Saturday, January 31, 2004
Garden State Birthday Party
In the wilds of New Jersey, my good friend Christi Aguiar and her daughter Nicole invited me to Birthday Dinner at Charlie Brown's steakhouse in Tenafly. I threw my calorie book to the wind, enjoying Prime Rib with Horseradish Crust and an Apple Sundae for desert!
My very cool presents included a Dilbert book! and a guide to 1,000 places to see before you die!
Nicole recently acquired two large rabbits that are adorable but poop a lot. They have their own room! Animals now outnumber humans more than 2:1 at 67 Gordon Avenue....
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Friday, January 30, 2004
Happy Birthday To Aaron...
Wow, I actually forgot to post last night! hehe! Worry not - you can count on daily posts going forward, at least when I'm in NYC!
It's my birthday. The celebration begins in pictures - above pls find me with my Mom and her friend Marit, the holy waters of the Ganges, the cathedral of sun-baked Salta in Argentina, and a sign on a hindu temple near the Taj Mahal..
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Wednesday, January 28, 2004
Aunt Dan, Lemon, and Two Girl Drinks
The birthday festivities begin! My dear friend Bart took me to see "Aunt Dan and Lemon", a revival of Wallace Shawn's (picture at right) thought-provoking OBIE-winning 1985 play. Very difficult to synopsize, themes include violence by nations and individuals, use and misuse of sex, hypocrisy among liberals and academics, Henry Kissinger, and cockroaches.
The action is seen through the hazy childhood memories of a stunted young recluse, played by Lili Taylor (also at right), who starred in "I Shot Andy Warhol" and was memorable on "Six Feet Under" as Nate's neurotic wife Lisa. Not everybody's cup of tea, but well done, and you won't be bored...
We ended up at the Marriott Atrium Lounge with its panoramic 8th floor view, where I downed two colorful and exotic "girl drinks" and ate a bowl of salty, spicy, and crunchy "party mix" that made you thirsty.
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Tuesday, January 27, 2004
24 Eventful Hours
Mostly good things happened today.
1) I am increasingly psyched about my pending employment.
2) I had an interesting date last night.
3) I'm happy Kerry won N.H.
4) The Oscar nominations, however imperfect, managed to recognize some brave and insightful work in the acting and screenplay categories.
I'm very partial to 21 Grams, Lost In Translation, Pieces of April, City of God (from Brazil) and Barbarian Invasions (from Quebec, and which I saw Friday, see Jan 23 entry below).
It's nice to see foreigners compete in the main categories, and not just 'best foreign film'
Thanks for stopping by. More humor tomorrow I promise. Just two shopping days til my birthday : -
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Monday, January 26, 2004
Message From My Daughter.....
From Marlina with her love! Postmarked in Indonesia's hot and humid boondocks, a letter arrives now and then from Marlina, my 13-year-old daughter...
I mean of course the child I sponsor through CCF, a save-the-children type charity that helps both third world children and their villages.
Each month I send a $21 check; in return, I get a feeling of great well-being plus an occasional bonus of the translator's wonderfully mangled English...
Here are some excerpts to brighten your day:
Dear Aaron Holsberg
We and family are fine. I have was now in the first grade of school. I do always good grade on an average marks 9. These all due to parents supports.
I just celebrated my special holiday Idul Fitri with simply only but solemn. It was time for us to wish joyous Idul Fitri and apologize for our mistakes. It is rainy season the roads are muddy so bad, but I am still continue diligent in going school.
Closing with my favorite sentence, which says the exact opposite of what she means:
It will soon I face mid semester test, so I have to learn hardly!
I ask your prayers for my successful. Well, time is it for me to close for now.
With my love, Marlina
Delightful! She's so sweet. CCF not only provide schoolbooks, clothes, and food for her family but also foster economic development of the village so it can stand on its own feet, and CCF can move on to the next village. In this way, I have had 6 "children" since 1989, when I made a solemn vow to sponsor a child forever if my first boyfriend, from Argentina, could get a US visa, which he did!
That's all for today. Happy Tuesday!!!
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Sunday, January 25, 2004
My good friend Erik's birthday is today, so here's my photographic salute....
Erik lives in Boston, home of the Museum of Bad Art!. He a proud Danish-Irish-American and runs the city's Dept of Elderly budget office, and is involved in local lefty politics. I have known him nearly 20 years, and we travelled the world together in the months after I left JPM.
send birthday wishes to Erik at Erik4799@aol.com
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Saturday, January 24, 2004
Ah, where did today go? Outside it's zero with wind chill, so I stayed it indoors, exploring music, reading, and surfing the web. I watched a hilarious episode of Curb Your Enthusiasm. But where did 12 hours go?
Today's assignment, friends, is to convince Ralph Nader not to run again and risk spoiling yet another Presidential election by robbing the Democrats of votes. His web site is asking for your opinion. Click here and fill out his questionaire - use the comments section liberally!
My momma didn't raise me to sit on the back of the bus!
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Friday, January 23, 2004
All My Photography
Good News! You can now see my Yahoo photo albums, including My Travels and Friends & Family.
This classic to the right is Aaron with his firecracker of a nephew, Dan!
Here's my sister Deena's wedding picture. She and Dave were married in 1988, and went to Mexico, not Africa.
--and th th th th th th that's all folks....
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Third Time's The Charm: "Barbarian Invasions"
I finally saw the excellent film Barbarian Invasions this afternoon at Historic AMC Empire 25 near Times Square.
You'll recall that yesterday I twice bought tickets to see this and then blew it off to play with my new scanner!
By turns funny, touching, and reflective, this film about a French-Canadian professor and leftist who's dying of cancer is never dull. Particularly great is the professor's earnest but ultimately sweet yuppie son, played beautifully by the beautiful Stephane Rousseau.
I love foreign films - no cliches, no predictable plot events, no manipulative music.
The film also illustrates the pitfalls of Canada's much-touted public health system and its social services beaurocracy. Throughly fascinating.
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Thursday, January 22, 2004
Rhymes With Rhame...
I feel lame, lame, lame, lame...
My scanner arrived today, and I was so enraptured with it that I paid for - and blew off - tickets to see two successive showings of film Barbarian Invasions. That's $20 down the old toilet because I could tear myself away from a binge of scanning - and making Yahoo albums of - dozens of old travel photos and friends & family photos.
Barbarian Invasions is a reputedly excellent film about a group of friends and lovers, a sequel to 1986's excellent French-Canadian film Decline Of the American Empire, also by Quebequois director Denys Arcand, picking up the story many years later.
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Good morning! Here are two fun things:
1. Check out this Interactive Electoral Map from John Edwards' site! By clicking away, you can learn about the Presidential voting history of each state and see how different swing-state combinations would affect the 2000 contest. Highly edumacational!
2. At BushorChimp.com, see how George W. bears a remarkable resemblance to a chimpanzee, and has similar body language!
Enjoy! Btw, have you had your white food today? Have you put in any floortime? How's your location awareness?
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Wednesday, January 21, 2004
My Least Favorite Phrase
- My Commitment To You, My Public
In response to "how're you doing?", I just hate it when people reply "same shit, different day." It's like, why bother getting up in the morning? or being born?
I dedicate this site to keeping life interesting, with different shit for every different day! I will keep it brief, keep it real, and keep it compelling.
Trip Out in Belleville: French Animated Film Has Fun, Breaks New Ground..
Today I got up off my butt! I went and saw Triplets of Belleville (see NYT review) at Sunshine Cinema down in the Lower East Side. This quirky, inventive, totally original non-verbal cartoon deserves 78 minutes of your time. Two different groovy ways to visit the Belleville universe are official website for the US and France - no French really required for the latter.
Well, I'd better go study my Blogging book! See you tomorrow!
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Tuesday, January 20, 2004
The "Pre-Birthday" activities begin!
Invited to a hilarious new "Musical of Musicals" by my good friend Pat Stumpp, artfully spoofing Sondheim, Kander & Ebb, Rodgers & Hammerstien etc in a series of hilarious send-ups around a Snidely Whiplash "I can't pay the rent" theme. Playing at the York Theatre in Citicorp Center through Sunday.
Earlier, we ate exquisite gourmet Chinese at the beautiful Shun Lee Palace.
The actual big day is JANUARY 30 - Mark that calendar
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Awwwww - a great light flickers out....
Just learned that Uta Hagen - the Uta Hagen - died at 84. My very first theatre experience, as a wee lad of 12, was at HB Studio, the legendary acting school founded by Hagen and her husband Herbert Berghof in Greenwich Village. I saw many plays there, especially by Donna De Mateo (A Horse Story, The Flip Side, Paradise Kid - Donna's daughter is on the Sopranos), and once sat in front of the late NY Times movie critic Vincent Canby watching three of his own one-act plays (which he overhead me criticize - taste of his own medicine : - ))
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Going into high gear:
If we're going to do this right, we need a scanner:
....and a good digital camera (trading in my broken one)
....and a few additional USB ports...
what's $500 to nurture a new hobby? well, for some people it's a month's take-home salary. or enough to feed a starving Indian village... : - (
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Monday, January 19, 2004
What next for "Web Log Aaron"?
This is me contemplating my next move...
These are things I need to do:
- Fix digital camera
- Buy USB adapter
- Buy scanner
- Start packing boxes with books for storage
Damn, I've got too much to do!
and this is Queen Beatrix of the Netherlands hanging loose in Thailand, where I broke my leg last year. My friends Joost and Ronald are her subjects : - )
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Au Coin À DC En Forme
Hey, I just got this email from Kelly Au Coin:
Kelly is a talented actor and the brother-in-law of my dear friend and ex, Brian
no, im in DC. this play is authored by the same guy who wrote the play Off BWay that miz graham was in. but this is a premiere of his latest play and it is in DC. we run Jan 29-Feb 29. ya, if youre in town, give me a call.
this is Brian >>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>
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Sunday, January 18, 2004
Entering the Off Off Off Zone
Off Off Off Broadway can be amazing. In a beat-up old office building, today my friend Christi Aguiar and I saw "Clash by Night," a rarely-staged Clifford Odets gem from the 1940s, produced on a shoe-string and showcasing excellent acting all around, especially Abby in the title character of Mae. The Shins, in contrast, make tuneful indie rock in New Mexico
This is Clifford Odets on the left, and The Shins on the right:
I lost my new headphones in the slush. Uggh
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