#11 Boston - Why is Gene Kelly not Dancing in the Rain? August 19, 2005
OK - It is official! I am declaring myself dazed and confused. Here I was at the Boston Harbor Hotel with my friends Ellen and Patrick (the soon-to-be-married-couple) attending the "Movies by Moonlight" soiree. Now this, my friends, is a lovely affair. You sit outside in a patio-style cafe, eat some nicely prepared hors d'oeuvres or a burger, and watch the movie on the big screen.
Barely avoiding a thunderstorm or torrential downpour that night, this promised to be a very cool thing to do, however confusion set in with me as soon as the movie started. Maybe I had it in the back of my mind that Gene Kelly should be dancing in the rain in every movie he made, but I kept waiting throughout the entire movie "An American in Paris" for the "dancing-in-the-rain" scene to start. Alas, it never happened!! Darn! Why did nobody tell me that that was a completely different movie, huh?? Not only that, at some point I decided that it might be a good time to hit the facilities as the dancing seemed to be going on and on and on..... only to return to the "The End" screen - !!!! Wha' 'appened?? You leave for 2 minutes, and bam! Movie over! Ciao!
Not taking into account my cinematic ineptness it was a most enjoyable evening, enhanced by the presence of two lovely poodles (and their owners), tiny little "Star" and one-eyed, yet charming "Quincy" - both of them were somewhat fond of the movie activity but seemed awfully distracted by some peanuts on the ground nearby.
The weekend continued with some hiking, this time in Southern New Hampshire - starting out at Miller State Park (claim to fame: oldest state park in New Hampshire), located on the 2290 foot summit of Pack (Little) Monadnock, and hiking the Wapack trail. The park itself is named for General James Miller, who was a long-time resident of nearby Temple, NH and fought in a gazillion battles (Chippewa, Niagara, Erie, Lundy's Lane, who knows what else??). We hiked about a third of the Wapack (the entire trail is 21 miles long) and on a blazingly hot day such as this one, being in the woods was the right thing to do. As usual, some minor damage was incurred from mosquito bites, but everyone had a good time, in particular Rick's dog Phoebe, who was much happier as soon as she could romp around some swimming holes along the way. (And yes, I am sparing you the plant highlights this time!!)
After re-fueling on ice cream and driving home, it was time for some movies and a "vegging out" evening at Elaine's house in Charlestown, where we absolutely could not help but watch "Triple XXX". Three women drinking beer and watching Vin Diesel - try to get that picture out of your mind!! One question though: what is up with that flaming fuzzy coat, Vinny??
Now Sunday was something else. I don't know what possessed me, but on the recommendation of my wonderful friend and running partner Joanne, I got up at the crack of dawn and showed up at 7:15 AM (AM!!!!!) in South Boston to go on a run with the L-Street Runners. Not only was I tired and most likely had some remaining quantities of alcohol circulating through my blood, but the weather did me a really big favor and kicked it up a notch. It felt like it was already in the 90s at that time of the day - and choosing these conditions for my first ever 10-mile practice run was maybe not my brightest idea I ever had. But I am never one to back out of a commitment, so there you go. It was painful, people!!! I made it eventually, probably ran 9 Miles and walked 1, with some stops at Seven-Eleven for ice cubes and water. The L-Street Runners themselves also manned a few water stops, where Gatorade, tons of water and miscellaneous sugary items were waiting for me. Nothing perks you up like a handful of Swedish Fish!!!
After a quick visit with my friends Barbara and Anita, who live across the street from the L Street Bathhouse, I went home, and spent the remainder of the afternoon on my couch, watching movie after movie after movie... To end the weekend I peeled myself off said couch in the evening for a quick volunteer thingy with Boston Cares (actually Ellen, Patrick and myself) - arts and crafts (making note cards) with elderly residents at the Hale House in the Back Bay. http://www.halebarnard.org/hhlife.html
The week has been busy as usual, zipping back and forth between my two places of work, and compensating in the evenings with some more zipping (running, that is), quality time with friends and yes - movies again (now that I have freed myself from the "Harry Potter Void").
It has been a week focused mostly on running, actually, as I am planning to attend my first ever 10 K road race - the "Run from the Sun" in Medford on Sunday!!! Monday night: "Fun Run" in Arlington along the Minuteman Bikeway (http://www.minutemanbikeway.org/Pages/intro.html)
- a nice group of some crazy and not-so-crazy runners, good practice for short distance runs (my time: 9:19 min/ mile), enjoyable scenery. Wednesday - out with the hospital's running group, and a very nice post-run meeting at the local watering hole, the "Red Hat" on Bowdoin Street. Thursday night - retail therapy, buying new running shoes - check it out - my new footwear: http://niketown.nike.com/niketown/catalog/pdp.jsp?productId=50890&origin=null&categoryId=303453&_requestid=1476758 . Yes, I do have other hobbies......
I think that about covers it - Before I leave though, a quick shout-out to the lovely Miss Mona Chopra and the equally delightful PJ "Lime Rickey" Agasia, who I was supposed to meet the previous week for the "Movies by Moonlight", but a thunderstorm changed our plans and we most flexibly detoured to Boston's beer heaven, "The Parish Cafe". After a mix-up with the hairdresser and an unfortunate run-in with a glass door (don't ask), the Parish was just what the doctor ordered - treatment was administered in form of the usual convincing beer selection: Allagash White, and my favorite, the Rapscallion Premier; adjuvant therapy involved the cafe's scrumptious celebrity chef sandwiches: (my choice: The Regal Regis - sliced flank steak and Portobello mushrooms in a soy, scallion, balsamic marinade on Parmesan encrusted French bread)!!!
Alrighty then - my friends! It is time to start the weekend - keep your toes crossed for me on Sunday!! Keep on running!
pet:)
Barely avoiding a thunderstorm or torrential downpour that night, this promised to be a very cool thing to do, however confusion set in with me as soon as the movie started. Maybe I had it in the back of my mind that Gene Kelly should be dancing in the rain in every movie he made, but I kept waiting throughout the entire movie "An American in Paris" for the "dancing-in-the-rain" scene to start. Alas, it never happened!! Darn! Why did nobody tell me that that was a completely different movie, huh?? Not only that, at some point I decided that it might be a good time to hit the facilities as the dancing seemed to be going on and on and on..... only to return to the "The End" screen - !!!! Wha' 'appened?? You leave for 2 minutes, and bam! Movie over! Ciao!
Not taking into account my cinematic ineptness it was a most enjoyable evening, enhanced by the presence of two lovely poodles (and their owners), tiny little "Star" and one-eyed, yet charming "Quincy" - both of them were somewhat fond of the movie activity but seemed awfully distracted by some peanuts on the ground nearby.
The weekend continued with some hiking, this time in Southern New Hampshire - starting out at Miller State Park (claim to fame: oldest state park in New Hampshire), located on the 2290 foot summit of Pack (Little) Monadnock, and hiking the Wapack trail. The park itself is named for General James Miller, who was a long-time resident of nearby Temple, NH and fought in a gazillion battles (Chippewa, Niagara, Erie, Lundy's Lane, who knows what else??). We hiked about a third of the Wapack (the entire trail is 21 miles long) and on a blazingly hot day such as this one, being in the woods was the right thing to do. As usual, some minor damage was incurred from mosquito bites, but everyone had a good time, in particular Rick's dog Phoebe, who was much happier as soon as she could romp around some swimming holes along the way. (And yes, I am sparing you the plant highlights this time!!)
After re-fueling on ice cream and driving home, it was time for some movies and a "vegging out" evening at Elaine's house in Charlestown, where we absolutely could not help but watch "Triple XXX". Three women drinking beer and watching Vin Diesel - try to get that picture out of your mind!! One question though: what is up with that flaming fuzzy coat, Vinny??
Now Sunday was something else. I don't know what possessed me, but on the recommendation of my wonderful friend and running partner Joanne, I got up at the crack of dawn and showed up at 7:15 AM (AM!!!!!) in South Boston to go on a run with the L-Street Runners. Not only was I tired and most likely had some remaining quantities of alcohol circulating through my blood, but the weather did me a really big favor and kicked it up a notch. It felt like it was already in the 90s at that time of the day - and choosing these conditions for my first ever 10-mile practice run was maybe not my brightest idea I ever had. But I am never one to back out of a commitment, so there you go. It was painful, people!!! I made it eventually, probably ran 9 Miles and walked 1, with some stops at Seven-Eleven for ice cubes and water. The L-Street Runners themselves also manned a few water stops, where Gatorade, tons of water and miscellaneous sugary items were waiting for me. Nothing perks you up like a handful of Swedish Fish!!!
After a quick visit with my friends Barbara and Anita, who live across the street from the L Street Bathhouse, I went home, and spent the remainder of the afternoon on my couch, watching movie after movie after movie... To end the weekend I peeled myself off said couch in the evening for a quick volunteer thingy with Boston Cares (actually Ellen, Patrick and myself) - arts and crafts (making note cards) with elderly residents at the Hale House in the Back Bay. http://www.halebarnard.org/hhlife.html
The week has been busy as usual, zipping back and forth between my two places of work, and compensating in the evenings with some more zipping (running, that is), quality time with friends and yes - movies again (now that I have freed myself from the "Harry Potter Void").
It has been a week focused mostly on running, actually, as I am planning to attend my first ever 10 K road race - the "Run from the Sun" in Medford on Sunday!!! Monday night: "Fun Run" in Arlington along the Minuteman Bikeway (http://www.minutemanbikeway.org/Pages/intro.html)
- a nice group of some crazy and not-so-crazy runners, good practice for short distance runs (my time: 9:19 min/ mile), enjoyable scenery. Wednesday - out with the hospital's running group, and a very nice post-run meeting at the local watering hole, the "Red Hat" on Bowdoin Street. Thursday night - retail therapy, buying new running shoes - check it out - my new footwear: http://niketown.nike.com/niketown/catalog/pdp.jsp?productId=50890&origin=null&categoryId=303453&_requestid=1476758 . Yes, I do have other hobbies......
I think that about covers it - Before I leave though, a quick shout-out to the lovely Miss Mona Chopra and the equally delightful PJ "Lime Rickey" Agasia, who I was supposed to meet the previous week for the "Movies by Moonlight", but a thunderstorm changed our plans and we most flexibly detoured to Boston's beer heaven, "The Parish Cafe". After a mix-up with the hairdresser and an unfortunate run-in with a glass door (don't ask), the Parish was just what the doctor ordered - treatment was administered in form of the usual convincing beer selection: Allagash White, and my favorite, the Rapscallion Premier; adjuvant therapy involved the cafe's scrumptious celebrity chef sandwiches: (my choice: The Regal Regis - sliced flank steak and Portobello mushrooms in a soy, scallion, balsamic marinade on Parmesan encrusted French bread)!!!
Alrighty then - my friends! It is time to start the weekend - keep your toes crossed for me on Sunday!! Keep on running!
pet:)
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