Apparently I never got around to detailing last weekend’s exploits. Here goes.
Friday after work I went to Olsson’s, a bookstore near my office, to see Jacques Pépin, perhaps my favorite TV chef. (Which reminds me, whatever happened to another favorite from my PBS childhood, Jeff Smith, the “Frugal Gourmet”?) M. Pépin was there to promote his recently published memoir, The Apprentice. He gave a short, entertaining talk and signed copies of his books. I told him how honored I was to meet him, and asked to shake his hand. It was all very thrilling.
Errands: the next morning I went to Office Depot to buy some assorted, little items (magazine files, a letter opener, and so forth), and then went across the street to Scogna to pick up my tux for Sunday’s concert. In the afternoon, I trekked down to the mall at Pentagon City, mainly to finally get a TiVo recorder at Best Buy. I got a good deal on the top model, thanks to an open-box discount. (As some of you know, my attempt to buy a used one on eBay didn’t go well. Long story.) So yes, I am now part of the TiVolution.
Sunday night’s concert, a George Gershwin tribute, at the Kennedy Center was stellar. I bought a ticket to the concert only (opting to skip the cocktails beforehand and swing dance party afterwards). Musical highlights included Megan Mullally singing “But Not for Me” and “Nice Work If You Can Get It,” and Michael Feinstein (whom I used to listen to a lot) with some thoughtful renditions. I’m not such a big fan of Patti LuPone and Tommy Tune, who among others also performed, but it was a fabulous night overall. (No celebrity sightings in the audience, but then again, in Washington, power, which usually comes in the political variety, doesn’t always equal popular on-sight recognition. Can you pick out a Congressperson or a federal agency director in a crowd?)
4 replies on “Fascinatin’ rhythm”
After a rash of seven sexual abuse (allegations of kissing, fondling and raping) cases filed against Smith back in the late 90s, culminating in an out-of-court settlement in 1998 in which he agreed to pay an undisclosed sum to seven men (with testimony expected from more than a dozen others who weren’t suing him), Jeff Smith retired from the cooking circuit.
More often, though, I find myself wondering what happened to the cute head chef/assistant–Craig Wollom–from his show.
While we’re on the topics of celebrity chefs, I was telling my friend Roger only last night about the time in 1985 that Julia Childs knocked me down on a sidwalk in Cambridge. She was backing out (in person, not in her car… but she /is/ a large woman) of a specialty wine and cheese store, while I was carrying my laundry home from the laundromat next door.
*step* *oof* *thud* down I went with my basket of clothes, and down she and her bag of food came on top of me.
I only regret that I didn’t ask her to make it up to me by cooking me dinner.
(Hmm… what an incestuous little triangle we are starting to make, Jeff/Thom/Gene…)
I am dying to get Tivo, but I have Dish Network and I’m pretty much sure that it just won’t work the way it’s advertised – I certainly can’t record one show while I watch another. Dish does sell their own version of Tivo, but it doesn’t have the cool stuff like “season pass” or suggestions. So, keep us posted on your Tivosity. I may break down and get one yet…
And I, with DirecTV, have been thinking about TiVo as well, so I’ll also be interested in hearing how it goes. Gene… I don’t know how it works with Dish, but with a DirecTV TiVo DVR I believe you can watch one show and record another as long as you have two LNBFs attached to the dish.
Odd, considering how seldom I actually have the TV on, but I keep thinking that if I have a recorder set up to gather things of interest, I might watch more. Right now I mostly just get frustrated when I turn on the TV, cycle through the channels and find nothing worth watching… I seem to use DirecTV now almost exclusively for the digital audio channels.
Oh, and regarding the political celebrities, back in those same mid-80s Boston days when I was run down by Julia, I competed against Barney Frank in a trivia contest at my then-favorite neighborhood gay bar, the 1270 (which is no longer there but, then, neither am I, and I can’t remember the last time I was in a gay bar anyway).
I won by being able (and willing–amazing what one might do after a few Sea Breezes) to sing the full theme songs of both The Brady Bunch and Gilligan’s Island.