010: See a terrible film surrounded by lunatics

As I braced for another salvo of plastic spoons to come raining down from above, I began to question the wisdom of doing this particular Interesting Thing.

On the first Friday of each month, an independent cinema downtown has a screening of 'The Room,' an inexplicably bad 2001 film directed, produced, written by, and starring Tommy Wiseau. The theatre was about 70% full, and the audience consisted largely of 18-25 year olds who looked as though the chief criterion in their grooming decisions was to irritate their parents. A staff member took a shot of alcohol to cries of "Scotchka!" and distributed three massive bags of plastic spoons to the audience.
It was becoming clear to me that this was going to be a little different from most films.

The story opened on what appeared to be stock landscape shots of an American city. The audience shouted,"Meanwhile, in San Francisco!" They drummed on the back of chairs when shots panned across the Golden Gate Bridge and burst into cries of "Alcatraz" when the island prison was shown. And also when a circular staircase was onscreen, for some reason.
Tommy Wiseau appeared onscreen, to wild applause. HI LISA he said woodenly. OH HI JOHNNY she replies. Whenever a character entered a scene, the crowd shouted the greeting, drowning out the characters invariably parroting the line. Next was HI DENNY HI LISA HI JOHNNY and the new character following the couple upstairs to bed.

After BYE DENNY, Johnny and Lisa engage in a protracted and uncomfortable-looking love scene, then a morning shot which introduces the relevance of the spoons.
In the couple's house are a number of picture frames which display artistic photographs of spoons. In the event that, and as long as, the images are displayed onscreen, the audience shouts SPOON and hurls plastic spoons at the screen, at each other, and particularly at anyone gathering spoons from the aisle. Seated in the fifth row, I was guaranteed half a dozen spoons to the head and at least one down the back of my jacket, such was the quantity and angle of attack of the spoon salvos.
MEANWHILE IN SAN FRANCISCO, Lisa's mother made an appearance HI LISA / CANCER / I PUT MY EVIL IN YOU / BECAUSE YOU'RE A WOMAN. The crowd had many catchphrases for the lady. Then later it was HI LISA / HI MARK / HE'S MY BEST FRIEND / SPOON / ALCATRAZ when Johnny's friend Mark showed up to see Lisa. It was uncommon for thirty seconds to pass without some onscreen event triggering the hue and cry of the meme-ready masses around me. Not only were they familiar with the famous passages of dialogue, they had clearly seen their fair share of Mystery Science Theater 3000, and seized opportunities to bellow wit and wisdom at the screen as and when the Muse inspired.

To recount more of the plot would be useless, as the weakness of the production only renders more enjoyable the true pleasure of seeing 'The Room'; being part of an unruly mob. United against the common enemy, we howled and shouted and pelted and threw up our hands.

It was strange, it was fun, and it was $16 well spent.

009: Go to the opera

When people say, "It's not over until the fat lady sings," the fat lady of origin is Brunhilda from Wagner's Ring Cycle. I went to see the first of the four operas that comprise the Ring Cycle, 'Das Rheingold.' The story of the Ring is based in German folk mythology and has considerable overlap with Norse and Tolkienian tales.

Normally when seeing a musical performance I listen to the score beforehand, but I went into this one completely fresh. The best-known music in the Ring Cycle is 'Ride of the Valkyries,' which opens the second opera, while the first has an interesting prelude and is sprinkled with the leitmotifs that occur throughout the Cycle.

Das Rheingold is German for "The Rhine Gold", a mythical treasure guarded by mermaids in the Rhine river. The story opens with Alberich, a gnome, trying to capture the beautiful mermaids who tease and evade him. The set itself is an extraordinary line of rotating columns which tip from horizontal to vertical to fulfill the requirements of the scene.

In this picture, Wotan and Loge are suspended from wires and traverse the columns, which are lit to appear as steps. In the Rheinmaidens scene, Alberich struggles up sloping columns while the suspended mermaids swing away on wires, spotlights and projected bubbles tracking their every move.
After Alberich learns of and steals the Rhine Gold (which has magical properties) the scene changes to a mountaintop where we meet the gods. Wotan(Bryn Terfel) has promised the giants who built him a fortress the hand of his sister in law, Freia. When they show up to collect, there's a protracted argument and the giants agree to return with Freia if Wotan and Loge bring a ransom of Rhein Gold. 
The story continues in much the same vein, but really opera isn't about the story so much as the spectacle. The music and themes are created with magnificence in mind, and the huge stage and set all contribute to the sense of occasion; we are witness to heaving and tumultuous events on a grand scale. The opera ends with the ascent of the gods in Valhalla, and as the actors walk up a stunning rainbow waterfall the rainbow leitmotif rings out.