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A bit of hometown news: it turns out the UA Metro movie theater in Colma is being torn down. Wow. I guess one could see it coming. Though located at one end of a medium-sized strip mall anchored by Home Depot and Barnes & Noble, other larger shopping areas abound, and so it seems remote in comparison. And the fact that it borders on the quiet, cemetery-side of Colma probably didn’t help. It’s the closest movie theater to my parents’ house in Daly City, but we’d usually go instead to the theater near Tanforan in San Bruno, or more recently, the fairly new, almost too huge cineplex near the BART station, which (I reluctantly concede) has become pretty much the place for local suburban moviegoers. It’s hard to escape the gravitational pull of twenty screens and stadium seating.

Anyway, I became aware of the Colma demolition only today, through a posting on the Stanford networking e-mail list. Movie screens or seats, anyone?

The UA Theater in Colma, CA (next to Daly City) will be demolished in 7 days and I am selling the movie screens and movie theater seats to any who are interested. The screens and seats are in good condition and could be easily removed and reused (e.g. home theaters, schools, churches, etc.)…

Some assorted bits and bobs:

Did we all watch SNL last weekend? How hilarious was the Queer Eye spoof, where they gave Santa a makeover, with Elijah Wood as Jai? He suggests, “Make eye contact with Mrs. Claus.” Santa is incredulous: “That’s it?” “Yeah, that’s all I do.” Heh. Speaking of QEftSG, tomorrow night’s episode is a reunion with some of their past makeovers, followed by a half-hour feature on the “making of” the music video “All Things (Just Keep Getting Better),” the show’s theme song by Widelife.

Thom and I watched The Fellowship of the Ring at the Uptown last week, and during a scene in the Mines of Moria, with their dangerously steep, winding, crumbling stairs, Thom remarked, “Don’t the dwarves believe in railings?” “Yeah, that is not ADA-compliant,” I said.

There have been some pretty good episodes of Faking It this season, like radiographer to fashion photographer, and punk rocker to orchestra conductor. Waiting on the TiVo is emergency call operator to live TV studio director, and next week is kickboxer to ballroom dancer. Cool.

Rufus Wainwright is one of many musical guests (Cyndi Lauper, Anonymous 4, et al.) on a holiday episode of A&E’s Breakfast with the Arts, which airs this Sunday morning. Speaking of A&E, Thom and I watched the newest installments of Horatio Hornblower. Wonderfully swashbuckling stuff, all helmed by the dashing Ioan Gruffudd. Now I want to go back and watch the original series from the beginning. An aside: Ioan will play Lancelot in a film adaptation of King Arthur, scheduled for release in July 2004. Clive Owen plays Arthur, and Keira Knightley is Guinevere.

So last night I came across the very cool Historic Tale Construction Kit, in the form of “Qveere Eye for thye Medieval Man” (via Hit or Miss). Ha, good stuff. (The kit requires Flash, and might take a bit to load on dial-up.)

And so, I offer up my own tapestry creation, starring Thom, me, and Alex the cat, whom, given the limited feline clip art, I chose to depict as a scaled-down dragon (pun merely serendipitous) rather than a lion. Hm, with all the free time coming my way, perhaps I’ll develop it into an story. Yea, verily and all that.

By the way, in the same vein, there’s Mr. Picassohead, and Thom also suggests City Creator. Have fun!

Wow, I’m surprised to read that despite glowing reviews and much hype, HBO’s Angels in America didn’t do so well ratings-wise. I thought it was fantastic. I laughed, I cried. Powerful stuff. (Pictured: Justin Kirk, who plays Prior Walter. More about him in a recent Times article. Ah, yes, he was on the short-lived WB series Jack & Jill; I knew I recognized him from somewhere!)

I guess the average cable watcher isn’t ready for a two-part, six-hour, “gay fantasia on national themes” (the play‘s subtitle, though as you might expect, it wasn’t included in the movie iteration). From the week’s ratings review in Wednesday’s Post:

Grievously, HBO’s ambitious six-hour adaptation of Tony Kushner’s Pulitzer Prize-winning play goes into the losers’ column after Sunday’s premiere of Part 1 clocked 4.2 million viewers.

HBO reports that it was its biggest long-form debut this calendar year but acknowledges that, in homes that subscribe to HBO, CBS’s insipid little flick “Undercover Christmas” did better than “Angels.”

Sunday’s audience for “Angels,” one of HBO’s most critically acclaimed projects, was roughly one-third that of the final original episode of “The Sopranos” a year ago, and far smaller than audiences amassed by some of HBO’s other highly hyped projects, such as Steven Spielberg’s 10-hour “Band of Brothers,” which opened with 10 million watching on Sept. 9, 2001, and the first “If These Walls Could Talk,” which 7 million watched in 1996 when HBO had fewer subscribers. Sunday’s premiere was not a train wreck; it was on par with other HBO movies, such as “Introducing Dorothy Dandridge,” which scored 4.1 million viewers in its first telecast.

Related interviews, from NPR: playwright Tony Kushner on Fresh Air (Dec. 9), and “The ‘Angels in America’ Business Plan” (Day to Day, Dec. 11).

For once, a corporate e-mail I’m happy to receive: I just got one announcing that our company is giving us additional paid holidays, Dec. 24 and 31. So in addition to the current holiday schedule (Dec. 25-26 and Jan. 1-2), I can redistribute my remaining vacation time–our leave doesn’t rollover from one year to the next, so I have to use it or lose it each year–which means two whole weeks out of the office. It’s like a school vacation. My last workday of this year will be Thursday, Dec. 18!

Rock on!

Last week’s bit of snow arrived just in time for our outings to a couple of holiday concerts. On Thursday Thom and I went to National Geographic for a Christmas performance by Boys of the Lough, a lively, well-traveled Celtic band. I love watching live music when the musicians have such a rapport with each other, like these do. Great fun.

Beforehand we had a fabulous dinner at McCormick & Schmick’s on K Street, and then with lots of time before the concert, strolled down 16th Street for a bit of hotel hopping. We came to the conclusion that of the St. Regis and the Capital Hilton, the former definitely has the better holiday decorations: gingerbread houses, big Christmas tree, the works. The place is very Manor House. Or Hotel.

The next evening we headed out to George Mason University to see Chanticleer. What a treat. I’ve raved about this group a few times here already, so you know I love those guys. Simply glorious.

Right now I’m at work listening to Avenue Q on headphones. I haven’t listened to it in a while, though Thom and I sing bits of it all the time. The CD just got to that part at the end of “It Sucks To Be Me” where it reprises the Avenue Q theme. Hee, I’m bouncing in my chair. Ah, I love this show. So many funny, honest songs.

Hopefully we’ll get to see it live when Thom and I head up to New York in February. Rufus is playing the Beacon Theatre on Fri., Feb. 13, and I snagged us a pair of primo seats for that. Yay, Valentine’s weekend in New York with my sweetie.

Speaking of which, I’m thinking more about my Moving In with the Boyfriend. Granted, I pretty much live with Thom already and it’s great, but I still have my own apartment in the city, which these days is merely serving as an expensive storage facility for my stuff. I only stop by there a couple times a week to check my mail and the TiVo, pick up clothes, and basically make sure the place hasn’t burned down or anything. So, we talked about it, and I’m planning to fully move out of my apartment sometime early next year.

Wow. This is real life.

[I skipped a few tracks, and now “Fantasies Come True” is playing. I’m doing a little interpretive dance in my chair. And alternately conducting an imaginary cast and orchestra. Hey, I must be pretty good: they sound great.]

Thanksgiving wrap-up: as you may remember, I was in the Bay Area visiting my family for the holiday. I arrived on Wednesday night, and much to my surprise I found out that all of them (my parents and dad’s sisters) are addicted to The O.C. Seriously, the entire family. I thought that was kind of funny, a house-full of older adults gripped by a show that supposedly plays to a considerably younger demographic. But hey, good for them. I’d watch it too–you know I love that Seth [Adam Brody]–but it comes on against The West Wing. (My TiVo wishes to add: “Jeff has, like, eight episodes of his precious Wing on here. But has he watched any of them? No!” Anyway.) I had initially felt a little guilty about planning to go out and hang with Subarna after dinner, but knowing the family was to be suitably occupied in front of the TV allayed that feeling, and she and I went to Barnes & Noble.

On Thanksgiving Day, my aunt, and her family came over to our house for the traditional meal. My cousin’s son, now fifteen months old, is the most adorable thing. He’s grown so much since I last saw him. (Too bad I didn’t have my camera handy.) On Saturday we had more relatives over, most of whom we haven’t seen in a long time. So yeah, so much food. (I was persuaded to bring back some lumpiang shanghai. My aunts cooked up a batch for me the day I left, and Thom and I enjoyed the lumpia for dinner for a couple days after I got back.)

Sunday was pretty much nonstop activity. My mom felt like seeing a movie, so I suggested Love Actually. Yes, I’d seen it before, but compared to the rest of the selection at the local cineplex, it was the most palatable choice. And I really like the movie anyway, and wanted my mom to see it. Still good the second time around. (I didn’t use to think that Colin Firth was all that, but his character here is so endearing.)

My parents decided to have family portraits done that afternoon, so we all packed into the Corolla and headed to Serramonte, the local shopping mall. One set of portraits came out particularly well, so I’ll definitely frame it and find a place for it at home. (And maybe I’ll have a smaller one for my desk at the office, too. Oh, and as Thom noted upon seeing the photo, when I stand next to my parents, who are shorter than me–and mind you, I’m already rather short–I look practically giant.) That evening, the stormy weather made for a slow-going drive to Berkeley, where I met up with some college buddies: Eriko and Jen, and Jen’s boyfriend, Jeremy. We had dinner at an old haunt of ours, Cafe de la Paz, which is a great Latin American restaurant on Shattuck Avenue. I started off with a mojito (I would’ve had a caipirinha, but they were out of cachaça, can you imagine?), and had the pechuga de pollo. Quite tasty. Good company, good food. Definitely lots to be thankful for.