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katestineFri night I rushed to Ct to see She Loves Me at Westport Country Playhouse, aka Joanne Woodward & Paul Newman's place in the country. The production was good overall; not as good as Broadway, but then again, SLM doesn't require flying sets or a turntable. I thought the female actresses were very good: Amalia was sweet, but crazy and Ilona made more sense to me in this production. Unfortunately, Maracek and Sipos(!) stole the show from the male lead, who was too mousy. I guess Georg is kinda dorky - who meets a chick through a Lonely Hearts Club? - but then he has that gorgeous title song... and yeah.
More personally disappointing was Douglas Sills' performance as Kodaly. He came out on stage looking portly, which was NOT what I expected for the womanizer (possibly bc the guy who played Kodaly at MTG is skinny and blond but whatever). Moreover, the best part about Scarlet Pimpernel (his breakout role on Broadway) was how much fun he brought to the role, whether he was in character as the smirking fop or in his ad-libs that must've made his stage manager crazy. He was the biggest "name" in the show and I wondered after looking at the rest of the cast list what he was doing in a random playhouse; after seeing this production, I want to know what the heck is up with his career.
Sat I drove to the Gunks for the first time. My mum made me a nice breakfast and packed a lovely lunch and the drive itself was fine: 1 hour over properly speed-limited highways and then 30mins on 55mph?? country roads through the town of Gardiner. I discovered a perfect parking spot in the lot: to the right of the outhouse is an area about 2.5 car widths, so I don't feel bad about my sucky parking skills. If I don't have plans the night before (or an offer of a ride), I might do this more often.
The lead instructor took me and a student to the far end of the Near Trapps, where we discovered Yum Yum Yab Yum (5.4) was busy. I guess he wasn't as horrified by my performance two weeks ago as I thought, bc he asked, "Wanna lead the first pitch?" "No! After two weeks ago, I've decided I'm not ready to learn to lead," which led to an abbreviated version of why I don't have enough experience. GMac led the first pitch of a nearby climb called Doofus McGoofus? (5.6).
I was horrified to see the student whip out a cheat sheet (probably of climbing commands) and some of his questions appalled me. Explaining stuff to him made me realize that I know more than I give myself for. As GMac went up the climb, I watched him and guessed at where he'd put his first placement (I was right) and carefully noted how he did the anchor. When we finished, we went back to Yum Yum and when he asked me again, I said "Sure!"
The first pitch of Yum Yum is a 5.2, so I was fairly sure I could solo it. My first two pieces were cams, bc that's what I could get to work in the space. I didn't have much confidence in them, but it was also only a 30? 40? foot pitch, so yeah. For the third piece, I didn't want to just place another cam, so I tried both a tri-cam before finally slotting a nut that I decided would hold a downward tug, but not an upward. (GMac coached from the ground that not every piece has to be multi-directional.) Afterward, GMac commented that I should've placed a fourth piece, before getting to the anchor. He had a few words to say about my anchor, which was crap: if someone had fallen while I belayed them, I'd've been pulled around the tree onto the climb, which would've extended the second's fall about 4'. OOPS. He says he would've placed some pro above the tree, so that there was an oppositional force; I didn't have enough faith in my placements, but now that I think about it, I see what he meant.
That was the theme of the whole pitch: there's a really really big difference between talking theory and taking the sharp end of the rope and even as I was climbing, it was so different to think, "yeah, this is easy-peasy, but if I fall, omg there's no protection GAH!" It gives a completely different flavor to the stuff I read. And reopens the question of what I'll be doing with the super guide when I climb with him this Saturday, and whether I'll be working on my leading skills this summer.
Despite my anchor, GMac offered me the lead on the third pitch and later commented that his fave pitch of the day was the first on Yum Yum, bc he didn't have to lead it :) I'm glad I didn't take his offer, as there was quite a bit of traversing, although nothing like the fourth pitch, which had 10' of traversing. I doubt I'd've protected it properly - in traversing, you need to put in a piece every few feet, bc the second will fall (and swing!) that distance and may not be able to come up again. ick. GMac also used the time while he was belaying the student to explain some finer points of what he was doing as a leader. We finished the route, walked to the bottom of the cliffs, and GMac lead the 5.6 again so he could set up a top rope on a 5.8 and a 5.10. I couldn't get the 5.8 - there was an overhangy move where I needed an extra 3" or the strength to push off a leg that was waist high. In the end, I'm glad that GMac pushed me, both bc he's a patient and encouraging instructor and bc otherwise the day would've been fairly disappointing.
I don't know what it was on Sat, but halfway through the day, I was already tired. I had plenty of food at that point - I ate a nice chicken salad sandwich and two clementines - but my pack felt heavier as we walked along the cliffs. It could've been the heat or maybe I was tired from Thursday's climbing lesson :-(
Dinner at the Gold Fox was awful - the bbq platter was three different kinds of meat, all in the same bottled sauce - but I sat with the long-time members (read: leaders) and got the inside skinny on club doings. Ride home was uneventful and I only did one dodgy thing; arrived home just before midnight.
I'm afraid my biggest accomplishment for Sunday was washing my hair and doing a face mask. I couldn't sleep past 9, had lunch with the 'rents, checked my email, took the aforementioned shower - and got a call from my sister that my mother was drinking margaritas, would I like to join them. oy. After my parents left for their show, my sister and I hung out at my place, which was our first QT since she left for Venice and we had so very much to talk about. Best line of the night was when she commented, "So all a guy has to say is, 'You're so smart. Can I cook you dinner?'" uh...
She left pretty early, but I slept very badly (partially bc my building hasn't switched to cooling yet) and was up every 2 hours or so :-( I dreamt that the guy I'm lusting after was showing me how to use his iPhone (really Subconscious? that's the best you could do??) and then I dreamt that my grandson had come back from the future and had edited my most recent quotes post, putting in stuff that shouldn't be public. (Really, Subconscious, wtf??)
More personally disappointing was Douglas Sills' performance as Kodaly. He came out on stage looking portly, which was NOT what I expected for the womanizer (possibly bc the guy who played Kodaly at MTG is skinny and blond but whatever). Moreover, the best part about Scarlet Pimpernel (his breakout role on Broadway) was how much fun he brought to the role, whether he was in character as the smirking fop or in his ad-libs that must've made his stage manager crazy. He was the biggest "name" in the show and I wondered after looking at the rest of the cast list what he was doing in a random playhouse; after seeing this production, I want to know what the heck is up with his career.
Sat I drove to the Gunks for the first time. My mum made me a nice breakfast and packed a lovely lunch and the drive itself was fine: 1 hour over properly speed-limited highways and then 30mins on 55mph?? country roads through the town of Gardiner. I discovered a perfect parking spot in the lot: to the right of the outhouse is an area about 2.5 car widths, so I don't feel bad about my sucky parking skills. If I don't have plans the night before (or an offer of a ride), I might do this more often.
The lead instructor took me and a student to the far end of the Near Trapps, where we discovered Yum Yum Yab Yum (5.4) was busy. I guess he wasn't as horrified by my performance two weeks ago as I thought, bc he asked, "Wanna lead the first pitch?" "No! After two weeks ago, I've decided I'm not ready to learn to lead," which led to an abbreviated version of why I don't have enough experience. GMac led the first pitch of a nearby climb called Doofus McGoofus? (5.6).
I was horrified to see the student whip out a cheat sheet (probably of climbing commands) and some of his questions appalled me. Explaining stuff to him made me realize that I know more than I give myself for. As GMac went up the climb, I watched him and guessed at where he'd put his first placement (I was right) and carefully noted how he did the anchor. When we finished, we went back to Yum Yum and when he asked me again, I said "Sure!"
The first pitch of Yum Yum is a 5.2, so I was fairly sure I could solo it. My first two pieces were cams, bc that's what I could get to work in the space. I didn't have much confidence in them, but it was also only a 30? 40? foot pitch, so yeah. For the third piece, I didn't want to just place another cam, so I tried both a tri-cam before finally slotting a nut that I decided would hold a downward tug, but not an upward. (GMac coached from the ground that not every piece has to be multi-directional.) Afterward, GMac commented that I should've placed a fourth piece, before getting to the anchor. He had a few words to say about my anchor, which was crap: if someone had fallen while I belayed them, I'd've been pulled around the tree onto the climb, which would've extended the second's fall about 4'. OOPS. He says he would've placed some pro above the tree, so that there was an oppositional force; I didn't have enough faith in my placements, but now that I think about it, I see what he meant.
That was the theme of the whole pitch: there's a really really big difference between talking theory and taking the sharp end of the rope and even as I was climbing, it was so different to think, "yeah, this is easy-peasy, but if I fall, omg there's no protection GAH!" It gives a completely different flavor to the stuff I read. And reopens the question of what I'll be doing with the super guide when I climb with him this Saturday, and whether I'll be working on my leading skills this summer.
Despite my anchor, GMac offered me the lead on the third pitch and later commented that his fave pitch of the day was the first on Yum Yum, bc he didn't have to lead it :) I'm glad I didn't take his offer, as there was quite a bit of traversing, although nothing like the fourth pitch, which had 10' of traversing. I doubt I'd've protected it properly - in traversing, you need to put in a piece every few feet, bc the second will fall (and swing!) that distance and may not be able to come up again. ick. GMac also used the time while he was belaying the student to explain some finer points of what he was doing as a leader. We finished the route, walked to the bottom of the cliffs, and GMac lead the 5.6 again so he could set up a top rope on a 5.8 and a 5.10. I couldn't get the 5.8 - there was an overhangy move where I needed an extra 3" or the strength to push off a leg that was waist high. In the end, I'm glad that GMac pushed me, both bc he's a patient and encouraging instructor and bc otherwise the day would've been fairly disappointing.
I don't know what it was on Sat, but halfway through the day, I was already tired. I had plenty of food at that point - I ate a nice chicken salad sandwich and two clementines - but my pack felt heavier as we walked along the cliffs. It could've been the heat or maybe I was tired from Thursday's climbing lesson :-(
Dinner at the Gold Fox was awful - the bbq platter was three different kinds of meat, all in the same bottled sauce - but I sat with the long-time members (read: leaders) and got the inside skinny on club doings. Ride home was uneventful and I only did one dodgy thing; arrived home just before midnight.
I'm afraid my biggest accomplishment for Sunday was washing my hair and doing a face mask. I couldn't sleep past 9, had lunch with the 'rents, checked my email, took the aforementioned shower - and got a call from my sister that my mother was drinking margaritas, would I like to join them. oy. After my parents left for their show, my sister and I hung out at my place, which was our first QT since she left for Venice and we had so very much to talk about. Best line of the night was when she commented, "So all a guy has to say is, 'You're so smart. Can I cook you dinner?'" uh...
She left pretty early, but I slept very badly (partially bc my building hasn't switched to cooling yet) and was up every 2 hours or so :-( I dreamt that the guy I'm lusting after was showing me how to use his iPhone (really Subconscious? that's the best you could do??) and then I dreamt that my grandson had come back from the future and had edited my most recent quotes post, putting in stuff that shouldn't be public. (Really, Subconscious, wtf??)
(no subject)
Date: 2010-05-03 03:21 pm (UTC)