i've always wanted to see the rockettes. when mike and i moved here and we started getting flyers about the christmas spectacular, i started badgering. three years went by.

in january of this year, i turned to mike and said "now look. we've been here three years, you're going to get a job that has us moving out of the city and i will leave here without ever seeing the rockettes."

(you can probably guess where this is going, right?)

and then, on tuesday, since we didn't move out of the city after all and it's been a long time coming, we went to see the radio city music hall christmas spectacular. it was.... so cheesy. so schmaltzy. so over the top. and so freaking wonderful, i could barely stand it.

the rockettes were, of course, splendid indeed. they all worked with such precision - i told mike it was very un-american. "are you kidding?" he asked. "there's nothing more american than the rockettes." (a point to be argued, perhaps).

still, the rockettes worked together so smoothly that they all blended in to each other and i found i couldn't focus on any one of them since they were so obviously a group. this sort of working together, this blending, struck me as so anti the whole american be yourself, individuality and creativity thing.

also worth noting is the live nativity. real camels and sheep. cud chewing on stage. super awesome. (although i find it strange in these nativities that while everyone is in their place and facing the manger and singing "o come let us adore him" there is generally nothing actually in the manger. the reason for all the fuss, the focus of the whole scene, isn't there. apparently, it's easier to cast a live camel than a live baby)

but the best part for me was the sheer spectacle. lights going up and down. curtains going up and down. the stage suddenly lifting itself in to four different platforms which eventually leveled out 10 feet above the regular stage floor and then rotated. i was watching and thinking about calling it and how much fantastic fun that would be.

then i found out that one of the people from our church works there.

"did you know," i asked mike later, "that they do backstage tours of radio city music hall?"

without hesitation, he answered "well, we'll have to do that."

my guess is that it will be even better than the spectacular itself - and no badgering necessary.