IMDb

the russian movie was finally listed on the IMDb! i submitted the request several months ago.

search for 'chuzhie' at imdb.org.

lie to me numbers

Nielsen ratings have never been an important thing to me. Now, with Monica's show on prime time, they take on a very real implication for our lives. Following them has been interesting.

Opening night last week had very good numbers, but not incredible ones, and I think Fox was expecting slightly better. It started at 13+ million viewers, and by the end had dropped to around 11. It beat Lost in its time slot, but was second behind Criminal Minds.

Last night, however, it had a solid 12 million, and was first in its time slot, better than Lost and Criminal Minds! The only show with better numbers in ALL of prime time last night was American Idol with a RIDICULOUS 26 million.

For context, there are about 114 million television households in the US. So, roughly one tenth watched Monica last night. Crazy!

With good enough numbers, the show can go a second season. If it does, it means many more months for Monica in LA, which is why I'm planning to move out there! If it doesn't go a second season, it means tough decisions for us.

It's all very exciting!

new meaning to la la land

just came back from a very short but wonderful weekend in LA. hanging around with my gorgeous girlfriend, eating organic meals outside, visiting my laughing, talkative, cute little pumpkin of a niece, it occurred to me that i am very, very lucky.

the st. pete times in florida recently published a great little piece on monica. link below.

http://www.tampabay.com/features/media/article970028.ece

movie star

my buddy jenya was our translator and friend during the russian-movie filming process. i'm glad to have his friendship because, besides being an outstanding guy, he's my eyes and ears in russia. he's been the one to tell me how the premiere went, what the posters are like, etc...

while i still don't have a copy of the DVD of the movie, it is out in russian stores. (the producers have promised us a copy, and say it is 'in the mail.') jenya tells me that the bootleg movie stands, which are just like the ones in new york, have an alternate cover for their copies of Strangers.

it's delightfully strange to imagine my silly dance moves peppering the covers of DVDs all over the streets of moscow...

crazy stalker fan

i don't think i'll EVER get used to the commercials. hooray for DVR!

lie to me!

monica FINALLY sent me a DVD of the pilot that will premiere next week and i watched it last night.

it should suffice to say that i LOVED it, and though i understand logically that there i no way i have an objective perspective on it, i am going to forge blissfully ahead in my fandom anyway. i love that it's a crime show but it's colorful and bright- i love tim roth's disaffected gestural performance- and mostly i love the insanely gorgeous latina newcomer that will be the viewpoint character in the series.

the show airs on fox, wednesday nights after american idol, starting a week from today.

photo album 2

album part 2

http://www.facebook.com/p.php?i=514867448&k=63E434QZU32MYCEBXF3YT

photo album 1

first of two vietnam photo albums is posted on facebook! link below:

 

http://www.facebook.com/p.php?i=514867448&k=Z41XXVT5U23GUDEASK26TQ

down and out in westwood

the post-script to the main body of my vietnam trip is less fun. this weekend i'm in LA, and i've been knocked out completely by some sort of major stomach bug i got in vietnam. major abdominal pain and inability to sleep has made the past couple of days difficult! i just started on an antibiotic this morning which seems to be doing the trick, and my appetite just came back.

i return to new york on monday and get back to real life!

hanoi to hong kong

hanoi was a blur. what a big, loud, active, incredible city. we stayed in a very nice hotel in the very center of downtown, and, thanks to new year's, we felt like we were living in a tornado. nica and i both developed healthy headaches soon after arriving- we think it was the incredible amount of smog and exhaust everywhere- the perpetual symphony of horn-honking could have something to do with it too!

 

we toured yesterday morning around the city by 'cyclos.' this is definitely the way to do it for people who want to keep a low tourist profile. nothing blends in better than a grand parade of 14 westerners each under a red-fringed canopy in front of their very own personal pedicab driver. it was a hair-rasing adventure, toodling around the city, facing down oncoming traffic, bumping elbows with motorcycles, and regarding pedestrians coolly from our thrones.

 

we didn't read the tour itinerary closely and all we knew about our first stop was that it was a mausoleum. we surrendered our bags and went double-file by dozens of rigid soldiers. inside, we encountered the pale, chemically-preserved body of ho chi minh. it was spooky, unsettling, and terrifically odd! it was exactly the experience i had purposefully avoided, what with the moscow art theatre's proximity to lenin's tomb during my stay in russia. the image of the body flanked by four soldiers certainly won't leave me for a very long time.

 

next we stopped at the hoa lo prison, known to most of us more affectionately as the 'hanoi hilton.' we enjoyed exhibits that consisted of leg irons, guillotines, and john mccain's flight suit. (you'll remember that he spent quite some time there) there was an odd photo gallery, including ones of POW's playing volleyball in the courtyard, and the americans getting souvenirs upon their release. souvenirs!

 

all in all, it was a strange tour! we ate an awesome lunch and spent the afternoon wandering the clogged streets and shops of hanoi.

 

i finally succumbed to stomach issues last night, suffering from severe cramps. i muddled through our new year's eve farewell feast with as much good humor as i could muster. (i skipped the slabs of fois gras and the piles of caviar, but enjoyed the vietnamese band with a male singer covering tracy chapman)

 

our hotel was only a quarter mile from the restaurant, but it took monica, her mom, and i a good thirty minutes to navigate through the throngs! we formed a human chain and literally squeezed ourselves through crowds of people, motorbikes, and stands, all the while ducking and avoiding these strange flaming parachutes revelers were setting off. they were mini-hot air balloons, complete with a baseball-sized flaming coal attached at the bottom. most soared into the sky, but some crashed into buildings, trees, and people. we saw a tree catch fire and we held our breath as we watched an apartment building decide whether it wanted to go up in flames or not when the fireball landed on a tar balcony roof.

 

i was asleep by 11:30, half an hour before 2009 in vietnam. when 2009 hit new york, i was reading newsweek on my plane from hanoi to hong kong.

 

all in all, it was an unforgettable trip. i learned so much and saw so many incredible things! (and ate a lot of amazing food!) i owe a debt of gratitude to mr. and mrs. raymund for welcoming me on this surreal journey!