In case you haven't heard, last night at about 1.00am, there was a 5.3 magnitude earthquake in England. Though the epicenter was fairly far away, it was felt here in London. Tim and I were awake and watching television when it hit. A glass cabinet in the living room shook for a few seconds and that was all we felt here in his flat. We thought it was someone doing some heavy moving in another apartment above or below us. I made a joke about its being an earthquake. He told me that England doesn't have earthquakes. Ha Ha Ha.
I was a little disappointed to have not felt it myself, only having observed and heard the glass cabinet shaking. I just missed a once-in-a-lifetime earthquake in Pennsylvania whilst I was at college (it hit during Christmas break) and have yet to experience one in California after a handful of trips out there.
But I'm fine, Tim's fine. No major damage here as far as I can tell.
Okay, as promised, here's the story of how I got from Florida to the UK this trip. I really don't set out to attract travel drama...it just seems to find me.
My first flight last Tuesday was the 6.00am Delta flight from West Palm Beach to Atlanta. Despite the extremely early hour, I did very well and even managed to get a couple of hours of sleep the night before. I rose at 3.00am and left my parents' place at 4.00am and arrived at the airport just before 5.00am. Check in at that hour was a breeze and I was at security before security was even open. We just hung out for a bit while the TSA workers ran around doing whatever it is that they do before opening for the day. Soon enough I was at the gate though (this is a reletively small airport) and, with little fanfare, I boarded a 757-200 and flew to Atlanta.
Just as with my flight down to Florida, Delta's scheduling prowess allowed plenty of time to get from one terminal to another, but without a huge excess that would have meant cooling my heals at my gate for a while. Within minutes I was onto the MD-88 that was taking me Newark and I was on the ground in Newark by 10.30am...with my luggage. Thank you, Delta.
After grabbing my bags, I headed up to the AirTrain to change terminals and go check in with US Airways for my flights to Charlotte and London. I was there early enough that they switched me to an earlier flight that had been delayed. Okay. Whatever. I went through security again and found my way to the gate to see what was up with this flight. As it turned out, the flight had not yet left Charlotte for Newark because...get ready for it...there was no pilot. Somehow there was no pilot scheduled to fly this scheduled flight. A large group of us just hung out for awhile, and, eventually, US Airways just cancelled the already-delayed flight. I was rescheduled on the next flight, the flight for which I'd originally been scheduled.
And then that flight got delayed. No pilots again. Where are all the pilots? Rather than waiting out the inevitable delay/cancellation dance, the agent simply rebooked me on a Continental Airlines flight from Newark straight through to London Gatwick. I had to collect my bags again and transport them to yet another terminal and check in with Continental Airlines.
So...problem solved, right? Not quite.
As it turns out, the New York area's first winter snowstorm was in the process of blowing in. Yep. It wasn't long before the entire airport was blanketed in snow. My Continental flight was repeatedly delayed due to the weather. I was scared to death that we weren't going to get out at all. But 4 hours late, our Boeing 777 did eventually taxi out and take off for the UK.
So I did make it, but terribly late. It was good that I didn't schedule anything on the day I arrived. It's all US Airways' fault. Had they scheduled their pilots to actually fly their planes on their scheduled flights, the whole snowstorm would have been moot since I'd have been in Charlotte when it started.
But anyway...
I had a very easy time at Gatwick. Breezed straight through customs, easier than I ever have and got a train to St. Pancras where I met Tim.
I was remarkably lucid for having been up for about 24 hours straight by that point. It was a bit of a harrowing journey, but I got here. We'll see if US Airways insists on fucking up my return to New York or not.
Having a wonderful time in the UK. I've been going in for coaching with my songs and monologues, which has been very interesting. At the moment, Tim and I are down in the countryside visiting friends of his. It's gorgeous.
I need to tell the story of my trip over here from Florida, another adventure in air travel in which Delta Air Lines performed admirably while US Airways proceeded to fuck everything up. Only this time there's the added wrinkle of New York's first snowstorm of the winter season.
But I won't be telling that story at the moment, because I don't think there's time. Instead, I'm going to point out an article that I read in USA Today offering travel tips for people visiting New York City. It's always quite interesting to read advice written for tourists coming to your hometown. Sometimes it's quite good...other times...well, you know how that goes.
You can check out the full text of the article here.
My favorite point of advice is the last one offered:
10. Mind your city etiquette. Unfortunately, tourists have a reputation for doing a few things that drive New Yorkers crazy: taking up the entire sidewalk so that other walkers can't pass; coming to a complete stop at the top or in the middle of the subway stairs, thus blocking the way down; looking over a shoulder or down at a guidebook while ambling straight ahead, thus sideswiping people walking toward them. New Yorkers like to walk quickly with a purposeful strut and are often in (or appear to be in) a hurry. Respect their sense of purpose and be mindful of the space around you – and you'll win renewed respect for tourists from the world over! On the other hand, if you need directions or if you drop something on the subway or sidewalk, New Yorkers will be the first to run after you, offering their assistance. They really are nice folk, after all.
Truer words have never been written. Thank you, Liz Humpherys. If you're planning on coming to New York, memorize the above paragraph and make it your mantra for the trip.
Florida is simply grand. Having a wonderful time. Tomorrow's day at the pool (my last for this trip) will be dedicated to Karl. He lives in Minneapolis and, when we spoke tonight, he requested warm thoughts.
What am I up to? Not much. Went down to the Everglades the other day for an airboat tour. Do you know what that is? It's one of those boats with a propeller on the back that only seem to be used in the Everglades. It was fun. Lots of alligators and pretty birds. I felt like I was in an episode of Dexter. You know...one of those later ones of the second season when he was keeping Doakes prisoner in a cabin? Oh, nevermind. I kept waiting for some opportunity to shout "Motherfucker!," but none presented itself.
Stopped in for dinner at a lovely old grand hotel in the middle of nowhere (well, Indiantown, FL...same difference) called the Seminole Inn. The walls there are covered with pictures of the Duke and Duchess of Windsor and contemporary news articles about the abdication. Fascinating. But why? Well, apparently, the Duke and Duchess once passed through town on a train on their way to Palm Beach to hobnob with high society down there. Did they stop in at this hotel? Not that I could tell. It was enough, it appears, that the couple simply passed through town. I don't know if that's incredibly dedicated or just...sad.
Normally, when I'm down here, I try to take in some local theatre, usually against my better judgement. But, you know how it is...you really do hope for the best. This year's choices were a community theatre production of Urinetown or a high school production of Miss Saigon. Since I wasn't making the choice anyway, we trouped down to Martin County High School to see a stage full of teenagers take on the Vietnam conflict.
How was it? Well, there was a lot of problems, but it was a good production for a high school. I'm not going to sit here and denigrate a bunch of teenagers, who were obviously doing the show for fun. But, that said, I am going to comment.
It was odd seeing a production of Miss Saigon in which there was only a handful or fewer of Asian actors, none of which played leads, unless you count the child who played Tam. I thought it would bother me more than it did. After a few minutes, I didn't even notice it anymore.
I'm sure the director is a very nice person and probably really works well with these kids, but there were some serious directoral issues with this production. The most serious was in the famous second act helicopter scene that depicts the airlifting of the last group of US embassy personnel out of Saigon, just prior to the fall of the city. This moment was beautifully realized with lighting and sound and a helicopter that descended from the flies (and which, sadly, could be seen hanging there throughout the entire show). The problem came after the helicopter touched down. Nothing happened. There were no men boarding or climbing into it or anything of the sort. It just touched down and then a minute later rose back into the flies. I know this is high school theatre, but come on now! The director completely missed the point of the scene. Yes, it's famous for the helicopter, but the reason it's there is that is shows those last desperate moments as marines and embassy personnel board the chopper to get out of the country. If no one gets on the helicopter, why is it there? What's the point? I was so disappointed because the entire scene was so well done that the wrong-headedness was baffling.
There were other moments when it was clear that the director wasn't paying attention to the lyrics or the libretto. When an actress sings about the bikini she's wearing, she should be wearing one. When marines are screaming about people climbing the embassy fences in some attempt to get out of the country, people should be climbing fences. I hate that shit. That is my biggest pet peeve with directors. I mean, the writers are laying it all out for you right there on the page. Presumeably, the director has read the script and heard the lines sung/spoken many times in rehearsal. How does that get by?
Otherwise, the director really needed to work with the kids more on establishing a physical world for themselves on the stage. It was pretty clear at points that the cast had no idea what they were doing and were just going through the blocking or choreography that they were given.
I felt especially bad for the freshman (!) playing the Engineer. Now, I would feel bad for any 14 year old kid having to figure out this role, but his director didn't seem to give him much help either. Even his costumes in the first act tended to make him fade into the scenery. His second act costumes were better, and so was his performance. The problem here is that there's almost no role written on the page and the part demands a sexy, silky, manipulative scoundrel whom you just love and love to hate...sort of like Jonathan Pryce who originated it. It needs a star, someone who can take nothing and make it into something by sheer force of personality. And no 14 year old can be that. Teens just don't have the life experience to play that sort of thing.
For those of you that care, the cast was playing the full text. This was no junior version or school edition. The sexuality of all the scenes that involve sex was toned down, probably appropriately. To be honest it was a little strange in the opening number that the marines and the prostitutes really weren't doing anything overtly sexual or even suggestive. But these are high school kids...all the guys even kept their shirts on.
The last thing I'm going to say is about the microphones. Every one of these kids from leads to ensemble seemed to be body mic'd. This school has some serious cash to throw around. However, there were endless issues with the mics popping and fizzing and dying. I'm told that this is a common problem with this school's productions and the school tried to tie it into cell phone interference, which is something I've never heard of...anyone know if that could really be the case?
My problem was that whenever someone's mic cut out, you couldn't hear them from our seats in the fifth row. These kids are not being taught projection and that is a problem. Granted, there was no pit and the sizable orchestra was parked right in the front of the stage (almost always a mistake), but the first rule of singing on the stage is that you've got to belt it to the back row. This was not a terribly large theatre and singing unamplified should have been possible.
If this school has such trouble with its microphones, they really ought to ditch them and teach their kids to sing for the theatre.
Anyway, I was very surprised to note that Miss Saigon, when seen without the trappings of the expensive and expansive original production, doesn't really hold up that well as a piece. Some of the dialogue and lyrics are laughable and, musically, much of it is a retread of Les Miserables. The first act is WAY too long and should probably be cut by at least 20 minutes. The opening of the second act is interminable with an awful song ("Bui Doi") that is more of a lecture than an actual song and which is only tangentially related to the plot. It's as if the writers wanted to give the ladies 10 extra minutes to get through the restroom line during intermission. There are holes in the plot that the Viet Cong could invade through. Not this cast's fault, of course, but all this stuff is much more noticeable when it's not disguised by a multi-million dollar production with some star performances at its center.
As far as this production went...it wasn't bad...for a high school. They did probably the best job that you could expect a high school to do with this material. I would love to have been involved on the creative team and been able to fix a lot of the things that were wrong...and most of it was imminently fixable.
Anyway, my time in Florida is winding down and I'm looking forward to going to London to see Tim. More on that later.
Hey, Y'all!
Having a wonderful time in Florida, while also not actually doing much. The highlights:
Hanging By The Pool. Seriously. I am putting in pool/hot tub time every day and there nothing I like more. This is all I want to do every day and I'm tending to view anything else as an obstruction to the goal.
Super Bowl Party. Okay, so I don't follow football and wasn't wild about being dragged along to this party at the home of friends of my parents'. So what made this a highlight? One word. MARGARITAS!!! Whoo-Hoo! Well, there was also the great food, gorgeous house, and pretty exciting game (for football, anyway), but, for me, it was all about the margaritas. Mmmmm...
Speaking of the Super Bowl, even though the New York Giants were playing this year, I really didn't care. I rooted for the Giants by default. I mean, they don't even play in New York. Why this team is not called the New Jersey Giants is beyond me. Thank God for margaritas. Did I say that already?
On a whim, right before I left New York, I threw into my bag a huge pile of magazines that had accumulated in the apartment since I don't have as much time these days for reading magazines. We're talking about issues of Entertainment Weekly, Time Out New York, The Advocate, Out, Out Traveler, Hollywood Life, and Gotham. And I've been doing a pretty good job of working my way through the pile pretty well as I luxuriate by the pool.
It's a lovely vacation, thanks!
Hello From Florida.
Despite the cold, rainy weather in the northeast yesterday, I made it down to Florida with no trouble at all. Flights were all either on time or early and no luggage was lost in the process.
Thank you, Delta Air Lines!
I know people tend to think that all airlines are the same, but I really have to recommend Delta...they seem to operate their planes on time and they have NEVER lost my luggage. And, really, what more do you want from an airline?
Since I was flying Delta out of Newark Airport, rather than JFK or LaGuardia, I had to change planes in Atlanta. The options for flying straight to West Palm Beach from New York are myriad and it's been quite a while since I've had to change anywhere en route. But there were no problems and, thanks to Delta's remarkable scheduling, I had enough time to change concourses (via subway) and find my gate, but only had to wait about 20 minutes before my second flight boarded. All tolled, I was only on the ground in Atlanta for about an hour...maybe less.
Even so, having to change plane, en route, added about 2 hours to the total flying time.
I was surprised that the planes on both segments of the journey were 757-200s. I'd heard that Delta, along with most US airlines, was reducing domestic capacity and redeploying their larger aircraft on more lucrative trans-continenal and trans-Atlantic routes. But I was pleasantly surprised by the larger planes. (Though not as surprised as the time I was flying from Cincinnati to New York...on a 767.) But I guess Delta knows what it's doing. The plane from Newark to Atlanta was full and the plane from Atlanta to West Palm Beach was nearly so.
It was interesting on the ground in Atlanta, Delta's headquarters and biggest hub, to see Delta aircraft around the tarmac in 3 different liveries, since this company has changed things up so often in the past few years. Both of my planes were done up in the current livery, which was adopted last year when Delta emerged from Chapter 11 bankruptcy. There was also an entertainment screen in every seat, even back in lowly coach, where I was. The difference here is that first class passengers, apparently, get movies for free on their screens whereas the rest of us have to pony up $5.00 to watch a movie. I declined. There was plenty else to occupy me, including winning a round of trivia against my fellow passengers.
And I was ever so pleased that my luggage arrived safe and sound. My excitement on this point really underlines how little we expect from the airline industry these days...and how often airlines screw up even that little bit. Even Continental Airlines, by most yardsticks, the gold standard of US air carriers at the moment, lost my luggage last year when I came down (they sent it to San Jose, CA for reasons unknown).
Anyway, I'm here. It's amazing how much easier it is to relax and unwind here in the sunshine. I really do love visiting here. Not sure I could live here, but it is a most wonderful place to visit. Heading to the pool shortly.
See you soon.