I'm so lucky that several times in my life, I have had the miraculous pleasure of sitting in the audience for some performance that so overwhelms me it leaves me with just one spine-tingling thought: "Oh, this is it." Or (in other words): "This is what it was like to witness the 'first' anything. This is what it's like to see the next award-winner. This is what it's like to create the memory that years from now will become an 'I was there' remembrance. This is what it's like to see magic and creativity and passion and storytelling and performance and artistry. This the moment that leaves me speechless and takes my breath away." And it doesn't matter if the show is sold out or has great popularity or if the critics love it or hate it. Its' a purely subjective personal reaction to art, and that's that.
The most recent addition to the list: "American Idiot" (world premiere musical at Berkeley Rep - who knew from punk rock?).
The others off the top of my head (and in no particular order):
"Spring Awakening" - I called its awards (even lighting design) before most people knew to get a ticket, because the force of its energy was undeniable
"Ragtime" - still one of the most amazing opening numbers of all time
"The Lion King" - the opening number that stole the crown from "Ragtime"
"Les Miserables" - made me realize what a musical theater experience could be like
"Rent" - redefined musical theater and rock opera and defined a generation all at once
"Angels In America" - made thinking deeply in the theater a pleasurable mental exercise
"Wicked" - the best Act One finale that took my breath away, and the show that still makes it OK for me to cry at all the right parts
"Avenue Q" - the puppet show that made me realize many things can become real characters
"Side Show" - redefined the (singular) female lead and "musical harmony"
"Forbidden Broadway" - will never tire of brilliant (and loving) satire
"Billy Elliot" - a musical that highlighted dance as much as song
"Proof" - uncovered human emotions more plainly than 1 + 1
"Doubt" - a non-stop tour de force with one of the most striking ending moment of any play
"BKLYN" - voices that blew the roof off the house every single time
"Copenhagen" and "Art" - cerebral dramas told in circles and triangles
"Mary Poppins" - worth it for the closing number special effect of all special effects
"Hedwig And The Angry Inch" - probably my generation's "Rocky Horror Picture Show" and stretched "Off-Broadway" all the way to Los Angeles (or anywhere)
"The Laramie Project" - so many monologues revealing so many truths
"Annie" - I knew she was a 'child star' before I ever knew that term
"Titanic" (the musical, although as sappy as the movie was, the feeling might have been there too) - cemented an appreciation for the narrative construction of a musical, and the technical wizardry of staging
"Grey Gardens" and "The Boy From Oz" - knowing that a show would never be the same without that original star (or cast)
"Xanadu" - proved that a smart book can save trashy source material
"In The Heights" - made me give a hometown cheer silently in my heart all the way through the show
"Little Shop of Horrors" and "Godspell" and "A Chorus Line" and "Jesus Christ Superstar" - because you know it's going to be a perennial favorite, before any time passes at all
"The 39 Steps" - sketch comedy as homage, as re-interpretation, as re-enactment
"Spamalot" and "The Drowsy Chaperone" - each features an unforgettable quick-costume change that will convince you once and for all that "Costume Design" is never a minor award category
I'm sure I'm missing more...I'll get back to this many more times (I hope)...
Thursday, November 12, 2009
Re-Posted from Facebook note (February 20, 2009)
From my February 20 Facebook page (posting a "note" on Facebook must have been my early furtive attempts at blogging, so this should really be my first entry)...
Academy Awards 2009
Ray’s Predictions and Ballot Choices for this year’s Oscars...
(For your ballot of the 24 categories to be announced on February 22, go to www.Oscars.com)
Lead Actor: Sean Penn
I’d be fine with either Sean Penn or Frank Langella winning this one; would not be fine with Mickey Rourke winning it because I think he greatly benefited from the screenplay. My vote goes to Sean Penn whose portrayal of Harvey Milk was much more complete and nuanced than Frank Langella whose portrayal of Richard Nixon was excellent but sometimes bordered on easy caricature.
Supporting Actor: Heath Ledger
Each nominee in this category gave an excellent performance and justifiably did a lot to support the movie’s plot and central characters. But for sheer commanding presence (and dominant screen time), the buzz for a posthumous award to Heath Ledger makes sense. Robbed of a nomination in this category was Michael Sheen, absolutely brilliant as David Frost in “Frost/Nixon”
Lead Actress: Kate Winslet
I actually think Melissa Leo in “Frozen River” and Anne Hathaway in “Rachel Getting Married” gave much more riveting and harrowing performances. And of course Meryl Streep can do no wrong, but I loved the staged version (with Cherry Jones) of “Doubt” so much more than the movie (which I think was diluted with bigger sets and a bigger cast than the tight 4-person small stage version). And even Clint Eastwood admitted that he cast Angelina Jolie in “Changeling” partly because she looked like the 1920s period. And she does pull it off, but with familiar shades of her other Oscar win for “Girl, Interrupted.” I agree with the Golden Globes that Kate Winslet did amazing jobs in the lead role of “Revolutionary Road” and in a supporting role in “The Reader” (which was actually more lead than supporting). I agree that after all of her nominations, this is her year to win it. And I agree that winning it for “The Reader” is the slightly wrong movie to award – it should have gone to her for “Revolutionary Road” which is an absolutely stunning bit of acting.
Supporting Actress: Penelope Cruz
I would really like to see Marisa Tomei win a second award in the same category as her “My Cousin Vinny” win because I think she was both the emotional heart and the emotional balance needed in “The Wrestler.” I loved the women in “Doubt” and “Benjamin Button” but they are eclipsed in my mind by Marisa Tomei. And the buzz is all for Penelope Cruz, who also does deserve recognition finally from the Academy, but I wish it was for something like “Volver” and not “Vicky Cristina Barcelona.” It’s just my personal bias that I shy away from awarding women for playing histrionic crazy characters (don’t even get me started on Annette Benning in “American Beauty”) instead of more whole, nuanced, complicated, not necessarily volatile characters. I think it’s too easy to scream and wave a knife or a gun around and call that great acting by an actress. What should be rewarded is the tough glare or the raised eyebrow that says the same thing with much less obvious vitriol. But Penelope Cruz will win it anyway because the Academy Voters will remember histrionic. And even though she’s already won it in this category, Cate Blanchett was robbed of a nomination for supporting Benjamin Button (in the literal and figurative/emotional sense).
Animated Feature: WALL-E
This might be the only “no-contest/no-brainer” category of the entire evening.
Art Direction: The Curious Case of Benjamin Button
The attention to detail in every scene is what wins this one for me.
Cinematography: Slumdog Millionaire
Every year, I get frustrated that too many Academy voters equate “cinematography” with “gorgeous backgrounds.” This is an award for camera work, as simple as that. And for all the kinetic, close-ups, tracking shots, dolly shots, split-focus, crazy angles used in “Slumdog Millionaire,” this category should be as simply awarded.
Costume Design: The Duchess
This award usually goes to the most elaborate designs, so even though costuming masses of people and characters in “Benjamin Button” and “Milk” and “Revolutionary Road” in time-appropriate costumes no doubt took a lot of work, the costumes of an 18th century English aristocrat and her life are surely more standout, at least in a voter’s memory.
Directing: Slumdog Millionaire
I would love this award to go to Gus Van Sant for “Milk” or Ron Howard for “Frost/Nixon” but I think Danny Boyle really crafted the little movie that could out of a lot of different, divergent, and even disparate sources to create a true adult fable that works as a single complete whole. A win from the Directors Guild (almost all the same people who vote in this category for the Oscars) doesn’t hurt.
Documentary Feature: Man On Wire
Okay, this is one of the few categories where I haven’t seen many of the nominees, but I did see this one and thought it was as lovely and ephemeral as the event it narrates.
Documentary Short: The Witness – From The Balcony of Room 306
Choosing this on title alone. Have no actual idea and I didn’t get to the screenings of all the nominees in time.
Film Editing: Slumdog Millionaire
This is another category that could go to any of the nominees – each film nominated had excellent editing work.
Foreign Language Film: Waltz With Bashir
I enjoyed the heart and emotion of “The Class” a bit more, but I think I emotionally checked out of “Waltz With Bashir” as I do with many other war movies: it’s just overwhelming. But as “Persepolis” did, this movie’s use of animation is inspired: not only does it work brilliantly to show dreams, fantasies, realities, hopes all at once, it never masks the tragedies being portrayed. (And I admit these are the only two in the category I saw.)
Makeup: The Curious Case of Benjamin Button
For the aging and reverse-aging alone. Robbed in this category: “The Reader” for brilliantly aging Kate Winslet.
Original Score: Slumdog Millionaire
Any nominee deserves this one for effective use of a musical score to move the story along and accent it correctly in just the right parts. Also robbed in this category: “Rachel Getting Married” and “Frozen River.”
Original Song: “Jai Ho” from Slumdog Millionaire
The winner will be what is perhaps the most memorable end credits sequence of the year – and a joyful Bollywood dance number at that! Robbed in this category: the Bruce Springsteen song from “The Wrestler” and the Clint Eastwood/Jamie Cullum song from “Gran Torino” – both also excellent end credit songs that were more heartfelt but perhaps too somber and pensive to compete against “Jai Ho” anyway.
Short Film, Animated: Presto
The short film that ran with “WALL-E?” Oh, yeah. That means it will win this magical award just like a rabbit gets pulled out of a hat.
Short Film, Live Action: Spielzeugland
Haven’t seen any of the nominees but I like the one still photo I’ve seen from this one…and the LEGO lover in me likes the title (which translates to “Toyland”).
Sound Editing: The Dark Knight
Sound Mixing: The Dark Knight
Since no musical movie was nominated this year (and those usually win the pair of these awards), I give both to the action drama that invented crazy sounds and used them most effectively.
Visual Effects: The Curious Case of Benjamin Button
The aging effects notwithstanding, there were also beautiful special effects in this movie that were not just explosions or superhero high-octane fireworks. So I vote for the movie that used the visual effects more for “visual” and less obviously as “effects.”
Screenplay, Adapted: The Curious Case of Benjamin Button
I think I’ll lose in this category to the Academy voters who will want to give it to “Slumdog Millionaire.” I don’t care. I think “Slumdog Millionaire” added the love story stuff to the excellent book “Q and A” but “Benjamin Button” added entire plotlines and subplots to what is otherwise a family-based short story in its original form and made it this triumphant cinematic love song homage to New Orleans. So I’m casting my vote for the actual work of adapting another work; but the award will probably go to the movie that is more of a standout.
Screenplay, Original: Milk
A final category where I could support all the nominees: “Frozen River,” “Happy-Go-Lucky” (the only I didn’t see), “In Bruges,” and “WALL-E” were all amazing original ideas that became fully formed movies. But for crafting history and memory into something relevant today (and therefore arguably timeless), I want the award to go to “Milk.” (In a toss-up between “Milk” and “WALL-E,” I also think the voters will award the movie with much more actual spoken lines and dialogue.)
Best Picture: Slumdog Millionaire
“The Reader” (a Holocaust movie that is not about easy answers and black-or-white delineations like “Nazis = bad”) and “Milk” (a historical narrative that deserves to be seen again and again) and “Frost/Nixon” (one of the best stage-to-screen adaptations I have seen) are all my second choices, but I think “Slumdog Millionaire” will win the big prize, and that will be a nice tip of the Oscar hat to the ensemble cast which did not earn any individual nominations.
Other thoughts:
Even though the White – Hmong race relations of “Gran Torino” were unique to see on screen, I thought “Changeling” was the better Clint Eastwood movie this year: more complicated and less familiar storyline than the grump old man next door emerges with a softie heart after all (which felt like an adaptation of many more movies than the tortured woman who won’t give up the fight against all violence and corruption story). And both lost many nominations.
Also, I give it up to the women actors this year who have once again trumped all their male counterparts for the range of complexity, action, nuance, emotion, control, hysterics, love, and hope (and more) that all their characters defined.
I may not score well on this ballot, but I am proud of the fact that out of Entertainment Weekly’s list of “25 Movies You Must See Before the Oscars” (plus two foreign films I wanted to see), I managed to see 22. So no matter how I score on the ballot, I at least feel more prepared and informed to make my guesses than ever before!
Good luck and see you at the movies or after the ballots are tabulated!
Academy Awards 2009
Ray’s Predictions and Ballot Choices for this year’s Oscars...
(For your ballot of the 24 categories to be announced on February 22, go to www.Oscars.com)
Lead Actor: Sean Penn
I’d be fine with either Sean Penn or Frank Langella winning this one; would not be fine with Mickey Rourke winning it because I think he greatly benefited from the screenplay. My vote goes to Sean Penn whose portrayal of Harvey Milk was much more complete and nuanced than Frank Langella whose portrayal of Richard Nixon was excellent but sometimes bordered on easy caricature.
Supporting Actor: Heath Ledger
Each nominee in this category gave an excellent performance and justifiably did a lot to support the movie’s plot and central characters. But for sheer commanding presence (and dominant screen time), the buzz for a posthumous award to Heath Ledger makes sense. Robbed of a nomination in this category was Michael Sheen, absolutely brilliant as David Frost in “Frost/Nixon”
Lead Actress: Kate Winslet
I actually think Melissa Leo in “Frozen River” and Anne Hathaway in “Rachel Getting Married” gave much more riveting and harrowing performances. And of course Meryl Streep can do no wrong, but I loved the staged version (with Cherry Jones) of “Doubt” so much more than the movie (which I think was diluted with bigger sets and a bigger cast than the tight 4-person small stage version). And even Clint Eastwood admitted that he cast Angelina Jolie in “Changeling” partly because she looked like the 1920s period. And she does pull it off, but with familiar shades of her other Oscar win for “Girl, Interrupted.” I agree with the Golden Globes that Kate Winslet did amazing jobs in the lead role of “Revolutionary Road” and in a supporting role in “The Reader” (which was actually more lead than supporting). I agree that after all of her nominations, this is her year to win it. And I agree that winning it for “The Reader” is the slightly wrong movie to award – it should have gone to her for “Revolutionary Road” which is an absolutely stunning bit of acting.
Supporting Actress: Penelope Cruz
I would really like to see Marisa Tomei win a second award in the same category as her “My Cousin Vinny” win because I think she was both the emotional heart and the emotional balance needed in “The Wrestler.” I loved the women in “Doubt” and “Benjamin Button” but they are eclipsed in my mind by Marisa Tomei. And the buzz is all for Penelope Cruz, who also does deserve recognition finally from the Academy, but I wish it was for something like “Volver” and not “Vicky Cristina Barcelona.” It’s just my personal bias that I shy away from awarding women for playing histrionic crazy characters (don’t even get me started on Annette Benning in “American Beauty”) instead of more whole, nuanced, complicated, not necessarily volatile characters. I think it’s too easy to scream and wave a knife or a gun around and call that great acting by an actress. What should be rewarded is the tough glare or the raised eyebrow that says the same thing with much less obvious vitriol. But Penelope Cruz will win it anyway because the Academy Voters will remember histrionic. And even though she’s already won it in this category, Cate Blanchett was robbed of a nomination for supporting Benjamin Button (in the literal and figurative/emotional sense).
Animated Feature: WALL-E
This might be the only “no-contest/no-brainer” category of the entire evening.
Art Direction: The Curious Case of Benjamin Button
The attention to detail in every scene is what wins this one for me.
Cinematography: Slumdog Millionaire
Every year, I get frustrated that too many Academy voters equate “cinematography” with “gorgeous backgrounds.” This is an award for camera work, as simple as that. And for all the kinetic, close-ups, tracking shots, dolly shots, split-focus, crazy angles used in “Slumdog Millionaire,” this category should be as simply awarded.
Costume Design: The Duchess
This award usually goes to the most elaborate designs, so even though costuming masses of people and characters in “Benjamin Button” and “Milk” and “Revolutionary Road” in time-appropriate costumes no doubt took a lot of work, the costumes of an 18th century English aristocrat and her life are surely more standout, at least in a voter’s memory.
Directing: Slumdog Millionaire
I would love this award to go to Gus Van Sant for “Milk” or Ron Howard for “Frost/Nixon” but I think Danny Boyle really crafted the little movie that could out of a lot of different, divergent, and even disparate sources to create a true adult fable that works as a single complete whole. A win from the Directors Guild (almost all the same people who vote in this category for the Oscars) doesn’t hurt.
Documentary Feature: Man On Wire
Okay, this is one of the few categories where I haven’t seen many of the nominees, but I did see this one and thought it was as lovely and ephemeral as the event it narrates.
Documentary Short: The Witness – From The Balcony of Room 306
Choosing this on title alone. Have no actual idea and I didn’t get to the screenings of all the nominees in time.
Film Editing: Slumdog Millionaire
This is another category that could go to any of the nominees – each film nominated had excellent editing work.
Foreign Language Film: Waltz With Bashir
I enjoyed the heart and emotion of “The Class” a bit more, but I think I emotionally checked out of “Waltz With Bashir” as I do with many other war movies: it’s just overwhelming. But as “Persepolis” did, this movie’s use of animation is inspired: not only does it work brilliantly to show dreams, fantasies, realities, hopes all at once, it never masks the tragedies being portrayed. (And I admit these are the only two in the category I saw.)
Makeup: The Curious Case of Benjamin Button
For the aging and reverse-aging alone. Robbed in this category: “The Reader” for brilliantly aging Kate Winslet.
Original Score: Slumdog Millionaire
Any nominee deserves this one for effective use of a musical score to move the story along and accent it correctly in just the right parts. Also robbed in this category: “Rachel Getting Married” and “Frozen River.”
Original Song: “Jai Ho” from Slumdog Millionaire
The winner will be what is perhaps the most memorable end credits sequence of the year – and a joyful Bollywood dance number at that! Robbed in this category: the Bruce Springsteen song from “The Wrestler” and the Clint Eastwood/Jamie Cullum song from “Gran Torino” – both also excellent end credit songs that were more heartfelt but perhaps too somber and pensive to compete against “Jai Ho” anyway.
Short Film, Animated: Presto
The short film that ran with “WALL-E?” Oh, yeah. That means it will win this magical award just like a rabbit gets pulled out of a hat.
Short Film, Live Action: Spielzeugland
Haven’t seen any of the nominees but I like the one still photo I’ve seen from this one…and the LEGO lover in me likes the title (which translates to “Toyland”).
Sound Editing: The Dark Knight
Sound Mixing: The Dark Knight
Since no musical movie was nominated this year (and those usually win the pair of these awards), I give both to the action drama that invented crazy sounds and used them most effectively.
Visual Effects: The Curious Case of Benjamin Button
The aging effects notwithstanding, there were also beautiful special effects in this movie that were not just explosions or superhero high-octane fireworks. So I vote for the movie that used the visual effects more for “visual” and less obviously as “effects.”
Screenplay, Adapted: The Curious Case of Benjamin Button
I think I’ll lose in this category to the Academy voters who will want to give it to “Slumdog Millionaire.” I don’t care. I think “Slumdog Millionaire” added the love story stuff to the excellent book “Q and A” but “Benjamin Button” added entire plotlines and subplots to what is otherwise a family-based short story in its original form and made it this triumphant cinematic love song homage to New Orleans. So I’m casting my vote for the actual work of adapting another work; but the award will probably go to the movie that is more of a standout.
Screenplay, Original: Milk
A final category where I could support all the nominees: “Frozen River,” “Happy-Go-Lucky” (the only I didn’t see), “In Bruges,” and “WALL-E” were all amazing original ideas that became fully formed movies. But for crafting history and memory into something relevant today (and therefore arguably timeless), I want the award to go to “Milk.” (In a toss-up between “Milk” and “WALL-E,” I also think the voters will award the movie with much more actual spoken lines and dialogue.)
Best Picture: Slumdog Millionaire
“The Reader” (a Holocaust movie that is not about easy answers and black-or-white delineations like “Nazis = bad”) and “Milk” (a historical narrative that deserves to be seen again and again) and “Frost/Nixon” (one of the best stage-to-screen adaptations I have seen) are all my second choices, but I think “Slumdog Millionaire” will win the big prize, and that will be a nice tip of the Oscar hat to the ensemble cast which did not earn any individual nominations.
Other thoughts:
Even though the White – Hmong race relations of “Gran Torino” were unique to see on screen, I thought “Changeling” was the better Clint Eastwood movie this year: more complicated and less familiar storyline than the grump old man next door emerges with a softie heart after all (which felt like an adaptation of many more movies than the tortured woman who won’t give up the fight against all violence and corruption story). And both lost many nominations.
Also, I give it up to the women actors this year who have once again trumped all their male counterparts for the range of complexity, action, nuance, emotion, control, hysterics, love, and hope (and more) that all their characters defined.
I may not score well on this ballot, but I am proud of the fact that out of Entertainment Weekly’s list of “25 Movies You Must See Before the Oscars” (plus two foreign films I wanted to see), I managed to see 22. So no matter how I score on the ballot, I at least feel more prepared and informed to make my guesses than ever before!
Good luck and see you at the movies or after the ballots are tabulated!
Friday, November 6, 2009
100 Things to Love About Life
I ushered for a one-man show on October 27, and although I didn't think it was great, one episode in the monologue fascinated me: the writer/performer (Rick Reynolds) rattled off a list of 100 things he appreciated about life. So it took me a week or so of pondering to attempt to do the same, and here is my list (in alphabetical order) of 100 things to remember about life's goodness (and it's not complete, nor is it ranked - i.e., these are not my top 100 favorite things).
1. Airplanes
2. Apple Pie
3. Autographs
4. "BKLYN" (the musical)
5. Books
6. Bread Pudding
7. Broadway!
8. Brunch
9. Bubble Baths
10. Cabaret Shows
11. Cards
12. Cashmere
13. CDs
14. Concerts
15. Cooking
16. Curry
17. Dancing
18. Daytrips
19. Dolphins
20. Dunkin' Donuts (coffee and donuts)
21. Ears
22. Earth
23. Eggs
24. Eggrolls
25. Family
26. Fireplaces
27. Friends
28. Fruit
29. Genetics
30. Gentlemen
31. Geography
32. Handwritten mail
33. Hugs
34. Humor
35. Ibuprofen
36. Ice Cream (and Ice Cream Cake!)
37. Idioms
38. Jackets
39. Jacuzzi hot tubs
40. Journals
41. Juice
42. Keys
43. Kim Chee
44. Kindness
45. Kisses
46. Kites
47. Laughter
48. LEGO
49. Lighthouses
50. Mac and Cheese
51. Mail
52. Museums
53. Music
54. Myths and Mythology
55. New York (and New Yorkers), especially in the winter/during Christmas
56. Noodles
57. Notebooks
58. Oranges
59. Origami
60. Overtures
61. Photographs
62. Pop-Up Books
63. Pumpkin donuts (see also D for "Dunkin' Donuts")
64. Quiet afternoon naps
65. Quinoa
66. Qorn
67. Rain (see also Q for "Quiet afternoon naps," preferably inside when it's raining outside)
68. "RENT" (the musical)
69. Scrabble
70. Sharks
71. Spa treatments
72. Sunsets (and Sunrises)
73. "Sweater weather"
74. Symphonies
75. Technology
76. Thunderstorms (see also R for "Rain")
77. Times Square (see also B for "Broadway" and N for "New York")
78. Tofu (and Tofurkey)
79. Umbrellas
80. Urban Legends
81. Valentines
82. Vegetarian restaurants
83. Vivaldi
84. Volunteering
85. Warm towels or Warm sheets
86. Watermelon (on a hot sunny day)
87. Whales
88. "Wicked" (the musical)
89. Wine
90. Winter
91. Wood floors
92. "Xanadu" (the musical)
93. "The X Files"
94. X-Rays
95. "Yachts" (and sailboats)
96. Yawns
97. Yiddish
98.Yin and Yang
99. Zeitgeist
100. Zoology
What would be on your list?
1. Airplanes
2. Apple Pie
3. Autographs
4. "BKLYN" (the musical)
5. Books
6. Bread Pudding
7. Broadway!
8. Brunch
9. Bubble Baths
10. Cabaret Shows
11. Cards
12. Cashmere
13. CDs
14. Concerts
15. Cooking
16. Curry
17. Dancing
18. Daytrips
19. Dolphins
20. Dunkin' Donuts (coffee and donuts)
21. Ears
22. Earth
23. Eggs
24. Eggrolls
25. Family
26. Fireplaces
27. Friends
28. Fruit
29. Genetics
30. Gentlemen
31. Geography
32. Handwritten mail
33. Hugs
34. Humor
35. Ibuprofen
36. Ice Cream (and Ice Cream Cake!)
37. Idioms
38. Jackets
39. Jacuzzi hot tubs
40. Journals
41. Juice
42. Keys
43. Kim Chee
44. Kindness
45. Kisses
46. Kites
47. Laughter
48. LEGO
49. Lighthouses
50. Mac and Cheese
51. Mail
52. Museums
53. Music
54. Myths and Mythology
55. New York (and New Yorkers), especially in the winter/during Christmas
56. Noodles
57. Notebooks
58. Oranges
59. Origami
60. Overtures
61. Photographs
62. Pop-Up Books
63. Pumpkin donuts (see also D for "Dunkin' Donuts")
64. Quiet afternoon naps
65. Quinoa
66. Qorn
67. Rain (see also Q for "Quiet afternoon naps," preferably inside when it's raining outside)
68. "RENT" (the musical)
69. Scrabble
70. Sharks
71. Spa treatments
72. Sunsets (and Sunrises)
73. "Sweater weather"
74. Symphonies
75. Technology
76. Thunderstorms (see also R for "Rain")
77. Times Square (see also B for "Broadway" and N for "New York")
78. Tofu (and Tofurkey)
79. Umbrellas
80. Urban Legends
81. Valentines
82. Vegetarian restaurants
83. Vivaldi
84. Volunteering
85. Warm towels or Warm sheets
86. Watermelon (on a hot sunny day)
87. Whales
88. "Wicked" (the musical)
89. Wine
90. Winter
91. Wood floors
92. "Xanadu" (the musical)
93. "The X Files"
94. X-Rays
95. "Yachts" (and sailboats)
96. Yawns
97. Yiddish
98.Yin and Yang
99. Zeitgeist
100. Zoology
What would be on your list?
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