When Fandoms Collide and when did it become so expensive to get contact lenses?

[shadowkat]

When Fandom's Collide

Well this is interesting and pushing me towards getting tickets for CHESS?

Sarah Michelle Gellar's post on FB:

You all know my friend “superstar” strongdanny. You also might know that chessbway is my all time favorite music from a musical. In fact, it was one the things Danny and I first bonded over. And about ten years ago, Danny called me , and in secret, told me he was going to be writing a new book for Chess in the hopes of bringing it back to Broadway for the first time since I was 8 years old. I have followed his progress over the years, flying all over to see try outs and readings. Well he did it. I got to fly to nyc and see my favorite musical on Broadway (in the same theatre I first saw it in ) I am at a loss for words to tell you how brilliant every aspect of this show is. Obviously the book is incredible. But this cast exceeds all expectations. leamichele seeing you sing this show in person blew my mind. Your voice is a gift. nikriz watching you sing Anthem had me in tears. And aarontveit you are a rock star truly. Also have to mention thisishannahcruz iamibradleydean seanallankrill and thebrycecapades and the entire cast. I will be back (many times) Also the music you hear in this post is sung by murrayheadmusic - yes the brother of my ❤️ anthonystewardhead (who was also in the original west end production) I will always be tied to this show. And I’ll stop rambling, but Danny, there is nothing you can’t do. You are brilliant and deserve all the accolades that I know on their way.


Ironically, I started watching Buffy because I'd fallen in love with Anthony Stewart Head in Chess. My Buffy and Chess fandoms have collided?
I was obsessed with CHESS in the 1980s. I'm not now though? But it is intriguing that it's Gellar's favorite musical and she was flying all over the country to support Danny Strong (aka Jonathan from Buffy).

Another case of fandoms that have collided? Florence Welch of Florence + the Machine, just stated in a recent interview that she comfort watches Buffy, specifically Season 6, and even came close to calling her most recent album - "Season 6". Someone in the comments to the video where she announces this - wondered how you can comfort watch S6. Folks, we all have things that comfort us? Some people like Hallmark Movies, some baseball games, some Buffy the Vampire Slayer...

I found Season 6 Buffy very relatable and comforting - and it's what brought me into the fandom. Don't judge. It's okay if you don't get it.
The fact that one of my favorite musicians does...is more than enough for me.

Oh from the Calvin and Hobbes Fandom - Bill Waterstone who drew and wrote Calvin and Hobbes, states that the two versions of Hobbes aren't meant to convey Calvin's imagination vs. Reality, but rather Calvin's perception of Hobbes and other's perceptions of Hobbes. Waterstone wanted to get across that we all see the world or perceive the world and reality differently, and literally drew those differences into his comic strip. [I've only really been a huge fan of Calvin and Hobbs when it comes to comic strips.]

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Optometrist appointment was obscenely expensive - it was the contact fittings and new contacts. My insurance refused to pay more than $51 for it. And the FSA wouldn't cover it. [I need contacts, because glasses give me a headache and I have no depth perception with them.]

But I rewarded myself with a trip to Planted to pick up a blueberry muffin, apple tart (about the same as the fruit tart, but better crust and a touch sweeter), corn bread, and a chocolate chip cookie. I ignored the Matcha glazed donut and the brownie (didn't much like either last round). Then took a long walk to the Seventh Avenue Subway Station (as opposed to the Carrol Gardens station) through Gowanus and Park Slope. It was a lovely afternoon - in the low sixties with clear blue skies, and the trees aflame with color, so why not?

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4. Have you ever received a birthday present that was just perfect for you? What was it?

Probably? But no real memory of it at the moment. My brain is blank.

5. Monopoly went on sale for the first time on this day in 1935. Have you ever played it?

Many, many, many times while growing up. Multiple versions. Not really a fan.

6. Have you ever listened to a play on the radio?

Yes, Star Wars radio play, along with a few others here and there.

7. How long can you stand on one leg – is it easier on your left leg, or your right leg?


Been doing a lot lately due to sciatic nerve - so about twenty-thirty minutes, maybe longer or as long as is necessary? Lately it is easier to stand on the left - because the right has sciatic nerve.

8. Have you ever collected pinecones to display in your home?

Not since I was a child. I have a small home now, so no space, also no pine cones that are readily available.


Photo from Today's Walk. Six to ten blocks down from my old brownstone apartment - they've really built a bunch of luxury apartments along the Gowanus (which smells like rotten eggs), and have a walk way along it (even though it still smells like rotten eggs). I'm so glad I moved to Kensington, better apartment, more trees, and it doesn't smell like rotten eggs.

Comments

[cactuswatcher]

I have no depth perception with them
I had the same problem with glasses.

4. Have you ever received a birthday present that was just perfect for you? What was it?

I asked for a nice dictionary when I was about 10, because I was wearing out my parents' dictionaries from college, and I eventually wore mine out. A present I hadn't asked for was a pair of powerful binoculars when I was a teenager. They were great for spotting things in the night sky and great for watching football games from the nose-bleed section in the stands. I still have them.

5. Monopoly went on sale for the first time on this day in 1935. Have you ever played it?

Yes, it's a game that is ever popular despite a) not being very fun, and b) not having aged well.

6. Have you ever listened to a play on the radio?

Yes. And I'm old enough to remember regularly scheduled dramatic shows on radio. For example my family and I listened to an episode of Gunsmoke on the car radio one afternoon, knowing that the first TV episode of Gunsmoke was going to go on the air that evening. A few days short of my birthday I had to go to bed before the TV show came on. But I listened to it from bed. Two episodes with no pictures in one day! ;o)

7. How long can you stand on one leg – is it easier on your left leg, or your right leg?

I've got an inner ear problem, so not very long, maybe 30 seconds. Doesn't make much difference which leg.

8. Have you ever collected pinecones to display in your home?

No, my mother did that and we had pinecones from some forest in the West on a table in the entrance hall for many, many years.

[shadowkat]

I don't know what it is about glasses that removes depth perception for some of us? Maybe bringing things closer into focus just cancels it out? (shrugs)

Yes, it's a game that is ever popular despite a) not being very fun, and b) not having aged well.

Nice to know I'm not alone in that sentiment. I didn't find it fun, found it alternating between boring and stressful actually. And seemingly endless. And it has not aged well no matter how many versions they do of it.

[yourlibrarian]

You're not alone. I had a Monopoly game as a kid but can't imagine how I got it as it doesn't seem the sort of thing I'd want. I also found it rather tedious. I think its history is far more interesting than the game itself.

[shadowkat]

Agreed. The history of the game and what they keep during with various versions is much more interesting. The game itself is just buying and selling and charging and trading for real estate.

[threemeninaboat]

Oh I know this one:
Depth perception is created and held in you peripheral vision, glasses primarily correct central vision and make the periphery extra distorted.

[shadowkat]

Thanks.

Weirdly it's not as distorted with contacts.

[yourlibrarian]

How interesting about SMG and Chess! I hope they record Danny's version of it.

[shadowkat]

I do too. I also kind of hope they film it.

I'd like to see it? But it's expensive, and 2 and 1/2 hours of sitting in uncomfortable seats.

[kazzy_cee]

That sky in the photo is gorgeous. I like how the cloud is behind the building. What causes the rotten eggs smell - the drainage system??

[shadowkat]

I don't know - but I think it's the algae which grew from the pollution from the surrounding industry on the other side of the bridge. There's a lot of industrial plants along the Gowanus. It became an EPA site about ten years ago and they've been trying to clean it for about six years now. It's no longer a neon green at least, so progress?

I looked it up (per Google AI summary):

"The rotten egg smell in the Gowanus Canal is
primarily caused by the hydrogen sulfide gas produced by bacteria as they break down the canal's contaminated sludge. Other factors like sewage overflow during heavy rain, industrial waste, and decaying organic matter can contribute to the strong odors, which may also smell like petroleum or dead fish".

https://nypost.com/2024/12/12/us-news/gowanus-canals-toxic-sludge-will-be-trucked-through-nyc-neighborhoods-leaving-locals-fearing-stomach-turning-stench/

https://www.bkmag.com/2014/07/21/gowanus-canal-leaking-brown-goo-into-homes-and-businesses/

[iddewes]

I don’t like Monopoly either - my husband owns one but he knows I will not play it. I think his is based on Cologne which is sort of cool but I still wouldn’t play it.
I always liked Calvin and Hobbes! Though it reminds me of when I had a neighbour with a small fair haired boy who was a little monster - I actually nicknamed him Calvin for that reason (the neighbour didn’t know that).

[shadowkat]

Calvin was admittedly a little monster. I read it for Hobbes. LOL! I also had a little Monster for a neighbor, but it predated Calvin and Hobbes, and was when I was a little kid. But he was definitely a little monster.

Yeah, I won't play Monopoly any longer. My brother was forbidden to play it by his friends and wife, when he vacationed. Part of the reason I refuse to play it - is actually him. It truly brings out the worst in some people.

[slaymesoftly]

I have no idea what Chess is! But I'm sure ASH was amazing in it. And yes, "our" Jonathan seems to be quite talented in many ways. I had no idea he and Sarah were such close friends.

[shadowkat]

It's a 1980s era rock musical by ABBA and Tim Rice (who wrote the lyrics for Evita, Jesus Christ Superstar, and Cats). The plot is based on the Bobby Fisher chess tournament against Russia/USSR in the 1980s, with the partner/SO of the Fisher character falling for his Russian/USSR opponent, and encouraging him to defect. It's a 1980s Cold War Love Triangle with music by ABBA.

It's not very good, and known for its cult status more than anything else? They are reviving it, after it flopped on Broadway in the 1980s. (It actually did rather well in London and had a long run on the West End, but didn't fare as well in the US).

[slaymesoftly]

Ah, that explains it - for a number of reasons. I'm not really an ABBA fan, and never was I guess. Also by the early 80s I had 4 kids within a 6yr age span, so I was lucky to remember my own name most days. LOL

[shadowkat]

Yeah, you kind of have to be into ABBA and Tim Rice. I was in college in the 1980s, and my first interaction with Chess - was an extremely hot guy on the floor of my dorm (we had co-ed dorms), who had a great sound system, and the CD to the West End Production of Chess - he was an arrogant ass, and a theater geek. Being also, a theater geek and an ABBA fan, I ended up listening to it a lot in his dorm room. (He was hot and I had a major crush - although in retrospect, I think he might have also been gay and in the closet. Most were - it was the 1980s.)

But ABBA music is basically ear-worm songs. I listen to a song, and can't get it out of my head for weeks.

[slaymesoftly]

I'm familiar with their music - and it can be earwormy for sure! For some reason, it just doesn't do much for me, so I never owned any, and I'll change a radio station if it's playing too much ABBA. But I have to admit to probably knowing the words to much of it just because it has been so ubiquitous for so long!

[shadowkat]

I don't know the words to any of it. And I've listened to it fifty times, and owned the CD, and saw it on stage in the 80s.

I don't have any memory for music, lyrics, tunes, any of it. The best I can do is three words. But I can draw and paint things from memory.