Will someone shut that Man up?

I had hoped to go to the Arrow Rock Lyceum theatre this summer to see theirproduction of 1776. Unfortunately, I didn't start looking at the website until a few days ago, and it only runs until July 4. I suppose a musical about the founding of the country should only run until the celebration day, sort of iin the same way that a Passion Play a few weeks after Easter is inappropriate, or the way A Charlie Brown Christmas loses its punch when it's watched on Tivo in mid-January.

1776 really is one of my favorite musicals. It has good music, and a built-in good story. Plus it does a great and lively job of telling a sort of convoluted tale, using much of the founding fathers' own language. It
always reminds me of the Doonesbury where the Innkeeper can't get to sleep because of the shouting downstairs. Finally he calls out (I paraphrase) "Gentlemen, Please! Make it a bicameral legislature! One body with equal representation and one based on population. Good night!" And he rolls over and goes to bed. It's probably funnier with the pictures.

Even Walt Bodine, most of the time

For the last month or so, I have been doing without cable. I know that doesn't seem like much of a sacrifice to anyone who's . . . well, to anyone probably. But it is a big change for me. I have developed several coping mechanisms. I watch a lot of DVDs from the library. I am watching the DICKENS out of the first season of Joan of Arcadia. Oh, Joan. Don't embarrass yourself. That’s not God. That’s just a stranger whose ambiguous phrasing might be misinterpreted as having come from God. It is also worth noting that I hate commercials. A LOT. Most television is created for morons, and most commercials aim slightly lower.

So, I have recently found myself listening to a lot of NPR and watching a lot of PBS. NPR I’ve always been a huge fan of NPR. Lots of in-depth news, some entertainment and a mish-mash of everything else. Generally, it tries really hard not to have a bias, unless a bias appears because of an tendency to inquire.

But I’ve really been stunned by PBS’s power to capture me. Sunday night I was tired beyond belief and sat down to watch something while I ate. MYSTERY was showing a serialized . . um . . mystery. I had no idea what was going on. It had Agatha Christie’s Miss Marple motoring about the countryside looking for a house she had seen in a painting. I had no clue whatsoever. But it was so great to watch something that had actors and a script rather than random people and fast edits. The PBS show had COSTUMES. Period things, as opposed to spandex.

Then later in the week, on my way to sleep, I stumbled across a documentary about the Turtle Creek Chorale, which appeared to be a gay men’s chorus. The brief portion I watched focused on a man who was trying to reconnect with his family. He called his grandmother who refused to communicate with him because of his sexuality. She was very adamant that the bible said it was wrong. The gay church question has plenty to discuss some other time, but how great of KCPT to draw me in so quickly to such a well-told story.

Seriously, if I paid taxes I would be SO pleased with how the provisional federated government is using them.

Okay, I'm Back

After an extended hiatus, taken for a variety of reasons, most of which anyone reading th blog knows, I have decided to start posting again.

A quick update -- I've taken a job as a judicial law clerk in the Kansas City metro area. Plus some other stuff happened.

Stay tuned.