Tuesday, April 9, 2013

Jar Heads

Last night I was at the Met Life Family Center, and saw something amazing.

In the racquetball court there were about 30 twenty-something ladies from India, dressed in mirrored gowns and balancing what appeared to be 5 pound small brass jars atop their head.

An older lady off to the side caught me gawking and asked me if I'd like to give it a try. I laughed and declined.

She told me this was a dress rehearsal for a Banjarah (sp?) dance at an upcoming cultural festival celebrating India. These were the advanced dancers, and this was the most advanced dance they would attempt.

I watched them swoop and swirl and pirouette with these jars on their head, and wished I had that sort of balance. I'd probably need a flatter head though.

Friday, April 5, 2013

My breakfast with Tommy Lee Jones

Arrived at Atlanta airport this morning as part of the intense crush of people coming into town for the 2013 NCAA Final Four bastketball tournament. Sought shelter in the Airport atrium food court, sipping burned Starbucks coffee and reading my USA today.

Then Hollywood actor Tommy Lee Jones sat down at the table right next to me and things got very interesting.

Now, I'm not the type of guy to ask for autographs or anything, but I seem to be in the minority....there was a steady crush of people coming up to him and asking him for a picture and/or an autograph.

And here's the kicker: IT WASN'T TOMMY LEE JONES.

He looked like Tommy Lee Jones, he sounded like Tommy Lee Jones, but he patiently explained that he most certainly wasn't Tommy Lee Jones, he actually worked in the data processing department of Emory University.

I don't think anyone believed him.

After watching this spectacle for a good 10-15 minutes (including people basically trying to push me out of the way to get to "Tommy Lee", I decided that fame...even fame-by-proxy...has distinct drawbacks.