Reviews n' Tots

Well, it’s taken me a long time to get back to the blog, Lone Reader. Parenting with an ex-partner who has mental illness is not a cake walk. :sigh: There’s enough crazy to go around, if you know what I mean. Things are gradually getting back on track, however. Here’s what I know:

I watched The Savages a few nights ago. Philip Seymour Hoffman & Laura Linney are amazing actors. The movie was good, with some very funny lines, but generally pretty slow-paced and a downer. (These are usually pluses in my book.) Recommended with a caveat: not to be watched while depressed or sleepy.

I bought tickets to go see the Ting Tings in August at the Varsity. I know, they’re kind of a UK flavor of the month, but I don’t care. I’m looking forward to it.

The new Fratellis CD is great! (Here We Stand is the name.) Just what a sophomore effort should be: a bit more polished, a bit more depth and swell tunes all ‘round. Some songs are little heavy on the Mersey beat, but overall lovely.

Here’s what I don’t know:
Italian (although I can say, “Where can I change my baby?”), trigonometry, who moved my cheese, Latin, why do birds suddenly appear, who'll stop the rain, oh lots of things, really.

And here is my promised TRUE STORY plus a spare:

1. Okay, so I sang at a friend’s wedding a few years ago. I had live accompaniment, back up singers, and everything. It was really quite grand. Afterwards, a man came up to me to compliment me on my performance, which was sweet. He then asked, “Do you have any CDs?” I thought, who the hell DOESN’T have CDs? I said, “Yeah.” He said, “Can I buy one?” Then, because I’m cool like that, I burst out laughing and said, “Oh, you mean CDs of me? Nah.” Yeah, I’m smooth.

2. Many moons ago when my daughter was a toddler, I went to Don Pablo’s with some friends. At the time, they served all kids meals with alphabet-shaped Tater Tots. I knew that if my daughter saw those, that would be all she’d eat, so when I ordered her meal I asked for no tots, please. (I know Napoleon, you want your tots.) The waitress disappeared for a very long time. Someone brought our food out to us and left, but it was for the wrong table. We had to flag someone down to say, “Ummm, this isn’t our food.” When our food finally arrived, much later, there were the Tater Tots. I said, ‘I ordered this without the Tater Tots…could you take those back and just leave the rest of the meal?” She said while walking away, “I’ll just bring you an extra plate to put them on.” And she never came back. Guess what? (and a bit of self-defense here: I always tip generously. I’ve worked food service – it’s hard.) I took the tots and spelled out the words, “no tip” on the table when we left.

May your tots be hot and your tunes cool. Happy weekend!