Makeup!

After all these years, I now have experience putting on eyeliner. My tendency to flinch, when anything gets near my eye, was not helpful.

Sometimes it seems a bit daft,
the things we do in the acting craft.

Molotov Cocktails, Undeployed

Police here have arrested a few people and accused them of making, or planning to make, Molotov cocktails. Alleged targets include Obama campaign HQ, Rahm Emanuel's home, and police stations.

The defense lawyer called it a set-up:

At least two informants "ingratiated themselves" with the three men, brought the materials and made the alleged plans, he insisted, calling it "an entrapment to the highest degree."

You have to be careful with the entrapment defense, since, like the insanity defense, it starts an admission that you did it.

Yes, your honor, I did it, but I've got a good excuse,
so I hope you'll let me loose.

Not Much To Report

This would have been a regular workday in downtown Chicago. But due to all the scare stories about the NATO confab and the protesters...

downtown
was mostly shut down.

I went to work. But a lot of people didn't. I think my morning train was one quarter full at best.

I saw the protesters go by my building 3 times. I had a good view. There weren't a lot of them. My favorite sign:

Give Class War A Chance!

Well, they've got 3 more days to protest before the NATO Show blows town.

Maybe this was just a warm up.
Maybe tomorrow they'll swarm up
in much bigger groups
of class warfare dupes.

Energetic Opening

Our production of Into The Woods opened tonight, with a big burst of energy. I think Act One was 15 minutes shorter than it was the night before in dress rehearsal. And I didn't hear of any mistakes that the audience was likely to detect as such.

The audience gobbled it up like the wolf gobbled up granny, laughing, clapping, cheering.

It's great fun to have a crowd
that's happy and loud.



(photo by one of the Murphy boys)

Old Dog, New Tricks

The young woman in charge of costumes, for the play I'm in, thought it would suit my character to be wearing a red bow tie. So I bought one. And then I had to learn to tie it!

I've worn bowties a few times in my life. I think I had a clip-on bowtie in elementary school. And the couple of times I've rented a tux... but they came with pre-tied bowties that you just fastened somehow.

Anyway, I found a video on the web, and worked at it. Well, I'm getting better. The good thing is that my character, Cinderella's father, is a bit of a wino, so you wouldn't expect his tie to be too perfect.



Now I sort of know
how to tie one in a bow
I should maybe buy some mo.

Dubious Distinction

Another first:

A 1997 piece from the Fordham Law Review lists Massachusetts Senate candidate Elizabeth Warren as the “first woman of color” hired by Harvard Law School, according to reports.

From what I can see
she's the same shade as me.

White is a color, right?

On reflection, I think
we're closer to pink.

First Gay Prez

Newsweek, which gave us the "We're All Socialists Now" cover a couple of years ago, now gives us this:



I've seen that rainbow halo referred to as a gaylo, which was funny. It sure is eye-catching. I imagine they'll sell more issues than usual, which shouldn't be hard.

Boil that pot, if you know what I mean,
and hope someone buys your magazine.

Events Piled Up

The weekend was wildly busy and stressful.
I'm tired and dizzy, but it was successful.

Long Lost and Found

I've posted a couple of times about the mystery of my maternal grandfather. Well, it's all nailed down now, and we've made contact with his other descendants. One of my brothers spoke today to my late mother's half-sister, whom my mom never met. There's a living half-brother, as well, and he has a child and grandchildren of his own.

There's one funny coincidence that leaps out. My grandfather was an engineer, and at the time of his early death he was working at a Westinghouse plant where they made engines for WWII planes.

One of my brothers, and my son, both have doctorates in aerospace engineering.

Is it a random pattern in the noise,
or is there a gene that showed up in those boys?

Everland

Went to see the opening of Peter Pan's Shadow, Part Two: Everland. It's a wild, funny, touching adventure that's set after the events of the regular Peter Pan story.

It is set, much of it, in the belly of the beast - a crocodile. Or, not its belly always, but other inside parts as well, for this a cavernous croc. It's a journey undertaken by Peter Pan's sister and Captain Hook, played by Anna and Jeremy Menekseoglu. They have been swallowed up, and are endeavoring to escape with their lives. Beginning as something like enemies, they end as something like friends, and the sense of relationship between the two is palpable throughout, like a beating heart, like drums in the background.

As usual with Dream Theatre shows, all of the acting was riveting. Chad Sheveland plays Mr. Skylights, another pirate, with crisp comic flair. Annelise Lawson, as the heartwrenching, magical Tink, explains at last why she is such a powerful fairy. Rachel Martindale is adorable as Wendy and quite frightening as the Mad Mother Doll. Avery Ferguson was bursting with energy as the Mock Shadow. And Annie Hoeg was sprightly and cocky as Mock Peter Pan.

Samantha Schmidt is utterly charming as Jane. By a funny coincidence, the only other role I've seen Sam play is Jane from Pride and Prejudice. Has she been name-cast?

Visually, the show was spectacular, and the wooden sword fight looked scary from where I was sitting.

The unbalanced mind of Captain Hook,
could fill an abnormal psychology book,
but still, in his way, he is wondrous wise
at seeing through the world's lies.

Another Story Bites The Dust

That story about a dentist pulling every single tooth
out of her ex? Not the truth.

Dress for Duress

There are news reports that downtown Chicago office workers are being encouraged to treat "NATO Monday" as Logo-Free Casual Day:

Some workers have been asked to dress down so protesters won't target them, according to Crain's Chicago Business. Security staffs reportedly even told employees to avoid wearing anything with corporate logos.

Actually, I've seen reports that a lot of today's fashionable anarchists come to protest in dark-hued duds with designer labels. They're anti-corporate, but they wear the right brands. It's almost as if a lot of them are bored rich kids, afflicted with guilt over inheriting trust funds.

I'm predicting that the protests here are being vastly over-hyped.

Perhaps that day, just for yucks,
I could go to work in a tux.

Politician

The longer "I'm evolving" is your position,
the more it looks like purposeful indecision.

80 Million Down The Hole

Not encouraging:

After signing a 10-year lease and spending more than $80 million on a site envisioned as the United States’ diplomatic hub in northern Afghanistan, American officials say they have abandoned their plans, deeming the location for the proposed compound too dangerous.

Apparently a bunch of normal State Department security rules were waived in order to build this now-to-be abandoned consulate, which is all-too-vulnerable to car bombs. The article lays the blame on the late Richard Holbrooke, who was appointed by our current president to head up diplomatic efforts in Afghanistan, and who seemed to be in a rush to make a good impression on the locals.

It isn't smart diplomacy to build
where you can easily be killed.

Homophonia

A "foreword" comes at the start of a book, 
but "forward" is the direction 
you go as you turn the pages to look 
whether it's worth your selection.

Be Careful Who You Follow

Today I ran a 10k,
but sad to say
I ran the wrong way.

I was following some other people on trails in the woods. They went the wrong way at a fork. I, not realizing, kept following them. And it was no shortcut. More of a longcut.

And thus,
for this mistaken group of us,
it was more of a 10k plus!

Old Friends, Young Enthusiasm

An old friend of mine, Evan Picoult, invited us to a very enjoyable Ayn Rand Institute fund-raising dinner last night in Chicago.

Evan, who lives in New York, ended up not being able to make it himself, which was a big disappointment. I knew him when we were both students at Columbia in New York. I was an undergrad, he was a grad student in physics.

Even without Evan, we did have a very good time. The food was delicious, the speakers entertaining and knowledgeable.

I was also glad to see Lin Zinser again. I hadn't seen her in quite a while. She's currently director of Public Outreach at the institute.

Terry Savage, a syndicated financial columnist, was there, as was Jonathan Hoenig, who frequently appears on the Fox News channel.

One of the highlights, for me, was the short speech given by a young man of about 13, a student in the Chicago public school system, who was a happy beneficiary of the institute's free-books-for-schools program. His enthusiasm was contagious.

The world is forever sprung
anew in the minds of the young.

Canada Is Getting Rid Of Them

A penny, composed of copper and zinc,
costs more than a penny to make.
Which leads me to think:
there's been a mistake.

Bloody

Lately, when watching House MD, I wait for the moment when blood comes pouring out of the patient's eyes or mouth. It's as if no episode is complete without a splattering of red.

The writers must believe there's ratings glory
in scenes that run to the gory.

Skip This Story If You're Scared Of Dentists

Malpractice or domestic violence?

A Polish woman is facing three years in prison after she removed all of her ex-boyfriend's teeth during dental surgery just days after their breakup.

He made the mistake of thinking he could still trust in her professionalism, but she had gone from dental to mental.

She was ruthless,
now he's toothless.