Saturday, October 22, 2011

Plato's Stepchildren

Today I went to see La Cage Aux Folles and out to eat at Fogo de Chao with my mom! What a wonderful evening of fun, laughter and great food. La Cage was so good and I was a little saddened to see that the audience was pretty sparse, in the balcony that is. The show is the original musical that the movie the Birdcage is based off of and both are based on an old French play/movie. George Hamilton was the big name draw for the tour but he was truly the weakest link to the cast. The true star was Christopher Sieber as ‘albin’ the star of the La Cage Aux Folles cabaret show. He is over-the-top, flamboyant, and one of the truest characters in the show. Christopher Sieber truly delivered a powerhouse performance and I loved every minute he was on stage. The big song from the show is “I am what I am” and has been a personal anthem of mine (and millions of other gay guys let’s be honest) and it was wonderful to see it performed live with such passion and meaning.  It brought a tear to my eye and of course to be sitting with my mom during the song who applauded like hell meant a lot to me!
In other news I went to help my parents at their house and ended up adopting their new stray barn cat! She is adorable and sweet as hell. Today I got a clean bill of health from the vet and I finally decided on a name. I will post a picture of Twitter with her new “friend” Twyla in a few days when hopefully, they are able to sit a few feet apart without killing each other.
Today’s Workout:
Treadmill- 2.23 miles and 300 calories
Plato’s Stepchildren
This is one of the most culturally significant episodes of the entire original series but also sadly not one of the greatest episodes produced either.
The Enterprise responds to a medical emergency on a planet that has been thought to be deserted for years. Upon beam down Kirk, McCoy and Spock are introduced the Platotians, a group of people with incredible mental skills and telekinetic abilities. They summoned the Enterprise because their leader has a scratch that has become infected and he is on the verge of death. McCoy cures their leader and is regarded as a hero. The trouble is that when the crew wants to return the Platotions wish for McCoy to stay and won’t release the Enterprise unless he agrees to stay. The Platotions put Kirk and Spock through several embarrassing situations in attempt to guilt McCoy into staying. Through all of this the landing crew meets Alexander, the midget assistant/slave to the Platotions. When they are not getting their way the Platotions beam Uhura and Chapel down to the surface to become pawns in their wicked games. Kirk, McCoy and Spock find away to channel the same powers as the platotions and in the end they get their way and leave with the entire crew intact.
The culturally significance of this episode comes from a very brief scene in which Kirk and Uhura are forced to kiss. Despite being forced they still kiss! This was the first ever network television interracial kiss! YEAH STAR TREK!

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