I don't know where February went but this miserable month is rapidly coming to a conclusion and with that comes spring (in March anyway). Break out your finest construction paper and craft a paper chain there are a mere 30 days until the spring equinox. Perhaps it won't actually be warm enough to bare your pasty legs until April but let us push that unpleasant thought from our minds. There were always at least three kids in my class who, completely undeterred by blizzards and the potential for frostbite, would wear shorts year-round. I never understood that.
There are practically a gazillion things going on this weekend. That, and the fabulous racks of florals and pastels filling the stores (not to mention the phenomenal sales), should help get us through the remainder of Western New York's bleakest (and longest) season.
DRINK OF THE WEEK
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Thee Audience will play Mohawk Place tonight and Mojo’s Saturday.
Drink your wintry sorrows away or toast to spring being just more than two fortnights away I guess it depends on if you're a glass half-full or half-empty kind of gal. Here is a recipe for a Pineapple Upside-Down Cake Martini created by my little sis, Hilary Diodato.
This makes enough for one serving multiply for more people or leave as is if you're drinking alone:
3 oz. pineapple juice
2 tablespoons /1 oz. white sugar (brown sugar tastes better... but it will turn the drink brownish)
1 oz. vanilla vodka
spoonful amaretto
spoonful maraschino cherry juice
Dissolve the sugar in the pineapple juice. Shake with ice or stir chilled ingredients. Garnish with a cherry. Enjoy!
WHAT REALLY GRINDS MY GEARS
Mopey karaoke.
Three weeks ago, I was at a bar with some friends and we had just ordered wings and sat down at a table with a pitcher of beer. A moment later, we realized it was karaoke night. Yelling a conversation over off-key wailing whilst trying to enjoy delectable chicken wings can be quite trying if you're not sauced yourself. It wouldn't have been so bad if the tunes were upbeat. However, the singers all seemed to be enduring difficult breakups, with each song choice more mopey than the last. I don't care how amazing those pipes of yours are please don't put everyone in the bar into a downward spiral with your rendition of "Hurt" by Christina Aguilera. It's very depressing.
WATCH THIS
There is not much on aside from the Olympics. Learn to love curling or follow my suggestions.
The "Funny Or Die" Web site has become a TV show. The aptly-named "Funny Or Die Presents" premieres on HBO Friday at 11:59 p.m., giving comedic newbies their chance to shine. Also making its HBO debut on Friday night is "The Ricky Gervais Show" at 9 p.m., an animated show featuring the British jokester. How about we scrap all that and bring back "Mr. Show?"
Turner Classic Movies continues its 31 Days of Oscar, and there are some real gems on this coming week. "The Bad and the Beautiful" (1953) will be at 1:30 a.m. tonight, starring Kirk Douglas at his most conniving, Lana Turner at (possibly) her most beautiful and Gloria Grahme, delightful as usual. "The Blue Dahlia" (1946), which features legendary pinup Veronica Lake, airs in the wee hours of Friday at 2:15 a.m. Fun fact: the Black Dahlia murder (upon which the disappointing 2006 film is based) happened not long after "The Blue Dahlia" was released, and the name originated from the film's title. "Who's Afraid of Virginia Woolf?" (1966), a film that was a catalyst in the Motion Picture Code's demise, will be on at 10:30 a.m. Saturday. On Sunday, take the three-and-a-half hours you were going to spend lamenting the weekend's brevity and watch the epic "Dr. Zhivago" (1965) instead, starting at 4:30 p.m.
WHAT'S HAPPENING
41 West will feature the live music of Trio on Friday night from 9 p.m. to midnight. The bar will have three times the karaoke this coming week: Saturday, Tuesday and Thursday, starting at 9 p.m. each night. Keep it upbeat!
Murder, a dysfunctional royal family, war and revenge what more could you want from a drama? A classic Greek tragedy is coming to the Bartlett Theatre stage. "Electra," by Sophocles, starts Friday, Feb. 19 at 8 p.m., with subsequent shows on Feb. 20, 25, 26 and 27 at 8 p.m. each night, and at 2 p.m. on Feb. 21. SUNY Fredonia's version is based on the 1997 adaptation by Frank McGuinness, which made "Electra" more contemporary. Get tickets through the SUNY Fredonia Ticket Office in the Williams Center by calling 673-3501 (1-866-441-4928) or online at www.fredonia.edu/tickets.
The Western New York Chamber Orchestra presents The Great Classicists at King Concert Hall on Sunday, Feb. 21 at 4 p.m., with the sweet sounds of Haydn, Mozart and Schubert.
The very excellent Thee Audience will dominate Western New York this weekend. Tonight, they'll be at Mohawk Place in Buffalo at about 10 p.m. and on Saturday, catch them at Mojo's in Jamestown after 10 p.m. Breaking Laces will also be on the bill.
The annual Beach Party at BJ's is tonight, complete with 80-degree heat, two tons of sand, squirt guns, leis and a limbo contest. Wear your bikinis if you dare.
Finesse Mitchell, formerly of "Saturday Night Live," will be at the Williams Center Multipurpose Room on the SUNY Fredonia campus at 5 p.m. tonight.
April Diodato is the OBSERVER Lifestyles editor. Give her the dish on what's happening at aprildiodato@gmail.com.
