Services

I attend church at Red Bridge United Methodist in south Kansas City. We have three services -- two traditional and one with a praise band, and a more casual feel. While I would much prefer to worship in the traditional setting, I feel called to be singing with the praise band, where I think the church (and the Church) have the greatest potential for growrh.

Dinner with Paul

Our friend Paul hosted a delightful dinner party for a few of us last night. He has a charming home just off of the Plaza, and served a wonderful meal of sausage and pasta. We all had just enough to eat, and a little more than that to drink

Dan and Bob. Bob appears to be pouting.

Paul, Trish, and O'Malley, Paul's dog.

Exit 16, Liberty, October 25

The Exit 16 kids were great. This is their ninth season, and they perfom like a group that knows what its doing. They're high school kids, of course, so have a tendency to shout and jump, but they also have members of their troupe who balance that with a keen verbal wit and patient silent work. They played primarily short-form, character-based games, which were well done.

The first half ended with a Beastie Rap variation that I liked. Everybody laid down a rhythm (a "corporate beat box," I have been calling it) for eight counts, then the person with a line would say it in eight counts of clear. It's sort of funny to see (not in the good way), but it does work. It lets the words be heard, and as long as the leader has some rhythm, things don't get out of hand.

The centerpiece of the second act was a series of scenes called out as challenges by Trish, the director, from the booth. This included doing scenes without words, etc. It seemed a little bit like doing tip drills and calling that a sport, but it was interesting to watch, and was called tight, which kept it from being too self-indulgent.

This was 16's second performance of the season, and they have relatively few returning members. If they grow just a bit more in the next few months, their shows will be rocking come Spring.

Traveling or Travelling

It can be spelled either way. I got paranoid and checked.

Liberty's South Valley Jr. High

Tonight I am seeing Liberty High School's improv troupe, Exit 16 (pronounced "one-six"). My brother-in-law Rob tends to spend Autumns traveling to small towns in Oklahoma to see high school football games. I fear I am becoming the Missouri improv version of that.

Spooky

Well, we were at WOF on a holiday-themed day (we didn't go because of that -- it was just a coincidence), and after nightfall, it was really eerie, as these pics attest. WOF didn't arrange to have cold, ominous weather, but it certainly was.

I ♥ my Super-retarded Wife

Soon . . .

Between Cold and Rainy . . .

. . . all of the covered places are very crowded. Further, this one is showing the MU/Nebraska game, so is extra popular.

Sleet and Fast Coaster

A bad choice for sensitive faces.

My Very Patient Wife

Forty-eight degrees and Mamba is about to strike!

Still on our way

Steve has been exploring all the various interstate options North of the river....but, the Mamba is now in sight and ready to strike.

Not just worlds, we're shooting for galaxies!

This is Tracy, Steve's lovely wife. Steve is driving - which is rare when the two of us are in the car together.

We are on our way to Worlds of Fun ready to spend a cool autumn day giggling and screaming as we ride most of the rides. We've both realized as we age our equilibrium doesn't bounce back the way it used to when we were youngins'.

Regardless, Steve is going to have a funnel cake and I'm hoping for some roasted corn on the cob! Oh, and Steve just informed me he is looking forward to riding the parking lot tram.

Will There be Reindeer?

Tracy is back in town and I am SO glad.

When I was a little kid in Kansas City and St. Joe, there were two times I couldn't sleep. One was Christmas Eve. The other was the night before we ent to Worlds of Fun. Christmas isn't for two months, but tomorrow I will be riding coasters.

Outside Buckner

I know you can't read the sign, but is says "Church of Joy." Please don't show me the depressing one.

The Winery Outside Waverly

Please don't tell Tracy.

The terminus of my Eastbound journey

Just past Waverly, where 24 turns North.

A bad shot of Schrieman Orchards outside Waverly

Everyone there was very friendly. I bought some Fijis and some cider.

The Courthouse in Lexington

There's a great Civil War story about the Lexington Courthouse, But that's not the story I'm going to tell you. I'm going to tell you this one:

Many months ago, I was at a Worker's Comp hearing in Lexington. After finishing my business, I returned to my car only to realize that I had left with my wallet, so I was an hour away from home, with no cash, credit cards, or i.d. Fortunately, I had filled up the night before.

The River in Lexington

One Lane Bridge

On 224 between Wellington and Lexington.

The view from the Prayer Station

When I get sick of Missouri's heat, I need to remember views like this that make it worth it.

St. Paul Cemetary, Napoleon

I've never been to Napoleon, and its a lovely town. I know a some Cursillo folk from here. The cemetary (sp?) has a beautiful prayer lot overlooking the river.

Blue Springs

This is where I've stopped for gas and lunch. I've turned north on 7 from 70, headed to 24. MU's homecoming game is currently playong, so there may be some serious traffic on my way back.

The info center . . .

Where I stopped for a map to confirm I'm on the correct blue highways.

Okay, so here's the deal

I woke up this morning to an ad saying that Alton Brown would be at the Nebraska Furniture Mart today. So, after a breakfast with Pete and Linda and a quick city3.org meeting, I headed out there.

It was quite crowded, and it looked like I could wait in line for a couple od hours to get him to sign something. Thinking that was probably a poor use of my time, I went upstairs and watched him from the balcony. He's the blur in blue. I saw enough of him to see that he was being extremely gracius to peole who had waited a long time to see him it's not surprising, but it's good to see.

Anyhow, I decided that if I'm not standing in line, I should do something better than just going home to veg out. So, I am making my annual fall tour through highway 24 apple country. The sunroof is out and windows are down. Wish me luck!

Alton Brown's Good Eats

I'm a big fan of this Food Network show, and the more I cook, the more I appreciate him. I made his baked Mac and Cheese recipe tonight, and when I finished the sauce, I wasn't bowled over. However, when it came out of the oven ... Ooh, baby it was good.

Plus there's an auxilliary recipe for deep-frying the leftovers. Seriously.

Arts Weeknight: The 5th Wall Improv - October 12, 2005, Blue Valley High School

This was T5W's second show, and although it had some rough spots, the seven players (Alex Nichols, Jordan Foote, Chris McGillivary, Paddy Cocherl, Tosin Morounfola, Bret Bolton, and Steffi Krull) showed fine comic and scenic skills.

The show kicked off with some straightforward short form stuff, which was fine, and featured some nice verbal work by Tosin. The short form portion ended with a game of "Inside the Actor's Studio," in which a character, based on a name given from the audience, was interviewed by James Lipton while the other players did scenes from the guest's movies. Then the game shifted to the Q&A portion of the show. This is where the players started to seem to have a little more fun with themselves.

The last portion of the show was ASSCAT-style scenes and monologues with some long-form edits thrown in. This portion was interesting, but -- despite its brevity -- lost some steam (I originally wrote "lost some team," which may be just as accurate) as the players let the scenes get away from them a bit.

All in all, it was a fine show, warmly received, and well worth the price of admission.

Alex Nichols explaining, as Hitler: "I'll need enough conditioner to last for one reich."

Black Box . . .

. . at Blue Valley HS, where I have come to see Fifth Wall Improv.

Two notes:

1) Walking in, I was surprised at how uncomfortable I was going into a strange High School. Old habits die hard.

2) I am sitting here pre-show, listening to a discussion of the Young Republicans. My discomfort was warranted.

Working from Not-at-home

I was in Johnson County for a lunch meeting, and am going to a show here this evening, so I have set up camp in the Blue Valley library. I have to say, it's worked out pretty well. Between a laptop and a cubicle (see my view above), I've managed to be pretty productive. I'm reminded why I chose this method of productivity generation in law school.

Church of the Resurrection

I was in the area today, so since I hadn't been by for many years, I drove by this, one of the largest United Methodist churches, today. It's got several large buildings as well as an associated shopping district. We live in its congregational shadow.

However, as one of my pastors suggests, the full cup shouldn't envy the full pitcher.

The Pond at Loose Park

Tracy left for a week-long trip today. She'll be working with a CCM consultant in Nashville. I'll be trying to clean the house, write a little, and see some improv. That list is in the order of priority and reverse order of likelihood.

I couldn't remember if these are ducks or geese until I remembered what a gooseneck trailer looks like. The natural sciences are not my strength.

Oh, You're THAT Girl . . . I Remember you from Contracts

My wife and I visited a local seminary today (I will not go down the extensive path of the why and the implications of our visit). As part of the deal, we sat in on a class. I was a little disappointed. Not only did I not really feel intellectually challenged, even not having read the assignment, but I felt like there were lots of relevant points to be discussed that weren't. (Why talk about how we compare a specific cat to descriptors that we have in our mind for "cat" without mentioning Plato or form?) And I found myself falling into a pattern I know too well from law school of rolling my eyes at the idiots who asked questions whose answers should be self-evident and at the other idiots who only ask questions to hear themselves talk. And recognizing the pattern made me wonder if I am too much of an intellectual bigot to enjoy seminary, or, more importantly, to be a good pastor.

Other than that, the visit was lovely.

My Weekend

I've been out of town this weekend, and I set up a blog for the trip. If interested, you can check it out at qcquest.blogspot.com.

Arts Weeknight: Movin' Out - Theatre League - Tuesday, October 4, 2005

I didn't think anything would make me think Contact was good.

First off, let me say that I think Billy Joel is a great songwriter. My wife and I agreed it would've been worth the ticket price just to hear good musicians do 2 hours of Billy Joel songs. They did, and it was, but the show certainly fell short of its goals.

This is a very first-half-of-the-twentieth-century musical. Twyla Tharp's choreography seems to consist primarily of traditional movement in contemporary attire. Further, it seems obvious. Drug reference in the song? Mime a joint and move your body loosely. "Working too hard can give you a heart atack -ack-ack-ack? Do a lot of pushups! Further, although it is a necessity when doing a "greatest of" show like this one, the loose story is structured around the songs, and the plot fits the music rather than having the music forward the story. Also, the editing of the lyrics seems curious. Apparently, dancers can dry hump in S&M garb, but singers can't say "masturbate."

I was struck by the audience's treatment of this show as a concert. Plenty of leaving in and out of songs, and constant spoken discussion, not only during the very loud rock music, but also through the quiter instrumental pieces. The show ended with an encore of "New York State of Mind" which, I'm sure, was a rocking ending on Broadway. However, the insertion of "Kansas City" into the titular line did nothing other than to cheapen a good song and give the show a very Spinal Tap feel. Not in the good way.

The music was great, but pretty much what you'd hear on the Greatest Hits albums, with the exception of adjusting "We Didn't Start the Fire" and "Pressure" to a swing-rhythm feel, presumably to facilitate patter-ish lyrics performed several times a week. Like so many shows, the lyrics were difficult to hear, but since the songs were very familiar and the storyline very broad, it was no big loss. In short, an okay show, but it would be made better if one were to wear sunglasses to mask the dancers (who seem like strong soloists, but had trouble moving together as an ensemble) and concentrate only on the musicians.

Melting Pot

I have a very strong memory of being atop the Liberty Memorial twenty-odd years ago and being amazed at the cocophony (sp?) of languages around me. It's not uncommon for me to hear that sound now, especially in major cities, but the only place I hear it in Kansas City is at Starbuck's. Somehow, that is both depressing and inspiring.