Young Marx at London’s Bridge Theatre: Who Knew Communism Was So Fun?by Randi / December 28, 2017Happy New Years! Reflections on 2017’s Less Important Happenings!
Happy New Year, almost! Remember this time last year when amazing celebrities kept dying and Trump got elected so people were like ‘thank god 2016 is over!’ not realizing that the former would keep happening and the latter would beget so much worse awfulness because he’d actually be in POWER in 2017?! Yeah it’s been quite a year. I’m not sure if America will ever recover from the assaults against the foundations of democracy and governance but we have to try. So the most important thing to look forward to in 2018 – and work with every fiber of your being to bring about – is a big giant blue wave of votes in November. And if you’re not in America, you still have to work on your own country. I mean even Sweden with all their amazing health- and babycare is full of Nazis so DO NOT REST! Anyway, it’s not all terror and anxiety and sleepless nights and high blood pressure and fear and guilt and despair and hopelessness. Well it is under the cheeto, but we have to distract ourselves every once in a while from the gloom! What follows is a hodgepodge of my favorite such distractions from this past year, in the fields of travel, food, and entertainment, because that’s who I am and that’s what I care about. Also this is a good way to catch up on all the blog posts you didn’t read! And maybe I’ll give a few hopes for 2018, who knows we’ll see.
i feel like this sums up 2017 too, the vibe you know? like wtf is happening up is down
TRAVEL YAYS
Best Travel Day
Issyk-Kul and Fairytale Canyon, Kyrgyzstan
I had a lot of fun days this past year, mostly because we traveled SO MUCH. But one in particular comes to mind. Day 4 of our tour through Kyrgyzstan was my favorite because fun things just kept coming at us! We made our favorite piece of art; we explored the amazing Fairytale Canyon; we went swimming in Issyk-Kul lake; we had a nice time in a guest house; I got to shower and pee indoors. Great success! Click on the link to read all about it and see all the many pictures! (Obviously I’m not counting days where I sat on a couch with my doggie or played with my nephew that wouldn’t be fair to the others.)
Issyk-Kul and Fairytale Canyon, Kyrgyzstan
I had a lot of fun days this past year, mostly because we traveled SO MUCH. But one in particular comes to mind. Day 4 of our tour through Kyrgyzstan was my favorite because fun things just kept coming at us! We made our favorite piece of art; we explored the amazing Fairytale Canyon; we went swimming in Issyk-Kul lake; we had a nice time in a guest house; I got to shower and pee indoors. Great success! Click on the link to read all about it and see all the many pictures! (Obviously I’m not counting days where I sat on a couch with my doggie or played with my nephew that wouldn’t be fair to the others.)
Most amazing sights
3. The Alhambra in Granada. It was hot as balls and took days to see (not days) but it was so worth it. What an amazing place.
2. Honestly I’m forgetting a lot – we saw A LOT of shit this summer – so what immediately comes to mind is the Monte Palace Tropical Gardens in Funchal, Madeira. I was so surprised at how much I loved this place and how peaceful it felt. It’s not as famous or as recommended as the other Botanical Gardens in town, but it’s 100x better – and so much bigger! You could get lost in there for a whole day.
1. Was there any doubt? Obviously it’s the Spectacular Wall of China, which is what I call the Great Wall. It more than lives up to expectations and is completely mind-blowing. I am so lucky I got to see it!
Favorite surprising place
Nanxun was such a surprise! We stopped at this little-known (and little) water town outside Shanghai because we wanted to see a water town and heard this was nice. I didn’t expect to completely adore this gorgeous place! I mean we know I like water but this water town was on a whole other level. Amazing!
Nanxun was such a surprise! We stopped at this little-known (and little) water town outside Shanghai because we wanted to see a water town and heard this was nice. I didn’t expect to completely adore this gorgeous place! I mean we know I like water but this water town was on a whole other level. Amazing!
Favorite hotel
Come on! Is there any question? I wuv you Fraser Suites Chengdu! I wuv you!
FOOD YAYS
Best meal
The best thing I ate, Savory Edition, was my dinner at Jujubeetree Vegetarian Lifestyle in Chengdu. This is where I ordered a dish that sounded super gross and still have no idea how or why that happened, but it was some otherworldly magic that made me do it because it was the best dish oh my goddd and the best meal in all of China, which has the best food in all the world (at least where I went this past year) and now I want Sichuan food.
The best thing I ate, Savory Edition, was my dinner at Jujubeetree Vegetarian Lifestyle in Chengdu. This is where I ordered a dish that sounded super gross and still have no idea how or why that happened, but it was some otherworldly magic that made me do it because it was the best dish oh my goddd and the best meal in all of China, which has the best food in all the world (at least where I went this past year) and now I want Sichuan food.
Best dessert
Oh man, the tahini milkshake from Goldiein Philadelphia is insaaaaaane! It is like liquid halva (but not too liquid – they know real milkshakes need to be thick!). It’s so amazing that I tried to recreate it, and I did a decent job which you can find the recipe for at the above link. I’m also fo sho making it tonight to ring in the new year!
ENTERTAINMENT YAYS
Most fun at the theatre in London
“How to Succeed in Business Without Really Trying”
This tiny little production at Wilton’s Music Hall – not exactly the West End – put on one of the best productions of the year, mostly because of its attention to detail and its milking of every single possible drop of humor from the script. It was hilarious and so well done.
“How to Succeed in Business Without Really Trying”
This tiny little production at Wilton’s Music Hall – not exactly the West End – put on one of the best productions of the year, mostly because of its attention to detail and its milking of every single possible drop of humor from the script. It was hilarious and so well done.
Most fun at the theatre in New York
“Once On This Island”
I can’t believe I knew so little about Once On This Island before seeing the new Broadway revival, but I am in deep now. It was so delightful and I was enraptured, on the edge of my seat and forgetting everything except what was going on in the sand pit in front of me. This glorious show deserves a long run…and with my main man Norm Lewis joining the cast soon, it deserves repeat visits! I cannot wait for the cast album. I imagine my 2018 will be spent listening to it nonstop.
Funniest Things of 2017
3. I’m a terrible person I know and I still crack up at all the tee shirts I saw in China, and so many of the signs, especially the fake New Balances that don’t know what they want to be. Loves it! (at end of post)
2. “The Good Place” Season 2
I had NO IDEA how they would move on from that killer ending of season 1, just really no idea, so it’s good I’m not writing for this show because they moved on and it’s even better than it was before. Such geniuses! Every episode has like five quotes that have become permanent fixtures of my daily speech, and if I wanted to keep typing with my arms that end in stupid sticks, I would say more, especially because I have no idea what’s going on but everyone is talking and I think I should too. But nothing beats this product of the genius of all geniuses, Megan Amram, as she shared all her ideas for the ever-changing food places in the neighborhood. CAMEMBERT-BIE LET’S GO PARTY????? HAHHHHHHHH!
1. “Big Mouth” on Netflix
Who would have thought this disgustingly raunchy cartoon about kids going through puberty would be the funniest thing ever? Oh it’s from Nick Kroll? And has Maya Rudolph and John Mulaney and JASON MANTZOUKAS?? Yeah, it’s the funniest thing ever. So gross, so inappropriate, and so f-ing genius. Below is my favorite song, courtesy of the goddess among us mortals, Maya Rudolph.
Who would have thought this disgustingly raunchy cartoon about kids going through puberty would be the funniest thing ever? Oh it’s from Nick Kroll? And has Maya Rudolph and John Mulaney and JASON MANTZOUKAS?? Yeah, it’s the funniest thing ever. So gross, so inappropriate, and so f-ing genius. Below is my favorite song, courtesy of the goddess among us mortals, Maya Rudolph.
Best musical theatre albums
3. “Bandstand”
I loved this sweet, sad, so important show. It was too good to close as quickly as it did, too special, but luckily we have a cast album and it’s fantastic. Corey Cott and Laura Osnes sound impeccable on their big numbers, and all the emotion that overwhelmed in the theatre is just as strong. I cry just as hard listening to it as I did watching it, and that’s pretty special.
3. “Bandstand”
I loved this sweet, sad, so important show. It was too good to close as quickly as it did, too special, but luckily we have a cast album and it’s fantastic. Corey Cott and Laura Osnes sound impeccable on their big numbers, and all the emotion that overwhelmed in the theatre is just as strong. I cry just as hard listening to it as I did watching it, and that’s pretty special.
2. “The Band’s Visit”
Holy crap, I have not been able to listen to any other music for the past few weeks, since this album was released. David Yazbeck has created such a lovely, quiet yet gripping masterpiece. Every day I have a new favorite song: Yesterday it was Papi Hears the Ocean, Thursday it was Welcome to Nowhere (that line about Jews OMG), and today is Answer Me. But every day features at least 10 plays of Omar Sharif and Something Different, because the genius of Katrina Lenk, a force of nature in the theatre, shines just as bright on the recording. The emotion here, the humanity, ugh it’s all so good and so wonderful that they were able to capture it.
1. “Natasha, Pierre, and the Great Comet of 1812″
My biggest regret of 2017 was not appreciating this show’s brilliance when I got to see it. Actually, I saw it at the very end of 2016, so that’s my big regret of 2016…ACTUALLY, no my biggest regret of 2016 was not locking the people I knew were going to vote for Trump in their homes so they couldn’t vote. Okay that’s not very democratic, to keep people from voting – that’s something republicans like doing. I should have helped drive more people to vote or register or something. Okay I can’t think about that right now, this is supposed to be about fun distractions not sadnesses. So my big frivolous-item regret of 2017 was not seeing this amazing show again before it closed prematurely. But about that first thing- I really didn’t appreciate this show when I saw it, like a fool LIKE A FOOL. There was so much going on, and a lot of the music is hard to love on first listen. The absolute mind-blowing genius of Dave Malloy’s score can only be realized once you are actually familiar with it, so this cast album is not only my favorite and the best, but it’s also the most important and necessary. If people listened to this a few times (maybe ten) and learned all the amazing lyrics and orchestrations and all the genres referenced, they would have enjoyed the show more in person and maybe it would have lasted longer. I don’t know, but I know I would have enjoyed it more and appreciated how incredible it is. Thank goodness we are blessed with this original Broadway cast album AND the original original cast album from downtown, with Phillipa Soo as Natasha and Dave Malloy, the composer, as Pierre. I prefer the Broadway version – I think some of Denee Benton’s fun and effective choices as Natasha really come through and it’s exciting to hear, and of course there’s my Joshy G – but it’s interesting to hear the differences in the interpretations of character and the lyric changes that occurred over the years. Both are great, but the important thing is that this show is AMAZING. Was. Tear. (Please come to London maybe they will appreciate you more.)
Things I want in 2018
Theatre wants
I want “Once On This Island” to last at least until the Tony Awards and I hope it gets recognized for how genius it is.
I want “Once On This Island” to last at least until the Tony Awards and I hope it gets recognized for how genius it is.
I want Katrina Lenk to keep up her momentum for Best Actress because, although I haven’t seen the powerhouse performances to come (I mean we have a Julie Jordan and an Eliza Doolittle coming…and that’s without talking about Frozen or Mean Girls jfc this season is packed), so far she more than deserves it. She’s magicked.
Also most of all I need to see the above mentioned new shows coming! Ahhhh Jessie Mueller in Carousel??? With Joshua Henry??? I faint.
Travel hopes
I hope we don’t get heat stroke in Australia. (P.s. we’re going to Australia! IN FEBRUARY. It’s gonna be so hot!). Even more than that I hope we don’t get bitten by all the thousands of millions of deadly animals in Australia.
REAL NEEDS
GIMME AN I! GIMME AN M! GIMME A P! GIMME AN E! GIMME AN A! GIMME A C! GIMME AN H! (DID I SPELL THAT RIGHT?) also please send all of them to jail. ALL OF THEM.
Come on 2018!!! Be good to us!
Related Posts
Voting With Your Dollar: A Big Fork Off to Equinox & SoulCycle
This is #3 in the Vote With Your Dollar series in which I ruin things you probably love, and I’m sorry, but like, the world is a mess and we should try to do better. Every other Friday I’ll be here ruining stuff for you!
Today we are discussing GOTTAMMED Trump supporters. GOTTAMM THEM ALL.
Equinox, SoulCycle, & more
In NYC one summer, I thought it would be like suh cul to join Equinox, the fanciest, coolest, most exclusive (and expensive) gym out there. My branch was all I hoped it would be – there was a smoothie bar, and there were celebrities (I don’t ask for much). I even ran into Raul Esparza one day! But today, I’m ready to give Raul Esparza up. Not that I go to Equinox anymore, but you know what I’m saying. It’s not worth it. And I know people are obbbsesssssed with SoulCycle (all those memes about people who do CrossFit never being able to stop talking about it should really be about SoulCycle) (side note why is every trendy exercise brand two capitalized words merged together it’s pissing me off). But anyway, spinning junkies, it’s time to give Peloton, whatever the fork their business model is, even more business because FORK Equinox and FORK SoulCycle.
This week, news came out that the founder and chairman of Related Cos., an enormous (and infuriatingly generic named) real estate company, is a Trump supporter. And not just like your uncle is a Trump supporter; I mean the influential kind that billionaires are, the ones who are guaranteeing the safety of his job and endangering the rest of us. Stephen Ross, the man in question, plans to host a fundraiser for Cheeto Mussolini’s reelection in New York TODAY. How much funds does he plan on raising? The tickets are $100,000 a head, for lunch and a photo (and they go up from there). THAT’S A LOT OF CHEETOS, MUSSOLINI!
So why does this matter for those of us who love fancy gyms and/or spin classes despite the crotch pain that you never get used to? Related Cos. owns Equinox and SoulCycle, and so there is a huge twitter boycott spreading in the wake of this news. Equinox tried to save face with a statement that actually made everything worse (who is in charge over there?! Oh right, Trumpers), saying that Ross is merely a “passive investor” and that neither Equinox nor SoulCycle are involved with the fundraiser. But Ross is literally the founder of this entire huge company, and the chairman. He IS the company. The money may be fungible, but it’s still the money that makes him super immorally rich and it’s still these companies that make him so powerful. Even if it doesn’t actually do anything to cancel memberships, it sends a message, and that’s the least we can do.
Well, there’s a tiny bit more we can do, and it’s going to hurt. Equinox and SoulCycle are the face of this controversy, but Related Cos. also owns or has made huge investments in a bunch of other notable brands that I know some of you adore. Gird your loins, because here’s a small sampling:
PURE Yoga (I know)
&Pizza (ughh)
Blink Fitness (well no one actually cares about that one)
Milk Bar (I’m sorry!)
The entire Momofuku empire (I SAID I’M SORRY)
Hudson Yards (oof)
Also, Ross is co-hosting the event with his current wife (I mean she lives in the house and it’s at their house (well at one of them; I’m sure they have 50 and still don’t give a quarter to homeless people)). His current wife is jewelry designer Kara Ross, whose (hideous, actually, so no real skin off our backs) jewelry is sold online at various websites including therealreal.com and lyst.co.uk, and in stores at Bergdorf Goodmans. So, boycott them all.
Now, it’s true, and forking bleak, that if we had to boycott every immoral corporation, we’d never actually be able to buy or do anything ever again. But even so, I think it’s worth doing what you can to send a message. And these little protests can add up: #GrabYourWallet, the campaign that gathers Trump-supporting companies to boycott, has added Related Cos. brands to their list, and this is the movement that got Nordstrom and Macy’s to stop selling Ivanka’s (trash) clothing line as a direct result of the boycotts they led. So I believe it’s worth it to keep voting with our dollars even if our dollars don’t seem to make a huge difference. Like Eleanor said in season 3 episode 5 (my favorite episode, guys) “why not try? It’s better than not trying, right?”
Voting with Your Dollar: Hotels, Cosmetics, and TV on My List
This is #4 in the Vote with your Dollar series, in which I ruin things you probably love, and I’m sorry, but like the world is a mess and we should try to do better. Every other Friday I’ll be here ruining stuff for you!
Hey folks, we have some real jerkfaces to talk about today! I feel compelled to note in response to some talk talk in my ear holes that OF COURSE these aren’t the most important issues to be talking about. These are things I suggest taking in consideration for people who ALREADY know not to support Nazis/animal cruelty/destruction of earth/racists/rapists/&c and want to know a little more about where their money goes. I don’t wanna hear any of that “why don’t you talk about something more important like the Amazon” nonsense. (Answer: BECAUSE WE ALREADY KNOW NOT TO EAT BEEF.) (Although the Amazon is on fire and that’s probably the most pressing concern right now so definitely donate to Rainforest Alliance, Rainforest Trust, Amazon Watch, and/or Rainforest Action Network if you have spare cash. And stop eating beef.)
HOTELS
Sheldon Adelson is a corrupt billionaire (redundant) who represents the extremely dangerous extreme far-right movement. He gave $82 million to Cheeto Mussolini and Republicans in 2016, more than three times the next largest individual donor. His $5 million donation to Trump’s inaugural committee is the largest single donation to any such inauguration in history. His support for Trump’s regime seems dependant on how the toilet president has intertwined the republican party with the terrible policies of Israel’s Benjamin Netanyahu. And Adelson’s money isn’t just sent in an envelope to Trump and left at that. The New York Times reported that he was part of a ‘shadow National Security Council’ that pushed for Trump to destroy the Iran deal and to move the Israeli embassy to Jerusalem, two supremely stupid moves that endanger many people, Jews included (as do most of Trump’s decisions and policies, as they contribute to the rise in anti-Semitism, a point rich assholes tend not to give a shit about) (there was a play called Bad Jews and I never saw it but I think it was about Adelson (and the Kushners) (and any other Jew that supports Trump I mean I just DO NOT GET IT how do you care about preventing Israel from being shared by people who already live there more than you care about Nazis running your own country??).
In addition to all the terrible things Sheldon does – like funding Rabbi Shmuley’s work, buying or publishing Israeli daily newspapers as well as the Las Vegas Review-Journal and exerting editorial control over content that dares criticize the corruption at his casinos (latter) or Bibi (former), and funding a group that opposes anti-Israel discussion on college campuses – he also owns the Venetian Casino in Las Vegas, so not staying there is one regular person way of not putting your money in his most-likely-gross-and-dirty-and-sticky-maybe-from-an-unwrapped-cough-drop pocket. Sheldon, a sort of Alex-Mack goo pile that reformed into a solid improperly, founded the parent company Las Vegas Sands Corporation and is the chairman and CEO. The company also owns The Palazzo on the Vegas Strip. I’m pretty sure there isn’t one casino in Vegas that isn’t owned by a corrupt asshole billionaire, but we’re focusing on this asshole today. I mean Vegas casinos suck anyway; stay off the strip maybe? I don’t know I hate Vegas. But I do love Singapore, so it makes me sad to report my recent discovery that Sheldon the Bellend also owns the most famous sight there – the Marina Bay Sands, the famous triple tower hotel with the viewing platform across all three. You know it as the location of the party at the end of Crazy Rich Asians. It’s super famous. (They also own a lot of hotels and casinos in Macau but who is staying there, ugh boring.)
Suffice it to say, this jackwagon sucks, so if you want a fake Italian gondola ride, just rent a canoe and find a creek and a striped boatneck shirt.
COSMETICS
Most of the companies implicated herein aren’t vegan anyway but I super extra urge those of you who do use their products to read on. Recently, the organization behind the #grabyourwallet boycotts have added Estee Lauder to the list, along with its subsidiary companies. And it’s for dern good reason: Ron Lauder, board member and heir to the g-d entire shibang, contributed to Trump’s Victory Committee. What a jackass. Unfortunately, the reach of Estee Lauder is broad. I cannot sufficiently prepare you for the list to come. The parent company owns (gird your loins):
Aveda
Clinique
Origins
Bobbi Brown
Jo Malone
MAC
Smashbox
Aerin (but who really uses that)
Darphin
La Mer (fuck that noise anyway)
Prescriptives
Too Faced
Bumble & Bumble
I mean we shouldn’t be surprised since, as we regularly establish here, all billionaires are immoral, but also Estee Lauder was the company that worked with Trump in the early aughts on launching his signature fragrance so they’ve always been in cahoots. I bet it was the fragrance of the 57th Street subway station in the summer mixed with piss-stained hospital bed sheets.
I know that is some list, though, like astonishingly big and bad. Luckily, there are some cruelty-free cosmetics brands that are even better, that don’t test on animals and don’t support monsters. LUSH cosmetics are easy to find – just follow your nose; you can smell the shop from a block away – and have many vegan products. BareFaced Beauty, Sugarpill Cosmetics, and Revolution Makeup are also dependably cruelty-free brands and I’m pretty sure they don’t support Trump. Makeup experts are better sources than I am, of course, so check out sites like logicalharmony.net for more info (although of course their most recent post is about Too Faced ack!).
TELEVISION
Okay WHAT THE FORK, ABC?! I have never watched “Dancing with the Stars” but I am LIVID about their casting Sean Spicer on the new season of that bullshirt. Trump’s former press secretary is not a star, he is not funny, and he is not trendy or cool. He is literally a man responsible for defending untold atrocities and lying to the American public and the world about what this administration was doing. He should be going to jail with all the rest of the monsters, but instead he’s being paraded out as goofball entertainment? NO.
Some people have rolled their eyes at the outrage over ‘just a stupid TV show’. And that kind of reaction completely misses the horrifying point that this outrage is really about: Putting Spicer on this show is normalizing what he did and as a result what the administration has done. Normalizing their continued destruction of our laws, systems, and our humanity makes a mockery of morality. It’s treating evil as entertainment. That’s nothing to dismiss just because it’s being done through a stupid TV show. In fact, that makes it all the more horrifying and important to stand against. We’ve let too much happen already; letting them excuse and use this man as entertainment is a surefire step in remaining a fascist state. Spicer and the lot of them should be entertaining judges at The Hague with how stupid they are and how obvious guilty they are, not entertaining the very country they’ve destroyed with their g-d dancing.
That’s it for this fortnight of What I Hate Now, the alternate title for this series. Chime in with your thoughts and/or what’s bugging you this week.
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Nostalgia at its best
❤️🎉