Just Deserts


For a desert, Palm Desert was pretty damn cold this weekend. We went east yonder, all forty of us, to see Prisoner Tribbiani in Thoroughly Modern Millie. 'Twas the mini-vacation we've been planning for months and I'd say it was well worth it.

The drive was a nice one. Not very long. One-third of the way was my old daily commute to school, which made the trip even easier to stomach. On the way, we passed by a billion wind-powered power generators. They were mesmerizing to look at.

When we got to the theater, we quickly realized the lack of any "coloreds" or "youths" around. We were among the only non-white and non-old people there. It was, to say the least, awkward. The production itself was very good. Prisoner Tribbiani's role steals the show (and arguably makes it). Though Thoroughly Modern Millie is not my favorite show (I like it for the large dance numbers and "window ledge" scene only), knowing someone in the cast is mindboggling. It was especially weird having the cast greet us after the show. Surreal even.

Afterward, all 35 or so of us went to Hometown Buffet to dine with the star. He regaled us with backstage tales and gossip (apparently the actress who plays Millie owns a nice car!). It was a great time. He had to get back to the theater for his evening performance, so we cut a long dinner short. There were those of us who stayed in Palm Desert for the night and we had a freakin' blast at the hotel; listening to RENT tunes all night and playing multiplayer Mario Kart DS! Bitchin'!

Speaking of RENT, I saw it twice on the day it came out. It was really good. There are parts of it that they fully realized and parts that could not hold a candle (no pun intended) to the stage version. But it's awesome to finally have these great songs (and message) immortalized on film. I will of course be buying the Special Edition 14 disc DVD set when it comes out (or however else the DVD market decides to rape us consumers). I'm also very glad that it's creating new Rentheads. The Oblong family loved the movie so much (during the movie, I was very worried that they wouldn't like it at its slow moments) they saw it twice and haven't stopped listening to the soundtrack. It's actually kinda maddening. We'll all go see the stage show when another tour swings by Los Angeles.

Well, after our sleepover in Palm Desert, we went to the Cabazon Outlet stores and bought some shoes. It was a mad house. I was disappointed at the lack of big deals. Then we went home. Hum-dee-dum. It was a busy weekend that went by really fast, but it still felt like I didn't accomplish much. Oh well. Here's to Christmas vacation when Ellvin Kelvin will be back to tear up the town.

And if you want to know who I got for the Secret Santa, keep guessing. I'm not telling a sole (SHOES!). That's poetic!



Panning left,

Ricky Cohen for Buzzline
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