it ain't over until the not-so-fat lady sings

So this past weekend, my parents visited -- for Christmas, I had bought opera tickets to La Traviata. It was so nice having them around -- we ate at Sushi Yasuda which is an awesome Japanese restaurant. You need reservations but we talked our way in. It's kind of funny when you see an empty room (we came early) and they say, sorry we're full (all reservations). We sat at the sushi bar - you get actual instructions (er, a gentle scolding) on how to eat sushi and sashimi, or rather how not to do it. They even had a finger cleaning napkin for when you eat sushi. It was pretty incredible.

The opera was enjoyable with a great set by Zeffirelli. We made fun of the singer portraying Alfredo as he kept leaning when he sang -- Dad said, "there must be a strong wind blowing him onstage". The woman playing Violetta was decent, although I don't think this is her strongest role. There were two young men sitting next to me and they were at the opera for the first time and having a good time. At the end, one guy kept saying "She died! How many times did she die!" True, it does take Violetta a long time to "die".

We went to Flushing on Sunday and ate at a small place for dou-jiang, xiao long bao (tasty), you tiao (so-so) and some other stuff. It was cheap, but not the best we've ever had. I'm not going back.

Then we made our way to the Whitney and saw the Picasso exhibit. They had free audio tours -- it was an interesting show of both Picasso and the American artists he influenced (so it showed their paintings and sculptures too). But by the end of being at the exhibit, I felt like I was on sensory overload. To much visual and aural stimulation. There were some interesting stories told about Picasso and the American artists, like Jackson Pollack, who was so disgusted that Picasso thought of everything and didn't leave anything else for other artists to discover in art.

Monday, we just hung out -- just like with New Year's Day, we still couldn't get into IHOP! It was packed. I don't understand how the place can be sooo popular at all hours of the day. So we had pancakes are Mark Twain diner which were so-so.

It was damp and cold, so we relaxed, and watched The Warriors on DVD. Man, that movie's got such bad dialog, or rather, bad delivery, but I can see how this would be an awesome video game to play. Can you dig it? Ha ha. Monkeyshankboy tells me that it's being remade and set in L.A., which sounds like a terrible idea. The whole fun is watching how this gang (our heroes) try to make it back from the Bronx to Coney Island on the various subway lines. That and the costumes the different gangs wear.