Movie Review

Well, today was quite the day, we decided to go out to lunch and had a terrific meal at Gratzi, and then we headed out to the movies.  We actually saw two movies today, but this blog post will only be a review on the first movie we saw, which was People Like Us.

Now, this wasn't a "WE HAVE TO SEE THIS MOVIE" kind of a thing.  It was more a, "Lets go to the movies, what's out?  Ok, well I guess let's go see this one."  In fact when I first saw the trailer I gave it a rating of "Perhaps on Netflix" or a "If it's on cable" priority.  That's not to say I thought it looked bad, it was just not something I really needed to see in theaters.

I will say that I really liked the movie.  The basic premise is that Chris Pine's character has had a tough relationship with his father.  He doesn't visit often, and doesn't think too highly of him.  Well, poor old dad kicks it, and after his death, Chris Pine discovers that his father had an affair and fathered another child.  Quite the surprise since he's always been an only child.  Even more so of a surprise, his father leaves him his shaving kit, and inside is $150,000 in cash that he instructs his son to get to his newly discovered sister and her child.  So, trying to find out about her and perhaps find a reason to just keep the money and not ever tell her about it (I mean, he doesn't even know her so why should he, right?) he meets his newly discovered sister, and nephew, and they grow on him.

The critics really didn't like this movie, and I'm not entirely sure why.  I thought it was an interesting story premise, and that the slow understanding of perhaps why his father may have seemed distant really was interesting.  I thought all the characters were really likable, and just overall thought it was a decent movie.  If you're interested in a movie, and rather than letting your brain ooze out because you've decided to see Tyler Perry's Madea's Witness Protection go see this instead.  If you don't want to pay movie prices, then perhaps rent it, or catch it on HBO or Netflix or whatever it comes out on.

Health Care

Yesterday I didn't blog on the Health Care decision that came out of the Supreme Court.  I think perhaps I just had heat exhaustion, and the thought of writing was too much.  Or I was lazy.  Whatever.

First, I have to say that I really enjoyed the mega screw up by CNN (and apparently Fox as well).  I was following the information on SCOTUS Blog, so I didn't see the "news" until later, when I realized that on the CNN Blog they had the wrong information, and was slightly confused.  I'm sure people watching were really confused as well.  Who knew that you had to read more than one page of a 100 page decision to get the real information.  I also really have to laugh about the thought of all these right wing nutjobs being all happy before they found out that Roberts decided to vote to keep the ACA in place.  That thought is greatly amusing to me.

I'm glad that the law was upheld.  I think if most people actually understood what the law does, they would be glad as well.  There are a lot of good things such as keeping your kids on your insurance until they're much older, not being denied health care for preexisting conditions, and even the biggest thing that people don't like, the individual mandate.

It actually really confuses me about the individual mandate because the people who oppose it really are the ones that are always going on about how people need to pull their own weight, etc.  You see, as it is now people without insurance will head into the ER rather than going to a doctor.  This is extremely expensive, and if they don't have insurance, it's possible that person won't pay their bill, and the money is going to come out of the tax payer, or the insurance payer.  However, by saying, "You must have insurance" then that is going to change.  But apparently that's a problem because it's the government telling me what I have to do.  Kind of like they tell me I have to have auto insurance, that I have to register for the draft, that I have to have a license to drive, or a passport to leave the country.  I hate being told what to do...

And let's be honest here, the issue isn't "I shouldn't be forced to buy something, because I don't want or need it."  It's not true, everyone is going to be in the health system one way or another, it's impossible to opt out.  You're alive, you will need health care during your life.  So, this is one of those times where everyone has to be in for the system to work.

I'm glad it was upheld, though I was a critic of the law because I felt that it should have provided a public option.  I hope that as people finally figure out what's going on, they'll get off it about the whole "repeal it now" bs.  So, some of the false beliefs:

• The law does not, and never has included government "death panels".  That was a lie when stupid Sarah Palin uttered it.
• The law is not a government take over of health care.  It is saying you have to go to the PRIVATE SECTOR and PURCHASE health care from a health care provider.
• The law does not set up a government run option, it's all through private companies.
• The law won't allow "illegals" free health care
• The law isn't going to result in Satan coming to earth and eating all your babies whilst he pees on the constitution and uses the bible to wipe his ass.

 So, that was the big news yesterday, and it was quite good news.  I was shocked that Roberts voted the way he did, but happy to see him do it. 

Today

Really, what more can I add?

Reasons I Suck

1. I have 3 blogs that I've written but not posted from when we were in Disney, but haven't posted because I'm missing the pictures.

2. I still have a bum knee.

3. My general cranky attitude.

4. Aliens.

Tubes Of You

So, I spend a lot of time watching YouTube.  I like that there are "shows" that I regularly watch, but that people just make.  I thought perhaps today I'd share a few that I really enjoy.

Vlogbrothers:
This was the first show I started watching, and I think I've linked a lot of videos over the years on here that I really enjoyed (either that or I posted them on Facebook, either way, there's a good chance you've seen me post a video).  I like them because they talk about nerdy stuff, and  by nerdy I don't mean "nerdy" I mean like science, history, literature, and have discussions on things.  I've actually used a few of John's videos in my class room, because they were really good and actually fit the lesson that I was doing.  I highly recommend watching their show, I think they're posting twice a week now?  Subscribe!

Crash Course:
This is really related to Vlogbrothers because it's John and Hank doing videos on the stuff they know stuff about.  So John is doing them on history, while Hank is doing them on science.  I have to say I've been less steady with the science videos, but I've watched all the history videos and they're really quite good, while also being entertaining. 

Lizzie Bennet Diaries:
Yet another offshoot from the Vlogbrothers.  This one is Hank's project where they take the story of Pride and Prejudice and tell it from the point of view of a modern video blogger.  It's pretty amusing.  I've never read the books, but I have a general understanding of the story etc.

Platoon of Power Squadron:
This is a terribly lame show.  It's about people who have super powers.  Is it poorly acted? Yeah, kind of.  Are the effects cheesy?  Yeah, little bit.  Is the story out of this world?  No, not really.  But I like it.  It amuses me, and I like that it's a small group putting on a show on YouTube.  It's fun enough, and whatever, I have a lot of time to kill.  I also listen to Wizard Rock, so whatever.

Squaresville:
So, I found this show by just randomly clicking videos, and I recognized the girl from Lizzie Bennet, so I watched an episode.  Since I had time, I then watched all the episodes.  Again, it's nothing out of t his world, but I enjoy it and it gives me something to do.  I know that's hardly a ringing endorsement, but this is just a blog about things I watch on YouTube, so whatever.

A Series of Endless Fail:
Ok this show actually does crack me up.  I'm not sure exactly where this guy is from, but the stories and the animation really amuses me.  There's only 4 episodes so far, and I hope that another one comes out, because I really enjoy them.  Pretty much it's this guy retelling stories from his teen years in the form of animations.  Really, it's not even animations, but drawings with the occasional brief minor animated mouth or something like that.  But that doesn't matter, it's funny, and I like it.

Anyone have shows they watch on the YouTubes?

I Live A Boring Life

Really, what do I have to write about?  Today, not much.  I really do live a rather dull life most of the time.  All I have to talk about is the two things I ever do, which is my job (that I hate) and the show I'm currently working on.  I have to say it probably doesn't make for very interesting reading.  But I don't really have other things to talk about.  Well, occasionally the current events, but that's about it.

I apologize for my boring life and lack of interesting things to talk about.

Aaron Sorkin, Why Are You So Awesome?

This:

Alright, I waited for ages for this show to premier, and I was totally not disappointed!  This first showed up on my radar this spring when I started seeing promos for it while watching my other favorite HBO series Game of Thrones.  Really the subject matter is right up my alley, but then to add on top, it's created by Aaron Sorkin.  Now, I'm a huge West Wing fan, and I really was enjoying Studio 60 until it got cancelled.  But having his show on HBO is just perfect because it's not subject to the whims of advertisers and ratings in the same way.  Sure people still need to watch the show, but it seems that it's more important that the show is good.  If the rest of the episodes are like the first episode, then this is going to be a great series.

The show starts off with a lot of what you see in the first clip.  A respected news anchor going off in a way that is going to surely cost him viewers.  Next thing you know, we find out that most of his staff is leaving him to move to a new show leaving him with no executive producers, nor really much in the way of staff.  Later, we find that his new EP is a women he formerly had a relationship with, and isn't necessarily on good terms with.

But what is the real message that the show is trying to convey?  Well, as they say, to reclaim the 4th estate.  The idea is that this anchor is a guy that never rustles any feathers, and that perhaps he should.  That the media has an important job in a democracy to help inform the citizens who in turn are the electorate and must be informed for a republic to properly function.  Really this is the kind of thing that resonates with a lot of people because of the excessive polarization of recent years, and a problem with people "finding the facts they want" rather than having that national news that everyone tuned into.  Trying to bring back that trusted news era with people like Edward R. Murrow and Walter Cronkite.

Additionally, so far the characters are really interesting, the setting is always moving (as in it's a bustling news room, not that they're going all over the place), and I think this could be a wonderful series.  Only time will tell, but as the end of the episode got closer, I didn't want it to end, I wanted to just keep watching.  That's a good sign.

Brave

It has been a while since I've done any movie reviews, but last night we decided to head to the theater and see Pixar's new movie Brave.

Now first, this is kind of strange because we never go to the movies at night, much less on an opening night.  However, I'm a huge Pixar fan, and have been really interested in seeing this one, so we thought what the hey, and went out to see it (thanks to gift cards still left since Christmas).

Second, I've been waiting for a while now for Pixar to make a bad movie.  I wasn't a huge fan of Cars 2, but it didn't totally stink, it just wasn't up to the other films they've made.  Well, I'm worried we may have our first stinker in the next Pixar movie which is a pre-Boo Monsters Inc. movie.  I'm really not feeling it.  Of course I've said that before, and who knows it might be fine.  But, the point is, lets stop doing re-makes of things that really don't have the draw to support remakes.  But, I digress.

I really enjoyed Brave.  I didn't have any idea of the story behind it going in, though thanks to a reporter trying to be clever I did have some inkling as to what might happen which is slightly annoying, but wasn't a huge deal.  The basic premise is you have a Scottish princess who is strong and independent going up against tradition and the looming betrothal she hopes to avoid.  This leads to unexpected adventure as the characters learn about themselves and grow.  Or something along those lines.

Brave had some wonderfully likable characters, of course beautiful animation, and a nice little story.  Her easily distracted father was quite funny, and her mischievous brothers had some good moments.  It also had a nice little story about the troubles a mother and a daughter can have, and how they have to mend those troubles.  Was it the best Pixar film?  No.  Generally I didn't feel it was up at the level of say Toy Story (or Toy Story 3), Finding Nemo, Up, or Wall-E.  But it also wasn't in the lower end of the films like Cars or Cars 2.  Really it was just one of those middle of the road movies like Bugs Life or Ratatouille.  It was enjoyable, it was nice to see them going for a strong female role, and all around was fun.  So, go see it, it's a good Pixar film, and was a nice time out!

Capture The Knee

Today at rehearsal we decided that as a little team building exercise we were going to play a little Capture the Script.  The idea was that the "generals" from the show would lead their armies in an effort to steal the scripts of the opposing team.  It was ok, but a little too timid in the playing.  In the final round, Becky and I joined a team.  This all went well until, in an attempt to make it to the other team's base, I hit a patch of loose rocky soil, and tumbled to the ground.

I now have a scraped and bleeding knee.  We also lost.  Sad.

This

Now With Added Cranky

Today I am even more cranky than yesterday.  That's nice.  Everything should just go die.

Cranky

Today I woke up cranky.  Actually my cranky has been building for a while now.  That's what happens when I start looking for jobs, and I'm awake at work.

So, last week I applied for a job that everyone was pressuring me to apply for.  It would be a good job, but I'm not qualified for it.  It would be like a sales associate applying to be a district manager.  Sure, they have some experience in the field, but they are not qualified for the position.  The problem is that this renewed my strong hate for my job.  I looked for other jobs as well, but there aren't really that many I am qualified for.  This pisses me off.  I hate my job.  Well, this job at first sent a follow up e-mail for more information, to which I asked for additional information.  Days later, they haven't responded.  So again, I'm stuck thinking about this fucking job that I hate, and the fact that there is no way out of it.  That makes me want to punch baby seals, and throw baby bunnies into volcanoes (figuratively speaking of course).

This leads me to consider other alternatives, which is to try and go back to school again to get more skills to find something else to do than the bullshit that I do now fetching coffee, making copies, and babysitting Ph.D. assholes who are apparently too stupid to set their own reminders and that is somehow my fault.

So, now because of all this I am level SMASH on the anger scale.

Running

Well, in an effort to get back to running, I got up early this morning and went for a run!  I downloaded this 5K training app to help me ease back into it.  It's an interval training kind of a think where you walk for 5 minutes then you run for a minute, and then walk for 90 seconds off an on for 20 minutes, then you end with another 5 minutes of walking.

I have to say, it was a lot harder than my previous returns to running that I've done.  First I felt like my entire brain was jiggling as I was running. WHAT IS THAT ALL ABOUT?!  My eyes were also tired so I couldn't see so well either because it was combined with jiggling brain!  STUPID JIGGLING BRAIN!

The result of this running was that I ended up super hungry, and more awake than I care to be at work.  It's not good for me to be awake and fully thinking at work.  It leads to dissatisfaction.  So, that was the day, running.  I'm supposed to run again on Wednesday and then Friday.  Also, my legs hurt.  Stupid legs.

The Merry Wives Of Windsor

Today we headed up to the Arb to see Young Joseph and Miss Lisa in their production of Shakespeare's The Merry Wives of Windsor.  I was unfamiliar with this show, and only knew that it had Falstaff in it.  We went to Arb last year to see Winter's Tale, so this was our second adventure in the Arb.  In addition to getting to see some Shakespeare, you also get to take in the lovely scenery of the park. 

I will say, this year the areas were much closer to each other than last year, so there wasn't quite so much marching from scene to scene.  The show as pretty funny, though there were some confusing bits, and a few scenes that seemed completely unnecessary (which may have been the result of cuts?) which seemed to drag the show out every now and again.  Overall, I have to say I enjoyed this production much more than last year, because it's simply a better story.  There were quite a few very funny moments, and it was a nice way to spend a Sunday evening.

If anyone wants to go, there is one more weekend, and you can find information on Facebook.

Robertses And Grad Parties

A busy Saturday!  We started our day with a visit from the Jordan nephew.  Once that was done we had a grad party to get to, which was delightful, and finally an evening with the Robertseseses (though soon there will be only one Roberts left, as they will have new names due to marriage)!

So, I'm tired, and I have nothing more to say.  A busy and nice day.

Icee Friday

Not much to say today, it was the most glorious of Fridays.  Icee Friday.  That simply means we went to Speedway and got frozen Cokes.  Ha, hardly a big deal.

Rehearsal ended early today, and the total read through took about two and a half hours.  That bodes well for the run of the show as we have time constraints due to the park location. 

First Rehearsal

Well our first rehearsal is now behind us!  Things went well, and the cast sounded pretty good rehearsing it!  We've got exactly 47 days, so this should be interesting, as it was last year!  It's strange because Earnest feels like so long ago, but it really wasn't, which is odd.  Well, here's to some more hard work and hopefully a successful show!

Julius Caesar

Our next Shakespeare in the Park is going to be Julius Caesar.  I'm working on casting and cutting the script.  We had fewer people than we wanted audition for the show so that means taking some roles and cutting them down or merging with others.  It's been quite the project, especially since we're gender blind casting.

Cast list should be done and up in time for our first meeting tomorrow!  WOO!

A Trip?

Since I have little time off saved, I have to look at mini trips.  So where am I looking at going?

How about...

...the beautiful coast of Maine?

Yes, This is what I'm looking at.  Taking a few days off work, link it to a weekend, and head to the coast of Maine.  I've never been to Maine, and I've also never been to an coast that isn't sandy and beachy.  It seems rocky and pretty, so clearly that is where I should go!  Maine is also home to Arcadia National Park, which seems very nice.  It also has tons of light houses.  So, perhaps this is where I should head off to.

We shall see.

What's The Point

Today while sitting at the local school board meeting, I began to ponder what the point of education is.  Why do we bother with it, and what makes it so important?  The reason that I got onto this train of thought was a presentation at the meeting.  The school has been labeled as a persistently low achieving school, and as such has to go through a huge dog and pony show in order to prove that they're trying to change things. 

One of the things that they're changing is introducing the idea of "academies" in certain subjects.  As of right now I really can't tell what these academies are really designed to do, and I'm not really sure how they're supposed to help anyone.  I'm not necessarily against the idea, I just don't understand the goals and how they are going to meet those goals.

The big that that really stood out was the continued focus on jobs.  Yes, education is supposed to help you so that you can get a job.  However, it's more than just that and I believe we're not paying enough attention to the other side of it.  The point of educating one's self is not simply to get a job.  It's to create people who can think, problem solve, and who are exposed to a wide range of people, ideas, beliefs, and cultures.  Additionally, we focus on where the jobs are NOW, and that may not be the case when everyone gets shunted into a program for those jobs.  Used to be that teaching was a good thing, but now I can't find a job.

The point is, everyone complains that all these students are taking majors that "don't matter" and need to take the ones that do.  And the ones that do are the ones that have job opportunities.  That's far too consumerist in my opinion.  In the end it often doesn't matter what degree you get, because your job will have nothing to do with it.  But the point of school isn't to produce workers, it's to produce people who think and have brains.

I'm sick of the focus on jobs in relation to school.

The Temperature Is Too Damn High!

It is way too hot today.  And there is no breeze!  F THAT S IN THE A!

In other news, had our second day of auditions and probably will need more actors. 

Too hot for other news.

Closed

Tonight was our final night of Earnest.  It's actually going to be a little weird because we've been working on this every single day for the past 14 weeks.  We took a few days off to visit my cousin, and then a week to go to Florida, but other than that it has been every single day!  I am quite satisfied with what was up on stage.  The actors did a great job, despite a lot of the headaches we had over the past month or so.  I'm disappointed that more people didn't come out to see it.  Our advertising was not what I wanted it to be, but at the same time, our audience base didn't come out to see it, which is sad.  But overall it's been a great time, and a wonderful show.

At the same time, we've already begun work on our next show, and had auditions today for it.  We'll be continuing our Shakespeare in the Park idea, and do Julius Caesar in August.  More auditions are tomorrow, and I've got some work to do with the script.  Rehearsals are already starting next week!  So, out of one and into the next!

Night Two

Tonight was the second of our three night run of The Importance of Being Earnest.  The run went really well, thought the house size was a bit disappointing.  It's nice to see a show be successful.  I was very afraid of people not laughing.  It's always a risk when you do a comedy, especially one that is older and people may not be able to relate to in the same way as when it was written.

So, two nights are now complete, with one more to go.

Opening Night!

Opening night is behind us!!!!

I'm thrilled with out how the show went tonight!  I was dreadfully afraid that it wouldn't be funny, that the audience would just sit there in silence, but they laughed, and they seemed to enjoy the show a great deal. I'm so happy about this!  The last few weeks have been really rough, and I started to fear that the show was only going to be OK, and that people saying "it's good" were just saying that as a polite way to get out of saying what they thought.  Well audience response has determined that it is indeed a good show, a funny show, and that our hard work has paid off!

I will say the smaller than desired audience size did sap some of my excitement from tonight, but I'm going to consider this a soft opening, and hope that we get a bigger crowd tomorrow.  In fact, I know a number of people who are indeed planning on coming tomorrow, so that will be even more exciting!

All in all, I'm happy with the show.  As a director I will always look at things and think "WHY DIDN'T I DO THIS OR THAT!"  And that if I only had a few more weeks I could really get it to where I was happy.  It's just my nature.  That is not to say I'm not happy with this show.  There are so many moments that I just find delightful!  So, thanks to the cast, thanks to the crew, and thanks to the production team for a successful opening of Earnest.

Here's to two more great performances!

Dress Rehearsal

Tonight was our dress rehearsal for The Importance of Being Earnest!  It was also the first rehearsal we had in the space, and I must say it went great!  I'm super excited, and it feels so good to be in an actual theater.  It was a long road to get to this stage, and at times it seemed like it was all going to fall apart, but  here we are in an actual theatre, with sound, and furniture, and lights.  And it's a show, a show that is funny (I hope), a show that I'm happy to have done despite the headaches.

Though, we won't know how successful we are until we get an audience.  One of my greatest fears with a show like this is that no one laughs.  A comedy that no one finds funny is the worse possible thing.  The jokes go and there are no responses by the audience.  So, until I have an audience, I'm terrible anxious.  Well, we are less than 24 hours from finding out.

Now some rest before the storm.

Earnest In Two Days

Earnest In Three Days

Earnest

Well, it's that time again where I get really annoying and post a lot about the show.  What can I say, a lot of work has gone into it.  So, see it this Thursday, Friday, and Saturday at 7:00!

One Week To Go

Well, a week from right now Earnest will close.  I can't believe it's so close!  There's still a lot to get done, and such little time left to do it!  It's exciting yet daunting all at the same time!  I'm really excited to get into the theater space so they can get an idea of what they'll be working with.  UHHH! SO MUCH TO DO!

P.S. Here is a poster.

Graduation Day

Well, for many of my drama kids graduate today!  This year is harder than last year.  Indeed as time  has gone each year has become more and more difficult.  I'm quite fond of a number of the seniors that are leaving us this year.  Next year will be equally bad.  Some of them next year have been there since I started (because they did shows as middle schoolers) so it will be hard to watch them go.  However, I wish the class of 2012 well.  You have done well while you were here, now it is time to go out and do great things!

Congratulations.