Hooray night out!
Ah, going out to see Die Hard and the new Heavenly Spies was just what the doctor ordered. I'm more relaxed than I've been in months! While Kate is a wonderful girl and I do enjoy the time I spend with her, having her dad not take her for even one weekend since March had begun to weigh on me. Having a couple of consecutive days where my parental responsibilities were lifted has been very good.
Life Free or Die Hard: loved it! Justin Long makes a good smartass side kick (having seen him in nothing but Mac vs. PC commercials since Galaxy Quest, I wasn't sure going in). When you see in the trailer that John McClane takes out a helicopter with a car, you know going in it's going to be over the top and they're going to overcome ever escalating danger in the most spectacular and silly ways. Fine with me! I was practically cheering in my seat. There was one part that broke the military mind of Pramas and kept him from enjoying it (where people in the audience were laughing out loud at the ridiculousness of the scene) but I was laughing along and enjoying the complete implausibility and it was fine, fine by me. Timothy Olyphant needed his Bullock mustache to look more menacing or something. As a villain, Thomas Gabriel was no Hans Gruber, but who is? I caught and enjoyed the homages to the original movie and Chris and I were the only ones in the theater who howled with laughter and recognition when Keven Smith hit the screen. Jefferson had seen the movie when we ran into him at the Buffy Musical and he said they'd dialed it down for the kids and complained about the lack of blood but I didn't notice or mind any such thing. Die hard has never been about the arterial spray: guys blow up, break their necks falling down the stairs, get strangled in chains and when they do get shot, they fall down and die without lingering camera sweeps of their blood-drenched corpses. All fine with me!
After Die Hard I skipped happily down the street to the Can Can where we had dinner and drinks and watched the new Heavenly Spies show. It was the first night and we found ourselves seated next to Secret Agent Rhinestone's parents and godfather. The show "Camp Heavenly Spies" was pretty good, I enjoyed a lot of the new routines and came to appreciate Agent James Blonde, who I hadn't warmed to previously (I was an Agent Cha Cha Cha fan) but who is very good. In fact, Rhinestone and Blonde won Best Exotic Duo at the 2007 Exotic World competition in Vegas in June. Congratulations, girls!
The Can Can has recently instituted minimums in addition to the cover, which wasn't a problem last night (as we intended to eat there anyway) but could put a bit of a damper on attendance for people who want to see a show and have a drink or two. Even that wouldn't be so bad but the waits for food, drink and bill were often just too damn long. We ordered three items (grilled pear appetizer, a flatbread, and french fries) and waited interminably for them to show up. We were seated at 9:15 or so and the first food was not on the table until after 10:05 and then the plates dribbled out piecemeal and we were incorrectly served bruchetta instead of the flatbread we ordered. Drinks (especially water refills) were very, very slow as well. But the thing that made the service especially bad in our case was the terrible wait for the bill. We were done and ready to leave before midnight. I wanted to catch the 12:15 bus home because it was a 40-45 minute wait for the next bus if we missed that one. We waited, and waited, for them to bring the bill back. It took 20 minutes after Chris gave them his card! Needless to say, we missed the bus and had to stand out on the street for another 40 minutes. I didn't leave with a very favorable impression of our waitress.
On the other hand, Can Can Chris recognized us and came over to say hello and how glad he was to see us. He noted that we hadn't been in for a while and I told him that we'd tried to drop in a few times but had been turned away at the door, so I assumed business was good and all. He admitted that he had mixed feelings about the situation because he didn't want to be turning away people who used to come regularly in the early days. He also told us about another show he's helping produce that will be over at the Triple Door and about their Tuesday night entertainment, "Juan-y Cash," their 15-year-old Hispanic Johnny Cash prodigy. This I've got to see!
Life Free or Die Hard: loved it! Justin Long makes a good smartass side kick (having seen him in nothing but Mac vs. PC commercials since Galaxy Quest, I wasn't sure going in). When you see in the trailer that John McClane takes out a helicopter with a car, you know going in it's going to be over the top and they're going to overcome ever escalating danger in the most spectacular and silly ways. Fine with me! I was practically cheering in my seat. There was one part that broke the military mind of Pramas and kept him from enjoying it (where people in the audience were laughing out loud at the ridiculousness of the scene) but I was laughing along and enjoying the complete implausibility and it was fine, fine by me. Timothy Olyphant needed his Bullock mustache to look more menacing or something. As a villain, Thomas Gabriel was no Hans Gruber, but who is? I caught and enjoyed the homages to the original movie and Chris and I were the only ones in the theater who howled with laughter and recognition when Keven Smith hit the screen. Jefferson had seen the movie when we ran into him at the Buffy Musical and he said they'd dialed it down for the kids and complained about the lack of blood but I didn't notice or mind any such thing. Die hard has never been about the arterial spray: guys blow up, break their necks falling down the stairs, get strangled in chains and when they do get shot, they fall down and die without lingering camera sweeps of their blood-drenched corpses. All fine with me!
After Die Hard I skipped happily down the street to the Can Can where we had dinner and drinks and watched the new Heavenly Spies show. It was the first night and we found ourselves seated next to Secret Agent Rhinestone's parents and godfather. The show "Camp Heavenly Spies" was pretty good, I enjoyed a lot of the new routines and came to appreciate Agent James Blonde, who I hadn't warmed to previously (I was an Agent Cha Cha Cha fan) but who is very good. In fact, Rhinestone and Blonde won Best Exotic Duo at the 2007 Exotic World competition in Vegas in June. Congratulations, girls!
The Can Can has recently instituted minimums in addition to the cover, which wasn't a problem last night (as we intended to eat there anyway) but could put a bit of a damper on attendance for people who want to see a show and have a drink or two. Even that wouldn't be so bad but the waits for food, drink and bill were often just too damn long. We ordered three items (grilled pear appetizer, a flatbread, and french fries) and waited interminably for them to show up. We were seated at 9:15 or so and the first food was not on the table until after 10:05 and then the plates dribbled out piecemeal and we were incorrectly served bruchetta instead of the flatbread we ordered. Drinks (especially water refills) were very, very slow as well. But the thing that made the service especially bad in our case was the terrible wait for the bill. We were done and ready to leave before midnight. I wanted to catch the 12:15 bus home because it was a 40-45 minute wait for the next bus if we missed that one. We waited, and waited, for them to bring the bill back. It took 20 minutes after Chris gave them his card! Needless to say, we missed the bus and had to stand out on the street for another 40 minutes. I didn't leave with a very favorable impression of our waitress.
On the other hand, Can Can Chris recognized us and came over to say hello and how glad he was to see us. He noted that we hadn't been in for a while and I told him that we'd tried to drop in a few times but had been turned away at the door, so I assumed business was good and all. He admitted that he had mixed feelings about the situation because he didn't want to be turning away people who used to come regularly in the early days. He also told us about another show he's helping produce that will be over at the Triple Door and about their Tuesday night entertainment, "Juan-y Cash," their 15-year-old Hispanic Johnny Cash prodigy. This I've got to see!
