Greece Lightnin'

Finally after two weeks of toiling around with the requirements and another two weeks of waiting, Enol and I got our Schengen visa today for Greece. We are going to visit Blanca and her husband, joining our friends, Xon, Rosey and Nicole, for a weekend getaway in Athens. Seriously, it was one of those times when we wished we were an American citizen just because of the perks of easy international travel. We are going on our sixth year here in the States and are eligible for citizenship but we never got around to exchanging our Philippine passports. Hence, we dabbled with the stress that is the application for the Schengen visa. There's just a whole lot of requirements to complete this thing -- credit card and bank statements, W2s, health insurance, employment certificate, postal money order, flight itineraries. In my case, the terrible thing was securing my employee certification because the HR department of my hospital changed telephone numbers and offices that it took me way longer to get hold of them and finally give me what I wanted. On the day of submitting the requirements, it rained so hard in New York City that we got soaked entering the Greek Consulate on Park Avenue. The consul was nice and wasn't being difficult. After examining our papers and asking us a few questions (What's the purpose of this travel?), we were told to come back in two weeks. And here we are. And Greece, see you in a few!

Ultra Sound

I went to a radiology diagnostics center near Columbus Circle for my first ever diagnostics procedure involving a machine other than an xray. I was getting an abdominal ultrasound. I was up early for my 8 AM appointment and hadn't eaten since 10 PM. I could feel my hunger pangs and some residual abdominal muscle pains from an abs workout last Saturday. Anyway, I was called by the technician, a female who seemed to be of Eastern European descent, at promptly 8. She directed me to a small changing room filled with hospital gowns. I heard she said "Take everything off and put the gown on with the opening on the front." She proceeded to the examination room while I dropped my jacket, my bag, and started to undress.  But I was hesitant to take my underwear off. I wondered to myself why I needed to be naked when I'm only getting an abdominal ultrasound. As I was pondering, she called if I was ready. Then I popped the question, "Do I really need to take my underwear off?" With a matter-of-fact look, she said, "Everything from the waist up." Yikes! "Oh, I didn't hear the 'waist up' part. My bad." Why didn't I hear the 'waist up' part from her directions is beyond me. I hurriedly put my jeans back on and scrambling to put on my sneakers as she sits somewhat impatiently and looking at my embarrassed self. I listened carefully to her every word from then on.

Fame Monster

For my first concert in 2010, I chose none other than Poker Face herself, Lady Gaga, to kick it off for the Monster Ball tour. It was at Radio City Music Hall and one of those concerts that I had hard time getting tickets to because it immediately gets soldout. They added two more shows here in NYC and still it was difficult to find tickets in the orchestra level. I was gonna bring my friend Ariel but it was really impossible to get through Ticketmaster. (I refuse to buy them through Stubhub because of the ridiculous prices).  Anyway, one day I found one seat all the way in the second mezzanine, which was not what I really wanted, but I took it, just to see the show (with the accompanying guilt that I'm going without my friend.)

I brought my binoculars with me for the first time since I watched my very first concert in Madison Square Garden for Madonna's ReInvention Tour in 2004. Surprisingly, the view wasn't so bad at all, even without the binoculars. The show had Semi-Precious Weapons and Jason Derulo as front acts. SPW was a riot. Jason is kinda like a Chris Brown/Usher wannabe. He mentioned that he's of Haitian descent.

Gaga came out at 9:30 after tweeting the she could hear her little monsters screaming. It was a fascinating show at best. Gaga surely thought of the production and the outrageous costumes, although sometimes her monologue in between songs can be somewhat off-putting. My favorite part was the piano version of Poker Face and Speechless. I think she shines through more during these numbers. Of course, big crowd-pleasers were the hits, Poker Face (which she also did in the original version complete with choreography), Paparazzi and Bad Romance. 

While I thoroughly enjoyed the show, I'm a little concerned that it didn't live up to my expectations. Maybe because it's where I'm sitting that I could not appreciate its grandeur on a fuller scale. But I give major props to Gaga for being innovative and creative in her performances. I'm hoping I'd get a better seat next time. She's aiming for Madison Square Garden, which I'm sure is not impossible for this Fame Monster.

Brute Force

There could be two things any gay New Yorker could ask for -- a sweet bargain and lots of skin. We hit the jackpot last Saturday night with Fuerza Bruta. It was part of the 20at20 off-Broadway discount promo ($20 bucks 20 minutes before the show, normally it's around $75) and it was Boys Night (that special night catered to the boys). I have seen the show last year via 20at20 too but it wasn't Boys Night and I was equally curious and excited to watch it the second time. I dragged my friend Rob R to watch the show with me. We waited out in the cold before they let the 20at20 buyers in at exactly 9:40 pm.

Fuerza Bruta, or "brute force" in Spanish, is a theatrical spectacle akin to a Cirque du Soleil production set to techno and tribal beats. But instead of being slumped on a chair, the audience are required to stand, move about as directed, and well, participate. There are lots of visual imagery and sonic orgasm that come into play as each segment is subject to meaningless interpretation. There's clearly no thinking involved here and if you wrap yourself around it, you might get confused. 

What you'll get though is a strained neck. One of the highlights of the show is the pool that descends just above your head. On regular nights, it's an all girl splash-in-the-water action. They wear dresses and underwear that leaves nothing to the imagination by the time they get all playful and soaked with all the water. And by the time they get lowered just above your head, people get to grope and touch them from the plastic or whatever that pool's made of. This is the only major difference on Boys Night. On one Saturday of each month, the male cast gets to be on the pool. Which turned out to be a major letdown. One would think that what with all the girls do (or wear) on every night, the boys would provide an equal amount of sexiness. But they didn't. One guy wore boxers, which isn't much; another was in red pants, another guy in white pants, which isn't much, either and a girl. What the hell is this girl joining the boys on Boys Night?  I am not asking for full-on nudity but with the way they advertise the whole thing, and judging from what I saw when the girls were on, you would expect something sexier and naughtier but no. It was kinda mehhh.

But aside from that, I enjoyed the show. Rob R called me Mr. Audience Participation since I asked one of the female dancers to smash a pizza box filled with confetti above my head and joined in to dance with her on the floor (not on stage). The rest of the cast roamed around the audience and encouraged them to dance and move.  The energy was so palpable that you really couldn't say no. It's like the rhythm is summoning you to jump up and down and dance. And towards the finale, amidst all the dancing and grooving, we were splattered with water by one of the cast members and then near the center of the floor, out came a giant showerhead from above and hosed down the audience. It was one of those fun things that even the Scrooges of this world would totally understand and give in to the experience.

Catch a glimpse of it here:

2000 and Late: 2009 in Review

Normally this gets done at the beginning of the year but since I have reiterated a million times of the debacle that is my broken pc (which in a way, is a blessing), we're doing this 2000 and late (cue: Boom Boom Pow!).  I just love to make a recap of my year as I do every year on the blog just to get a clearer picture of how good (or bad) the year was and to steer the year in a more eventful direction for blogworthy purposes (so many year  in one sentence, eh?). So, without further ado:

A couple of goals met in 2009

-- attend a spinning class finally

-- visit museums, although I ended up just doing one: The Met

Then the firsts:

-- attend a ticker tape parade (thanks to the Yankees)

-- my first Thanksgiving dinner (thanks to my friend Ariel)

-- attend an art exhibit opening (you rock, Scooter!)

The shows

-- I saw Britney lipsynching in Long Island in March with bonus appearance by the Pussycat Dolls

-- British rock band Keane in May, which is also my first time in Radio City Music Hall 

-- I traveled all the way to DC for Beyonce in June (unblogged)

-- Then Las Vegas for Mariah in September (also unblogged)

-- watched my friend Nick in Peepshow in Vegas (unblogged)

-- Back in Madison Square Garden for Pink, one of the best shows ever

-- last concert of the year in NYC was Kylie at the Hammerstein Ballroom (also unblogged)

-- in December, out with my boyfriend, the very first time I've been with somebody in a concert ever, to see Philippines' greatest, Lea Salonga

The celebrity sightings

-- very honored to meet Augusten Burroughs (Running with Scissors) during my first book signing event in November

-- the cast of Glee at Borders also in November with a special handshake from hottie, Mark Salling

-- saw Whitney Houston's Good Morning America performance where she struggled in every song back in early September

-- woke up early to check out American Idols Kris Allen and Adam Lambert back in June in the Today Show (unblogged)

-- not quite a celebrity but met Instinct magazine coverboy, Billy Steeves, who also happens to be a nurse, in early March

Activism. The fight for marriage equality was very prominent in 2009 and I was able to participate in some major activities in the city:

-- in May, I joined the first Broadway Impact Marriage Equality rally

-- a few days later, on my way to work, I dropped by the Day of Decision rally where I met friends, Terrence and Michael

-- then I signed on for telephone banking for Broadway Impact in June

-- then in November, when New York senators failed to pass the marriage equality bill, I was there at the Union Square rally

-- of course, the NYC Gay Pride parade is a big rally in itself 

Travels, kind of limited this year; to wit:

-- Niagara Falls in July coinciding with Rosey's birthday

-- following Beyonce's concert, Melissa took me to Georgetown area of DC (unblogged)

-- in September for Mariah's concert, I did a three-day getaway to Vegas (unblogged)

-- On Day 2 of my Vegas trip, I went on a day tour to the Grand Canyon (unblogged)

-- then I was in the Philippines for most of December

New stuff on the blog:

-- sometimes funny, sometimes serious talk on my life as a nurse on Nurse Mark's Tales

-- remembering the past via Reminiscing (although I don't do it often enough)

-- syndicating my posts on Twitter

Low Points. Not everything in 2009 was glam and fab.

-- the layoffs at work

-- a big mess of a medication error

-- around April, I blogged about meeting a Tony Award winner in the workplace but then got attacked by some people who thought that I was violating privacy rules and what-not and ended up taking the post down

-- most horrifying ever, the almost-got-mugged moment

Biggest Thrills, a.k.a, I thought could never happen category:

-- spending the holidays with the family and my boyfriend for the first time in many years

-- our dear friend, Blanca, visiting us in New York

-- being on a Broadway stage and performing with the cast of Hair!

-- my blog post featured in mariahcarey.com!

-- meeting Oprah and Mariah freakin' Carey! Perhaps the biggest story of my life last year was meeting Mariah and having a picture taken with her. It was all I could talk about to my friends. I'm still beaming just trying to recall every single minute of it. The picture is now immortalized in a 16"x 20" frame given to me as a Christmas present by Xon and Rosey.

No More H8

The team of NOH8 campaign made their way to the East Coast for an open photo shoot held today, Feb 1st. Led by celebrity & fashion photographer, Adam Bouska, and partner Jeff Parshley, the NOH8 campaign was a direct response to the passage of Prop 8 in California back in 2008 in the form of a photo project and silent protest. Subjects are dressed in mostly white with duct tape over their mouths and a face paint of NOH8 on one cheek (now a sticker tattoo). The duct tape symbolizes their voices not being heard. The project swelled to include celebrities and ordinary people who support marriage equality. Among them are Perez Hilton, Ashlee Simpson & Pete Wentz, the Kardashian sisters, Fran Drescher (The Nanny), Isaiah Washington (axed from Grey's Anatomy), Debbie Gibson, reality show stars and countless others. Recently, wife of Sen. John McCain, Cindy, joined the campaign. The goal is to educate the community and ultimately support the cause for marriage equality.

My friend Jeff was supposed to come with me but was tired from working the night shift. I was getting reluctant myself but I was watching the livestream video of the shoot at the Empire Hotel and got me inspired. I feel like I have to be part of this project. The solo shot costs $40, proceeds go to a good cause and one that I care about, and a chance to work with a celebrity photographer. I caved in.

I went in line close to an hour before the shoot concluded. It was very systematic in how the team handled the process. After filling out the form and getting the sticker tattoo on your face, depending on your mode of payment, you'll be escorted to the makeshift photo-studio in one of the hotel function rooms. The line to the credit card payers was quite of a wait so I decided to pay cash and got right in. Thank God for the duct tape because my lips are getting windburnt and so not flattering. Adam directs the poses so basically I had to forget all about the posing rehearsals I did at home. It was done after a few flashes.

The website says I should get my photo in about 4-6 weeks. I'm not sure whether it's a physical copy or just a digital copy but it was amazing to participate in this endeavor.  My fight for marriage equality, in whatever way I can, rallies or phone-banking, continues this 2010. 

Here's a pic taken by Joyce when I got home (sans duct tape):

And here's the PSA of the campaign:



Check out the NOH8 gallery here and Adam Bouska's work here.

My 2009 Broadway Yearbook

I finally got my files in one laptop so here we go with our late Broadway and off-Broadway lookback of the year 2009.

I missed the closing of Spring Awakening in January but I made up for it in February by attending some fun off-Broadway shows, starting off with Music Is In The Air at the Encores New York City Center. It was my first time to see Kristin Chenoweth perform and I was really amazed. Also in that show was the original Ariel of The Little Mermaid, Sierra Bogess.

During the 20at20 week, my first to enjoy such a thing, I watched The Fantasticks first before dragging my friends, Xon & Rose, to watch it the second time. We got to meet Nick Spangler, Betsy Morgan and Lewis Cleale who did brilliant performances. Also, Forbidden Broadway, which was closing at the time and got to meet the talented Christine Bianco, and had a great time at Fuerza Bruta. Also did Altar Boyz (closed early this year) and met Neil Haskell of So You Think You Can Dance fame. All those shows for only 20 bucks.

Then I did my first Broadway show via In The Heights just before Lin-Manuel Miranda left the show. Also met Robin de Jesus from the movie Camp.

Before the month ended, I sneaked in this wonderful play called Our Town at the Greenwich Village.

In March, I watched this play about gay relationships and the Catholic faith called Avow. Then for Falgie's birthday, I brought her to watch Rooms: A Rock Romance and met Doug Kreeger.

Then it was Finian's Rainbow at the Encore NY City Center before its Broadway transfer later in the year. The following night, just before it closed, I caught Guys and Dolls and got to interact with Lauren Graham and Oliver Platt.

April got me to the Broadway Beauty Pageant and then the off-Broadway play, The Gingerbread House and witnessed the performances of Bobby Cannavale and Sarah Paulson, who remembered me from an earlier encounter at the workplace.

In June, just before the Tonys, I watched Next to Normal with my friend Rob and got to meet now-Tony Best Actress, Alice Ripley.

Then I caught Ugly Betty's Michael Urie in the gay-centric play The Temperamentals.

August, I had my first Shakespeare in the Park and took Joyce with me to see Twelfth Night and witnessed the awesome performances of Audra MacDonald, Raul Esparza, Julie White and of course, Anne Hathaway.

Then I became part of the seaworld and caught The Little Mermaid on the week of its closure, meeting Drew Seeley and Norm Lewis.

September was all about joining the tribe of Hair onstage on my very birthday. It was one of the biggest thrills of my life, apart from meeting Will Swenson, Gavin Creel and Bryce Ryness, the lead stars of the show.

October is back to off-Broadway with Toxic Avenger, my first show to watch with Enol, Rose, Xon and Blanca. We met American Idol's Diana Degarmo who's the sweetest ever.

In November, I was back to Encores for Girl Crazy to see Ugly Betty's Becki Newton but I was more amazed with Ana Gasteyer's performance.

And then I went as far as Harlem at The Apollo Theater for Dreamgirls along with friends from dance class. Probably one of the best shows I've seen all year.

And for my last Broadway show of the year, I used my Audience Rewards points to see Mamma Mia for just $30. It was a very good seat. I had less expectations for this show, having watched the movie version, but I got teary-eyed during Thank You For The Music. Also it was a delight to see Beth Leavel perform. I posed for Polaroid pic with some of the cast for $20 which would go to Broadway Cares/Equity Fights Aids foundation.

Previously: My 2008 Broadway Yearbook.

Bye Bye Birdie

Another Broadway show that closed recently that I was able to watch was the Broadway revival of Bye Bye Birdie, a musical inspired by Elvis Presley who, at the height of his career, was the first celebrity drafted into the army. It's actually built on the idea of Conrad Birdie (the popstar's name, here played by Nickelodeon's hottie Nolan Gerard Funk) making his last hurrah before finally joining the army. The hurrah in question, created by his manager, Albert Peterson (John Stamos), as suggested by his secretary, Rosie Alvarez (Gina Gershon), is to kiss a Birdie fan on his last day on a televised environment. In the midst of all that, there's the love affair of Albert and Rosie, Albert's struggle with his mama's boy status, the teenage family drama of the girl chosen to be kissed by Conrad thrown into the mix of the storyline. Known songs from this production include Put On A Happy Face and One Boy (as in One boy, one special boy...).

I was more excited to see John Stamos and Gina Gershon than the musical in general and they didn't disappoint. John was at his musical best, although surprisingly, Gina had more songs in the show. While Gina is not the best vocalist in a musical ever, there were a couple of songs that kinda tiptoe on being flat. I wasn't quite sure if it was her delivery or if they're the actual notes of the song. However, she did manage to deliver in "Spanish Rose." (Side note: Chita Rivera played the original.) Nolan Gerard Funk played such a tease in this show with a lot of grinding and hip-swaying involved as ELvis would have done. Perhaps, the revelation here musically was Allie Trimm who played Kim McAfee, the lucky fanclub girl to be kissed by Conrad. Her voice just shines through with every performance. Also a scene-stealer is Tony Award winner Bill Irwin who played Kim's father. He was very hilarious as the overly-protective father who's a huge fan of Ed Sullivan. 

Overall, I liked the show but I didn't exactly love it. Strangely, I found myself almost teary-eyed during the performance of The Telephone Hour, the first number by all the supposedly teen cast members of the show.  It's not that it's the most brilliant performance ever but just the fact that these kids are living their Broadway dreams at such a young age. Kinda like "I wanna be just like them" moment.

It was so cold to meet the cast by the stage door at Henry Miller Theater. I met Matt Doyle, who plays Eric's boyfriend on Gossip Girl and played Kim's boyfriend on Bye Bye Birdie.  I waited for Gina and John but no pics with them were allowed. Bill Irwin was very nice though. Nolan was the first one out the door so I wasn't able to see his hotness upclose. Oh well, Bye Bye Birdie! 

Here's the Macy's Thanksgiving Parade performance of Put On A Happy Face:

Heavy Rotation: Adam Lambert, "Whataya Want From Me"

It's been awhile since I had a heavy rotation post. This time we're putting a spotlight on Adam Lambert who's celebrating his birthday today, January 29. With all the hype he got from his AMA performance with the lead title track of his debut album, For Your Entertainment, the second single is a very nice subdued follow-up (although Adam Lambert can hardly be called subdued; just in comparison to the first single).  It's called Whataya Want From Me which is co-written by Pink. If you're a Pink fan, you can really tell her influence on this single. I also like the video very much. Adam in a plain shirt and jeans and hanging out in the kitchen sink.  Kinda simple and yet with a rockstar touch. Can't wait to see him perform live.

Happy birthday, Adam!

Saving St. Vinnie

On Tuesday morning, the huge elephant in the many rooms of St Vincent's Hospital Manhattan came out of the closet and went straight to the front pages of the New York Post and a couple of other NYC publications (The Villager article here). The news item still handles it as a rumor --- that the hospital is closing, something my co-workers and I have been discussing for weeks. There was a sense of panic and gloom as I left work that morning. The day shift people felt like not working at all.  I didn't really blame them.  It was all I could think of on the subway ride home. By that day's evening news, almost every local channel covered the story.

St. Vincent's is the lone Catholic hospital in Manhattan with a rich 160-year history. I remember during my hospital orientation back in 2006 that the hospital played an important role in providing assistance to Titanic victims in 1912 and most recently, during the tragedy that struck the city on 9/11.  The hospital remains to be the only primary care hospital in Lower Manhattan and the West Village area. 

With this prospect of closure looming ahead of us, employees, residents of the neighborhood and political officials are on a mission to save the hospital. There's a website and Facebook fan page to help support the cause.  I don't know how much of a pull will the state and city officials be able to muster to help the institution with an almost $700 million in debt and a second bankruptcy in 5 years, but I guess it's worth a try. 

I have been in St. Vincents for more than 3 years and while it's not state-of-the-art, I have come to accept it for what it is. I would have loved to work in a very high-tech environment but strangely, the antiquated system at that hospital still works. Somehow with the news of layoffs and budget cuts late last year, I must say that the patient care services have deteriorated.  They're implementing new stuff that are really ridiculous, e.g, no more phlebotomists from 6pm onwards. 

I don't know how this saga will end and only time will tell how long will I be able to hang on to this institution. But for whatever it's worth, St. Vincents is an NYC healthcare fixture that needs to be saved -- for the workers, for the patients, for the community.