theater, movie, book, TV: micro reviews

It’s been a stressful week, interrupted with some entertainment.

Yesterday I see City of Conversation at Lincoln Center.  Parts are contrived, but overall it is a fast-moving, excellent-acted, absorbing piece of theater. Meredith and I both love it, and interpret the play differently.  She thinks the play talks to why certain principles are worth fighting for, even if it comes at a great personal cost.  I think the play says the opposite.  That even worthy political fights — the kind that will have profound effects on the country — are not worth the price of family.

I love the music of the Four Seasons, and loved the play Jersey Boys.  Even Alexander admits to liking it.  Tonight Robyn and I see a screening of Clint Eastwood’s movie.  Maybe it’s the mood I’m in.  This has been a very difficult week (though everything has ended well). From the opening credits to the last scene, I become totally engrossed in the story of four scrappy kids from Jersey.  I rarely cry, and for some reason I end up sobbing through the last third of the movie.  It feels good.

I pretty much only read fiction.  But my book club has chosen Outliers: The Story of Success by Malcolm Gladwell.  I’m amazed at how much I’m enjoying it.  Gladwell’s anecdotal stories and scientific studies (done by others) are all interesting.  I’m not 100% sure the point the book is making, but it's intriguing just the same.

I'm in bed watching The Daily Show.  Poof. My TV freezes and then dies.  I check my other TV. All black there too.  I call Time Warner.  All circuits are busy.  I keep trying.  Finally, after being on hold for 22 minutes, I'm told there's a problem in all of Manhattan.  It's hard to love your cable company.