Um, hell week writ medium sized

Without a full tech on Sunday things are still "coming together" as we begin our oddly interrupted by a national holiday two week long hell week. Miracle Worker opens at Broadway West on the eighth, ready or not. The stakes are rising quickly as all the bits of business, pieces of the set, spike marks, entrances, cues, costumes, lines, reactions, and props all become real tangible things that we must wield with an infant's tentative grasp to tell our story while our amazed audience, hopefully, feels the emotions we command.

We are storytellers, telling our story as if it was our life to behold. We all hope that in this very brief space between when we finally learn the lines and when the audience arrives, that a miracle happens. It has happened almost every time I have participated, many times over. It is always hard, and the miracle is not through divine intervention, but through the selfless gift of our hopefully adequate talent.

In this time, people get emotional. The emotions are all over the place, generally further than usual from the usual center. That makes it an unusual time. But when the time is done, the miracle does happen, and all our emotions are put back in their place. The audience comes in, the lights go down, and the story unfolds before them. Then, as if on cue, they feel the emotions they came to feel, and we feel them too.

Their lives are in some small, maybe very small, way are touched by our work, by the story we set out many months ago to tell. Sometimes they come away touched, with tears in their eyes as they thank us with their applause, as they clasp both our hands in theirs to say thank you.

And that is why we do it.

Miracle Work

That's right, the Miracle Worker set is actually beginning to substantially resemble the drawing after yesterday's work session. Cue to cue is today and it promises to be a grand time full of fun and good cheer.

My good friends Troy and Kate visited us for dinner last night after a longish day of set building. After fininshing dinner and several mint juleps, we watched Galaxy Quest, wherein Tony Shaloob delivers the line, "Just an FYI, they tell me the ship's engines are close to exploding". We laughed a whole bunch and Troy took a wee nap during the movie.

At the end of the evening when Troy had mustered just enough courage to ask Sharon if she could pretty please tell him if she could POSSIBLY have enough time to sew a specifically sized and colored apron for the show, Sharon positively stunned Troy and Kate by producing exactly the garment, premade as if for the purpose, in a flash from a closet.

Here at the casa we pride ourselves on taking very good care of our guests.

ugh

Stayed home from work due to a summer cold; nothing really bad, just irritating enough to make me want to sleep more than usual. I found out how noisy it can be at home what with the fricken mow and blow guy next door (about an hour now) and all the other joyous noises that a neighborhood makes. Note to self: Build soundproof room in house.

Despite my pathetic illness I still spent a couple of hours on the laptop hooked into the corporate VPN lifeline. I am apparently a workaholic, except I can't say I work more than 50 hours a week, which I think gets me off the hook. At least I won't be a whole day behind on email when I return to the office.

I think I need to watch Stripes and send it back to Netflix. Then I can get something trashy. Email me and I'll invite you to become a "friend" on Netflix so you can recommend movies to me, perhaps saving me fom my bad taste.

Line!

Well I did the impossible. I learned two whole pages of lines for Miracle Worker. What a feat. My co-stars only have to learn tens of pages to carry off their parts; no problemo. SO now the challenge is to actually deliver the lines without sounding like Sir William Shatner.

Off to rehearsal!

Oh yeah, the 15 year old just got his learners permit. Look the hell out.

Happy Father's Day!

Wow, what a day. I have to say that the family outdid themselves (especially my sweet wife) cleaning up the casa, getting me wonderful cards and gift, being extraspecially loving, and (wait for it...) throwing a big party.

We hosted a party for us and fifty guests (unless I missed some in the count this morning). We all had a blast from 1 PM till Midnight. Some of you who were invited weren't able to come but we'll save a spot for you at the table next time.

Busy Beavers

What with the Miracle Worker, the series if plays that the wife is working on, actual work, and the renfaire stuff, we are reeeely busy at our house. Tomorrow brings some work on the set for Miracle, finalizing set work for King Lear, and maybe some rest before partying for Father's day.

I think I need a nap.

Then there is actual work... At least the kids are out of school so we don't have homework support and get-up-in-the-morning chores.

OMFG its hot

Not PH hot "that's hot", but ow that pool deck is burning-my-feet hot. This is not universally bad. As you all know; Temperature up, clothes off. So thank the sun for the eye candy.

Also, Time for a Mint Julep!

Home Alone

The lovely wife and daughter are away this weekend at renfaire in Lake Tahoe. (I say renfaire cause I can't spell ren-ay-sahns) The boys and I are holding down the fort. Naturally we had pizza for dinner. There is a long list of manly things to do like take out a couple of scruffy trees, deep cleaning various parts of the house, the ever popular weeding, and of course washing a couple of cars.

To prepare for today we watched Barbarella last night.

I'm a superstar!

So, Sharon volunteered me to teach a bunch of fourth graders how to make a star out of wire and beads. Then we figured out how to do it by making a wire form from a block of particle board and ten nails. Then we I had to make another form because the first one was too large. Then we I made six more of these forms. Then we I found that the heads of the finish nails were too large to allow you to get the formed star off of the nails so we I cut off the nail heads, then the nails were too sharp so we I sanded them all flat with a belt sander.

This morning I proceeded to show a pack of ten year olds how to make stars. They naturally found many, um, variations on the procedure. Everyone had a great time, and most of the kids made a couple of stars.

What does Bipartisan mean daddy?

It is a fantasy adjective that politicians use to distract you from the fact that they have mostly lost the ability or political will to cooperate to do the business of the people. This is because their positions are so solid that unless one party rigs the system (Like Tom DeLay did in Texas) the seats never change hands. Then the pols that get elected are the ones that hold the far end of the spectrum views. Moderates need not apply. If the legislatures didn't control the districts, this wouldn't happen.

This is why I support the Schwarzenegger plan to hand districting over to a panel of retired judges. They don't have anything to gain by carving up districts into funny shapes.

That's what bipartisan means dear.

Scapin

Went to see That Rascal of Scapin last night at the Menlo Players Guild. OMFG It was so very good. The woman playing Scapin (you heard that right Virginia) was absolutey fabulous. YOU should go see this show. It doesn't even cost anything!

Why people hate the USA

Country music culture embodied by Mr Keith. I mean look at this stuff. Built Ford Tough truck sponsorship, An album called Honkytonk University, A tour called "Toby Keith's Big Throwdown Tour II", with Lee Ann Womack (can you say BIG HAIR?), and "Shooter Jennings". People, who is raising these children and why did we let them do that?

The tagline for the Throwdown tour is "Get Schooled". How erudite.

Nuff said.

Time to say something

Well, now that I have had a mint julep made with genuine Makers Mark whiskey, I am ready to tell you about the latest and greatest here at the casa. So first let's start with that "star wars thing". I saw the "third" movie, twice. The first time I really wanted to see it. Te second time I took the boys to see it at the Metreon in SF. We HAD to go there because they use a DLP projector that doesn't use film, it plays a digital file from a hard drive. It was good, but not so much better to my eyes that I would routinely travel to SF ($10 for gas, $9 for parking, add two hours to the outing time) to see movies.

Importantly, I didn't care much about the movie. I haven't thought about the movie or the characters or the story since I saw it. The second time through, I was waiting for it to end. Ho hum. I will allow that it was good to see Yoda kick some butt.

Our little puppy is getting a bit bigger and "barkier". It's cute. She also runs like greased lightning really fast. She and the bigger doggie play together all the time. Sweet.

Travel for work has ended, for now at least. This will allow me time to be Mr. Anagnos in The Miracle Worker, a really small part but larger than two previous roles combined. I like the opportunity but I don't really know how I'll learn the lines. I have atheist faith that I'll figure it out. Byt he end I'm sure it will seem like it was easy.

Work has been full of change lately. Several long term employees were released and this has precipitated lots of new situations. Everyone is busy.