A Child Of Atom

Continuing my 34 lists of 34 things to celebrate my 34th birthday I have decided to list my 34 favorite moments from movies. These may not be the best movies, but these moments move me or touch me or make me smile and I could watch them over and over. With or without the rest of the movie.

1. Star Trek: First Contact Picard goes ballistic over the Borg with Lily. "The line must be drawn HERE! This far! NO FARTHER!"
2. Beauty and the Beast The Beast's transformation sequence into the Prince.
3. The Matrix Neo's helicopter rescue of Morpheus.
4. Singles Cliff finally says "bless you" to Janet.
5. Billy Madison Any moment involving Billy and the maid.
6. Good Will Hunting "How 'bout them apples?"
7. Auntie Mame Pegeen and Patrick on the ladder straightening the Ule Ulu sculpture.
8. Back to the Future Marty's radiation suit and walkman torture of George.
9. The Wedding Singer Robbie helps the geeky kid by getting Julia to dance with him.
10. Pump Up the Volume Nora rescues Mark from his parents suspicions by showing up in her underwear at just the right moment.
11. Groundhog Day Phil's first really "good" day when he comes close to getting Rita into bed, almost... almost!
12. Dave First Lady Ellen practices singing "Tomorrow" into her pillow when she can't sleep, the first hint that she's falling for Dave.
13. The American President President Shepherd's speech to the press corps when he decides to "send 454 to the floor."
14. Alien Veronica Cartwright as Lambert get's splashed with blood as the alien is born.
15. The Breakfast Club the truth or dare game.
16. Empire Records Renee Zellweger's Gina sings "Sugar High" on the roof. The version that SHOULD HAVE BEEN on the soundtrack.
17. Working Girl Trask asks Katharine to explain how she came up with the idea to buy a radio station.
18. Clerks Randal advises Dante to "shit or get off the pot."
19. Elizabethtown Drew faces the collected southern branch of his family for the first time.
20. Parenthood Dianne Wiest's Helen discovers that she is becoming a grandmother.
21. Brokeback Mountain Ennis rearranges the shirts.
22. Stand By Me Chris explains to Gordie the truth about the milk money.
23. Shakespeare in Love Will and Viola recite lines to each other in bed.
24. Amelie the man finds the box.
25. French Kiss Luc explains to Kate how to taste and appreciate wines.
26. Roxanne CB comes up with 20 better put downs for his nose.
27. If Lucy Fell Eric and Lucy discuss the "spit test" for potential mates.
28. Steel Magnolias "Here! Hit Weezer!"
29. Notting Hill "I'm just a girl... standing in front of a boy..."
30. The Incredibles Edna explains why she doesn't include capes in her designs.
31. Maurice Scudder visits Maurice in London.
32. Fried Green Tomatoes Ruth teaches Idgie to cook.
33. The Joy Luck Club Rose tells Ted that she wants a divorce, citing her mom's life story in the speech.
34. The Color Purple Celie's curse.

Roommate K moved out earlier this month. I'm sad to see him go. I'll miss standing in his doorway and discussing why exactly the newest Batman sucked, or what the hell they have planned to do with the new Blue Beetle. But he's moving on to a married life, so I'm happy for him that he found someone.

Roommate B-1 moved in today. Why B-1? I'll get to that... but she is just on a temporary layover until she moves on to her job as a third world medical practitioner at the end of the summer. In other words, my sublet while I am away. Thankfully she was able to move in early and fill the gap left by K.

Roommate B-2 is the permanent replacement for K that will be arriving in mid-June after I leave. He's a friend from grad school, a fellow scenic designer who just graduated and was looking for a place to land in the city.

All of this will mean some shuffling of furniture as the summer progresses. Roommate B-1 is taking K's room. B-2 is taking M's room. M is shifting over to my room while I am away, and ultimately into K's room at the end of everything.

Got all that?

I also received the news today that my friend Shima is moving into my neighborhood in a few weeks! This makes me very happy as I don't really know anyone in the neighborhood, and I certainly don't have close friends here. (At least not ones that i don't live with...) It also means that I will get to see her more often since this means that i won't have to ride almost all the way out to Coney Island to see her! The neighborhood is looking up!

If I were able to call up the guy factory and place a custom order for the perfect guy... these are the 34 things I'd ask for.

I decided to divide this list into three parts, since I'm not sure I could do 34 things in either of these categories without getting incredibly picky and specific.

The Physical
1. A largish nose
2. Dark hair
3. Long, bony fingers
4. A furry butt
5. Muscular forearms
6. Light eyes
7. Thick eyebrows
8. A defined jawline
9. Looks good in white briefs
10. Nice shoulders
11. wears glasses

The Mental
12. A sense of humor that flirts with the inappropriate
13. Curious
14. Has opinions... and stands by them
15. Willingness to be silly
16. An appreciation for art and the arts
17. A mental playfulness
18. Absolutely comfortable in his own skin
19. Decisive, to balance my indecisiveness
20. Adventurous
21. Both appreciative of small gestures and able to give them
22. Affectionate

The Esoteric
23. MUST be out, to everyone
24. Plays a musical instrument
25. Doesn't mind movies with subtitles, or that you have to go downtown to an art house to see
26. An atheist
27. Doesn't wear jewelry or cologne
28. Speaks with an accent (almost any sort... I'm not picky)
29. Has an appreciation for sci-fi (would liking comics as well be too much to ask for?)
30. Politically aware
31. Devoted to his family
32. A "dog guy"
33. Able to face life without anti-depressants
34. A "mountain guy"

Roommate M has requested a list of 34 cartoon characters that I find attractive. (He actually phrased it in a less savory way... but let's just go with my version, shall we?) So here we are, the 34 most attractive men in comic books, comic strips, and cartoons.

1. Nightcrawler, of the X-men (especially as drawn by Alan Davis)
2. Tygra of the Thundercats
3. The Prince from Disney's Beauty and the Beast
4. Starman, Jack Knight from the DC Comic of the same name.
5. Skywise from the independent comic Elfquest.
6. Superboy, the modern one.
7. Kevin Matchstick from the comic Mage.
8. Milo Tatch of Disney's Atlantis.
9. Dmitri from Anastasia.
10. Dean McCoppin from The Iron Giant.
11. Tarzan from Disney's Tarzan
12. Fred Jones of Scooby Doo. (I don't normally go for blondes, but...)
13. Race Bannon of Johnny Quest.
14. Hawkman of DC Comics, (and the superfriends!).
15. Wilco of the comic strip "Get Fuzzy."
16. Green Lantern, Kyle Rayner, not the one from Super Friends.
17. Hawkeye, from the Marvel Comics book The Avengers
18. Frank Mellish, the veterinarian from the newspaper strip "Liberty Meadows."
19. Kyle from the webcomic "Kyle's B&B."
20. Nightwing from DC's comic book of the same name.
21. Dante from the animated version of Clerks.
22. Nitz Walsh from the sadly defunct MTV show Undergrads
23. Peter Venkman of the Real Ghostbusters.
24. Eyebeam, from the unfortunately now defunct comic strip of the same name.
25. Roger Radcliffe from Disney's 101 Dalamtions
26. Shipwreck from G.I. Joe.
27. Cutter from Elfquest.
28. Abe Sapien from Hellboy. Yes, I know he's a fish. No, I don't care.
29. Hank the Ranger from the great 80's Saturday morning Realm of Dungeon and Dragons.
30. Bluegrass of the Silverhawks.
31. Colossus from X-Men.
32. Daniel/Dream from Sandman.
33. Beast from X-Men.
34. Craig Thompson okay, this one is cheating because he's real and just does autobiographical comics like Blankets, but this list was hard and I'm tired so there.

2/13/07 EDIT: I recently edited this list to remove all of the links to images. For some reason I began getting an inordinate number of hits from google images searches keying to the links. I did not have actual images linked, so I'm not sure what these searches were accomplishing, but I found them annoying so after 3 months of it I decided to remove the links. I apologize to anyone for whom this causes an inconvenience.

Tonight I was fortunate enough to see the Broadway production of Martin McDonagh's "The Lieutenant of Inishmore." First let me say that McDonagh is rapidly becoming my favorite playwright. I saw the Broadway production of "The Pillowman" last year and was amazed and astounded by it. Inishmore does not fail to live up to my expectations. It is not a perfect play, it is obvious having seen Pillowman first that Inishmore is an earlier work, and that McDonagh has matured quite a bit in his writing. Pillowman explored themes pertaining to the power of fiction, and the written word, and did it in ways that left viewers speechless from awe. Inishmore left me speechless as well, but more at the audacity of it than at the depth of character or symbol. The easiest way that I can come up with to describe it is this: Imagine an episode of "Three's Company" as directed by Quentin Tarantino.

I'm going to give you few seconds to imagine that.

You still aren't imagining anything as bold or jaw-droppingly shocking as this show.

The basic premise of the show revolves around a dead cat. This cat though, is a special cat. He is owned, and deeply beloved by an Irish terrorist. An Irish terrorist so batshit crazy in fact that the IRA won't have him and he has had to form his own "splinter group" in order to act out his desire to free Ireland. So, now, go back to your imagination and try to picture what Crissy and Janet might have done to hide that cat if Jack were a homicidal maniac on par with Hannibal Lector.

Act 1 is primarily concerned with putting all of the pieces on the board. The cat. The boy who found the cat's body. The terrorist and his father. The rest of the IRA splinter cell. The young, hometown girl who idolizes and lusts after the terrorist. You also get all the puzzle pieces pertaining to who really killed the cat, who will be taking the blame for that act, who knows the whole story, and what has been done to cover up the deed. With all the dominos in place Act 2 is simply about watching how they fall. This is why I chose a sitcom to compare this show to. The occurrences are pretty predictable, but even as you figure out where the show is going, you won't believe your eyes as it unfolds onstage. Each level of outrageousness opens the door to something else and you will catch yourself repeating the phrase "Oh no... they can't..." under your breath several times. But yes... they can. And yes... they do.

Like most sitcoms the show is pretty surface. For a show with a terrorist as the main character there is surprisingly little political talk and nothing by way "message" that the show is there to deliver. The show simply is what it is, the blackest black comedy you can imagine.

On a personal level I found the set very interesting. Several years ago I worked at the Williamstown Theatre Festival as a props artisan. One of the shows that I worked on that summer was "Philadelphia, Here I Come" by Brian Friehl. I loved that set. It was very simple, a stereotypical box set, the cross section of a house showing a dining room and a bedroom in a traditional Irish home. The landscape of the stage around the house was a near perfect replica of a field of black slate. That set was designed by Hugh Landwehr. When I entered the Lyceum Theatre tonight I was presented with a box set, a cross section of a traditional Irish home set in a landscape of a black field of slate. With a few subtle changes in the details of the house it could have been the same set. On referring to the Playbill I fully expected to find Hugh Landwehr's name. To my surprise though I found Scott Pask, another highly successful NY designer. The interesting thing though... that summer, as Hugh was installing his set upstairs on the mainstage of Williamstown... Scott Pask was downstairs in the Nykos stage installing his own set for another show. Do you think he might have seen the set upstairs?

What really burns me is that I didn't get to steal it first! It's a great design element.

Continuing my 34 lists of 34 things to celebrate my 34th birthday... Here are 34 jobs that I could see myself attempting if no artistic field had been an option.

1. Astronomer
2. Chef
3. Park ranger
4. Archaeologist
5. Pilot
6. Journalist
7. Radio DJ
8. Foreign Aid worker
9. Professional student
10. Comic shop owner
11. International antiques shopper
12. Travel writer
13. Astronaut
14. Book store owner
15. Local historian
16. Genealogy researcher
17. Fabric buyer
18. Gay rights lobbyist
19. Cartographer
20. Location scout
21. Zoo keeper
22. Bed and breakfast owner
23. Monkey trainer
24. Personal shopper
25. Ghost hunter
26. FBI agent
27. Writer for the Weekly World News
28. English language teacher in Japan
29. Reality TV producer
30. Shopper for the antiques used in the decor in all those chain restaurants like Applebees and TGI Fridays
31. Illustration historian
32. International tour group guide
33. Comic book editor
34. Film critic

Today, I have to buy underwear for an actor because EVERY pair he owns is "novelty" underwear. Twice during rehearsals now has given us glimpses of his Sponge Bob boxers. He's 25. Really? This is what I've come to?

BFE Michelle has asked me to list the 34 things that strangers do that drive me crazy. Should be another easy one!

1. Testing various cell phone rings in public.
2. Standing stock still in the middle of an escalator, leaving no room for other people to pass.
3. Being unaware of how the backpack they wear, or the bag they carry changes their body shape.
4. Carrying an umbrella large enough to cover a patio.
5. Refusing to move out of the door of the subway car.
6. Walking 3 or 4 abreast down a city street.
7. Ignoring their children's crying.
8. Talking during a movie or show.
9. Stopping at the top of the stairs when exiting the subway to check a cell phone.
10. Or for any reason for that matter.
11. Forgetting to turn a cell phone off in a movie or the theatre.
12. Then pretending it isn't theirs when it rings.
13. Allowing car alarms to continue going off.
14. "Sharing" the music in their car with the whole neighborhood.
15. Eating strong smelling food in enclosed spaces.
16. Standing on a street corner yelling about God and Jesus.
17. Even worse when they do it in a subway car.
18. Chewing bubblegum (or anything really) loudly, or with an open mouth.
19. Perfume. A lot... a little... whatever.
20. Touching me, especially if they don't even know my name.
21. Honking horns in traffic. What exactly are you accomplishing?
22. Driving in the fast lane when you clearly aren't going fast enough.
23. Drivers who don't pull over for emergency vehicles.
24. Allowing your kids free rein of a public space.
25. People who clearly don't understand how a revolving door works.
26. When there are two stair cases you walk up the right side, and down the left... just like driving. What does it take to get you to understand that?
27. Figure it out before you get in line. Whatever it is... whatever the line. Know why you're in it before you get in it.
28. Don't call me by some sort of diminutive... Sport, Tiger, Buddy, Chief... whatever. Stop it.
29. Cell phones in restaurants. No one needs to be that connected. Shut up and eat.
30. People who are rude to service industry employees. Try doing it yourself.
31. Listening to headphones so loud that I can hear it as well. Who needs your tinny sounding sloppy seconds?
32. Move. And if you have to stop, get the hell out of my way. Move to the side!
33. How hard is it to wipe the crumbs off the table when you leave? Seriously, no one wants to eat in your mess.
34. Inside voices, please. No one wants to hear about the party you went to, or the boy you hooked up with. Shut up!

I'm particularly proud of this sketch. I think I may have broken through a new level of sketching here. I'm very happy with it.

When I first heard that The Wedding Singer was being adapted to a Broadway musical my feelings were mixed. I'm not a big fan of the cross-pollination of Broadway and Hollywood, especially the movie-to-musical phenomenon that The Producers begat. On the other hand I do love Adam Sandler movies, and I loved this one in particular.

The show is great. It helps tremendously that Tim Herlihy, who wrote the original screenplay for the movie, was involved in the adaptation of the show to stage. All of the jokes that worked so well in the movie are still in the show, though in some cases shifted to other characters or other situations. I was afraid that the lack of the great 80's songs would detract from the show, but the original songs that were written for the show had a great 80's feel, lot's of synthesizer and electronic drumlines, and evoked enough of the 80's that I didn't miss the others. The three original songs from the movies did make the transition to stage. All of the signature Sandler movie characters also made it to stage-- the homeless guy, the quietly gay character, the freakish ugly woman-- so the feel of the movie was firmly in place. The re-write to deal with the inability of the show to have Billy Idol as a star was nothing short of brilliant.

The director John Rando who won the Tony for Urinetown, was also a huge boon for this production. Several off kilter directorial decisions were necessary to make this production work on stage and Rando was certainly up to that task. The show was full of quirky, surreal moments that added to the hilarity of the show, as well as heightening the theatricality of the production.

The scenic design of the show, while not groundbreaking, was well done, with lots of great touches of detail. I especially enjoyed the New Jersey suburbia-scape background, the pastel pink and turquoise uber-80's design of the ballroom, and the solution for the scene outside Julia's bedroom window. The synergy between the design team, the writing team, and the direction created a formidable production, with lots of great moments.

There is a problem with this show however. Actually two. The leads. Neither of the leads, Stephen Lynch as Robbie or Laura Benanti as Julia had anywhere near the charm and sweetness of Sandler and Barrymore. Benanti was particularly bland, with very little to recommend her as a soulmate. Her voice is great, and she does great things with the songs that she is given, but her book moments are barely distinguishable from the ensemble. She does nothing to elevate Julia to the star level of the show, and is outplayed in every scene she appears in. Lynch has another problem to deal with, and that is the shadow of Adam Sandler. Tim Herlihy has written nearly every movie that Sandler has ever appeared in and he knows how to write for Sandler's acting style, and the quirks of his delivery. Lynch struggled on stage to find a way to deliver lines that were tailor made for Adam Sandler in his own voice. Sometimes he aped Sandler (the drunken wedding banquet performance after Linda leaves him) and at other times he attempted a more personal delivery (his interaction with his grandmother) that unfortunately fell flat. Sandler always comes off as if he is the only sane person surrounded by a world full of freaks and weirdos. Lynch fell to far into the latter, and was never able to climb back out.

The shining stars of this production are the supporting cast and ensemble. Every single scene is stolen by them, even when Robbie and Julia are the only people on stage. Felicia Finley as Robbie's fiance Linda especially stands out. Finley's Linda approaches every single moment of her life as if she were in a heavy metal music video. She performs splits, hair tosses, and thong revealing high kicks in ways that make them seem as if they are no more out of the ordinary that stepping when you walk. Linda is aided in this by several well placed interactions with scenery. Seemingly innocuous pieces of set dressing provide her with her own private wind machines, steam jets, and stripper poles. Her appearances on stage are the highlights of the show.

So... over all... great show, well written and produced... but unfortunately poorly cast. Fans of the 80's will be happy with it, and will enjoy the production. Fans of the movie will struggle to divorce Sandler and Barrymore from their familiar roles. Fans of musical theatre will like it if they fall more into the category of Full Monty fan than the category of Oklahoma fan.

Today marks one year since I began this particular incarnation of this blog. Thanks to everyone who reads, comments, links to me and supports me and the site in general.

Here's to another year!

BFE Michelle has sent me a couple suggestions for my continuing series of 34 lists of 34 things to celebrate my 34th birthday. A couple were simple, a couple were hard, but they'll all show up here eventually. Today I've chosen:

The 34 Best TV Shows That Have Ever Been On The Air (In my opinion of course).

1. M*A*S*H My favorite era is the season or two between Henry being killed, and Radar leaving the show. Klinger was great, but the Radar/Col. Potter relationship was the best. And yes... it featured one of my childhood crushes.
2. The Dick Van Dyke Show With only a few minor tweaks this show could be put on the air today, using the exact scripts that it originally aired with and still be a hit. The scripts remain fresh, funny, and surprising 40 years later.
3. Ultraman Monsters, giant robots and science fiction! How could a 6 year old resist? And check these funky opening credits! The music and the swirly goop at the beginning still give me chills!
4. Survivor Shut up. You know you watch it. Favorite seasons? Africa and Pearl Island
5. Sports Night One of the sharpest, funniest, most touching shows ever on TV. It was a SHAME that ABC couldn't manage to get this show an audience. This was where I fell in love with Aaron Sorkin.
6. Northern Exposure Disregarding the absolutely AWFUL final season, of course.
7. Sex and the City You did know I was gay, right?
8. Roseanne Another show with an awful final season, only rescued by the incredible final episode.
9. Gargoyles Cutting edge children's television, smart beyond it's audience, and well animated to boot!
10. Wonder Woman Oh, Lynda Carter... is there any end to the wonders you can do? (Childhood crush #2 for those keeping score.)
11. Twin Peaks I don't think I'll ever forgive David Lynch for not finishing this series properly.
12. Hee Haw I have searched and searched the net for a sound clip of one of the "What's for Dinner Grandpa?" sketches, and can't find one anywhere.
13. Land of the Lost "Marshall, Will and Holly... on a routine expedition..." Everybody sing!
14. The Match Game The best game show ever! And how can you resist half in the bag B List 70's celebrities smoking, drinking and making lewd jokes on air? Not to mention the theme.
15. The Mole PLEASE ignore the stupid, stupid celebrity version. Smart, sexy reality tv, with a smart super-sexy host in Anderson Cooper.
16. Amazing Race Beats out Survivor as the best reality TV ever.
17. Night Court Was there ever a better 2 hour block of TV than NBC's 80's Thurdsay night? Cosby, Family Ties, Cheers and Night Court? Will there ever be it's like again? I doubt it.
18. Fraggle Rock Another great kid's show that didn't talk down, had as many scary moments as funny, and actually had a point of view. Did you know there was a movie coming?
19. The Price Is Right This show will forever be summertime at my grandmother's.
20. The Bionic Woman Why her bionic ear could hear through a wall, but she had to move her HAIR out of the way, I'll never know. But I loved the show anyway.
21. Family Ties The source of one of the first male crushes I can remember... but was it Alex? Nope... Nick.
22. The Carol Burnett Show The funniest cast ever collected.
23. Babylon 5 This show got the short end of the stick in terms of how the networks handled it, but seasons 2 through 4 have to be the best sci-fi ever on television.
24. WKRP in Cincinatti In a perfect world all of the record execs would take their stupid heads out of their stupid asses and allow the music rights for this show to be signed off on so that it can finally be released on DVD.
25. The Muppet Show What other variety show could put Zero Mostel and Rudolf Nuryev on the same stage as Alice Cooper?
26. Muppet Babies Okay, please ignore that I was 14 when this show was on the air. I loved it anyway.
27. The Dolly Parton Variety Hour Variety shows were to the 70's what talk shows were to the 90's: everybody had one. But I still remember that butterfly trapeze in thw show's opening, and how could I not mention the lady who rounds out my childhood crush trifecta?
28. Challenge of the Superfriends Zan and Janna kicked Marvin and Wendy's asses.
29. The West Wing At least up to Season 5, after that... all bets are off.
30. You Can't Do That On Televsion In the brief time that my dad had cable TV I fell SO in love with this show.
31. Buffy The Vampire Slayer I lucked onto Buffy when I was working an over night shift and it was still in syndication.
32. Nowhere Man Another unfinished series, another late night syndication, a show you probably have never heard of.
33. Max Headroom Some fine, fine post-apocolyptic sci-fi tv.
34. Quantum Leap One of the best final episodes ever, and a series that actually improved just a bit in the final season!

It's finally online! For the past few months I have been working for an ad agency that is redesigning the Altoids website. It finally went live! You'll need the newest version of the flash player to view most of it, but that is available for free online. (If you go to the site and don't see anything but black... you need to update your flash!) I designed all of the "stages" that the performers are performing on, which their technicians then rendered in 3-D, and I also did all of the watercolor background drops that you'll see behind the various performances. It's the perfect amalgam of my illustration and scenic design training.

Check it out!

1. N.C. Wyeth, American early 20th century illustrator.
2. Charles Shulz
3. Nick Bantock, collage artist and author of the Griffin and Sabine books.
4. Eyvind Earl, production designer and background painter of Disney's Sleeping Beauty.
5. Travis Charest, French comic book and science fiction artist.
6. James Jean, illustrator and comic book artist.
7. Peter De Seve, illustrator.
8. Kent Williams, painter.
9. Norman Rockwell, American illustrator and painter.
10. Maxfield Parrish, another turn of the century illustrator. (You'll see a lot guys from this period on my list)
11. Dave McKean, British illustrator who dabbles in comics, film writing and just about everything.
12. JC Leyendecker, another of those turn of the century guys.
13. Frank Cho, a current comic book illustrator, heavily influenced by those turn of the century guys.
14. Barry Windsor-Smith, illustrator and comic book artist.
15. Charles Dana Gibson, illustrator and originator of the "Gibson Girl."
16. Craig Thompson, illustrator and comic book innovator.
17. James Christensen, American painter.
18. Dean Cornwell, the last turn of the century illustrator on the list. (maybe)
19. Chris Ware, illustrator, writer, comic artist.
20. William Stout, fantasy artist.
21. John William Waterhouse, early 20th century fine artist, (I didn't promise not to do fine artists) originally from the Pre-Raphaelite movement, but diverged onto his own path.
22. Sir Lawrence Alma-Tadema, neoclassical fine artist from Victorian England.
23. Arthur Rackham, one of the original Alice in Wonderland illustrators.
24. Bill Waterston, creator of Calvin and Hobbes, (who unfortunately doesn't seem to have a web presence).
25. Frank Quitely, Scottish comic book artist.
26. Mike Mignola, creator of Hellboy.
27. Omar Rayyan, illustrator.
28. John Jude Palencar, illustrator and painter.
29. Michael Whelan, fantasy illustrator.
30. Diane and Leo Dillon, husband and wife children's book illustrating team.
31. Charles Vess, comic book artist and illustrator of Irish folk tales.
32. William Kaluta, comic and fantasy illustrator.
33. Jody Lee, illustrator and book jacket designer.
34. Jo Chen, manga artist.

This was one of the easiest lists I've done, and could have benn 340 artists long before I likely would have run out of people. But these are the ones that came to mind most immediately.

1. Religion
2. Japanese culture
3. Ancient civilizations
4. Astronomy
5. Evolution science
6. Turn of the century illustration
7. Science fiction
8. Fisher Price Little People
9. 18th century theatrical design
10. Languages
11. Mythology
12. Subways
13. Oil painting
14. Antique photographs
15. Reality TV
16. Politics
17. Folk craft
18. Symbolism in visual mediums
19. Monkeys
20. Drag queens
21. Antique diaries
22. Old Master art techniques
23. Gothic architecture
24. Rust, dirt and general decay
25. Everyday objects as art
26. Comic books
27. Diner food
28. Ugly neck ties
29. Neighborhood qualities
30. Fossils
31. Cooking
32. Mail
33. Action figures
34. Faux finishing technique

Continuing my 34 Lists of 34 Things to Celebrate my 34th Birthday.

Bonny suggested 34 Romantic Getaways, but without a boyfriend that's a hard list for me. Modifying a bit I've decided to do a vacation wish list. If some cute boy (This list should give you an idea of my type...) wants to go with me though... well, I'm always happy to have a traveling companion.

1. Machu Picchu, Peru I've been obsessing over this trip for a year or more. Some day I'll see these ruins, even if I have to take the train in rather than hike up, since my last long hike taught me that I may not be up for that.
2. Moscow, Russia A beautiful culture, with a completely different style than anywhere I've ever been... Plus seeing St. Peter's Square on The Amazing Race just set me off.
3. Paris, France Stereotypical, but having never been there, it's a dream. There will be several stereotypical thinsg on this list I'm afraid.
4. Cesky Krumlov, Czech Republic A gorgeous, tiny little town south of Prague that has an intact 18th century style theatre that I would LOVE to see.
5. The Grand Canyon Camping in the basin of the Grand Canyon... how much more romantic can you get?
6. Venice, Italy Another stereotypical choice, but one of the places that I feel like everyone in the world should see before it goes away.
7. An Alaskan Cruise I'm not big on water, or boats, or vacations where I'm not active... but there's something about the commercials for Alaskan cruises that looks enticing.
8. Mt. Rainier, Washington There's a company there that rents the most gorgeous looking treehouses. How does that NOT sound like a good time?
9. Loop Head, Ireland Another place I want to visit because I can get unusual accommodations there. This time, a lighthouse.
10. Nikko, Japan One of the things I didn't get to do in Japan that I regretted was visiting an onsen (a natural hotspring) I'm told that the ones around Nikko are especially nice.
11. The Appalachian Trail Yeah... I can't hike without getting my knee in shape, and yeah... this would require some hiking... but It's still a dream.
12. Santorini, Greece Athens is another dream, and I'll see that some day too, but how can you resist views like this?
13. Australia An intimidating country for me because I know so little about it. I found it hard to choose a destination, so I'll just list the country as an entirety. You guys in Australia... where should I go? I need activity, adventure, and some aboriginal culture would be nice. No beaches... I find them boring.
14. Rome, Italy Do I need to expound on this one?
15. Istanbul, Turkey The seat of the Byzantine Empire. I've studied the architecture and art in all of my art history classes. I need to see it!
16. Dehli, India From which I would also like to visit the Taj in Agra and Jaipur. I certainly need a companion for this one though, I'm not sure I could do India alone.
17. Bangkok, Thailand More specifically to visit the ruins of Ayuthaya. What can I say? I have a thing for old cities.
18. Cuba I know it's illegal, but I hear SO many good things.
19. Kathmandu, Nepal Another of those old cities I mentioned.
20. The Vatican Yeah, I know I mentioned Rome, but I think the Vatican deserves a few days all to itself. The sheer volume of art there must be overwhelming.
21. The Yucatan Peninsula, Mexico Continuing my theme of old cities, let's go see some Mayan ruins, too!
22. Dongchen, China How can my tour of old cities be complete without the Forbidden City?
23. Angkor Wat, Cambodia You didn't see that one coming?
24. Cyprus Another thing I can't resist is an area where lots of cultures overlapped and made a unique culture. (Maybe that's why I love New York so much?)
25. St. Andrews, Scotland Castles and cliffs. It appeals to my inner goth.
26. Whanganui National Park, New Zealand So many movies have been filmed there now that it's hard not to see it's beauty.
27. Mammoth Cave, Kentucky Sometimes I like natural wonders too.
28. Shropshire, England Back to my earlier theme of unusual places to sleep, how about a castle?
29. Ruthin, Wales A tint medieval town in Northern Wales.
30. La Crosse, Wisconsin A couple days cruising in a houseboat sound like fun to anyone else?
31. The Poseidon Resort It hasn't been built yet, and they don't even know where it will be, but an underwater resort? How fucking cool is THAT?
32. African Safari Another vague one, but you get the idea.
33. Amsterdam, Netherlands For the art and culture alone... no funny stuff for me!
34. Savannah, Georgia I'm feeling a little homesick. Bug off.

Keep coming with your suggestions for lists guys, 30 more to go!