"The King And I" - DMTC - Wednesday Dress Rehearsal (With A Few Final Dress Rehearsal Pictures Too)

King Mongkut of Siam (Mark Suarez), and his royal court.

The Royal Wives greet Mrs. Anna Leonowens.

Chris Cay Stewart (Anna Leonowens) and Lenore Sebastian (Lady Thiang).

Lenore Sebastian (Lady Thiang).

Chris Cay Stewart (Anna Leonowens) and Mark Suarez (King of Siam).

Mark Suarez (King of Siam).

Mark Suarez (King of Siam).

Chris Cay Stewart (Anna Leonowens) and Mark Suarez (King of Siam).

Mark Suarez (King of Siam) and Chris Cay Stewart (Anna Leonowens).

Royal Wives

Chris Cay Stewart (Anna Leonowens) and Mark Suarez (King of Siam), with royal court.

Mark Suarez (King of Siam) and Chris Cay Stewart (Anna Leonowens), with royal court.

Chris Cay Stewart (Anna Leonowens) and Mark Suarez (King of Siam), with royal court.

Act I final scene. Chris Cay Stewart (Anna Leonowens) and Mark Suarez (King of Siam), with royal court.

Act I final scene. Royal court.

Act I final scene. Chris Cay Stewart (Anna Leonowens) and Mark Suarez (King of Siam), with royal court.

"I Have Dreamed" - Lydia Smith (Princess Tuptim) and Kevin Foster (Lun Tha).

"I Have Dreamed" - Lydia Smith (Princess Tuptim) and Kevin Foster (Lun Tha).

"Small House of Uncle Thomas"

"Small House of Uncle Thomas", featuring Jenny Plasse (Eliza).

"Small House Of Uncle Thomas", featuring Lydia Smith (Princess Tuptim), and Royal Wives: Renee Alarcon, Stacy Sheehan, Jacquelyn Hayek, Lenore Sebastian (Lady Thiang), and Gail Korbat.

"Small House Of Uncle Thomas"

"Small House Of Uncle Thomas"

"Small House Of Uncle Thomas"

"Small House Of Uncle Thomas"

"Small House Of Uncle Thomas", featuring Lydia Smith (Princess Tuptim), and Royal Wives: Renee Alarcon, Stacy Sheehan, Jacquelyn Hayek, Lenore Sebastian (Lady Thiang), and Gail Korbat.

"Small House Of Uncle Thomas"

"Small House Of Uncle Thomas"

"Small House Of Uncle Thomas", featuring Lydia Smith (Princess Tuptim), and Royal Wives: Renee Alarcon, Stacy Sheehan, Jacquelyn Hayek, Lenore Sebastian (Lady Thiang), and Gail Korbat.

"Small House Of Uncle Thomas". Buddha (Anthony S.).

"Small House Of Uncle Thomas". Little Eva (Natalie M.)

"Small House Of Uncle Thomas". Happy Reunion.

"Small House Of Uncle Thomas". Happy Reunion.

"Small House Of Uncle Thomas", featuring Lydia Smith (Princess Tuptim), and Royal Wives: Renee Alarcon, Stacy Sheehan, Jacquelyn Hayek, Lenore Sebastian (Lady Thiang), and Gail Korbat.

Mark Suarez (King of Siam) and Chris Cay Stewart (Anna Leonowens).

Mark Suarez (King of Siam) and Chris Cay Stewart (Anna Leonowens).

Mark Suarez (King of Siam) and Chris Cay Stewart (Anna Leonowens).

Mark Suarez (King of Siam) and Chris Cay Stewart (Anna Leonowens).

Chris Cay Stewart (Anna Leonowens) and Mark Suarez (King of Siam).

Beating of Tuptim scene. Chris Cay Stewart (Anna Leonowens) and Mark Suarez (King of Siam), Lydia Smith (Princess Tuptim), Adam Sartain (Kralahome), guards.

Beating of Tuptim scene. Chris Cay Stewart (Anna Leonowens) and Mark Suarez (King of Siam), Lydia Smith (Princess Tuptim), Adam Sartain (Kralahome), guards.

Beating of Tuptim scene. Chris Cay Stewart (Anna Leonowens) and Mark Suarez (King of Siam), Lydia Smith (Princess Tuptim), Adam Sartain (Kralahome), guards.

Beating of Tuptim scene. Chris Cay Stewart (Anna Leonowens) and Mark Suarez (King of Siam), Lydia Smith (Princess Tuptim), Adam Sartain (Kralahome), guards.

Final Dress Rehearsal night. Chris Cay Stewart (Anna Leonowens) and Mark Suarez (King of Siam), with royal court.

Royal court, featuring Lydia Smith (Princess Tuptim).

Chris Cay Stewart (Anna Leonowens) and Mark Suarez (King of Siam), with royal court.

Chris Cay Stewart (Anna Leonowens) and Mark Suarez (King of Siam), with royal court.

Royal court, featuring Lydia Smith (Princess Tuptim).

Final scene. Mark Suarez (King of Siam) & court

Final scene. Mark Suarez (King of Siam) & court

Final scene. Mark Suarez (King of Siam) & court

Horace G. (Prince Chulalongkorn).

Still Way Out There, But...

[about 1 p.m. PDT] There's a nice storm all the way out near Salt Lake, NM, heading towards ABQ. I don't know if it will make it all the way to ABQ intact, but at least something is heading towards ABQ.

[3:10 PDT] It's getting closer to ABQ!

[5:00 PDT] Albuquerque finally gets hit by what looks like significant rain. First time, really, this terribly-dry monsoon season. How much fell?

Bureau Of ATF Problems - Marc's Alternative Explanation

There is an alternative explanation to all this:

Congressional Republicans have been upset at the management at the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives, which authorized a botched sting operation near the Mexican border that put guns in the hands of drug criminals.

But Republican leaders, responding to complaints from gun-rights lobbyists, have refused to confirm a director for the bureau since it was split from the Treasury Department eight years ago.

...Eight years ago, Congress removed the bureau from the Treasury Department and made it a separate law enforcement agency under the Justice Department. For the first time, lawmakers put its director under political control by requiring Senate confirmation of the president's nominee.

Since then, no one has been confirmed. Both nominees have drawn opposition from gun-rights groups, including the powerful National Rifle Assn. Obama nominated Andrew Traver, the ATF's special agent in Chicago, to lead the bureau, but his nomination has gone nowhere in the Senate.

..."The bottom line is the gun lobby will oppose any nominee who promises to be a strong and effective director of the ATF," said Dennis Henigan, vice president of the Brady Center to Prevent Gun Violence. "Fast and Furious is what happens when you don't have a strong director," he said.

Marc's interpretation of all this is that Congressional Republicans are acting in league with Mexican drug cartels in protecting the lucrative cross-border guns-for-drugs traffic. The GOP will do anything it can to derail the ATF, not for ideological reasons, but for money. There's lots of money in treason, and the GOP wants to be right there, right at that particular trough.

Work On The Theft Of A Generation's Hard Work Continues

The Copyright Troll Is Beginning To Lose Its Grip On Its Bridge

"Copyright Troll" Righthaven's contract with MediaNews Group will expire soon:

With over 50 newspapers, including The Denver Post, MediaNews Group is one of Righthaven's largest clients. The two companies joined forces a year ago, but that contract is soon to expire. In a feature published Thursday by Wired Magazine, MediaNews Group's new CEO says the deal is through.

"The issues about copyright are real," CEO John Paton told Wired. "But the idea that you would hire someone on an — essentially — success fee to run around and sue people at will who may or may not have infringed as a way of protecting yourself … does not reflect how news is created and disseminated in the modern world."

He even called it a "dumb idea from the start."

Righthaven still has its first client, Stephens Media, which operates over 60 community papers and 11 daily papers in nine states.

Dog In Suspended Animation

Putting out the garbage this morning in the garbage can in the alley, I closed the garbage can lid, looked up and saw a dog standing rock-still in the middle of the alley. The dog was apparently paralyzed by anxiety at my unanticipated presence - I had blithely walked into its path.

The dog looked at me, then looked at the DMV parking lot guard standing further down the alley, looking anxiously for any clues about what to do now. I tried coaxing the dog forward down the alley, but he was apprehensive and remained in suspension animation. So I quietly got out of his way and let him continue walking down the alley, as he had been doing, without further intervention.

The Correct Answer Is 98%

A BIG disconnect between climate scientists and the general public!

Unlike with many scientists, most of this disconnect isn't the fault of the climate scientists, but rather, the corporations, who might be inconvenienced by greenhouse gas regulation. It's just another illustration of how malleable we really are when well-funded corporate opinion-molding campaigns are directed towards us. Years of education go right out the window, replaced by unutterable stupidity!

(And, to be clear, I'm not much in favor of CO2 gas-emission regulation either. Regulation is the wrong paradigm for approaching a problem of accumulation. Conservation campaigns are more likely to be effective than GHG regulation will be, and they are cheaper too.)

Pepper Von, Not That Long Ago

Pepper Von, Keith Goings, and Bernard Horn, 1991 Reebok Aerobics Champions.

In Karaoke, It's All About Emotional Nuance

Jetta sends this.