If you haven't already voted for the Worst Commercial of 2002, you can still vote until February 1st.

Anyways, a few quiz results to share with you:

Your magical style is Psychic.
What type of Magic do you work?. Take the Magical Style Quiz by Paradox

Congratulations, you're a Snow Fae, bringer of winter.
What kind of female faerie are you?
Take the female faerie quizby Paradox

Congratulations, you're New York City, the Big Apple.
What US city are you? Take the quiz by Girlwithagun

What box do you get put in?
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What element would you rein over? (For Girls)
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So which letter of the alphabet matches YOUR personality, huh?

What 80's Cartoon Are You?
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Which Princess Bride Character are You?
this quiz was made by mysti

What Goddess Of Beauty Are You?
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Which symbollic object are you?
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That's all for now (like you're really disappointed). Bye!

Well, it's a little late, but it's here:

VOTE FOR THE DUMBEST COMMERCIAL OF 2002!!!

Here's the final ballot. I've provided links to the commercials where I could:

1. Pier 1 Imports (submitted by JKJoker): Other than saying that Kirstie Alley is the spokesperson, these commercials are kinda hard to describe. This is what Pier 1 has to say about them (and I got this directly from their website): "Pier 1 launched a new ad campaign...with store graphics, direct mail and magazine and television ads based on the positioning statement "Get in touch with your senses.®" The campaign evolved from research revealing that our customers value the sensory shopping experience. Campaign images evoke the sights, smells, sounds, textures and colors that envelop Pier 1 shoppers. The campaign also features actress and celebrity spokeswoman Kirstie Alley." Really? Then why are they so goddamn annoying????

2. Old Navy Family Fleece (submitted by Marisa): Morgan Fairchild and the American Idol losers lead this takeoff of Family Feud, in which all answers relate to fleece pullovers. I never liked Old Navy commercials, but they've gotten exceedingly bad in the last year or two. This is one of the most annoying ones.

3. Hoover Floormate (submitted by Marisa): A kangaroo comes bouncing into a woman's kitchen, tracking muddy pawprints all over the floor. The woman starts screaming, sort of. Outside, a "manly man" jumps out of a Jeep and runs into the house, where the woman is now about as high-strung as she can get. The man sees the pawprints and declares (in an exaggerated Australian accent reminiscent of Crocodile Dundee): "I can clean that floor, mate." He then plunks the "Hoover Floormate" (which was strapped to his back) onto the floor and proceeds to get rid of all the pawprints. Not only does this commercial have the most groan-worthy catchphrase that I've heard in a long time, it should probably be sued by the entire nation of Australia.

4. Progressive Car Insurance Plumber Ad (submitted by my mom): A guy has a leak that floods his house to about three feet deep. You see the family marrooned on the couch like it's a raft, and the dog goes floating by on his bed. However, he's a Progressive customer, and he wants the plumber to "give the rates of three of his competitors" before he gets to work.

5. Matthew Lesko's Free Money to Change Your Life (submitted by Marisa): Matthew Lesko is that guy who wears the jacket with question marks all over it. He sells a book about little-known government grants, and he screams excitedly about it in your face a lot during the commercial.

6. Pledge With Orange Oil (submitted by Marisa): A woman puts a dog bowl of water down in front of a cabinet. The cabinet door reaches down and "drinks" from the dog bowl. This one scares Marisa to no end.

7. Maaco (submitted by JKJoker): Burt Reynolds has fallen-big time. He used to be fairly well-respected (he was even an Oscar nominee). Now he gets to say "Uh, oh...Better get Maaco!"

8. Visa Check Card with Charlie/Martin Sheen (submitted by Marisa): Charlie Sheen is at the video store, buying some of the movies he was in. The clerk recognizes him and starts getting all excited. Charlie Sheen asks him to take a check, and the clerk asks him for ID. Time passes while the clerk checks the ID. Finally, we see a close-up of Charlie Sheen's driver's license as the clerk says "This doesn't look like you." The license falls out of frame, revealing MARTIN Sheen standing at the desk (for those of you who are dense, Martin Sheen is Charlie Sheen's father and he is portraying his son in this commerical). He says, "It did when I came in here." The commercial ends with Martin-as-Charlie Sheen trying to hit on a girl. Personally I LIKE this commercial, but apparently Marisa does not, so I'm forced to include it.

9. Immodium AD with Santa (submitted by me): We see a fireplace, with Santa's legs in view (he's either going up or coming down the chimney). Then the announcer says, "Where will you be when your diarrhea comes back?" That's just DISGUSTING!

10. Carrot Top and 1-800-CALL-ATT (submitted by me): Pick one, they're all bad. He's not funny. Never was, never will be...

There they are. To vote, just state your choice in the comments section of this post. It's that simple. You have until February 1st. Happy voting!

WOW!

What can I say? Phantom of the Opera was INCREDIBLE. For the first time, we were close to the stage (third row). We were so close that we could feel the heat of the flames that the Phantom throws at one point. I could see the actors' faces instead of big blurs, and I think it made it that much more powerful. However, that would be for naught if the story and presentation wasn't good, and it was. I already knew the story from the soundtrack, but actually seeing it brought so much more dimension and understanding to it. My mom and I both deeply admired the theatricality of it. I never thought Phantom would ever come to Toledo, because the Stranahan has a pretty small stage. However, the technical people worked around that somehow, and I took pleasure in finally seeing it accomplished. Even though we were close enough to the stage to see the guide wires and hydraulics (as well as some of the actors offstage), I was surprisingly able to ignore it and see the illusions as they were meant to be seen (at that point, at least). As with Rent, I found myself identifying with the actors as well. I guess that comes with being somewhat of a theater person, even though I mostly do tech work now (Theater and acting are just hobbies, by the way). The actors did a fine job, too (Most of them had been in Phantom on Broadway before touring). Their voices were incredible, some more so than the people on the soundtrack, particularly Mme Giry and Raoul. I'll admit that it was hard to come back down to reality after the curtain call. Like with every other musical/concert I've liked, all I can think about is "When can I see it/them again?" Anyways, it was a GREAT night.

There is one bit of frustration I must report on, though. The Stranahan's 2003-2004 season was listed in the Phantom playbill. There are five musicals listed: Miss Saigon, The Music Man, Mamma Mia, Saturday Night Fever, and Kiss Me Kate. Of those five, the one I really want to see is Miss Saigon (which I've only recently become interested in). Unfortunately, it's running October 28-November 2, 2003. I'll be at Denison then! Frustration! Somehow, I'll have to figure out a way to get home on that weekend.

Until next time...

Yesterday was a pretty good day. Styx's new single, "Waiting For Our Time," is available for download on their website. It's pretty good even if it is a little out of character for Styx. Their new album, Cyclorama, will be released on February 18.

Stephanie and I saw Catch Me If You Can yesterday, and I was pretty impressed. I know a lot of people probably won't give it a chance because of Leonardo DiCaprio, but he does really well in it, as does Tom Hanks. It just occured to me that this was the first time I've ever seen a Tom Hanks movie in a theater (and I think it was also the first time I ever saw a movie directed by Steven Spielberg in a theater; I could be wrong, though). Note the word "theater;" I've seen both thousands of times on videos. Anyways, you should see it if you have a little time to spare.

I'm excited because we're gonna go see Phantom of the Opera tonight. I've been wanting to see it for a long time now, and we're in the third row so we've got good seats. I'll tell you guys all about it tomorrow. I'll also post the final ballot for the Worst Commercial of 2002...

In honor of Phantom of the Opera, I realized that I can list in my head all the "professional" musicals that I've seen and where (at least I think that's all of them). I've reached the conclusion that with Phantom, I'm getting the best deal. I'm in a weak moment, so I can't resist the urge to list them. But then again, isn't that why I created this site in the first place?

1. Peter Pan (1989-ish/Stranahan Theatre; Toledo, OH)

2. Annie (1992/1993-ish/Stranahan Theatre; Toledo, OH)

3. Grease (June 1995/Eugene O'Neill Theatre; New York, NY)

4. Cats (June 1995/Wintergarden Theatre; New York, NY)

5. Ragtime (March or April 2000/Playhouse Square; Cleveland, OH)

6. The Lion King (July 2000/Princess of Wales Theatre; Toronto, Canada)

7. Cats (October 2001/Palace Theatre; Columbus, OH)

8. Rent (June 2002/Stranahan Theatre; Toledo, OH) 

Happy New Year everyone!!!!

I'm sorry I haven't been to anyone else's site in a while. When I do have the time to get online, I have just about enough time to post and that's it. I have a little more time now, but I got a little backed up on current events (Those survey things can do that to you) so this is gonna be a long post.

<<Big Breath>>. Here goes. Saturday night I went with my parents and saw Die Another Day (Sorry, Marisa, but my dad really wanted me to go with him). We didn't go to the Showcase Maumee (which, for future reference, are by far the best-and most expensive-theaters in town). Instead we wound up at the Franklin Park Cinemas, which are somewhere below average in quality. True to form, the theater was freezing and the floor was disgustingly sticky, but I surprisingly didn't mind so much (my mom did, though). During the movie, I found myself explaining things to my mom most of the time.  Like me, my mom likes some James Bond movies and dislikes others. After the movie, though, she said that she's always preferred the original Ian Fleming novels. My dad though Die Another Day was the best of the Brosnan movies. As for me, I can't seem to form a concrete opinion about Die Another Day. I'm not passionately enthusiastic about it like Marisa was, but it was definitely better than The World is Not Enough. I'm confident in saying that Die Another Day is above average. Though my favorite Bond girl is still Wai Lin (the Chinese agent in Tomorrow Never Dies, which is my favorite Bond movie), I did like Jinx (Halle Berry) a lot. Good thing, too. I took an online quiz on AMC called "Which Bond Girl Would You Be," and I got Jinx as the result (Sorry, no web link was provided). I'm glad to know that I'd be someone I like. Wai Lin and Jinx seem to be the Bond girls that are more than capable of holding their own. Anyways, then we went over to Media Play and I bought the Back to the Future Trilogy on DVD.

Sunday, I went to Laura's house, armed with a plethora (sp?) of videos and DVDs. She decided on a Josh Groban theme and so we watched the two episodes of Ally McBeal that he was on and the concert DVD. Though this was her choice, it was nice to watch them with someone who thought the same way I did. After that we decided to switch gears and started to watch my DVD of Attack of the Clones. We stopped in the middle because her parents invited us to see the zoo Christmas lights with them (It's called The Lights Before Christmas, even though it runs until after Christmas). That was fun. Afterwards, we went to Big Boys, and then back to her house, where we finished the movie.

I didn't really do anything special for New Year's Eve. We went to my grandma's and ate lasagna. My dad and I watched the Star Trek movie marathon on TNN while my mom, my grandma, and my aunt watched The Devil's Advocate in the kitchen. I drank an entire glass of white Zinfadel, which I'm now battling the effects of. I don't have any special New Year's Day plans, but Stephanie and I are gonna go see Catch Me If You Can on Thursday.

You are the brave yet innocent caring creature, the Unicorn. You live in the forest and you risk your life to help others. You are untamable, and difficult to capture. Your power is in your horn; the horn is also an antidote for poison and was highly prized.

What Mythical Creature Are You?
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You are a muse.
What legend are you?. Take the Legendary Being Quiz by Paradox

The muses of greek mythology were goddesses who ruled over the arts and sciences and inspired people who were best at them. Their numbers vary from legend to legend, but most agree that there were nine of them who each presided over their own realm.