jaysaint Getting it all down on paper…

Allow me to digress off the top, and I will get back to Elton John.

I walked to the post office near my office yesterday (watch your mailbox steakums and dinoczar). Every once in a while I re-realize how much I love the post office. All I have to do is give them a couple of dollars and they’ll take something pretty much anywhere in the US. Could there ever be a better deal? I’ve been on a rampage of sending books, as some interesting stuff has crossed my desk lately. And, of course, there was the afore-blogged cookbook sale. I’ve started to recognize the clerks and I feel affectionate toward them, as they’re the first stop in my parcels making it home. My Dad got the Kauai photo album I made for him this morning and it was the best part of my day to talk to him and hear how delighted he was. He says I’m a genius.

So in walking back I crossed through the Time Warner Center on Columbus Circle, which is about a block from my office. I was passing by when I saw the big Elton John banners hanging outside and recalled that there’s a display of some of his most famous outfits (I believe they’re being auctioned for charity, but could be wrong). I like Elton John. I wouldn’t say I’m a huge fan, but I can definitely sing most of his songs. I’m particularly partial to Mellow, The Bitch Is Back and Honky Cat. I like to sing Honky Cat to Zoe.

Anyway, the first floor actually feature a collection of costumes from the newest show on Broadway, Lestat. Elton John scored it or something. I think the show will probably be pretty bad, the reviews certainly say so. But the costumes were either intersting, lovely or both. Lots of intricate beading and smart details — all very romantic. You can imagine, very vampirey.

I went up to the second where they were keeping the Elton John clothes. The costumes were definitely some of the most famous ones, as I recognized most of them. No duck suit though. Most of them were designed by Versace. Here’s the weird thing — they all looked so cheap. Not like they’d been worn hard and showed it. They looked like something you could rent from a costume shop. I don’t understand this. I’m no fashion maven, but I recognize things like fine detail or exquisite tailoring. I mean, the zippers weren’t even hidden. I wish for every girl reading this at least one dress with a truly hidden zipper. It’s a luxury you don’t even know you love until you have it. There was nothing I saw there that rose above the quality of my college theater department’s costumes. In all fairness, my school had an exceptional costuming department and the stuff was usually gorgeous.

What I wound up loving was the photography. There were huge blowups of album covers and they were just so striking. I particularly loved Madman Across the Water.

If all this was not enough Elton John (it really was) I could tune into The Today Show this morning, since it gave him a full half hour as a kickoff for Lestat. Care to read that sentence again? A morning news program gave away half an hour to hype a show. Today has always been my favorite by a mile. I’ve never even considered watching anything else in the morning. I don’t confuse it with hard news, but I generally think they do a good job and they get serious when they need to. So I was just agog when I heard the segment intro this morning. It sounds almost immature to say, but I was so disappointed, so disillusioned. To me that was no different than sticking a half-hour infomercial into the programming. Why don’t they give half an hour tomorrow to Suzanne Sommers and her Thighmaster? I’m sure they had to make all kinds of concessions to get Elton John on the show. But for god’s sake, it wasn’t worth it. I flipped over to Everybody Loves Raymond. Now I don’t know what I want to watch in the morning, but it’s not going to be channel 4, at least for a while. Maybe I’ll write them a letter.