Weekend update

Just to catch up on the past few days: on Saturday Thom and I had planned to go to a cookout in Maryland along with Sheldon and Gretchen, but Thom had been having back and leg problems (he saw a doctor this morning), so we stayed home that day and took it easy.

On Sunday afternoon, Sheldon and Gretchen stopped by for a nice visit, and that night Thom and I watched the Tonys on TV. Speaking of Broadway, as I’ve mentioned before, we’re going to New York at the end of July for Thom’s birthday, and have lined up tickets for a few shows: The 25th Annual Putnam County Spelling Bee, Spamalot, and La Cage aux Folles. Usually we see two or three shows per trip, but if we make it four this time, we might see The Light in the Piazza as well. We’ll probably swing by the MoMA as usual.

[Update (June 8): La Cage just announced that it is closing on June 26. Thanks to Jere for the heads up in the comments.]

Last night we met up for dinner at Cosí in Bethesda, and then went to the Landmark Theater (Bethesda Row) for an advance screening of Hayao Miyazaki’s latest movie, Howl’s Moving Castle. It was all right. Though I periodically got distracted by how wispily drawn the hero is (I don’t want to say “typically anime,” since I don’t know enough to confidently venture that far), the scenic animation is otherwise great. The story is pretty interesting and it has some engaging characters, with a cast of voices led by Emily Mortimer and Christian Bale. (The eclectic bunch is rounded out by Jean Simmons, Billy Crystal, Lauren Bacall, and Blythe Danner.)

By the way, an interesting article on Miyazaki by Margaret Talbot appeared in The New Yorker earlier this year; an interview with Talbot is also available.