Author: Jeff Tabaco

Once again our arts calendar is starting to fill up. Here are some upcoming events we’ll be seeing:

• Tonight: Urinetown at Signature Theatre
• Oct. 15: Betty Buckley at Strathmore Music Center
• Oct. 20: Stephen Lynch at Lisner Auditorium
• Oct. 21: Kiki and Herb (“The Resurrection Tour”) at Woolly Mammoth
• Oct. 31 (Halloween!): Rufus Wainwright with OK Go at the 9:30

Also ongoing: Reel Affirmations, the D.C. gay and lesbian film festival, opens tonight and runs through Oct. 22. And the Renaissance Festival in Maryland closes Oct. 23.

Lots of good stuff. And two of the events above are in new venues (Strathmore and Woolly Mammoth) that opened within the past year, so I’m extra excited about seeing those for the first time.

Yeah, it’s about time they fill that someone-in-charge position. Sigh, if only:

Bush To Appoint Someone To Be In Charge Of Country

WASHINGTON, DC–In response to increasing criticism of his handling of the war in Iraq and the disaster in the Gulf Coast, as well as other issues, such as Social Security reform, the national deficit, and rising gas prices, President Bush is expected to appoint someone to run the U.S. as soon as Friday.

“During these tumultuous times, America is in need of a bold, resolute person who can get the job done,” said Bush during a press conference Monday. “My fellow Americans, I assure you that I will appoint just such a person with all due haste.”

The Cabinet-level position, to be known as Secretary of the Nation, was established by an executive order Sept. 2, but has remained unfilled in the intervening weeks.

For a good laugh (or cry), read the rest in The Onion.

Last week an entry in the Post‘s “Security Fix” blog reminded me that the free annual credit report initiative, which began last year, finally became available in east coast states recently. You’re entitled to receive one free credit file disclosure (which doesn’t include credit scores) every 12 months from each of the three major credit reporting companies: Equifax, Experian, and TransUnion. I chose to get one report for now and figure I’ll space the others out over the coming year. Thankfully the report I got is basically correct. I can breathe a small sigh of relief. Hopefully my data with the other companies are at least as accurate.

You can request your free report at AnnualCreditReport.com; the FTC also has information on related consumer protection and potential scams.

While Thom and I have taken a number of short vacations together, we’ve talked now and then about taking a longer trip abroad, and the other day we finally made some concrete plans. In February 2006, we’re going to London! Thom has been there before, but it’ll be my first time in the UK at all. (The closest I got was a few years ago landing a summer internship at EAS in London, but I didn’t end up taking it; I know, what was I thinking?) We’re totally excited. We booked an American Airlines package that includes airfare, six nights’ accommodations, and a few extra goodies. I’m not well-read on London, so you know I will be soaking up as much information as I can in the coming months; as always your insights are welcome. (And now I can peruse even more purposefully my London Underground map mousepad, which I received as a present last year.)

In other travel news, next month I will be going to the Bay Area to see my folks, and as a sort of side trip my parents and I (and maybe my aunt as well) will then travel to Las Vegas and spend part of Thanksgiving week there. It’s been many years since we’ve gone on a bona fide family vacation (and many years since I’ve been to Vegas); one thing that’s definitely different now is that I’m in charge! I love researching and making travel plans, so they’ve left all that to me. I’ve got my Julie McCoy clipboard in hand. Fun!

My co-workers have found a new happy-hour venue: Daily Grill. There’s one conveniently located on the ground floor of the Hyatt Hotel next to our office building, within stumbling distance of the Bethesda metro station. On weekdays from 3:30 to 6:30 p.m., appetizers are $1.94 each! Portion sizes are on the small to medium side compared to what you might get elsewhere, but at that price you can definitely sample a few different kinds without breaking the bank. Last night a bunch of us went over there, and I had the chicken quesadilla and the Sidekicks (a pair of mini-hamburgers). The appetizer choices also include calamari, chicken pizza, tuna roll, and a few others. The discount prices for drinks are Yuengling for $2.50, and specialty martinis for $5, if I recall correctly. Here’s to more happy-hours!

On Sunday night, Thom and I went to see Serenity, the movie based on the excellent outer-space sci-fi series Firefly, and I liked it a lot. I’m not a sci-fi person, but of course good writing and good acting transcend genre. A while ago, Thom got me into watching Firefly on DVD, and actually, we have a few more episodes to go, which will be poignant to watch after having seen the movie. Being familiar with and invested in the characters made the movie that much more enjoyable. I even found myself holding Thom’s hand during the scary or tense parts. (I will say that I thought the violence was a bit much at times; I have a low tolerance.) Definitely check out the series and the movie. “I am a leaf on the wind. Watch how I soar.”

» Related: For more details, see the critics’ reviews of Serenity at Metacritic.

We had a great time for a great cause on Saturday at the AIDS Walk. Thom and I got up early and met up with some of our other AGLA (Arlington Gay and Lesbian Alliance) teammates at the Clarendon Metro station, and made our way to Freedom Plaza (Pennsylvania Ave. NW between 13th and 14th Streets), where the Walk was to begin. After a few speeches by the organizers, we were a bit restless and ready to start walking! At around 11 a.m., the Walk was underway. The route led towards the Capitol and through the National Mall, so with the pleasant weather, it was a perfect scenic walk. There were lots of people (a few thousand), made up of many groups; it was interesting to see the different signs that people had. Our relatively small team had two AGLA banners and one official placard, so over the course of the event it seemed each of us had a turn at holding one of them. The Walk was made especially lively by the Dunbar Senior High School marching band, which marched alongside us for most of the route. Too bad I don’t have a photo of Thom copying the smooth moves of the drum majors and dance team. There were volunteers along the way, cheering everyone on. (As we passed the Newseum construction site, even the crane operator way above us chimed in by blowing the horn for us.)

Thanks so much to those of you who donated to help the Whitman-Walker Clinic. It is greatly appreciated. I raised $535, which far exceeded my expectations. The Walk brought in a total of more than $400,000, according to the organizers. (A sobering bit of news, though, is that the clinic’s Maryland branch closed down just this past Friday.)

My photos from the event are online. I’ve been searching Flickr for other photos; check out Bozoette‘s set, for example. (Nice to see we were watching some of the same sights.)

This is fantastic: a trailer for The Shining, redone as a feel-good comedy. Or West Side Story, as a horror movie. I love the part where Natalie Wood is crying, “No puede ser,” and then sees someone (it’s just Tony, of course) behind her in the mirror. Ha, that totally works. I’m surprised they didn’t include a bit of the last scene in the movie where she’s all, “How many can I kill, Chino? How many and still have one bullet left for me?” (There’s also a trailer out there of Titanic as a scary movie, which I think doesn’t have the same impact as the others, since the contrast against the original isn’t as great.)

The Shining trailer was created by Robert Ryang of the commercial postproduction firm P.S. 260, and it was the winner of a contest sponsored by the New York chapter of the Association of Independent Creative Editors. The challenge was to take any movie and create a new trailer for it in an different genre. All three trailers, by P.S. 260 people, were posted on the web for their friends, and before they knew it, the trailers started circling the internet. There’s even an article in the Times. (Links via SwimFinsSF and Boing Boing.)