PHANTOM LOVE NEVER DIES!

Yes my friends that’s what we all said when we said goodbye to Phantom of the Opera. At least I did when I left Majestic theatre that fine night over a weekend. I was so sure I wasn’t coming back to NYC (sniff sniff) but hey who knew I would be back! And now, Phantom will return as well! Yes you heard it right, he’s a coming back.  So if you ever thought hey I wonder what happened to that Phantom dude? Or that gal Christine? Or Raoul?  Well guess what your dream will finally come true.

Earlier this month, Andrew Lloyd Webber did a press launch at Her Majesty’s Theatre for “Love Never Dies” the highly anticipated sequel to The Phantom of the Opera, the longest running Broadway show in history.  The new musical story will take place ten years after the end of The Phantom of the Opera at Coney Island in Brooklyn! Yes that’s what happened to him, he immigrated to USA! Woo hoo.  By the way do you know that about hundred years ago Coney Island was like the 8th wonder of the world? Yeah seriously! Kind of hard to believe after my last visit over the summer but hey that’s what it was according to Andrew Webber.

Okay are you guys ready?  Here’s the video of the press launch.  It starts out with an introductory film that summarizes the success of the Phantom and later Webber talks about the sequel and introduces “The Coney Island Waltz” – Quite lovely!  Ooh and the best part comes around 11:41 when Ramin Karimloo performs “Till I Hear You Sing” – Karimloo will play the Phantom and Sierra Boggess (originated the role of Ariel in The Little Mermaid on Broadway 2007-May 2009) will be the new Christine Daae.  Ramin Karimloo is also currently performing the Phantom in the London production.

“Love Never Dies” will premiere in London at the Adelphi Theatre on Tuesday March 9, 2010 (previews from February 20) and New York on Thursday November 11, 2010! Overall thoughts?  Are you excited?  Will you fly to London to check it out or wait till it comes to NYC?

And if by any chance you can’t or haven’t watched any theatrical performances of The Phantom Of The Opera yet, I highly recommend you run, walk, or drive  to your nearest library or get it online and specifically check out the original cast of Webber’s production that started in 1986 with Michael Crawford and Sarah Brightman.  And after that you may check out the 2004 film adaptation staring Gerard Butler and Emmy Rossum.

My tea for the moment: TAZO Lotus Decaffeinated Green Tea with subtle essence of lotus blossoms. Sounds good doesn’t it? hehe  Actually it is especially since I enjoy flower flavors.

Phantom Links
Love Never Dies – Official Website
Love Never Dies – Blog
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Love_Never_Dies_(musical)

The Phantom Of The Opera – Official Website
http://www.thephantomoftheopera.com

Good Things To Avoid While Packed Up Like Sardines In A Train!

If your daily commute involves some kind of trains, especially NYC subway trains (like me), then you know how crazy the traffic can be at times or most of the time, when we’re all packed like sardines!  Space is not an option and if someone doesn’t smell good, or is having a private uncomfortable conversation next to you or if a crazy is having a fit then tough! You just have to deal with it.

It’s all good to an extent but there is something we can do, yes you are right! We can make a list, so after careful observation, I have decided to make a list of things that certain people could do to prevent one from disgusting the other!

Good things to avoid while packed up like Sardines in a train!

• Shower –  You may think it’s cool not to shower for a week but seriously the rest of your fellow commuters don’t!  And if for some really good reason you can’t then please think of investing in a good smelling product, like a cologne or a perfume! Think free trials in the cosmetic areas. Heck you can even use lotion or rub purell all over yourself!
• Wash your jacket – This one is usually huge during winter months.  Just smell your jacket once before you leave, just once please.  If you are in denial, please wear that smelly jacket and lock yourself up in a very small confined space like a closet or a box for a few minutes. If you don’t die then you’re good and so will be your fellow commuters.
• Nose picking – oh so not acceptable and yet I have seen so many men and women do this! You may think no one saw you secretly pick your nose and wiping it but let me to tell you a secret, we may all pretend we can’t see you but we really can! Here’s a “How To Stop Picking Your Nose,” link that might help you out.
• Extremely loud conversations – Normal conversations are good but extremely loud ones when we are all packed up like sardines is not.  We really don’t need to know how much you like turtle necks or the fact that your chest is a forest! No, some of us just don’t want to know.  Calling and sharing your miserable story with five people in a row is also not good.  The first two times was hardly bearable but to cry and moan about it in the same exact fashion with no variety is annoying!

This is an ongoing list and I will have some more “annoying train habits” in the future, until then please feel free to add-on and share your observations.

My tea for the moment:  TAPAL Lemon Green Tea.  There is nothing like the taste of freshly squeezed lemons! Ok seriously, I don’t taste the fresh lemons but it is does have a nice refreshing green tea taste with a hint of lemon so give it a try.

V: The Final Battle and Aliens

Does anyone remember V: The Final Battle? Well some of you might be too young to know of it but basically it was this TV miniseries that aired in 1984. It was all about the “Visitors” (aliens) trying to take over the world.  I think I watched it a few years later but all I remember is that we were hooked!  It had spaceships, ooh a big mothership, aliens, reptiles, rats, rebels, lots of action, and drama! The title track was so good.  Oh and if you’re interested in checking out a pre-Freddy Krueger Robert Englund, he was in it too! I think “A Nightmare on Elm Street” came out the same year but after V: The Final Battle and we never felt the same about sleeping and dreaming again.  Whatever you do don’t fall asleep! Yikes!

So recently I decided to check out some of the old clips of V: The Final Battle again and I just couldn’t help but laugh a little, okay maybe a lot! ☺ For starters, the graphics now seem goofy and some of the scenes that might have creeped me out back then now just appear real funny.  For those of you who are familiar, I’m thinking especially of that alien baby scene and ooh that one scene where evil Diana gulps down a rat! Oh yes, she does!  I was so amazed and shocked as a kid. No seriously gulping down a rat without choking is an art my friend. I have to tell you though that for back then this was no laughing matter, well unless you just liked to laugh at creepy stuff and you were messed up like that but otherwise this series was a huge hit.

Here is a clip for V: The Final Battle that kind of sums up the series.

This is the only good quality clip- Just putting it up so you guys can check out the rat scene at 2:04 and you can see see Robert Englund at 0.34

Intro and Summary and the baby birthing scene around 3:09!
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hX1j_NjlumE&NR=1

And I don’t know if you guys know but they’re now doing a re-make of V: The Final Battle.  This one is called “V” and it will premiere on November 9, 2009 on ABC.  The trailer looks interesting and graphics are neat but we’ll have to see if it’s as good as 80s hit version in terms of acting and storytelling. Oooh and it has Juliet (Elizabeth Mitchell ) from “Lost” in it as well! Whoa are you thinking what I’m thinking? Did she really say goodbye to us forever in that deep hole? (Trying my best to avoid spoilers here) Of course this doesn’t mean she won’t be in “Lost” anymore because the fans know that really anything can happen in that show.  They sure do love to mess up with our minds and answer our questions with more questions!

Here’s the preview for the new version titled “V” –  This time the backdrop is NYC (woo hoo) as opposed to Los Angeles.

On another note, but still speaking of aliens I got an email yesterday that read “UFO seen in Saudi Arabia and Lebanon!” Apparently this was all over the net.

Wonderful, aliens are now shopping for some land in the middle east as well!  I wonder if they checked out the world and the palm tree set up in Dubai?   That’s some prime property with plenty of water and sand for their alien needs.  By the way I see two of them! 🙂

So what do you guys think? Will you check out the new “V” TV series?

My tea for the moment:  Tapal Jasmine Green Tea.  Hmm…I wonder if the aliens drink tea? Maybe something like Human green tea? uggh

It’s Snack time!

No, not nap time! I said snack time! Although I must say it’s just as good as a naptime, don’t you think?  After all, the perfect snack contributes to a perfect nap time. Okay seriously, don’t try this at work because snoozing is not good, particularly if you’re in a cube setting or in the theatre!  Yes, we can hear you snore! And hey you, yes, YOU texting in the middle of the dark movie theatre, we can all see you, so stop it before I send the phone snatchers after you!  Ahhh so where was I?  yes snacks, they fill our hearts with joy and lights up our eyes.  As soon as we hear that growl in our tummy, our mind goes ping! Then it’s all about the Snack time!

You know that when you were pretending to be all busy and working away and staring at the computer screen, what you were actually thinking about was man, what will I have for lunch today? Or what quick snack would do me good right now?  Or I’m so hungry I can’t concentrate are those even words coming out of his/her mouth?  Whether it’s that long dreadful day at work, or the peak hunger hours of 6-9 of class hours, or watching a game, movie, or a TV show or maybe it’s just when you used your brain too much or spoke too much. Basically you feel exhausted and hungry! And all you want are SNACKS!

Well to help you guys out, I have decided to occasionally share with you some snacks I consider healthy or more like wholesome. I am looking at a snack that will fit nicely in a Ziploc bag and then in your bag or purse, something that will give you the feeling of being full without any guilt.  And it won’t hurt if it was a little healthy too hehe. I am not an expert but as a poor student trying to balance life and school, I have been able to find some interesting food options to help me live. Perhaps you might like some of these snack options as well?

My first find are Thomas’ “Bagel Holes!”  I know what you’re thinking looking at that little girls happy picture and no they’re not only for the kids! Big kids and their moms can eat them too okay.  They’re great because they’re really like these small round bagels or holes.  Although I don’t get why they are holes? Seriously if it is a hole then shouldn’t you literally see a hole? like as in a doughnut?  In any case, I do agree when they say it’s “Breakfast That’s Good To Go!” or more like a snack that’s good to go. You can pack about 2-4 holes in a bag and it fuels you up good.  I tried the Blueberry ones and they were so yummy.  If you have tried them, did you like them? If not, let me know when you do try them.

My tea for the moment: Celestial Seasonings’ Decaf Green Tea with (Bai Mu Dan) White Tea.  This is an interesting blend for sure.  Is anyone a fan of green and white tea fusions?  I think white tea normally tastes much better on its own.  Have you guys tried fusions before? Do you like them? yes? no?

So What’s The Deal With The Balloon Boy?

I don’t know if you guys heard but today was all about the balloon boy! When I first saw the title I was like oooh a real life “UP” maybe?  Ahh that would be so cool!  Finally, I would be able to travel around the globe in the cheapest way possible.  Okay so it might be a little risky, scary, and perhaps a little too adventurous, hmm…yeah I can see being attacked by birds especially Hitchcock’s “Birds” they were all so creepy, and there is the whole thing with coming into a plane’s way but hey let’s not go there, yikes and what if all the balloons popped!? I mean are helium balloons really durable? And of course am I really qualified as a grumpy old person yet?  But then does it really matter? At least they take you up, up and away and you don’t have to worry about checking in or paying fees for your luggage, see what I’m saying (taking a sip of my hot beverage) Ahhh…lovely! Ok so how did I get here, YES! The balloon boy!

So after all that serious thinking I actually read the article and saw the picture of the runaway balloon.   Two things, one the balloon boy is really not a balloon boy because guess what? He never even got on the balloon! Whaaat!? Yeah, that’s what I said! He was actually just hiding in the attic because his father had yelled at him earlier.  It was his older brother who told the dad that “Falcon” that’s the kids name might have taken a flight! And you can imagine the rest of the horror! But fortunately little Falcon is just fine. And second, this is no “UP” kind of balloon ride! I was so disappointed to see a gray flying saucer looking balloon instead.  Really? What is this? Man, I was really hoping to see thousands of colorful balloons with an attached house floating around.

Anyways the good news is little Falcon is out of hiding and his father will try never to yell at him again.  Unfortunately on the other hand people are now debating whether or not this whole thing was real or a hoax? I don’t know and I don’t care!  But in case you want to hear the whole interview, check out not the balloon boy and his family in an interview in the following link.

http://www.hulu.com/watch/102720/nbc-today-show-was-it-a-stunt-balloon-boy%E2%80%99s-family-speaks-out

My tea for the moment:  Lipton‘s Decaffeinated Black Tea.  Try it with some milk and sugar or without with a touch of mint.  Either way it’s a great black tea for such a brrrr…cold weather!

Cassette Tapes = Cool Art

Now why didn’t I think of turning my old tapes into cool art? Hmm…well no worries, I think i just got an idea as to what I can do with my mountain of magazines back home! Ahh i love it, Imagine a giant paper  skeleton left standing in the recycling bin! I would love to see the reaction of the recycling truck man who by the way for some reason left all those magazine bags i left for them to pick up during this past hot summer.  Was it because it got too heavy for you? or because I broke some recycling bin code when i put 5 bags instead of 2 or what?   I’m just saying I haven’t forgotten that episode and I’m still upset!  It was a lot of hard work slaving away in the garage and getting tortured by spiders and other nasty insects that seemed to be all into reading all of a sudden okay.  And seriously spiders, what’s wrong with you?  Do you think I’m Little Miss Muffet and you will just frighten me away? Okay I was frightened a little bit when one of you decided to read along with me while I had the pile of magazine in my lap. Man, all those magazines up in the air was a huge mess, so thanks a lot spiders!

Going back to the old tapes, here is an example of the cool cassette tape art from artist Brian Dettmer.

Brian Dettmer: Cassette Tape Skeletons

You can check out the whole series at the following designboom’s site link

Brian Dettmer: Cassette Tape Skeletons

What do you guys think?

My tea for the moment:  I normally enjoy floral flavored teas but today I’m trying out Wild Raspberry (Caffeine Free) herbal tea from STASH. Wow this is a perfect mix, skeletons and red color tea! How nice, but seriously I don’t think I care for berry flavor teas, it’s a little too sour for me. But I’m not giving up yet or at least until I finish this whole sampler box I just got!

I WANT YOU TO KILL ME!

If you’re one of the cool people who were secretly following the pattern on my calendar and hoping for a blog post on Tuesday and Friday, I really apologize! I had four papers along with two presentations due this week and after lots of overnighters my brain became all mushy and I looked like that zombie dude from my previous post.  However, after a day rest, I am back with an awesome zombie question that a friend asked me and now I will ask you!

So here’s the deal friends, what if you and I are together in the zombie world, when I suddenly get bit by a zombie and we both know that I will eventually turn and come after you! So to protect you, I ask you, I WANT YOU TO KILL ME at once! What will you do? Will you kill me before I turn? Say NO and let me bite your head off? Or say YES and finish me off!?

I’m hoping for some fun answers and discussions so don’t be a party pooper and respond!

My original response to my friend was that it doesn’t matter – If I ask you to kill me, I know you will say no, and then we would argue and waste so much time over it that I would turn into a zombie in the process and will eventually come after you! Perhaps the lesson here is that we should all wear a helmet in zombie land to protect our heads from getting chomped off? 🙂

Or we could all take the following quiz to determine the time it would take us to turn into a zombie and go from there!

My tea for the moment: Egyptian Chamomile from Harney & Sons, one of my favorite brands.  I went for this particular one because the zombie #2 face above reminded me of all the evil dead in the movie Mummy which then made me look at the word “Egyptian” and go ahhh with all these connections I must drink this! Try it, it doesn’t taste like zombies at all but rather has this fine scent of green apples. 🙂

YES! Print Is ALIVE!

Ah friends! And especially the ones that love to smell their books!  According to my news feed from “The Village Voice” on Facebook,  It’s alive, it’s alive!  Print is not a zombie yet! Thank you FB and TVV for making my day 🙂 Great cover, you are truly awesome!

And now, let’s have a moment of Hallelujah!

Ok so I’m too happy to read the actual article 🙂 However, if you want, you can check  it out here.

Oh and my e-book friends, don’t be sad 😦 you can smell your books too,  you just need to get this!

My tea for the moment:  White Peony, a very light white tea that is perfect to go with a light mood.  If you want to find out more about the white teas, then here are some useful sites:

• http://www.twoleavesandabud.com/p_White-Peony-16.html
• http://www.adagio.com/white/white_peony.html
• http://www.adagio.com/white/
• http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/White_tea
• http://www.whiteteaguide.com/
• http://www.whitetea.com/

Are You A Candy Gobbler?

Let’s take a sip of our tea and ponder upon this a little shall we?  Hmm… what is a candy gobbler exactly?  How would one define it? If you’re the kind that likes to store or hide assorted variety of candies in the secret drawer of your desk, or you like keeping a few in your purse, or in your pockets, a little some in your car perhaps.  Basically you consider them lunch, dinner, energy boosters, or emergency food.  You still go trick or treating even though you are well beyond eighteen, more like twenty. Or you keep telling everyone, oh they’re not for me, they’re for the kids.  And finally, if you’re trying to hide that giant candy jar in the pantry as we speak then perhaps the answer is yes! You are a candy gobbler! Please admit it, you will feel special.

Ahh don’t you just hate it when you discover evil findings on things you just love!  For example, I was just about to gobble a Turkish delight (if you don’t know what these are then just imagine a chewy Gumby bear in a small cube shape covered in massive white powder sugar. YUM, YUM!) when I saw the following news bit!

“Candy-gobbling kids may turn violent as adults
Study: Many who ate too many sweets were arrested for violence by age 34”

Whaaat? No me digas! Seriously, hmm…actually that might explain my negative feelings towards dolls and clowns growing up, especially that clown in IT!  Hmm…this might also explain why I chopped off the hair of all my dolls and then later of all my sister’s Barbies! So sorry hermana ☹ Oooh and,  this might also explain the frequent growing up theme of “I hate everyone” and “I hate this planet!”  Oh but the good news is the researchers don’t blame the candy! Yay, for them it’s about all this complicated stuff like life, interpreting how kids make decisions, and parenting skills but you know what, who cares? The only thing we need to focus on is that we can continue to be candy gobblers for now.  Arrrgh, OMG I hate my neighbor! I know it’s random but I hate his loud music selection.  Ok ok I know, Yes, remember don’t worry drink chai! Maybe this clip will distract me! 🙂

Now just for fun let’s take a poll!

My tea for the moment:  A cup of STASH’s Moroccan Mint Green Tea. It really is refreshing and has a minty sweet taste to it.