Kennedy Center Honors, 2009

I love watching the Kennedy Center Honors maybe even more than the Academy Awards or Golden Globes - the tributes to each honoree are always wonderfully produced and performed, and the honorees are incredibly and indisputably deserving of their recognition. I love how this reveres every kind of performance art, rather than just one or two. So, I was especially excited to learn who will be honored this year: Mel Brooks, Bruce Springsteen, Robert De Niro, Grace Bumbry and Dave Brubeck. I can only imagine the hilarity that will surely ensue from Brooks' tribute (Nathan Lane and Matthew Broderick performing something from The Producers, please??), and one of the best parts of having a musician - Springsteen, in this case - recognized is that other incredible performers come together to cover their songs in what is almost always a tremendous rendition. I also would guess that some really cool arrangement of Brubeck's famed pieces will be created and performed, and I am also eager to see who will sing for Bumbry. An opera singer being honored reminds me of how I can almost directly attribute my love of opera with the Kennedy Center Honors performance (unfortunately can't remember offhand who the tribute was for or what year it was - late 1990's, I think) when a woman and man - each probably in their 20s - sang "O Soave Fanciulla" from La Boheme (which became one of if not my favorite opera songs and operas). At the time, I had never before seen someone under the age of probably 50 sing opera, and I had also just never really paid attention to it before - and I became quickly and completely enthralled, and remain so today. OK enough of a digression here - point is, I can't wait to see the broadcast of this year's Kennedy Center Honors in December - I'd set my DVR now if I could!

Woodstock... the Musical?

Yes indeed! Woodstock producer Michael Lang has confirmed that he is developing a musical about the concert of the century, involving elements from his recently published memoir "The Road to Woodstock" and focusing mainly on individuals who attended the concert and how they were affected by it. As of now, it's slated for Broadway's 2010-2011 season. Will be very interesting to see how this turns out - though with Lang behind it, one can hope it will be as organic and authentic as it should be.

In case there was a need for yet another reason to love Ben & Jerry's:

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2009/09/01/hubby-hubby-ben-jerrys-sh_n_273872.html

Food & recipe posts to come...

... I just need to get the photos off my stubborn Blackberry first! Coming up soon:

*Whole wheat blueberry muffins (these are to die for - you'd never know they're actually healthy!)

*Lamb tagine with onions, olives and potatoes

*Goat cheese and spinach stuffed chicken with roasted vegetables

*Classic chocolate chip cookies

*Summer mixed-berry cake with lemon cream cheese frosting

High in the Sky

I watched Man on Wire last night, a documentary about famed wire-walker/artist Philippe Petit, and was pretty blown away. The film itself was extremely creatively done, with a combination of reenactments (which usually I find to be silly, but it seemed to work here), new interviews with Philippe and those close to him/his friends and those who worked with him, and a ton of original footage. There was a surprising element of suspense woven into the film - surprising because you know Philippe pulls off walking between the Towers and lives to tell the tale - and it just blows my mind that a human is capable of doing what Philippe did. He is also one of the most charismatic and unusual people I've seen - his creative and artistic energy, freeness (for lack of a better word) and outpourings combined with his unmatch physical abilities are just fascinating. This is a man truly undaunted with a passion and drive so deep it's almost tangible, and I found it especially interesting that while what he wanted is something most people would never fathom or consider, the reason he wanted to conquer it - and the emotional journey it took him on - is not so unfamiliar. The film received a great deal of well-deserved accolades - so I'm jumping on that bandwagon and highly recommending it as well!