Movie marathon

E and I spent the last week at his family beach house between Santa Cruz and Monterey. It rained for most of the week so we had to spend most of the time playing inside. :-)
We also went to a lot of movies too.

The first was to see “Brokeback Mountain”. We really, really, really wanted to love “Brokeback Mountain”. Needless to say, we were very disappointed when we saw the film last weekend. We both had been married for 20 years before we met. After we first met, we both wanted to have a “fishing buddy” as portrayed in the film. Instead, we fell in love and decided to have a life together.

We didn’t identify and care enough for Jack and Ennis, the two lead characters. Their mumble and grunt line delivery was hard to understand. The understated time shifts were annoying and hard to follow. But most importantly, it was hard to believe these two guys had more than a f*ck-buddy relationship. The film showed very little intimacy, closeness or foreplay. We also found it to be unbelievable that their first sexual encounter was a wham-bam, fully clothed b*tt f*ck.

Much more enjoyable and politically relevant films we saw were “Good night, and Good Luck” and “Rent”. “Pride and Prejudice” and “Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire” were fun and entertaining films. The surprise film was Peter Jackson’s “King Kong”. It reminded me of seeing the “Raiders of the Lost Ark” for the first time, a classic movie done in a grand and swashbuckling style of old.

Happy first night of Hanukkah.

Kids and holidays

It is a busy time with kids and shows. Quick roundup and review:
Oldest son is visiting from Washington, DC. He just took his LSATs and is working on his law school application essay. Oldest daughter just turned 21. We had a wonderful time with her and three of her girl friends in San Francisco. We don’t hear much from Number Two Son even though is attending the closest college where he is a sophomore. Hopefully no news is good news. The high school senior son just decided to move back in with Mom. He has been living with us for about nine months. He decided he missed his old house/room too much. I am concerned about how that will go. There is not as much structure and support there. The two grade school kids that live with my Ex-wife are excited about Christmas and Hanukkah coming and all the presents they are getting.

E and I are spending most of the next two weeks at the beach house. The first week is just for us. We are planning on seeing lots of movies. The second week is for family. We will have three kids, my parents and E’s aunt and uncle.

Birthdays, parties, and plays

The first week of December is packed full of birthdays. Both our mothers have birthdays at the beginning of the month. My oldest daughter’s was at the beginning of the week. My baby turned 21 years old. It feels so strange to have adult children. We are going to celebrate this weekend.
My younger kids were with us last weekend. We played games and did art projects at the local art center. We also all attended a wonderful holiday/birthday party in San Francisco hosted by a delightful and charming gay couple.
Monday night we saw a disappointing Stephen Sondheim review. Other then the multitalented 12-year-old girl who stole the show, the rest of the cast and production were very second rate.
Wednesday night we attended a wonderful performance of “Into the Woods”. It is being done by TheatreWorks in Palo Alto. Excellent production and cast. We are going again the following week and take E’s oldest son.
E and I are spending this weekend at our favorite bed and breakfast in San Francisco, the Parker Guest House. Friday night we are going to see semi-staged productions of “Oedipus Rex” and “The Nightingale” by Stravinsky at the San Francisco Symphony. Saturday we entertain my daughter and three of her friends at the Museum of Modern Art and a musical at 42nd Street Moon, “Roar of the Greasepaint, Smell of the Crowd” and then off to a celebratory dinner. Sunday is gay theatre day. First is play, “After Dark”, at New Conservatory Theatre Center, the best gay theatre company in SF. Then we are going to see “Bent” at Theatre Rhino, the oldest gay theatre in SF.
We also have tickets for Billy Crystal’s “700 Sundays” next week. We are taking E’s old son to as well. He is back from Washington DC where he is now living and working after finishing college.

Thanksgiving pictures

Thanksgiving weekend pictures taken by our friend Chris C. It was a beautiful come and go weekend at the beach.

The Hosts: kissing and dancing

World AIDS Day – Remembrance

My best friend died of AIDS October 15, 1987. David A. DeLong was 36. He was a noted member of the San Jose theatrical community and a prominent activist in local gay causes. I worked with him for almost five years at San Jose Repertory Company where we both held a number of administrative positions.
David grew up in Columbus, Ohio and moved to California in the early 80s. In San Jose he was involved in many gay community issues, helped start a gay newspaper, “Our Paper” and directed a critically acclaimed production of “Streamers”, a play about a gay soldier being harassed in an Army barracks during the Vietnam War.
I miss our lunches where we would drive around town in his Triumph TR8 convertible to distribute marketing materials about the theatre to all the gay owned business. I miss the double dates he and his partner and my then wife and I would go on. Together we would attend theatre, go out to dinner, and dance in gay clubs. We even went on a camping trip together. I miss our long talks about theatre, politics and our significant others.
David, or “D.A.D.”, loved his initial acronym. It fit him well. He was a kind, compassionate, loving man.

I also remember today, David Lemos, another wonderful and talented man I worked with at the theatre company. He was the co-founder and was the first artistic director of San Jose Repertory Company. He went on to write and direct “Remember My Name”, a theatre piece about the AIDS quilt for the NAMES Project. He died in 1995 at 38.