That rules. I saw him in 2001. It's great fun. I almost wish I knew more about music just so I could get more of the jokes.

I was in Paris a couple months ago and went to visit St. Chappelle. Unfortunately the entrance fee had to be paid in exact change and all I had were 20s after just going to the ATM. As I was only there for a day I didn't get a chance to go back. However, I did get a small glimpse inside. From what I saw it did look beautful. One place I went that I really enjoyed was the Samaritaine Dept. Store. The decor is wonderful with lots of turquoise and gold wrought-ironwork and mosaics. Also the views from the top floors are good. Plus there's a free bathroom!

Thanks for the advice, everyone. Now I have to figure out how much I can fit into four days.

Did you know we lived there for 2 years....OH, never mind!

Really? I'm surprised that didn't come up when you were racing. ;-)

-------------------------

Actually, I was just coming to gush about the most fun date ever - as it was totally TAR style! Well, not totally, but... well, let me just tell...

My boyfriend and I are organizing a scavenger hunt race for our Sunday School class. We chose to make it all riddles and it really goes ALL over town (Richmond, VA). I was sad that, as cool as the scavenger hunt was, we wouldn't get to do it since we were coming up with the clues.

So, Kate'sBoy and Kate "pre-ran" the hunt/race this cold cold Saturday. Good thing, too, as some of our clues had to be tweaked.

I could just see the exposition hands pulling out our clues, even though ours are written as just 20 separate clues, of which they must do 15 the fastest or the most in 3 hours to win. In fact, ours are riddles to figure out location, and THEN you have to get pictures at those locations.

A detour is a set of choices, each with it's own pros and cons. Teams must have their picture taken at this (picture of U2 outside of air museum) or this (picture of Poe museum). The air museum is more well-known than the Edgar Allen Poe museum, and directions are easy. But the Air Museum at the airport is outside of town while the Poe museum is tucked right between other destinations, making it easier to continue gaining points. Both options are worth exactly 10 points.

A roadblock is a task only one team member can complete. One team member must have his/her picture taken with Diana. The picture is located high up a wall in downtown Richmond such that the only way the team member can be in the pictures is to be on the steps to the upstairs club. The challenge? Who wants to look like they are going into "Velvet: A [skanky] Gentleman's Club" long enough to have the picture made.

Not to mention that Kate'sBoy's work digi-cam (used for all test photos) is a [product placed camera]!

Oh, the fun of the day! It made me really miss TAR though... aren't they done racing and editing yet? :-)

Yeah, my church used to do something similar every year. It was great fun.

Oh man, I wanted to organize something like that myself with proceeds going to the local animal shelter (where I got my dog Stella Blue). But I'm not quite sure how to begin such a thing. Any suggestions, and/or comments that might help me, I'd surely appreciate it. Did you guys need any kind of permits for any of the detours, roadblocks? Has anyone done something like this for a charity? I need some insight. Thanks.

Macaddict, have you seen Amelie yet? Besides being a great movie, if you plan to go to Montmartre, its must see viewing.

Late posting here, but macaddict, I wanted to add my vote in recommending the Musee D'Orsay, particularly if you have any interest in Impressionist paintings. It's well laid out in a cool old train station, and there were cards with a lot of helpful background to most (or all) of the works there.

Now I have a really dumb question since it's been so long since I've been or lived overseas (I lived in Spain when Franco was still alive, so it goes back aways); how easy is it to get an adaptor for something like a battery charger? I'm headed for Australia and I just realized that I'd run out of battery power in my digital camera in about 3 days with no means of recharging them.

(Back in the olden days, even before Team Guido lived in Paris for those deux years, transformers to run any U.S. electrical appliance was the about size of a microwave -- not that those were on the market yet. We used one transformer for our refrigerator, and unplugged it once a week to hook up the vacuum cleaner. It was practically like camping!).

I'm a little unclear about exactly what you're looking for (since I rely on my husband to handle the electrical stuff), but I don't think we had any problems getting one for the computer when we went to Estonia. The first time we went, we did get the wrong one, but someone else got the right one for us and the wrong one for his hair dryer, so we just swapped. I think we eventually got the right one at Radio Shack. Just be sure to read the label well before leaving the store.

Also, they're a lot smaller now.

Oooh. I love PDQ. I've performed The Seasonings and then something else with Professor Schickle. I can't remember what it was. It had performers in nightgowns on roller skates, though, I think. So much fun and still challenging to perform. A nice break from real Bach, I assure you! (Johann and I aren't close.)

I have a dislike for PDQ Bach, only because he thwarted many talented stand-up comics for winning Grammy awards. He always seemed to be in the best comedy album category and beat out some of my favorites. He seemed like the safe choice for the older Grammy voters to choose over edgier comics.

Maybe now that I'm an adult I should give him another try.

Here is a dilemma for cat people, which there seem to be many of on this board:
We live in a quasi rural setting, so our cat has always been an outdoor cat, and a very happy--in the summer, she's ALWAYS outside, and only comes in to eat and sleep. In the winter, she's pretty finicky about the cold, and stays in most of the time, going stir-crazy, and driving the rest of us crazy. No biggie.

Lately, however, I've realized that the reason she's not going outside (even now, as it's fairly mild) is because there is a big cat that is always hanging around, and that she's gotten into repeated fights with. I think she is starting to stay inside because of that, which pisses me off because I hate to see her bullied, and plus, she's really an outdoor cat at heart and LOVES being outdoors.

Any suggestions on how to tell a cat bully to buzz off?

Yeah, purchase a BB gun.

Nice, Novac.

*eyeroll*

In all seriousness, turtle dove, I have 2 words for you: Water Gun.

It doesn't hurt the big bully, but just about all cats HAAAATE getting shot by one. So each time you see Nasty Neighbor Cat, don't just yell at it to go away, zap it like crazy with the water gun. Trust me, it works. And it's not like you can tell your poor cat to "Ignore him, and he'll stop"!

[small voice, cause this makes me almost as bad as Novac] plus, it actually gets kinda fun.[/s.v.,c.t.m.m.a.a.b.a.N.]

I concur. Supersoaker. And load it with a mixture of vinegar and water. Not only will he probably resent the "getting wet" part, but he also won't like the "cleaning himself afterwards" part. Two aversion therapies for the price of one.


Anyhoo, Peter Schickle was fabulous!! I haven't stopped grinning yet. Definitely worth driving an hour in snow squalls for. It was very different from the other times I've seen him; one piano, and a soprano and a tenor; as opposed to performing with a full symphony orchestra. I kind of cringed when I saw that in the progrm, since my tolerance for soprano solos is quite low, in general (Five minutes, most times, before I'm either whimpering "Make it stop" or looking surrepticiously for an exit.)

I don't have the program in front of me, so this is from memory. The first half was PDQ Bach stuff (lied, and other such short pieces that I'd never heard before), the second was all things he'd written under his own name; a number of rounds, and five Shakespearean soliloquies set to music ("To be or not to be", "Tomorrow and tomorrow and tomorow", "Friends, Romans, countrymen", "Oh that I were a glove", and "Fair is foul".) The soprano, Michelle (last name escapes me) has the most phenomenal voice I've ever heard: rich, full, but completely clear. I don't know the vocabulary, but it wasn't a -light- voice, it was an -effortless- voice, and in the pieces that all three sang, she could hold her own against the tenor (David?) Dusing, and Schickle's bass. Dusing (there's an umlaut over the "u". But an umlaut is just a colon that's fallen over.) also has a rich sound, not reedy or thin or straining. Even more astonishing was that they could both sing the most ridiculous lyrics without cracking a smile.

It's the "Jekyll and Hide Tour" if it comes around your way and you're interested. If you do go, make sure that you get a seat with a line of sight (left side of the auditorium) to the keyboard for the first half, since there are some sight gags you'll miss if you're too far to the right. Oh, and lots of puns. Lots and lots of puns.

For BoDiva and any other classical-type musicians out there, one of the questions from the U of SND at H Music Department Entrance Exam: Were humans different when Bach was alive, that singers didn't need to breathe?

Excellent suggestions, guys. Thanks very much! I look forward to vinegarizing the little mofo with a hearty blast from the water gun....

Turtle dove, if you don't want to use vinegar, use lemon juice. Cats hate anything with an acidic scent. I've used lemon peels in my garden to keep the ferals out. (We feed the ferals in my neighborhood because they're good for rodent control but it's not enough for them to live on -- we're even contemplating contacting Alley Cat Allies about trapping, spaying, and vaccinating them.)

My mom rescued an abused pregnant cat from one of her old neighbors. Just walked into their yard and took it because she was so fed up. When the neighbors protested, Mom dared them to call the police, because then Mom would tell what she'd observed. Needless to say, the neighbors never said another word. Mom and Dad kept a male kitten from the litter, had the mother spayed (and the little boy fixed eventually), and moved shortly thereafter. The two cats are indoor/outdoor, both on the small side, and bold. They chase dogs and other cats out of the yard, including big dogs (there's no leash law, it's a small town in the middle of nowhere) and huge tom cats. They also walk alongside my parents' yappy little dog when she's taken on a walk. We think they think they're protecting her. They have a healthy fear of cars and don't cross anything bigger than an alley, but otherwise? They believe they rule the world.

Good for your mom, DariaG--that would take guts! Her cats sound hilarious. My cat has a lot of attitude, but this winter has seemingly made her less full of herself.

Acceptable, so long as you (like myself) were thinking of a high-pressure Super Soaker water gun. *drool*

You'll shoot yer eye out, kid.

Well, don't they? According to Smokey, cats do rule the world :-) I was watching the Simpsons last night and they did a spoof of Mozart. As soon as I saw Vienna, I had an immediate TAR flashback.

We didn't get any permits, clearance, or anything, actually. And we didn't actually call them detours or roadblocks. Unlike some scavenger hunts, we only asked that they take a picture, and all of our locations were public and had no "route markers".

If I were doing something like this for a charity (which I think is a GREAT idea, by the way!), I would model it a bit more after the Urban Challenge (which seems to have disturbingly been bought by Verizon) than TAR. It still has a lot of the TAR appeal on an individual city basis. Since there isn't a set course or markers, you don't have to check with each location (though Kate'sBoy and I had to modify a few of our clues after doing the "test run" to clear up some spots).

Aw. KonaKini's a Deadhead! An old boyfriend of mine used to have a dog named Stella Blue. Such a sweetie, she was. Sadly, he didn't share that particular trait.

And DariaG, your mom rocks! That was the best thing I've heard all week. We have a feral cat in our neighborhood that I feed. Unfortunately we all have coyotes, so I worry about the cat.

DariaG, I concur. Kudos to your mother.
Y'all be happy with your kitties. I miss all four of mine at my parents' place and curse my boyfriend's allergies, and only rarely the boyfriend, for my inability to have kitties.
He wants a dog, though. Dammit to hell.

Rabrab- Did you make it to Kites on Ice last weekend? Things were pretty insane for us on Saturday night and we never made it down to the Rathskellar after dinner. The no wind situation made the Night Kite show very very scary. The Kiteman was trying to get his kite up in the air and hit a patch of clear ice. Damn kids-they kept clearing patches to slide on. He wiped out and got tangled in 5 sets of sport kite lines. It took them until well after the fireworks to get the knots undone. It was the biggest mess I've seen in quite a while. So by the time we got inside and ate we were too tired to head downstairs. We had a great time though. I really liked the Union location. It was much easier to park and get out on the lake. We're hoping to be invited back next year if they're able to have the event again.

Anybody else read that as "Kitties on Ice"? No? Just me? Ok, then.

*pictures whereverthesister's eeeeeeeevil kitty skittering around on a sheet of ice*

HEE.

Scarily, not just you.

No, unfortunately, I didn't, Kitelady. Our house decided to develop ice dams all along the west roofline, so I was out knocking down icicles (How do you spell icecicles anyway? Every way I try looks wrong!) and trying to prevent water from coming through the ceiling. I succeeded, but was just too wiped out to go back out in the cold. Glad you had fun, though, and I hope that Kiteman's spill didn't do any damage to him or the kites. Maybe next year...

Schroeder See if you can talk him into a Greyhound or Italian Greyhound from a rescue organization. They're really cats in dog suits.

Do they use a litter box?

It's icicles. I'm a terrible speller (my foes are words like definitely and reference ... i or a? two fs? two rs?), but a while back Glark (I think) linked on somepage about a spell checker you can install in your browser that checks all of the entry fields on a page. I tell you, it is wonderful! (Interestingly enough, when I ran spell check both of the trouble words were wrong! I, one, one)

I checked and it's called ieSpell and they have a webpage

Count me in on that, too! I think it has a whole lot to do with the abundance of kitty-related posts we have had recently. I was imagining another "Sesame on Ice"-esque show.

Man, I thought I was the only one, but guess not. Four legged critters on ice would be cute. I love cats and kitties:)

I'm going to the circus tomorrow! I'm going to the circus tomorrow! I've never been before, and I know Jon isn't in this edition, but I'll be thinking about him anyway and I'm going to the circus tomorrow! I'm going to the circus tomorrow!

edited because fair=/=circus

Actually we did have giant Bert and Ernie kites and a black and white kitty cat kite so we had Sesame Street and kitties on ice. There was also the genie from Aladdin. He's quite old and faded from lots of air time and looked really hungover this year.

Bummer about the ice dams Rabrab-hope you didn't have too much water damage. We're keeping careful watch over our eaves this year and haven't yet run into trouble.

Thanks, Novac and Clow[n]ingAround-- and a special thanks to Sparky, even though her "me, too!" really shouldn't count, since we long ago established that we have THE SAME LIFE!!! ;)

Yet another thing I love about this place: I'm not the only freak who turns benign things like kite-flying into the mockery of small furry creatures. WHEE!!

Yes, I am still a little buzzed from the Vicodin that helped me survive the red-eye from California last night. Why do you ask?

Hi, y'all! It's been a while since I've visited this thread...I'm so upset TAR isn't on yet that I don't like coming here and being reminded of it. But since the Meet Market has picked up a bit, I'll probably lurk more often.

re: Cat stuff

Here's another suggestion for the neighbor cat problem. My husband and I use this when one of my kitties decides to jump on the stove and get into our dinner before we've had the chance to. It's harmless and literally just throws air. But it also makes a loud *POOF* noise... so the animal gets smacked with a ball of wind and hears a really loud sound. Quite confusing. So confusing, in fact, that our beagle pees all over himself now when he sees the damn thing. It's funny though. And makes less (no) mess than a watergun.

I too miss TAR, and anxiously await its return. I often see my fellow Tarflies on The Mole or Survivor boards and it brings back fond memories. I actually came to post here because my profile no longer says that TAR General Gabbery is where I post most, and that is just sad. Not that there is anything wrong with TV Potluck...

Rabrab, I contend that Bach was a sadist. And he hated sopranos even more than you do.

In choral music, for some reason, too few choral conductors really get choral phrasing. If each person in the chorus leaves out a different word to breathe, you never notice anyone is breathing and it's a nice steady sound (with plenty of air to keep everyone on pitch). Too many conductors insist you not breathe except where there is a comma (gasp) or rest (breath). Dodos! But for the soloists? They just were more realistic about it. They breathed where they needed to. They didn't have all those digital recordings with the breathing edited out to compare the live performances to. And Bach wrote for worship, so the focus of the performance was different.

I think you'd describe that soprano's voice as lyrico spinto, which is what I am. Powerful but not freakishly so, clear and rich all at once (mean trick, that), but clearly soprano and not mezzo.

I just finished reading Michael Palin's book about his trip through the Sahara (called of course, Sahara) and its TAR related. He visited a few of the places that TAR did - including the El Jem Coliseum.

Yeah, but I'm sure Bach didn't get HBO! :P

Hey all!

Asking a question, and letting y'all know about a public appearance by the Divine Miss Alli.

First, I notice that several of the TAR racers sites are no longer there, and I'd like to extend invitations to at least the NYC area ones to come to this reading on March 18, so anyone who can point me in the direction of contacting them, please & thank you (see my profile for email).

Secondly, if you're in the NYC area March 18, please come join the cream of the TWOP recappers for a reading!

Here's the info: (you will note that the name of this reading series was stolen, with permission, from Miss Alli).

DRUNKEN!
CAREENING!
WRITERS!
at KGB Bar
85 East 4th Street
New York, NY 10003
(212) 505 3360
KGB Bar

“Spare the Snark, Spoil the Networks”
Writers from Television Without Pity
Daniel J. Blau
Sarah D. Bunting
Linda Holmes
with your hostess, Kathleen Warnock

Thursday, March 18, 7pm. FREE.

Daniel J. Blau (“Djb” on TWOP) is a New York (oh, okay, Long Island) native who has worked for over four years as a staff writer for Television Without Pity, where he skewers bad television shows six thousand words at a time. A Vassar graduate using his English major to write plays about such high-minded topics as Monica Lewinsky, Dan has also written for articles to online publications including Fametracker and Hissyfit. An actor against his will, Dan has appeared both on stage and on soundstage including, a series of VH1 shows where he talks about, like, Slinky commercials. He really thinks it's time he had an agent because he really wants a writing job on The Daily Show.

Sarah D. “Sars” Bunting is a writer and cigarette wrangler who lives in Brooklyn. Prior to helping found Television Without Pity, Sars worked as a church secretary, a file clerk, a pool tester, a CD-ROM producer, an antiquarian book dealer, and a Penthouse proofreader. Oh, and--she's heard every SARS joke under the sun already, so please PLEASE don't bother. "Sars" rhymes with "scares." Learn it, live it, love it. Enter her world at Tomato Nation. Her work has also appeared on Fametracker and MSNBC.com.

Linda Holmes (“Miss Alli” on TWOP) lives in Bloomington, Minnesota, and has written for Television Without Pity since September 2001. She recently calculated that she has written approximately 1,600 pages of in-depth analysis of about 125 hours of reality shows. She has also written for MSNBC.com about matters including Captain Kangaroo, TV boyfriends, Jessica Simpson, Saturday Night Live, why network television hates the Midwest, and why no one should read a book by a man who has been The Bachelor. In January, her prognostications about Survivor: All-Stars appeared in TV Guide. When there's nothing good on television, she is a part-time attorney.

I just want to say goodbye to everyone, since I'll be away from TWoP for the next couple of weeks while I'm in Europe. I leave on Wednesday, and I'm hoping I'll meet good weather and good people while I'm there. Is it sad that I'll miss checking out a website?

I also hope there's some more good news about TAR when I get back. Perhaps a start date?

Have a wonderful and safe trip mel42024. I'm very envious of you.

That makes two of us! I'm dying to go on a vacation here. Heck, I wouldn't complain about a weekend in Florida watching Spring Training.

I know there's no start date yet, and I know that whenever it does start will be months and months away, but I am so excited for TAR5 that I've already started to reread the recaps for the first four seasons. If I hadn't been out of the country this fall, maybe my roommate and I could have been a part...

Just a note to say that I finally got my new computer (a Gateway that was originally supposed to arrive on the 1st) and I'm testing it out. So far, so good.

Cool! Good computer news is always happy-making.

Oh and for some sillyness try this TV Age Gauge: Boy The Bear's Age Gauge I'm 27 years younger than Andy Griffith, but 11 years older than J-Lo, and I was 5 when the Addams' Family debuted. There are four gauges on the site: Gauge 1 is general events, then there's TV, music, and movies.

I'm using my 1000th post (Fanatic - yay!) to tell all of you Amazing Race General Gabbers THANKS -- because of the flurry of posts a few months ago when the 5th Harry Potter book was released, I ordered the first four from my book club. I've just recently gotten around to reading them and I'm midway through the 4th. And I love them. I remember reading that someone dies in the 5th one, but I can't remember who (good thing!)... But I'm anxiously awaiting getting that far in my Harry Potter quest. Thanks to you all.

Go ahead, M Darcy. Say it.