Rebel Prince

From today’s announcements in the Times, wedding as off-Broadway musical:

He had resisted the temptation to cast himself in the first 11 musicals he wrote that were produced, including the one that a reviewer described as “Agatha Christie meets Gilbert and Sullivan.” But Noel Katz, 43, had a starring role in his 12th, a brisk one-act show called “Our Wedding: The Musical.”

He wrote it for his marriage on Oct. 12 to Joy Dewing, 29, a musical-theater coloratura he met in a theater-related Internet chat room six years ago.

Do good looks equal good evaluations?

Daniel Hamermesh, a professor of economics at the University of Texas at Austin, and Amy Parker, one of his students, found that attractive professors consistently outscore their less comely colleagues by a significant margin on student evaluations of teaching. The findings, they say, raise serious questions about the use of student evaluations as a valid measure of teaching quality.

Link via Arts & Letters Daily. Hm. I don’t really have any comment, witty or otherwise, to this. I just found it interesting. I suppose this is the kind of thing that would belong in a sidebar list of links. It’s what all the bloggers are doing these days, eh?

The weakness of President Bush citing the Philippines as a model in rebuilding Iraq:

While the administration often speaks of the occupations of Japan and Germany after World War II as rough models for the effort to rebuild Iraq, Mr. Bush used the visit [to Manila] to make a less explicit analogy to the American administration of the Philippines, which also led to the formation of a democracy. But the comparison has less power to reassure, given that the Philippine government did not gain full autonomy for five decades.

For better or worse, the United States held the Philippines from the turn of the twentieth century to 1946.

Fashion notes (I apologize for the trivial aside, but you know you don’t come to Rebel Prince for pure politics anyway): some legislators in the Philippine Congress silently protested in anticipation of Bush’s address to the joint session, wearing various emblems, one being a rather lovely shawl with the words “No to U.S. War” and a colorful dove trampling a missile. Perhaps Bush was advised to soften his image–the Times notes an “aversion to local garb”–by wearing to the state dinner a barong, the traditional (and practical, given the tropical weather) garment for men. Philippine President Gloria Macapagal Arroyo wore a bright red terno with its characteristic butterfly sleeves.

Last night Thom and I met up at Pentagon City, at what’s becoming one of our regular meeting places: the veritable golden triangle of shopping bounded by Best Buy, Linens N Things, and Borders. Yeah, I know Marshalls is there too, but it’s been ages since I last shopped there.

Browsing the magazine racks at Borders, I spied a cute coverboy (Andy Roddick), and the magazine turned out to be Deuce, a publication of the ATP, the organization for men’s professional tennis. Hm, perhaps I should start keeping tabs on the young bucks of tennis world. Yum.

While at Borders I picked up Newsies and About a Boy on DVD, not bad at $14.99 each. A couple of CDs I want, the Avenue Q cast recording (I feel a New York trip coming up) and Getz/Gilberto (the classic 1964 collaboration between Stan Getz and João Gilberto), weren’t on sale, so I guess I’ll just get them on Amazon at some point.

Thom and I had dinner at Chevy’s, where he continued his search for the best sour-apple martini. Chevy’s makes a sour-apple margarita, which appears to be his current front-runner. I had a mango margarita–are we a couple of fruits or what?–and for dinner the tostada salad, which was quite substantial, but to be honest I slightly prefer the barbeque chicken salad across the way at CPK. Afterwards we headed home, watched some TV, and called it a night.

And now for some inconsequential trivia: just now out of idle curiosity I looked up the word “tab” (which I used above, in the sense of keeping “a close watch”), and I also find out that the “Tab” key on typewriters and computer keyboards is in fact short for “tabulator,” i.e., for arranging data in table columns. Makes sense. Though in this digital age, of course, its perhaps equally apparent function is switching among links or input fields on a web page.

Virginia Opera is using comics-style art to promote its new season: Madame Butterfly, The Magic Flute, Rigoletto, and Fidelio. Cool. And the promo art for Madame Butterfly is very anime, which is somewhat appropriate, since the opera is set in Japan, as you know. (Posters for each of the season’s four operas are available as desktop wallpapers.)

A while ago I had written about the comforts of being a regular at a particular restaurant, where they know your “usual.” I think I’m finally getting into the groove. Now I periodically go to Jean’s for lunch, and they remember what I like. My usual: a chicken-salad half-sandwich on whole wheat, and soup (there’s usually a choice of two kinds; today I went with cream of broccoli), together for under four bucks. No frills, just good eats. In fact, my former co-worker and predecessor–he previously held the assistant managing editor position–used to go to Jean’s every day for lunch. So I guess I’m upholding some kind of legacy.

But speaking of Good Eats, in this case the entertaining (and very educational) cooking series, host Alton Brown will be a guest on Ellen tomorrow.

I had planned to go to work for a few hours today, though when I say “plan to go,” what I really mean is “think about it for a good-intentioned second, even though deep down I’d already decided against it.” Today is such a gorgeous day–unseasonally warm and breezy–that I couldn’t bring myself to spend any of it in the office. So I stayed here at Thom’s and lazed around, and Alex spent a good while sunning himself by the window like a good little queercat. Earlier I baked some pumpkin bread (mmm, it’s good), and am getting ready to head back home. (The thought of leaving this warm, comfy oasis seems a bit distant, though, as I’m still just wearing a t-shirt and pajama bottoms at the moment.)

I have to go to work tomorrow. Grr. But yay, I don’t have to go to class, so I suppose I’m getting some of the Columbus Day holiday (or Thanksgiving, for our Canadian friends). FYI, last month I started taking a weekly class in Portuguese at the USDA Graduate School. More on that soon. Até logo, meus amigos.

Today is one lazy Saturday. Mmm. Thom is visiting his folks this weekend, so I’m condo-sitting for him (and cat-sitting too: hm, where’d Alex run off to, anyway?). Not a bad gig, I say. This morning I went to the mall, and picked up a couple of things. First I stopped at Williams-Sonoma for pumpkin bread mix and pecan pumpkin butter–I’m feeling all domestic, and will probably bake a loaf tomorrow. Also, I’ve been wanting a fleece-type vest for the imminent cool (but not yet cold) weather, and while I’ve had my eye on (an unfortunately overpriced) one at Banana Republic, today I found a comparable one at Nordstrom for less than half the price, and it’s reversible. Score. (Note to self: all Gap jackets and vests are 25% off through Oct. 15. I’m in the market for a blazer in either suede or corduroy… though when I’m indecisive, you never have to twist my arm to choose all of the above.)

So, yeah, time to get some dinner together, and maybe do some reading or delve into Thom’s DVD collection. Again, this is pretty sweet. (Quick TV note: tonight’s SNL host and musical guest is Justin Timberlake.)

Have a good weekend, kids.