tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-47194547293060167112024-03-05T20:08:57.089-08:00Ditching The PartyDitching The Partyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14513103835429079879noreply@blogger.comBlogger16125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4719454729306016711.post-5399949104008865592014-02-08T08:51:00.000-08:002014-02-08T08:51:04.456-08:00The Senses on StageI recently watched a stage production of The Miracle Worker here at the U. As someone who has seen productions of this play as well as the film, I confess I went with trepidation in my heart and ennui in my soul: why are they trotting out this old warhorse? Ugh.
The acting was, of course, uneven--something from which U productions everywhere suffer--and the dialogue today sounds Ditching The Partyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14513103835429079879noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4719454729306016711.post-70206668960491486872012-06-28T13:47:00.002-07:002012-06-28T13:48:04.085-07:00Who Makes These Things Up?Okay. It takes me a couple of tries to type correctly the letters/numbers displayed in an anti-spam box. You know what I'm talking about--those topsy-turvy, dripping candle letters and spidery numbers that shout: BECAUSE I CAN DECIPHER THIS, I AM HUMAN AND NOT A MACHINE!. Yeah, right. By the third attempt I begin to get nervous--will the site block me if I can't get Ditching The Partyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14513103835429079879noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4719454729306016711.post-90301056434504018742012-03-06T14:39:00.000-08:002012-03-07T11:32:49.431-08:00Conversations on TheatreI'm thrilled that the Theatre Communications Group is streaming their "TCG Playwrights in Conversation" programs. Here's the URL:
http://www.tcg.org/fifty/playwrights_streaming.cfm
If any of my playwright friends aren't aware of this series, please do check it out. Just finished watching Anne Bogart in conversation with Paula Vogel and Sarah Ruhl. Evenings such as these energizeDitching The Partyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14513103835429079879noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4719454729306016711.post-84506295738257463642012-01-25T18:21:00.000-08:002012-01-25T18:21:14.652-08:00Worthwhile BlogMy friend, Professor Mondo, has some excellent observations connected with the SotU address and a response by an Atlantic commentator. Check it out:
http://profmondo.wordpress.com/2012/01/25/best-thing-ive-read-since-the-last-best-thing-i-read/
Something to think about.
Ditching The Partyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14513103835429079879noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4719454729306016711.post-51426702754749094042012-01-14T14:06:00.000-08:002012-01-14T14:48:43.089-08:00The Road to Curmudgeonry?Watched a live-stream evening of one-minute plays today. I was struck by the paucity of human connection in the eighty or so one-minute moments that were dramatized. The breadth of human experience was so limited that hysteria replaced genuine emotion and smug observations replaced genuine thought. One might say that was the point, but if so, why not shorten the evening? Ditching The Partyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14513103835429079879noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4719454729306016711.post-91693128156690841912011-12-22T13:43:00.000-08:002011-12-22T13:43:00.554-08:00Savage BehaviorProfessor Mondo shared an article today from the National Review on the slow destruction of rural property in central California--a disturbing account of the perils of turning a blind eye to illegal immigration.
http://www.nationalreview.com/articles/286354/vandalized-valley-victor-davis-hanson?pg=1
Ditching The Partyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14513103835429079879noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4719454729306016711.post-27991688084239217382011-12-05T11:43:00.001-08:002011-12-05T17:13:43.178-08:00Tia -- 1993-2011 -- RIP
Our beloved Tia died today. A long-haired gray calico, she was the grande dame of our feline household who bopped young whippersnappers on the head whenever she thought they needed to mind. As described by a dear friend, Tia was "a cool old soul." That she was, indeed. She started life as a shy, retiring cat, but after eighteen and a half years, she was the one waiting Ditching The Partyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14513103835429079879noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4719454729306016711.post-62677713707307398812011-12-02T12:24:00.001-08:002011-12-02T13:23:27.640-08:00Sipping Coffee at StarbucksThanks to a gift card, I'm eating breakfast at a Starbucks and drinking the Christmas Blend coffee they're serving up weeks before the holiday. I just dropped off my geriatric cat, Tia, at the vet. She's being hydrated at the moment because she's not drinking enough water, while all I want to do is drink even more coffee. Odd, that twist. Here's hoping she'll be back to Ditching The Partyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14513103835429079879noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4719454729306016711.post-9405064670306899412011-11-25T10:12:00.001-08:002011-11-25T12:00:08.986-08:00Is Black Friday Really Gray?A theatre friend is organizing a "Zombie Flash Mob: Occupy Black Friday" event. Lots of gray face paint but no blood is the make-up strategy. They'll walk up and down the retail strip, bags in hands, stiff-legging it as they groan: "shopping, shopping."
To what end? The fun of dressing up like zombies? Yeah, I can see that. To stop the mindless consumerism Ditching The Partyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14513103835429079879noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4719454729306016711.post-66744411271084109382011-11-11T08:21:00.001-08:002011-11-11T08:45:07.944-08:0011/11/2011On this Veteran's Day, I salute our vets and those currently serving in our American forces. I'd also like to thank the men in my family who have proudly served here and overseas: Major George P. Kniess, Captain Silas S. Jones, George P. Kniess, Jr. (Marines), Ronald J. Kniess (Army) and Walter J. Barkey (Army). I'm truly grateful not only today but every day. Ditching The Partyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14513103835429079879noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4719454729306016711.post-42946524749552459782011-11-04T15:23:00.000-07:002011-11-04T15:23:27.244-07:00SnowThe furniture cushions are gone. Winterizing has begun. That said, the happy lights will remain operational for as long as possible. Snow is but frozen water--I can wade through it with a shovel. A cat tunnel will be dug, to keep Maggie the Cat happy, and deck vistas will remain accessible, to keep me pondering--my simple, yet so soulful pleasure.
More to come, my Ditching The Partyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14513103835429079879noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4719454729306016711.post-60249664087714470502011-09-21T09:04:00.000-07:002011-09-21T09:10:58.265-07:00Reflections While SweepingHmm....it's been over two months since my last post. I'd originally planned to make passing comments on the books and plays I've been reading/seeing. (Yes, yes, I know--the best laid plans...!) Until a week ago, I hadn't seen a play all summer. (Despite morning temperatures in the 20s, it still is, technically, summer.) Come summer our city's stages go dark; for a few Ditching The Partyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14513103835429079879noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4719454729306016711.post-6381691194816569962011-07-04T08:51:00.000-07:002011-07-04T08:51:45.122-07:00A Fine UnionOn this Fourth of July, as P. and I celebrate the Declaration of Independence from the deck, I want to raise my glass to not only independence but also union. It's an American holiday, but it's also my parents' wedding anniversary. Married in Germany 54 years ago (my father an American soldier, my mother a German bride), they are a wonderful example of how love can weather differences. And Ditching The Partyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14513103835429079879noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4719454729306016711.post-435315473179078692011-06-30T11:16:00.000-07:002011-06-30T11:16:43.745-07:00Murder So Foul in NorwayI just finished up Jo Nesbo’s The Snowman (that’s Nesbo with a slashed o). It’s a mystery thriller set in Oslo, featuring Detective Harry Hole as the bad-boy cop—an alcoholic, lustful, independent cuss but also a man with, of course, honor. He’s a noir prototype, and Nesbo doesn’t push the crime genre boundaries in his Hole series. When I pick up a Nesbo thriller, I read it to experience a Ditching The Partyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14513103835429079879noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4719454729306016711.post-63786789699569676372011-06-15T10:29:00.000-07:002011-06-15T14:53:21.958-07:00The Tony Awards Put on a Good Spectacle, BUT...I don’t wish to bash the Tony awards from my deck chair, for awards can serve to recognize excellence (notice I say “can” instead of “do,” for nominating committees are not always savvy observers and thinkers). But if the New York theatre establishment wishes to remain Command Central for US theatre, the televised awards need to do more than the usual song and dance routine.
Consider the Ditching The Partyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14513103835429079879noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4719454729306016711.post-58425581029227576332011-06-11T15:31:00.000-07:002011-06-11T15:31:42.383-07:00Open SeasonThe deck is now open for the season, thanks to a patio heater. Observations therefrom are coming soon to the internet provider nearest you. Ditching The Partyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14513103835429079879noreply@blogger.com0