Things That Matter To People Who Matter

The Four of Us | Shakes the Clown | Fever | Popems

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Published: Jun 19, 2007

The Four of Us

Photo By: Jacques-Jean Tiziou/ www.jjtizou.net (CLICK IMAGE FOR LARGER VERSION)

Last Sunday, a friend of mine invited me to see The Four of Us, a play written by Itamar Moses, directed by Pete Pryor and presented by 1812 Productions at St. Stephen's Theatre. I can honestly say "wow." We were both completely blown away. Really. The formula worked so incredibly well: dynamic writing, superb acting and incredibly smart set design. I couldn't stop talking about it, and now I can't stop writing about it.

Shakes the Clown

(CLICK IMAGE FOR LARGER VERSION)

I love this movie despite the fact that I don't even really like any of the people in it (Bobcat Goldthwait, Adam Sandler, Robin Williams) and at a mere 87 minutes, its still feels about 20 minutes too long. It's the story of a birthday party clown who lives in a town called Palookaville and drinks his evenings away at a bar called the Twisted Balloon. It's a murder mystery and a story of personal redemption, which includes evil, coke-snorting rodeo clowns, professional bowlers and Florence Henderson. To call this movie sophomoric would be to insult sophomores everywhere. The Boston Globe accurately described it as "the Citizen Kane of alcoholic clown movies." If that doesn't pique your interest, we probably have nothing in common, cinematically speaking.

Fever

(CLICK IMAGE FOR LARGER VERSION)

I grew up with the 1960s McCoys' version of "Fever" on the radio. Over the next 40 years, I heard versions of the song by several artists. Realizing the longtime appeal of the song, and the recent birth of the iTunes Store, I started collecting. My current "Fever" playlist includes only versions I like. There are dozens more. What's the appeal? I think it's the unusual combination of sex, Shakespeare, Pocahontas and a good blues basis.

Popems

Holy shit, I love me a doughnut. I average about four per sitting, and I am not above more than one session a day. I would gladly sell my family for a fresh, too-hot-to-eat box of doughnuts from Brown's on the Boardwalk. And just when you think the holidays can't get any better, Entenmann's makes its Popems seasonal: red and white jimmies for the Fourth of July, orange and brown for Halloween, and the all-black "Touchdown" Popem for the Super Bowl. That was a special day indeed.

 

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