h2g2 The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy: Earth Edition

TJ and I had tickets for our company "picnic" on Doobry ... technically, it was to go to Adventureland and ride the rides. We were going to take my nieces. They cancelled it due to the weather forecast early on Poets, so we suddenly had a free weekend!

I got a call from a co-w**ker on Poets. She had an extra ticket for a show in the City, and she wanted to know if I'd like to go with her. Since the picnic was cancelled, I was able to go! I hadn't been to a show in years! TJ decided to come into the City with me, have dinner with us, then either go up the Empire State Building, or visit Ground Zero, which were a couple of things he's wanted to do since moving here, but really aren't things I've particularly wanted to do. I'm afraid of heights, and went up the Empire State Building once, and don't need that sort of vertigo again, thank you. I don't want to visit Ground Zero ... no point in starting my nightmares again ... anyway, we met my friend at Penn Station, and headed to midtown to have dinner at B Smith's (owned by Barbara Smith ... you know who she is ...), which was WONDERFUL! My friend and I had a seafood pasta that was divine! Linguini in a pesto sauce with shrimp, calamari, scallops, and clams, with mussels lining the edge of the bowl. Oddly enough, there were 4 fried shrimp on the top, which I could have done without. TJ had a NY steak with 4 different kinds of peppercorn on top. We all were good little kids, and cleaned our plates! After an amazing dessert, we headed for the theatre, where TJ left us. He decided against the Empire State Building, because a heavy fog had rolled in, and you couldn't even see the tops of smaller buildings!

We saw "Trumbo" with Nathan Lane, which was about Dalton Trumbo, who was a screenwriter that was blacklisted during the McCarthy era. It was a great show! Not as totally serious as I thought it would be, it had some comic relief, as only Nathan Lane can do. It was based on Trumbo's letters, and written by his son.

After the show, TJ met us outside the theatre. He didn't make it to Ground Zero, because just as he got to the subway, the skies opened, and he decided to head to ESPN Zone in Times Square, and watch some football.

I called a friend who was in the City for a taping of "Wheel of Fortune," and we were going to get together for drinks. Our cell phones kept cutting out at the wrong time, and we kept missing key words in our conversations, which meant we both walked up and down opposite sides of Broadway a couple of times before we finally met up.

We headed for a BBQ place (in Times Square? whatever), where they had dinner, and we had another drink. Afterwards, we decided to head for the train, because the later at night, the less frequent the trains. We bullied my friend's brother-in-law to take the subway, because he wanted to walk the 10 blocks to Penn Station, but we had all had it by then.

We ended the night watching a rather good juggler in Penn Station ... juggling 6 pins while on a tall unicycle!

It turned out to be a great day, and totally unexpected!

Sounds like you had a wonderful day, Shea. The seafood sounds scrummy!


That's two mentions of Nathan Lane within several hours. I was showing a co-worker a picture of ER, when she commented that he reminded her of Nathan Lane. *giggle*

Oh, that's funny! I never saw that myself!

I can't see it either...

Mmmmmmm, seafood. Mmmmmmmmmmm, steak.

Nathan Lane looks like me???? How dare he.

The only thing I can think of that ER stands
for is Emergency Room. Or maybe Eleanor Roosevelt.
I don't think Nathan Lane resembles either
of them.

No ER, despite what AW's co-worker said, you and Nathan Lane look nothing alike.

ER is much more (and handsome)

I do think there's a resemblance of something in the malleable eyebrows and expressive face there.

I do think that George Dubya Bush looks like
a grownup version of Alfred E. Newman. At
least it's plausible that Newman could grow up
to like like Bush.

Hardly a "grown up" version, I'd have thought!

I think maybe Howdy Doody is a little closer to the mark, Paul.

Yes, Howdy Doody would work.

He's certainly wooden enough ... and then there's the strings.

How did we get from talk of Sheas wonderful day out, to talk of Howdy Doody?

Howdy Dubya? It has a certain appeal...

I think ER looks like some scalliwag I once knew from Australia. He was a programmer and a musician and he ate witchity grubs and mudbugs and loved the color mauve and...



and...



and... oh yeah! That is ER!

I've never been to NYC Shea, but hopefull next year! A friend of my moms has invited my mom, my daughter and I out to visit her. I forget which part of NY she currently lives in, but she drives in to Manhattan frequently, so it probably isn't too far away.

Shea, I could *hear* you at the 'in Times Squsre? Whatever' part!

*wonders if this is a good lead-in to asking for Shea's phone number *again*...*

nice days like that are rare treasures aren't they?

ER also stands for Evil Roy, but I've never
seen pictures of him. Does he look like Nathan
Lane, or is that a road I should not go down.

Paul, on the subject of Nathan Lane having a strong resemblance to EvilRoy ... well ... no, I don't see it much. But there are similarities as far as bold, direct expressiveness in his face and body language, and I think that was precisely what my work-mate saw. Hell, I noticed it immediately the first time I saw a wee dinky little photo of him. ER is nothing if not an eloquently expressive. Judging from the photos I've seen of him and his innate musical ability, I think he'd make a damn good Broadway actor, just as Nathan Lane is.



By the way, I think there is still a link to a photo or two of him somewhere on his personal space. Maybe I'm the only one who sees all this, I dunno.



Forgive me for hijacking your journal entry, Shea. But the coincidence of you mentioning Nathan Lane last night after my friend had noted the resemblance a few hours earlier made me want to say something.

s

Be sure to let me know if I'm right in all this when EvilRoy visits with you and TJ in Noo Yawk, Shea. Try *not* to let him get too close to the edge of the Empire State Building, okay?