Today's Playlist

The Sound of Settling - Death Cab for Cutie
Kamera - Wilco
The Shinning - Badly Drawn Boy
Ballad of Big Nothing - Elliot Smith
It's Summertime - The Flaming Lips
The Beautiful Occupation - Travis
Women's Realm - Belle & Sebastian
Cold Roses - Ryan Adams
Satin in a Coffin - Modest Mouse
Twin Cinema - The New Pornographers
I Believe in Symmetry - Bright Eyes
Oh Comely - Neutral Milk Hotel
Pass in Time - Beth Orton
The Dress Looks Nice on You - Sufjan Stevens
Is This It - The Strokes
Shanty for Arethusa - The Decemberists
Tame - Pixies
The Tower of Learning- Rufas Wainwright

Urinetown (The Musical)

The fall show for New World is a musical. When I auditioned in the spring, this was the show that I was auditioning for. I managed to accidentally get cast in another show as well. I'm playing Caldwell B. Cladwell in the show. I'm also assistant Director. Thankfully this show isn't going to run over 3 hours like my last show. It should clock in around 2 hours. We had our first read through of the show last night and it went really well. We don't start rehearsal until the middle of August, but Carrie Lee thought it would be a good idea to get a head start on this one. We got everyone their scripts and librettos so that they can look over them during the summer. It should be a pretty good show.

Another Bike...

Maybe I'll get this one:

Quote for today

The liberator who destroyed my property has re-aligned my paradigm of perception.

More Bikes

Here's another one that I like:


I'd like this one better with a black frame, whitewalls and a front basket:

Today's Playlist

Shudder to Think featuring Jeff Buckley - I Want Someone Badly
Gin Blossoms - Whitewash
The Wall Flowers - Invisible City
Live - The Dam At Otter Creek
Smashing Pumpkins - Mellon Collie And The Infinite Sadness
U2 - All I Want Is You
Red House Painters - Song For A Blue Guitar
The Shins - Caring is Creepy
Andrew Bird - Weather Systems
The Strokes - Is This It

Today's Playlist

Pixies - Gouge Away
Nirvana - Scentless Apprentice
Elliot Smith - Ballad of Big Nothing
Belle & Sebastian - The Boy With the Arab Strap
Radiohead - Airbag
Moxy Früvous - The Drinking Song
Lotus - Intro To A Cell
Live - Selling the Drama
New Order - Ceremony
James - One of the Three
Smashing Pumpkins - Mayonaise

Six Degrees of Kevin Bacon

I was a stand-in in Elsewhere for Jon Gries
who was in Real Genius with Val Kilmer
who was in Tombstone with Bill Paxton
who was in Apollo 13 with Kevin Bacon

Bay of Biscay

Today's Playlist

The New Pornographers - Star Bodies
Dave Matthews Band - When the World Ends
U2 - Seconds
Prince - 7
Architecture in Helsinki - Need to Shout
Arcade Fire - Neighborhood #3 (Power Out)
Ben Folds - Zac and Sara
Frou Frou - Breathe In
Pixies - Where is My Mind
Radiohead - Everything In Its Right Place
The Cranberries - War Child
Paul Simon - Graceland

Today's message

Reject the basic assumptions of civilization, especially the importance of material possessions.

so there's this

I found this article to be pretty spot on for me. I was in college during the 90's boom and got to the work force just in time to see the economy tank. Good times... good times.

Today's Playlist

R.E.M. - Crush With Eyeliner
Prince - Let's Go Crazy
Room Full Of Walters - Home
Spacehog - In The Meantime
Goo Goo Dolls - Flat Top
The Verve - Bittersweet Symphony
The Verve Pipe - Photograph
Gin Blossoms - Mrs. Rita
Oasis - Whatever
Toad the Wet Sprocket - Pray Your Gods.
Belle & Sebastian - A Summer Wasting
Better Than Ezra - Rosealia
Smashing Pumpkins - 1979
Badly Drawn Boy - Camping Next to Water

City Bike

I also want one of these.

Or maybe one of these.

Or maybe one of these.

TARDIS

I want this.

Today's Playlist

Radiohead - Karma Police
Pink Floyd - On the Turning Away
Elliot Smith - Cupid's Trick
Ben Folds - Annie Waits
Fiona Apple - Pale September
Drill - What You Are
Tears for Fears - Pale Shelter
Phish - Farmhouse
U2 - Like a Song...
John Mellencamp - Check It Out
Gin Blossoms - Virginia
Joe Purdy - Wash Away
Smashing Pumpkins - The Tale of Dusty & Pistol Pete
The Jayhawks - She's Not Alone Anymore

Today's Playlist

Crosby, Stills & Nash - Suite: Judy Blue Eyes
Nico - These Days
The Beach Boys - The Warmth of the Sun
Lou Reed - Romeo and Juliet
Rod Stewart - Every Picture Tells a Story
Supertramp - Goodbye Stranger
David Bowie - Young American
Led Zeppelin - Hey Hey What Can I Do
Todd Rundgren - It Wouldn't Have Made Any Difference
The Velvet Underground - Stephanie Says
The Allman Brothers Band - Melissa

This is the end... Part II

So... the beginning is the end is the beginning. I hope whatever is next comes along soon because I don't know what to do with myself.

This is the end...

So Dirty Hands has run it's course. There are a few things to do yet, but the performing is done. We've got to strike the set, put costumes away, return props and clean the theater and green room.

Things I'll miss about the show:
performing it
seeing the cast and crew every day
seeing the progression in every one's characters
figuring out my character

Things I won't miss:
the crazy hours
doing a show that lasts 3 hours
not sleeping much for the last 3 weeks
my shoes

oil

10% of U.S. oil usage goes into making plastic. 10%! I know that plastic has made much of the modern world possible. It's lightweight, strong, and can be molded into just about any shape. We are currently importing 55% of our oil. If current trends continue that should approach 70% within a decade. Outside of the plastic that has been burned (which releases a myriad of toxins into the air) all of the plastic ever made is still on the planet. World wide, the bottling industry uses close to 100 million barrels of oil a year. 100,000,000 barrels. That's just in the product itself. That doesn't include shipping. And really, the amount should also include the oil used for the workers to drive to the factory. All of this is just to say that there should probably some discussion of all of the uses of oil, and not just for transportation and heating.

Me at Intermission during final dress rehearsal

Final Dress

Well, our last rehearsal before we open is nearly upon us. Last night went pretty well. After a shaky run of the second half of the play, we finally got it right the second time through. I finally feel like I understand what is going on. I'm glad I'm taking tomorrow off from work. I will give me a chance to catch up on some much needed sleep and get some laundry done. Maybe a trip to the grocery store as well. I fell like I haven't done anythink but work and play practice for weeks. It's strange to think that 10 days from now it will all be over. I think I'll need a new hobby to fill the time. Maybe knitting. I have always wanted one of these.

Today's Playlist

Pearl Jam - Once
Toad the Wet Sprocket - Nightingale Song
Jeff Buckley - Eternal Life
Phish - Free
U2 - Heartland
Radiohead - True Love Waits
James - Low Low Low
Dave Matthews Band - Proudest Monkey
The KLF - Build a Fire
Guns N' Roses - Yesterdays
Bush - Warm Machine
Cracker - Euro Trash Girl

Dirty Hands IV: The Return of the Existentialists II

We made it through a full run for the first time last night. Aside from a few hiccoughs, it went pretty well. Plus, somehow, we dropped 20 minutes from the run-time without changing anything. I'm betting we drop another 10 tonight and at least 20 more over the next 2 nights. That would bring us in at 2 hours 40 minutes, including intermission: which is pretty awesome considering how many pages the play is. (For those of you keeping score at home, the play is 114 pages long.) Anyway, there is enough going on that it doesn't really seem that long, if you were worried. I actually felt pretty good about my performance.

Dirty Hands and the King of Communists

Performance week has finally arrived. We open in about 104 hours. We'll be rehearsing about 20% of those. There is a lot of work yet to be done, but I think we will be ready on Friday. I'm pretty sure I know all of my lines. The test will be tonight when we run the show in its entirety for the first time. It's strange to think that after all of the time that we've put in, two weeks from now it will be all over.

The best part about this week is that on Saturday morning, right after opening night, I have a call back for another show. Thankfully, rehearsal won't start for that one until the fall, so I'll have a few months to recover my sanity.

Today's Playlist

The Strokes - Hard to Explain
Radiohead - All I Need
R.E.M. - Texarkana
Robbie Williams - Feel
The Wallflowers - Josephine
Oasis - Little by Little
The New Pornographers - The Jessica Numbers
Ryan Adams - Sweet Illusions
Alkaline Trio - This Could Be Love
Smashing Pumpkins - 1979
Live - Pillar of Davidson
U2 - Peace on Earth
The Cranberries - Bosnia
The Who - So Sad About Us

Dirty Hands II: The Return of the Existentialists

Our show opens a week from tonight. The nerves started hitting this week, which is good. It's sort of a theatrical fight or flight response. Amped up pressure helps move things along. It has also helped knock off some of the running time. At the beginning of the week it looked like a 4 and half hour show. As of the middle of the week it looked like 3 hours. I'm pretty sure we can pare it down by another half hour. So what is this show about, you may be asking yourself. Well, here is the abstract:
What does it mean to be a patriot or a terrorist in a time of war, especially when alliances keep changing? Meet Hugo, a political activist grappling with this question in the half-fictional country of Illyria. Jean-Paul Sartre depicts a land that is clearly ravaged by war and a people who share a basic human desire for survival. But patriot or terrorist? It all depends on who's looking through the lens.

For some this is an easy idea to wrap ones head around. Of course our definitions are based on our own personal views. And of course I understand that my views are coloured by my experience. For others, not so much. What's right is right. Of course my views are correct. If they weren't, why would I believe them? Anyone with an opposing view is absolutely wrong. Truth is a static thing, they say. But is it? I leave that to you, gentle reader. Are you able to separate yourself from your prejudices enough to understand the other? I hope so. In the end, when the bullets are done flying, if we can't talk to each other, there's little point. I hope you all come and see the show. Cheers.

there they're their

I am constantly amazed that most of my co-workers have not managed to figure out which of these is which. I am also amazed that there are people in the semi-professional world that don't know the difference between tolerance and tolerable. Seriously, one of them is a deviation from a standard and the other is capable of being endured. I mean, how hard is that? If there is any argument against English as a national language, it's this: most of the native speakers here don't really speak it anyway.

Dirty Hands

We've been working on the show now for almost a month. Opening is 2 weeks from tomorrow. I'm not quite at the freaking out stage yet, but I'm sure I'll get there soon enough. The nice thing is that we've got a bunch of full runs coming up which should help with my brain problem. As soon as I remember what I'm supposed to be saying I'm sure I'll be fine. If I had to guess I'd say that I'm 70ish% there. The problem is that the 30% yet to go is the most intense part. I guess it is probably time to lock in and get it done.

Today's Playlist

Sufjan Stevens - Seven Swans
The White Stripes - I Can Learn
Bush - 40 Miles From The Sun
The Shins - Pressed in a Book
The New Pornographers - Use It
James - Out To Get You
Jeff Buckley - Eternal Life
Belle & Sebastian - It Could Have Been A Brilliant Career
Conviction - When Tomorrow Comes
Double Barrel Darrel - 31
Radiohead - Pyramid Song

It's us

After two weeks of rehearsing Dirty Hands, we have gotten to the laughter stage. Seeing that we have to be off book for the first half of the play on Saturday, I'm not really surprised. The show is going to be good. The people that I've been working with are pretty good. We don't open for a month an they are right there already. Anyway, you should come and see it.

Today's Playlist

The Who - So Sad About Us
Sufjan Stevens - Decatur, or, Round of Applause for Your Stepmother!
Moxy Früvous - Morphée
Jeff Buckley - Satisfied Mind
Architecture In Helsinki - Do the Whirlwind
Belle & Sebastian - It Could Have Been A Brilliant Career
ELO - Mr. Blue Sky
Oasis - Songbird
José Gonzales - Heartbeats
Prince - Raspberry Beret
Dave Matthews Band - Drive In Drive Out
Ben Folds - Annie Waits

Today's Playlist

Andrew Bird - Fake Palindromes
Jeff Buckley - Forget Her
Pixies - Velouria
Alkaline Trio - This Could Be Love
Oasis - Lyla
Nirvana - Scentless Apprentice
The Shins - Girl Inform Me
Radiohead - You and Whose Army?
Morphine - Scratch
Live - White, Discussion
The Refreshments - Banditos

Daylight savings time is stupid

As some of you know I hate Daylight Savings Time. For all of the crap that Mitch has pulled, this is the one that I'm truly angry at. I feel supported in my view after seeing a study put out this year by Australian researchers that found that suicide rates in men climb dramatically in the weeks after the time change. So not only is DST stupid, it may kill you.

The politics of reason

I'm an Obama man. I have been since I heard him speak at the 2004 Democratic National Convention. As such, I've been none too happy with the way that Hillary Clinton's campaign has been attacking him. I've been thinking about not voting for her if she wins. Then this morning I read an article in the Washington post about John McCain. He's been bashing the Grizzly Bear project in Montana, calling it "pork.” I realized then that he doesn't care about scientific advancement. He doesn't care about education. He doesn't care about saving (and creating) American jobs in fields that require any education at all. He's for the dumbing down of America. He's for keeping us polarized. He knows that this is the only way that anyone like him can get elected. In an American where the population could engage in reasonable discourse; where we could understand our position and that of those that disagree with us; where the validity of any argument was based on reason and logic and not on any divisive political ideology; In that America he would have no chance of getting his party's nomination, much less the Presidency. All of which leads me back to Hillary. I don’t like her very much. And my dislike for here has made me start disliking here husband, of whom I was a fan. I feel like I shouldn’t vote for her if she wins, but I will. I would rather have someone in the office that I agree with and respect but can’t stand than someone that seems like a good guy but I disagree with about everything. Sure, I’d rather have a beer with John McCain than Hillary Clinton, but that doesn’t mean that I’d like him to be the President. I will still be voting for Senator Obama during my primary, but am now willing to vote for which ever Democrat gets the nomination.

A piece of Advice:

Don't believe anything you hear and only half of what you see.

Strike news

So good news on the WGA strike front. They're taking a vote tomorrow as to whether or not end the strike. A tentative agreement has been reached and they can either choose to end the strike now or keep striking until it is officially signed. Either way, they end is in sight.

New prediction...

I'm betting if the writer's strike isn't over this weekend it will happen this next week.

6 hours

and some change is all we have left until season 4 begins. I've managed to remain spoiler free. I do love the episode title. "The Beginning of the End." How can you beat that for the first episode out of the gate after the announcement of the end date.
Stay Lost

So close...

Only a shade of 3 and a half days. Until what you may be asking? The season premiere of Lost, silly. 9 p.m. Eastern on Thursday. Cancel all of your appointments and be in front of your T.V.

Cloverfield

Going to see Cloverfield after work. I'm pretty exited.

Writer's Strike

I've been thinking about the strike today. I gave an update to some folks last night so it's been on my mind. I came up with a prediction. It is as follows: If the DGA gets a good dealer when they meet with the AMPTP this month, the strike could end quickly. If, however, this doesn't happen and the writer's strike lasts until the SAG contract is up in June, I expect SAG to strike as well and the entire thing could take until 2009 to be resolved.

If the guilds were smart, they would broker deals with individual production companies (like they did with World Wide Pants) and work out distribution deals with Apple, Google, Yahoo and the like and skip the big conglomerates entirely.

I’ve added some links to the involved groups to the right. While I think that the AMPTP are money hungry tools that have no appreciation for art, I have included them as well so that you can make up your own mind. I will concede that they have valid arguments on several points. This does not change the fact that they walked away from the table and aren’t willing to even discuss these points of contention. They also have a crappy website.