JeffAndWill.com

December Shows: Dance-Fightin’, Holiday Chorus and Billy

Jeff — Wed, 03 Dec 2008 09:30:44 +0000

We’re seeing a few shows this month and I can’t wait. This Sunday, December 7, we see the Footloose / Rollerball combo that is Dance Dance Revolution. I’m not sure what to expect from this show, except I think it will be insanely fun (whether it’s good or bad fun remains to be seen). The show [...]

“Neutral Zone” Sees The Light of Day

Jeff — Tue, 02 Dec 2008 09:30:19 +0000

November 30 marked the two year birthday of Neutral Zone. It was on that day that I finished the first draft of the novel as part of the 2006 National Novel Writing Month. In July of this year, the third draft came to a close as I’d finally written the story I wanted to tell. The [...]

World AIDS Day

Jeff — Mon, 01 Dec 2008 05:00:39 +0000

Learn more at worldaidscampaign.org

Wintery Dreams: Pond Hockey

Jeff — Sun, 30 Nov 2008 17:51:23 +0000

I’ve been hearing about the film Pond Hockey on and off for the past couple months and finally watched the trailer today. The documentary looks amazing and I’m putting the DVD on my Christmas list. I’ve only played outside a few times in my hockey career. The Ordinals occasionally practiced/scrimmaged up at Lasker and that was [...]

Friday Geek Out: Moulin Rouge!

Jeff — Fri, 28 Nov 2008 09:30:05 +0000

Moulin Rouge! is one of my all-time top films. How could it not be: singing, dancing, sweeping love story and Ewan McGregor. I was excited enough by this June 2001 film that I made sure we saw it the first time at New York’s Ziegfeld Theater, which a huge, single auditorium theater in midtown. It’s [...]

Keith Haring “Figure With Heart” Balloon

Jeff — Thu, 27 Nov 2008 17:44:43 +0000

One of the new balloons in this year’s Macy’s Thanksgiving Day Parade was Keith Haring’s “Figure With Heart,” based on Haring’s 1987 ink on paper drawing “Untitled (Figure with Heart).” Haring would have been 50 this year. He died of AIDS-related illness in 1990 when he was 31. Haring’s art has long been associated with the [...]

About Header #13

Jeff — Thu, 27 Nov 2008 14:03:28 +0000

Header #13 was shot on September 30, 2008 from the window of our apartment. This looks north at the World Financial Center (tower 4), the mercantile market and a corner of one of the Gateway Plaza buildings. The entire photo is below.

DWTS Season 7, Week 10: The Finale

Jeff — Wed, 26 Nov 2008 04:01:03 +0000

Three couples gave it their all to take home the mirror ball trophy in the finals of Dancing with the Stars season 7. In the Samba Smackdown that opened Monday’s show, Brooke and Derek stumbled a bit in my view. Brooke looked a bit stiff and unsure. The judges didn’t seem to feel the same [...]

Boldly Go…

Jeff — Tue, 25 Nov 2008 05:15:03 +0000

Just as I finished up the Monopoly promotion this month, I got a project that plays right into things I like a lot. Intel is already starting up the promotion machine for next May’s Star Trek film (check out the very cool Starfleet Shipyard at boldlygo.intel.com site). I got to project manage the sweepstakes protion [...]

Twilight

Jeff — Sun, 23 Nov 2008 21:44:07 +0000

I was worried how Twilight would translate to the big screen, but after seeing it this afternoon I can say that I’m overall pleased with the result. I did think the movie was a slow in the beginning. I feared it was going to be flat like the first two Harry Potter films where the [...]

Ordinals Bloodbath, Wizards Triumph

Jeff — Sun, 23 Nov 2008 15:05:12 +0000

It was a night that started with a disastrous loss and ended with a fantastic win. The Ordinals slump continued as we lost 16-1 to Wolfpack. Actually that 16-1 is only an approximate score because once there’s a 10 goal margin, the score doesn’t go up on the scoreboard any more. The final was definitely in [...]

Were the World Mine

Jeff — Sat, 22 Nov 2008 20:25:32 +0000

Were the World Mine is a delightfully whimsical film (you can drop back a few posts and catch the trailer), perfect for a cold, blustery Saturday afternoon. Imagine a universe where Dead Poets Society blends with High School Musical and you end up with this. Timothy is a senior at an all-boys school, where he’s picked [...]

Friday Geek Out: The Power Station

Jeff — Fri, 21 Nov 2008 09:30:33 +0000

The self titled Power Station album was released in the spring of 1985. Talk about an amazing alchemy of personnel making some great music. Robert Palmer on vocals, Duran Duran’s John and Andy Taylor on bass and guitar, respectively, and Chic’s Tony Thompson on drums. The fusion led to a percussion heavy rock album that [...]

A Different High School Musical

Jeff — Thu, 20 Nov 2008 12:56:30 +0000

I just read about this in The Advocate. I can’t wait to see Were the World Mine!

DWTS Season 7, Week 9: Go Lance, Go

Jeff — Wed, 19 Nov 2008 03:22:19 +0000

The semi-finals of Dancing with the Stars belonged to Lance. He got his first 10s, ended up at the top of the leader board six points ahead of the competition and landed a spot in the finals. This week everyone had two dances: a latin one they had not performed before and one of the new [...]

Twilight by Stephenie Meyer

Jeff — Tue, 18 Nov 2008 13:15:56 +0000

As planned, I finished Stephenie Meyer’s Twilight just a few days ahead of the movie. Simply put, I loved this book. It’s a simple plot: human girl falls in love with vampire boy (okay, he looks like a 17-year-old but is quite a bit older as you would expect from a vampire). The push and pull [...]

It’s Beginning To Look A Little Like Christmas

Jeff — Tue, 18 Nov 2008 00:31:11 +0000

On the way to work this morning I saw my first Christmas tree of the season. The workers in Bryant Park were putting the lights and getting ready for the official lighting later this month. Since I was in the park, I wandered over to Fifth Avenue and shot pictures of Lord & Taylor’s holiday windows, [...]

Quantum of Solace

Jeff — Sun, 16 Nov 2008 19:17:54 +0000

Disappointing. After the thrilling Casino Royale, Quantum of Solace came up short. It failed to live up to the promise that the first Daniel Craig film made about what the future of James Bond would be. Craig is still great as Bond, but the story let him down. The plot about getting a dictator in place, hording [...]

Lose, Lose and Lose Some More

Jeff — Sun, 16 Nov 2008 19:00:51 +0000

Last night was not good for my teams. The Tigers started things off taking on the Hotshots for the first time this season. The Hotshots are always a challenge and yesterday was no different. We were up to the challenge though and got the game into overtime. Unfortunately, we couldn’t close the deal and we ultimately [...]

Ninja Warrior 21

Jeff — Sat, 15 Nov 2008 20:31:16 +0000

There’s been much anticipation this month since G4 announced that Ninja Warrior 21 (or Sasuke 21 if you prefer the Japanese title) was scheduled to air this past Wednesday. I’ve written before how much I’ve fallen in love with Ninja Warrior. The insane obstacle course is a thrill to watch as 100 competitors give it [...]

Holding Out for a “Hero”

Jeff — Fri, 14 Nov 2008 09:47:32 +0000

Here’s some super cool news I read this morning about one of my favorite books (and, sadly, one of Will’s least favorite): According to Variety, Showtime and Stan Lee are joining forces to turn Perry Moore’s Hero into a series for the cable network! No word yet on when it might air, but I’m giddy [...]

Friday Geek Out: The Last Starfighter

Jeff — Fri, 14 Nov 2008 09:30:28 +0000

The Last Starfighter is one of my favorite sci-fi films ever. It taps right into that fantasy of being picked to go zooming up into the stars and fight an epic battle. The film came out in the summer of 1984, just after I turned 16. It was just two years after Tron and I [...]

Scenes from a Prop 8 Protest

Jeff — Thu, 13 Nov 2008 02:15:59 +0000

As Will wrote on Tuesday, we were out protesting tonight against the passage of California’s Prop 8 tonight along with several thousand (reports put the turnout at 7,000-10,000) of NYC residents. The protest started at the Mormon Church on 65th Street & Columbus Avenue (across from Lincoln Center) and marched down Broadway to Columbus Circle. I’ve [...]

“Rollerball” + “Footloose”… I Am So There!

Jeff — Wed, 12 Nov 2008 03:27:49 +0000

This headline greeted me on Playbill.com this afternoon: “Rollerball Meets Footloose in Dance Dance Revolution” What’s not to love about that! Here’s a couple quotes from the arrticle: “Inspired by the popular video game of the same name, Dance Dance Revolution, according to production notes, ‘is like Footloose set in the future — but much scarier, and [...]

DWTS Season 7, Week 8: Going Solo

Jeff — Wed, 12 Nov 2008 03:14:08 +0000

It was a two dance week for everyone on Dancing with the Stars. There was a twist though as each star had to do a solo within their Latin routine. Here’s a quick recap of everyone’s performances: Cody: Ballroom: Foxtrot. I thought he had just a few missteps here, but it was elegant and charming. The [...]

NO ON H8TE

Will — Tue, 11 Nov 2008 16:14:08 +0000

Jeff and I, along with a few friends (the more the merrier right?), will be attending the Prop 8 demonstration at the Mormon Temple in NYC Wednesday night. To read more about the continued No on 8 efforts, check out Matthew Rettenmund at boy culture. To learn more about the national protest against Prop 8, go [...]

A Time For Giving…

Jeff — Mon, 10 Nov 2008 00:27:55 +0000

Each year at this time Broadway Cares/Equity Fights AIDS does a huge round of fund raising as part of the Gypsy of the Year competition. This is when Broadway, off-Broadway and touring shows get creative to help fill BC/EFA’s coffers to support their critical work. The fund raising benefits The AIDS INITIATIVE; The Phyllis Newman WOMEN’S [...]

Tigers Post 8-0 Win!

Jeff — Mon, 10 Nov 2008 00:07:20 +0000

The Tigers finally brought home another win with an 8-0 shut out of the Polar Bears last night. After two weeks of loss, it was great to get win. There were some excellent moments last night too, such as Adam’s first goal and Laurie scoring for being in the right place at the right time. The [...]

Me and P90X: Week 1

Will — Sat, 08 Nov 2008 15:11:41 +0000

My general feeling after completing the first week of P90X? Ouch. I have been sore everyday this week, which is a good thing. I haven’t worked this hard or felt this way in a long time. These are some serious workouts. Each day focuses on a different body part or exercise discipline. I was unable [...]

Friday Geek Out: The Secret Garden

Jeff — Fri, 07 Nov 2008 08:30:41 +0000

The Secret Garden opened on April 25, 1991, bringing the classic Frances Hodgson Burnett novel to life as a Broadway musical. The story focuses on an orphaned girl who moves in to a sad, dark household with a grieving uncle and stubborn invalid cousin. As Mary settles into her new home, she discovers a garden [...]

No NaNoWriMo This Year, Writing Projects Roll On

Jeff — Thu, 06 Nov 2008 12:34:23 +0000

I opted out of NaNoWriMo this year so I could focus on my 2006 NaNo project, Neutral Zone, along with a short story that’s due this week. The short story is for Nerdvana, an anthology that hits stores in Fall 2009. The collection focuses on nerds and geeks. To quote part of the call for submissions: [...]

Obama Win Tempered By Prop 8 Passage

Jeff — Wed, 05 Nov 2008 08:47:10 +0000

I’m thrilled to wake up this morning to find that the Republican nightmare of the past eight years is over with the Obama election. However, the elation is clouded by the fact that Prop 8 looks like it will pass in California by a 52% to 48% margin (they are still counting votes, but the [...]

DWTS Season 7, Week 7: Team Paso Wows!

Jeff — Tue, 04 Nov 2008 01:35:21 +0000

Let me cut right to the chase: The Team Paso Doble, the last number in tonight’s show, was stunning! Brooke, Maurice and Warren, along with their pro partners, delivered an awesome bit of dance. From the costumes, to the music, to the fierce and dramatic opening this was one of the best dances to ever [...]

Extreme Home Fitness

Will — Mon, 03 Nov 2008 18:33:31 +0000

Somehow, along the way, without me realizing it, I became a gym bunny (or a gym queen, I can’t deny either title). The are several reasons for this, but the main one is that I hate being sick and I value my health. If I take care of my body, it will take care of [...]

The Seeker

Will — Mon, 03 Nov 2008 18:07:58 +0000

In the early 90’s syndicated programs like Star Trek:TNG, Baywatch, Hercules and Xena enjoyed remarkable success. But when most local independent TV stations hopped on the the WB or UPN bandwagon, the market for original syndicated shows dried up. Now Sam Taper and Sam Rami (the guys behind Herc and Xena) hope to bring adventure [...]

Horrible Hockey Night

Jeff — Sun, 02 Nov 2008 17:28:11 +0000

Last night was really dreadful. Both the Tigers and Ordinals lost and I felt like I played pretty bad across the board. The night got started at 4pm with the Tigers taking on the Rockets in a game that the Rockets owned from the beginning and ended with the Tigers loosing 5-0. While I was on [...]

Beautiful Day for First Bryant Park Skate

Jeff — Fri, 31 Oct 2008 18:01:58 +0000

As you can see it was a beautiful day to take the first skate of the season at The Pond at Bryant Park (the view is from a web cam perched on top of the New York Public Library). It was sunny and in the high 50s. That made the ice a little slushy, but [...]

Friday Geek Out: Election Day

Jeff — Fri, 31 Oct 2008 11:24:11 +0000

Yes, it’s an odd topic for a Geek Out, but in the last weekend before the Presidential Election it seemed the perfect time to talk about voting and why it actually does have a Geek Out status with me. You might remember that I wrote a little bit about elections back in September when I [...]

Fathom’s Five: The Cross of Sins by Geoffrey Knight

Jeff — Wed, 29 Oct 2008 12:01:13 +0000

Fathom’s Five: The Cross of Sins by Geoffrey Knight was a fun read. The book is a mix of Indiana Jones, The Mummy and Saturday afternoon action/adventure movies with a good dose of erotica thrown in as well. The Fathom in the title is Professor Fathom, a super smart, blind professor who is interested in history [...]

DWTS Season 7, Week 6: Variety Rules the Day

Jeff — Wed, 29 Oct 2008 01:59:40 +0000

Except for the rumba, there was a different dance style for everyone this week on Dancing with the Stars. It was good to see such a variety on display. Maurice started things off with a good Viennese Waltz. This is the second week I’ve felt he improved and it’s been good to see. He and Cheryl [...]

Charlie Brown Wins!

Jeff and Will — Wed, 29 Oct 2008 00:44:26 +0000

I guess we’re a little out of touch. We just saw this ad for the first time this weekend as it aired at the movies ahead of High School Musical 3. Apparently this was one of Coke’s ads for this year’s Super Bowl. Perhaps it is in movie theaters now since the Macy’s Thanksgiving Day [...]

Tigers Play Hard, Lose Anyway

Jeff — Sun, 26 Oct 2008 13:07:29 +0000

The Tigers had a rough game last night. We went out and played a pretty good agressive game, but we just couldn’t get on top of the Scapegoats. It was a fun, fast moving game though. I felt I had a good game myself. I made a couple of offensive rushes and, while I couldn’t [...]

Noah’s Arc: Jumping The Broom

Jeff — Sat, 25 Oct 2008 20:50:08 +0000

Will and I were both of fans of Noah’s Arc for the two seasons it ran on Logo. We were disappointed when the show was canceled seemingly out of the blue, but were excited when it was revealed the show was making the jump to the big screen. Noah’s Arc: Jumping the Broom went into [...]

High School Musical 3: Senior Year

Jeff — Fri, 24 Oct 2008 19:13:11 +0000

Wow! It’s been a long time since we’ve been to the movies (that would be Sisterhood of the Traveling Pants 2 back on August 10). What better way to inaugurate the fall movie-going season than with High School Musical 3: Senior Year. Was it a good movie? Yes. Right in line with the expectations set by [...]

Friday Geek Out: Excerpts from “The Lion King”

Jeff — Fri, 24 Oct 2008 08:30:37 +0000

The Lion King stormed on to Broadway in October 1997 and won all kinds of accolades, including the 1998 Tony for Best Musical, for its stunning stage presentation. We finally saw the show in 1999 after we’d moved to the city and could take care of getting tickets for it in person because the show [...]

Big Movie Weekend: HSM3 and Noah’s Arc: Jumping the Broom

Jeff — Wed, 22 Oct 2008 09:07:26 +0000

I’m excited for the movies this weekend!!! and

DWTS Season 7, Week 5: New Dances For All

Jeff — Wed, 22 Oct 2008 02:00:33 +0000

What a fun week! Dancing with the Stars rolled out four new dances this week. Not only was this a challenge for the stars, but the pros had their work cut out for them too since they’d never taught these dances before. The night started out bumpy with the West Coast Swing. Poor Lance… not only [...]

In with the Cool Crowd; Tigers Win Opener

Jeff — Sun, 19 Oct 2008 17:47:22 +0000

Yesterday’s hockey time started out with an honor. Roman and Joe gave me a jersey that puts me in with the cool–and pretty talented–hockey crowd. You see they, along with some of their friends, all tend to wear the same jerseys. There seem to be two jerseys the use: a Columbus Blue Jackets jerseys and [...]

[title of show]: Operation 9PF*T Video

Jeff — Sat, 18 Oct 2008 07:35:05 +0000

I MADE IT INTO THE OPERATION 9*P*F*T VIDEO!!!! I am beyond thrilled to have been one of the 600 or so people to have their photos included in this [title of show] video. I found on it on the [tos] blog this morning when I got up to go play hockey. Wow! I’m so happy [...]

Friday Geek Out: “Independent Love Song” from Scarlet

Jeff — Fri, 17 Oct 2008 09:51:46 +0000

Remember the film Bed of Roses from January 1996? Probably not. It was a romantic drama about a driven career woman, played by Mary Stuart Masterson, who is romanced by a shy florist, played by Christian Slater. I enjoyed the film but what stuck with me was the song that played over the closing [...]

Skating Rink: Under Construction

Jeff — Thu, 16 Oct 2008 01:00:41 +0000

Fall is here and the outdoor skating season is right around the corner. They’ve started constructing the Bryant Park rink this week ahead of it’s October 24 opening (Yay! That’s just next Friday!). Here’s a few scenes from the construction.

On the eve of the debate, Hayden gets political… and I love her for it!!!

Will — Wed, 15 Oct 2008 15:52:40 +0000

See more Judd Apatow videos at Funny or Die See more Hayden Panettiere videos at Funny or Die

DWTS Season 7, Week 4: Sambas and Tangos

Jeff — Wed, 15 Oct 2008 01:59:11 +0000

It was a pretty amazing week 4 with Sambas and Tangos on the agenda. All of the tangos came off looking great and gave each of the dancers their best performances of the competition so far. Lance and Lacey, however, had the best of the night with a funky, purple and energetic tango that satisfied [...]

[title of show] Closing Night

Jeff — Mon, 13 Oct 2008 02:47:43 +0000

We were there during the first weekend of previews. We went back for our wedding anniversary in September. Tonight we went back for the final [title of show] performance on Broadway. It was awesome to the see the Lyceum Theater filled to capacity with people like us who have become [tos]sers over the past few months, [...]

Ordinals Open Season with 8-0 Victory

Jeff — Sun, 12 Oct 2008 02:53:48 +0000

The Ordinals had a fantastic opening night with an 8-0 victory against the Moose. It’s been more than a season since we’ve accomplished a shutout, so this was a sweet way to open the season. We accomplished this with a short bench of just 11 too, and we spread the scoring out pretty well too. [...]

National Coming Out Day 2008

Jeff — Sat, 11 Oct 2008 04:00:11 +0000

Just yesterday the Connecticut Supreme Court overturned a state ban on same-sex marriage, making that state the third to legalize same-sex marriage. It’s one more step on the way to equal marriage rights for everyone. Way to go Connecticut! Meanwhile, today is National Coming Out Day, a day that began in 1987 as a way to [...]

“Skins” vs. “90210″

Jeff — Sat, 11 Oct 2008 03:41:41 +0000

Two series, set thousands of miles apart, both featuring high schoolers and yet completely different! I was introduced to BBC America’s Skins with its premiere in mid-August. The CW rolled out the new 90210 a couple weeks later. I just finished the first season–9 episodes–for Skins this week while 90210 has hit its first rerun cycle [...]

About Header #12

Jeff — Fri, 10 Oct 2008 14:52:42 +0000

Header #12 was shot on October 28, 2007 in Bryant Park. This is the fountain at the entrance of 41st Street and 6th Avenue . The entire photo is below.

Friday Geek Out: Yes “Leave It”

Jeff — Fri, 10 Oct 2008 08:30:30 +0000

Here’s a weird blast out of music videos past that I have always loved. In 1983 Yes released a comeback album titled 90125. The big hit on that album was “Owner of a Lonely Heart.” But the song that got my attention was “Leave It,” a mostly a capella ditty that a a few variations [...]

DWTS Season 7, Week 3: Painful Departure

Jeff — Wed, 08 Oct 2008 01:42:16 +0000

It was a sad week in the Dancing with the Stars ballroom this week as Olympic volleyball champ Misty May-Treanor left the competition as the result of a serious injury sustained during a rehearsal. She ruptured her Achilles tendon while working on her jive routine. The footage of the rehearsal was painful to watch and [...]

Urban Wheat?

Jeff — Tue, 07 Oct 2008 18:45:50 +0000

After the final push to get the McDonald’s Monopoly game launched on Monday night, I worked from home yesterday. Will decided to get me out of the house for a while though and we walked over to South Street Seaport to get lunch. It was unexpected to find the Wheat Foods Council’s “Urban Wheat Field Experience” [...]

David Sedaris “When You Are Engulfed in Flames”

Jeff — Sun, 05 Oct 2008 16:54:23 +0000

It’s always a good read when a new David Sedaris book comes out and When You Are Engulfed in Flames was no exception. This book is quite the collection of essays, ranging from his attempts to quit smoking while living in Japan to his experiences with a bizzare babysitter to attempts at learning both French [...]