Got up early (well, it felt early) to watch last night's Olympics that I TiVoed, and the late show ran long before the repeat of the early show, so I'm afraid that I didn't get the whole thing, which will piss me off.

Before I quickly fast forwarded, I heard the host say, "Tonight was the ladies finals, and some might call it an upset..." but I didn't catch who they were talking about. However, just having seen Sarah Hughes' magnificent performance, I hope it was her. I've been following her since she first hit the international scene, and I really do love her.

Though Michelle deserves the gold after eight years of being at the top of her sport and it would grieve me if she didn't win. Sasha Cohen, on the other hand, is a pushy little bitch, no matter how good she is, and I want to see her lose.

And she's skating and down she went on her butt. Good. Bump Michelle in warmup twice, will you? Well, that was her only mistake, but still, it was a lovely moment. She got two firsts in the ordinals, presumably from judges who are blind, deaf and unable to smell.

Michelle's doing beautifully. I'd love it if she won gold and Sarah silver...and as soon as I wrote that, she fell down. She still could win, though, if Irina Slutskaya screws up. She's another one that I really like, so I can't hope that she does badly, but I really would like Michelle to get the gold that that loathsome little Tara stole from her four years ago.

And Sarah wins the gold! Wow, that was exciting. She was fourth coming into the long, which meant that if any of the first three won the long, they would win the gold, so not only would she have to win the long, but the leader, Michelle, would have to come in third for her to win the gold. And that's what happened! Michelle winning bronze is heartbreaking, but I'm so glad for Sarah.

"Michelle Kwan, you just lost, how are you feeling?" "Kinda shitty, Tracy, whaddaya reckon?"

So last night I went to a nightclub performance by Justin Hines, the singer/songwriter whom I admired so much at my Alumni Coffeehouse last month.

I almost didn't go in, I got an attack of the shys, I figured that I wouldn't look right in there and I wouldn't know anyone and would feel silly, but I girded up my loins and went in anyway.

I went in the door and there was a woman there selling tickets.

"Dusty Springfield?"
"I beg your pardon?"
"Are you here to see Dusty Springfield?"
"She's performing?"
"O no, it's a show upstairs."
"O, okay, because I was a little startled. I'm here to see Justin."

And I bought my ticket and went in, where I immediately saw John, who came and sat with me, so that was okay. And I told him the Dusty Springfield story and he laughed, and I said how if it had really been Dusty Springfield, well, I didn't really know Justin that well...

Only afterwards did I remember that she was dead, and I was being a deal more amusing than I thought I was. The laughs didn't really justify the comments, but if I was talking about a performer that has been dead for a year or two, then I sounded seemingly quite clever and witty. Go figure.

John wasn't the only alumnus there, there were at least five people from the coffeehouse, which led John to remark, "The next time I have a gig, I'll be sure to have an alumni thing first!" and the girl who had told the story about the Chinese fire drill and I both went, "Ooh, when will that be?" and he answered that he was working on it.

This is what John does to women, even the most unlikely will say things like, "Ooh...!" and maybe even toss their hair and giggle, though I didn't, my hair is too short.

And I had a chance to talk with John about the pictures of him that I want to take. A couple of years ago, we discussed doing a shoot, but I never got around to it, and they flooded my mind at the coffeehouse, but with a change of location. I want to do pictures of him in a tuxedo in his Hell's Kitchen neighbourhood.

The idea is of a man out of place who is waiting for something, sometimes hopeful, sometimes discouraged, but always waiting for something that isn't there. And I also want to do some blood shots, only I'd do those inside, "So you aren't arrested," John suggested.

He doesn't seem to be desperate to do it, modeling is scary when you're not used to it, but he said yes. I told him that he would do it because he is too polite to say no, which I'll bet is true!

Got to wait until it's a teeny bit warmer, but I'm gagging for it. The pictures will make my head fall off if I don't take them soon.

Then was the show, which was marvelous.

Justin is so good, his songs are fantastic, both the funny ones and the serious ones, he's a real joy to watch. There is some stuff that will improve with time, like his patter, which is a little awkward, but so funny and endearing that the awkwardness turned into a plus, really. He would say when there was a joke coming, rather than just telling the joke, which actually was pretty charming and made the jokes funnier.

The other thing that he did that will get smoother as he goes on, was the fact that he had his songs in a looseleaf binder, and perhaps he can learn his sets a little better so that he doesn't have to cling so hard to it, but on the other hand, it was so cute whenever he would turn a page and seem startled at the song that was next. I said to John, it was as though he had found the notebook on the way over and he really hadn't any idea what was in it!

He can also get a little more confident in his material, because he sometimes does something silly with a line when it doesn't need it, when it would be funnier if he sang it with a lighter touch, and there was one time when he did a funny voice in a serious song, an extremely moving song, I think because he just couldn't say the word "erection" straight, which took away from the song.

The big thing that he needs to change, though, is the Randy Newman impressions. Now, you know I love Rand, and he does, too, but he sings some of his songs just like him, and I don't mean influenced by him, I mean straight impression. And the fact that the impression is extremely good, sounds natural when he does it, and goes well with the particular songs makes no difference in the fact that it is remarkably distracting, especially about the fifth time he does it.

And the thing of it is is, that his natural singing voice is entirely strong and distinctive itself! He doesn't need to use a different voice for the more character-y songs, he can trust his own self more.

Reading back, I seem to be doing alot of criticizing, but really it's only one thing. He just needs to relax into himself a little more and believe in his material and his presentation and himself, and that will come with time. He's already an amazingly talented songwriter, what he really needs is to keep performing and just get older, and nothing is more certain to happen.

Today's horoscope:
You could slip into a workaholic role today. Don't take on more than your share of job responsibilities.

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Last Updated Mon 25 February 2:10:09 2002