Had an absolutely awful day a few weeks ago. You know a day is going to be a disaster when you decide to start the day off with an omelet and then, once you've chopped up all the ingredients and cracked the egg into a bowl, the power goes out. Deprived of a stove, I had no choice but to stick the fixings in the communal fridge and hope for the best. So, breakfastless and depressed, Saralyn and I surveyed our plans for the day (our day off) and decided the best thing we could do without power was go out and do our errands. Only we quickly realized the outage was city-wide -stoplights out all over town, and nearly every business with a "Closed on account of power outage" sign. We did manage to buy lemonade at Broken Rocks, where we learned that (if random waitress girl is to be believed) there is no sales tax during a power outage. Apparently if the city is failing to provide businesses with power, it (the city) doesn't get its money. I wonder if we can deduct our income tax for hours worked during a power outage as well?
Luckily, the grocery store had it's own generator, on account of needing to keep things cool I assume, so we were able to do our grocery shopping (though we didn't want to risk buying things we might not be able to refrigerate. But the power in the city came back on right as we were leaving the grocery, so we did end up buying some chicken for chicken Parmesan (Of course, it turned out to be in strips rather than breasts, leading Saralyn to create a new dish we're calling "Chicken Parmesan Tenders." Oddly enough, those turned out to be delicious.)
So when I got home, out of a sense of dogged determination, I cooked my omelet. It wasn't til it was done that I realized that for one reason or another I wasn't the least bit hungry, and when I did muster up the appetite to taste the cursed thing, it turned out the salami I'd put in it was a bit off. More than a bit actually.
And now, in case that story didn't please you, a nerdy diatribe that Michael should feel free to skip past:
As most of you know, I have been decrying Dungeons and Dragons: Fourth Edition for some time now, mostly based on what Nathan tells me about it and random things I make up in my head. I have accused Wizards of the Coast of pandering, of dumbing down the last, great, complex RPG so that it's little more than Pokemon Cards, sacrificing customization in favor of speed of play, and seeking to create a more mainstream game rather than a better game for it's loyal fans, and various other things I can't even recall. I don't take it back. But, having played 4E I have to add this: What they have created is a damn fun system that seems to avoid many of the most frustrating realities of the last edition. Combat, I have to admit, is easier and smoother, character creation is fairer and in some ways faster, and the more defined party roles aid in roleplaying, at least in combat. I sort of want to take a page from Stephen Colbert's book and say goodbye to hating 4E (Colbert did a great spot a while back on "saying goodbye to hating McCain"... anyway).
I think the jury's still out on 4E. I'll be interested to see how it holds up in a long-term, RP-based campaign with battles in innovative and bizarre settings and highly specialized NPCs and PCs. I'll be interested to see whether 4E will make all campaigns feel more or less the same because there are only about 15 different characters I can create. But only time will tell on these things and in the meantime, we can always go back to 3.5.
Jellybeans are just little nuggets of cynicism.
31 July 2008
In which Nathan recommends some books, because he is bored
When you work backstage, you read a lot. Here are some very short reviews of all the books I've read this summer. I haven't picked up a single book I haven't thouroughly enjoyed, so all the reviews will be kind of glowing:
Thursday Next: First Among Sequels, by Jasper Fforde
A worthy continuation, but not my favorite. I was apprehensive about jumping fifteen years into the future to star a fifty-two year old mother of three (or really, two) as the protagonist, but I now think it was brilliant. The complex time-travel stuff which is my favorite part of the series (even it's one of Erin's least favorite parts) did not disappoint this time around.
Bloodsucking Fiends / You Suck by Christopher Moore
Christopher Moore's take on the vampire mythos is just about as witty and exciting as his take on... well, just about anything he's ever taken on. If you've never read Moore, I suggest you pick one up. These two books could really be one, as number two picks up so immediately where one leaves off that it doesn't feel like a sequel so much as a conclusion. For the same reason, taken individually these two don't quite work - One feels like it lacks an ending, while one seems to lack a beginning.
1602 by Neil Gaiman
Anything by Gaiman is going to be trippy. Add the most popular silver age Marvel superheros and a setting four hundred years too early and you get something as remarkable and bizzare as any of Neil Gaiman's work, and accessible to suphero fans and non-superhero fans alike. The art is excellent as well, Kudos to the artists whose names I can't find right now. I'm sure they work very hard and all.
Starship Troopers by Robert Heinlein
One of Heinlein's mos popular and most controversial novels. I did find it a little preachy at times, but I don't agree that it's fascist. Its main problem is that the title implies a lot of awesome combat scenes, so the people who go in looking for that find Heinlein's bizzare political agenda kind of off-putting. But the political ideas are interesting, and I didn't think they took me out of the story all that much. Still, if you want to start on Heinlein, I wouldn't recommend starting here.
Have Spacesuit, Will Travel by Robert Heinlein
In the future, we will live on the moon. But it will still be the fifties. This is one of Heinlein's juvenile novels, which he wrote for young teens, so it's "softer" than most of his sci-fi. But the storyline isn't particularly juvenile - it's a well-written, well-paced space adventure story with a few cool sci-fi elements, but not nearly as thought provoking as Heinlein's adult novels. But, like Rowling, C.S. Lewis, Pratchett and many others, Heinlein remembers to treat his young readers as equals and never talk down to them, which makes his juvenile stuff totally worth it.
The Green Hills of Earth by Robert Heinlein
Ten short stories. Excellent hard science fiction. A little too much actual science for me in a few places, but this was back when science fiction was still trying to be as realistic as possible. Still, concepts like artificial gravity, which modern sci-fi authors tend to take for granted, get thoroughly explored here, and as a result, it feels very real. In the end, it's not about the science - it's about how the people react to the science. And Heinlein gets people, so it works.
Ringworld by Larry Niven
Jumping twenty years ahead in the sci-fi canon, we get decidedly softer. Larry Niven's Known Space verse feels a lot like Star Trek, which makes sense seeing as Niven used to write for Star Trek before he became famous. It's sexier than Star Trek though, but no less intellectual. It's also very exciting and full of plot twists and suprises, but not at the expense of concepts that make you think. I want to read more Niven as soon as I can - I don't know why I've been avoiding him for so many years. I think covers with aliens who look like cats just turn me off of a book.
A Long Way Gone: Memoirs of a Boy Soldier by Ishmael Beah
If you thought Reading Lolita in Tehran was depressing, don't read this book. It's a true story about how a twelve year old gets drafted into blowing up other twelve year olds, and his long road to rehabilitation and recovery. It's powerful and gripping and will make you very sad inside when you finish it and realize that this stuff is still happening to millions of children all over the world. That is, I suppose, the point.
Ultimate X-men #1 -12 by Mark Miller
Kylie suggested this as my introduction to "real" comic books, a passion of hers. I like it rather more than I care to admit. It's like reading combined with watching TV. I eat through comic books and graphic novels really fast though. A bit too fast, perhaps. I should slow down, look at the pictures for longer. Maybe I'd get more out of it. Anyway, I've always loved the X-men. In this particular incarnation they feel very human, and vulnerable at times. Which is important in a superhero comic. It's easy to lose the sense of danger and then it's no fun anymore. Anyway, I have volumes 13 - 24 sitting on my sofa for later.
Jellybeans are just little nuggets of cynicism.
Thursday Next: First Among Sequels, by Jasper Fforde
A worthy continuation, but not my favorite. I was apprehensive about jumping fifteen years into the future to star a fifty-two year old mother of three (or really, two) as the protagonist, but I now think it was brilliant. The complex time-travel stuff which is my favorite part of the series (even it's one of Erin's least favorite parts) did not disappoint this time around.
Bloodsucking Fiends / You Suck by Christopher Moore
Christopher Moore's take on the vampire mythos is just about as witty and exciting as his take on... well, just about anything he's ever taken on. If you've never read Moore, I suggest you pick one up. These two books could really be one, as number two picks up so immediately where one leaves off that it doesn't feel like a sequel so much as a conclusion. For the same reason, taken individually these two don't quite work - One feels like it lacks an ending, while one seems to lack a beginning.
1602 by Neil Gaiman
Anything by Gaiman is going to be trippy. Add the most popular silver age Marvel superheros and a setting four hundred years too early and you get something as remarkable and bizzare as any of Neil Gaiman's work, and accessible to suphero fans and non-superhero fans alike. The art is excellent as well, Kudos to the artists whose names I can't find right now. I'm sure they work very hard and all.
Starship Troopers by Robert Heinlein
One of Heinlein's mos popular and most controversial novels. I did find it a little preachy at times, but I don't agree that it's fascist. Its main problem is that the title implies a lot of awesome combat scenes, so the people who go in looking for that find Heinlein's bizzare political agenda kind of off-putting. But the political ideas are interesting, and I didn't think they took me out of the story all that much. Still, if you want to start on Heinlein, I wouldn't recommend starting here.
Have Spacesuit, Will Travel by Robert Heinlein
In the future, we will live on the moon. But it will still be the fifties. This is one of Heinlein's juvenile novels, which he wrote for young teens, so it's "softer" than most of his sci-fi. But the storyline isn't particularly juvenile - it's a well-written, well-paced space adventure story with a few cool sci-fi elements, but not nearly as thought provoking as Heinlein's adult novels. But, like Rowling, C.S. Lewis, Pratchett and many others, Heinlein remembers to treat his young readers as equals and never talk down to them, which makes his juvenile stuff totally worth it.
The Green Hills of Earth by Robert Heinlein
Ten short stories. Excellent hard science fiction. A little too much actual science for me in a few places, but this was back when science fiction was still trying to be as realistic as possible. Still, concepts like artificial gravity, which modern sci-fi authors tend to take for granted, get thoroughly explored here, and as a result, it feels very real. In the end, it's not about the science - it's about how the people react to the science. And Heinlein gets people, so it works.
Ringworld by Larry Niven
Jumping twenty years ahead in the sci-fi canon, we get decidedly softer. Larry Niven's Known Space verse feels a lot like Star Trek, which makes sense seeing as Niven used to write for Star Trek before he became famous. It's sexier than Star Trek though, but no less intellectual. It's also very exciting and full of plot twists and suprises, but not at the expense of concepts that make you think. I want to read more Niven as soon as I can - I don't know why I've been avoiding him for so many years. I think covers with aliens who look like cats just turn me off of a book.
A Long Way Gone: Memoirs of a Boy Soldier by Ishmael Beah
If you thought Reading Lolita in Tehran was depressing, don't read this book. It's a true story about how a twelve year old gets drafted into blowing up other twelve year olds, and his long road to rehabilitation and recovery. It's powerful and gripping and will make you very sad inside when you finish it and realize that this stuff is still happening to millions of children all over the world. That is, I suppose, the point.
Ultimate X-men #1 -12 by Mark Miller
Kylie suggested this as my introduction to "real" comic books, a passion of hers. I like it rather more than I care to admit. It's like reading combined with watching TV. I eat through comic books and graphic novels really fast though. A bit too fast, perhaps. I should slow down, look at the pictures for longer. Maybe I'd get more out of it. Anyway, I've always loved the X-men. In this particular incarnation they feel very human, and vulnerable at times. Which is important in a superhero comic. It's easy to lose the sense of danger and then it's no fun anymore. Anyway, I have volumes 13 - 24 sitting on my sofa for later.
Jellybeans are just little nuggets of cynicism.
Moritori Nolumnus Mori
So, as I've mentioned, I have to move to Urbana on August 8. I don't want to, I have to. I would much rather stick around a few more days and see everyone and hang out with my friends. But that's not the way it's going to be able to work out. I'm not looking forward to it.
Don't get me wrong, I'm looking forward to having an apartment. I just wish that people weren't freaking out about it so much. My family apparently lies awake at night thinking of things I absolutely must have. You know, in case of emergencies. Like, if I really, really need a pizza cutter-- do I have one of those?! ("...Couldn't I just use a knife?" I asked, but this was deemed too practical.) It's driving them crazy that I would rather just get there, see what I need, and get it for myself. They need to feel like they're helping. I appreciate it, I really do, but it's still annoying.
There is just a ton of crap I have to do before I leave, completely aside from the things I want to do. Those are getting shunted to the bottom of the priority ladder. Things like reading, writing... even recapping. I only have two minutes recapped of an episode I'm supposed to post Friday. Clearly, this is a deadline which is not going to be met. Just like my last two deadlines were not met.
This weekend Bethany and I are going to visit Whitney, because my mom said she'd give us a ride. I wish she'd been able to give me a ride to Ohio, too. I have to go to the BMV. I have to buy a futon. I have to shop for things like soap and toothpaste. And a lampshade. I have to work four hours a day at least because my employers want me done directorifying Comfort Inns by the time I start school. I have to read the information I've been sent about classes and about teaching, including the textbook I'm teaching from. It looks boring as all hell. I have to read my roommate's book, which I finally just ordered from Amazon. And I have to finish painting my furniture. I spent four hours today cleaning, polishing, and painting furniture in the crazy heat. It was rewarding and I kind of enjoyed it, but not enough to spend four hours on it and not be done.
And I have to start packing. Which means that first, I have to clean my room.
And I have to spend as much time as possible with Michael and Bethany. And watch How I Met Your Mother with my mom every night.
I am freaking. Out.
But blogging it all like that helps a little. Now I've got one item off the list. Save self from Lrrr: check.
Jellybeans are just little nuggets of cynicism.
Don't get me wrong, I'm looking forward to having an apartment. I just wish that people weren't freaking out about it so much. My family apparently lies awake at night thinking of things I absolutely must have. You know, in case of emergencies. Like, if I really, really need a pizza cutter-- do I have one of those?! ("...Couldn't I just use a knife?" I asked, but this was deemed too practical.) It's driving them crazy that I would rather just get there, see what I need, and get it for myself. They need to feel like they're helping. I appreciate it, I really do, but it's still annoying.
There is just a ton of crap I have to do before I leave, completely aside from the things I want to do. Those are getting shunted to the bottom of the priority ladder. Things like reading, writing... even recapping. I only have two minutes recapped of an episode I'm supposed to post Friday. Clearly, this is a deadline which is not going to be met. Just like my last two deadlines were not met.
This weekend Bethany and I are going to visit Whitney, because my mom said she'd give us a ride. I wish she'd been able to give me a ride to Ohio, too. I have to go to the BMV. I have to buy a futon. I have to shop for things like soap and toothpaste. And a lampshade. I have to work four hours a day at least because my employers want me done directorifying Comfort Inns by the time I start school. I have to read the information I've been sent about classes and about teaching, including the textbook I'm teaching from. It looks boring as all hell. I have to read my roommate's book, which I finally just ordered from Amazon. And I have to finish painting my furniture. I spent four hours today cleaning, polishing, and painting furniture in the crazy heat. It was rewarding and I kind of enjoyed it, but not enough to spend four hours on it and not be done.
And I have to start packing. Which means that first, I have to clean my room.
And I have to spend as much time as possible with Michael and Bethany. And watch How I Met Your Mother with my mom every night.
I am freaking. Out.
But blogging it all like that helps a little. Now I've got one item off the list. Save self from Lrrr: check.
Jellybeans are just little nuggets of cynicism.
28 July 2008
That sounded mad. I think you're mad
So the consensus seems to be that the summer is getting kind of old and we should probably just put it out of it's misery. Voted we all go home early now. So I can see Erin.
Sigh. Sad thing is, I'll probably do this again next summer. It'd be so much nicer if I were in a house again. Being in a dorm is lame.
Now, actual story. Jonah, Nathan, Saralyn and I decided to buy some alcohol and get drunk. I was pretty excited, because I'd never seen any of them drunk, and I'd never been drunk with them before. Sadly, Wal-Mart is a crusher of dreams and we couldn't get anything there. Maybe later this week. Amusing that we have reached that point in time when there really isn't anything better to do.
Jellybeans are just little nuggets of cynicism.
Sigh. Sad thing is, I'll probably do this again next summer. It'd be so much nicer if I were in a house again. Being in a dorm is lame.
Now, actual story. Jonah, Nathan, Saralyn and I decided to buy some alcohol and get drunk. I was pretty excited, because I'd never seen any of them drunk, and I'd never been drunk with them before. Sadly, Wal-Mart is a crusher of dreams and we couldn't get anything there. Maybe later this week. Amusing that we have reached that point in time when there really isn't anything better to do.
Jellybeans are just little nuggets of cynicism.
In which the end of summer draws near
We are in rep. This seems to mean that instead of no free time I have way too much. You see, I got cut from the last show of the season, ostensibly because they "decided they would rather have another scenery person rather than a props person", but actually because I almost destroyed a large and valuable piece of scenery. All of this cost me about 25 hours of work over the next two weeks. The point is, after so long of having no free time, suddenly only work five hours a day if at all is really jarring. I keep thinking I'm supposed to be at work, and then realizing I'm not.
This also means that as I'm making less money, I'm also spending more. I think I finally have a handle on this - my first day off I went on a food binge that ended up costing $13.00. Fortunately, I got some money for "christmas", so my budget isn't completely shot yet.
Looking forward to Gen-Con. Looking forward to going home. Really looking forward to never having to do "Cabaret Girl" again. I severely dislike that show for many reasons. Also, Czarevitch, although that has the advantage of no Max. But it still sucks. I'm pretty much just sick of running shows, really. but it's only two more weeks.
I tried to make hamburgers today, but they utterly failed to solitify. I think I used too many eggs. I ended up making it into a pasta sauce. But we had sweet corn and it was good. I will make hamburgers sometime. I just need to refine my technique.
Learning the bass is going poorly. I can't seem to figure anything out. I'm hoping a teacher will help. I've found one on campus who's offered to show me the basics. So far it's not going well, though. I've been trying to practice scales and internalize them. Keep you posted.
I've been on a bit of a vintage science fiction kick lately as far as reading goes. Lot's of Robert Heinlein, and I just started reading Larry Niven's Ringworld. I was afraid it was going to be really bad and cliche ridden and more of a space opera, but it's actually some of the best hard sci-fi I've read in a while. His alien cultures are weird and cool and very fleshed out, and he uses just enough science to seem credible, but not so much that it interrupts the story. There's a little gratuitous sex, but not so much as to be distracting. I'd highly recommend it.
Jellybeans are just little nuggets of cynicism.
This also means that as I'm making less money, I'm also spending more. I think I finally have a handle on this - my first day off I went on a food binge that ended up costing $13.00. Fortunately, I got some money for "christmas", so my budget isn't completely shot yet.
Looking forward to Gen-Con. Looking forward to going home. Really looking forward to never having to do "Cabaret Girl" again. I severely dislike that show for many reasons. Also, Czarevitch, although that has the advantage of no Max. But it still sucks. I'm pretty much just sick of running shows, really. but it's only two more weeks.
I tried to make hamburgers today, but they utterly failed to solitify. I think I used too many eggs. I ended up making it into a pasta sauce. But we had sweet corn and it was good. I will make hamburgers sometime. I just need to refine my technique.
Learning the bass is going poorly. I can't seem to figure anything out. I'm hoping a teacher will help. I've found one on campus who's offered to show me the basics. So far it's not going well, though. I've been trying to practice scales and internalize them. Keep you posted.
I've been on a bit of a vintage science fiction kick lately as far as reading goes. Lot's of Robert Heinlein, and I just started reading Larry Niven's Ringworld. I was afraid it was going to be really bad and cliche ridden and more of a space opera, but it's actually some of the best hard sci-fi I've read in a while. His alien cultures are weird and cool and very fleshed out, and he uses just enough science to seem credible, but not so much that it interrupts the story. There's a little gratuitous sex, but not so much as to be distracting. I'd highly recommend it.
Jellybeans are just little nuggets of cynicism.
No, I'm angry that I understood all that shit.
Hurray for end of the month post flood. And now, since I'm not really tired, I'll tack on the last 3 shows I'm in to finish my last post.
The Cabaret Girl
British country guy likes show girl, and has to convince someone important to like her so he can get inheritance. The concept probably makes more sense in Britain, but I could just be dumb. Anyhow, the guy takes her out to Pleasantville for a test run, pretending he already married her, but the plan goes wrong when the cabaret troupe tries to impersonate half the town. Girl disappears, guy decides he likes living in the city, and finds her and she decides she likes the country, and they live happily ever after while we give the audience members buttons.
Pros: I don't do shit until the second act, then I get to be part of a three man ensemble. I also get to dress like a Newsie .
Cons: Three and a Half Hours. And the finale of the second act doesn't really make sense sometimes.
Yeomen of the Guard
Sexy old British soldier is being off'd for truckin' with the devil, even though he is merely a "student of alchemy." Old comrade plots his escape without his knowing, so he marries a jester's girl friend so the guy who accused him of sorcery wouldn't get his estate. The escape happens, jester's gf is married to him without knowing what he looks like, and jester's all "wtf, man?" Not knowing that the guy is hiding amongst The Yeomen of the Guard(posing as old comrade's son), jester and jailor (who likes the girl who helped guy escape) plan to fake the guy's death. So they do that. Then, the deus ex yeomen comes along with a reprieve for the guy, so he can come out of hiding, and everyone lives happily ever after, except the jester who loses his girl to the guy, old comrade who has to marry an old lady or lose his head, and the girl who helped the guy escape who has to marry the jailer.
Pros: My peasant pants.
Cons: The yeomen costume.
L'Etoile
The King needs to find someone to execute so he can have a celebration. He finds Lazuli(played by a woman, much to the confusion of many audience members), who pokes him and is quickly sentenced to death, then reprieved because he and the king have the same star, meaning one would die 24 hours after the other. Meanwhile, an ambassador has his wife disguised as a princess and vice versa when Lazuli falls in love with the princess. Thinking the princess is the ambassador's wife, the King sends his would-be diplomatic bride off with Lazuli. The Ambassador has Lazuli shot, and the King laments his own imminent demise. Turns out the guy missed, though, and the King gives the princess to Lazuli and names him his heir, since he has to die first, anyway.
Pros: IT'S HILARIOUS.
Cons: It's too short.
Okay. Enough OLO now. I'm ready for school to start. I realized this particularly when I saw pictures of a party that I didn't go to. This party happened at Westminster, where Jonah lived freshman year, and where I spent quite a lot of time. The summer's been kind of like a party that's gone on a bit too long, and now I just want everyone to get out of my house.
Jellybeans are just little nuggets of cynicism.
The Cabaret Girl
British country guy likes show girl, and has to convince someone important to like her so he can get inheritance. The concept probably makes more sense in Britain, but I could just be dumb. Anyhow, the guy takes her out to Pleasantville for a test run, pretending he already married her, but the plan goes wrong when the cabaret troupe tries to impersonate half the town. Girl disappears, guy decides he likes living in the city, and finds her and she decides she likes the country, and they live happily ever after while we give the audience members buttons.
Pros: I don't do shit until the second act, then I get to be part of a three man ensemble. I also get to dress like a Newsie .
Cons: Three and a Half Hours. And the finale of the second act doesn't really make sense sometimes.
Yeomen of the Guard
Sexy old British soldier is being off'd for truckin' with the devil, even though he is merely a "student of alchemy." Old comrade plots his escape without his knowing, so he marries a jester's girl friend so the guy who accused him of sorcery wouldn't get his estate. The escape happens, jester's gf is married to him without knowing what he looks like, and jester's all "wtf, man?" Not knowing that the guy is hiding amongst The Yeomen of the Guard(posing as old comrade's son), jester and jailor (who likes the girl who helped guy escape) plan to fake the guy's death. So they do that. Then, the deus ex yeomen comes along with a reprieve for the guy, so he can come out of hiding, and everyone lives happily ever after, except the jester who loses his girl to the guy, old comrade who has to marry an old lady or lose his head, and the girl who helped the guy escape who has to marry the jailer.
Pros: My peasant pants.
Cons: The yeomen costume.
L'Etoile
The King needs to find someone to execute so he can have a celebration. He finds Lazuli(played by a woman, much to the confusion of many audience members), who pokes him and is quickly sentenced to death, then reprieved because he and the king have the same star, meaning one would die 24 hours after the other. Meanwhile, an ambassador has his wife disguised as a princess and vice versa when Lazuli falls in love with the princess. Thinking the princess is the ambassador's wife, the King sends his would-be diplomatic bride off with Lazuli. The Ambassador has Lazuli shot, and the King laments his own imminent demise. Turns out the guy missed, though, and the King gives the princess to Lazuli and names him his heir, since he has to die first, anyway.
Pros: IT'S HILARIOUS.
Cons: It's too short.
Okay. Enough OLO now. I'm ready for school to start. I realized this particularly when I saw pictures of a party that I didn't go to. This party happened at Westminster, where Jonah lived freshman year, and where I spent quite a lot of time. The summer's been kind of like a party that's gone on a bit too long, and now I just want everyone to get out of my house.
Jellybeans are just little nuggets of cynicism.
27 July 2008
But that was a long time ago, in the past (which is another country).
This is my first post for the month, four days before the month is over. I haven't posted on Turtle at all this month, either. It's been a weird month for me. The most accurate excuse I can give for my lapse in posting is that I've been mentally curled up in the fetal position for much of the time. I'm moving to Illinois on August 8th. But more about that on my second post of the month, coming soon to a blog near you.
At the beginning of July, my family went on vacation to Maryland and DC. And when I say "my family," I mean Mom, Dad, brother, two aunts, an uncle, two cousins, and grandparents. The grandparents are well into their eighties, frail and deaf. That's their excuse. Everyone else just didn't listen to each other, ever, the entire time. There was a lot of yelling, a lot of repeating, and a lot of disagreeing, and I think the result was that nobody got to see and do everything they wanted to. I did get to do some cool stuff, though-- the National Gallery of Art is fabulous. I saw an actual Da Vinci painting there. You should go if you get the opportunity. I also saw where my great-grandparents are buried, as well as some great-aunts and uncles and a second cousin. That was really cool. I saw the places my mom would go to stay with relatives when she was younger, and that was nice, too. I don't think I ever really realized how old my grandparents are before this vacation. They had to be in wheelchairs a lot of the time, and they'd get exhausted easily, but they'd never want to admit it and would argue about who had to sit in the wheelchair, or protest that they didn't need one when they did. Granddad was worse than Grandma in that respect.
By the time we got back, I was more than ready for a break from my family. Fortuitous, then, that the next week I was house- and dog-sitting for Bethany. The dogs were really great, except that it's weird to have a really young dog and a really old dog at once. Whenever you try to pay attention to the old dog (Hilda, who, despite a tendency to stop in the middle of rooms and stare into space, grew to like me a lot-- she fell asleep on my foot once, and slept on the bed with me another time), the young dog comes bounding up and knocks the old dog out of the way, all, "Pay attention to meeeeeeee!!!" I had to use Bethany's laptop because I never could figure out how to connect mine to their wireless. Michael had to come over and help me figure out the TV.
A couple of days in, I think it was the second day, Taz (the young dog) woke me up because he had to go out, and it was about 8 in the morning and I was working on about 5 hours of sleep. So, I get up to let the dogs out, and in my tiredness forget to unlock both locks on the back door. So I can't get back in. I walk around to the front and try the garage door code, but it fails to work. I was later informed that the battery was dying. After a while of trying the code over and over, some guy with a stroller came up, offered to help, and eventually came to the verdict that, basically, I was screwed. I waited a while longer, then went to a neighbor's house and asked to borrow the phone. I called my dad, who was at home, but it turned out he had no car and therefore couldn't come until about 11 when Adam came home from work for lunch. So, I sat outside, alternately in the back yard watching the dogs and the front yard trying the garage door code over and over. Hilda (the old dog) got out four times, and I had to carry her back around and put her back in the backyard. It was very hard not to panic because, oh God, what if I can't get back in ever? The rats will starve and I won't have my computer and the Crismores will hate me for being a moron. It was about 10:20 when the garage door finally, and for no apparent reason, decided to work, and I could go inside.
Then, the last night I was there, one of the rats died. Which was not entirely unexpected, but freaked me out anyway. So, I was glad to go home again.
But on the upside, I watched the second season of How I Met Your Mother while I worked.
Jellybeans are just little nuggets of cynicism.
At the beginning of July, my family went on vacation to Maryland and DC. And when I say "my family," I mean Mom, Dad, brother, two aunts, an uncle, two cousins, and grandparents. The grandparents are well into their eighties, frail and deaf. That's their excuse. Everyone else just didn't listen to each other, ever, the entire time. There was a lot of yelling, a lot of repeating, and a lot of disagreeing, and I think the result was that nobody got to see and do everything they wanted to. I did get to do some cool stuff, though-- the National Gallery of Art is fabulous. I saw an actual Da Vinci painting there. You should go if you get the opportunity. I also saw where my great-grandparents are buried, as well as some great-aunts and uncles and a second cousin. That was really cool. I saw the places my mom would go to stay with relatives when she was younger, and that was nice, too. I don't think I ever really realized how old my grandparents are before this vacation. They had to be in wheelchairs a lot of the time, and they'd get exhausted easily, but they'd never want to admit it and would argue about who had to sit in the wheelchair, or protest that they didn't need one when they did. Granddad was worse than Grandma in that respect.
By the time we got back, I was more than ready for a break from my family. Fortuitous, then, that the next week I was house- and dog-sitting for Bethany. The dogs were really great, except that it's weird to have a really young dog and a really old dog at once. Whenever you try to pay attention to the old dog (Hilda, who, despite a tendency to stop in the middle of rooms and stare into space, grew to like me a lot-- she fell asleep on my foot once, and slept on the bed with me another time), the young dog comes bounding up and knocks the old dog out of the way, all, "Pay attention to meeeeeeee!!!" I had to use Bethany's laptop because I never could figure out how to connect mine to their wireless. Michael had to come over and help me figure out the TV.
A couple of days in, I think it was the second day, Taz (the young dog) woke me up because he had to go out, and it was about 8 in the morning and I was working on about 5 hours of sleep. So, I get up to let the dogs out, and in my tiredness forget to unlock both locks on the back door. So I can't get back in. I walk around to the front and try the garage door code, but it fails to work. I was later informed that the battery was dying. After a while of trying the code over and over, some guy with a stroller came up, offered to help, and eventually came to the verdict that, basically, I was screwed. I waited a while longer, then went to a neighbor's house and asked to borrow the phone. I called my dad, who was at home, but it turned out he had no car and therefore couldn't come until about 11 when Adam came home from work for lunch. So, I sat outside, alternately in the back yard watching the dogs and the front yard trying the garage door code over and over. Hilda (the old dog) got out four times, and I had to carry her back around and put her back in the backyard. It was very hard not to panic because, oh God, what if I can't get back in ever? The rats will starve and I won't have my computer and the Crismores will hate me for being a moron. It was about 10:20 when the garage door finally, and for no apparent reason, decided to work, and I could go inside.
Then, the last night I was there, one of the rats died. Which was not entirely unexpected, but freaked me out anyway. So, I was glad to go home again.
But on the upside, I watched the second season of How I Met Your Mother while I worked.
Jellybeans are just little nuggets of cynicism.
25 July 2008
In which it turns out Jonah can go home
That Gnu makes me think of the mischief I would do at the opera if I didn't work here. There is a sign out front with movable letters, which often says "A GUN WILL BE FIRED DURING THE PERFORMANCE." I really want to swap a couple of letters so it says "A GNU WILL BE FRIED DURING THE PERFORMANCE," but, alas, front-of-house solidarity forbids me (i.e. Saralyn would kill me).
So I went home last week. It was interesting. For one thing, Nathan and I have been officially named co-best-man for Levi and Hannah's wedding. I believe the current plan (it keeps evolving) is to have a Lion King/ Scooby Doo/ MacGuyver wedding. For the Lion King theme everyone was going to dress as animals and Nate and I were to be Timon and Pumba, so that might still apply. I suggested that we incorporate the MacGuyver theme by having the ringbearers bring pillows with little strips of copper wire, assorted junk, and something that could be jury-rigged into a soldering iron. I don't even remember what we were going to do with Scooby Doo.
Anyway, despite all the silliness, I am assured that real wedding plans are being made on some level, so you'll likely be hearing more about those as the year goes on. But on to being home. I spent a lot of time with the Canadians, including a whole day of mostly shopping (with Erin!) I discovered I like shopping a bit more than I cared to admit before, though, like most, I'm not a big fan of the part where you realize you just spent $100 on shoes. (In my defense, I spent $100 on about $200 worth of shoes, but still.)
I also got new lenses in my glasses (so I can see much better). Unfortunately they discontinued the colored transitions, so my new lenses turn a boring gray instead of blue. It's always funny when I get my glasses repaired or refitted because I have an hour or so of blindness at the Castleton Mall and I always, always run into someone I know during that time and fail to recognize them. This time it was particularly bad.
Blurry Figure (Blonde and female most likely): Hey! It's you! How are you doing?
Me: Oh hey! Listen, I don't have my glasses so you're going to have to tell me who you are!
BF: Oh, it's Tory!
Me: (Racking my brain to come up with a person named Tory) Oh hey, long time no see. What have you been up to?
"Tory": Blah blah blah Ball State, blah blah blah and I'm gonna be president of my sorority next year, so that's pretty crazy. How about you?
Me: (Thinking of only one Tory, Tory Guinrich, who never even sort of liked me, probably wouldn't recognize me, and would absolutely never talk to me if she did) Oh, you know, blah blah blah opera box office, blah blah blah newspaper.
"Tory": You still doing any acting?
Me: (With a little game show-esque "ding ding ding" going off in my head, as I realize that this is Tori Rice, who I not only acted with but actually stage kissed Junior Year) Oh, you know, a little bit hear and there.
And then, of course, five minutes later I realize the guy I'm buying coffee from (who, by the way, I obnoxiously asked to read me the entire menu on account of the blindness) is Cory Schneider. It never fails.
It was a little odd being home with neither a computer or a Game Cube. Thank god for the TiVo or I might have actually had to go outside or engage in conversation. (Just kidding, sort of.) Oh yeah, my computer. It died, finally, after dragging it's demise on for months like a bad Shakespearian actor, so I sent it to Frye's. They took like two weeks to get to it, but when they did they said they could fix it in a day or so. It turns out my hard drive had bad sectors. I guess when good data wanders into a bad sector of the hard drive it wakes up the next morning in an alley with it's wallet and/or kidneys gone, and this some how negatively effects the computer's performance. I'll be getting it back next week, a fact which causes me to do a little happy dance every time I think about it.
Now I just have a few more weeks of opera work (which is quickly losing what little novelty it had), 5 days at home, and then it's back to Wooster-as-usual. Hopefully something else blogworthy will happen in the next 5 days. If not, I'll tell you all a power outage story.
Jellybeans are just little nuggets of cynicism.
So I went home last week. It was interesting. For one thing, Nathan and I have been officially named co-best-man for Levi and Hannah's wedding. I believe the current plan (it keeps evolving) is to have a Lion King/ Scooby Doo/ MacGuyver wedding. For the Lion King theme everyone was going to dress as animals and Nate and I were to be Timon and Pumba, so that might still apply. I suggested that we incorporate the MacGuyver theme by having the ringbearers bring pillows with little strips of copper wire, assorted junk, and something that could be jury-rigged into a soldering iron. I don't even remember what we were going to do with Scooby Doo.
Anyway, despite all the silliness, I am assured that real wedding plans are being made on some level, so you'll likely be hearing more about those as the year goes on. But on to being home. I spent a lot of time with the Canadians, including a whole day of mostly shopping (with Erin!) I discovered I like shopping a bit more than I cared to admit before, though, like most, I'm not a big fan of the part where you realize you just spent $100 on shoes. (In my defense, I spent $100 on about $200 worth of shoes, but still.)
I also got new lenses in my glasses (so I can see much better). Unfortunately they discontinued the colored transitions, so my new lenses turn a boring gray instead of blue. It's always funny when I get my glasses repaired or refitted because I have an hour or so of blindness at the Castleton Mall and I always, always run into someone I know during that time and fail to recognize them. This time it was particularly bad.
Blurry Figure (Blonde and female most likely): Hey! It's you! How are you doing?
Me: Oh hey! Listen, I don't have my glasses so you're going to have to tell me who you are!
BF: Oh, it's Tory!
Me: (Racking my brain to come up with a person named Tory) Oh hey, long time no see. What have you been up to?
"Tory": Blah blah blah Ball State, blah blah blah and I'm gonna be president of my sorority next year, so that's pretty crazy. How about you?
Me: (Thinking of only one Tory, Tory Guinrich, who never even sort of liked me, probably wouldn't recognize me, and would absolutely never talk to me if she did) Oh, you know, blah blah blah opera box office, blah blah blah newspaper.
"Tory": You still doing any acting?
Me: (With a little game show-esque "ding ding ding" going off in my head, as I realize that this is Tori Rice, who I not only acted with but actually stage kissed Junior Year) Oh, you know, a little bit hear and there.
And then, of course, five minutes later I realize the guy I'm buying coffee from (who, by the way, I obnoxiously asked to read me the entire menu on account of the blindness) is Cory Schneider. It never fails.
It was a little odd being home with neither a computer or a Game Cube. Thank god for the TiVo or I might have actually had to go outside or engage in conversation. (Just kidding, sort of.) Oh yeah, my computer. It died, finally, after dragging it's demise on for months like a bad Shakespearian actor, so I sent it to Frye's. They took like two weeks to get to it, but when they did they said they could fix it in a day or so. It turns out my hard drive had bad sectors. I guess when good data wanders into a bad sector of the hard drive it wakes up the next morning in an alley with it's wallet and/or kidneys gone, and this some how negatively effects the computer's performance. I'll be getting it back next week, a fact which causes me to do a little happy dance every time I think about it.
Now I just have a few more weeks of opera work (which is quickly losing what little novelty it had), 5 days at home, and then it's back to Wooster-as-usual. Hopefully something else blogworthy will happen in the next 5 days. If not, I'll tell you all a power outage story.
Jellybeans are just little nuggets of cynicism.
Will there ever be another poll?
No, the reign of the poll has ended, and not a moment too soon. | 0 (0%) |
Yes. Another poll is forthcoming. A poll is up now. There was never a time without a poll, and never shall there be. Also, the Party has always been at war with Eurasia. | 6 (54%) |
The poll will be updated if each of us believes in our heart that it will be updated. | 4 (36%) |
There will be more polls, but they'll all be stupid self-referential polls made by Jonah. | 0 (0%) |
There's another poll... RIGHT NOW. (DUN DUNNN) | 1 (9%) |
23 July 2008
It's not a problem, it's performance art!
We're in Rep now, meaning we've opened all our shows and have no more rehearsals, and I'll have some more free time. In a moment I'll have a list of pros and cons of each show now that they're open, but first, an asshole:
Today was our first recording session of the Mikado. We were called 10 minutes before the recording would start so our recording producer could give us a few notes, such as "do it beautifully" and "sound British" and "be careful that the vibrato is not too wobbly," and other wise do your job and sing as though you auditioned half a year ago and have performed this show several times. At first, I thought this was just a pep talk, just a remember everything so we don't do multiple takes for little brain farts, or something. Once the session actually started, though, it turned out he wanted the exact opposite. He added ad-libs that were never there, he changed the diction from what we had practiced all summer, and completely altered the sound for the Mikado himself! He even stanislvskized the show, that is took a realistic approach to the dialog. Which is dumb. It's a satire. You don't apply realism to Guilbert and Sullivan. It doesn't figure. It's like applying realism to a Monty Python sketch, or to the Punch and Judy show. We had little ways of fighting back, though. J. Lynn, our orchestra director loudly corrected himself on multiple occasions when he didn't start exactly how the guy wanted, and gave a running commentary on the replacement of the concert master's replacement of an E string that broke during the second number: "He's sliding the string through the peg.... setting... tightening, tightening....now fine tuning..." Other jibes include inserting inappropriate words in the adlibs, including, but not limited to, "penis," "bugger," "wanker," and "vagina." The terms bugger and wanker were necessary to maintain an appropriate level of Britishness.
And now, a list of my shows and what I like and dislike about them:
OKLAHOMA!
Possibly one of the first shows to use an exclamation point in the title, OK is the classic of boy meets girl, or rather knows through out childhood or whatever, boy likes girl but girl thinks guy is too headstrong and goes to dance with other guy even though other guy creeps the shit out of her, guy wins girl over by spending lots of money on a lunchbox, other guy comes back pissed drunk and falls on his own knife. Meanwhile, a Persian salesman escapes one shotgun wedding to get stuck in another (with a girl with a dreadful laugh who is considerably less likely to put out) and some history about states happens and everyone is proud of the state they snuck into, the bunch of cheating sooners.
Pros: The audience, who has some how never seen this classic before, seems to get a kick out of it. I have a handful of lines and I get to sing a solo. I have no costume changes, and I get to dance with the prettiest girl in the company.
Cons: I'm taken and the girl is ten years older than I am and graduated from Harvard. This isn't really a con, it just puts her out of reach in several different ways. Also, we have to do the show SIXTEEN TIMES! There are two occurrences in which we do the show back to back. Not on the same day, but still... The Kansas City number has a tendency for awkwardness because we're just standing around doing nothing until we dance with energy that comes from no where if it comes at all, and the masks for the dream ballet are ineffective and uncomfortable. My solo is kind of random, since I jump in with a bunch of people who are actually important. ("Remember me? I bought the saddle!" re: Saralyn)
The Desert Song
The Riffs are a small band of rebels in French-occupied Morocco. The are led by a French man who rapidly expositions that he joined the army to impress a girl, thought the French General was cruel, and got bitch slapped all the way to generic middle eastern king's palace and founded the Riffs, a small band of rebels in French-occupied Morocco. French man fakes being a wimp to hide the fact that he's secretly leading the rebellion. Cruel general has since been replaced by French man's father, who brought along his side-kick Paul, and Paul's fiance, the girl that French guy joined the army to impress. French man can't stand being secretly wimp any more, so he kidnaps girl in the guise of leader of The Riffs, and blah blah blah, so much crap happens in this show, it's really not worth explaining if you're not hearing the music.
Pros: It's got some really pretty music, including a song about how much of a wimp the French guy is, and a super long segment about how different eastern and western love is. It's also the only show that gives me weapon props, even if it's just a tiny dagger for the first scene and a rifle for the next.
Cons: The script is really awkward, and the costume changes are hectic. The costumes themselves are kind of uncomfortable, and the Riffs all look like shepherds or wisemen out of a children's Christmas pageant. Also, we wave french flags at one point. it's rather silly.
The Mikado
Japanese boy comes to the town of titipu ("titee-poo") to seek the love of a girl whom he thought had been freed from a betrothal to the cheep tailor Ko-Ko by his sentence to beheading for flirting (a capitol offense declared by the Mikado of Japan). The town rebelled against the declaration by making Ko-Ko the Lord High Executioner, meaning he couldn't execute anyone until he had executed himself. This reversal was explained to Japanese boy by random important guy and Pooh-Bah, who took all the other civil posts when everyone quit on account being ashamed that a tailor should become LHE, and has since become somewhat schizophrenic on account of holding so many titles. LHE receives word from the Mikado that he has to execute someone in a month, and scrambles to find a substitute so he doesn't have to execute himself, and finds Japanese boy who is about to commit suicide since girl is going to marry LHE. LHE agrees to let japanese boy marry girl if he can execute him in a month. Everyone is happy until Katisha shows and demands that japanese boy come back and marry her instead, since japanese boy is secretly THE MIKADO'S SON! But no one finds that out until much later because the chorus shouts at Katisha whenever she tries to tell them. A bit more mistaken identity hijinks ensues, then a convenient explanation is provided, and, as in most Guilbert and Sullivan shows, pretty much everyone is married by the end.
Pros: One Awesome costume, and a fan to boot. The make-up is pretty cool, too. The songs are fun, and it's a pretty simple and funny show that goes by pretty quickly.
Cons: The make-up takes forever to put on and take off, and I have to wash black stuff out of my hair every night. Also, one number in which I spend most of my time sitting on my knees is a bit uncomfortable.
The Czarevitch (pronounce it however you want)
Basically, the Prince of Russia is emo and needs to get laid. His uncle sets him up with a dancer, who gets him drunk a lot. They proceed to run away to Italy, where his uncle finds him to tell him his father died, so he has to leave the girl and rule the country. That is pretty much the show. There's also a random side plot that is funny and slightly more interesting, but I don't really understand it well enough to write it out here.
Pros: I'm on stage for all of three rather short songs, and I get paid for 4 hours of work every time we do this show. I've only got one costume, and I juggle on stage.
Cons: It's kind of boring when you don't have to do anything.
Next: The Cabaret Girl, The Yeomen of the Guard, and L'Etoile.
You should have had me dressed as a geisha; light opera doesn't have vikings.
Today was our first recording session of the Mikado. We were called 10 minutes before the recording would start so our recording producer could give us a few notes, such as "do it beautifully" and "sound British" and "be careful that the vibrato is not too wobbly," and other wise do your job and sing as though you auditioned half a year ago and have performed this show several times. At first, I thought this was just a pep talk, just a remember everything so we don't do multiple takes for little brain farts, or something. Once the session actually started, though, it turned out he wanted the exact opposite. He added ad-libs that were never there, he changed the diction from what we had practiced all summer, and completely altered the sound for the Mikado himself! He even stanislvskized the show, that is took a realistic approach to the dialog. Which is dumb. It's a satire. You don't apply realism to Guilbert and Sullivan. It doesn't figure. It's like applying realism to a Monty Python sketch, or to the Punch and Judy show. We had little ways of fighting back, though. J. Lynn, our orchestra director loudly corrected himself on multiple occasions when he didn't start exactly how the guy wanted, and gave a running commentary on the replacement of the concert master's replacement of an E string that broke during the second number: "He's sliding the string through the peg.... setting... tightening, tightening....now fine tuning..." Other jibes include inserting inappropriate words in the adlibs, including, but not limited to, "penis," "bugger," "wanker," and "vagina." The terms bugger and wanker were necessary to maintain an appropriate level of Britishness.
And now, a list of my shows and what I like and dislike about them:
OKLAHOMA!
Possibly one of the first shows to use an exclamation point in the title, OK is the classic of boy meets girl, or rather knows through out childhood or whatever, boy likes girl but girl thinks guy is too headstrong and goes to dance with other guy even though other guy creeps the shit out of her, guy wins girl over by spending lots of money on a lunchbox, other guy comes back pissed drunk and falls on his own knife. Meanwhile, a Persian salesman escapes one shotgun wedding to get stuck in another (with a girl with a dreadful laugh who is considerably less likely to put out) and some history about states happens and everyone is proud of the state they snuck into, the bunch of cheating sooners.
Pros: The audience, who has some how never seen this classic before, seems to get a kick out of it. I have a handful of lines and I get to sing a solo. I have no costume changes, and I get to dance with the prettiest girl in the company.
Cons: I'm taken and the girl is ten years older than I am and graduated from Harvard. This isn't really a con, it just puts her out of reach in several different ways. Also, we have to do the show SIXTEEN TIMES! There are two occurrences in which we do the show back to back. Not on the same day, but still... The Kansas City number has a tendency for awkwardness because we're just standing around doing nothing until we dance with energy that comes from no where if it comes at all, and the masks for the dream ballet are ineffective and uncomfortable. My solo is kind of random, since I jump in with a bunch of people who are actually important. ("Remember me? I bought the saddle!" re: Saralyn)
The Desert Song
The Riffs are a small band of rebels in French-occupied Morocco. The are led by a French man who rapidly expositions that he joined the army to impress a girl, thought the French General was cruel, and got bitch slapped all the way to generic middle eastern king's palace and founded the Riffs, a small band of rebels in French-occupied Morocco. French man fakes being a wimp to hide the fact that he's secretly leading the rebellion. Cruel general has since been replaced by French man's father, who brought along his side-kick Paul, and Paul's fiance, the girl that French guy joined the army to impress. French man can't stand being secretly wimp any more, so he kidnaps girl in the guise of leader of The Riffs, and blah blah blah, so much crap happens in this show, it's really not worth explaining if you're not hearing the music.
Pros: It's got some really pretty music, including a song about how much of a wimp the French guy is, and a super long segment about how different eastern and western love is. It's also the only show that gives me weapon props, even if it's just a tiny dagger for the first scene and a rifle for the next.
Cons: The script is really awkward, and the costume changes are hectic. The costumes themselves are kind of uncomfortable, and the Riffs all look like shepherds or wisemen out of a children's Christmas pageant. Also, we wave french flags at one point. it's rather silly.
The Mikado
Japanese boy comes to the town of titipu ("titee-poo") to seek the love of a girl whom he thought had been freed from a betrothal to the cheep tailor Ko-Ko by his sentence to beheading for flirting (a capitol offense declared by the Mikado of Japan). The town rebelled against the declaration by making Ko-Ko the Lord High Executioner, meaning he couldn't execute anyone until he had executed himself. This reversal was explained to Japanese boy by random important guy and Pooh-Bah, who took all the other civil posts when everyone quit on account being ashamed that a tailor should become LHE, and has since become somewhat schizophrenic on account of holding so many titles. LHE receives word from the Mikado that he has to execute someone in a month, and scrambles to find a substitute so he doesn't have to execute himself, and finds Japanese boy who is about to commit suicide since girl is going to marry LHE. LHE agrees to let japanese boy marry girl if he can execute him in a month. Everyone is happy until Katisha shows and demands that japanese boy come back and marry her instead, since japanese boy is secretly THE MIKADO'S SON! But no one finds that out until much later because the chorus shouts at Katisha whenever she tries to tell them. A bit more mistaken identity hijinks ensues, then a convenient explanation is provided, and, as in most Guilbert and Sullivan shows, pretty much everyone is married by the end.
Pros: One Awesome costume, and a fan to boot. The make-up is pretty cool, too. The songs are fun, and it's a pretty simple and funny show that goes by pretty quickly.
Cons: The make-up takes forever to put on and take off, and I have to wash black stuff out of my hair every night. Also, one number in which I spend most of my time sitting on my knees is a bit uncomfortable.
The Czarevitch (pronounce it however you want)
Basically, the Prince of Russia is emo and needs to get laid. His uncle sets him up with a dancer, who gets him drunk a lot. They proceed to run away to Italy, where his uncle finds him to tell him his father died, so he has to leave the girl and rule the country. That is pretty much the show. There's also a random side plot that is funny and slightly more interesting, but I don't really understand it well enough to write it out here.
Pros: I'm on stage for all of three rather short songs, and I get paid for 4 hours of work every time we do this show. I've only got one costume, and I juggle on stage.
Cons: It's kind of boring when you don't have to do anything.
Next: The Cabaret Girl, The Yeomen of the Guard, and L'Etoile.
You should have had me dressed as a geisha; light opera doesn't have vikings.
17 July 2008
Addendum: In which a shameless plug is given
If any of you haven't yet checked out Dr. Horrible's Sing-a-long Blog, go now before it's too late. Hurry!
You should have had me dressed as a geisha; light opera doesn't have vikings.
You should have had me dressed as a geisha; light opera doesn't have vikings.
16 July 2008
In which the silence of the blog is broken
Where is everybody? Seriously, is July International Don't Blog Month? Or has the threat of consumption by fictional extraterrestrials ceased to provide sufficient motivation? Either way, I have the afternoon off, so I'm going to post.
My month has been very up and down. My family is home now, but I don't get to be there because I couldn't get off work. I barely got a chance to see them while they were here, since I ended up working sixty five hours that week. But, I also got 25 hours worth of overtime, which will come in handy quite soon. That's pretty much how I get through the really long weeks - just thinking about the overtime I'm making. I'm planning to put at least a thousand dollars into a savings account when I get home, hopefully more. It's nice to have a safety net, of a sort.
Next semester is going to be stressful and difficult, but also awesome. A sampling of what I have on my plate:
2 a capella groups
4 classes (Incuding a period as a TA for my advisor's freshman seminar)
A ridiculous amount of theatre stuff:
-Prop Master for "A Flea in Her Ear"
-Trying out for "A Flea in Her Ear (I know I said I'd never try and juggle those two things again, but it's such a good script. I can't not!)
-Stage managing the Fall Dance Concert
-Costume design for the Fall Dance Concert
-ACTF costume design competition
-ACTF scenic design competition
In addition to all of this, I have decided (because I am crazy) to teach myself a new musical instrument. A week ago I purchased a Dean Playmate Acoustic/Electric Bass Guitar. My hope is that this will give PNI a deeper, richer sound and give me something to do while Jonah is doing lead vocals. I also hope to use to do some collaborations with Chalkey. First I have to learn to play the damn thing though. So far, not going well. I will keep you all posted.
By the way, for anyone interested, Chalkey placed in the top 32 of the National Pokemon Tournament, but was knocked out one round before he would have made it into the World Finals. No word on how Derek did.
Three and a half weeks of OLO left. I'm feeling pretty good about it. Still not sure if I'll want to come back next year, though. Lot's of stuff to figure out before then.
You should have had me dressed as a geisha; light opera doesn't have vikings.
My month has been very up and down. My family is home now, but I don't get to be there because I couldn't get off work. I barely got a chance to see them while they were here, since I ended up working sixty five hours that week. But, I also got 25 hours worth of overtime, which will come in handy quite soon. That's pretty much how I get through the really long weeks - just thinking about the overtime I'm making. I'm planning to put at least a thousand dollars into a savings account when I get home, hopefully more. It's nice to have a safety net, of a sort.
Next semester is going to be stressful and difficult, but also awesome. A sampling of what I have on my plate:
2 a capella groups
4 classes (Incuding a period as a TA for my advisor's freshman seminar)
A ridiculous amount of theatre stuff:
-Prop Master for "A Flea in Her Ear"
-Trying out for "A Flea in Her Ear (I know I said I'd never try and juggle those two things again, but it's such a good script. I can't not!)
-Stage managing the Fall Dance Concert
-Costume design for the Fall Dance Concert
-ACTF costume design competition
-ACTF scenic design competition
In addition to all of this, I have decided (because I am crazy) to teach myself a new musical instrument. A week ago I purchased a Dean Playmate Acoustic/Electric Bass Guitar. My hope is that this will give PNI a deeper, richer sound and give me something to do while Jonah is doing lead vocals. I also hope to use to do some collaborations with Chalkey. First I have to learn to play the damn thing though. So far, not going well. I will keep you all posted.
By the way, for anyone interested, Chalkey placed in the top 32 of the National Pokemon Tournament, but was knocked out one round before he would have made it into the World Finals. No word on how Derek did.
Three and a half weeks of OLO left. I'm feeling pretty good about it. Still not sure if I'll want to come back next year, though. Lot's of stuff to figure out before then.
You should have had me dressed as a geisha; light opera doesn't have vikings.
02 July 2008
I forgot what the room we were in was called!
Pinball jedi 42 (2:07:39 AM) : William
Pinball jedi 42 (2:07:42 AM) : I am drunk
LehrerMann (2:07:45 AM) : Hooray!
Pinball jedi 42 (2:07:53 AM) : this is an official drunk IM
LehrerMann (2:08:02 AM) : That is pretty exciting, sir
Pinball jedi 42 (2:08:09 AM) : it is.
Pinball jedi 42 (2:08:16 AM) : I have had a lovely time at my first bar
Pinball jedi 42 (2:08:21 AM) : I sang piano man
Pinball jedi 42 (2:08:25 AM) : probably badly,
Pinball jedi 42 (2:08:34 AM) : but everyone else was drunk enough to tell me otherwise
Pinball jedi 42 (2:09:29 AM) : also, 27 birthday wishes
Pinball jedi 42 (2:09:48 AM) : I am a rich man, as a man's wealth may be measured by the birthday wishes on his facebook wall
LehrerMann (2:10:42 AM) : Perhaps that is all the wealth we can expect in this life
Pinball jedi 42 (2:10:53 AM) : perhaps
LehrerMann (2:12:00 AM) : 28. sir
Pinball jedi 42 (2:12:37 AM) : I am bad at counting when not sober
LehrerMann (2:12:53 AM) : I assumed your count was correct. I added one.
Pinball jedi 42 (2:13:36 AM) : ah
Pinball jedi 42 (2:13:50 AM) : thank you
I am 21 and a day old now. I am still more than a bit drunk, thanks to Allison, Phil, and Jarvis. I greatly enjoyed the towny bar and will be returning sometime. Earlier, I would have said "I don't feel no different," but now that I have actually drunken 'out', I really like the idea of being 21. At midnight last night, I went and bought a bottle of Southern Comfort, and enjoyed that mixed with apple peach mango fruit juice. This morning, we finished a sing through of L'Etoile, which is hilarious. This afternoon, we did our third performance of The Cabaret Girl, which is long. Tonight, we did our final dress rehearsal of The Yeomen of the Guard, which is, um, red, I guess. and a little funny and a little sad, since the jester doesn't get his girl. Then we went to said towny bar. I like townies, I don't know what the school has against them. They are lovely, sociable midwesterners. It was kind of like the family reunion I'm missing, only with less sun, pool, and cards. Still, I enjoyed myself. I think that's all I'll say about being old now.
I am 21 and a day old now. I am still more than a bit drunk, thanks to Allison, Phil, and Jarvis. I greatly enjoyed the towny bar and will be returning sometime. Earlier, I would have said "I don't feel no different," but now that I have actually drunken 'out', I really like the idea of being 21. At midnight last night, I went and bought a bottle of Southern Comfort, and enjoyed that mixed with apple peach mango fruit juice. This morning, we finished a sing through of L'Etoile, which is hilarious. This afternoon, we did our third performance of The Cabaret Girl, which is long. Tonight, we did our final dress rehearsal of The Yeomen of the Guard, which is, um, red, I guess. and a little funny and a little sad, since the jester doesn't get his girl. Then we went to said towny bar. I like townies, I don't know what the school has against them. They are lovely, sociable midwesterners. It was kind of like the family reunion I'm missing, only with less sun, pool, and cards. Still, I enjoyed myself. I think that's all I'll say about being old now.
You should have had me dressed as a geisha; light opera doesn't have vikings.
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