Had a few notable celebrity sightings yesterday. It's only notable because I hadn't seen anyone I recognized around New York for quite some time until the Sex and the City lady the other day. Speaking of HBO series, I was in the Verizon store yesterday, having yet another terribly aggravating experience, when James Gandolfini walked in. I would've guessed that he would have some sort of underling take care of stuff like buying a new cell phone, but he was in there for quite some time looking around. He didn't look nearly as fat as he does on the Sopranos. He's one of the chubby guys who carries it all in front of him. He doesn't look fat at all from behind.
In the evening, I and several different friends went down to the Brooklyn Academy of Music for an evening called "What About Bill?" which was a screening of Bill Murray movies, followed by a Q&A session with Bill himself. Jed and I walked down and saw Geoff's girlfriend Elizabeth. We were all supposed to see Quick Change, one of my all-time favorite movies. Jed and I saved seats for Geoff, Elizabeth, and Miss Charming Melodee, but only Miss CM actually showed up. Geoff and Elizabeth somehow went into another movie theatre. While buying popcorn and soda for me and Jed, MCM was assisted by a man who was standing around her, who turned out to be Elvis Mitchell, the movie critic for the NY Times. He grabbed the popcorn from her and walked a bit, then when they ran into Bill Murray outside, he said "Bill, have you met my wife?" which was somewhat amusing.
Bill Murray and his co-director of Quick Change did a brief intro to the movie, and talked about where it was shot in New York, mostly in Brooklyn. Then Bill mentioned the Q&A afterwards and said "The people in the Ghostbusters screening look really dumb, so you know there are going to be some great questions." I just loved this movie, and I was really excited to see it on the big screen for the first time. As i watched, I realized how many little inside jokes and common sayings I've picked up from the movie. Jen and I used to watch this movie quite a bit, and I was disappointed that she couldn't be there. the ticket that Jed used was actually meant for her, but she was stuck in Florida after her flight was delayed. Anyway, it was as funny as I remembered it. MCM had never seen it, and seemed to enjoy it thoroughly.
So afterwards, we all filed out and went down the hall to the opera theatre where the Q&A would take place. I finally spotted Geoff and Elizabeth after finding seats down in front. I also spotted Jen K and her boyfriend Scott a few rows ahead of me. And later I spotted Matt and his lady. Full house. I'd never been in that room at BAM before. It's relatively small, but very nice. Along with Bill on the panel were six others- various directors and producers he's worked with. The only one I really recognized was Jim Jarmusch, who was one of the more entertaining of the panel members. But it was all about Bill, and the other people up there didn't speak that much. The questions the audience asked- which were limited to about 15 minutes of the hour or so we were in there- were fairly safe and standard questions. I would've loved to have heard his thoughts on the movie Garfield. He provides the voice of that darn cat. It looks simply putrid. He'd probably say he did it for his kids. The only sort of interesting thing about the movie to me is that the guy who did the voice of Garfield on the cartoons, Lorenzo Music, also did the voice of Peter Venkman on the Ghostbusters cartoon, which was Bill Murray's character in the movie. So it's a kind of neat little criss-cross. Other than that, it looks like shit.
Afterwards, after meeting with various friends and neighbors, Miss CM and I headed over to the Stonehouse wine bar with Jen K and Scott. I really enjoy this place. Its pretty big, but cozy and really comfortable. Last night Morphine was playing on the stereo, and the baritone sax and bass was a good accompaniment to the dark atmosphere and wine drinking. We ordered a bottle of wine and sampled seven cheeses and had a good time in general. Despite the dreary weather and other things going on, the neighborhood has been good lately. I miss a lot of the conveniences and food I had in Park Slope, but it's nice having so many things nearby, including friends, parks, the subways, and some place like BAM, which I don't really take full advantage of. Still, it's the most comfortable and settled I've felt in a place since I left home, I think.
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