A little bit of culture

Friday night Aly and I did something that we don't normally do, we went to the theatre. Not the movie theatre, the theatre theatre. It was something very different, and it was pretty cool.

A girl I work with named Ann Marie used to work at the North Shore Music Theatre and she sent out a company-wide email asking if anyone wanted free tickets to see Charles Dickens' "A Christmas Carol". I had never gone to the NSMT and I assumed that it was sort of a step up from community theatre, but surprisingly, it's not.

During the intermission, I read the Playbill and found that most of the actors were on Broadway, had bit parts on television and had been in movies. The cast was really good and the show was awesome. For one thing, it's my favorite Christmas story (the best one will always be the Mr. Magoo version) and for another thing I needed a bit of the old Christmas spirit.

For some reason, I haven't been able to get into Christmas this year. It's already the 12th of December and I haven't done any Christmas shopping, nor do I even know what to get for anyone. And just thinking of all the bills is enough to drop me into a cold sweat.

But after I saw that performance, I started to feel more in the holiday spirit. The other night I told Aly about how I wasn't looking forward to Christmas and that I needed to be visited by three ghosts, and last night I was.

This morning the Sox put their four-game packs on sale for the coming season. I woke up at about 9:00, jumped on the computer and was ready to get moving. Only my modem was busted. This happens every once in a while, so I had to keep my ear to the phone and listened to a busy signal for an hour. Totally sucked.

All of a sudden the modem started to work again and I was able to get a package for me, Ryan, Skaus and Nick. Games against the Blue Jays, Yankees, A's and Reds. Brownie got the same package and another one. Not too bad, but the one shitty thing was during that one-hour blackout I missed getting opening day seats. Man, I would've loved to have those seats. Sucks that I can't go. Maybe I'll get them for Christmas?

The Winter Meetings are being held now and the Sox have made a bit of a splash, they've signed pitchers David Wells and John Hallama. Don't care about the latter, he should be good coming out of the bullpen, but the Wells signing has me 50/50. For one thing, the guy is a die-hard Yankee, he bleeds pinstripes. Another thing is that he's pretty old, 41-years-old to be exact and his back is not exactly ship-shape. The one saving grace is that Theo signed him. In Theo I trust.

There are also reports coming out of Anaheim that the Sox have deals with Varitek, Pedro and Cardinal shortstop Edgar Renteria, which is why the Sox lost Carl Pavano to the Yanks. If it's a swap of Pavano for Renteria, Varitek, Wells and Pedro, than I am completely cool with that. Like I said, in Theo I trust. ITIT.

Aside from getting my haircut, Aly and I did nothing today. She watched a marathon of "America's Next Model" and I read and goofed around on the net. She needed this because she's starting to come down with a cold and unless I put my foot down and tell her to chill out, she's always bouncing around, getting herself sicker.

Good news yesterday, it looks as if she's getting a job offer from Bank of America on Monday. She spoke with that company's HR director and it's just about a done deal. We won't be celebrating until all of the T's are crossed and the I's are dotted. But for now she'll probably be starting January 3.

Since we did nothing, we were a bit stir crazy by about 6:00. We were originally supposed to go out with Brownie and Cindy, but Cindy found out today that her sister has MS. That put a damper on things, so we didn't go with them. Then we called Sara and Skaus, they said no because Sara had to work.

Aly and I were on our own, which actually worked out better. We started off at a really good Mexican place in Somerville called Tu Y Yo. Good food, stuff sticks to your ribs. I chowed like no one's business. I had a steak dish with two helpings of beans and rice. She had the pork dish and we had an appetizer and drinks. Total cost $35, without tip. Pretty cheap.

After that we got some ice cream, it hasn't been very cold out, which is why we went to JP Licks, then we went to the movies. We took in "Oceans Twelve". Good popcorn movie, yes there were a bunch of plot holes, but it was enjoyable, lots of fun. For one thing, I love heist movies ... they're probably my favorite kind of picture because I enjoy the cleverness needed to a. think of the plot and b. pull it off.

And when I say cleverness, I don't necessarily mean the guys who actually pull off the caper, I'm talking about the guy who wrote it. That's the man who has to have the idea. The way I figure it, he probably walks into a museum, scopes the place out and figures out how to get in and steal a work of art, money or whatever.

The only problem is, he's too much of a wuss to do it. Not that I'd do it, I'm just as big of a pussy, but he has the imagination to write something plausible. For the movie, there were a few lulls (out of about 12 scenes, Julia Roberts had about three that weren't annoying, but she was really good in those three scenes.) Brad Pitt, George Clooney, Matt Damon, Bernie Mac, all those dudes seemed like they had a fun time doing this movie and it show on the screen. And what can you say about Catherine Zeta Jones? She's fucking smoking. Good addition to the cast.

We saw the movie where we saw "Alexander" two weeks ago, at the Assembly Square theatre in Somerville. This may be on the list of ghetto theatres, which already includes the Fenway theatre. For one thing, it was packed. Not a big deal, it's Saturday night, this is a big movie. But the place was packed with idiots.

The two burly guys next to Aly each brought a six-pack, pounded them in about 45 minutes then left the theatre. The guys behind us brought two little kids and each person in that little foursome had Chinese food. How the fuck do you bring in Chinese food and beer?

And they didn't eat quietly, I felt like I was at a slaughter house and it was time for the cows' last meal. To borrow a phrase from Public Enemy, it was louder than a bomb. Then one of the guys pulls out of phone and started to call someone. In the middle of the fucking movie! I turned around and almost asked him if the movie was too loud, but I think he was Asian and was speaking a different language, so I didn't want to waste a good line on someone who couldn't understand it.

I know I asked these questions after we saw "The Village", but what the fuck is up with people? Why do people go to movies and talk on the phone? Can't they see that there is an entire auditorium full of people who paid $10 a ticket to watch a movie? It's obvious that they don't give a fuck.

There was one guy in front of me who constantly was sending emails on his Blackberry. Pandora's wireless box has already been open, there's nothing we can do about it, but please, I beseech you, relax for two hours. Get lost in a movie, leave your shitty fucking life with all of it's mundane melodramas at home. I promise you, it will be there when you get back. Just quit subjecting people to your stupid boring crap.

Thank you.