Mariska Hargitay, everyone!This weekend we did quite a lot, now that I think about it. We’ll start with Friday evening. I made Pao de Queijo using a new recipe and it came out sooo good! Beautiful golden white orbs baked to perfection. The Pao de Queijo was not supposed to be the main even, however, as we had rented “The Love Guru”. I had heard so many bad reviews on the movie that I was honestly not expecting much at all. I think this is the reason why I liked it as much as I did. I was prepared for something so mediocre that I was pleasantly surprised that I was laughing the whole movie long. I’m still a little surprised that Sir Ben Kinsley was in the movie at all, and that on top of that he played such a silly character.
Saturday Thing 2 and I made Oatmeal Raisin Cookies and they came out scrumptulescent. There really is nothing so comforting as a glass of milk and an oatmeal cookie. Does it take you back? Ponder this: you’re a little kid, you step out of the shower and your mama puts some Johnson’s powder all over you. You sit down for a snack of oatmeal cookies, a glass of cold milk and a story. Good times! That’s a nice happy place for any of you who don’t have one yet. You’re welcome.
Later in the evening Fukui-san and I went to a play. Pedro Sol is in a play called 7 – O Musical, the only thing is that it’s in the center of town. I think you can imagine just how thrilled I was to go all the way down to the center on a Saturday evening with a driver who, while he is very careful and very safe, does not use the force to guide him so we usually end up lost in a really basic and well known part of town. I’ve got some of the force on my side so I try to make suggestions. But there are times that you think a comment or suggestion is so obvious that the other person is going to think you’re being condescending. Let this be a lesson to all of you, it doesn’t matter. It doesn’t matter if you think that it’s obvious that a certain street leads to the beach (especially when you can see the waves crashing), or that the street you’re on is the main street since it has like 5 lanes and there’s a huge sign right above your head with an arrow pointing to where you’re going (follow the yellow brick road). Make sure that no matter how silly or obvious it sounds, you point it out and you make yourself heard. As you can probably tell, I made the mistake of assuming an enormous green sign that was completely lit up was enough as far as directions go, but now, it wasn’t. We were touched by an angel, though and arrived at the theatre 3 minutes after the play was supposed to start. It was 10 minutes late which gave us enough time to find our seats.
The play was yet another thing that caught me by surprise. I was predisposed to hate it because I normally hate plays. I hate that that actors are so over the top dramatic and it seems ridiculous to me. I’m embarrassed for the actors most of the time, which makes me uncomfortable and therefore makes the whole experience less than a joy. In general I don’t get the humor in plays in Portuguese and I fall into that strange place where everyone is laughing and I’m not, then everyone’s silent and I can’t stop cracking up. I’ll tell you what, I’ve had some bizarre theatre experiences but nothing beats having to talk to the actor after the play. That awkward congratulation that’s thick with false praise and flattery. That mandatory exclamation of enthusiasm and surprise at how great it was and so unexpectedly so, always makes my stomach quiver. I’m not good at lying when I don’t think it’s in the best interest of all involved. I have some basic rules for my life and one of them is: whenever you can help someone by telling them the truth, do. I don’t often offer my truths (that’s not really true, is it?), but when asked, I’ll tell it all, regardless of the consequences, which in my experience has been generally positive.
Anynonsense, getting back to my story, Pedro’s play was excellent. Yes, I said it, you heard me – excellent. I don’t use that word lightly (especially when referring to a play), but in this case I believe it was merited. The whole story and backdrops, music and overall look and feel are very sinister and dark, which is really cool, actually. The costumes were really well made and beautiful. The production was spectacular and Pedro has a beautiful singing voice. The play is like an evil fairy tale, and you really do feel the “magic”, so to speak. It’s all set in a kind of fantastic place and time, and everything in the play lends itself to helping you feel like you’ve been transported there with them. It’s a mix of a number of fairy tales (Snow White, Cinderella, Sleeping Beauty) with some other fluff sprinkled in. The story was quite clever, I thought. Pedro plays the young innocent virgin (quite a stretch). He did well in the role of the innocent virgin and in all he represented, which is the highest possible praise I can give seeing as this is his first theatre performance (that I’m aware of).
If you happen to be in
Later on in the evening we were mercilessly stabbed in the back by our “friends” and were left out to dry while they all went and saw the new 007. Fear not, dear readers, I will have my revenge. I’m conjuring up something even now for those Judas Brutus fools who will be lucky if I ever refer to them by the real names again (you know who you are). Sleep with one eye open.
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