What a Weekend

Where do I begin?! This weekend was full of arts & entertainment in all kinds of different forms.

Sometimes you don't even have to leave your house to be entertained. I hosted the KW crew and some other friends at my place on Friday and the usual craziness ensued. By 11 p.m. the drinks were flowing and we were all feeling pretty good. Luckily there were some designated drivers in the mix, and with their assistance we headed out to enjoy the Middleton nightlife. We ended up at Scatz, a sportsbar/nightclub that was hosting DJ RIP playing all the hottest pop & hip-hop. Dacing at Scatz is fun because the dance floor always has the right amount of people, there's never too few people but it's never too crowded.

Scatz features a different event every night and it caters to an extremely diverse clientele of all ages, (21 & up of course). Mondays: Monday Night Football, Tuesdays: Service Industry night offering 1/2 price off everything from 8 p.m. to 12 p.m., Wednesdays: Chili Wednesdays and $5.00 Ketel One mixers, Thursdays: Live Music, Fridays: Dance Party, Saturdays: Saturday Night Live Music, Sundays: Football Sundays.

I mentioned earlier that going to movies is one of my Top 5 favorite activities. Well, dancing is #2. So I hit the dance floor and promised the girls I'd be up on the platform in no time. Well, Lori beat me to it, and shortly after Lori and Sara and I were observing a sight I hope no one else will ever have to experience.

OK ladies, this is a lesson in what NOT to do. If you're on a platform, don't wear a skirt that barely covers your waist let alone anything else. And don't pretend to be a size 0 if you're a 10. Please wear clothing that fits and at least cover up your most private parts because ladies, no one wants to see that, especially not the girls and believe it or not, not even the guys.

To my right on the dance floor stood a group of five good looking guys watching this girl shake it, with sort of nauseous looks on their faces. If you're trying to impress the gentleman, this is the wrong approach. So that was just the beginning of the evening.

Lori then dared me to dance with this very tall lanky man who appeared to be on the dance floor completely alone. He was trying his best to bust a move, but I think he was trying a bit too hard. Of course, I went over and humored him, and introduced myself to him. I asked him what brought him to Scatz and who he was there with, and his response was, "What does it look like baby!? I'm here to dance!" I laughed outloud and ever-so-cooly and respectfully danced to the other side of the dance floor.

Shortly after I was literally being dragged off the dance floor by our designated driver and arrived home safely. I made mac & pizza for the crew still left at my house and drifted off the sleep trying my hardest not to let the image of the girl in the way-too-tiny dress drift into my nightmares.

Saturday arrived and I got together with Dana to catch the new flick When In Rome at Point Cinema. I'm telling you, go see this one. As far as romantic comedies go, this is the best I've seen in a while. Not only was it absolutely hilarious, it was actually unpredicable, believe it or not!

When in Rome stars Kristen Bell, who you may remember from Veronica Mars and Forgetting Sarah Marshall. Bell plays Beth, a motivated yet somewhat workaholic curator of the Guggenheim Museum who is looking for love, but has a hard time being open to it. She wants to find a man she loves more than her job, which seems like a daunting challenge.

So, when her sister gets engaged she is forced to fly to Rome, Italy to be the maid-of-honor. At the wedding she meets the charming and dashingly attractive Nick, played by the gorgeous Josh Duhamel. Josh's most recent gig was the Transformers movies, and it's nice seeing him out of the army greens and in a more fun and comedic role. Nick and Beth hit it off, but when she sees him kissing a mysterious woman outside of the Fontana de Amore, she decides when it comes to love, she's out of luck. But, in Italy, if you toss a coin into the Fontana de Amore and wish for love it will come to you. Beth decides to take a few coins, hoping love will come her way.

And boy, does it ever. Once she gets back to New York, she can't escape it. Beth starts getting stalked by a group of hilarious misfits played by Jon Heder, Danny DeVito, Will Arnett, and Dax Shepard. She finds herself caught up in one alkward situation after another and can't seem to escape the men under the spell of the fountain swooning over her. The best scene in the movie is the Dining in the Dark scene, so look out for that.

So, aside from the fact that the spell caused by the Fontana de Amore is a little hokey, the characters are a joy ride and the chemistry between Kristin Bell and Josh Duhamel sparkles. See it. Even the boys will enjoy this one!

Then Saturday night I switched gears from the cinema to the theater. I joined Leia, Kelly, Katie and Liz for dinner at Zanders followed by The Broadway Tour of Rent at the Overture Center for the Arts. Adam Pascal and Anthony Rapp reprised their roles as Roger and Mark, and even though they've performed the show thousands of times before, they still bring the same excitement and intensity to their roles. I've seen Rent once before at the Overture, but watching these two original cast members meant watching Rent on a whole other level. Other memorable performances included Nicolette Hart who played Maureen and of course Justin Johnston as the role of Angel.

Rent was the musical of our generation, and the amazing part about being at the performance last night was watching the younger generations enjoying it as much as our generation did back in the early nineties. It's a comfort to know that Rent has the staying to power to continue to delight decades worth of future audiences.

There's no day but today, and for that, we thank you Jonathan Larson.