We have some nice restaurants in town.
There is nothing like a home-cooked meal. We have most of our meals at home, and go out only once or twice a week. Like anyone else, when we do go out, we have our favorites.
For fast food restaurants it is hard to pass up the Chick-fil-A sandwich at Chic-fil-A. I also like the Beef-n-Cheddar at Arby's, the McRib at McDonald's, or the Italian Chicken Sandwich at Burger King.
But for a top to bottom selection, including some healthier substitutes, I really like Wendy's. Get a grilled chicken sandwich and a side salad, and you have a darn fine meal. Although I like fries (all too well), it is nice to have some good substitutes to them.
Alas, though, our Wendy's has been taken down and is being remodeled. It won't open again until some time next month. When it reopens my understanding it will take on slightly fancier airs, more like a Ruby Tuesdays, which I guess make it a Wendy Wednesdays.
Of course, with it being gone right now, I can't stop thinking about it, craving it.
We have a number of fine regular restaurants too. Rodeo offers great food, and makes Benjamin a quesadilla just the way he likes it (chicken and cheese only, with a bottle of hot sauce on the side) and always have ketchup for me. Applebee's has improved their menu and service, and offer healthier alternatives. Cavagnero's Italian is superior to Olive Gardens.
But the best service and most enticing menu items come from Wong's. And they have been gone since late last year due to a fire. They are in the process of rebuilding, and hopefully will be reopened in the next month or so. Then we will be able to get Wonton Soup and Sesame Chicken and the Chinese Donuts and countless other items. And with the ultimate in service anywhere, you can have anything fixed or customized anyway you want it, at the best prices anywhere.
Of course, with it being gone right now, I can't stop thinking about it, craving it.
There is a W open in Waycross that I have yet to try. It is the Waycross Diner, and it is operated by Nadine Borrelli, a fellow castmate in The Graduate. I have heard many good things about it and will have to try it soon! Besides, I need to add one more leg to my three legged stool of restaurants that start with W!
Tuesday, April 30, 2013
Monday, April 29, 2013
Spinning the Busy Plate and Other Monday Musings
I may be at least slightly different than the general American culture.
We seem to respect busyness over everything else.
Sometimes we're not just busy in our jobs, we're busy in everything else. Even in retirement, my parents, for a long time, kept just as busy a schedule as they did when they were working. They spent so much time on household and yard chores, it made me embarrassed that I was not doing the same.
So we all fill our times as much as we can. Some do things that to outsiders as if you were creating work just to stay busy. People build deliberately ornate yards that demand excessive amounts of time. Remodeling projects that sweep across a house, and then when finished, you start all over again. Joining group after group so that you have a meeting or activity almost every night.
Although at heart I am a lazy person, my sense of guilt and/or obsession over accomplishing certain things keeps me more occupied than I want to be sometimes. I love to have time for storytelling. That includes reading, watching, writing and performing stories. Sometimes I just like to look outside and think about things.
When I talk about the "tax season submarine" I am very aware there are still people who work much, much harder than I do. It's just a little more preoccupied and stressful than I care for it to be. I look forward to the time when, as the Japanese would say, you can "stop and smell the rose". Yes, the very busy Japanese have a holiday where the whole nation stops for a week and just takes the time to breathe in nature.
And that's what I would love to do. Work hard and then take a week or so off. Unfortunately, that won't happen this year. I have busied myself with the play The Graduate, and I will actually be home less this week than I was during tax season. We have late into the night practices this Monday, Tuesday and Wednesday; then performances this Thursday, Friday and Saturday night; wrapped up with a performance Sunday afternoon.
On Wednesday morning, at around 2 in the morning, Alison and Benjamin leave for New York City. I will get up and take them to the school where they will get a school bus to the airport. On Friday night, after the play performance ends, I will need to rush to the airport to pick them up, long about midnight.
So yes, I am spinning a very busy plate this week. Keeping up with blog entries will be very iffy, But at least the busyness is with stuff we like to do. And that I can put up with a lot easier.
But I do look forward to the time when I can sit on our screened in porch, look around at our yard and neighborhood, have Alison come out, sit beside me and ask, "So, Tom, what's on schedule for today?" and to be able to turn to her and say, "Not a thing. Except to sit back, relax, and enjoy life."
We seem to respect busyness over everything else.
Sometimes we're not just busy in our jobs, we're busy in everything else. Even in retirement, my parents, for a long time, kept just as busy a schedule as they did when they were working. They spent so much time on household and yard chores, it made me embarrassed that I was not doing the same.
So we all fill our times as much as we can. Some do things that to outsiders as if you were creating work just to stay busy. People build deliberately ornate yards that demand excessive amounts of time. Remodeling projects that sweep across a house, and then when finished, you start all over again. Joining group after group so that you have a meeting or activity almost every night.
Although at heart I am a lazy person, my sense of guilt and/or obsession over accomplishing certain things keeps me more occupied than I want to be sometimes. I love to have time for storytelling. That includes reading, watching, writing and performing stories. Sometimes I just like to look outside and think about things.
When I talk about the "tax season submarine" I am very aware there are still people who work much, much harder than I do. It's just a little more preoccupied and stressful than I care for it to be. I look forward to the time when, as the Japanese would say, you can "stop and smell the rose". Yes, the very busy Japanese have a holiday where the whole nation stops for a week and just takes the time to breathe in nature.
And that's what I would love to do. Work hard and then take a week or so off. Unfortunately, that won't happen this year. I have busied myself with the play The Graduate, and I will actually be home less this week than I was during tax season. We have late into the night practices this Monday, Tuesday and Wednesday; then performances this Thursday, Friday and Saturday night; wrapped up with a performance Sunday afternoon.
On Wednesday morning, at around 2 in the morning, Alison and Benjamin leave for New York City. I will get up and take them to the school where they will get a school bus to the airport. On Friday night, after the play performance ends, I will need to rush to the airport to pick them up, long about midnight.
So yes, I am spinning a very busy plate this week. Keeping up with blog entries will be very iffy, But at least the busyness is with stuff we like to do. And that I can put up with a lot easier.
But I do look forward to the time when I can sit on our screened in porch, look around at our yard and neighborhood, have Alison come out, sit beside me and ask, "So, Tom, what's on schedule for today?" and to be able to turn to her and say, "Not a thing. Except to sit back, relax, and enjoy life."
Saturday, April 27, 2013
Sequestral Insanity Saturday Political Soap Box 61
Some of my conservative and/or self-proclaimed politically neutral friends have asked me if I just blindly support President Obama in everything he does.
Well, no.
But many of my mild objections, if they finally understand that I do have objections, completely mystify them because they come from the left - that President Obama has not gone far enough in a liberal direction. We should have single payer or at the very least a public option. The whole drone thing seems over the top a bit. More should have been done to bust up and regulate the too big to fails. But I have understood the political necessity in most cases and am just happy that progress has been made.
But right now, the President has me really pissed off. In fact, so do Republicans and Democrats alike. Some around me bad mouth politicians in general of all stripes, as being no good and just the same. What's happened this week has given them plenty of fuel. I don't think I could ever adopt their attitude, but at least this week, I have a better idea where it comes from.
First, let me just say the sequestration is a world class stupid idea. It was a gun Congress put to their heads, thinking they wouldn't be stupid enough to let it go off. HA! Does the federal budget need cutting? Yes! Is it the highest priority in a slow growth economy and high unemployment OH, H TO THE NO! A thousand times no! You only pull out of recession through government spending. Sorry that this fact is so hard to grasp, but it's true. Sorry that Bush spent like a drunken sailor in relatively good times, and now we have a deficit, but too bad, so sad. If we don't buckle down and pull out of this recession, deficits will never stop, no matter what you do to government spending. You will only spiral further down into the abyss.
But once you put these moronic sequestered cuts into place, it is a sin of the highest order to go back and restore those that most effect your rich constituents while leaving the others in place. The well-off and business class travelers squeal at the first sign of airport delays and the Congress caves like a bunch of preteens at a Justin Bieber concert. Meanwhile, cuts to the more disadvantaged and less well off, including Headstart, Meals On Wheels and America continue unabated. Once again, it's the poorest parts of our society that are asked (asked? - hell, they're not even asked, it's just holy writ!) to sacrifice the most. Disgusting! Absolutely and irretrievably disgusting!
Yes, I mostly blame Republicans for their ugly, brutal intransigence and for continually trying to hold the nation hostage rather than negotiate on the budget in good faith.
And I blame Democrats for acquiescing and not putting their foot down to this insanity. What fool Democrat didn't understand that Republicans were crazy enough to let this gun go off? And to allow this perk through to the well-off is a stab in the back to everything they're supposed to stand for, and fundamentally betrays the reason I voted for them in the first place.
I blame the American voters for voting in such a contradictory way, for blindly saying that they want government slashed, but never saying what they specifically and really want. It's always cuts to the Other, never cuts to anything that effects them.
And I do blame the man at the top. Do not sign this piece of crap legislation, Mr. President! Show some backbone and stand up to these sycophantic fools! This is not why I voted for you! Either the sequester is ended as a whole, or it keeps going unabated. Stop letting them push you around!
I still believe President Obama is the best President we've had in a very, very long time. But there are times when even he disappoints me. And there are rare times when he disgusts me.
This is one of those very rare times.
Well, no.
But many of my mild objections, if they finally understand that I do have objections, completely mystify them because they come from the left - that President Obama has not gone far enough in a liberal direction. We should have single payer or at the very least a public option. The whole drone thing seems over the top a bit. More should have been done to bust up and regulate the too big to fails. But I have understood the political necessity in most cases and am just happy that progress has been made.
But right now, the President has me really pissed off. In fact, so do Republicans and Democrats alike. Some around me bad mouth politicians in general of all stripes, as being no good and just the same. What's happened this week has given them plenty of fuel. I don't think I could ever adopt their attitude, but at least this week, I have a better idea where it comes from.
First, let me just say the sequestration is a world class stupid idea. It was a gun Congress put to their heads, thinking they wouldn't be stupid enough to let it go off. HA! Does the federal budget need cutting? Yes! Is it the highest priority in a slow growth economy and high unemployment OH, H TO THE NO! A thousand times no! You only pull out of recession through government spending. Sorry that this fact is so hard to grasp, but it's true. Sorry that Bush spent like a drunken sailor in relatively good times, and now we have a deficit, but too bad, so sad. If we don't buckle down and pull out of this recession, deficits will never stop, no matter what you do to government spending. You will only spiral further down into the abyss.
But once you put these moronic sequestered cuts into place, it is a sin of the highest order to go back and restore those that most effect your rich constituents while leaving the others in place. The well-off and business class travelers squeal at the first sign of airport delays and the Congress caves like a bunch of preteens at a Justin Bieber concert. Meanwhile, cuts to the more disadvantaged and less well off, including Headstart, Meals On Wheels and America continue unabated. Once again, it's the poorest parts of our society that are asked (asked? - hell, they're not even asked, it's just holy writ!) to sacrifice the most. Disgusting! Absolutely and irretrievably disgusting!
Yes, I mostly blame Republicans for their ugly, brutal intransigence and for continually trying to hold the nation hostage rather than negotiate on the budget in good faith.
And I blame Democrats for acquiescing and not putting their foot down to this insanity. What fool Democrat didn't understand that Republicans were crazy enough to let this gun go off? And to allow this perk through to the well-off is a stab in the back to everything they're supposed to stand for, and fundamentally betrays the reason I voted for them in the first place.
I blame the American voters for voting in such a contradictory way, for blindly saying that they want government slashed, but never saying what they specifically and really want. It's always cuts to the Other, never cuts to anything that effects them.
And I do blame the man at the top. Do not sign this piece of crap legislation, Mr. President! Show some backbone and stand up to these sycophantic fools! This is not why I voted for you! Either the sequester is ended as a whole, or it keeps going unabated. Stop letting them push you around!
I still believe President Obama is the best President we've had in a very, very long time. But there are times when even he disappoints me. And there are rare times when he disgusts me.
This is one of those very rare times.
Friday, April 26, 2013
Early Childhood Trippy Memories
It's drifting away. I better try to reconstruct here, before it gets harder and harder to piece together.
I can't ask my mother anymore, who had a good retention of these things, and could confirm or clarify my memories. But she died October 19th, 2008. Some things she forgot, but if it had to do with myself and my sister, Carol, she did not.
My father will be 91 this June 29th, but his voice has been somewhat muted by a degraded esophagus. It is difficult for him to speak clearly for an extended period of time.
My sister, Carol, may be able to clarify some things, but we were pretty little at the time, and her memories may be more limited than mine. But, Carol, if I write anything that you know is wrong, just let me know.
My Dad would get National Science Scholarships in the summer, going to different universities around the country. I did more traveling as a child than I have as an adult.
The summer of '59 was spent in Eugene, Oregon, where my Dad studied at the University of Oregon. That included a trip to California to visit some relatives on my mother's side. The trip itself is the basis for the story of Echoes of '59, which you can find by clicking on the autobiographical label at the end of this post. Recently I remembered that this trip was the first time I had seen the ocean. So it was not the Atlantic, but the Pacific. And the beach that I remember were these cliffs in Oregon where hundreds of seals were camped out. I remember this before seeing any sandy beaches or surfers or swimsuits.
The summer of '60 was in Muncie, Indiana, where my Dad studied at Ball State. This trip is briefly mentioned in Hansel Exposed. We stayed at a rented home that was furnished, and they had a complete set of Childcraft, volumes and volumes filled with stories and fables. It was my first acting experiences as I would try to reenact the stories I read. Yes, my mother taught me to read early - I was reading before Kindergarten.My Mother didn't have some fancy system, no phonics or anything, she just read to me and I picked it up.
The summer of '61 was at Mt. Pleasant, Michigan, where my Dad studied at Central Michigan University. Much later, this would be the college that my sister, Carol, attended. A boy from our home neighborhood, Mike Easlick, also went there, and they would ride with each other to come home some weekends. To this day, they are still riding with each other. We didn't stay at a house here, but in a college dormitory. One time I got lost wandering around. Some older lady saw me lost, invited me in to her room, and gave me cookies and milk, and then helped me find my parents. In present time, that concept of getting lost and going to a stranger's place for "cookies" seems more fraught with peril that it did then.
My Dad became Principal thereafter, and he worked during the summer, so the summer trips to different universities ended. With one exception. In the summer of '64, we went back to California, where my Dad attended Stanford. He learned about computers and how to use them in schools, so that my Dad and his school were one of the first to deploy the use of computers. My Dad is somewhat of a mathematical genius. But he chose to devote his life not to industry or business, but to the benefit of helping young people learn and mature. This was the trip that was very much like the movie National Lampoon's vacation. If any of you have read the original story the movie is based on, the similarities are almost eerie. Definitely worth a whole story of it's own, which I hope to do soon.
There were other trips, as we acquired a travel trailer, and went to places like Wyoming, Kentucky and Montreal. We took a trip up the East Coast, from Daytona to Boston. I traveled two tours with the University of Michigan Men's Glee Club.
And then adulthood hit, and suddenly I found out these trips weren't free. Most of my travel as an adult has been to Michigan to see my family. And although I would love to travel more, I wouldn't trade those memories away, either.
I can't ask my mother anymore, who had a good retention of these things, and could confirm or clarify my memories. But she died October 19th, 2008. Some things she forgot, but if it had to do with myself and my sister, Carol, she did not.
My father will be 91 this June 29th, but his voice has been somewhat muted by a degraded esophagus. It is difficult for him to speak clearly for an extended period of time.
My sister, Carol, may be able to clarify some things, but we were pretty little at the time, and her memories may be more limited than mine. But, Carol, if I write anything that you know is wrong, just let me know.
My Dad would get National Science Scholarships in the summer, going to different universities around the country. I did more traveling as a child than I have as an adult.
The summer of '59 was spent in Eugene, Oregon, where my Dad studied at the University of Oregon. That included a trip to California to visit some relatives on my mother's side. The trip itself is the basis for the story of Echoes of '59, which you can find by clicking on the autobiographical label at the end of this post. Recently I remembered that this trip was the first time I had seen the ocean. So it was not the Atlantic, but the Pacific. And the beach that I remember were these cliffs in Oregon where hundreds of seals were camped out. I remember this before seeing any sandy beaches or surfers or swimsuits.
The summer of '60 was in Muncie, Indiana, where my Dad studied at Ball State. This trip is briefly mentioned in Hansel Exposed. We stayed at a rented home that was furnished, and they had a complete set of Childcraft, volumes and volumes filled with stories and fables. It was my first acting experiences as I would try to reenact the stories I read. Yes, my mother taught me to read early - I was reading before Kindergarten.My Mother didn't have some fancy system, no phonics or anything, she just read to me and I picked it up.
The summer of '61 was at Mt. Pleasant, Michigan, where my Dad studied at Central Michigan University. Much later, this would be the college that my sister, Carol, attended. A boy from our home neighborhood, Mike Easlick, also went there, and they would ride with each other to come home some weekends. To this day, they are still riding with each other. We didn't stay at a house here, but in a college dormitory. One time I got lost wandering around. Some older lady saw me lost, invited me in to her room, and gave me cookies and milk, and then helped me find my parents. In present time, that concept of getting lost and going to a stranger's place for "cookies" seems more fraught with peril that it did then.
My Dad became Principal thereafter, and he worked during the summer, so the summer trips to different universities ended. With one exception. In the summer of '64, we went back to California, where my Dad attended Stanford. He learned about computers and how to use them in schools, so that my Dad and his school were one of the first to deploy the use of computers. My Dad is somewhat of a mathematical genius. But he chose to devote his life not to industry or business, but to the benefit of helping young people learn and mature. This was the trip that was very much like the movie National Lampoon's vacation. If any of you have read the original story the movie is based on, the similarities are almost eerie. Definitely worth a whole story of it's own, which I hope to do soon.
There were other trips, as we acquired a travel trailer, and went to places like Wyoming, Kentucky and Montreal. We took a trip up the East Coast, from Daytona to Boston. I traveled two tours with the University of Michigan Men's Glee Club.
And then adulthood hit, and suddenly I found out these trips weren't free. Most of my travel as an adult has been to Michigan to see my family. And although I would love to travel more, I wouldn't trade those memories away, either.
Thursday, April 25, 2013
Cinderella This Weekend!
Come to the back of the old Greyhound bus station and watch Cinderella lose her slipper. That's 405 Tebeau Street in Waycross right next to the Downtown Sandwich Shoppe.
Come see the classic tale adapted for our children's theater. April 26th & 27th, May 3rd & 4th - All shows at 7:00 PM
Come see the classic tale adapted for our children's theater. April 26th & 27th, May 3rd & 4th - All shows at 7:00 PM
Come see the classic tale adapted for our children's theater. April 26th & 27th, May 3rd & 4th - All shows at 7:00 PM
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| This is one of the things that makes children's theatre great...a great cast of all ages, parants and children alike! |
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| We got some young bunnies. Marin Jeffords hugging her little nephew Roman. |
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| Hannah Hitt coming into her own as Cinderella. |
Come see the classic tale adapted for our children's theater. April 26th & 27th, May 3rd & 4th - All shows at 7:00 PM
Wednesday, April 24, 2013
Ripping Good Yarns: Movie Award Extravaganza
There are awards designed just for Rippers! These are the Saturn Awards that will be presented in June, honoring the very best in different genre oriented categories of entertainment. No two hour movies of people drinking tea here! Just good old fashioned melodrama and entertainment!
Four weeks ago I presented the category of Science Fiction films, and expressed my opinion the Marvel's The Avengers was the best of the bunch. Chronicle also received Ripper support, and Prometheus starts on HBO this month so I hope to catch that.
Three weeks ago I presented the category of Fantasy Films, and felt like the two major contenders were Life of Pi and The Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey I asked my son Benjamin, the only one I know who has seen both which one he enjoyed the most, and he chose The Hobbit. So there you go!
Two weeks ago I presented the category of Horror/Thriller. In that group, I thought the front runner might be Argo, but the film I most looked forward to seeing was The Cabin In The Woods.
Last week I presented the Action/Adventure category. Les Miserables was the one contender in this group that was also an Oscar nominee. Other major contenders were The Dark Knight Rises and Skyfall. Not diminishing Les Miserables in any way, thinking in terms of Action/Adventure, I am inclined towards Skyfall.
Here is a complete list of the remaining movie nominations:
Four weeks ago I presented the category of Science Fiction films, and expressed my opinion the Marvel's The Avengers was the best of the bunch. Chronicle also received Ripper support, and Prometheus starts on HBO this month so I hope to catch that.
Three weeks ago I presented the category of Fantasy Films, and felt like the two major contenders were Life of Pi and The Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey I asked my son Benjamin, the only one I know who has seen both which one he enjoyed the most, and he chose The Hobbit. So there you go!
Two weeks ago I presented the category of Horror/Thriller. In that group, I thought the front runner might be Argo, but the film I most looked forward to seeing was The Cabin In The Woods.
Last week I presented the Action/Adventure category. Les Miserables was the one contender in this group that was also an Oscar nominee. Other major contenders were The Dark Knight Rises and Skyfall. Not diminishing Les Miserables in any way, thinking in terms of Action/Adventure, I am inclined towards Skyfall.
Here is a complete list of the remaining movie nominations:
Best Independent Film Release
Compliance - Magnolia
Hitchcock - Fox Searchlight
Killer Joe - LD Entertainment
The Paperboy - Millennium
Robot and Frank - Samuel Goldwyn Films
Safety Not Guaranteed - FilmDistrict
Seeking a Friend for the End of the World - Focus Features
Compliance - Magnolia
Hitchcock - Fox Searchlight
Killer Joe - LD Entertainment
The Paperboy - Millennium
Robot and Frank - Samuel Goldwyn Films
Safety Not Guaranteed - FilmDistrict
Seeking a Friend for the End of the World - Focus Features
I have not seen any of these of these movies. I welcome comments from anybody who has.
Best International Film
Anna Karenina - Focus Features
Chicken With Plums - Sony Pictures Classics
The Fairy - Kino Lorber
Headhunters - Magnolia
My Way - Well Go USA
Pusher - Radius
Chicken With Plums - Sony Pictures Classics
The Fairy - Kino Lorber
Headhunters - Magnolia
My Way - Well Go USA
Pusher - Radius
I have not seen any of these of these movies. I welcome comments from anybody who has.
Best Animated Film
Brave - Pixar / Walt Disney Studios
Frankenweenie - Walt Disney Studios
ParaNorman - Focus Features
Wreck-It Ralph - Walt Disney Studios
Frankenweenie - Walt Disney Studios
ParaNorman - Focus Features
Wreck-It Ralph - Walt Disney Studios
Between the family, we've seen these, except for Frankenweenie. Brave is by far the best of this class.
Best Actor
Christian Bale, The Dark Knight Rises
Daniel Craig, Skyfall
Martin Freeman, The Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey
Hugh Jackman, Les Miserables
Joseph Gordon-Levitt, Looper
Matthew McConaughey, Killer Joe
Christian Bale, The Dark Knight Rises
Daniel Craig, Skyfall
Martin Freeman, The Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey
Hugh Jackman, Les Miserables
Joseph Gordon-Levitt, Looper
Matthew McConaughey, Killer Joe
I have not seen all of these, but I think Hugh Jackman would be the standout.
Best Actress
Jessica Chastain, Zero Dark Thirty
Ann Dowd, Compliance
Zoe Kazan, Ruby Sparks
Jennifer Lawrence, The Hunger Games
Helen Mirren, Hitchcock
Naomi Watts, The Impossible
Jessica Chastain, Zero Dark Thirty
Ann Dowd, Compliance
Zoe Kazan, Ruby Sparks
Jennifer Lawrence, The Hunger Games
Helen Mirren, Hitchcock
Naomi Watts, The Impossible
Given what I suspect is the composition of the Saturn voters, Jennifer Lawrence would have to be a favorite, although I have heard that Naomi Watts is extraordinary in The Impossible.
Best Supporting Actor
Javier Bardem, Skyfall
Michael Fassbender, Prometheus
Clark Gregg, Marvel's The Avengers
Joseph Gordon-Levitt, The Dark Knight Rises
Ian McKellen, The Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey
Christoph Waltz, Django Unchained
Javier Bardem, Skyfall
Michael Fassbender, Prometheus
Clark Gregg, Marvel's The Avengers
Joseph Gordon-Levitt, The Dark Knight Rises
Ian McKellen, The Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey
Christoph Waltz, Django Unchained
Chirstopher Waitz is the most esteemed performance in this group. I really enjoyed Javier Bardem in Skyfall, the Bond villain in a very long time.
Best Supporting Actress
Judi Dench, Skyfall
Gina Gershon, Killer Joe
Anne Hathaway, The Dark Knight Rises
Anne Hathaway, Les Miserables
Nicole Kidman, The Paperboy
Charlize Theron, Snow White and the Huntsman
Judi Dench, Skyfall
Gina Gershon, Killer Joe
Anne Hathaway, The Dark Knight Rises
Anne Hathaway, Les Miserables
Nicole Kidman, The Paperboy
Charlize Theron, Snow White and the Huntsman
Anne Hathaway's performance in Les Miserable is a runaway here, I don't care what the voter fan bases is.
Best Performance By a Younger Actor
CJ Adams, The Odd Life of Timothy Green
Tom Holland, The Impossible
Daniel Huttlestone, Les Miserables
Chloe Grace Moretz, Dark Shadows
Suraj Sharma, Life of Pi
Quvenzhané Wallis, Beasts of the Southern Wild
CJ Adams, The Odd Life of Timothy Green
Tom Holland, The Impossible
Daniel Huttlestone, Les Miserables
Chloe Grace Moretz, Dark Shadows
Suraj Sharma, Life of Pi
Quvenzhané Wallis, Beasts of the Southern Wild
I have no opinion or input here. I welcome yours.
Best Direction
William Friedkin, Killer Joe
Peter Jackson, The Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey
Rian Johnson, Looper
Ang Lee, Life of Pi
Christopher Nolan, The Dark Knight Rises
Joss Whedon, Marvel's The Avengers
William Friedkin, Killer Joe
Peter Jackson, The Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey
Rian Johnson, Looper
Ang Lee, Life of Pi
Christopher Nolan, The Dark Knight Rises
Joss Whedon, Marvel's The Avengers
Is this supposed to be a contest? Joss Whedon by a country mile!
Best Writing
Tracy Letts, Killer Joe
David Magee, Life of Pi
Martin McDonagh, Seven Psychopaths
Quentin Tarantino, Django Unchained
Joss Whedon, Marvel's The Avengers
Joss Whedon, Drew Goddard, The Cabin in the Woods
Tracy Letts, Killer Joe
David Magee, Life of Pi
Martin McDonagh, Seven Psychopaths
Quentin Tarantino, Django Unchained
Joss Whedon, Marvel's The Avengers
Joss Whedon, Drew Goddard, The Cabin in the Woods
The two major contenders I see here are Quentin Tarantino and Joss Whedon (Marvel's The Avengers).
The rest of the categories I present without comment, but I certainly welcome any input you may have.
Best Production Design
Hugh Bateup, Uli Hanisch, Cloud Atlas
Sarah Greenwood, Anna Karenina
David Gropman, Life of Pi 20th
Rick Heinrichs, Dark Shadows
Dan Hennah, The Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey
Eve Stewart, Les Miserables
Hugh Bateup, Uli Hanisch, Cloud Atlas
Sarah Greenwood, Anna Karenina
David Gropman, Life of Pi 20th
Rick Heinrichs, Dark Shadows
Dan Hennah, The Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey
Eve Stewart, Les Miserables
Best Editing
Stuart Baird, Kate Baird, Skyfall
Alexander Berner, Cloud Atlas
Bob Ducsay, Looper
Jeffrey Ford, Lisa Lassek, Marvel's The Avengers
John Gilroy, The Bourne Legacy
Tim Squyres, Life of Pi
Stuart Baird, Kate Baird, Skyfall
Alexander Berner, Cloud Atlas
Bob Ducsay, Looper
Jeffrey Ford, Lisa Lassek, Marvel's The Avengers
John Gilroy, The Bourne Legacy
Tim Squyres, Life of Pi
Best Music
Mychael Danna, Life of Pi
Danny Elfman, Frankenweenie
Dario Marianelli, Anna Karenina
Thomas Newman, Skyfall
Howard Shore, The Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey
Hans Zimmer, The Dark Knight Rises
Mychael Danna, Life of Pi
Danny Elfman, Frankenweenie
Dario Marianelli, Anna Karenina
Thomas Newman, Skyfall
Howard Shore, The Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey
Hans Zimmer, The Dark Knight Rises
Best Costumes
Jacqueline Durran, Anna Karenina
Kym Barrett, Pierre-Yves Gavraud, Cloud Atlas
Sharen Davis, Django Unchained
Bob Buck, Ann Maskrey, Richard Taylor, The Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey
Paco Delgado, Les Miserables
Colleen Atwood, Snow White and the Huntsman
Jacqueline Durran, Anna Karenina
Kym Barrett, Pierre-Yves Gavraud, Cloud Atlas
Sharen Davis, Django Unchained
Bob Buck, Ann Maskrey, Richard Taylor, The Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey
Paco Delgado, Les Miserables
Colleen Atwood, Snow White and the Huntsman
Best Make-Up
Heike Merker, Daniel Parker, Jeremy Woodhead, Cloud Atlas
Gregory Nicotero, Howard Berger, Peter Montagna, Julie Hewitt, Hitchcock
Peter Swords King, Rick Findlater, Tami Lane, The Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey
David Marti, Montse Ribe, Vasit Suchitta, The Impossible
Naomi Donne, Donald Mowat, Love Larson, Skyfall
Jean Ann Black, Fay Von Schroeder, The Twilight Saga: Breaking Dawn - Part 2
Heike Merker, Daniel Parker, Jeremy Woodhead, Cloud Atlas
Gregory Nicotero, Howard Berger, Peter Montagna, Julie Hewitt, Hitchcock
Peter Swords King, Rick Findlater, Tami Lane, The Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey
David Marti, Montse Ribe, Vasit Suchitta, The Impossible
Naomi Donne, Donald Mowat, Love Larson, Skyfall
Jean Ann Black, Fay Von Schroeder, The Twilight Saga: Breaking Dawn - Part 2
Best Special Effects
Janek Sirrs, Jeff White, Guy Williams, Dan Sudick, Marvel's The Avengers
Grady Cofer, Pablo Helman, Jeanie King, Burt Dalton, Battleship
Joe Letteri, Eric Saindon, David Clayton, R. Christopher White, The Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey
Chris Corbould, Peter Chiang, Scott R. Fisher, Sue Rowe, John Carter
Bill Westenhofer, Guillaume Rocheron, Erik-Jan de Boer, Donald R. Elliott, Lif of Pi
Cedric Nicholas-Troyan, Philip Brennan, Neil Courbould, Michael Dawson, Snow White and the Huntsman
Janek Sirrs, Jeff White, Guy Williams, Dan Sudick, Marvel's The Avengers
Grady Cofer, Pablo Helman, Jeanie King, Burt Dalton, Battleship
Joe Letteri, Eric Saindon, David Clayton, R. Christopher White, The Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey
Chris Corbould, Peter Chiang, Scott R. Fisher, Sue Rowe, John Carter
Bill Westenhofer, Guillaume Rocheron, Erik-Jan de Boer, Donald R. Elliott, Lif of Pi
Cedric Nicholas-Troyan, Philip Brennan, Neil Courbould, Michael Dawson, Snow White and the Huntsman
Next up: Television!!! Stay tuned!
Tuesday, April 23, 2013
Back Into the Sub...Just Not As Deep
Tax season is over.
My mini-break is over.
It's back into the submarine I go. It's just now the dives won't be as deep or as long.
There are plenty of work and other deadlines and work to keep us going all year round. My schedule does change to four days a week, at 9 to ten hours a day, but those days will be filled with plenty to do.
Individuals extend and could bring in their information all the way up until October 15th. The deadline for non-profit returns is in May. Corporations do not always have December 31st years ends, so their returns are scattered throughout the year. And we have audits scheduled at various times of the year.
At least for the next two weeks or so, I will notice little in the way of more time at home or to write. Play practices for The Graduate have hit a high level of intensity, and I will actually be getting home later than in tax season. I had been with children's theatre so long, I had forgotten that rehearsals could go late into the evening especially when it was all adults.
Also coming up in at the first of May is a school trip to New York City that Benjamin and Alison are taking. I am very jealous, particularly that they are going to see a musical that I have always wanted to see performed on stage, The Phantom of the Opera.
After The Graduate, the next weekend is Benjamin's school play, Into the Woods, Jr. Benjamin has been doing a great job, and has been promoted into a larger part.
Then around Memorial Day, we are planning a trip to Michigan to see my sister and my Dad, who will be 91 this June 29th.
So plenty to be busy about, But not so busy that I can't stop a moment to hear the early birds chirping outside my window,
Sweet!
My mini-break is over.
It's back into the submarine I go. It's just now the dives won't be as deep or as long.
There are plenty of work and other deadlines and work to keep us going all year round. My schedule does change to four days a week, at 9 to ten hours a day, but those days will be filled with plenty to do.
Individuals extend and could bring in their information all the way up until October 15th. The deadline for non-profit returns is in May. Corporations do not always have December 31st years ends, so their returns are scattered throughout the year. And we have audits scheduled at various times of the year.
At least for the next two weeks or so, I will notice little in the way of more time at home or to write. Play practices for The Graduate have hit a high level of intensity, and I will actually be getting home later than in tax season. I had been with children's theatre so long, I had forgotten that rehearsals could go late into the evening especially when it was all adults.
Also coming up in at the first of May is a school trip to New York City that Benjamin and Alison are taking. I am very jealous, particularly that they are going to see a musical that I have always wanted to see performed on stage, The Phantom of the Opera.
After The Graduate, the next weekend is Benjamin's school play, Into the Woods, Jr. Benjamin has been doing a great job, and has been promoted into a larger part.
Then around Memorial Day, we are planning a trip to Michigan to see my sister and my Dad, who will be 91 this June 29th.
So plenty to be busy about, But not so busy that I can't stop a moment to hear the early birds chirping outside my window,
Sweet!
Monday, April 22, 2013
Post Tax Trippin' With Tom And Alison
Trapped for three and a half months, we finally got a chance to get away for a brief weekend trip. The beach? Nope! The mountains? Not quite. The big City, like Jacksonville and Atlanta? Nah, not really wanting to fight with traffic on our great getaway weekend. Small North Georgia town sightseeing and shopping? You betcha!
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| Alison prepares to browse a small town community yard sale we found in the quaint little town of Rutledge. |
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| At the corner of Rutledge's little town park is this beautiful Gazebo. |
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| This is in front of the Governor's Mansion in Milledgeville, Georgia. I am with Luke Manders, the son of our good friends, Angela and Kevin Manders. He started attended Georgia College there, and is a tour guide for the mansion. We got an excellent private tour, the mansion being the residence of Georgia's Governor form the 1830s to just after the Civil War. Luke is the taller, younger, better looking one. |
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| This is Luke Manders with Alison. We've known Luke since he was a wee one. As you can see from the picture, that was quite awhile ago. Even though you I failed to get pictures of it (Mr. "Huh? My phone has a camera in it?) we spent most of our time in Madison, Georgia. It has some great antique shops and a beautifully renovated downtown. Alison bought a couple of new items to add to our house, and I enjoyed finding whatever books I could to look at. I also had a fully charged Kindle with me. We did get out to see a movie Saturday, Oblivion, a science fiction movie with Tom Cruise and Morgan Freeman. It was pretty good, although slightly derivative. It was great to get out to the movie theatre. We ate at the same restaurant twice, Tequila Express, which was neither a bar nor a Mexican restaurant, but had a Mediterranean menu. One of the times I had a Wild Mushroom Ravioli, which was the best vegetarian meal I've ever had. Meals like that would make it easier to give up meat. Now we are back at Glenwood. Soon enough, the work world will force it's presence on us, but we will have the memories of this little outing, and the hope of more to come down the road. |
Saturday, April 20, 2013
Rushing to Judgement Saturday Political Soap Box 60
The horrible bombings at the Boston Marathon may be over, but they will live in our memory for quite awhile. The police and law enforcement officials do deserve our support and appreciation for a successful apprehension. The tools at their disposal and their fierce bravery and determination are to be commended.
I just hope that the aftermath of this does not result in the sweeping over-reactions that we are sometimes prone to.
We cannot protect ourselves to the point that we are prisoners of our own fear. We cannot surrender what is most valuable in order to ensure safety. The Boston Marathon must go on. Our lives must go on. Common sense security measures should be applied, but draconian limitations to our freedoms should not be tolerated.
We should resist sweeping comments about immigrants to this country. We're virtually all immigrants here (even the Indians may have come across from the Bering Straits). Many people from all over the world have come here and contributed to this great nation. Ours is the story of the Great Melting Pot. Our greatest communities are ones of diversity and respect.
We should not be led into attacking people's religions. The vast, overwhelming majority of Muslims in this country are dedicated, law-abiding citizens, principled and loving in their faith. Every religion has those pushing it in untoward, vile directions. Basically, if you are teaching hate and intolerance, no matter what you call your faith, you have gone horribly off course.
We should be proud of the millions in this country who identified with the plight of Boston, and sympathized and extended their support. We should be proud of all the many citizens who rushed in to aid, at an unknown risks to themselves. Despite our awful aberrations, we are still a people that cares, loves, and supports each other when terrible things happen.
I have no great, sweeping policy recommendations at this time. That may emerge as the facts are gathered. Now I can only say -
God Bless America.
God Bless all the good and caring people here and all across the world.
I just hope that the aftermath of this does not result in the sweeping over-reactions that we are sometimes prone to.
We cannot protect ourselves to the point that we are prisoners of our own fear. We cannot surrender what is most valuable in order to ensure safety. The Boston Marathon must go on. Our lives must go on. Common sense security measures should be applied, but draconian limitations to our freedoms should not be tolerated.
We should resist sweeping comments about immigrants to this country. We're virtually all immigrants here (even the Indians may have come across from the Bering Straits). Many people from all over the world have come here and contributed to this great nation. Ours is the story of the Great Melting Pot. Our greatest communities are ones of diversity and respect.
We should not be led into attacking people's religions. The vast, overwhelming majority of Muslims in this country are dedicated, law-abiding citizens, principled and loving in their faith. Every religion has those pushing it in untoward, vile directions. Basically, if you are teaching hate and intolerance, no matter what you call your faith, you have gone horribly off course.
We should be proud of the millions in this country who identified with the plight of Boston, and sympathized and extended their support. We should be proud of all the many citizens who rushed in to aid, at an unknown risks to themselves. Despite our awful aberrations, we are still a people that cares, loves, and supports each other when terrible things happen.
I have no great, sweeping policy recommendations at this time. That may emerge as the facts are gathered. Now I can only say -
God Bless America.
God Bless all the good and caring people here and all across the world.
Friday, April 19, 2013
Cinderella Takes It Outside!
A fine theater tradition is being brought to the Flying Dragon starting next weekend - outdoor theater A wonderful mural has been painted on the back of the Flying Dragon Theater, and Cinderella will be performed there. This will be, I believe, other than festival previews, their first outdoor show. So get your outdoor shoes on and watch our delightful young thespians in their quest to find the perfect match for a glass slipper!
Come see the classic tale adapted for our children's theater. April 26th & 27th, May 3rd & 4th - All shows at 7:00 PM
And without further expository rendition, here are some pictures from a recent rehearsal:
Thursday, April 18, 2013
Openings
I opened a door
and light poured in.
Blinding light
I lost my sight
When the iris dilated
And I could take it in
A vanquished night
Now it was right
I opened a window
and wind rushed in
A cold and chilly air
But I did not care
I saw a tree branching
Everywhere, a gnarled oak
An owl in it's snare
At me it would just stare
I opened a cupboard
and smells wafted in
Apples and cinnamon
Nutmeg and cumin
Something it was moving
Behind the cereal boxes
Mice and not men
Scurrying times ten
I opened up my heart
And you rushed in
I'll take you in my arms
Hold you with my charms
Your smile is enlightening
And everything else melts away
No worry or harms
Just want to hold you in my arms
and light poured in.
Blinding light
I lost my sight
When the iris dilated
And I could take it in
A vanquished night
Now it was right
I opened a window
and wind rushed in
A cold and chilly air
But I did not care
I saw a tree branching
Everywhere, a gnarled oak
An owl in it's snare
At me it would just stare
I opened a cupboard
and smells wafted in
Apples and cinnamon
Nutmeg and cumin
Something it was moving
Behind the cereal boxes
Mice and not men
Scurrying times ten
I opened up my heart
And you rushed in
I'll take you in my arms
Hold you with my charms
Your smile is enlightening
And everything else melts away
No worry or harms
Just want to hold you in my arms
Ripping Good Yarns: Saturn Awards Best Action/Adventure Film
There are awards designed just for Rippers! These are the Saturn Awards that will be presented in June, honoring the very best in different genre oriented categories of entertainment. No two hours movies of people drinking tea here! Just good old fashioned melodrama and entertainment!
Three weeks ago I presented the category of Science Fiction films, and expressed my opinion the Marvel's The Avengers was the best of the bunch. Chronicle also received Ripper support, and Prometheus starts on HBO this month so I hope to catch that.
Two weeks ago I presented the category of Fantasy Films, and felt like the two major contenders were Life of Pi and The Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey I asked my son Benjamin, the only one I know who has seen both which one he enjoyed the most, and he chose The Hobbit. So there you go!
Last week I presented the category of Horror/Thriller. In that group, I thought the frontrunner might be Argo, but the film I most looked forward to seeing was The Cabin In The Woods.
Here are the nominations for Best Action/Adventure Film:
Three weeks ago I presented the category of Science Fiction films, and expressed my opinion the Marvel's The Avengers was the best of the bunch. Chronicle also received Ripper support, and Prometheus starts on HBO this month so I hope to catch that.
Two weeks ago I presented the category of Fantasy Films, and felt like the two major contenders were Life of Pi and The Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey I asked my son Benjamin, the only one I know who has seen both which one he enjoyed the most, and he chose The Hobbit. So there you go!
Last week I presented the category of Horror/Thriller. In that group, I thought the frontrunner might be Argo, but the film I most looked forward to seeing was The Cabin In The Woods.
Here are the nominations for Best Action/Adventure Film:
Best action/adventure film
The Bourne Legacy
The Dark Knight Rises
Les Miserables
Skyfall
Taken 2
The one Oscar nominee in this category is Les Miserables. I haven't seen it yet, although I am very much looking forward to it. I don't think that they have too clear a chance here, because I think the Saturn voters lean more towards, um, more genre oriented movies.
I think the two front-runners here would be The Dark Knight Rises and Skyfall. I have seen and enjoyed both, although for me, I would give Skyfall the clear edge. The Batman movie wasn't bad, but it was clearly a step down from it's Joker fueled predecessor. Skyfall, however, was Bond at it's very best.
I have not seen The Bourne Legacy movie. I fell behind in seeing those movies, and I can't remember where I left off. I did enjoy the Robert Ludlum books they're based on, so I do hope to catch up someday. I have a friend who saw and enjoyed Taken 2, but I'm not even sure she'd call it the best in this group.
Next week: Best Animated Film!
What is your favorite in the action adventure category? I breathlessly await your comments!
Wednesday, April 17, 2013
Heading for a Break or a Break Down?
Huzzah!
Tax season is over!
Time for a break!
Or not.
There has been no official announcement at our work regarding the potential of a "mini-break" celebrating the end of tax season. We often get a day or day and a half when the office is closed, but there has been nothing said yet this year. We have been acquiring more and more payrolls that make it difficult to fully close the office. Still, there is a possibility of a staggered break, with staff taking off different days,but there is no word on that either.
Meanwhile, other deadlines rush in to take the place of the expired ones. We have many who extend, and we will be working with their returns until the middle of October. The 990 form for non-profits is due very soon. We will have audits in the coming months, including a big one that takes much of summer. Do not stress that we will not have plenty to do.
And I also hardly notice the change because the play that I am practicing for, The Graduate, has kicked it up a notch, practicing late now four nights a week. And I need to rapidly get this old, tired mind to memorize his part.
Nevertheless.
I will return to my 36 hour schedule, with Fridays off, as I resume my 10% retirement.
Alison and I will be taking a short trip very soon, a three day getaway to North Georgia. This will be our first trip together in quite awhile, and we are very much looking forward to it.
As May moves in, Alison and Benjamin are part of a school trip to New York City, then I will have The Graduate performances, and then Benjamin will be Into the Woods at his school, and later in May, we will take a trip to Michigan to see my father and sister.
Nevertheless.
It would really do my mood good if they would not be so mysterious and just tell us what day, if any, we can have off.
Harrumph!
Tax season is over!
Time for a break!
Or not.
There has been no official announcement at our work regarding the potential of a "mini-break" celebrating the end of tax season. We often get a day or day and a half when the office is closed, but there has been nothing said yet this year. We have been acquiring more and more payrolls that make it difficult to fully close the office. Still, there is a possibility of a staggered break, with staff taking off different days,but there is no word on that either.
Meanwhile, other deadlines rush in to take the place of the expired ones. We have many who extend, and we will be working with their returns until the middle of October. The 990 form for non-profits is due very soon. We will have audits in the coming months, including a big one that takes much of summer. Do not stress that we will not have plenty to do.
And I also hardly notice the change because the play that I am practicing for, The Graduate, has kicked it up a notch, practicing late now four nights a week. And I need to rapidly get this old, tired mind to memorize his part.
Nevertheless.
I will return to my 36 hour schedule, with Fridays off, as I resume my 10% retirement.
Alison and I will be taking a short trip very soon, a three day getaway to North Georgia. This will be our first trip together in quite awhile, and we are very much looking forward to it.
As May moves in, Alison and Benjamin are part of a school trip to New York City, then I will have The Graduate performances, and then Benjamin will be Into the Woods at his school, and later in May, we will take a trip to Michigan to see my father and sister.
Nevertheless.
It would really do my mood good if they would not be so mysterious and just tell us what day, if any, we can have off.
Harrumph!
Tuesday, April 16, 2013
Tragic Day In Boston: Making Sense Out of the Senseless
There is only one, clear, sure reaction to the tragic explosions at the Boston Marathon yesterday. And that is to send our thoughts and prayers, our love and support, to all those caught up in this horrible experience.
As is usual with incidents of these kinds, news is bouncing all around. Sometimes stories will changes quite dramatically over the course of minutes, hours or days. That does not stop media and individuals from wildly speculating as to what happened and what it means. The human desire to make sense of the senseless is often overwhelming.
How many people were killed or injured is something that should come clearer very soon. The numbers have fluctuated some but they should solidify over the course of today. It does seem clear that one of the casualties was an eight year old boy, which just brings to the surface again the horrible shootings in Newton, or the "collateral damage" that is often seen in drone attacks or other acts of war.
The fact that the bombs were aimed low in such a way that so many of the injuries were to the lower extremities that is, the legs, seems doubly tragic. Deliberate or accident, it is ironic that it would occur at one of the nation's most prestigious marathons, an event centered on running and the power of the human legs.
Who would do such a thing? We just don;t know now. A terrorist, domestic or foreign, communicating God knows what message? A madman, another Joker-inspired lunatic? Someone with a grudge against runners or Boston or his ex-wife or whatever?
When will they be captured? It may be even happening as I'm writing this. Or it may take weeks and months of careful detective work, resulting in an arrest sometime down the road. Or we may never know, like we have no idea who sent the anthrax after 9/11 to the large (i.e., "liberal") media outlets and Democratic Senators on the committee about to hear the Patriot Act.
How could we have prevented this? This is where the media will go wild and spend weeks in analysis. Some suggestions will be helpful. Most will not. Giving up our freedoms in order to prevent things like this is making us lose the thing those who are against us most want us to give up.
So let us all come together to support those affected. That's the best we can do right now. The rest will be made clearer in the coming days. Hopefully.
As is usual with incidents of these kinds, news is bouncing all around. Sometimes stories will changes quite dramatically over the course of minutes, hours or days. That does not stop media and individuals from wildly speculating as to what happened and what it means. The human desire to make sense of the senseless is often overwhelming.
How many people were killed or injured is something that should come clearer very soon. The numbers have fluctuated some but they should solidify over the course of today. It does seem clear that one of the casualties was an eight year old boy, which just brings to the surface again the horrible shootings in Newton, or the "collateral damage" that is often seen in drone attacks or other acts of war.
The fact that the bombs were aimed low in such a way that so many of the injuries were to the lower extremities that is, the legs, seems doubly tragic. Deliberate or accident, it is ironic that it would occur at one of the nation's most prestigious marathons, an event centered on running and the power of the human legs.
Who would do such a thing? We just don;t know now. A terrorist, domestic or foreign, communicating God knows what message? A madman, another Joker-inspired lunatic? Someone with a grudge against runners or Boston or his ex-wife or whatever?
When will they be captured? It may be even happening as I'm writing this. Or it may take weeks and months of careful detective work, resulting in an arrest sometime down the road. Or we may never know, like we have no idea who sent the anthrax after 9/11 to the large (i.e., "liberal") media outlets and Democratic Senators on the committee about to hear the Patriot Act.
How could we have prevented this? This is where the media will go wild and spend weeks in analysis. Some suggestions will be helpful. Most will not. Giving up our freedoms in order to prevent things like this is making us lose the thing those who are against us most want us to give up.
So let us all come together to support those affected. That's the best we can do right now. The rest will be made clearer in the coming days. Hopefully.
Monday, April 15, 2013
Up Periscope! and Other Monday Musings
It's April 15th!!!
For many, it's tax day, and whether they have finished their taxes or not, it's when they picture hordes of people rushing around at the last minute, flooding CPA offices and rushing to the post office.
Not so. At least for me.
I am at the beginning of a process that takes several steps. If I am just getting a return today, the odds of it being finished today are slim to rare. It still has to be reviewed by one of the partners, assembled by our administrative staff, the client called, the client then reviews the return and then approves e-filing submission, the e-file is submitted, and then we have to wait for approval. This takes some time, and although it's not impossible that one or two could be done this way, it would be very difficult to do a whole flood that way. Consequently, it is very rare for a client to come with a new return on the last tax day of the year.
What we do have is a good number of people who have waited until the last minute to pick up their return, and sometimes when they look over the returns they find something they want added or corrected. So much of the day, for me and other preparers, is in answering questions or making quick changes.
Of course, the 15th is just a shadowy dividing line, with a number of clients extending, other looming tax deadlines, audits and myriad other assignments. But it still should mean a return to me of the 36 hour a week schedule with Fridays off. Huzzah!
This should mean a return to more fiction writing, including longer forms, like The History of the Trap. I enjoy it and I can't wait!
There are many other things that over the months I have told myself I am doing but today my mind is short circuiting just to have this over. We'll see over time, I guess, what I really accomplish.
Play rehearsals for The Graduate pick up steam this week. We're supposed to be off book (no scripts onstage) tonight. Yeah, right. They're making the 15th the first day off books! HA! I can't even begin to seriously memorize until the 16th! Should make for an interesting night!
Alison has a slew of meetings this week as well, including Cotillion tonight, an NYC trip meeting tomorrow night, and a vestry meeting where they vote on the same sex blessing at our church.
Soon however, Alison and I are taking a short getaway. To the beach? No. To the mountains? No. To a place for antiquing followed by a university campus? Ding Ding Ding! To each his own! We are greatly looking forward to it.
Until next time,
T. M. Strait
For many, it's tax day, and whether they have finished their taxes or not, it's when they picture hordes of people rushing around at the last minute, flooding CPA offices and rushing to the post office.
Not so. At least for me.
I am at the beginning of a process that takes several steps. If I am just getting a return today, the odds of it being finished today are slim to rare. It still has to be reviewed by one of the partners, assembled by our administrative staff, the client called, the client then reviews the return and then approves e-filing submission, the e-file is submitted, and then we have to wait for approval. This takes some time, and although it's not impossible that one or two could be done this way, it would be very difficult to do a whole flood that way. Consequently, it is very rare for a client to come with a new return on the last tax day of the year.
What we do have is a good number of people who have waited until the last minute to pick up their return, and sometimes when they look over the returns they find something they want added or corrected. So much of the day, for me and other preparers, is in answering questions or making quick changes.
Of course, the 15th is just a shadowy dividing line, with a number of clients extending, other looming tax deadlines, audits and myriad other assignments. But it still should mean a return to me of the 36 hour a week schedule with Fridays off. Huzzah!
This should mean a return to more fiction writing, including longer forms, like The History of the Trap. I enjoy it and I can't wait!
There are many other things that over the months I have told myself I am doing but today my mind is short circuiting just to have this over. We'll see over time, I guess, what I really accomplish.
Play rehearsals for The Graduate pick up steam this week. We're supposed to be off book (no scripts onstage) tonight. Yeah, right. They're making the 15th the first day off books! HA! I can't even begin to seriously memorize until the 16th! Should make for an interesting night!
Alison has a slew of meetings this week as well, including Cotillion tonight, an NYC trip meeting tomorrow night, and a vestry meeting where they vote on the same sex blessing at our church.
Soon however, Alison and I are taking a short getaway. To the beach? No. To the mountains? No. To a place for antiquing followed by a university campus? Ding Ding Ding! To each his own! We are greatly looking forward to it.
Until next time,
T. M. Strait
Friday, April 12, 2013
Do You Think Mrs. Robinson is Looking To Try On Cinderella's Slipper?
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| Coming soon to WACT! A great production of The Graduate, based on the famous movie. This is an adult oriented show that is very entertaining and contains some very funny moments. I'm in it in my first role outside of Flying Dragon in two years, playing Mr. Robinson, wherein I get to yell and swing an ax. Mrs. Robinson is played by the lovely and talented Julianna Lacefield, and Benjamin is played by gifted newcomer Jey Parr. A particular highlight is Elaine, the Robinson's daughter played by Taryn Spires. I have seen Taryn in a number of roles, and I have seen very few actresses with her range and ability. Come see this show! |
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| The next Flying Dragon production is Cinderella, and will be performed the last weekend in April and first weekend in May. It will be performed outdoors. I will publish more information and pictures as they become available. |
Thursday, April 11, 2013
On the Other Side of the Chambers
Entering the final chamber
Beside myself with joy
No taller than a Laimber
No longer a need to be coy
It sprays my whole body
With a disinfectant mist
It smells like lemon sodee
The germs cannot resist
Then a huge fan blows me dry
My jewels shrivel tight
It almost makes me cry
But that wouldn't look right
The chamber door begins to hiss
I see the light from your lab
My eyes squint so I still miss
Seeing you standing, being fab
My eyes adjust and I step inside
Someone hands me a robe
I look but you must hide
Nothing but a lighted strobe
"What's out there?." they ask.
Should I tell them?, I think
Should I explain the results of my task
Or let them stew in a stink
I make it clear to them all
Without her I say nothing
I am not just trying to stall
Her not being there is a real sting
It would only be to her that I would tell
About the roses six feet high
The sliding canyon where I fell
The roaring sound that filled the sky
"Where is Melissa?" I inquired.
She promised she would be here
Had that promise expired?
Did she succumb to fear?
"You don't know?" they replied.
"She's not here because she broke the rules."
"She feared that you had gone deep in tide."
"She went in looking for you, Jules!"
Then I must go back
Though I quake with fear
And face the roaring tack
And fight to bring Melissa here.
Beside myself with joy
No taller than a Laimber
No longer a need to be coy
It sprays my whole body
With a disinfectant mist
It smells like lemon sodee
The germs cannot resist
Then a huge fan blows me dry
My jewels shrivel tight
It almost makes me cry
But that wouldn't look right
The chamber door begins to hiss
I see the light from your lab
My eyes squint so I still miss
Seeing you standing, being fab
My eyes adjust and I step inside
Someone hands me a robe
I look but you must hide
Nothing but a lighted strobe
"What's out there?." they ask.
Should I tell them?, I think
Should I explain the results of my task
Or let them stew in a stink
I make it clear to them all
Without her I say nothing
I am not just trying to stall
Her not being there is a real sting
It would only be to her that I would tell
About the roses six feet high
The sliding canyon where I fell
The roaring sound that filled the sky
"Where is Melissa?" I inquired.
She promised she would be here
Had that promise expired?
Did she succumb to fear?
"You don't know?" they replied.
"She's not here because she broke the rules."
"She feared that you had gone deep in tide."
"She went in looking for you, Jules!"
Then I must go back
Though I quake with fear
And face the roaring tack
And fight to bring Melissa here.
Ripping Good Yarns: Saturn Awards Horror/Thriller 2012
There are awards designed just for Rippers! These are the Saturn Awards that will be presented in June, honoring the very best in different genre oriented categories of entertainment. No two hours movies of people drinking tea here! Just good old fashioned melodrama and entertainment!
Two weeks ago I presented the category of Science Fiction films, and expressed my opinion the Marvel's The Avengers was the best of the bunch. Chronicle also received Ripper support, and Prometheus starts on HBO this month so I hope to catch that.
Last week I presented the category of Fantasy Films, and felt like the two major contenders were Life of Pi and The Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey I asked my son Benjamin, the only one I know who has seen both which one he enjoyed the most, and he chose The Hobbit. So there you go!
Here are the list of nominees for Best Horror?Thriller:
Best Horror/Thriller Film:
- "Argo"
- "The Cabin in the Woods"
- "The Impossible"
- "Seven Psychopaths"
- "The Woman in Black"
- "Zero Dark Thirty (2012
Now here we have a pretty broad category! It includes Oscar contenders Argo and Zero Dark Thirty, but also horror classics like The Cabin In the Woods and The Woman In Black.
The only one that I have seen so for is The Woman In Black, a classic British horror film reminiscent of the Hammer studio horror films of the sixties. It starred Daniel Radcliffe (Harry Potter) and was a nervous, edgy but traditional horror film. In my opinion, it was a good film but not a great film.
I would suspect that there would be a great deal of support for Argo, as it did win the Best Picture Oscar. I haven't seen it yet, so I can't render an absolute judgement.
The film on the list I look most forward to seeing is The Cabin in the Woods. It is a send off of slasher movies, and I am told has both humorous and unexpected twists. It is directed by one of my very favorite directors, Joss Whedon (Buffy, The Avengers), and how I've managed not to see it yet is simply beyond me.
There you have it! I really, really would appreciate your input! I would love for this to be a dialogue! Please comment here or on Facebook.
More nominees next week!
Wednesday, April 10, 2013
Cold Weather is Gone, Baby, Gone
Yes, I know. Many of you prefer warm weather, maybe even hot weather. I do not. So try to respect what I'm saying from that perspective.
I love colder weather. Around 58 degrees, a good stiff breeze, and overcast skies is about as good as it gets.
I miss snow. Where I grew up, in the Saginaw Bay area of Michigan, there were wonderful marked seasons. It was hot a few weeks in the summer, and it was arctic cold a few weeks in the winter. There was spring and fall and snow in the winter, sometimes enough snow to climb up onto the roof of your house. You could build snow forts, or ice skate, cross country ski, make snow angels and snowmen - it was fabulous!
But I also love the cool crisp falls, the slow and then accelerating burst of life in spring. I wasn't fond of the hot, muggy weeks of July and part of August, but they passed quickly enough.
I am somewhat phobic about flying insects, particularly the ones that sting or just buzz noisily around your ear. I don't like being outside when they are.
I don't like the bright sunlight. Maybe I'm part vampire, although I don't glow or sparkle in it. I used to get awful sunburns, but less so now, mostly because I'll sunstroke out long before I get burned.
As mild as they are, the winters here in South Georgia are the best time of the year. There are minimal flying insects most days, and there are even a few days when you can wear a jacket, which I love to do. It is the one time of year that I enjoy being outdoors.
So each year the cooler season comes, but I am occupied with tax season and can't get out as much as I want. So I wait patiently to get through tax season so I can get out and enjoy the cool weather and it passes April 15th and I'm ready to get out and enjoy it and........
never mind.....it's gone.
Sigh.
I love colder weather. Around 58 degrees, a good stiff breeze, and overcast skies is about as good as it gets.
I miss snow. Where I grew up, in the Saginaw Bay area of Michigan, there were wonderful marked seasons. It was hot a few weeks in the summer, and it was arctic cold a few weeks in the winter. There was spring and fall and snow in the winter, sometimes enough snow to climb up onto the roof of your house. You could build snow forts, or ice skate, cross country ski, make snow angels and snowmen - it was fabulous!
But I also love the cool crisp falls, the slow and then accelerating burst of life in spring. I wasn't fond of the hot, muggy weeks of July and part of August, but they passed quickly enough.
I am somewhat phobic about flying insects, particularly the ones that sting or just buzz noisily around your ear. I don't like being outside when they are.
I don't like the bright sunlight. Maybe I'm part vampire, although I don't glow or sparkle in it. I used to get awful sunburns, but less so now, mostly because I'll sunstroke out long before I get burned.
As mild as they are, the winters here in South Georgia are the best time of the year. There are minimal flying insects most days, and there are even a few days when you can wear a jacket, which I love to do. It is the one time of year that I enjoy being outdoors.
So each year the cooler season comes, but I am occupied with tax season and can't get out as much as I want. So I wait patiently to get through tax season so I can get out and enjoy the cool weather and it passes April 15th and I'm ready to get out and enjoy it and........
never mind.....it's gone.
Sigh.
Tuesday, April 9, 2013
The March of the Timeteers
Not everyone who reads this remembers her. But those of us in our fifties and up know her very well. Annette Funicello, the most famous of the Mouseketeers, passed away yesterday at the age of 70. She struggled most of her adult life with multiple sclerosis, and was a leader in raising money and knowledge in fighting neurological diseases.
It is hard to watch the passage of time, as the icons of your youth disappear. We think of them as large figures that will never fade from human consciousness, but in only very rare cases do they stick more than a generation. The Mickey Mouse Club was a unique and creative use of television, making children around the globe feel like they were past of the biggest, happiest club on earth. And the young preteen girl that made our hearts swoon, whom the boys would admire and the girls would want to emulate, was Annette Funicello.
Now if you ask someone in their twenties and early thirties about the Mouseketeers they will come up with a slew of different names - Christina Aguilera, Britney Spears, Justin Timberlake, and around here, Nikki DeLoach. The Mickey Mouse Club was revived in the nineties, and this is what they remember Chances are, the club will be revived again, and a future generation will have a completely different set of names.
For the more politically oriented, yesterday saw the passing of Margaret Thatcher, Britain's Iron Lady, popular Prime Minister of the Reagan era and influence. Not one of my favorites, but still a stripping away of things past.
As we grow older, we see those who once we saw as young pups start to age and grow old around us. It must be interesting for retired teachers to be approached by former students who now have gray hair. Or to see those whose diapers you changed in the business of changing diapers of another.
Hang on to your icons Be respectful of the icons of those generations before you. Learn about Demi Lovato, but also find out about Annette Funicello and Marilyn Monroe and Greta Garbo and Mary Pickford, and on and on as far back as we can.
Not all of us can live anew for each generation. Not all of us can be Betty White.
Annette, I and many others remember you well. We remember not just the Mouseketeers, but the woman who struggled bravely against a terrible neurological disease, and cared enough to concentrate her efforts on helping others.
So long for now!
Monday, April 8, 2013
Final Week Countdown and Other Monday Musings
So it comes down to this.
One final week of tax season. As I will explain in more detail next week, it is less of a milestone than you think. Assignments do go on at a fairly healthy clip, nevertheless it does represent the end of certain stresses. If nothing else, I should start to get my Fridays back, which will be a great joy to restore my 10% retired status.
At some point this week, fresh returns should slow. The week often becomes dominated by returns we have done days or weeks ago, where the clients comes in to pick them and realizes that something is missing, either something we left out or they did. It's okay. It's just an expected part of the rhythm of the last week.
Even as my blog has been experiencing rapid growth, I have had to cope with the gradual diminution of my ability to write. The first thing to go is serialized fiction. It becomes virtually impossible to think about it enough to continue the threads of a story from one chapter to the next. There is just not enough brain wattage left.
The next thing left wanting is fiction in general. My last Crowley story was weeks ago.
I have managed to keep up my Thursday night poems, although they may have become even more incoherent than usual, descending into avant-garde nonsense.
Ripping Good Yarns is hard to do, as the number of films and TV and books read is somewhat limited during this season. Certainly my ability to have anything interesting to say about them.
Political stories are hard as my attention to politics is about nil. I have been able to draw out some concerning the LGBT community, but I think I've said what I wanted there.
So be patient with me. The Great Restoration is only a week away!
Meanwhile, Saturday was a fun day, as can be seen in my post from yesterday (The Strait's Fun, Wonderful, Really Good Day). It was an important and invigorating respite, an important day to treasure, spending time with my son, Benjamin and later with Alison and some of our close friends. It was the perfect day to help me get through this next week.
I have play rehearsals for The Graduate Monday and Friday, and a Writer's Guild meeting Tuesday. It should be interesting fitting those activities in, but I will do my best. Lines for The Graduate are supposed to be memorized by April 15th. April 15th. Yeah, right. Maybe by the 16th or 18th. The 15th? Probably not.
Well, I now head back into the breach!
Until next time,
T. M. Strait
One final week of tax season. As I will explain in more detail next week, it is less of a milestone than you think. Assignments do go on at a fairly healthy clip, nevertheless it does represent the end of certain stresses. If nothing else, I should start to get my Fridays back, which will be a great joy to restore my 10% retired status.
At some point this week, fresh returns should slow. The week often becomes dominated by returns we have done days or weeks ago, where the clients comes in to pick them and realizes that something is missing, either something we left out or they did. It's okay. It's just an expected part of the rhythm of the last week.
Even as my blog has been experiencing rapid growth, I have had to cope with the gradual diminution of my ability to write. The first thing to go is serialized fiction. It becomes virtually impossible to think about it enough to continue the threads of a story from one chapter to the next. There is just not enough brain wattage left.
The next thing left wanting is fiction in general. My last Crowley story was weeks ago.
I have managed to keep up my Thursday night poems, although they may have become even more incoherent than usual, descending into avant-garde nonsense.
Ripping Good Yarns is hard to do, as the number of films and TV and books read is somewhat limited during this season. Certainly my ability to have anything interesting to say about them.
Political stories are hard as my attention to politics is about nil. I have been able to draw out some concerning the LGBT community, but I think I've said what I wanted there.
So be patient with me. The Great Restoration is only a week away!
Meanwhile, Saturday was a fun day, as can be seen in my post from yesterday (The Strait's Fun, Wonderful, Really Good Day). It was an important and invigorating respite, an important day to treasure, spending time with my son, Benjamin and later with Alison and some of our close friends. It was the perfect day to help me get through this next week.
I have play rehearsals for The Graduate Monday and Friday, and a Writer's Guild meeting Tuesday. It should be interesting fitting those activities in, but I will do my best. Lines for The Graduate are supposed to be memorized by April 15th. April 15th. Yeah, right. Maybe by the 16th or 18th. The 15th? Probably not.
Well, I now head back into the breach!
Until next time,
T. M. Strait
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