you who never caught Alias, here’s the plot (although I should mention that the order we are given the story is more complicated & intriguing than my orderly version).

THE BACKGROUND

Jennifer Garner as Sydney Bristow

 

Sydney Bristow (Jennifer Garner) is a promising college student, with a great boyfriend Danny (Edward Atterton) and loving friends (Will and Francie; played by Bradley Cooper and Merrin Dungey). Her estranged father Jack (Victor Garber) is a businessman she barely talks to and her mother died when she was a kid.

What she told Danny and her friends:

Graduation is taking a tad longer, since she is “working at the finance department of a bank called Credit Dauphine”.

REALITY, as Sydney knows it:

It’s not really a bank. It is SD-6, a secret branch of the CIA and Sydney is a secret agent there. She fights well, speaks many languages and knows her hi-tech gadgets, prepared for every mission by the fast -talking and nice geek Marshall

(Kevin Weisman). Every time she tells her friends, she is going on a business trip, she is actually going on a deadly assignments with her partner/trusted friend Dixon (Carl Lumbly). But Danny proposes ans she feels obliged to tell him. So she does..

He gets into shock and leaves a drunken message on her machine. The agency guys has him killed. Why would CIA kill an innocent civillian? They wouldn’t. They also wouldn’t go after her to kill her.

REALITY

She’s rescued by her absent businessman father and is told the truth: SD-6 is not CIA, in fact SD-6 is an enemy of CIA. Also, he is not a businessman; but a senior SD-6 agent. He offeres Sydney an escape route. But Sydney is upset and she wants vengeance. So she proves herself useful to her boss Arvin Sloane (Ron Rifkin). She further proves her loyalty by undergoing tests/interrogations and is cleared. After all, she is the best agent they have. Then she goes to the real CIA and joins them.

There she meets her “handler” Michael Vaughn (Michael Vartan- the guy who is supposed to tell her about the counter-missions. Oh,that’s right! Now she is only pretending to be loyal to SD-6, while being true to the actual CIA. Now each mission has a counter one, making the timing harder, the missions more dangerous. She also has to pull this off under the unsuspecting nose of her SD-6 partner, who is genuinely a good guy that doesn’t know what SD-6 is really up to…

Then of course her father isn’t really only SD-6. He is also CIA, and he is loyal to them, not Sloan.

It is full of action. Car chases, gadgets ( lipstick with cameras and all that nice stuff), disguises, plane crashes, travelling all over the world- even 3-4 countries in each episode back to her resident location: Los Angeles.

MISSIONS

 

One mission when she's posing as an asylum patient, trying to gain the trust of an inmate

 

 

She is posing as an ecort to a fat,ugly baddie. She is going to make him sorry he ever looked.

 

 

Syd and Vaughn are on a mission together, posing as metal music lovers.

 

Of course as smart, gorgeous and dangerous as she is, Sydney is only human and taking all of the below very badly:

Arvin Sloane:

Arvin Sloan played by Ron Rifkin

*Arvin is the man whom she regarded as a father figure until he turned out to be a psychopath and her fiancée killed. He also sent men to kill her. We also know he has lied to her everyday, since her recruitment. Now she has to see him everyday and smile to his face; so that she can bring the whole organization down when the time comes.

Not to mention the fact that she has to live with the fact that she worked for that organization for 7 years, thinking that she was helping the government whereas she had been betraying it.

Jack Bristow

Victor Garber playing Jack Bristow

* What is worse than an absent father? Probably a father who lied to you all your life, and seems to be revealing the truth at his own convenience: Oh yes, he has more secrets. He is not just SD-6, he is also CIA-a double agent. He also seems to be deprived of emotion. The guy has a poker face that makes him a great agent and the social bonding skills that make Hugh Laurie’s House seem like a teddy bear. He does love his daughter but he really has to work on the honesty issue. Her mother may not have been a school teacher after all. Telling what happened to her will be a spoiler, sorry…

WILL & FRANCIE

Will and Francie played by Bradley Cooper and Merrin Dungey

*Oh, she has great friends who know nothing about this secret life so she can only talk about trivial stuff with them and hang out. They love her and for the lives of them can not figure out why Sydney doesn’t leave her boring bank job. Plıus, Will is a journalist and nosy by nature; and he suspects Danny’s murder was no ordinary crime. If he gets close, he too will be killed so she has to protect him from himself. It gets tricky to lead a double life when you live with one of your friends (Francie) and the other is fixed on solving your dead fiancé’s mystery.

DANIEL HECHT

Daniel Hecht played by Edward Atterton

* She has to live with the fact that her fiancée Danny was killed by her boss, and because she told him who she is.

MICHAEL VAUGHN

Michael Vartan plays Michael Vaughn

If her cover is blown, and he is discovered to be of CIA, they are both screwed (as in risking to be murdered by SD-6)…It really doesn’t help matters that they keep getting closer and become increasingly attracted to each other…

Their relationship never lacks adrenaline, friendship, honesty, sexual chemistry, bottled up feelings and not to mention the fact that they both face death almost everyday. It is nerve-wrecking to go on missions and fight together on the field- without being detected by SD-6 and it is worse for Michael to sit and watch as Sydney overtakes one deadly mission after another. So she can tell Michael anything. But she can’t even go out with him. Another thing about her life that drives her mad.

This is as close to a date it gets for Syndey Bristow and her handler Michael Vaughn. She’s being briefed about her missions while pretending to be too strangers streching on the benches.

So this eventually happens: Sydney and Vaughn get together. But how many episodes does it take? You are just going to have to see it for yourselves.

The Guest Stars

Yes, of course each episode has many guest stars but some of them are remarkably famous and it was certainly fun to see them in those kick-ass episodes: Ethan Hawke, Christian Slater and Quentin Tarantino

Ethan Hawke appears in Alias episode Double Agent (Season 2, Episode 14)

Christian Slater appears in two episodes of Alias: Endgame (season 2, episodes 15 & 19)

Quentin Tarantino appears as McKenas Cole in 4 episodes of Alias.

TO SUM UP:

Season 1 is brilliant with an incredible season finale.

Season 2 does not dissapoint. Moreover it features guest stars that I love; such as Ethan Hawke and Christian Slater.

The whole season is amazing and the finale is arguably even more shocking than the first season’s. In season, 3 the show is still good- you hardly get upset with the script but with some actions of some characters (major actions of major characters, to be exact) but after season 3…The show is no longer addictive. It lose its vibe. The characters and their actions aren’t interesting anymore. The story twists are sort of desperate and you say “Come on,what the…?” a lot. Don’t even get me started on the 5th season. Of course they are worth watching in the sense that you want to know what eventually will happen to characters you have come to care about but still, if you quit with the 3rd, I am not gonna blame you.

My guess is J.J Abrams found a new show idea that he liked (Lost) and fell out of love with Alias. Writers wrote with the philosophy of “anything goes” and since this is not a soap opera, they failed.

However I watch the first 3 (and especially 1st &2nd) seasons over and over. After all, real life is never going to get that interesting and exciting. It is fun to be in a world of lies, deceit, passion, fights and chases and espionage for about 40 minutes each episode.

House: Better than Sherlock Holmes and CSI combined!

Hugh Laurie as the hilarious and eccentric Gregory House

 

 

Foreman: “Isn’t treating patients why we became doctors?”
House: “No, treating illnesses is why we became doctors. Treating patients is what makes most doctors miserable.”

 

It took me about 10 minutes of one episode to be hooked to this guy. I am saying guy- the show House revolves around a doctor named Gregory House- who approaches to medical cases scientifically. The creators never hide the fact that they were inspired by Sherlock Holmes . Add a little CSI factor as he sends his medical team to the patient’s homes to investigate. Oh, that’s right. Because he doesn’t trust his patients. And he is right. Almost always they lie to save their asses from getting into trouble – even though it means risking their lives. House does not tolerate stupidity or insincerity. He tells whatever he thinks and is not concerned about faking anything. He is brilliant and although thought to be arrogant, I just think he is blunt. Now let’s see why I think this has been the most interesting show on TV. Yes, there have been brilliant comedies (Friends, Married with Children) and some kick-ass action series (first seasons of Alias, 24), but House rises above. Because the thing is, it does not waste its time on creating romance so that the audience will come back. Oh there is some romance going on between the staff alright. But how House reacts to them is hilarious. Oh, and it is so exciting without any action scenes. It is more captivating than the action series and it manages this in a hospital setting. And no, again it is not about the drama caused by the patients or their relatives. It is House’s race against time in trying to save the patient. His team is so concerned about labeling him as apathetic and/or as an asshole, since he always seems to care more about solving the case, rather than saving a life. Of course what the idiots are not considering is that without the solution, the patient will already be dead. So why should House’s intentions and lack of bedside manners matter?

Let’s take a brief look at characters.

Lisa Cuddy

Hugh Laurie's House vs. Lisa Edelstein's Cuddy

Lisa is the dean of medicine at the hospital House works in. She is long-lost in administrative business and clashes with House all the time. Sure there are some chemistry issues and sexual innuendos underneath but it doesn’t help Cuddy that House is the least politically correct person to walk the earth. He doesn’t care about pleasing anyone or ethics or hospital rules. The fact that he defies norms all the time has helped a lot of patients lived, but then Cuddy has a career and hospital to protect. Of course the show never ever wastes time about them trying to date. House’s lines are just brilliant. Cuddy never ceases to be shocked and/or outraged by House’s next insane idea.

She has to bear with him because he is an amazing doctor who only takes seemingly impossible cases. But he hates clinic duty, watches TV in coma patients’ room and so forth. The guy is a riot to watch and a nightmare to work with.

*****

one of my favorite dialogs; from Season 1, Episode 3

House: Hello, sick people and their loved ones! In the interest of saving time and avoiding a lot of boring chitchat later, I’m Doctor Gregory House; you can call me “Greg”. I’m one of three doctors staffing this clinic this morning.

Cuddy: Short, sweet, grab a file.

House: This ray of sunshine is Doctor Lisa Cuddy. Doctor Cuddy runs this whole hospital, so unfortunately she’s much too busy to deal with you. I am a board … certified diagnostician with a double specialty of infectious disease and nephrology. I am also the only doctor currently employed at this hospital who is forced to be here against his will.
That is true, isn’t it? But not to worry, because for most of you, this job could be done by a monkey with a bottle of Motrin. Speaking of which, if you’re particularly annoying, you may see me reach for this: this is Vicodin. It’s mine! You can’t have any! And no, I do not have a pain management problem, I have a pain problem … but who knows? Maybe I’m wrong. Maybe I’m too stoned to tell. So, who wants me?

*****

The Team: Dr. Foreman, Dr. Chase and Dr. Cameron.

These three had leading parts in the first three seasons. Seasons 4 and 5 had Chase and Cameron’s roles cut and a new team joining under Foreman. However, these three provide the substructure.

FOREMAN

Omar Epps as Dr. Eric Foreman in House

Foreman has had a troubled childhood and House always refers to his “shady” past. Foreman always looks for an opportunity to prove House is wrong and he just can’t.

And of course House loves to get on Foreman’s nerves. Because House is the wittiest one, people.

 

Foreman: “Why are you riding me?”
House: “It’s what I do…has it gotten worse lately?”
Foreman: “Yeah. Seems to me.”
House: “Really. Well, that rules out the race thing. ‘Cause you were just as black last week.”

CHASE

Jesse Spencer as Dr. Chase in House

 

Chase is an Australian doctor played by real life Australian actor Jesse Spencer. I must admit, when I first saw him, I thought he was really good-looking. However it is not the cute face of someone but it the attitude and the brains and the wit that win you over. 10 minutes into the show, I couldn’t care less about Chase. I wanted Hugh Laurie’s House on screen, every minute.

 

House calls him British and Chase says :

“I’m Australian.”

House: “You put the queen on your money. You are British.”

CAMERON

Jennifer Morrison as Dr. Cameron in House

Cameron has had the hots for house for a while. House thinks she is pretty and smart and everything. But please don’t tell me you are expecting a relationship, a whirlwind romance after everything I told you. Towards the end of season 1, Cameron quits her job and forces House to have a date with her; this is her condition to come back. House reluctantly agrees. The thing is House things, if she wants him, she is nuts. He says so at their date. He is older than her, his leg is injured, he is addicted to pain medication, he is not a nice guy and he is not good-looking. Wow, this is so not how she pictured their date would go…

WILSON

Robert Sean Leonard as Dr. Wilson in House

House’s best friend. As opposite as they seem, they seem to complete each other. Just like House was loosely based on Sherlock, Wilson is loosely based on Watson. They quarrel and disagree on almost everything. Yet somehow, they have fun together.

 

Wilson: “She’s hot, so she’s a hooker? What kind of pathetic logic is that?”
House: “The envious, jealous, I-never-got-any-in-high-school kind of logic, hello! “

The great thing about House is that although you know he is going to do something unpredictable and fun to watch, you just can’t guess his next step. Just see a couple of episodes and you will know what I mean. And it is funny how he got rid off Cameron at their date by stating all the negative things about himself and all the while I was thinking how sexy he was. No, it is not about girls being attracted to assholes as a friend (also attracted to Hugh Laurie’s wonderful portrayal of House) suggested. The thing is, I don’t think House is an asshole. He is smart and blunt. He is not into any kind of politics. Oh, and there is the fun aspect: He has amazing blue eyes, rugged good – looks and an awfully charismatic voice- a very real American accent. Hugh is English in real life. Oh and he is not a bastard when he cares about the people who deserve to be cared about. An ex-girlfriend/the love of his life ( Stacey, played by Sela Ward) comes to the show and you see how he is when he is in love.

 

End note: One philosophy of House is that “Everybody lies”. Yet once in a while he believes that a patient of his is telling the truth. One of the team members asks:

“What happened to “everybody lies”?  House replies: “I lied.”

 

quote source:

http://www.housemdquotes.com/

Desperate Housewives: addictively hilarious and entertaning

Well, people made such a big fuss about the show that it had to be overrated, right? And if you- like me- only a caught a glimpse of episodes randomly while trying to check James Denton out (or the women,if you prefer); it could have seemed to you that the shows plot was beyond implausible, the characters  unlikeable. Hence I really didn’t think the show was worth following. Oh, it was a real pleasure to come to realize that I couldn’t have been more wrong.

One night I came across Season 5 reruns and I had nothing better to do and that was it. I was hooked. The show is admittedly one of the most entertaining and original shows ever.

I used to think suburbia is boring. Oh, of course the houses look great. And of course it would be lovely to live on a street where you are close friends with your neighbors who are roughly the same age…But it would be boring. Being away from the city? Having a car as the only way of transportation? Having children around? Being married?? Being a housewife??? Oh well…of course these situations do exist. It is just that the women’s lives are never boring. And there is always so much cheating/lying/back-stabbing/plotting going on. Oh, I don’t mean these friends are doing those to each other. Oh no. But what happens with the other neighbors is always a riot!

Just on the top of my head- (from the first season alone):

* In the first episode the narrator (Mary Alice Young) kills herself. As she narrates and gives us clues, we put the pieces together and try to understand why she would do that. She had a loving son, a loving marriage and had great friends.

Meet the gang:

 

SUSAN (AND MIKE)

Teri Hatcher as Susan and James Denton as Mike

 

She has a massive crush on the dreamy plumber/ the new neighbor Mike. He  is like a breath of fresh air to Susan’s  romantic life-after all Susan is the divorced mother of a teenage girl. Her husband has cheated and left her for another woman. But of course as hot as Mike is, things are complicated. He seems to be giving her mixed signals and we the viewer see what Susan does not. Mike has a lot of cash lying around, a gun in his belt, and plans& notes on the whole neighborhood. He is a man on a mission and it doesn’t seem like a very innocent one…

 

*Gabby  (Eva Longoria):

Eva Longoria Parker as Gabby Solis and Jesse Metcalfe as her teenage gardener

Gabby is cheating  on her husband with her teenage gardener (Jesse Metcalfe).

* Lynette (Felicity Huffman)

Felicity Huffman as Lynette Scavo

She has 4 kids. She despises being a housewife as she used to be a top advertising exec. before she became a full-time mom.

*Bree ( Marcia Cross)

Marcia Cross

She is always groomed and made up. She is always prepared and meticulous and “perfect”. She is the perfect host and  her family is so bothered by this.

*Edie (Nicolette Sheridan)

Nicolette Sheridan

She is hot and is not the least bit shy about it. Edie may be hot and festive, but she is not exactly a female loved by her peers. She is just too out there…

 

Well if you haven’t seen the show yet, you might think this is not complicated at all. Trust me, what you just read is the overly simplified version. The comedy, intrigue and the romance are well-balanced. The thing about these women are that they are not that desperate. Hell, they are not exactly just housewives either. Before Lynette quit, she was much more successful than her husband who is also in advertising. She is desperate because she has realized is that dealing with 4 small children is a lot harder than running a company. Susan illustrates children’s books. Edie is in real estate, Gabby is an ex runway model. Well, Bree is only a housewife but then she is so obsessed with it you can say it is a career for her: she does all her own cooking, cleaning,gardening,making her own clothes,fixing everything…

Gabby is only fooling around because her seemingly rich and romantic husband is just rich, inconsiderate and a workaholic. With her past career and good looks, it isn’t that hard to imagine she has the hormones and motives to match her gardener’s… Bree might seem like the mother and wife from hell but her son will be enough to make a lot of women not wanna have kids. Lynette has the tendency to hate her husband at times since he doesn’t seem to get what a difficult job she has at home and of course because he has made her pregnant 4 times. And the little baby is the least of her troubles. Susan has no idea about the past of the love of her life and she is a generally clueless person/mother/woman. Edie is…well,you have seen the picture. And while all of their lives are interesting and complicated, the darkest secrets might be about to come from their recently deceased friend; Mary Alice…

Now that season 6 started, I am onto the new season. Of course I had seen half of season 5 and I just finished watching seasons 1& 2. Even with this weird order I’m following the show, I love every second of it. I hope they have many more seasons and keep having mysterious new neighbors with dark secrets and a dangerous agenda…Oh and of course, kudos to Marc Cherry to creating the show. And hats off to the casting people!

from left: Nicolette Sheridan, Teri Hatcher, Marcia Cross,Felicity Huffman, Eva Longoria Parker

 

Bizarre Celebrity Couplings: Manson and Girlfriends

ROSE McGowan  &  MARIYLN Manson

Manson and McGowan.

Yes, I am well aware of the fact that they broke up ages ago. But it doesn’t change the fact that they looked odd together, more like The Beauty and The Beast. Don’t get me wrong. I respect Manson to a certain extent. His image may not be my cup of tea but at least he is honest. Have you seen Michael Moore’s Bowling for Colombine? There, Manson says that he is doing whatever he does to attract attention. How many celebrities do that? But his honesty aside, there is a strong ick factor. No, it is not (just) the make-up! I actually heard that he had a surgical operation to have some bones removed so that he could give himself a blow-job! YUCKS!!! I really hope that’s some bogus news generated by his publicist. Otherwise it is just too much.

It is interesting that his girlfriends are beautiful actresses. I know rockers are known to pick up hot chicks but Manson isn’t your idea of a hot rocker, is he? We are moving on another Manson coupling:

 

EVAN RACHEL Wood  &  MARILYN  Manson

Evan Rachel and Marilyn

And the moral is pick up the guitar and girls will come regardless of your make-up and style? I know musicians tended to look pretty funny through out the history- just look at the fashion in every decade. And I have to admit, it is not like I never liked a band with make-up. I still like Kiss. I own Twisted Sister albums. Hell, I saw Bon Jovi guitarist Richie Sambora with lipstick back in the day! Still, does this look like a match made in heaven?

allure of the older guy: part 4

Dermot Mulroney (46)

I remember watching My Best Friend’s Wedding at the theaters in 1997. I can honestly say that I went to see the movie for Julia Roberts, her being my favorite actress at the time and all. And it was Julia Roberts who made the movie entertaining. I mean yeah, Dermot Mulroney and Cameron Diaz were lovely but it was a Robert’s movie. And I had thought Dermot was just an OK looking guy. Remember him from 12 years ago?

 

 

A couple of years ago though he starred as a male escort in the romantic comedy called the Wedding Date. He was 42 and he was just..sexy as hell.

 

The Wedding Date

 

A great dancing scene from The Wedding Date

 

Yep, I pretty much prefer the Dermot in his 40s to the Dermot in his 30s. He has grown up quite nicely. What do you think?

allure of the older guy: part 3

As some guys get older, their looks start to deteriorate  at an alarming rate. Mel Gibson, anyone? Yet some guys just look hotter when they age. And some don’t even look that good in the beginning. But flash forward some years and you realize they have turned into very sexy men. In this post I have the next example for such guys: Patrick Dempsey.

Patrick Dempsey (43)

The teenage Patrick vs. the Dreamy guy lusted after by a sizable portion of the female population

 

I guess the picture just speaks for itself. Recently I came across two movies that had Patrick in small roles: Outbreak (1995) and Scream 3 (2000). Outbreak is a solid thriller about a dangerous and contagious virus and I had seen it many times. Yet I hadn’t noticed Patrick was even there. Oh sure, his role was tiny but still, I had thought that the guy who played the part was just an ordinary looking someone. And when I saw him in Scream 3 the first time, I hadn’t noticed him yet again. But then I came across a showing on TV and I spotted him as Dempsey. Because now several years had passed since the first episode of Grey’s Anatomy was launched and I had a pretty good idea of who he was and what he looked like. Not that he looked the same. Of course once you can recognize him and everything but the difference in his looks are extremely remarkable.

 

Patrick Dempsey in his late 20s, this is how he looked in the movie Outbreak. A cute yet unremarkable young man.

 

Dempsey, around the time of Scream, in his 30s

 

And then there came Grey’s Anatomy. The show started in 2005, when Patrick was about to turn 40. The leading female Meredith Grey meets him in a bar and hooks up with him in the first episode. The next morning, she awkwardly and hurriedly lets him out of the house. She finds him hot but she is not exactly a relationship person, and she especially doesn’t start dating a guy after a one night stand. So she goes to work to the hospital, where it will be her first day as an intern doctor. But then she runs across the guy- it is Derek Shepherd and he happens to be her boss. Actually, rank-wise speaking he is her bosses’ boss. Meredith and her intern friends refer to him as McDreamy behind his back, and rightfully so. Oh, and his appearance pulls me into the show. The guy I failed to notice had matured into a sexy,attractive actor in his 40s. Here are some pictures that show why he deserves the nickname.

 

 

GOT TO LOVE NEW YORK

This is fun. I have been sitting on my stool at the Hard Rock Cafe, updating my blog and chatting up the cute bartender for about an hour now. Don’t tell me it is such a tourist thing to come here. For one, I am a tourist, and I love rock. So it is really my thing to visit the Hard Rock Cafe of the city I am exploring. But this is not any Hard Rock Cafe. Nope. I am in Times Square. I have my newly purchased tickets for the Broadway show tonight. I will get to see two of my favorite actors together on stage: Christian Slater and Jessica Lange…Wow. I really can’t wait. This is my last night but I am so definitely coming back. I normally would work on my blog after I got home but I do need to look busy right now. I just love my blackberry.

I have always wanted to go to New York. When I was a little kid, it was my dad’s Sinatra albums that inspired me. Remember New York, New York? Of course you do. I am not exactly a Sinatra person but there is something so magical about that song.. Later the TV show Sex and the City did it. I loved everything about the city, even before I went there myself. The streets, the buildings, the bars, the restaurants…Everything. So finally I did it.  I went to tripbase.com and guess what? My desired destination turned out to be New York. So I booked my ticket and the hotel; right after I checked out the attractions, bars and shopping recommendations. Hey, the show’s last season was in 2003. I really needed such a website to keep up with the ever glamorous big city. I was dying to see it and I had less than a week.
And Carrie Bradshaw was so right to be in love with this place. It doesn’t matter whether you want to hang out with your friends, meet strangers or just hang out on your own. There’s so much to do, so many places to go – which suited me just fine. I was there to meet my friends Andy and Sarah, a lovely couple I had met while I was in a conference in Boston. But I just didn’t give in to their invitation to stay at their place; since they had this new born  baby and all.Plus I have always loved having my own space. Oh and yeah, I am not ready to be around babies yet.

The minute I landed, there was no jetlag to speak of. I just felt so thrilled to be there- And my room at The New Yorker had this amazing view. I am not normally a big fan of heights but this was so worth it. Naturally I didn’t spend that much time in the hotel. Hell, I definitely didn’t want to sleep. There was so much to do and so little time.

My first morning was spent at the Central Park. I had a lovely late Spring picnic breakfast with my friends and later took this long walk. We had a classical day plant. Visiting some fine art galleries (not that I’m that much of a gallery girl, but I’m in New York- so why miss out on the arts right?) and the Empire State Building. Well, I am so lucky that Sarah’s mom was staying with them so my married friends had a chance to come back to the nightlife. A couple of Cosmos and Manhattans later, I was ready to rest before the next day.

Statue of Liberty. Yeah, that couldn’t be missed, could it?  There was the big line and all but hey, it worth the wait. Yep, I bought my souvenirs. I like the fun little reminders. The rest of the afternoon was spent shopping, for which we left Andy home beforehand. It was girls-day-out. We met some fun girls too. Hey, shopping is the ultimate bond between women, remember? Before we knew it, we had to stop ourselves from buying every little thing we liked. Everybody had a budget and  no one wanted to end up like the girl Rebecca Bloomwood from the Shopaholics series by Sophie Kinsella. I had read the book and the rest had seen the movie version, which appropriately changed the location from London to Manhattan. Hey, I love London. But New York is something else, especially when it comes to shopping.

Third,forth and fifth days were about discovering cafés on my own (I did need all the fuel I could find for all the walking. There were so many different types of restaurants and cafes, it always took me ages to decide), taking pictures of places and visiting all the bookshops I could spot in site. One of my favorites was  the one called Revolution books between 6th and 7th. I still love the good old Barnes and Noble too. Too bad I couldn’t catch a book signing day of one of my favorite authors. But I did shop. I think I got a few paperbacks. Didn’t keep track. Hey, I need the entertainment – it is a long flight ahead of me. : ) Yeah, my suitcase will definitely weigh more on way home.

Oh, cool. The bartender just asked for my phone number. And I do have an extra ticket for the play. Whatever. I do want to come back to this amazing city, though. I could so live here. My boss doesn’t have to know about this just yet…

Times Square

The New Yorker

Everybody is (getting) married. Remind me why again.

I am not against mariage, let’s start with that. It is a lovely concept;  if you have found someone you are sure you would like to spend your lifetime with- someone who you are madly in love with and the person feels the same about you. Someone you can joke around with, be yourself with and someone you love because they are who they are; not despite  who they are.

But I find it really hard to believe that everyone has found that person in their early/mid 20s. And that the majority of the married couples in late 20s/early 30s are considering making babies. Whoa! Will everyone slow down for a minute? When did all this happen? I am in my mid 2os and definitely not opposed to romance and passion and some casual flirtation thrown in for good measure but marriage??? Children??? In-laws??? Calling your partner’s parents “Mom” and “Dad”??  I am in the process of finding out a  plan to make my dreams come true, to gain true financial independence  and to just go crazy and all that. I am not saying I don’t want to find someone. But right now, I don’t want to go into that forever business. Even if  this amazing person comes along and happens to be as nuts as I am and have similar dreams and such, we wouldn’t get married. Not now!!! I mean come on!!!! And it is alright if he doesn’t appear in these chapters in my life. Oh of course I complain about being single. But what I actually mean is that I don’t have enough fun with the opposite sex at the moment. I don’t have numbers to call when I want to party all night and dance until dawn. I don’t get to meet hot strangers and flirt with them. That’s what I complain about. I think that even having a serious commitment is huge, that moving in is totally unnecessary and very scary. So how come are people so eager to jump into marriage?

It starts about during the last year  of university. Friends/friends of friends start to get married. But the number isn’t that large. Then you graduate and invitations start piling up. People barely out of college talk weddings and budgets and that. You take a job and your boss who is not even 10 years older than you, is married and is considering having a baby. Oh and by my boss, I mean a guy who co-runs a music site and deals with studios and bars and all that. I meet long- haired, metal-loving guys who look like they came straight out of a 90s Metallica concert and see rings on their fingers.

When did everyone get married? Ok, so maybe- it is not that big of a stretch for 35 year-olds being married but people my age? What’s up with that? The wedding dresses, furniture hunting?

I don’t mean to be cynical. I am sure there are a lot of actual feelings and “eternal bliss” involved. But I also believe that the overworking biological clocks and the seeming convenience of it have increased the numbers. It is just that not everyone has to be married and/or have a baby. It sucks if people are doing it because they think it is time or because they get to have regular sex. It sucks if they are doing it because they parents would rather have them tie the knot than have them live together..I really hope the marriages do work out.

I am a romantic of the worst kind. But I also am addicted to excitement and adventure and discovery. I am thinking there will be people in my life who get me. Until that happens, I will enjoy the ride. It might get lonely but I have never been the one to follow majority and I am not about to start now.

Long Distance Friendships Harder Than Long Distance Relationships?

Ah, the beauty of traveling…If you go somewhere and stay a while, hopefully you make some good friends. Especially if you are taking a some sort of course and/or live with them. I was in Canada in July,2005 and made some lovely friends. It was before Facebook. We had email and messengers. My best friend was a Mexican girl named Paola and we had so much fun together. We laughed, enjoyed Vancouver, partied… Of course the gang was huge and multi-national. After the month was over and everyone went back to their countries, e-mail traffic was incredible. We sent each other messages, shared photos and talked online. Then of course everybody had jobs, school and native friends/relationships to tend to, so the traffic slowed down considerably. I know it is a normal process and everything but it is still sad that everyday life just adds to the miles and time differences. But of course you get jealous of the ones who got to stay in the city you love so much. Or if people are leading more fun then yours. My less than satisfying internship at a PR firm certainly made me miss everyone and everything about the place even more.

Some places make it easier to be 100% yourself. Vancouver- for me – was definitely one of them.

Only a part of the lovely wonderful gang. I’m the second one from the right…

But that year gave me much to look forward to: I was going to be an Erasmus student in Halden, Norway. Imagine the exciment. A full-time student life. You get to live with your friends, your neighbors are your friends. You can get lazy, party your ass off, have movie/karaoke nights…It was a bliss. Complete with crushes, romance and amazing and hopefully everlasting friendships… You see, the reason I said “hopefully” everlasting is that; even though I know we will remember each other (Hell, we spent a whole year together and had an amazing time). It was the best year of my life…

I can’t believe it has already been 4 years. Of course a lot happened in everybody’s life. Some of the Norwegians scattered around to do master’s, some internationals stayed in Norway, an “Erasmus” couple got married (a French guy/ Russian girl that met in Norway during Erasmus). And there have been a couple of reunions.

But inevitably, we started to lose track. There are many ex-neighbors that I haven’t heard from in years- which is a shame because I was really close with some of them. I had a really great German friend named Franka. We got along really well. We had fun and it looked like there was only one thing that separated us really: she was a hard-worker. I was not. Let’s just say if I can get away with passable grades, I do. My grades there would not affect me academically at all as long as I passed so why bother more, right? But her hard work continued after she went back to Germany and eventually, we lost touch completely. The ironic thing is, though- while in norway, she dated one of my best friends there. He broke it off as erasmus time grew closer, she wanted a long distance relationship. He did not. I can’t really imagine how she could pull it off; no one the erasmus gang is in contact with her- due to her busy life.

Oh then, you have your neighbors that you are really, really tight with- spend most of your time with and have such a laugh. But then you leave, new neighbors come abroad and you are forgotten. Well, maybe not forgotten. But I prefer to be remembered often and well I definitely prefer keeping in touch, rather than remaining as a distant memory, eventually to be forgotten. Here is the thing, I don’t care how many friends you have. It is not about how close you live. It is about how close you are. Lack of communication and life sure get in the way, but I sure wish things didn’t work like that. It is weird turning into strangers after everything. Oh don’t give me the move on speech. These are not  romantic relationships. You ARE NOT SUPPOSED TO GET OVER YOUR FRIENDS.

Of course, I realized when you are life gets on the faster track, you are the one to communicate less. And hell, I can’t blame the ones who are deeply in love, deep into the party life and have less time to spend on lineIn fact, it is highly encouraged. I, on, the other hand- am a writer/freelancer. Computers are my good pals. Internet is a must. And it feels good connected to the rest of the world when you are in a transition period like me. You know- when you have figured out what you want and you are ready to fight your ass off to get it. Hell, after I do get what I want, I will just pay them all a visit- wherever they are…Until then, we have the memories, right?

Halden, Norway

Nothing beats a roman holiday with your best friend...