Friday Meme

What we have here is the top 106 books most often marked as "unread" by LibraryThing's users. As in, they sit on the shelf to make you look smart or well-rounded. Bold the ones you've read, underline the ones you read for school, italicize the ones you started but didn't finish.

Jonathan Strange & Mr Norrell
Anna Karenina
Crime and Punishment
Catch-22
One Hundred Years of Solitude
Wuthering Heights
The Silmarillion
Life of Pi: a novel
The Name of the Rose
Don Quixote
Moby Dick
Ulysses
Madame Bovary
The Odyssey
Pride and Prejudice
Jane Eyre
The Tale of Two Cities
The Brothers Karamazov
Guns, Germs, and Steel: the fates of human societies
War and Peace
Vanity Fair
The Time Traveler’s Wife
The Iliad
Emma
The Blind Assassin
The Kite Runner
Mrs. Dalloway
Great Expectations
American Gods
A Heartbreaking Work of Staggering Genius
Atlas Shrugged
Reading Lolita in Tehran: a memoir in books
Memoirs of a Geisha
Middlesex
Quicksilver
Wicked: the life and times of the wicked witch of the West
The Canterbury Tales
The Historian: a novel
A Portrait of the Artist as a Young Man
Love in the Time of Cholera
Brave New World
The Fountainhead
Foucault’s Pendulum
Middlemarch
Frankenstein
The Count of Monte Cristo
Dracula
A Clockwork Orange
Anansi Boys
The Once and Future King
The Grapes of Wrath
The Poisonwood Bible : a novel
1984
Angels & Demons
The Inferno (and Purgatory and Paradise)
The Satanic Verses
Sense and Sensibility
The Picture of Dorian Gray
Mansfield Park
One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest
To the Lighthouse
Tess of the D'Urbervilles
Oliver Twist
Gulliver’s Travels
Les Misérables
The Corrections
The Amazing Adventures of Kavalier and Clay
The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-Time
Dune
The Prince
The Sound and the Fury
Angela's Ashes: a memoir
The God of Small Things
A People's History of the United States: 1492-present
Cryptonomicon
Neverwhere
A Confederacy of Dunces
A Short History of Nearly Everything
Dubliners
The Unbearable Lightness of Being
Beloved
Slaughterhouse-Five
The Scarlet Letter
Eats, Shoots & Leaves
The Mists of Avalon
Oryx and Crake: a novel
Collapse: how societies choose to fail or succeed
Cloud Atlas
The Confusion
Lolita
Persuasion
Northanger Abbey
The Catcher in the Rye
On the Road
The Hunchback of Notre Dame
Freakonomics: a rogue economist explores the hidden side of everything
Zen and the Art of Motorcycle Maintenance: an inquiry into values
The Aeneid
Watership Down
Gravity's Rainbow
The Hobbit
In Cold Blood: a true account of a multiple murder and its consequences
White Teeth
Treasure Island
David Copperfield
The Three Musketeers------------------------------------

Meme shamelessly stolen from Kris over at Gradual Dazzle.

Englert Follow-Up

Matt received a response from Nancy Mayfield at the Englert regarding the article in the Press-Citizen. Go to his blog to read the whole thing. An excerpt:

The Johnson County Board of Supervisors REQUESTED a statement from the Englert about how the new theatre might affect our operations. We have all known about the Coralville performing arts center for years and are not trying to halt its progress -- in fact, we hosted the fundraiser for it, "Circle Full of Stars." The intent of the letter was to emphasize how important it will be for both spaces to work together to best serve the community.

Two quick points:
1) If this is the case, the Press-Citizen should have metioned that Johnson County requested the letter. That does put a different tone on the story. For the Englert to send the letter unsolicited appears an attempt to sabotage the plans of the new theater. To send it in response to a request makes it an honest, even if misguided, opinion of the situation.

2) I completely believe Nancy when she says she supports the new facility. I also recognize that City Circle did rent the Englert for it's "Circle Full of Stars" fundraiser. But the letter itself doesn't support this viewpoint. If you look at it, it says:

At first glance the proposed theater may seem to make a positive contribution to that environment. However, we question whether the theater will actually produce that desired effect. We believe it will instead seriously jeopardize the future of another community performance space -- The Englert Theatre -- and thereby dilute the cultural environment of the Iowa City/Coralville area as a whole. . . .

The new theater will have the effect -- intended or not -- of seriously jeopardizing the Englert's ability to remain open by directly competing for performers, donors and audience members. Financial challenges that are already difficult will be made even more so by spreading the area's supply of performers and demand by audiences too thin. Even after the renovation and the success the Englert has experience since reopening, the people of Iowa City could still lose their last historic theater.

We urge you to consider our view that financially, logistically and practically, it does not make sense for the City of Coralville to create a new theater and community performance space at the expense of an existing nonprofit theater and community performance space right down the street.

As I read it, this is not worded as "we think it's a good idea, but are afraid it will hurt us in the long run, so let's sit down and figure out how to do this so it won't hurt us." It's worded more as "we think this is not a good idea because it will hurt us in the long run, so let's talk about not doing this." While the letter may have sparked dialogue, I don't think whoever wrote it meant to convey the same sentiments Nancy is espousing. Either that, or it was very poorly written.

3) If the authors of the letter were really trying to start a collaborative dialogue, why would they not ask Chris Okiishi - who is one of the signators of the letter as he is their board - for his input? Particularly as he is both an Englert board member and president of City Circle. Or why not at least give him warning that the letter was being drafted? I can understand a thought that his input might be tainted or biased . . . if the letter's purpose were to prevent the Coralville space from being built. That would put him in an impossible position. But if the point of the letter were to start a dialogue between the groups, wouldn't his input be highly beneficial?

4) Finally, I'm still not certain what they're meaning to accomplish by this "dialogue." Let's say Coralville builds the theater. I don't think Coralville will contractually preclude City Circle from performing elsewhere. Wouldn't that impact their ability to perform at public events (4th of July Parade) or even Contest? However, City Circle may well be the "resident theater" of the Coralville space, and not wish to rent from the Englert any more. What does the Englert think should be done about that? Should we require City Circle to rent from the Englert as well? Do they want to force the Coralville venue to raise the rents high enough that the Englert is competetive again? That would simply exacerbate the problem by putting them in direct competition, and precluding local groups from having an affordable venue. Again.

And let's say that in time, other local theater companies might choose the same route - renting from Coralville as it will presumably be more affordable. Can you blame them, given the high rents the Englert charges? Yes, I understand these rents are necessary for the Englert to remain financially viable after all the money spent on new seats and the like. But the theater companies need to remain financially viable as well.

In making the extensive renovations that they did - much of which was necessary but some of which was optional, though admittedly gorgeous - the Englert pretty well knowingly priced itself out of the local theater market. Eventually, when it came time to start renting the space out, they got around to telling ICCT and the rest of the theater companies about the new price scheme. They had to charge enough rent ICCT could no longer afford to be the "resident theater," and most of the local groups couldn't afford to rent there except for very high-dollar shows. All of this despite all the fundraising and money put into the Englert by these very same groups. The Englert presented that to the community groups as: "Well, we're sorry, but as a non-profit we simply can't afford to cut our prices, and we've got to do what's best for us." In time, the groups accepted that.

Can those on the Englert board against the new theater now understand this exact same sentiment, if that's thrown back in their direction? Yes, if local theater groups choose to rent elsewhere it may impact a portion of the Englert's bottom line. But when the Englert has priced itself out of much of this market. Now, at least City Circle has a chance to have a real home in a real theater. They've got to do what's best for them, and the Englert will simply have to suck it up and understand that. Just like they asked ICCT and the other groups to do just a few years ago. It would be rather sour grapes to cry foul.

Those are just my preliminary thoughts. I'll think on this more.

UPDATE: I've added a few things, but pretty much I've reached the same conclusions. I believe there are some on the board that support the City Circle project and have from the beginning. I believe there are some on the board who would love to tank the project, but in the face of this mini-outcry are suddenly muted. But then, if there wasn't drama, it wouldn't be theater, would it? I think the public's watching this issue (my hits spiked at about 10 times the usual these past few days) and the project will go through as planned, so I'm not going to worry about it unless the situation changes.

Competition Bad, Monopoly Good

From an article in the Press-Citizen:

In a letter addressed to the Johnson County Board of Supervisors, The Englert Theatre raised concerns about the proposed Coralville Center for the Performing Arts.

In a letter, dated April 9, the board questioned if the new center, scheduled to open in fall 2009, would threaten the financial viability of the Englert.

The letter asks: "Can our small geographic area support two theaters of similar size and mission within a couple of miles of each other?

"The new theater will have the effect -- intended or not -- of seriously jeopardizing the Englert's ability to remain open by directly competing for performers, donors and audience members."

The letter was e-mailed to the supervisors and was signed "Warm regards, The Board of Directors and Staff of The Englert Theatre."

I have a few points to make, in no random order, since I'm shooting this off quickly before getting to work. I apologize for the hasty writing, which always includes too many commas and sentences that go all directions.

Key quotes from the letter the Englert wrote:

After the Englert closed in 1999, hundreds of volunteers contributed countless hours and raised over $5.2 million to reopen Iowa City's last historic theater as a community performance space. It was a grassroots effort by ordinary people who had extraordinary vision, passion and commitment. . . .

Approximately $100,000 of our yearly revenue is generated by renting the Englert to various community groups. An additional $20,000 to $30,000 of revenue comes from collaborations with community theater groups and non-profit organizations. We anticipate that in the short term the new Coralville theater will take half or more of that revenue away from the Englert. Some organizations will use the new theater because the city requires them to choose it over the Englert (as with City Circle Acting Company) or it may be selected simply because of its novelty as a new building. Others may use it because a facility subsidized by the city may be able to offer a lower cost than our independent non-profit organization, which currently receives no city funding.

(emphasis mine)

1) The Englert started out as a venue for local artists, yes. However, in the process it became something quite different. I know Iowa City Community Theatre (ICCT), for one, started out thinking the Englert would be their new home and they could finally move out of the Barn and onto a real stage. They donated a significant amount of money to the Englert with the understanding that they wouldn't have to pay much rent and be the "resident theater" for the venue. However, things got messed up somewhere along the line. There may have been a contract signed back in those early days to that effect - I know people who saw one, but no one has been able to produce a copy. And the Englert ended up charging fairly astronomical fees, making it impossible to do anything but the biggest musicals in the venue - musicals being historically the biggest money-makers. Not only that, but last I heard they charged $100 to "use" their concession stand, plus all profits from concessions went to the Englert, not the theater group. And even if the venue didn't charge high fees, the number of potential seats drive up the cost of purchasing the rights to the most musicals. Bottom line: any shows that even have the possibility of making enough money to afford the Englert as a venue must be chosen very, very carefully if these small non-profit theaters wish to avoid bankrupting themselves by losing money on the shows.

Local groups have used the Englert: City Circle, ICCT, and now Catalyst have done a few shows there, sometimes more than one per year. But they can't afford to do it on a regular basis, and so far Dreamwell can't afford to do it at all. This is a shame, because edgy, alternative material - or just even your average non-musical play - has about zero chance of being performed there by local actors. We simply don't have the funds. City Circle is performing here, there, and everywhere. Dreamwell is doing the same, since it lost it's space in the Old Capitol Center so soon after it had settled there: Arts A La Carte and the Universalist Church have been two recent venues. Not even City Circle Shorts (formerly known as the New Play Festival) - a showcase of locally written short plays with no royalties whatsoever - could be performed in the Englert. Which is a damn shame, and I can say that this year without bias because for the first time I didn't have a play in it, or perform in it. An entire evening devoted to local art, and the Englert is not a viable option. So much for being a community venue.

2) City Circle is in need of a space. Oakdale Auditorium isn't really viable anymore, for several reasons. Their Stephen Arnold Studio is pretty much unusable, since it and the area around it is now part of the whole River Landing renovation. They've taken to creative methods for hosting shows, playing them in the Children's Museum in the mall, the Marriott or once in the Coralville pool. They've also used the Englert, but it's just not economically possible to do so for the smaller things like the New Play Festival, or any non-musical plays. So the city has graciously agreed to build them a space. Cool. It will also be smaller than the Englert, negating some of those royalty fees. Even cooler. I presume there's even enough of a rent break that they might be able to do all their shows there. How cool is that?! That's pretty much what the Englert promised ICCT back before they got delusions of grandeur.

3) Sorry, my bias is showing. The misunderstanding early in the process of renovating the Englert has led to some hard feelings on the part of some local performers, who worked their asses off raising funds for the project. I wasn't there at the time, but I know plenty of people who were, and I'm rather vicariously annoyed on their behalf. These were the people the Englert cited as raising all that money for renovation. The time and effort they spent trying to save the Englert, only to feel like they were turned on once the project attracted real money . . . . To their credit, the Englert has done quite a bit to try to mend fences, and as far as I can tell everything was pretty much water under the bridge in the past year or two. The Englert became the place to do the big shows, and the local theaters kept looking around for viable places to do the rest of the repertoire, accepting that instead of a community venue we basically got a mini-Hancher to rent out. Until now, that is.

You're honestly going to praise the efforts of the local theater community in helping to raise millions to create this venue, and then simultaneously bitch because these same people might have a choice to go elsewhere at lesser rates once you've totally turned your back on the very vision you enticed them with in the first place?

(Side Note: When I have more time, I'll start pulling the quotes from old Press Citizen articles. [See the update below for my first efforts.] I may not have been there at the time, but I've researched this well - the entire project was publically billed by the Englert itself as a community performance space at the time fundraising occurred; it wasn't until later that they decided to go the mini-Hancher route. There's a bunch of old articles out there somewhere with the quotes to prove it, I've just got to find the links either in my Side Notes archives or back on the former blog).

I predict there is going to be quite a buzz in the theater community by the Englert's attempt to assert a monopoly on good performance space. The old resentment is going to surface, and for good reason.

I'd advise the Englert board to rethink this position. If not, I seriously hope the Johnson County Board of Supervisors gives them a smack down for trying to interfere with Coralville's plans. Complaining because someone else is trying to muscle in on your high-priced show? What is this, the theater mafia?

_______________________________________

UPDATE: Because I just can't leave this alone . . .

Go here to read Dweeze's old article back when Eric Kerschner had to resign from the Englert due to some of the fallout between local artists and the venue when the "vision" suddenly changed. He was there at the beginning of the fundraising and is one of the people who got shafted. Some quotes:

First, there weren’t promises. There was an agreement. A contract. Some of the terms of that contract have been honored by the Englert. Some haven’t. But if push came to shove, I am confident we could prove the existence of that contract in court. Second, there was a reason that the amount we offered per ticket worked out to be so much higher than the flat rental rate. That’s because that ticket price would have included funds for rehearsal time. Finally, we were upset not because he refused to honor the terms, but because by his words and deeds he showed that he didn’t think we were a particularly worthy organization for the facility and that he didn’t think community performers in general were appropriate. . . .

We, the performing artists of the community, realize that the things that were talked about when the project first started have changed. We realize that goals change, that things that once seemed realistic might not now be realistic. We understand that fact. We are willing to adapt. What we want, though, is a fair and open discussion about these things, not handshakes and press statements designed to get people off the Englert director’s back. We want results, not glad handing.

I was also on the ICCT board at about the time the Kerchner thing went down (though I left shortly thereafter and haven't been involved there since except as an actor) and can attest to the nasty attitude and public pressure to just forget about the promises made. I've also found some of the old articles by running through the old blog's post list. Go here, here, and here to read the rah-rah articles from back when the Englert was looking for funding by billing itself as a performance space for local artists. One key quote from June 2003:

It will be the Iowa City Community Theatre's residence, as well as being available to all other troupes. There will be lectures, readings, radio broadcasts, slide and travel presentations, dance performances, auctions, fashion shows, meetings, weddings, receptions, fundraisers and award ceremonies. Not to mention all types of music performances, including "popular operas."

(Emphasis mine.) Kinda seems to lend credence to the claims of ICCT members that they were misled, no? But it's funny - last I looked ICCT was still out at the barn (thanks to the Johnson County Fairgrounds it is affordable), hauling their stuff in and out every summer so they can bring the cows in for the county fair. Or how about this one from August of 2000:

The Englert is envisioned as a low-cost venue for more than 50 community-based performing groups that have been identified as probable users.

(Emphasis again mine.) Pardon me while I snort pop out my nose.

I'm also hoping Nelle will weigh in on this one, as she has been involved with ICCT for years (in fact, she cast me in my first show when I returned after a gagillion-year hiatus from acting), and has much more first-hand knowledge.

_______________________________________

Speaking of theater, check out the very excellent production of Little Women by City Circle acting company, being performed at . . . the Children's Museum.

Meanwhile, back at the barn, Man with a Load of Mischief is opening soon at ICCT.

I've been a little lax posting details of new shows and auditions, since Matt's very awesome Iowa City Theater Blog is now available for all the latest updates. Check it out for more details, and reviews by local artists. I know there's talk of getting together a 24-hour play thing sometime soon, so you might want to keep an eye out if you feel like writing, directing, or acting on the fly.

UPDATE UPDATE: I guess the Stephen Arnold space is not as unusable as I thought, according to an email I've received. But still, I don't think it's appropriate for a majority of the shows - too small, and it needs a serious cleaning.

(NOTE: I changed this around a bit to put the Englert quotes higher in the post. Like I said, I'm sorry this isn't more coherent, but I'm trying to write this on the fly and actually earn some money this morning. The balance isn't working in my favor so far, and I don't feel I can justify the time it usually takes me to flit back through and clean up all my convoluted sentences.

And thanks to State 29 for the link - I've deliberately kept this a much lower-ranked, and much more personal, blog than the old one for anonymity/career purposes, but the numbers come in handy when you've really got something to say.)

UPDATE UPDATE UPDATE: Matt weighs in - he was there from the beginning as well.

Memoriam

I was composing a post about the tragedy, but in the end I deleted it after following State's link to this comment on the Press Citizen article (no direct link, I've linked where it is now, but you might have to scroll through to get to it:

We would have like
to have offered your wife our condolences,
but you have made that unnecessary.
We would have liked to bring her pies
and casseroles,
to have filled the house with food that no one had the stomach to eat.
We would have liked to try to
distract your children from their
small, private hell, from the agonies of your
absence,
by doing something useless and mundane with them,
like taking them to the moveies, though it all would have wound up
reminding them of you anyway -- grief makes itself known in all venues.
But you have rendered that impossible.
And it is not only them we wished to comfort.
There was also you.
You in your former glory; you in your fallen state.
You are not unique in your shame and suffering,
though it was natural for you to feel that you were.
But we have all known disgrace.
We have all lied, stolen and cheated in one respect or another.
We have all cowered behind the dark shadows
of our worst actions, dreading their discovery.
We will, though we will not wish to,
all live through something that we thought we could never bear.
For some of us, that will be today.
And I am angry at you, yes,
though I did not know you and your family,
though I'd never darkened your doorstep
and now never will.
Because I would have liked to have ruffled
your son's hair when he batted my son home in a t-ball game.
I would have liked to have complimented
your wife on her dress when I passed her
at the grocery store.
I would have liked to buy Girl Scout cookies from your daughter
and then cursed her irresistability when I ate the whole box myself.
I would have liked for you all to go on,
for you to go to jail -- if need be-- and return
to the fold, restored, redeemed to your family and community.
But if you could not have borne that sentence,
if your human heart could not endure that agony,
then I would have liked for
them to go on,
without you,
for them to have been the ones
who got to make that choice.
I would have liked to have rung your doorbell,
to say to your wife, when she opened the door, with a tired swipe at a loose lock of hair on he forehead,
the four children sitting stunned and bewildered
on the sofa in the living room off the hall,
"You don't know me, but I am sorry for your loss,"
and to have awkwardly shoved my famous meatloaf
in her folded arms,
a small bundle of something far less than joy,
"I hope you and the children are o.k."
I would stammer, dropping a basket of dinner rolls at her feet,
cursing my own ineloquence and the absurdity
of using a word like "o.k." at a time like this.
And she would smile wanly and graciously,
I imagine,
if she could.
But she can't.
And there will be no pies or meatloaves or casseroles
or doorbells ringing.
You've taken care of all of that.
There is only crime-scene tape,
and the muffled sound of
other mothers of other children
weeping quietly all over the city,
on this,
the first gloriously sunny spring day
of 2008.

Well said.

Good Luck with That

This article in the Press-Citizen:

An Arlington woman who was severely injured after riding with a drunk driver is suing the driver, the Riverside Casino & Golf Resort and the four downtown Iowa City bars that served him.

According to the lawsuit, filed March 17, on Nov. 18, 2006, Aaron Brewington, of Cedar Rapids, traveled to the Riverside Casino. The lawsuit alleges servers at the tavern inside the casino served Brewington to the point where he became drunk.

According to the lawsuit, Brewington then went to Iowa City, where he continued drinking at four downtown bars, including Brother's Bar & Grill, One-Eyed Jakes, The Union Bar and Third Base. The lawsuit alleges that at each of these bars, employees served Brewington to the point where they should have known he was drunk.

At some point in the evening, Alicia Seedorff was a passenger in Brewington's vehicle when he was driving in the early hours of Nov. 19, 2006. According to the lawsuit, Brewington was on Interstate 380 near the 2 mile marker when he lost control of his vehicle, left the road, rolled, crashed and ejected Seedorff from the vehicle.

Assumption of the risk, anyone? If nothing else, a comparative negligence reduction?

That said, she will likely argue she was drunk herself and so not in a position to know that Brewington was drunk despite apparently socializing with him that evening. All in all, however, I think the comments below the article show about how well that will be received by an Iowa jury. If I recall, I had a file that was similar while I was in-house and the plaintiff didn't fare well there, either. If it will fly anywhere in Iowa, it would be Johnson County, which is sort of a liberal enclave. But good luck with that.

Found on the 'Net

Bad: A guy gets caught using a vacuum cleaner as a sex toy.

Worse: At work.

Worst: The photo of the vacuum in question:

Made me giggle

The wicked little giggle from Charlie gets me every time.

Theater Blogging

We're in tech week for More Fun than Bowling, and it has been interesting. We had barely a month to put the show up as it was and no less than five rehearsals got canceled for weather. I had to miss a sixth, when the roads were still bad, and had several conflict dates to work around. If we didn't have such a seasoned cast and director, I'd be in a panic. But as it was, we've been doing pretty well. So tech week starts . . . and I come down with a high fever, body aches, etc.

I slug through it on Monday and Tuesday morning, but then arrange to have the rest of my week covered until one unavoidable hearing on Friday. My experience has taught me that I really shouldn't be trying to do legal work when my mind is so warped by illness that I have to think hard about simple things, like the mechanics of walking.

I take to my bed Tuesday afternoon and figure I'll sleep it out of my system, waking only for rehearsal. By Wednesday I still can't think straight, and I've got a hacking cough to boot. I stumble through rehearsal, lying on a couch and wishing to die between scenes.

On Thursday I decide to go to the doctor. Good news: I don't have the flu. Bad news: I have some unknown virus with all the characteristics of the flu, without actually having a course of treatment attached. If I'd had the flu, you see, they could have given me Tamiflu - even though it's most effective within 48 hours, she'd have stretched it because we were still within 72 hours. But being that this was some flu-like virus NOS, the doctor could only offer me prescription cough medicine and a little advice on how to tweak my ibuprofen/acetaminophen concoction to best reduce the fever. Which is probably going to last another two days or so.

We open tonight. . . .

I am feeling better, based primarily on the tweaks she geve me for my fever-reducing meds. But I'm still a little worried. At one point I have to laugh hysterically at a story Vicki tells me, and I haven't figured out how to do that yet without hacking up a lung.

However, you should come see the show:

1) The script is hilarious
2) Vicki and Matt do an awesome job
3) You can make bets on whether I can pull off the laugh without coughing all over the audience or other cast members (My money is on "no" at the moment)
4) You can watch Matt's face as he has to kiss me, knowing I'm a germ minefield. (Do they make Purell lip gloss?)
5) You can try to guess where all the stuff in the background came from, and what in the h*ll it is supposed to be. (We're doing this very minimally and conceptually, but I have a feeling that's a possible audience reaction.)
6) It is set in the eighties. Yep, high-waisted, big-haired fashion. For the girls, at least. We've put some serious thought into this: We had to teach Elise (she's a teenager) how to french-cuff her jeans and try to explain what a "banana comb" is. I ran out of hairspray doing my hair for tech week and need to make an emergency run this afternoon. We debated the precise date of the invention of the "scrunchie" - only to have the question definitively answered by referring to "Heathers." Then we had to explain to Elise what "Heathers" was. Oh, and I got to show her how to cut up her sweatshirt, though I still think she needs to wash it to get the edges to curl up.
7) My favorite line (Matt's): "He rose several times, gasping for breath an yelling at [his dog] Five to "FETCH HELP! FETCH HELP!" . . . and then he drowned with Five paddling in a circle around him with little sticks in her mouth. Obviously she misunderstood." My second favorite line (Vicki's, delivered as a completely serious assessment of bowling): "It's not exhilerating like darts or horseshoes." Yes, I have an odd sense of humor.
8) You can base a drinking game on the word "bowling". Oh, and it has been pointed out to me that the logo on the back of the shirts looks like the bowling pin is farting. So if fart jokes make you giggle, by all means come on down.
9) Vicki's monologue about dating a guy from the Duck Hollow Vo-Tech. Seriously funny.
10) There will be drinking afterwards, as usual. Tonight I might call Ellen Stevenson and try to coordinate with City Circle's cast - their big fundraiser is at the Englert. If you're in the mood for something fancy this evening, check it out.

PS - have I mentioned it is a seriously good script, and there are a bunch of excellent performances despite the challenges?

More Fun Than Bowling
by Stephen Dietz
directed by Rachael Lindhart
assistant-directed by Gerry Roe
February 29, March 1, 7, 8 at 8:00 pm
Arts a la Carte, at Old Brick Annex 20 E. Market Street Iowa City
A hilarious comedy that shows that life (and death) is a lot like bowling. Jake owns the bowling alley in a small Midwestern town. He is sitting on a hilltop where two of his three wives are buried. Lois was zapped by lightning while carrying a bowling trophy in a thunderstorm and Loretta was killed by a ball return machine where he comes to ruminate. In his younger days he was a promising concert musician but a foul tip baseball broke his fingers which subsequently healed into a perfect bowler’s grip. Jake replays the key frames of his life and, from time to time, is visited by his daughter Molly who has become adept at talking women into marrying her father for love and free lane time. But who is that nattily dressed man with dark glasses and a revolver lurking nearby?

A Circle Full of Stars

A Gala Event featuring the City Circle Orchestra

and an All-Star Line-up of Vocalists
One Night Only, Leap Year Evening

8 pm February 29

Englert Civic Theatre

Iowa City

Prices: $45, 35, 25 (reserved seats). Special Premium Seating (including champagne reception before the show and mention in the event Playbill): $100. Contact mailto:info@citycircle.org for tickets or call 541-2980.

Our first ever gala benefit featuring our beloved orchestra center stage, this evening promises the best we have to offer in musical theater, with highlights from our past ten seasons as well as songs from shows we hope to bring to the stage in the future. All heard with full orchestration from the Englert stage with special guests from our musical community!

Trivia

Apparently I share a Myers-Briggs personality type with Barak Obama. Not quite sure how to interpret that . . .

Snow Day

Is it just me, or has that phrase lost a bit of it's luster? I'm no longer on speaking terms with the outside world. I think the next ice age is actually forming a glacier on the lawn outside my house.

On the bright side: I made blackberry scones and had a champagne brunch, then fell asleep watching Sunday morning movies.

On the not-so-bright side: this makes the 5th rehearsal that's been cancelled. We open on the 29th. Oh, and there's more snow for later this week. Holy crap.

Now I've got to go clean my house.

Hilarious Blogger Filter Warning

WTF? I am doing a drive-by of the blogs on Bloglines because rehearsal got cancelled, and I see Greenman's posted again (YAY!!). 'Cept I click on his site to read the whole thing, and I get this:



Okay, let me get this straight: State loves to tweak people by putting arguments into inflammatory terms. And I've had posts about the economics of sex and all kinds of off-color link posts, recited lines about multiple orgasms when playing the psychologist in Honeypot from A My Name is Alice, and let's not forget my old musing about why female nipples are now considered embarassing. So, out of all of us, Greenman's the one who gets a warning label?!?!?!? Not that he hasn't posted some off color items, but do you really think he's that exponentially worse? I've really got to work harder, if that's the case. Oh well, at least I got an NC-17 rating. Of course, if you do the analysis, it's apparently for the discussion about legal cases that includes words like "murder" and "gun" that puts me over the top. . . .

%#$@!!!!!!! (Part XXIV)

UPDATE - 02/17/08

I'm putting this at the top, just to let you know: this is not the forecast for today. It was from the 4th and 5th. Yes, I know it's, like, exactly the same out there AGAIN today. Just thought I'd better be clear.
_______________________________________________________________

000
FXUS63 KDMX 050341 AAA
AFDDMX

AREA FORECAST DISCUSSION...UPDATED
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE DES MOINES IA
940 PM CST MON FEB 4 2008

.SHORT TERM.../TONIGHT/
HAVE LET DENSE FOG ADVISORY GO WITH VSBY NOW ABOVE 1/4 MILE
EVERYWHERE. HOWEVER THE NIGHT WILL STILL BE MURKY IN PLACES WITH LOW
CEILINGS AND VSBY NEAR 1/2 MILE...ESPECIALLY EASTERN AREAS. AS FOR
THE WINTER STORM WATCH...CURRENTLY PLAN TO LET THE MIDNIGHT SHIFT
DECIDE WHERE TO UPGRADE TO A WARNING. 00Z NAM RUN HAS COME IN WITH
QPF VALUES WHICH ARE VERY SIMILAR TO THE 18Z GFS...AND ALSO HAS A
NORTHWESTWARD SHIFT OF THE HEAVIER QPF. BUT THE NAM MAINTAINS A
SLOWER ONSET. THE SCARY THING IS THAT IF THE 00Z NAM AND 18Z GFS ARE
RIGHT...THE SOUTHEAST QUADRANT OF CENTRAL IOWA WILL HAVE THE
POTENTIAL TO SEE 15 INCHES OF SNOW...OR MORE...AGAIN MAINLY LATE
TUES AFTN THROUGH TUESDAY NIGHT. ALL PARAMETERS FOR HEAVY BANDED
SNOW ARE SHOWING UP. HOISTING A WARNING 6 TO 7 HOURS FROM NOW WILL
STILL GIVE FOLKS PLENTY OF LEAD TIME. WILL BE INTERESTING TO SEE
WHAT THE NEW GFS SHOWS.

UPDATE:

BUCHANAN-DELAWARE-DUBUQUE-BENTON-LINN-JONES-JACKSON-IOWA-JOHNSON-
CEDAR-CLINTON-MUSCATINE-SCOTT-KEOKUK-WASHINGTON-LOUISA-JEFFERSON-
HENRY IA-DES MOINES-JO DAVIESS-STEPHENSON-CARROLL-WHITESIDE-
ROCK ISLAND-HENRY IL-BUREAU-PUTNAM-MERCER-HENDERSON-WARREN-
INCLUDING THE CITIES OF...INDEPENDENCE...MANCHESTER...DUBUQUE...
VINTON...CEDAR RAPIDS...ANAMOSA...MAQUOKETA...MARENGO...
IOWA CITY...TIPTON...CLINTON...MUSCATINE...BETTENDORF...
DAVENPORT...SIGOURNEY...WASHINGTON...WAPELLO...FAIRFIELD...
MOUNT PLEASANT...BURLINGTON...GALENA...FREEPORT...MOUNT CARROLL...
STERLING...ROCK FALLS...MOLINE...ROCK ISLAND...KEWANEE...
PRINCETON...HENNEPIN...ALEDO...OQUAWKA...MONMOUTH

353 PM CST TUE FEB 5 2008

...WINTER STORM WARNING REMAINS IN EFFECT UNTIL 3 PM CST
WEDNESDAY...

A WINTER STORM WARNING REMAINS IN EFFECT UNTIL 3 PM CST
WEDNESDAY.

SNOW MAY DECREASE IN COVERAGE AND INTENSITY FOR A WHILE LATE
THIS AFTERNOON AND EVENING. HOWEVER...THE SNOW IS EXPECTED
TO BECOME HEAVY AND WIDESPREAD LATER THIS EVENING AND
OVERNIGHT...CONTINUING THROUGH WEDNESDAY MORNING...WITH
WIDESPREAD ACCUMULATIONS RANGING FROM 8 TO 12 INCHES BY THE
TIME IT TAPERS OFF TO FLURRIES WEDNESDAY AFTERNOON. THE LATEST
INFORMATION SUGGESTS THERE IS A POTENTIAL FOR NEAR RECORD SNOWFALL
TOTALS OF 15 INCHES TO LOCALLY NEAR 18 INCHES ALONG AN AXIS
ROUGHLY FROM FAIRFIELD IOWA TO STERLING ILLINOIS WITH THUNDERSNOW
POSSIBLE. WINDS WILL INCREASE TO 20 TO 30 MPH AND GUSTY LATER
TONIGHT THROUGH WEDNESDAY MORNING CAUSING CONSIDERABLE BLOWING AND
DRIFTING SNOW. THE COMBINATION OF THE SNOWFALL RATES AND THE
BLOWING AND DRIFTING SNOW DUE TO THE STRONG WINDS WILL MAKE SNOW
REMOVAL NEARLY IMPOSSIBLE...MAKING TRAVEL EXTREMELY DIFFICULT IF
NOT IMPOSSIBLE FOR A TIME LATER TONIGHT AND WEDNESDAY MORNING.

A WINTER STORM WARNING MEANS 6 TO 8 INCHES OR MORE OF SNOW
FALLING AT INTENSE RATES OF 1 TO 3 INCHES PER HOUR...COMBINED
WITH STRONG WINDS AND POSSIBLY...SLEET...AND/OR FREEZING RAIN IS
EXPECTED OR OCCURRING. THIS WILL MAKE TRAVEL VERY DANGEROUS OR
IMPOSSIBLE...SO ONLY TRAVEL IN AN EMERGENCY AND TAKE YOUR WINTER
SURVIVAL KIT.

For this, the winding roads through the mountains, and that Brazillian steak house, I miss the south.

Dammit

Freezing rain. A freezing freaking downpour. With thunder and everything. Just what you want to see out the window twenty minutes before you leave for a hearing twenty-some miles away. Have we had enough of this winter wonderland crap yet?

Note to Phil: The adage about shooting the messenger exists for a reason, pal.

Free Knowledge

One the best things about the 'net is finding little treasures of knowledge scattered around - things off the beaten path of the usual news and entertainment sites. Something I stumbled across this morning: Free online college writing courses. I've downloaded a few from MIT, and started exploring a few others. The links can take you to other areas . . . for example, MIT's got 1800 free courses in many disciplines. Also, check out Lifehacker's tour of the .edu underground. One link I noted for acting purposes: the speech accent archive.

The speech accent archive uniformly presents a large set of speech samples from a variety of language backgrounds. Native and non-native speakers of English read the same paragraph and are carefully transcribed. The archive is used by people who wish to compare and analyze the accents of different English speakers.

Learning for learning's sake. Gotta love it.

Ouch

My last stop yesterday was in Cedar Rapids to visit three kids - I'm their guardian ad litem. The case is actually almost over, Mom and Dad have gotten their sh*t together and are meeting or exceeding all expectations, so I didn't have too much to do but talk with the kids a while and commisurate with Mom about her puppy-training experiences. I also meet her oldest daughter, who doesn't live with her and isn't involved in my case, but has been in the system herself. We trade anecdotes about court. After about 45 minutes, Mom has to change and leave to get to work, and I've got a ton of stuff to do. I get out the door, onto the sidewalk then wonder if oldest daughter is going to babysit, and if she's approved. I turn around to ask before Mom disappears back into the house, and my feet slide out from under me.

This isn't one of those minor stumbles, I had no hand out to break the fall or anything. That part of the sidewalk was a glassy, thin sheet of ice and I went straight up and back. I basically felt like my feet had come up about three feet in the air and my body was suspended for a moment completely horizontally, then dropped straight down . . . . smacking my head hard on the concrete.

I lay there for about a minute, not knocked out but not really able to think either. Not even a cussword, and that's saying something. When my brain started functioning again, I took inventory: Everything hurt, but nothing seemed busted. Was I bleeding? Nope. Concussion? I didn't feel confused or nauseated. Could I get up? Only way to find out was to do it. I slowly rolled myself up and got onto my feet. I looked toward the house, but it seemed the Mom hadn't seen it, so no embarrasment factor there. I carefully began picking my way back to the car, still doing a mental check for issues: Why do my ears feel all stuffed up? There's also this wierd ring of light in my left eye. Dammit, do I have a concussion after all?

After I got around the corner, a car stopped and a very nice lady asked if I was okay. She apologized for taking a while to turn around (it was a busy road), but said she'd seen me fall and felt she'd better come back because she didn't think I'd be able to get up. She asked me if I was sure I was okay. I reassurred her, with a little more confidence than I actually felt, and she drove off. By the time I got to my car, I decided I'd have to be late to rehearsal and get my head checked. Yep, minor concussion. Ouch.

Of course, it could have been worse.

I Presume

this is not to be taken too seriously. It sounds like they are trying to get as much milage out of the coverage as possible, poking at current conventions.

Things I've seen on the 'Net recently

University of Iowa officials take note: A viable substitute for that whole "naming the medical college after Wellmark" thing?

Crack investigative reporting breaks the toilet paper scandal of 2008.

Bottle deposits and unused gift certificates - is this Iowa's new Dumpster-Diving Budget?

For the Geek bachelor party: Online stripclub mapping.

If you really want to know how that new haircut looks, ask a three year old.

Burmuda Triangle vacations in New York. CIA looking into law enforcement applications?

More useful Geek tools: the Magic Boss Key.

More Theater Blogging

From Jeff over at Catalyst:

Save the Date for “The Who’s Tommy!”


Catalyst Acting Company and ACExperiment by Habeas Corpus will present “The Who’s Tommy” at the Englert March 14-16th.


Iowa City, IA – January 27, 2008 - For immediate release

Catalyst Acting Company and Habeas Corpus/ACExperiment announce their musical collaboration: "The Who's Tommy" directed by Jeff Shields, assistant direction by Rich Riggleman, music direction by Lyle Juracek and choreography by Mark McCusker. Performances will be March 14-16 at the historic Englert Theatre in Downtown Iowa City.

Production dates and times are:

Friday, March 14 at 8:00PM

Saturday, March 15 at 2:30PM

Saturday, March 15 at 8:00PM

Sunday, March 16 at 2:30PM

Tickets are $15 for adults and $10 for students and seniors. Tickets are available through the Englert box office. To buy tickets by phone please call the Englert box office at (319) 688-2653. Tickets can also be bought in person at the Englert box office, 221 East Washington Street, in downtown Iowa City, Iowa. Box office hours are Monday through Friday, 1PM to 6PM.

"Tommy" is Peter Townshend's tale of a young boy's journey from pain to triumph is the most electrifying evening of rock and roll ever to play in a theatre. After witnessing the accidental murder of his mother's lover by his father, Tommy is traumatized into catatonia, and as the boy grows, he suffers abuse at the hands of his sadistic relatives and neighbors. As an adolescent, he's discovered to have an amazing gift for playing pinball, and when his mother finally breaks through his catatonia, he becomes an international pinball superstar. This show is rated "PG-13" by the Catalyst Board of Directors.

For more information email the director, Jeff Shields, at jeff@catalystacting.org

Additional information is available by contacting the Catalyst Acting Company office at 319-594-6411 or by visiting the Catalyst Acting Company website at www.catalystacting.org

PS - Fresh Law

New opinions are up on the Iowa Supreme Court website.

Economics Even I Can Understand?

To begin with, I'm not a math person. I'm not an economist. I can't tell you about the theory of what's going on with the markets, or how tariff laws affect the price of eggs in China. But I'm seeing a lot of press out there on the recession, and it seems to have somehow taken people by surprise. I'm also seeing several articles focusing on the downturn in housing, as if it were a cause of the crisis and not simply one factor in the equation. Most recently, I'm seeing plans to throw consumers a small tax bone, apparently in the hopes they will take that right out and splurge on something nice, and that spending surge will magically jump-start our flagging economy. Apparently, the current wisdom is that Jane Consumer is to blame for the recession because for some mysterious reason, she's stopped spending so much.

In light of that, I have some humble observations to share, from the perspective of Jane Consumer as the middle-class American. Not the stereotypical irresponsible spender flinging money out the window. Not the uneducated victim of predatory financial purveyors. The normal, everyday Jane.

Earlier in the decade, the housing market was good. Interest rates on home loans were low - 2002 saw the lowest interest rates in 35 years. In fact, the market was so good homeowners were making remarkable amounts of money simply by living in their homes:Owners of median-priced homes at $269,000 in Southern California "earned" $38,977 -- or $3,248 a month -- just by holding on to their properties in 2002.

So what's a young consumer to do? Rent? Not on your life. The current wisdom was to buy, and to buy "as much house as you could afford."

So let's hypothesize a Jane Consumer and her family, with a student loan, a moderate (read: not unreasonable or dangerous) amount of credit card debt at reasonable rates between, say, nine and fourteen percent. She's also got car payments, and maybe a kid or two. Recently, she's made the decision to "invest" in a house, rather than throwing away her money paying rent.

During the shopping process, Jane Consumer does the math. How much do you have on credit cards? What are your other monthly bills? Add it all up, figure in normal spending, some splurges, and a bit for emergencies, and then invest the rest of it in a house. With careful calculations, Jane realizes that she can't afford a really nice house, but can take on a moderate home with a few fix-ups needed. Now, what kind of loan?

Well, the monthly payments on a fixed-rate mortgage are higher. And right now, just starting out, Jane's salary is on the low side. But she's got a viable career and good prospects, so the banker recommends one of the adjustable rate mortgages. By the time her payments go up, so does her salary. And you can always refinance, right?

For the purposes of this story, let's say she chooses either a 30-year fixed or a non-"predatory" ARM - something not too volitile, no poster child for the Poor, Misinformed Victim here. Just a normal mortgage that's about right for what she can afford.

So Jane moves in with her family, and while the money's a bit tight, it's workable. With credit card payments, car payments, house payments and so forth, they've got just about enough spending money. They've even managed to start saving a modest couple of hundred per month.

Fast forward a few years. In 2005, as part of the Bankruptcy Abuse Act, credit card companies' minimum payments doubled. Jane's salary has gone up, but not at that rate. It starts to become difficult to make the monthly bills. Some juggling has to be done. Nothing serious, just a bit of a hassle. And no leftovers for savings.

But over the next several years, there's more . . .

Her credit card companies look at how much total debt she's carrying, and raise her interest rates.

She gets her monthly car insurance bill, and finds out there's a substantial jump in premium. In calling to find out why, she discovers that her "credit score" is too low, which somehow puts her at an increased risk to have a car accident.

Knowing she's getting into trouble, she decides to stop using the high-balance cards, just pay them off. She also sets out to try to repair her damaged credit rating. On the no-balance cards, she decides to bolster her score by making a small purchase each month, and then paying it off right away. However, she soon finds out that the "grace period" - the time between purchasing an item and when you're charged interest - has shrunk to as little as 20 days. This means that by the time she gets a paper bill, the interest clock may already be ticking.

She vows not to do this again as she mails the payment in. She's going to keep the card at zero, and only use it for an emergency. Lesson learned. Next month, despite having paid her balance in full, she gets a bill with a $40 balance. Puzzled, she reads it through, to find a $40 fee for "late payment." Knowing she mailed the payment in a week before the due date, Jane calls the company to complain. She finds out that while she mailed the payment well before the due date, and it got to the company before the due date, they're still counting it as late because the payment center waited three days to "process" it.

Not only that, but in doing a little research on the web, she discovers there is no limit on the amount a credit card company can charge a cardholder for being even an hour late with a payment:

In 1996, the U.S. Supreme Court in Smiley vs. Citibank lifted the existing restrictions on late penalty fees. Back then, fees ran to $5 or $10, and usually did not exceed $15. After the Court's decision, fees soared, reaching upwards of $30. Since then, the amount of revenue the companies generate from fees (including late charges, over-the-limit fees, and charges for returned checks) has doubled. Duncan MacDonald, one of the lawyers who worked on the Smiley case, predicts penalty fees could rise to $50 in another year.

Learning this, she vows to pay online from now on, rather than trusting the mail. Of course, that costs a $15 "processing fee" instead of a thirty-something cent stamp.

Per card.

Per month.

All in all, Jane discovers that with the new system her card balances have actually gone up, not down, despite her increased payments and decreased spending. Why? Because her interest rates have shot up to somewhere nearing thirty percent. Incidentally, although her income has increased as she had anticipated, gas prices, groceries, and a host of other everyday items that eat a hole in the budget have increased drastically, which makes that raise pretty much a wash.

With all this, she's gone from being basically okay financially, to being one emergency away from bankruptcy. Fortunately, she's still too proud to be one of "those people" who won't pay their bills, so she's determined not to go that route. But if she did the research, she'd find out that bankruptcy's gotten a lot harder, too.

The point is, while many of us are still managing to do okay, there are lots of Janes out there. People who didn't fall for grandiose lending schemes, who didn't charge up a storm trying to keep up with the Joneses, who just followed conventional wisdom and practices and tried to plan as best as they could. And they actually did fairly well . . . for a while. But somewhere in the last five to seven years, the rules changed on them. What was viable in 2002 is a disaster in 2007. They may not be under yet, but they're heading there.

End result: spending is down. Go figure. There are a bunch of people out there who can't make their mortgages anymore. Ya think? Are you seriously surprised that we're no longer in an economic boom? Think about it.

Yes, I'm aware that some lenders did engage in predatory practices. I'm aware that some consumers were stupid and bought way, way out of their price range. But IMHO as a total non-expert, I don't think those people are the majority of the problem right now. The problem is too pervasive. (If there's a study out there that shows otherwise, please forward it and I'll retract that.) Finally, I am also aware that the economy is infinitely more complex than all this, and that corporate issues, natural resource problems, stocks, international trade, and so forth probably play more a part in all this than what's happening to good old Jane. It just seems that all the news outlets talking about the recession are focused on asking why Jane isn't out there spending money, and I thought I'd clue them in.

I also know that it can be ultimately argued that we shouldn't feel much sympathy for Jane. After all, credit cards should never, ever be used. We should all work very hard at being debt-free. In theory, I agree. But while that may be ideal, the reality within which our economy operates is that most Americans do carry some credit card debt. Others advocate that you should use credit cards - particularly now that so much depends on the mighty Credit Score - but that you should use them sparingly always pay your bill off in full each month. Ideally, I agree with that as well. But again, it's not the reality within which our economy operates. Incidentally, you also need to watch out for companies that charge you penalties for payment in full each month because they're so bummed about the loss of all that lovely interest.

Bottom line: If Jane and her peers are really the problem here, can we please stop trying to band-aid this problem by throwing consumers a tax-rebate bone, hoping that somehow the Janes will choose to splurge on a new something-or-another rather than trying to dig themselves out of the hole they're in? That's not realistic. Can we also please stop focusing on the mortgage companies alone, as if they're solely responsible for this mess? If Jane's lack of spending is really the problem here, why not start by re-examining some of the policy changes in the last decade or so that contributed to her budget crunch? Fix some of those, and we might be able to turn this around eventually.

Just a thought.


UPDATE

State 29 believes there isn't actually recession, it's simply election-year spin manufactured by the media. I'm not so sure. On the one hand, I recognize that the media flip-flops on these subjects, and overplays the crisis to sell papers. On the other hand, it seems like the number of people I know in financial difficulties has been steadily increasing over the past few years. Mostly it appears to be due to being stretched from some of the circumstances I mentioned above, and then having a medical crisis, divorce, or some other type of unforeseen problem bring the thing tumbling down. Not that there aren't plenty of people that are doing fine, it just seems this is more common than in the past. So when the media starts pointing the fingers at State's "subprime clowns," I get the feeling there's more to it. So, anybody got the real numbers - statistics to show whether they're right or making the proverbial mountain out of a molehill?

Legal Debate

Over on the Volokh conspiracy, Ilya Somin and Orin Kerr are having an intense discussion of the role of the judiciary as versus the legislature and judicial restraint.

Dear Vet:

I understand that spaying is a fairly major operation. I understand that Molly should be resting, and should not be allowed to jump, run, or overexert herself. I understand that if she does these things, it could impede the healing of that huge wound on her stomach. But . . . could you please explain this to her?

PS: Have you got anymore of those pain pills, the ones that knocked her out for a few hours? I'd like a refillable prescription. Another year might do it.

LOL

Theater Blogging

Richard Tiegs wrote a nice piece on ICCT's "She Loves Me" for the Press-Citizen. A quote:

The story is based on a Czech play called "Parfumerie" and was made into several films: "The Shop around the Corner," "In the Good Old Summertime" and "You've Got Mail." Secret pen pal lovers are argumentative co-workers. Sounds simple enough. Things are seldom as they seem.

The musical is not widely known by the general public, but it is highly regarded in the theatrical world. It was one of the first musicals to develop a cult following; already a year after it closed in 1964, actors in subsequent productions were writing Harnick and Bock expressing their shock that the musical still was not running on Broadway. Those who have done the show have championed its cause for many years. The licensing company generally lists about 40 places nationwide where the play is being produced at any given time.

Here's the info from the ICCT website (Which seems to be losing more functionality as time goes on - what happened to the show info from past seasons? Audition pages? Pictures? Links?? C'mon, guys.):

Book by Joe Masteroff
Lyrics by Sheldon Harnick
Music by Jerry Bock Directed by Josh Sazon
February 1-10, 2008
Fri- Sat7:30pm (Sundays @ 2pm)


Tickets are available at the Robert A. Lee Recreation Center, at the corner of Gilbert and Burlington Sts. in Iowa City, or you may call (319) 338-0443 to make reservations. Ticket prices are: $15 (general admission), $13 (students and seniors), and $10 (children).

The ICKY Awards are also going on tonight at TCR. The Gazette has the scoop on that:

The Iowa Cultural Corridor Alliance's Innovative Excellence Awards, called the Ickys, will be handed out Jan. 22 at Theatre Cedar Rapids in front of a crowd primarily composed of the alliance's 128 member organizations.

Nominees in 11 categories were announced in December, and include everything from major events like Hancher Auditorium's "The Joffrey Ballet Dancing River to River" and Theatre Cedar Rapids' "West Side Story" to smaller events like Mount Vernon/Lisbon Community Theatre's "Slices of Life" and Eulenspiegel Puppet Theatre Co.'s "Stories and Cuentos."

Meanwhile, do NOT miss Rage Theatrics' Hero Stories. It's playing at the Old Creamery in Amana, and worth the drive, particularly Matt's completely hilarious "Pop Tart Hero." ROFLMAO. Seriously. From the site:

This evening of swordplay and stage combat features original plays and new adaptations of classic work. From Dracula to D’Artagnan, this wild and humorous collection offers something for everyone. Tickets are only $12, and can be purchased online now at http://www.oldcreamery.com/ticketWin.php, or by calling the Old Creamery Box Office at 1-800-35AMANA after January 7th. This production is sponsored by Zephyr Copies.

SHOW DATES AND TIMES:
Saturday, Jan. 19 at 7:30 PM
Sunday, Jan. 20 at 3:00 PM
Saturday, Jan. 26 at 7:30 PM
Sunday, Jan. 27 at 3:00 PM

I have it on good authority from the reviewer that a review should be coming soon at the Iowa City Theater Blog.

On a side note: D's totally busy teaching sound design and building the set for Little Shop, so he had to work all last weekend. I, OTOH, had gotten basically caught up with work for the first time in . . . well, it seems like forever. So I went with friends to see Hero Stories. We ran into Rachel, and both Vicki and I ended up coming home committed to reading for More Fun than Bowling. There's a moral in that story somewhere. . . .

Politics? Maybe not.

I've wanted to do another political piece, but all the candidates seem to be annoying me at the moment. For a detailed explanation of why that might be, go to Factcheck.org. In vainly searching for something I can endorse, may I put myself on record as totally agreeing with the CNN critics:

CNN readers respond angrily to 'race or gender' story

CNN received dozens of e-mails shortly after posting the story, which focuses largely on conversations about Hillary Clinton and Barack Obama that a CNN reporter observed at a hair salon in South Carolina whose customers are predominantly African-American.

The story states: "For these women, a unique, and most unexpected dilemma, presents itself: Should they vote their race, or should they vote their gender?" . . .

An e-mailer named Tiffany responded sarcastically: "Duh, I'm a black woman and here I am at the voting booth. Duh, since I'm illiterate I'll pull down the lever for someone. Hm... Well, he black so I may vote for him... oh wait she a woman I may vote for her... What Ise gon' do? Oh lordy!"

Tiffany urged CNN to "pull this racist crap off" the Web site and to stop calling Hillary the "top female candidate."

"Stop calling Barack the "Black" candidate," she wrote.

Many readers were upset that the story did not delve beyond a cursory mention of the issues. . . .

Go, Tiffany.

Poor Molly

She's not feeling well today. . .

Wednesday Quiz

You Are Kermit

Hi, ho! Lovable and friendly, you get along well with everyone you know. You're a big thinker, and sometimes you over think life's problems. Don't worry - everyone know's it's not easy being green. Just remember, time's fun when you're having flies!

The Muppet Personality Test

PETA: Weirder than You Think

PETA Wants Accused Cannibal Placed On Vegetarian Diet

Oh, and if you want to give your pet up for adoption, PETA is apparently the last organization on earth you'd want to send it to.

Link via Leo's stuff.

Fresh Law

The Iowa Supreme Court has published two new cases. One of them, State v. Finders, has to do with the 2000-foot sex offender law. The basic jist of the case: When the law - found in Iowa Code section 692A.2A(2)- states: “A person shall not reside within two thousand feet of the real property comprising a public or nonpublic elementary or secondary school or a child care facility. . . .” but also says a person residing within two thousand feet of a school or child care facility does not violate if “[t]he person has established a residence prior to July 1, 2002;” the words "a residence" mean that the residence at issue has to have been established before July 1, 2002, not just any old residence around the neighborhood. Lesson for anyone grandfathered in on the registry: Don't move. Ever.

You Do Realize It's All Your Fault

Between a Laugh and a Tear posted a work-related rant. Excerpt:

I explained the offer to my client and answered his questions. My client took the offer, but now, he is complaining that it is too onerous, I sold him out, and that I did not do anything for him.

Sorry to those true believers out there, but what the fuck? Where does this sorry bastard get off to complain? I saved his sorry ass from prison, and got a majority of what he wanted from the State. I sold him out? I did nothing for him? Yeah, right.

That's about right. Did he also mention that by virtue of being a lawyer, you're vicariously to blame for the government's being "out to get him" in the first place? We're the one's who are in the government making these laws just to keep other lawyers in work prosecuting and defending against them, you know. We make a bunch of bull-sh*t laws that are so tricky that normal people can't understand them, and then put on a bunch of penalties that are so harsh that nobody could possibly live up to them, all to keep ourselves rolling in the tremendous amounts of cash we're making from those court-appointed fees.

Oh, and did he mention the giant toteboard? The jig's up, see. They all know we have a huge scoreboard secreted somewhere in the courthouse that keeps detailed, up-to-the-minute statistics on every win and loss of every lawyer in town on every issue, argument, motion, or trial. They know our entire careers depend on being at the top of that scoreboard. I believe the bottom rung of lawyers is regularly culled out, sent in a giant pneumatic tube straight to hell. Or made to become accountants.

I bet you also violated the inherent right of your client to be completely unavailable by telephone, email, or snail mail whenever you attempt to bother him about trivial things such as hearing dates. Conversely, you must not realize that you are on call, 24/7/365, in case he heard of a new defense from his brother, that worked great for his girlfriend's aunt in another state with completely different statutes. And how completely incompetent you are for not having thought of that defense in the first place. He'll have to punish you by not hiring you when he sues the state because he got a hangnail while in jail and they gave him a band-aid, but didn't send him to the hospital for treatment, which his co-defendant swears they are required to do by law. He also has the right to continue to call you every five minutes until you do pick up, filling your voicemail with nasty messages and making it impossible for any other clients to reach you. . . .

I reserve the right to supplement this later, I've got to get to work.

Another Audition Alert

Dreamwell Theatre Auditions for More Fun than Bowling

Auditions for More Fun than Bowling by Stephen Dietz will be at the Iowa City Public Library, Friday, January 18, 7:00 pm and Saturday, January 19, 2:00pm. Directed by Rachael Lindhart for Dreamwell Theatre. Performance dates are 8:00 pm February 29, March 1, 7, and 8 (pending rights).

Contact Rachael at 319-337-2206 with questions. For more about Dreamwell Theatre, visit www.dreamwell.com

Scripts are available on reserve at the ICPL.

CHARACTERS: Jake Tomlinson, father and bowling alley owner, is about 40.
He has been married three times and was lucky each time.

Molly Tomlinson, his daughter, is 16 at the time of the play. She is resourceful and an optimist; he would be lost without her.

Lois is about 30 and Jake's second wife. She is an avid NON-bowler, she says--but her education about bowling is an important part of the story.

Loretta is about 28 and Jake's third wife. She is a bowler but kept her job as a hairdresser when she married Jake.

Mr. Dyson is the mysterious man dressed in black; he is a chauffeur. The script says that he is 28, but he actually can be just about any age.

The Play: the story of Jake Tomlinson and his search for happiness through bowling. The play was written in in 1985 by Steven Dietz. It will be set in approximately that year, but has scenes of memory which are a few years earlier. It takes place in a cemetery overlooking the midwest small town of Turtle Rapids. Jake is trying out his own grave at the beginning of the play and is then interrupted by his daughter, Molly, who is riding her bicycle. He falls asleep and in his and Molly's memories, we meet his second and third wives (who are, at the time of the play, dead and buried on either side of the grave which he is trying out). The play is humorous, also with some touching scenes, and tells how he married his second and third wives (Loretta and Lois) and how they happen to be dead now. The ending is a humorous and wry one with references to his first wife (who is only talked about in the play and who is Molly's mother).

There is also a mysterious man in black who is looking for Jake and who acts as narrator and our host. His presence and purpose are eventually revealed to Jake and Molly and lead us to the ending.

Well, that's one way to end the FISA debate . . .

Phone companies cut FBI wiretaps due to unpaid bills

Political Venting

One of the things I've liked about the democratic campaigns this year is a slight increase in the candidate's general abillity to focus on the issues, rather than stereotypes. Despite the press' repeatedly stating the obvious - Hillary Clinton is female, Barak Obama is black - the candidates themselves are usually able to focus on the issues. I think this is resonating with democratic voters, which is precisely why those two are the front-runners for their party. The voters I've spoken with bear this out. They generally seem to be saying that while it would be a very cool thing to have the first (insert pertinent adjective) President, they are primarily concerned with electing the best person to do the job, and the rest is a bonus.

So I was rather annoyed by this article in the New York Times by Gloria Steinem, basically arguing that women should all vote for Hillary because women are more disadvantaged than African-Americans:

"So why is the sex barrier not taken as seriously as the racial one? The reasons are as pervasive as the air we breathe: because sexism is still confused with nature as racism once was; because anything that affects males is seen as more serious than anything that affects “only” the female half of the human race; because children are still raised mostly by women (to put it mildly) so men especially tend to feel they are regressing to childhood when dealing with a powerful woman; because racism stereotyped black men as more “masculine” for so long that some white men find their presence to be masculinity-affirming (as long as there aren’t too many of them); and because there is still no “right” way to be a woman in public power without being considered a you-know-what."

Of course, she then qualifies her argument:

"I’m not advocating a competition for who has it toughest. The caste systems of sex and race are interdependent and can only be uprooted together. That’s why Senators Clinton and Obama have to be careful not to let a healthy debate turn into the kind of hostility that the news media love. Both will need a coalition of outsiders to win a general election. The abolition and suffrage movements progressed when united and were damaged by division; we should remember that."

Is it just me, or does this sound like the old line, "I'm not prejudiced, but (insert prejudiced statement here)?" The entire article makes the point that Hillary should be supported simply because she's female, and indeed implies that young female democratic voters only supported Obama over Clinton because they just don't get it:

"What worries me is that some women, perhaps especially younger ones, hope to deny or escape the sexual caste system; thus Iowa women over 50 and 60, who disproportionately supported Senator Clinton, proved once again that women are the one group that grows more radical with age."

Reaction in the feminist blogosphere has been swift to condemn Steinem:

Alas, a Blog posted a cartoon basically summing up Steinem's article in two panels, saying: "I'm not advocating a competition on who has it toughest, blacks or women . . . but let's not forget how much harder sexism is on Clinton than racism is on Obama."

Angry Black Bitch has some great quotes:

"What country does Gloria live in where race barriers are taken seriously? I’d love to know…shit, maybe I’ll move there. . . . [T]his article is soaked in the fluid of competition. It reeks of frustration that I fear is born from a place of entitlement even though it is dressed in the language of the oppressed."

I also love her conclusion:

I agree with Ms. Steinem that we have to be able to say that we are supporting her, a woman candidate, 'because she would be a great president and because she is a woman.'

But we also have to be able to say I’m not supporting her because I’ve evaluated her and examined her resume without being labeled a victim or self hating or not radical enough or not feminist enough or easily dazzled by great oratory skills or more black than woman or just too darn stupid to do what Ms. Steinem thinks we should do.

But my favorite has got to be the response on Tiny Cat Pants entitled "Gloria Steinem, With All Due Respect, Kiss My Butt." Excerpts:

I, as a voter, will be voting for the politician I think best able to be president. That might be Clinton; it might not be. . . . You see, just because someone has a vagina, it doesn’t make them good people. . . .

Did it not once cross your mind the deaths of James Chaney, Andrew Goodman, and Michael Schwerner happened in 1964–over four decades after we–you and me, white women–got the right to vote?

Did it never occur to you that black women didn’t, by and large, enjoy the same right to vote our foremothers did? And that you, by framing it as some kind of competition for who has it the worst–black men or “women”–basically just said to every black woman in America, “My experience as a woman is the experience of women in America, not yours.”

I mean, it’s gross that you would, after saying out of your own mouth, that you’re not advocating a competition for who has it the toughest, turn right around and use your column to advocate a competition for who has it the toughest, with Hillary Clinton as the winner, but to just basically erase a whole swatch of history you lived through in order to do it?

Shame on you.

My take: there are some voters who will align themselves with a candidate simply because they share a common characteristic. This impulse is particularly strong when that characteristic can be seen as a stigma. There are myriad reasons for this: the commonality of mutual experience, a feeling of shared values, and a perception that the candidate will 'stand up for their own' all play a significant role. So I don't think we'll ever completely extinguish that impulse. That said, I'd love to see prejudice itself eradicated. It would be wonderful to have an election in which there is no question as to whether a well-qualified candidate is "electable" simply because of their race, gender, or religion.

That's why, regardless of politics, it is nice to see that the candidates themselves are focusing more on the issues, and - at least in comparison with past elections - downplaying the (insert minority status) card. It's nice to see the voters talking more about the candidate's positions than their physical appearance. And although it was more than a little insulting to Iowans (including me) that the nation was totally astonished our democratic voters would in fact place Obama first and Hillary second when there was a fairly viable white male available in Edwards, I really enjoyed that we disproved their bigoted assumptions we're all corn-fed, backwater, redneck white hicks who wouldn't know an issue if it bit us in the ass.

As for this election: Steinem thinks that by voting for anyone else, I'm obviously denying my own gender, hoping to be exempted from sexism because I'm simply too naive to recognize the pervasiveness of male privilege? That in order to be a "real woman" I must vote for Clinton simply because she possesses a vagina? And that if I, or the rest of the "younger" women, don't agree with her on this (or indeed on any substantive issue) it's because we're just not smart enough to get the facts through our pretty little heads? Now that's some prejudice.

UPDATE:

I definitely spoke too soon.

No matter what the election, it seems sooner or later every candidate is bound to really annoy me on every level. PS to black Iowans: apparently you don't exist.

Ludicrous.

UPDATE UPDATE:
Okay, that's a theme: stop the "silliness".


UPDATE UPDATE UPDATE:
LOL

This Just Emailed

Auditions for Catalyst Acting Company and Habeas Corpus/ACE’s
production of “The Who’s Tommy” will be held January 10 and 11 at the
Iowa City Rec Center.

Catalyst Acting Company and Habeas Corpus/ACE announce auditions
for their musical collaboration: “The Who‘s Tommy” directed by Jeff
Shields, assistant directed by Rich Riggleman, music direction by Lyle Juracek
and choreography by Mark McCusker and Nora Garda. It will be performed
on March 14-16 at the historic Englert Theatre in Downtown Iowa City.

"Tommy" is Peter Townshend’s tale of a young boy’s journey from pain
to triumph is the most electrifying evening of rock and roll ever to play in
a theatre. After witnessing the accidental murder of his mother's lover by
his father, Tommy is traumatized into catatonia, and as the boy grows,
he suffers abuse at the hands of his sadistic relatives and neighbors. As
an adolescent, he’s discovered to have an uncanny knack for playing
pinball, and when his mother finally breaks through his catatonia, he
becomes an international pinball superstar. This show is rated “PG-13”
by the Catalyst Board of Directors.

Auditions will be held at the Iowa City Robert A Lee Recreation Center
on Thursday January 10th and Friday, January 11th starting at 7PM. All
ages are welcome to audition. In addition to adults, this show will require
10-15 talented high school students. People interested in auditioning
that aren’t able to attend the scheduled auditions can contact the
director at 319-688-5087 or jeff@catalystacting.org to schedule an
alternative date. We're also looking for one 4 year old boy and one 10
year old boy to play the younger Tommys.

Those auditioning need to bring a completed audition form
(available at www.catalystacting.org), a prepared 1 minute piece of a musical theatre song,
sheet music for both the person auditioning and for the accompanist,
comfortable clothing for some dance movement, and a list of rehearsal
conflicts.

For more information email the director, Jeff Shields, at
jeff@catalystacting.org.

Additional information is available by contacting the Catalyst Acting
Company office at 319-594-6411 or by visiting the Catalyst Acting
Company website at www.catalystacting.org

Congratulations

I see Aprille has a new guy in her life.

Update

If you're wondering whether I'm still alive, my itinerary's looked like this:

August - Moved back to Iowa

September - Spent catching up with all the work I missed due to the move, and being in That Day in September, directed by Matt from Thoughts from the Oasis. Dad has a crisis when his apartment complex tears up the parking lot to fix some potholes, making him house-bound for all intents and purposes because he can't walk long distances due to the cancer. The owners say he gets no special treatment like parking on the grass close to his door. I point out that handicap access is sort of required by law, and he's not only handicapped but in hospice. I start a proceeding to get an injunction, then they speed it up and finish the work fast enough that it becomes moot. And also put in a handicapped space in the parking lot, which they hadn't done previously.

October - Had to take a week off to work on the set of Long Christmas Ride Home when D's back problems finally got the best of him (surgery pending). Brought home Molly to cheer him up. I get a bunch of new cases when an attorney decides to leave town and redistribute her caseload. Dad wants me to help him get into another apartment because of the mess in September, and is clinically depressed. Hospice has us looking into options.

November - Started to get caught up again, but then my father and grandmother both passed away just before Thanksgiving. I have to take a few weeks off to plan one funeral and go to the other, both in the Chicago area. I also get the fun job of winding down my dad's estate.

December - Most of my clients appear to be suffering from an incurable impulse to screw up their lives in the worst way possible. Cases explode, my siblings want the estate done NOW, and I'd be happy just to get his stuff moved out of the apartment. Meanwhile, my hard drive dies and I have to buy a new one and reload every scrap of software, some of which I don't have the discs for anymore.

January - It is getting better. Really. Though it's still two steps forward, one back. Yesterday I tried shutting off the utilities to my Dad's place. One of them won't talk to me because I'm not "authorized on the account" (so you think I'm going to get him to call you??). Another tried to insist I have to transfer the account into my own name before I can request a shut-off - thus making me personally responsible for his past-due bills, which were already past due before he died. Do I look stupid?

I keep telling myself I'm going to get back to blogging. Like I'm going to get back to exercising, get my house finally organized, get caught up at work, etc. It's just not happening as fast as I'd like. Sorry, folks. In the interim, amuse yourselves with a quiz:

What Your Name Really Means

You are a seeker of knowledge, and you have learned many things in your life. You are also a keeper of knowledge - meaning you don't spill secrets or spread gossip. People sometimes think you're snobby or aloof, but you're just too deep in thought to pay attention to them. You are wild, crazy, and a huge rebel. You're always up to something. You have a ton of energy, and most people can't handle you. You're very intense. You definitely are a handful, and you're likely to get in trouble. But your kind of trouble is a lot of fun. You tend to be pretty tightly wound. It's easy to get you excited... which can be a good or bad thing. You have a lot of enthusiasm, but it fades rather quickly. You don't stick with any one thing for very long. You have the drive to accomplish a lot in a short amount of time. Your biggest problem is making sure you finish the projects you start. You are the total package - suave, sexy, smart, and strong. You have the whole world under your spell, and you can influence almost everyone you know. You don't always resist your urges to crush the weak. Just remember, they don't have as much going for them as you do. You are a seeker. You often find yourself restless - and you have a lot of questions about life. You tend to travel often, to fairly random locations. You're most comfortable when you're far away from home. You are quite passionate and easily tempted. Your impulses sometimes get you into trouble. You are very intuitive and wise. You understand the world better than most people. You also have a very active imagination. You often get carried away with your thoughts. You are prone to a little paranoia and jealousy. You sometimes go overboard in interpreting signals.

What's Your Name's Hidden Meaning?