Lain's Log: Wacky week!

May 26/12.

I've been in a bit of a dazed-out state for the past few days due to the insane pain of my right foot/ankle.

I'm used to being able to dash around, wreaking major-league maniacal havoc like a crazed, outta control, wacky whirling dervish/Tasmanian Devil on speed. But this damn running injury has literally stopped me in my tracks.

Advice I've heard? - "Keep the foot elevated"! "Take Ibuprofen"! "Ice it...five minutes on, five minutes off". "Stick a bag of frozen peas on it!" "Stay OFF your foot at all times!" -

Lie down. rest, stay out of trouble & take it easy! - OK already! - I'm tryin'! Guess what?? - NOTHING WORKS!!

As Ricky Ricardo would say, "Ai yi yi!"

I've been hanging out at hospitals, living on old Oxycodone, leftover from my cancer surgery (and even THAT hasn't cut the pain by much). Hate complaining over what seems like a mild, milquetoasty, miniscule, mundane thing (compared to what others are going through right now), but this really friggin' HURTS!!!

Whatever. Haven't felt like writing, till tonight, so will catch up from where I left off, at the final episode of House on Monday May 21st.

I was ready for heavy House action on the big farewell Monday night.

I've been given DVD seasons of House, books about Hugh Laurie,

have a House sweatshirt,

which I love! (last time I wore it was Christmas eve. It was a gift that helped inspire my decorating)! Whatever works!

and I even own an official Gregory House prescription pad (so cool!)

Ready when YOU are Doc!

The last episode, "Everybody Dies" brought back #24 - "Cutthroat Bitch", portrayed by Anne Dudek, - (never one of my fave characters) - also known as Amber. Since her horrifying death a few seasons back, she's been off the show, but made a sudden return via a House hallucination. Though I'm not her biggest fan, I get it.

Yes, her appearance was important to the lives of Wilson (Robert Sean Leonard) and House (Hugh Laurie),

to the final, "Take off, eh!" scene. - Enjoy yourself! It's later than you think.

I liked having Sela Ward back, albeit briefly, as Stacy,

she's the one person (other than Wilson), I believe truly loved House.

Rick Porter, (Zap2it) did a great wrap-up to the finale from Inside the Box - TV News and Buzz.
I'm using a couple of his paragraphs below.

One of House's axioms has been that people don't change. We can see his heart growing three sizes when his life's in jeopardy and he finally realizes he's really leaving Wilson in the lurch. But what happens a few months down the line, when cancer has really started to ravage Wilson's body and their money is getting short? Does House revert to his old ways and bail again? And after Wilson dies, then what? House basically has nowhere left to go once Wilson is gone, and that's not a reunion movie we want to see, even in our heads.

It's not necessarily a bad thing for a show's reach to exceed its grasp, and no one can accuse "House" of taking the easy road in its series finale. But rather than feeling happy to see the (anti)hero ride off into the sunset, we're a little bummed thinking about what will happen after the sun comes up again.So, I've come to grips with the fact that House...is OVER. (come on....Everybody LIES!)

So, guess I've come to grips with the fact that House is over. The next day, I went back to normal-routine-mode. Took the car for a long-overdue wash.

$27 bucks for the WORKS!!

Thursday, ended up at yet another doctor's office. This time, the cardiologist, Dr. Moldinado. He told me my stress test was great, the electrocardiogram all fine, but the Holter monitor I wore for two days showed I had 1,400 palpitations the first day and 2,000 the next! What the???????? But the Doc insists it's no big deal and that he has patients who have over 40 THOUSAND palpitations in a day! He says I just have to learn to breathe & relax. (easier said than done, Doc!)

Due to my state of discombobulation, I ended up at the Holiday Inn on Carlton Street, to do a couple of interviews with the stars of a new film called In the Family. Turns out, I messed up the date - it's NEXT Thursday! Gak.

So, instead, I went next door and visited the Loblaws (which used to be Maple Leaf Gardens)

Checked out the huge bakery department.

Ex-Maple Leaf Gardens also now houses (above Loblaws) Ryerson's athletic centre, which includes a full ice surface and stands. Kate will be a student at Ryerson starting in September! Will be an exciting year I'm sure. Wonder if she'll make it into the improv team - RIOT??

After figuring out I was in the wrong place at the wrong time - (what ELSE is new?), I took off from the Yonge/College area, drove home,

and did a phone interview with Trevor St. John, one of the best daytime drama actors ever. (formerly Todd Manning on One Life to Live). He told me all about his challenging role in the independent drama

In the Family, opening in Toronto on June 1st.

Later that evening, I hobbled outside and took a cab to the Absolute Comedy Club at Yonge & Eglinton,

(I know...crappy lighting), - and my right foot is wrapped in TWO tensor bandages.

I met my longtime high school pal, Dean Rogers, who bought me a ticket for the Northern Secondary School fundraiser/standup comedy event,

complete with buffet dinner! (in return, I paid for drinks).

Sorry Dean, but this pic made me laugh so much, I just HAD to use it!

M.C. Mike Dambra flew in from New York to host the show. He's fantastic! (and will be the headliner at Absolute Comedy next week). Unbelievable rapport with the crowd. I was afraid he'd "pick on me", since I was pretty close to the stage, - and indeed, I was made a part of the show for a few seconds. Mike spotted a guy in the audience and asked his name. He shouted out, "JUNIOR"!! Mike asked, "What do you DO"?? Junior stated, "I'm unemployed"! Mike looked directly at me, then at Junior, and said, "You should come meet this lady over HERE. She's got a lot of jewelry"! Then he yelled to me, "What do YOU do?" I responded, "I'm unemployed!" (miraculously, it got a big laugh!)

Matt Watson. Sparkling eyes, the-kind-of-hair-I-like, very cute and so funny. Great material about Cora's and their rather extensive menu (which I know!) and about the trials and tribulations of Cancun...."Just TRY to get the fuck out ALIVE"!!

Headliner Jim Colliton. His jokes about the Canadian Beer Store, hysterical. And then he got going on flying in from Boston to the island airport in Toronto and asking how to get into the city. He couldn't believe, you have to take a FERRY! ("Why don't you build a bridge or a tunnel"? - But NOOOOOO! Canadians tell me, "We don't WANT to build a bridge! - We like the ferry!" And as for Facebook, Jim made me laugh when he said, "Forget about the "LIKE" button. I want a care LESS button!" Ha ha!

After the show, I got to meet some of the performers in person. (Left to right - Aaron Power, me, (new fan!), host/M.C. Mike Dambra, Matt Watson). They REALLY took my mind off the foot pain!

The boys had a blast playing pool in the lobby. Such a fun pic of all three! Thanks for a great evening! I'm a standup fanatic! I wish you guys ALL THE BEST!!

Early on Friday morning, had yet ANOTHER doctor appointment - this time with a throat specialist about my ongoing trouble with laryngitis. He had some very helpful, unique advice & special instructions (which will hopefully have me on the road to recovery very soon)!

Later on in the evening, we had plans to go to a musical - Spelling Bee. My son, Max and his girlfriend, Robyn looked like a million bucks together!

Meanwhile, Max and his sister, Kate, say they didn't plan their matching colours. It just happened they both chose red! (as my cousin, Kevan Staples says, "Red goes with EVERYTHING!!!"
Can't even SAY how much I love these two!

Drove to the great metropolis of Richmond Hill,

where the Performing Arts Centre was presenting the fab production of The 25th Annual Putnam County Spelling Bee.

Such a pretty fountain at the theatre!

Since we were an hour early for the show, my fam and Robyn went off to get some dinner. My foot was hurting so much, I just hung out in the parking lot,

was in my own world of thoughts, and looked at the sky, which was absolutely stunning!

We were there to see our insanely talented nephew/cuz, Adam Bornstein, who took our breath away in the stand-out role of William, (#44). He was hysterical as the snarky speller who insists on writing his words out on the floor, with his "magic foot" before attempting to spell out loud.