Schadenfreude

Well, about time! Just so long as we don't get carried away with it!

I was struck by several things:

• How close the Montana Senate Race and the NM Representative races were. I thought these would be blowouts by the Dems.
• How much of a blowout the Rhode Island, Tennessee, and even the Missouri races were. I thought they would be razor-thin.
• I hoped Webb would win Virginia, but I'm surprised he actually seems to have pulled it off.
• Schwarzenegger's margin is freakin' huge. Angelides just couldn't get a grip.
• Pombo's gone! Yay!
• Lieberman's not gone! Damn!

In other news, Donald Rumsfeld has resigned. Both he, Bush, and Cheney never seemed to grasp that they were not fighting dead-enders in Iraq, and they did not have sufficient endurance and force on the ground to prevail. I wonder if they grasp that even now? Defeat comes hard to the proud!

Troop levels were deliberately kept low enough not to provoke a domestic Vietnam-style backlash, at least for a while, but imagine trying to control a violent country roughly the size of California with only 140,000 troops. It doesn't work. The Iraq War has now lasted as long as World War II. Stalemate or defeat are the only two options left, and stalemate is looking untenable.

The critical difference is knowing about the enemy and what makes them tick. In World War II, the American military leaders knew vast amounts about their Nazi counterparts (although much less about their Japanese foes). I wonder how many American military leaders know who their enemies are in Iraq, and who is Shiite and who is Sunni? Do they even care? Probably seems like an undifferentiated mass of crazy people to them, I suppose....

Cheney's apparently gone hunting again today. Take that frustration out on the quail. Show 'em who's boss.

Here are selections from Salon's coverage of the evening on Fox News:

There was denial. There was bargaining. There was lashing out. There was an apparition of the undead. There was a wacky racially coded moment. There was cannibalism (if only among liberals). But I could have encountered most of that in certain relatives' houses, where the drinks would have been better and the oaths more colorful.

Fox has never been so boring. For most of the evening, Brit Hume had the bemused, faintly condescending demeanor of the veteran TV newsman who has been reduced to anchoring the weekend local news in Bakersfield or Binghamton. He'd announce that yet another porcine congressional Republican was going down the slippery slide toward a future on K Street, defeated by some heartland Democrat nobody's ever heard of, as if he were discussing the garden show on Palisade Boulevard and the times for Sunday Mass at St. Stanislaus'. The first actual candidate we got to hear thank his family was Joe Lieberman. Yes, it was that boring.

... One-time right-wing hero Rick Santorum was the first Republican senator to fall, and beyond that first news bulletin his name was not mentioned during the five hours or so I watched of Fox's election coverage. Defeated Ohio Sen. Mike DeWine was barely mentioned either, although his victorious opponent, Rep. Sherrod Brown, was described by Hume, with evident distaste, as a "true-blue liberal" and an "out-and-out liberal."

... Barnes and Kondracke acted irritated by the whole evening, as if the historic electoral upheaval they were witnessing was essentially a routine event and anyway, dammit, if they didn't make their Georgetown dinner dates on time the merlot would all get drunk by other people (possibly Democrats). Barnes insisted that "there was no ideological component" to the GOP's ever-worsening defeat, and that the widely despised Iraq war was not an ideological issue. That sounds smart until you think about it. In plain English, I think that means: Absolutely everyone has finally grasped that the president is an idiot.

... Then, as must happen on all Fox News broadcasts, things took a bizarre turn. It was as if the producers suddenly realized that their political movement was about to be cast into the wilderness, that their core viewers were all at home eating their own gizzards, and that changing the mood somehow, anyhow, was mandatory. That meant hearing Brit Hume utter the word "blogosphere" (it's still funny!) and it meant bringing in Michelle Malkin, looking as if she had showed up to fill out an application at the Hawaiian Tropic theme restaurant and sat down at the wrong desk.

It was she who chirpily informed us that NewsBusters and other right-wing sites were blaming CBS News for Santorum's defeat in Pennsylvania (and, no doubt, for global warming and the North Korean nuclear bomb). Moving along briskly to the so-called left of the spectrum, Malkin announced that Ned Lamont's defeat by Lieberman had "really opened up some fissures in the Democrat Party. There's a lot of cannibalism out there among liberals." Is that so, Michelle? I can't say I'm surprised; they are liberals after all. But tell me, who gets to eat Al Sharpton?

Right after that, just before 10 p.m. Eastern, Hume had to announce the defeats of Gov. Bob Ehrlich and Senate candidate Michael Steele, two well-liked Republicans, in Maryland. Whether it was Malkin's outburst or those losses that threw him off, Hume lost all pretense of objectivity, and spent several minutes dolefully dwelling on a lone Republican hold in a close seat, the 13th Congressional District of Florida. He seemed terribly eager for analyst Michael Barone to tell him this was a harbinger of better things ahead, and not just a Proustian remembrance of glorious elections past.

... Normal TV manners reasserted themselves, and before long Sen. John McCain came on the show, supposedly to talk about how the Republicans would land on their feet. Of course this is the new, improved McCain, a pod person hatched in some Karl Rove greenhouse who at some point in 2005 replaced the old tough-as-nails, indie-Republican model. I have long felt that I'd actually prefer McCain to Hillary Clinton in '08, but, jeez Louise, have you seen this guy lately? He sits there in a chair with all the lifelike vividness of Lenin's corpse, smiling in this ghastly, dead way and reading from a script, with no evident conviction or even awareness. I'm not positive his lips move. Sca-a-ry.

... At 11:23 EST, Fox put up a graphic showing a cherry-picked selection of the incoming House leadership. Predictably, they'd found a photo of Nancy Pelosi with a bad puffball hairdo and a weird gape-grin. Below the speaker-presumptive were a few likely chairs of major committees: Charles Rangel, Alcee Hastings, John Conyers and Henry Waxman. These people were variously described as highly liberal (Rangel and Conyers), ethically challenged (Hastings) and overly aggressive (Waxman). No one on the show observed that the folks in the picture were a woman, three black guys and a Jew. (At least not out loud.)

Shortly before Hume's signoff at midnight, Kondracke asked him, "How do you keep track of all these blogs? There's a lot of them. It seems like anybody in their pajamas ..." He trailed off.

"It's a real marketplace of ideas, isn't it?" said Hume.

All night long, it had looked like George Allen was going to squeak it out in Virginia, and the Foxies were clinging to that apparent result. Bill Kristol kept wanting to call the race and then talking himself out of it, but he did repeatedly exclaim with boyish wonder over the fact that it might be Allen who saved the Republicans' bacon in the end. Hume got to tell his viewers, right before departing, that Allen's lead had finally evaporated, and that a recount, and possibly agonizing defeat, would come with the dawn.

By the next hour under Shep Smith, Fox had totally dropped the mode of lamentation and moved on to a new message: Let's end this partisan bickering and get stuff done! It's time for new ideas! Change! Competence! Like I said earlier, it's the message of those who just got a can of whup-ass opened all over them. (It looks like condensed cream of mushroom soup, but tastes even worse.)

"This is sort of a standard election," Kondracke said crossly in summing up. "There's always something in the sixth year [of a president's tenure], whether it's Watergate or Vietnam or a recession." Yeah, Mort. There's always something. Here's the something this year: That big plan for a permanent Republican majority? It crawled out into the Iraqi desert, rolled onto its bristly back and died.

Ack!

Heather Wilson (R), Congressional Representative for the Albuquerque, NM area (District 1), is squeaking past Patricia Madrid (D)! The margin is trivial! Ack!

Virginia Is For Lovers

And for schizophrenics - Webb's margin is microscopic!

And I Thought It Was Just Another Election

Like Hillary says, it takes a village to raise a child.

No?

Oh well, you can't please everyone.....

[Update: It looks like our values are going to be destroyed. Sad, that.]

Long Legs

Boy, what some will do for looks!:

China has banned the practice of leg-lengthening, a cosmetic surgery procedure popular among young professionals who believe height will help them to climb the career ladder, after a rash of botched operations has left patients disfigured.

Leg extension surgery looks like a procedure from the Middle Ages. A doctor breaks the patient's legs and inserts steel pins into the bones, just below the knees. The pins are attached to a metal frame and every day for months the patient tightens the knobs a small amount despite excruciating pain. By constantly forcing the ends of the broken bones apart before they can heal, more new bone comes to fill in the gaps.

... The operation costs some 100,000 yuan (£6,700) and it is often six months before the patient can walk without using a walking frame. Many can never run again.

... Chinese people's increased sensitivity about their appearance has seen a rash of cosmetic surgery clinics springing up around the country, offering a huge array of different kinds of surgery. Many of the clinics are run by doctors who abandon poorly paid work in the state-run medical system to cash in on the appetite for nips, tucks and leg extensions.

... Being tall has really only become an issue in China since the economic boom - the architect of the country's opening up, Deng Xiaoping, stood less than 5ft tall. But nowadays, many Chinese feel discriminated against in their jobs if they are not tall or good-looking enough. Men wear step heels, and television ads show the footwear with its inches-giving insoles.

... The technique of leg-lengthening was conceived by Italians in 1905, but the Russians can take credit for developing the concept. Much of the breakthrough work was done by Doctor Gavril Ilizarov, who used bicycle spokes to heal fractured bones broken by gunshots. He later adapted this technique to lengthening limbs. It is now used all over the world but is rarely allowed for cosmetic reasons.

Hot!

The latest issue of EOS, Transactions, American Geophysical Union, describes the use of satellite data to establish where the hottest land surface temperature (LST) on Earth is located. This is a little different than the location of the hottest air - that temperature is at 1.5 meters above the ground. Instead, this is the location of the foot-burningist surface temperature on Earth!

The 2004 (68.0 deg C: 154.4 deg F) and 2005 (70.7 deg C: 159.3 deg F), maxima were located in Iran's Lut Desert, on the Kerman Plateau, where temperatures get so hot that even bacteria can't survive.

But the 2003 maximum (69.3 deg C: 156.7 deg F) was located in Queensland, Australia, where I'm going in a week!

Looking at a map, the maximum Australian point seems to be in the upper regions of the Flinders River or the Diamantina watersheds, somewhere NW of Winton. The Flinders River drains into the Gulf of Carpenteria: the Diamantina drains into the interior. Pretty far from the ocean, and far from where I'm going, but still, I'm mystified why the maximum isn't farther west, at lower elevations, in the Simpson Desert, the Gibson Desert, the Great Victoria Desert, or in many other deserving locations in Australia. Maybe because the location is a little more tropical than the other places?

Oh well! Hot is hot! These temperatures make me yearn for summertime Death Valley, where at least bacteria are welcome!

I wonder whether bacteria can tough it out in Australia? Do Down-Under bacteria beat Persian bacteria?

Alaska Dust Storm

Nothing kicks up a good dust storm like exposing big expanses of glacial outwash loess to the wind! Imagine how dusty things must have been at the end of the last Ice Age!

Lame Election Predictions

Having no particular insight into what people are thinking, particularly since I get no Cable TV, and California is rather atypical of the nation as a whole, I'll stick with the general left-wing blogosphere consensus regarding who is likely to win in tomorrow's election. The most important thing happening this year is that the Northeast U.S. is defecting from the dominant southern wing of the Republican Party.

There has been lots of talk about a Democratic sweep this year, but I expect only incremental changes this year: sweeps will have to wait till 2008, until the Democrats actually have a coherent position on Iraq. Even then, Iraq is such a tarry gumball of woe, the Democrats may remain incoherent until the bitter end.

In California, I'll be voting for Angelides, but Schwarzenegger is likely to win.

Locally, I hope very much SMUD succeeds with its takeover of Yolo County (likely to save DMTC several hundred dollars - per month!)

HOUSE (231 R - 202 D)

CA
Doolittle (R) beats Brown (D)

NM
Madrid (D) beats Wilson (R)


SENATE (55 R - 45 D)

Minnesota: Klobuchar (D) wins
Michigan: Stabenow (D) wins
Washington: Cantwell (D) wins
New Jersey: Menendez (D) wins
Pennsylvania: Casey (D) wins
Ohio: Brown (D) wins
Maryland: Cardin (D) wins
Rhode Island: Whitehouse (D) wins
Montana: Tester (D) wins
Virginia: Webb (D) wins
Missouri: McCaskill (D) wins

Arizona: Kyl (R) wins
Tennessee: Corker (R) wins
Nevada: Ensign (R) wins


GOVERNOR (28 R - 22 D)

New York: Spitzer (D) wins
Massachusetts: Patrick (D) wins
Ohio: Strickland (D) wins
Colorado: Ritter (D) wins
Arkansas: Beebe (D) wins
Illinois: Blagojevich (D) wins
Michigan: Granholm (D) wins
Wisconsin: Doyle (D) wins
Oregon: Kulongoski (D) wins

Nevada: Gibbons (R) wins
California: Schwarzenegger (R) wins

"Lost And Found"

I went to see the Sunday afternoon performance of "Lost And Found" in the 600-seat hall at the expanding Christ Community Church (CCC), in Carmichael. This was the third performance of the world premiere of this musical. The leading lights behind this new musical are Darin and Sheri Adams, both of whom have had formidable stage careers and who have settled into Carmichael to raise a family (not to be confused with Scott and Sherri Adams, another couple involved in Sacramento-area musical theater). Pepper Von is choreographer.

Darin Adams is Artistic Director of the Searchlight Theater project and Director of Arts and Worship at Christ Community Church. He has appeared at Music Circus (Capt. Brackett in 'South Pacific'), plus numerous other Bay Area (Peninsula Civic Light Opera in San Mateo, West Bay Opera, Berkeley Opera) productions. Sheri Adams has also done PCLO shows (among others), and they both spent nearly three years as lead vocalists and headline actors for Seabourn Cruise Lines.

The premise is entertaining enough: Sarah Foster's (Sheri Adams') music classroom of inner-city high-school kids are introduced to Paul (Darin Adams), an understudy opera singer who experiences the dream of succeeding the main singer and establishing a career of his own. Paul and Sarah strike up a romance and tutor the bright and sassy gospel, hip-hop, and opera-aware students, particularly the bright Timothy (Sequence Grisby), who has a troubled brother, Titus (Noah Hayes). Paul eventually drifts into an addiction with painkillers, and Sarah tries to save the marriage. Titus is killed in a drive-by shooting, and Timothy struggles to retain his relationship with his tutor, Paul.

The use of sung dialogue is reminiscent of Andrew Lloyd Webber musicals: reminded me of "Evita," in a way. I liked the use of hip-hop: not enough hip-hop in musicals! The gospel singing is great as well, particularly by Rose, Timothy's mother (Darlene Tellis). Chester Patterson played an excellent Reverend Frank Jackson.

For the most part, the ensemble does a very good job. Not enough dancing, but ably executed. Pepper Von's moves were evident (Assistant Choreographer Venetia James).

The violence came too quickly, with remarkably little foreshadowing (the words were there, but not the music). Dreamlike. The exposition in Act I is a bit labored, and could probably be improved by axing a song.

The problem with the show (and the premise as well) is Paul's overweening egotism. Paul is introduced to the classroom as an already-successful opera singer, which stretches credulity as to his dedication to the students' well-being right from the start. Darin Adams is well-aware of the problem, though: the students rebuke Paul's self-centeredness several times during the show. The problem could be easily fixed too. If Paul was another teacher in the same school, like an English teacher, or a music teacher in another nearby school, his drift into addiction could then be more poignant. He would already be a grounded member of the community who experiences the American-Idol-like arc of fame, rather than being an alien landing from Mars.

I had the sense that I was a watching a metaphor of the Adames own lives as successful performers. Talking with an audience member who belongs to the congregation, I learned that the Adamses have been in Carmichael for about two years now, and CCC nearly lost them to another city at one point. The folks at CCC are very appreciative that the Adamses are with their congregation.

But what must it be like from the other side, to have the world as your oyster, and then settle into a specific community, with all its inanities, insufficiencies and inadequacies - even as nice a community as Carmichael? To play the big house, and then deal with day-to-day idiocies? Like the farmers used to say, it's hard to keep the young folks on the farm once they've seen Gay Paree.

At one point, troubled Titus tells big-head Paul, "we aren't your special project." This is the central truth of the musical. And what happens to the truth-teller in theater? You've guessed it. When the drive-by hoodlums arrive, and the guns start firing, it's Truth-teller Titus who catches a bullet.

And yet, it's crystal-clear Adams is all-too-well-aware of this. Like Paul's students, the folks at CCC aren't Adams' special project either.

So, a flawed musical, but maybe one that generates more genuine thought because of its flaws than if it had been smoother from the start.

One more weekend to go! Give it a look! Location is in Carmichael, on Manzanita, just south of Madison (map).

Lost and Found
Searchlight Theatre Project
November 3, 4, 5 - 10, 11, 12
Friday and Saturday - 7 p.m.
Sunday - 4 p.m.

"Annie" - Runaway Stage Productions

Last show of RSP's 2006 season. Saturday's performance was wonderful! Tons of experience on stage! "Annie" is very smooth, with a hard, shiny luster. ("It's a dessert topping! It's a floor wax!")

Both Kaylynn Rothleder (Annie) and Lauren Miller (Lily St. Regis) had done these same roles at DMTC in the spring of 2005. Further, in the summer of 2005, Kaylynn survived very far into a rigorous audition process to find the lead child actress for the "Annie" national Broadway tour: Kaylynn was among the last dozen, or so, of some 500-600 girls who tried out. Ray Fisher (Daddy Warbucks) said this is the fourth time he's played the role. So, several of the lead players had far more experience in these roles than is commonly the case in community theater, or for that matter, professional theater. More pertinent "Annie" experience than you are ever likely to see again on a stage!

In addition, very strong players were chosen for some of the other lead characters: Darryl Strohl (Rooster Hannigan), for example. This was the first time I've seen Lillian Baxter sing - she's good! And Andrea St. Clair, with her strong singing and perfect characterization, is a natural for the role of Warbuck's secretary, Grace Farrell.

Set design by Dave Lack of the Warbuck's mansion was excellent. Darryl Strohl's choreography gave ample opportunity to show off the humor of the show, especially by Lauren Miller.

Very few bad points. Act I was brilliant, but the pacing at the top of Act II was a bit slow. The microphones had a few, fairly minor but predictable problems: some feedback, and "clipping", particularly when Andrea St. Clair would blow out the circuitry with her powerful voice.

One-and-a-half years after the DMTC show, I worried that Kaylynn would be too polished for the innocence demanded by the show, and for about a minute at the beginning of Act I, I thought my worries justified, but as soon as she swung into the opening number, "Maybe," her big smile came out, and the Kaylynn of old was back.

Doesn't Ray have a really great voice?

I felt a strange dissonance as Scott Horsfall went through FDR's lines. I played FDR in the 2005 DMTC show, and the dissonance came as my memory struggled to recover the lines from cobweb-covered neurons. Good performance: my only concern was that Scott should remain in character, in the wheelchair, during curtain call (it disturbs the audience to see FDR walking around so soon).

Great bell-kick, Dave!

"Annie" is the best show I've seen at Runaway Stage - really, I can't recommend it highly enough. After the show, I mentioned my highest-ever rating to Michael McElroy, and he said: "What about 'The Full Monty'? Wasn't that the best one ever?" As I backed down 24th Street, first slowly, then stumbling, and then sharply accelerating away, I shouted ever-louder: "The Full Monty? Oh, fine show! Fine....fine.....", as Mike Mac maniacally laughed .....

(unfortunately no pictures - camera not charged)

The Blame Game

Leading neo-cons bail on the Iraq War, leaving the soldiers to pick up the pieces.

Won't anyone from their group take responsibility? After all, it was their war!

Janis Ian At "The Palms"

It's unusual when I urge people NOT to see an artist perform, but that's what I'll do with Janis Ian and her show this weekend at "The Palms." Her music can be so relentlessly negative, with its indulgence of self-worthlessness, that it is positively destructive. Twenty-seven years ago, a friend of mine, a Janis Ian fan, committed suicide, and I hold a grudge against her for contributing to my friend's hopeless state-of-mind. Of course, times change, and perhaps she has as well, but like I say, 27 years later, I still hold a grudge (From 'At Seventeen'):

To those of us who know the pain
Of valentines that never came
And those whose names were never called
When choosing sides for basketball

It was long ago and far away
The world was younger than today
And dreams were all they gave for free
To ugly duckling girls like me

Nuts

Recently, a friend of mine spent the night at Sutter General Hospital after being poisoned. Two women found him crawling on the sidewalk pleading for help, and they called an ambulance.

My friend had eaten a number of raw almonds that fell off of a transport truck heading to the Blue Diamond nut processing facility here in Sacramento. The truck driver waved his arms and tried to dissuade my friend from eating the almonds, but my friend ate the almonds anyway, and that's apparently a BIG no-no.

I thought the poisoning might have been from hydrocyanic poisoning - there's a small amount of cyanide compounds in almonds, and if small children eat lots of almonds (and if adults eat even more on an empty stomach), poisoning has been known to occur.

Nevertheless, discussing the matter with co-workers who know how nuts are processed, I've discovered there are other poisoning candidates. These days, methyl bromide is no longer widely used as a fumigant, having been largely-replaced by aluminum and magnesium phosphides. These (and possibly other) chemical substances on nuts might also induce poisoning.

So, don't eat nuts off the street.

Next, reasons not to eat tomatoes that roll off of transport trucks and accumulate at interstate highway on-ramps. Tempting roadside treats in the autumn, especially in Yolo County!

AVN Awards Moving

To the Mandalay Bay. I'm trying to think of a joke: Mammary Mia! is the best I can come up with.

Librarian Humor

Gabe got this through the librarian listserv:

Subject: Overdue notice (very mild humor)

I just sent an overdue notice for this book:

Execution: the discipline of getting things done, by Bossidy et al.

and this is the email I received back from the person who has it:

No I'm still reading it.

American Right-Wing Thought-Porn

Prosecutor Hugh Hewitt and fawning Mark Halperin.

Suicide Rather Than Dishonor

Sometimes people choose to kill themselves rather than participate in evil. In the Balkans wars in the mid-90's, I thought the only Serbian to come out of Bosnia with her integrity intact was the suicidal daughter of that genocidal monster, General Ratko Mladic.

America now has its own heroine: Alyssa Peterson, from Flagstaff, AZ, a 27-year-old devout Mormon who chose suicide rather than torturing prisoners.

Ann Coulter Gets Snippy

Over that voting probe:

Conservative columnist Ann Coulter has refused to cooperate in an investigation into whether she voted in the wrong precinct, so the case will probably be turned over to prosecutors, Palm Beach County's elections chief said Wednesday.

Knowingly voting in the wrong precinct is a felony punishable by up to five years in prison.

Elections Supervisor Arthur Anderson said his office has been looking into the matter for nearly nine months, and he would turn over the case to the state attorney's office by Friday.

Anderson added that Coulter, since the allegations surfaced, made "efforts to distract and divert focus on the process regarding this complaint. ... I did express my frustration to the state attorney in a recent meeting and warned him I may need his services," according to an article in the Palm Beach Post.

... Anderson's office received a complaint in February that Coulter voted in the wrong precinct during a Feb. 7 Palm Beach town council election.

Anderson, a Democrat, said a letter was sent to Coulter on March 27 requesting that she clarify her address for the voting records "or face the possibility of her voter registration being rescinded." Three more letters were sent to Coulter and her attorney, but she has yet to respond with the information requested, Anderson said.

In July, Anderson said, he received a letter from Coulter's attorney, Marcos Daniel Jimenez D'Clouet. The letter said the attorney would only discuss the matter in person or by telephone because, he complained, Anderson had given details to the media. Anderson said the matter had to be discussed in writing.

Democratic Wave Building

And with the Iraq War approaching the length of World War II in a few days, it's little surprise.

PayPal Blast

Someone is disgruntled:

An explosive device shattered an office window at eBay's PayPal headquarters in San Jose Tuesday evening, but no one was injured, police said.

"It was definitely not an accident. There was some kind of device," San Jose Police Sgt. Nick Muyo said of the 7:20 p.m. blast. "There was no advance warning, no threats, no indication there would be an event like this. ... It completely took everybody by surprise."

... Muyo said San Jose police are working with the FBI and investigators from the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives to determine what the device was made of and who set it there.

At the time of the explosion, about 45 employees were in the building and the office adjacent to it, which are both located on the 2200 block of North First Street, Muyo said. None of the employees was close to the blast, he added.

Muyo said eBay employees are currently working from home, and the company is asking them to check their e-mail or call the number on their employee ID cards for information on when they should report to work. EBay expects the offices to reopen Thursday, police said.

Flag Contest

Idle Brits tossing around ideas, but this one (from 'Grunty') is the best in my book, for the Islamic Republic of Iran.

Secret Mission

Time to report for duty:

WASHINGTON, DC—In a televised address to the nation Monday, President Bush announced that the U.S. is in "desperate need of thousands of registered Democrats" to conduct what he called an "extremely important mission" to begin immediately and continue at least until the first Tuesday after the first Monday in November.

... "We are calling on the most stalwart Democrats in the land," Bush said. "In fact, they are the only ones capable of making it a success."

Although details were limited, an unnamed administration official revealed that, on Wednesday, November 1, registered Democrats will be asked to report to designated government rendezvous points such as post offices and military recruiting centers. Once there, they will be registered, fingerprinted, and issued one-piece jumpsuits, bedding, and canteens of drinking water, then directed to board brown school buses bound for an undisclosed location or locations.

... While Bush said any registered Democrat is eligible to participate, those who reside in Arizona's Fifth, Ohio's First, and Pennsylvania's Eighth Congressional Districts are most needed to ensure the mission's success. Democrats from New Jersey, Missouri, Tennessee, and "especially Virginia" were also strongly encouraged to volunteer.

... “I am delighted that, in this arduous midterm election season, the White House is finally reaching across the aisle to these fine, vigilant individuals,” said Sen. Rick Santorum (R–PA), who is up for re-election around the same time as the proposed mission. "Despite our differences, I know the Democrats of my home state are the kinds of folks the president is talking about—strong, devoted, caring people who support stem-cell research and stronger gun laws."

Bechtel Wraps Up

Time to leave Iraq.

Drought

The Australian climate can be just brutal. Farmers near Adelaide are beginning to panic:

THE Murray River could dwindle to a trickle in just 24 weeks.

It would have catastrophic consequences for farmers and towns along the river and potentially cut off Adelaide's main water supply.

Official storage estimates from the Murray Darling Basin Commission show that just 2500 gigalitres remain in the system and its two main dams - the Hume and Dartmouth - are likely to be dry in months.

The Murray Darling Water Crisis Management Council - a group of farmers, shires and water experts - warned the Howard Government in Canberra yesterday that a crisis was building.

"The commission should be telling the public we are heading for an enormous disaster," Wakool Land Association president John Lolocato told the Herald Sun.

... The group told MPs there had to be an immediate moratorium on environmental flows until the crisis passed.

It also urged the construction of a low-level weir in Wellington, South Australia, to stop water flowing into Alexandrina and Albert lakes - playground of many of Adelaide's rich.

Barham farmer Neil Eagle warned Adelaide would be without water unless a weir was built.

"We've got to stop pouring water into wetlands that would be dry in a normal drought like this," he said.

Waiting For The "Second Coming"?

Via Juan Cole and Obsidian Wings - "Mission Accomplished" has apparently gummed things up for some millenialists:

Voters should oust congressional Republican leaders because U.S. foreign policy is delaying the second coming of Jesus Christ, according to a evangelical preacher trying to influence closely contested political races.

K.A. Paul railed against the war in Iraq on Sunday before a crowd of 1,000 at the New Spirit Revival Center in Cleveland Heights, his first stop on what he hopes is a 30-city campaign.

The Houston-based preacher said he believes that the Bush administration has delayed the second coming because U.S. foreign policy has blocked Christian missionaries from working in Iraq, Iran and Syria.

"Somebody needs to say enough is enough," he said to worshippers who stood, waved and called out in support.

... Paul, who claimed to support conservative political leaders in the past, is launching "a crusade to save America from the wrath of God and Republicans abusing their power," according to his press materials.

... "God is mad at this country," Paul told the congregation. He described the war in Iraq as "unnecessary genocide."

Musical Paranoia

The new technology: YouTube, camera phones, laptops, I-pods, blogs. It's a nightmare for a musician - you DARE NOT try out new songs at a concert anymore!:

And White knows exactly who to blame for this consumption frenzy: you. OK, maybe not you specifically, but the idea of you. You're caught in a dead sprint with other hipsters and music geeks to discover the latest band, the latest track, the latest sound bite before anyone else. You're desperate for it. You scrounge the Internet. You download podcasts. You read every review. And someone has to outfit your search, supplying all the insta-facts and quick-take columns you're drooling to consume.

Abandoning A Soldier

Is this "stay the course" or another example of "flexibility"?: the U.S. abandons a captured American soldier:

The U.S. military does not have a tradition of abandoning its own soldiers to foreign militias, or of taking orders from foreign governments. No commander-in-chief who actually walks the walk, rather than swaggering the swagger, would acquiesce to such a thing. The soldier appears to be of Iraqi descent who is married to an Iraqi woman. Who authorized abandoning him to the enemy? Who is really giving the orders to the U.S. military in Iraq?

Lost And Found

Pepper Von is enthusiastically promoting this show - he serves as choreographer. The director has Broadway experience. Pepper says "bring lots of tissue" (I don't like weeping while watching musicals, but apparently it's a tearjerker. Lots of singing and dancing. Location is in Carmichael, on Manzanita, just south of Madison (map), and the show goes for two weekends.

Lost and Found
Searchlight Theatre Project
November 3, 4, 5 - 10, 11, 12
Friday and Saturday - 7 p.m.
Sunday - 4 p.m.

Zokku Halloween

Driving past Zokku at 4th and J St. this evening at 11 p.m., something seemed wrong. Dozens of Angels and Devils milled around the sidewalk as a humorless cop announced over the bullhorn that the bar was closed and that everyone should go home. I wonder what happened? Dunking for caramel apples turned into waterboarding? What?

Just Say No

The Bush Administration feels it is a good use of taxpayer money to encourage adults up to age 29 to just stop having sex.

The Libertarians have always struck me as way bizarre in their worries about the government in the bedroom, but that was before Dubya came to Washington....

The federal government's "no sex without marriage" message isn't just for kids anymore.

Now the government is targeting unmarried adults up to age 29 as part of its abstinence-only programs, which include millions of dollars in federal money that will be available to the states under revised federal grant guidelines for 2007.

The government says the change is a clarification. But critics say it's a clear signal of a more directed policy targeting the sexual behavior of adults.

"They've stepped over the line of common sense," said James Wagoner, president of Advocates for Youth, a Washington, D.C.-based non-profit that supports sex education. "To be preaching abstinence when 90% of people are having sex is in essence to lose touch with reality. It's an ideological campaign. It has nothing to do with public health."

... But Wade Horn, assistant secretary for children and families at the Department of Health and Human Services, said the revision is aimed at 19- to 29-year-olds because more unmarried women in that age group are having children.

Government data released last month show that 998,262 births in 2004 were to unmarried women 19-29, the ages with the most births to unmarried women.

"The message is 'It's better to wait until you're married to bear or father children,' " Horn said. "The only 100% effective way of getting there is abstinence."

Trick-or-Treat



Did anyone see where that candy corn bon bon ended up?

Canine Substance Abuse

No locations are mentioned, probably to protect the innocent, but here's a strange story of a dog with .... a problem ....

Trapped

I know I'll spend my retirement something like this Roseville woman:

69-year-old Inga Walen's refrigerator was top heavy and as she leaned in to open the fridge door, it fell forward, toppling her.

Inga tried calling for help any way she could. At first she grabbed some shattered glass pieces that fell on top of her during the accident, and she threw them at her kitchen window to draw attention and make noise. After that didn't work, she then managed to grab a wooden spoon and a pressure cooker lid, and banged the two together as she called for help.

Luckily by the fourth day, Greg Allen, a politician running for the Placer County Water Board, heard Inga's call for help while going door-to-door campaigning. He found an unlocked door and ran in to save Inga's life.

Inga suffered a broken collar bone, and injured both legs as a result of the accident. She says that she doesn't care which political party Allen represents, she's voting for him either way.

All Dressed Up, And Someplace To Go

Guest editor of the December issue of Vogue Australia.

The Big Five-O

On Saturday, the folks at DMTC helped me celebrate my 50th birthday (actual date: October 30th), with a pleasant party at the Hoblit Performing Arts Center.

Interestingly, I'm not the only one shares that date - of the folks there that night, two others, Bethany Pedersen and Rich Kulmann, also share that same birth date (plus other DMTC regulars who weren't there, like Gil Sebastian), but I was the only one there with a major milestone birthday that night.

Nice food and wonderful companionship - William Hedge and Scott Griffith; the Kulmanns; Linda Abrille; Abby and Andy and Clocky and Bethany; Lauren and Mike McElroy; Monique McKisson; Emily Beal; Steve and Jan; Jeannie and Alec; and others! Arthur and Dannette, dressed as the lead characters from 'Pirates of the Caribbean' entered the theater dueling in a mock sword fight. Such fun!

Steve and Jan assembled fragments from six shows to put together a tribute DVD of some of my DMTC performances (monologue as Eugene in 2003's 'Grease'; dance with Lori Holmes in 2001's 'Oliver'; dialogue with Lauren McElroy in 2006's 'Titanic'; monologue as Bobby in 2003's 'A Chorus Line'; dance with Stephanie Skewes in 2001's 'Carousel'; playing Mr. Gatch with Lauren McElroy and Mr. Ovington with Arthur Vassar in 2003's "How To Succeed in Business Without Really Trying').

The DVD began with my opening oration as Eugene Florcyck, from DMTC's 2003 production of 'Grease', as I welcome the Class of 1959 back to a Rydell High School class reunion. I had rather forgotten that freneto-spastic performance! In the darkness of the theater, we all heard a shaken MikeMac mutter "Dear Lord, save us!" The highest praise!

A great decade - well begun!

"Fiddler On The Roof" - Woodland Opera House

Friday night brought a wave of nostalgia, watching "Fiddler On The Roof" at the Woodland Opera House. The first musical theatrical production I ever had the joy to appear in was the same show, on the same stage, in 1997. Indeed, several of the same people were involved in this production as last time: Joe Schulte as Lazar Wolf (previously, 'Tevye') and Micail Buse as The Rabbi (both shows!). In addition, Jon Mounts played Avram the Bookseller in this show as well as the 2003 DMTC production of 'Fiddler.' Jeff Kean directed both productions.

Darryl Strohl was a fine Bottle Dancer - he's limber and energetic. I really liked Monika Neal's double (or was it triple?) inside pirouette during her dance - it's freakin' scary to do that so close to the stage's edge! In general, though, the dancing in this production was considerably more conservative than in the 1997 production, including the 'Bottle Dance', and 'To Life'. To some, this was a blessing: Micail Buse broke his nose during 'To Life' in 1997, forcing him to use gobs of latex to cover the wound in 'The Dream' (which follows 'To Life', after the intermission). Not surprisingly, Micail said he preferred the 2006 'Fiddler' to the 1997 production (although, as he should recall, the 1997 nosebreak did correct an even earlier nosebreak, which for many years had limited nasal breathing to just one nostril, and finally allowed him to breathe again freely out of both nostrils).

Eva Sarry is listed as choreographer (or actually not as choreographer, but rather in standard MTI-contract language as 'original choreography reproduced by'). I prefer every show to have a choreographer - I think even if a 'traditional' show, there is no merit to mindlessly follow past practices. In 1997, Pam Kay Lourentzos was choreographer. A standard criticism of Pam's methods has been that she over-choreographs shows, but I think that's preferable to the alternative of not trying new things out.

I liked Bethany Pedersen (Tzeitel) and Monika Neal (Chava) just fine, but of Tevye's primary daughters, on Friday night, I thought Julia Mosby (Hodel) was the most effective - perhaps it was because she was more sombre than the others. I thought that Bethany had trouble with the acting as she pleaded with Tevye to allow her to marry Motel, The Tailor - she seemed tentative in hugging Tevye's legs. But apparently there was some backstage drama there - on Saturday I learned that Bethany had been battling illness earlier that week, and so we were lucky to have her there at all.

Regarding Motel, the Tailor, there is a fine line he has to tread, to neither be over-intimidated by Tevye, nor too belligerent in speaking back. I thought Clocky McDowell played the role a shade too belligerent, not waiting long enough to speak back to Tevye. Nevertheless, and as always, Clocky's energetic interpretation of the role commanded admiring attention!

I was surprised to learn Buffee Gillihan played Fruma-Sarah - did not recognize her! Her entrance, from below, was very powerful, but unlike other productions, she was not portrayed as a giantess, which had the benefit of allowing more movement, but also stripped away her intimidating aura.

In 'To Life', the role of Sasha was split with Kyle Hadley (as Fyedka) handling the singing, and Darryl Strohl doing the dancing.

Scott Woodard played Perchick a bit too in-the-moment for my taste - the puritanical idealism was overshadowed by too much enjoyment. To me, Perchick is best played as somewhat stiff and humorless - a proto-Strelnikoff (from Pasternak's book and the 1964 movie 'Dr. Zhivago').

Jeff Nauer played a fine Tevye - a different interpretation than most, but very well done. Nancy Agee has a fine voice for Golde, but I thought she was a bit imperious (maybe to compensate for Jeff Nauer's lack of imperiousness as Tevye???)

In general, this production was very 'goyish' - sounding off-key on a lot of Jewish themes, but that was a major criticism of the 1997 production as well (indeed, in 1997, Lenore Sebastian left the production during rehearsals, in protest). The problem, then and now, isn't a lack of goodwill, it's a lack of Jews. Yolo County theater is just a little too WASPish for some shows - too few Jews, blacks, Hispanics, gays - gays? Gays? Nah, I think we're OK there......

The music was wonderful (there was an accordion!) - I liked watching Erik Daniell's lilting hands against the lit stage as he conducted the orchestra.

In addition to actors from 1997, there were other DMTC favorites (Bruce Wallace, Jon Mounts) and WOH favorites (Matt Taloff).

Joelle Wirth played a fine Yente. I thought she wasn't quite ethnic enough, and too young, but she attacked the role with humor and energy.

Halloween Pictures

Susana sent these gems via E-Mail (the last one is for Lauren):

Andrew McKnight Concert, November 19th

This is the second concert in DMTC's series (the first concert, by Dave Nachmanoff, was great!):
-----

Award-Winning Shenandoah Valley Songwriter Andrew McKnight to Perform for Davis Musical Theatre Company’s Benefit Concert Series

Storyteller and Guitarist Weaves Humor and Poetry with Stellar Songcraft

Date/Time: Sunday, November 19, at 7:30 pm

Venue: DMTC’s Hoblit Performing Arts Center, 607 Pena Drive in Davis, CA

Tickets or (530) 756-3682; $20 General, $15 Students and Seniors

DMTC Contacts: Ben Wormeli, Vice President, DMTC Board of Directors bendmtc@aol.com, (530) 400-7369; or Steve Isaacson, Co-Founder, Co-Producer of DMTC steve@dmtc.org, (530) 902-2404

Artist Info: Includes free streaming songs from his four CDs, two radio interviews and high-resolution digital photos for your use at the Publicity Page. Please email info@andrewmcknight.net to schedule an interview or for additional information.

Davis Musical Theatre Company (DMTC) is pleased to announce the continuation of our new concert series, Keep the Music Playing in Your Community – Concerts to Benefit DMTC, with wonderful folk artist, Andrew McKnight.

Since permanently leaving his corporate environmental engineering career in 1996, singer, writer and guitarist Andrew McKnight's musical journey has traced over a quarter million miles of blue highways and small towns across the country, crafting his cinematic vignettes of Americans and their landscapes in music, poetry and prose in between 125 performances each year and on four critically acclaimed CDs on the
local independent Falling Mountain Music label (http://www.fallingmountain.com/).

That impressive discography includes his latest Beyond Borders, a finalist for the Independent Music Awards 2005 Americana Album of the Year as well as the Washington Area Music Awards Best Contemporary Folk Recording.

Beyond Borders includes his song “Good Things Matter”, Winner of the 2005 Great American Song Contest, Acoustic/Folk category.

Wherever McKnight takes the stage, audiences are at once spellbound and relaxed by his entertaining stories delivered with just the right touches of down home humor, causing one concertgoer to label him "equal parts Robert Frost, William Least Heat-Moon and Jeff Foxworthy!" He has shared those attributes in a wide variety of performance settings, including the 1996 Atlanta Olympic Games, the Kennedy Center and the National Theatre in DC, Appalshop Theatre, Mountain Stage NewSong Festival, Chattanooga Riverbend Festival, Baltimore's Artscape Festival, and the nationally syndicated public and satellite radio show River City Folk.

A longtime advocate for preserving American landscapes and heritage, particularly at home in northwestern Virginia, several of McKnight's songs are rooted in Appalachian history and culture, including the haunting Civil War ballad "The Road to Appomattox" and "Company Town", which leads off the 2004 compilation CD Moving Mountains: Voices of Appalachia Rise Up Against Mountaintop Removal Coal Mining.

Reviews:

• "blends wry and romantic stories with keen tuneful observations in a delicious mix of folk, blues and bluegrass... a man not to be missed!"- The National Theatre
• "As a singer and songwriter, McKnight is a marvel...brings a deep truth to his words and music that resonates with an irresistible charm...His voice itself is one that you can literally listen to for hours, savoring its mellow sound like a fine mountain wine." - Times-Standard, Eureka CA
• "covers abundant and fertile ground, musically and lyrically, though it seems unfair a gifted songwriter should also possess such a fetching voice and hot chops"- KUT FM "Folkways", Austin TX
• "Pick your favorite poet or balladeer and McKnight will equal them with an Appalachian soul"- Victory Review
• "this brilliant guitar player brought those (Blue Ridge) mountains with him...Relating story after story and song after song, often combining his interest in geography, history and a keen eye for the human spirit, Andrew presented a night overflowing with fantastic original material which could only be rated with Blue Ribbons, 5-Stars and a couple of thumbs up."- Tidewater Friends of Folk Music

Keep the Music Playing In Your Community – Concerts to Benefit DMTC

In addition to six Main Stage productions and four Young Performers Theater productions per year, DMTC now also presents these benefit concerts with these goals:

To raise funds to support DMTC Main Stage Productions, Young Performers Theater, and the new Hoblit Performing Arts Center to keep the performing arts and arts education alive and well in Davis and accessible to everyone. DMTC is a non-profit 501(c)3, all volunteer community theater company with a 21-year history of excellence in artistic achievement, community service, and youth education.

To support talented local, regional, and touring artists, raising public awareness of their great work and keeping their music playing too.

To enrich the community by providing affordable, outstanding musical entertainment in a family-friendly environment.

Poledancing For Tots

Sounds like Dan Ackroyd's sleazebag toy and Halloween costume salesman character from "Saturday Night Live" went off to England to make a fortune there:

Tesco has been forced to remove a pole-dancing kit from the toys and games section of its website after it was accused of "destroying children's innocence".

The Tesco Direct site advertises the kit with the words, "Unleash the sex kitten inside...simply extend the Peekaboo pole inside the tube, slip on the sexy tunes and away you go! Soon you'll be flaunting it to the world and earning a fortune in Peekaboo Dance Dollars".

The £49.97 kit comprises a chrome pole extendible to 8ft 6ins, a 'sexy dance garter' and a DVD demonstrating suggestive dance moves.

... Dr Adrian Rogers, of family campaigning group Family Focus said yesterday that the kit would "destroy children's lives". He said: "Tesco is Britain's number one chain, this is extremely dangerous. It is an open invitation to turn the youngest children on to sexual behaviour. "This will be sold to four, five and six-year olds. This is a most dangerous toy that will contribute towards destroying children's innocence." He added: "Children are being encouraged to dance round a pole which is interpreted in the adult world as a phallic symbol. It ought to be stopped, it really requires the intervention of members of Parliament. This should only be available to the most depraved people who want to corrupt their children."

Tesco today agreed to remove the product from the Toy section of the site, but said it will remain on sale as a Fitness Accessory, despite the fact that the product description invites users to "unleash the sex kitten inside".

... The pole dance kit is the latest item to fuel allegations that major retailers increasingly sell products which "sexualise" young children such as T-shirts with suggestive messages.

In recent years Asda was forced to remove from sale pink and black lace lingerie, including a push-up bra to girls as young as nine. Next had to remove t-shirts on sale for girls as young as six with the slogan "so many boys, so little time." And BHS and others came under fire for selling padded bras embellished with a "Little Miss Naughty" logo and t-shirts with a Playboy-style bunny that said "I love boys...They are stupid."

Tesco last night denied the pole dancing kit was sexually oriented and said it was clearly marked for "adult use". A spokesman added: "Pole dancing is an increasing exercise craze. This item is for people who want to improve their fitness and have fun at the same time."

DMTC First Annual Garage Sale Festival Event

"Tradition!" is important at DMTC, and we start a new one here! From the DMTC Newsletter:

SATURDAY, NOVEMBER 4, 2006
7:00 AM TO 1:00PM
DMTC-Hoblit Performing Arts Center
607 Pena Drive
Davis, California 95618

DONATIONS NEEDED!
VOLUNTEERS NEEDED OF ALL AGES!

Garage Sale Items Needed
Pre Ticketed Sellable Items
(Priced to make money, but sell quickly)

Food Items Needed

Baked goods – wrapped & ready for sale
Hot Dogs
Hot Dog Buns
Condiments
Can Soda
Bottled Water

BBQ Items Needed

Borrow a BBQ Grill
Charcoal
Lighter Fluid
BBQ Utensils

Other Items Needed:

BoUnCe HoUsE
Face Painting Material

Drop Off Donations
M-F 4:30 - 10:00 PM Oct. 30th - Nov. 3rd
Donation Receipts will be available

Immediate response is needed.

Kindly email Mariepetersen@comcast.net as to your gracious donations, time, or other concerns.

Thank You in advance!

Please note * No major appliances- if they do not sell we do not have any source to donate them to. Thanks.

Becca's Article Is Out!

Left: Thursday night, October 19th, at the Crest Theater in downtown Sacramento, after the screening of "The Day Arnold Schwarzenegger Kissed My A**". Tanned, rested, ready, (and sexy, if I may say so), the Class of 2003 reunites!

Left to right, former gubernatorial candidates Gerold Gorman, Lorraine (Abner Zurd) Fontanes, Cheryl Bly-Chester, and Marc Valdez. Photo taken with Ab Zurd's camera (but by whom? Becca?), and provided by Ab Zurd Fontanes.


Here's the link to Becca Costello's column regarding the Sacramento preview of 2003 California Gubernatorial candidate Lorraine (Abner Zurd) Fontanes' movie "The Day Arnold Schwarzenegger Kissed My A**".

Sorry, that's "The Day Arnold Schwarzenegger Kicked My A**" (we'll have to wait for the sequel for the former).

The Quizzical Meaning Of Bankruptcy

I've been baffled why, if Air America is bankrupt, it continues uninterrupted on the air. Apparently RealNetworks continues to keep Air America going, even as creditors lodge claims against it. I don't understand how these things work, but there you are....

The Purpose Of Music

Last night, watching the 1967 television series "The Prisoner" on DVD (episode: 'Hammer Into Anvil'), there was a delightful slogan on display as No. 6 (Patrick McGoohan) perused the record selection in The Village's music shoppe: "Music makes for a quiet mind." Mind control so delightfully obvious!

Yet, I remember a time, in my childhood, when that sentiment was actually quite widespread, that the sole legitimate purpose of music was to induce a state of calm. My father, for one, insisted upon it. The use of that slogan in "The Prisoner" was so ironic - in the 1960's, I'm sure many Britons shared my father's opinion. That explains so much why the advent of rock-and-roll was so disturbing - music was being used to produce an altogether different state of mind. Romanian dictator Nicolae Ceaucescu, among many others, railed against Elvis Presley throughout the 1970's for exactly that reason. Just like I'm sure his father railed against jazz music....

We'll never make that mistake again! Or will we?

That's why I like musical theater - it soothes the inner demons!

Research Findings

Science marches on:

Researchers at the Kinsey Institute for Research in Sex, Gender and Reproduction at Indiana University say most men are always thinking of sex.

Actually, all I can think about is researchers at the Kinsey Institute for Research in Sex, Gender and Reproduction at Indiana University - nekkid!

Where Electricity Comes From, And Where It Goes

Via Junkcharts.

I Am French, And I Am Here To Microwave You!

When travelling overseas, keep expectations low:

AROUND a dozen Japanese tourists a year need psychological treatment after visiting Paris as the reality of unfriendly locals and scruffy streets clashes with their expectations, a newspaper has reported.

... Already this year, Japan's embassy in Paris has had to repatriate at least four visitors - including two women who believed their hotel room was being bugged and there was a plot against them.

Previous cases include a man convinced he was the French "Sun King", Louis XIV, and a woman who believed she was being attacked with microwaves, the paper cited Japanese embassy official Yoshikatsu Aoyagi as saying.

"Fragile travellers can lose their bearings. When the idea they have of the country meets the reality of what they discover it can provoke a crisis," psychologist Herve Benhamou told the paper.

... Bernard Delage of Jeunes Japon, an association that helps Japanese families settle in France, said: "In Japanese shops, the customer is king, whereas here assistants hardly look at them ... People using public transport all look stern, and handbag snatchers increase the ill feeling."

A Japanese woman, Aimi, told the paper: "For us, Paris is a dream city. All the French are beautiful and elegant ... And then, when they arrive, the Japanese find the French character is the complete opposite of their own."

Go Make Pluto Stand In The Corner

Yeah, they would, wouldn't they?:

Teachers See Educational Value in Pluto's Demotion

Money, At The Half-Century Mark

Wasn't it Herbert Hoover who said (paraphrasing):

In America, if you aren't a millionaire by the age of forty, you just aren't trying very hard.

And that was back in the 20's, when a million dollars really meant something!

Well, I turn fifty this week, but I know, if I just apply myself, I can reach that magic number before retirement.

And fame too! MikeMac, as usual, has some fine insights on the subject.

Sonny Bono, Statesman

Actors know things that politicians sometimes don't. Regarding Newt Gingrich:

Bono was the only one at the beginning to warn Gingrich that his arrogance and unchecked will to power would be his undoing. "You're a celebrity now," Bono said. "The rules are different for celebrities. I know it. I've been there. I've been a celebrity. I used to be a bigger celebrity. But let me tell you, you're not being handled right. This is not political news coverage. This is celebrity status. You need handlers. You need to understand what you're doing."

Bono saw the dramatic events unfold before him through the prism of his own dimmed star. He had had it all with Cher and lost it, staging a recovery in the Palm Springs oasis as a politician, which to him was a secondary level of celebrity. Yes, the beat went on, but he had heard it before and louder. That was the insight he imparted to the new Speaker that was instantly ignored.

Gingrich gloried in his rhetoric about "the revolution." He had little use for the experience of the older and wiser song-and-dance man. Instead Gingrich, a failed professor, described himself as a world-historical figure, leader of a universal transformation.

(Un)Helpful Advice

From Gabe:

Remember, Botox and Boomer begin with the same letter!

This Year's Political Campaign

Time to 'cut and run' from 'stay the course.'

"Gypsy" - Magic Circle Theater

Left: Lenore Sebastian as 'Mama Rose.'


On Friday night, we went and saw the second-to-the-last performance of the seven-weeks-long run of "Gypsy" at Magic Circle Theater in Roseville. Fine show, particularly with Lenore Sebastian starring as Rose. The early part of the show, with the various kid's acts, has always struck me as rather chaotic, but as soon as the main characters appear, the musical slows down and gains depth.

Jennifer Schmelzer did a good job with Louise, particularly when playing the young, gawky Louise, but the transformation into the star, Gypsy Rose Lee, seemed strained. It's hard to make that shift, into the sultry siren. Part of the trouble was physical - at one point, Schmelzer didn't manipulate the curtain carefully enough, revealing undergarments (thus erasing the nakedness fantasy). Part of the problem is that I'm not sure Schmelzer felt comfortable in the role. Not everyone does - stripping is an art all of its own, after all.

Paul Fearn did well with the acting challenge of playing Herbie, Rose's lovable and doting companion. Not much singing is required, but rather, a tremendous presence of character.

Of the three strippers, the one who stood out best was Lindsay Grimes (Tessie Tura) - brassy, funny, profane - a natural!

Kody Roza (Tulsa) was a fine dancer, perhaps not challenged to the maximum of his capability by choreographer Stephen Hatcher, though.

Left: Final bows, Friday night.


Afterwards, at BJ's Restaurant in Roseville, we had a convivial time. We discussed the perennial conundrum of what is the most appropriate thing to say to performer after a show. Someone once told Paul Fearn after a show: "You should have been in the audience!" (I related this perplexing compliment also at Andrea St. Clair's blog, but I repeat it here because it's just so damned cute.)

Lenore Sebastian unwound after her taxing performance. What was it like to play a role that was basically owned by Ethel Merman on Broadway in the 1950's?

"It is a very demanding role - you are basically onstage for nearly two hours straight," Lenore said. "Ethel Merman must have been something of a freak of nature, to belt the way she did." And to keep it up, for hours at a time, for the length of a Broadway run!

Coincidentally, on Saturday night, on DVD, I watched the 1963 movie "It's A Mad, Mad, Mad, Mad World," starring, among everyone's favorite TV and movie stars of the 1960's, Ethel Merman. Wow! She was so LOUD, and she wasn't even trying! Think what she could have done in the cramped confines of a Broadway theater, putting some lung power behind her megaphone voice!

In "It's A Mad, Mad, Mad, Mad World," as the furniture mover Mr. Pike, Jonathan Winters was Phil Silver's nemesis, but he also bumped repeatedly against Ethel Merman's character, Mrs. Marcus. His verdict in the movie? "Listen, anything you got to say about your mother in-law, you don't have to explain to me. You know what I mean? Like if she were the star of a real crummy horror movie, I'd believe it." And, in fact, in "The Valley Of The Dolls," one of the characters was a transparent (and really scary) send-up of Ethel Merman!

Merman was given this fine line (it should be my epitaph - what to say when a Pollyanna perishes):

Now what kind of an attitude is that, these things happen? They only happen because this whole country is just full of people, who when these things happen, they just say these things happen, and that's why they happen! We gotta have control of what happens to us.

Some jokers from Magic Circle taking liberties with the Holy Icon of the 70's.....

Vegemite - A Difference Of Opinions

I suppose this means war between Australia and the U.S.:

THE United States has slapped a ban on Vegemite, outraging Australian expatriates there. The bizarre crackdown was prompted because Vegemite contains folate, which in the US can be added only to breads and cereals.

Expatriates say that enforcement of the ban has been stepped up recently and is ruining lifelong traditions of having Vegemite on toast for breakfast.

..."I was flabbergasted." Paul Watkins, who owns a store called About Australia in San Antonio, Texas, said he had been forced to stop importing Vegemite six months ago. "We have completely stopped bringing it in," he said. "(US authorities) have made a stance and there is nothing that can be done about it."

Australian Jaws

Add to the checklist of what not to do in Australia - swimming in canals. The Gold Coast isn't far from Brisbane, where I hope to be next month:

IF there was ever any doubt about the number of sharks in Gold Coast lakes and canals, here's the proof.

Robbie Hughes caught a 1.5m bull shark this week while fishing from his fifth-floor apartment - six storeys above the water if you include the car park. ... Last season, Mr Hughes landed 12 sharks from his at Varsity Towers balcony over Lake Orr, while more than 80 got away.

... Mr Hughes first began fishing off his balcony after he noticed large schools of sharks swimming below. "We thought we might as well take advantage of the fact we live just over the water and can sit back in the lounge and fish for sharks," he said. "We literally sit in the lounge room with the rods set up and play the PlayStation, waiting for the bites."

... Bulletin fishing expert Paul Burt agreed the Coast's canals were bursting at the seams with deadly bull sharks. "They are not out there in their hundreds, they are out there in their thousands," he said.

During the 2002- 2003 summer, two swimmers, Beau Martin and Bob Purcell, were killed by bull sharks as they swam in the canals around Burleigh. Earlier this year, Sarah Whiley was mauled to death by bull sharks as she swam off Amity Point at North Stradbroke Island.

Mr Hughes said he believed it was only a matter of time before someone else was taken. "It's inevitable with the amount of people that swim in the canals and the number of sharks there are," he said. "Not enough people are educated about them and a lot still don't believe it. When you tell them about the sharks they just laugh and think you're taking the micky. "But when you catch a shark they really freak out and are gobsmacked by the whole thing."

Mr Burt said bull sharks and whalers were the most common sharks found in Coast canals, with the bull sharks the most aggressive. "They are unpredictable beasts. They are nasty bits of work. The bull is the one you really have to be careful of."

... Despite calls for culling and netting canals, Mr Burt said the only way to tackle the problem was through educating people. "We've got hundreds of kilometres of canals. If you put a net in one you can't do the other 500, it's just impossible," he said. "You might get a handful out of one canal but that's only a handful. If you do our canals you then have to do the Brisbane, Logan and Northern NSW rivers because they are in every creek and river. Public awareness is the key."

A Gold Coast City Council spokeswoman told The Bulletin yesterday the council would not erect warning signs at canals and waterways this summer because it was too difficult. "We have 480km of rivers and streams and 770ha of lakes and dams on the Coast. Sign-posting all of them is simply not feasible."

Gotta Love That Dick Morris Tool!

Boy, it's sure loud in that Right-Wing Noise Machine:

But the GOP base is the best informed group of voters in the nation, with educational levels consistently higher than their Democratic counterparts'.

Rappelling Spider

In Sunday ballet class, we solemnly studied the cockroach as it lay on its back waving its legs in the air. "I hope I don't step on it," Jennifer said. "That would be really awful!"

"Ah, that's nothing," I said. "On Saturday, as I stood on a tall ladder clipping hedges, I inadvertently flung a big, web-covered spider into the bridge of my glasses. The spider then fell towards the ground. The webbing stuck to my glasses, though, and I got an all-too-vivid view as the spider rappelled back up towards my face!"

But not all are repelled by vermin. Last night, while Sparky walked behind me, I heard lots of squeaking, also behind me. Sparky had found some sort of debilitated mouse on the sidewalk, and sensibly enough, tried to carry it home in his mouth....

Doug Knows His Canyon!

Doug Nering is getting to be a Grand Canyon expert! From a report sent by Deborah:

We found numerous petroglyphs (paintings on rock) and pictographs (pictures carved into a rock face), especially in Flip-Off Canyon. Doug also located a spring nearby, as well as an old “cowboy camp.” The last night we camped near an Anasazi (around 1200 AD) site. Our camp was underneath an overhanging Supai sandstone ledge which kept us totally dry during the rain throughout the night.

Check Out "Picnic"

Two-and-a-half years ago, friendly Athena Bergen performed in the ensemble for DMTC's "Guys and Dolls," but then as far as I could tell, vanished. But not forever - she's playing 'Madge' in "Picnic" over at River Stage:

Director Adrienne Sher finely finesses these moments so the audience really understands the context of the women’s anxieties and fears. Sher lingers on the small gestures while wisely relying on humor to lighten other issues. And she nurtures her talented cast, resulting in strong performances from the main characters as well as every single support player.

Bergen and Rife are quite believable as the town beauty and the misunderstood bad boy.

"The Day Arnold Schwarzenegger Kicked My A**"

Left: Abner Zurd declares her candidacy in the 2003 California Recall Election, in her new film "The Day Arnold Schwarzenegger Kicked My A**".


One very nice evening!

Fellow Historical Figure (and current member of the California Mines and Geology Board) Cheryl Bly-Chester, her daughter Erica, and myself met with Becca Costello from Sacramento News and Review at the Pyramid Ale House on the K Street Mall in downtown Sacramento. Lorraine (Abner Zurd) Fontanes dropped in on the way to her screening, and said hello! We ate, and talked about the 2003 California Recall Election.

Then, at 7 p.m., we headed over to the Crest Theater to preview (for free!) Fellow Historical Figure Abner Zurd's new movie "The Day Arnold Schwarzenegger Kicked My A**" (promotional videos; music by New Maximum Donkey). Excellent documentary that captured perfectly the excitement and the apprehension of running for Governor in 2003. We all had different experiences, of course, but in many ways, all our experiences were analogous. It was heartening to see Fontanes face down a significant fear, that of being mocked in a national FOX TV News interview (her filmmaking experience had made her vulnerable to attack).

Also joining us was Gerald Gorman, another Fellow Historical Figure from the 2003 campaign. Afterwards, the four of us ex-candidates entertained questions from the audience.

There were just a handful of the other alternative candidates pictured in the film, all from the September 24, 2003 "Democracy Matters" Saratoga High School debate (near San Jose). Christopher Sproul, Jon Zellhoefer, and, yes!, Diana Foss (plus another candidate, probably Darrin Scheidle) were briefly shown. I was pleased that John Hancock, from the California Channel, also got a brief (and credited!) cameo.

Here is Graham Womack's promotional article in this week's Sacramento News and Review (SN&R). Check out Becca Costello's column in next week's Sacramento News and Review!

Support Abner Zurd in her upcoming Presidential bid!

Left: Afterwards, Lorraine Fontanes fields questions.

Left: From my files. Lorraine Fontanes on the campaign trail. September 24, 2003, at "Democracy Matters" Saratoga High School debate (near San Jose). Pictured, from left to right: a representative of John Burton's Socialist Party campaign, Libertarian Ned Roscoe, David Laughing Horse Robinson, Bill Vaughn, Darrin Scheidle, and Lorraine (Ab Zurd) Fontanes.

Hotel Workers Protest

Thursday evening, downtown Sacramento. Don't know what this is about (is it the Hyatt Regency again?), but there it is!

Showtime!

A helpful reminder from the Crest Theater newsletter. I'll be at the Pyramid Ale House at 6 p.m., with Cheryl and Becca, and whoever else, and then we'll walk over to the Crest at 7 p.m.:

Show time 7 p.m. FREE!

With $38 billion in debt, mounting job losses, a broken workers comp system, faltering infrastructure and a cold shoulder from the White House, what does the fifth largest economy in the world tell its governor? You’re fired! Using a musty old law from the progressive period in California politics, a handful of wealthy Republicans mount a campaign to recall Democratic governor Gray Davis. In the process, they open the doors to every registered voter who can pay $3500 and obtain 65 signatures to get on the ballot. Among those who qualified, Lorraine Abner Zurd Fontanes, decided to document her pursuit of California’s highest office on video. The resulting feature film is a naked, honest and, yes, absurd portrait of a novice politician who takes on Arnold et.al. in the glare of a bemused and skeptical media who denigrate the recall as a circus.

PERP - Bad Outreach Efforts?

These new air pollution regulations are bound to make waves in the air quality community. How much bite will the backlash have?:

When Amber Parsons and her husband started their modest concrete pumping business in Sacramento two years ago, she never expected to become the flag-bearer for an entire industry.

But that's before she bumped up against PERP, the state's registration program for portable, diesel-powered engines.

Officially known as the Portable Engine Registration Program, PERP has caused an outcry this year among hundreds of small businesses that serve California's construction industry.

Under the nine-year-old PERP program, those who operated portable, diesel-powered equipment were required to obtain a single, statewide permit to operate in California. The deadline for registering was Dec. 31, 2005.

... Fearing it will mean the end of her family-owned Performance Concrete Pumping business, as well as others in her predicament, Parsons said she wants to "bring attention to this before it ruins the state's construction industry." She's asking that PERP registration be reopened.

Parsons and construction industry leaders believe thousands do not know their engines and equipment are not in compliance with state regulations, even 10 months after the deadline elapsed for PERP registration.

"I was flabbergasted. Virtually a whole industry is not registered," said Mike Cusack, vice president of operations for Concord-based Conco Pumping and Belting, one of the state's largest concrete pumping firms, and a past president of the American Concrete Pumping Association. "Every single person I talked to didn't register their pumps and didn't know (about) it. I'm (part of) a $300 million-plus company. This is my job -- and I didn't know about it."

... "There wasn't any outreach, and there wasn't any enforcement. Lord knows, you can't hide a 150-foot crane," said Ed Puchi, treasurer and general counsel for MCM Construction, a highway construction firm based in North Highlands.

But the state Air Resources Board says it spent hundreds of hours trying to call, mail and e-mail contractors and others in the industry who would be affected. Gennet Paauwe, an Air Resources Board spokeswoman, said her staff is frustrated that some people still missed the message.

"We worked with every trade group, manufacturer (and) equipment association to get the word out," Paauwe said. "We talked with literally thousands. But you can't force them to read their mail or e-mail," she said.

Shots Fired Across From McClatchy High School

Apparently this happened this morning, in my immediate neighborhood, and fortunately it all seems under control now. A little unsettling: I ate at that restaurant, with Adam, just three months ago.

Why Does Washington, D.C. Feel So Claustrophobic?

There is so much deliquescent particulate matter floating in the air, and it's so humid besides, that it feels like you are wrestling helplessly inside a drippy ping-pong ball most of the time (and also, because there's so much nasty politics going on 24/7).....

If There's Smoke, Is There Fire?

Did Heather Wilson (R. - NM) cover up allegations regarding inappropriate touching against her own husband?

Party Like It's 2003!

You are all invited to a PARTY! The fun starts at 6 p.m., where Fellow Historical Figure (and current member of the Schwarzenegger Administration) Cheryl Bly-Chester and myself will play host to Becca Costello from Sacramento News and Review at the Pyramid Ale House on the K Street Mall in downtown Sacramento. Over fries and beer, Becca will ask a few questions about the 2003 California Gubernatorial Recall election campaign, and I'll show off a few mementoes.

Then, at 7 p.m., we'll head over to the Crest Theater to preview (for free!) Fellow Historical Figure Abner Zurd's new movie "The Day Arnold Schwarzenegger Kicked My A**".

Here are promotional videos: music by New Maximum Donkey.

A good time will be had by all!

Bad And Good Tolkien Analogies

Pennsylvania Senator Rick Santorum :

"As the hobbits are going up Mount Doom, the Eye of Mordor is being drawn somewhere else," Santorum told the Bucks County Courier Times. "It's being drawn to Iraq and it's not being drawn to the U.S. You know what? I want to keep it on Iraq. I don't want the Eye to come back here to the United States."

It's a very, very inspired reading of Tolkien by Santorum (an anagram, a Salon staffer eerily points out, for "Mt. Sauron"!).

Remember, the hobbits were in Mordor to destroy the evil, corrupting Ring of Power ("One Ring to rule them all, One Ring to find them, One Ring to bring them all and in the darkness bind them." ). Much better to place Sauron in Washington, D.C., with the Eye of Sauron drawn to Iraq, and not back to the U.S., where lefty blogging hobbits are working in the current election campaign....

Courtesy of Gabe, here is a conservatively-oriented, but nevertheless highly-amusing, satire of Micheal Moore's "Fahrenheit 911", called "Fellowship 911", featuring lots of JRR Tolkien references....

The Privilege Of Owning

Poor Steve Wynn! $139 million!:

Director and screenwriter Nora Ephron, who witnessed and related the incident in her blog on the Huffington Post Web site, said Wynn had raised his hand to show the group something about Picasso's 1932 portrait of his mistress Marie-Therese Walter.

"At that moment, his elbow crashed backward right through the canvas. There was a terrible noise," Ephron wrote, noting that Wynn has retinitis pigmentosa, an eye disease that damages peripheral vision.

"Smack in the middle ... was a black hole the size of a silver dollar. 'Oh shit,' he said. 'Look what I've done. Thank goodness it was me.'"

Taking "The Time Machine" Literally

Dr. Curry sounds like Dr. Frankenfurter (aka Tim Curry). But who says this isn't the world we already live in?:

Humanity may split into two sub-species in 100,000 years' time as predicted by HG Wells, an expert has said. Evolutionary theorist Oliver Curry of the London School of Economics expects a genetic upper class and a dim-witted underclass to emerge.

The human race would peak in the year 3000, he said - before a decline due to dependence on technology. People would become choosier about their sexual partners, causing humanity to divide into sub-species, he added.

The descendants of the genetic upper class would be tall, slim, healthy, attractive, intelligent, and creative and a far cry from the "underclass" humans who would have evolved into dim-witted, ugly, squat goblin-like creatures.

But in the nearer future, humans will evolve in 1,000 years into giants between 6ft and 7ft tall, he predicts, while life-spans will have extended to 120 years, Dr Curry claims. Physical appearance, driven by indicators of health, youth and fertility, will improve, he says, while men will exhibit symmetrical facial features, look athletic, and have squarer jaws, deeper voices and bigger penises.

Women, on the other hand, will develop lighter, smooth, hairless skin, large clear eyes, pert breasts, glossy hair, and even features, he adds. Racial differences will be ironed out by interbreeding, producing a uniform race of coffee-coloured people.

However, Dr Curry warns, in 10,000 years time humans may have paid a genetic price for relying on technology. Spoiled by gadgets designed to meet their every need, they could come to resemble domesticated animals.

Social skills, such as communicating and interacting with others, could be lost, along with emotions such as love, sympathy, trust and respect. People would become less able to care for others, or perform in teams. Physically, they would start to appear more juvenile. Chins would recede, as a result of having to chew less on processed food. There could also be health problems caused by reliance on medicine, resulting in weak immune systems. Preventing deaths would also help to preserve the genetic defects that cause cancer.

... The logical outcome would be two sub-species, "gracile" and "robust" humans similar to the Eloi and Morlocks foretold by HG Wells in his 1895 novel The Time Machine.

Use WSJ's Lame Brains For Fertilizer Instead

So, Cindy Sheehan decides to fertilize a bush in Crawford, TX, with her uterus, and the Wall Street Journal mocks her for it.

Such a big, important story - a very manly story! - something that will rock the world of finance and business!

Why the Wall Street Journal isn't treated on the same level as Weekly World News, I'll never know. There is so much other fertilizer being shoveled in Crawford, TX, you'd think they'd pay attention to that first.

October 16th - Maintenance Night At DMTC

"It was the most beautiful thing I've ever seen," Jan Isaacson said. "The community turning out on maintenance night. We counted 51 people!"

Jan's right, of course. It was beautiful, all the assembled people divvying up various little tasks, like painting over bruises on the walls, and laying carpet on the seating riser aisles.

Just one minor detail left to attend to....

Miss Dairy Baby, 1974

Sacramento Bee's Bob Sylva wrote up a really nice profile about everyone's favorite ballerina, Jennifer Lin, in the Sunday, October 8th issue. Jennifer, of course, was modest about the attention: "Does it make me sound like a dork?", was all she asked. Instead, she was worried that a lot of Sacramento Opera information didn't make it into the article. But a human interest story wouldn't - and shouldn't - focus too much just on an institution. Instead, it's nice to know that she's there, doing her part to promote good singing and theater in Sacramento:

Jennifer Lin is 32 years old. She is tall, slim, intelligent, alarmingly funny. Verbally adroit. And gifted. She plays the piano and violin. She knows all about art and literature. She can sing. She practices yoga and dances ballet. An amateur motorist, she has managed to negotiate the city's freeways unbruised in her Volkswagen Passat station wagon.

Lin is director of marketing and audience development for the Sacramento Opera. Which is to say she beats the timpani and sells tickets. She has been in Sacramento for two years. And has performed her job with some inventiveness. Still, in an era of file sharing and acoustic mayhem, opera has a demographic problem. Lin is probably half the age of her average patron.

"The stereotype of a large woman wearing horns on her head, singing forever and ever," says Lin. "There are preconceptions about opera. But it encompasses all art forms. It has a theatrical element. It's the whole package -- the lights, the stage, the actors, the passion and the tragedy."

Then, turning delightfully morbid, she notes, "Opera always has a death in the end."

And if Lin were to sing a role, what role would it be? "Let's see," she grins, considering. "Would I want to die -- or just suffer?" Thinking of her fate more, she mentions Puccini's "La Bohème" and sighs, "I think the role of Mimi is beautiful and tragic at the same time. But I don't have tuberculosis."

...Tickets for November's "Aida" are on sale. Jennifer Lin forgot to mention that.