The LogBlog

Moving...

2010-04-26T18:41:00.001-04:00

I've decided to consolidate things and try to actually maintain ONE personal and professional blog. If for any reason you're looking for content here (meaning you're one of my 10,000 fans.... or fan... do I even have one?), head on over to my new website at http://www.loganculwell.com, or the blog at http://www.loganculwell.com/blog.

It's been real, blogger. Seacrest OUT. Wait, I think I did that wrong.

Happy New Year!

2010-01-01T13:08:00.000-05:00

It's 2010, folks. I don't think I'm going to do resolutions this year. I AM going to enjoy the day off today. For that matter, I'm going to enjoy all of my days off until January 17th, so I guess today isn't really all that special.

If you're in the market for a resolution, though, I suggest resolving to get Netflix. Netflix Streaming, if you haven't used it, is the greatest thing in the history of the world, and I employ no hyperbole. Yesterday I decided to watch some classic comedy movies that I'd never gotten around to seeing, and thanks to Netflix Streaming I can take National Lampoon's Vacation and Weekend at Bernie's off my never-seen list. They were both great, but I especially enjoyed Weekend at Bernie's.

Oh, and real late last night I, for some reason, got a hankering for Emma Thompson's 2001 HBO movie Wit. What a great movie. If you haven't seen it, do yourself a favor and check it out, but bring tissues.

Well, like I said, HAPPY NEW YEAR! It remains to be seen what I'll be doing today, but I hope whatever you choose to spend the day doing is entertaining and fulfilling. There's only one January 1, 2010.

Back in Ithaca

2009-12-31T00:42:00.000-05:00

One more day of plane travel under my belt and I'm back in Ithaca, sitting on my couch and petting my kitty. Literally, you dirty bird. Thank goodness I was flying domestically. Otherwise I might have to adhere to the TSA's ridiculous new flight restrictions. Any bets on when some poor person's case of explosive diarrhea will send those rules shooting into oblivion?

It was a nice holiday visit. Along with the usual festivities, my family went out for a fantastic dinner at the new Wolfgang Puck restaurant Five-Sixty. It's the new restaurant at the top of Reunion Tower in Dallas, affectionately called the Big Ball. Like before, the restaurant features top to floor windows overlooking downtown Dallas in a constantly turning dining room. Everything else is different. Unlike the prior experience, the food is actually.. um... good. Really good. Expensive, yes, but unbelievably tasty. It's your typical new-schmancy-asian-and-something-else-fusion-type food but there are lots of tempting choices. I had steak and crab cakes and well... who could ask for anything more? 'Twas delish, but the most surprising part were the green beans (of all things) they bring out as a pre-appetizer-appetizer. I don't know what they did with them, but they were TASTY. I would kill for the recipe.

Oh, and I just saw Nine. I went in with no expectations because everything I'd heard was disappointing at best. No expectations is always the best way to go into a movie for me, but I have to say I pretty well liked it. It was exactly what I expected, which is not a bad thing. With the criticisms I've been reading, I wonder what exactly most people were expecting. After all, despite the fact that director Rob Marshall is most famous for bringing us the wildly successful film adaptation of Chicago, Nine is no Chicago. It's based on Fellini's 8 1/2, for pete's sake. It's cerebral and existential and not very plot driven. That's exactly what Rob Marshall put on the screen, in an incredibly beautiful package with lots of wonderful acting to boot. Are you going to walk out of the theatre going "WOW!"? No. But it's just not that kind of piece and I think it would have been wrong to try to make it.

The bottom line is know what you're going to see before you go if you want to enjoy it. And I guess I can't really blame the public too hard for that. Not many people know Nine and probably go expecting another Chicago as the commercials kind of make it look like that.

Tomorrow is New Year's Eve and my only plans are watching Kathy Griffin co-hosting CNN's festivities with Anderson Cooper. I'm pretty excited. Hope all of you have fun plans too!

Did you have a happy holiday?

2009-12-27T16:25:00.000-05:00

I did! I got Rossetta Stone in German and the rumors are true, kids. It works and it works in a way that is not annoying like taking a traditional language class. I mean, I'm already fluent, as long as you define fluent as only being able to describe what people are doing if they are eating, drinking, sleeping, cooking or running. Oh, and being able to say hello and goodbye. But seriously, it's good stuff. In case you're wondering, I picked German on the recommendation of my conducting professor. A lot of musicals get done overseas with American creative team since musicals are a very American art form, and he thought knowing German would behoove me. I agree!

I saw Avatar. Not really sure why anyone was disappointed in the plot--what were you expecting, exactly?--but as an action movie, it is compelling and very visually entertaining. I saw it at IMAX 3D and neither me nor my mother got a 3D headache, either. I would definitely recommend this one.

I have seen no other no movies as of right now, though. I don't know what's up. I hear Nine is disappointing and that It's Complicated is downright terrible. Those are the two I wanted to see. I have no desire to see what looks like a RIDICULOUS adaptation of Sherlock Holmes, but apparently it's pretty good. I did finally watch A Christmas Story on Netflix Streaming, which is officially the greatest thing ever. The movie was great! Somehow I escaped my childhood without ever seeing it, but I thought it was real cute. I might have never seen it because when I was talking to my dad about it, he had never even heard of it. Not really sure how that's even possible, but whatever.

The real surprise of the season for me has been in games. Sure, I got a video game--Wii Sports Resort. It's very fun! Nothing revolutionary, of course, but entertaining for sure and the MotionPlus addition shows real promise for the future of the Wii. However, the REAL shocker was in a card game that I got for free. I bought my mom board games for Christmas and Target was giving away free Hasbro card games with them. I had Monopoly Deal, Scrabble Slam, Picture-something (Pictionary related?) and a kid one to choose from. I chose the first three and have played the first two. Scrabble slam is basically speed with letters, and is pretty fun. Monopoly Deal I was expecting to be terrible, but it was exactly the opposite. It is exactly what it is billed to be: a Monopoly experience that doesn't take near as long. It's different because there's no board and you're drawing cards and such, but it's pretty awesome. Everyone around me hates Monopoly except for me and Patrick Pevehouse, so I'm hoping this new form will perhaps allow me to actually get to play the game now and then. Unfortunatly, it seems like such a horrible concept (a Monopoly card game) that I can't really see the game doing very well, but I'll hold on to my copy and enjoy it because it is a good time!

Oh, and the other surprise of my holiday items? I randomly told my mom a while ago that I thought these cups at Starbucks were cool. They are permanent plastic versions of what the throw-away plastic cups they serve cold drinks in. Mind you I don't like Starbucks drinks at all. The only thing I ever get there is Caramel Apple Cider, but I just thought the cup was cool. Well, leave it to my mom to remember and get it for me for Christmas. Turns out the thing is double insulated so you can put cold drinks in it and it won't sweat. Also, unlike most double insulated cups, it has a screw on top with a straw, meaning my cat wouldn't try to tip it over for the liquid inside if I went to bed with it on my bedside table. Brilliant! So, I start looking around thinking I'd get one for Cody too. What do I find out? They are sold out everywhere and only available on Amazon 3rd Party Sellers and eBay for $40-$80 a pop. Apparently I am not the only one who loves these damn cups. Isn't that weird? The moral is if you happen to see one this holiday season, buy it and sell it on eBay. Or to me to give to Cody because you're nice like that.

Anyways, happy holidays!!

Night Music, Mario, Disney and MORE!

2009-12-18T17:14:00.000-05:00

Lots to talk about. First of all, the semester is over. I am muchly looking forward to a month or so of no obligations, visiting family, game playing and food eating. Ah, Christmas. Even as I type this I am making gingerbread cookies and I'm real excited about them.

So you should know that in January I get to do this really cool thing at the Goodspeed Opera House called a music direction intensive. The Goodspeed is a very well-known theatre that does (despite their name) mostly musicals. I'm basically going down there for a week to take lots of classes and workshops and to meet a lot of people in the biz. This is the first year they're doing it and I'm pleased as punch to be in the first group of attendees. There are so few educational experiences for wannabe music directors out there, outside of just actually working. It's nice to see that things are beginning to turn around.

OK so since the last time I blogged, I went to New York City and saw the new revival of A Little Night Music. I loved it. The production is not perfect. The direction at times is awfully slow and a couple of the performances were rough, but for the most part it was a solid production of a fantastic show.

First the bad. I get that the show begins with the characters distressed because they haven't found their proper partner, but I think this production directed this portion of the evening to be far too gloomy. A funeral-like dirge begins the show instead of the traditional lively Liebeslieder vocalise and I just sat there thinking, "NONE of the rest of the show was written to be like this." I didn't agree with the choice, but it certainly didn't ruin the evening.

Also, I thought Leigh Ann Larkin's Petra was fine, but she attempted some sort of lower-class European accent (Scottish or Irish or something) and it just really wasn't working. I mean she only even noticeably tried to do it every so often, which in and of itself is terrible, but when she was trying to do it it was terrible too. It's hard for me to believe that no one could have told her to quit it. I also saw the show in previews, so hopefully by now someone has.

My only other problem was some singing issues. The Liebeslieders, a singing chorus, were all cast with very unremarkable singers who in many cases couldn't sing the notes they were supposed to. This kind of baffled me. Then there was Anne, who felt it was appropriate to belt her way through Weekend in the Country. If it had sounded good, I could have gotten past the inappropriateness, but it just didn't sound good at all. The sad thing is she had a fine legit voice. Again, I sat there wondering why the production's creative team were allowing her to sing that way.

Now for the good. The set, especially act 2, is really pretty. Also, the casting is, on the whole, pretty terrific. I saw Aaron Lazar as Mathew Morrison's replacement in Piazza and thought he was much better than his predecessor. Now he's playing Count Malcolm and you just don't see many performers like him around anymore, unfortunately. He has a beautiful and very solid singing voice, but he can also act fantastically. It doesn't hurt that he's quite nice to look at either. His wife, played by Erin Davie, definitely was the shock of the evening for me. I thought she was fine, if unremarkable, as Young Edie in Grey Gardens and was pretty surprised when she was cast as Charlotte. She seemed to young and not the right type. Well, I was wrong. She was hilarious, genuine, and fantastic. She's the only Charlotte I've ever seen that managed to not play her as a emotionless sarcastic robot (not that I don't love that interpretation too) and make it work. I also particularly enjoyed Alexander Hanson's Frederick.

Moving on to the stars of the show, I'll say that Catherine Zeta Jones is a gorgeous woman. She also does a nice job as Desiree. It's not great, but it's certainly not bad. As far as star casting goes, I was definitely in approval. I agreed with Brantly's review that she was a little too vivacious and Velma-like, but it's nothing that makes you groan at her casting. Angela Lansbury as her mother, on the other hand, delivers just the kind of top-notch performance you'd expect from her. Wonderfully witty, heartbreakingly honest.. just all kinds of good. Her "Liasons" alone is worth the price of admission. That and the scene about the wooden ring. It was a total thrill to get to see a theatre legend and personal idol live!

Moving to a totally different stratosphere, I also (on a whim) bought New Super Mario Bros Wii recently, right after Children of Eden ended. If you have a Wii, you need to own this game. Single player mode is a wonderfully retro throwback to NES days, offering all the side-scrolling fun of Super Mario Bros 1 and 3. We'll just, erm, forget that 2 ever existed.

The real cherry, though, is in the multiplayer mode. You get all the same levels and game play, but you can have up to three additional players along with you. I didn't think it would be all that special, but it makes it surprisingly more difficult and a LOT more fun. I mean, my Thanksgiving break was basically spent on playing that game and really nothing else. I ate turkey somewhere in there.

I also recently got Legend of Zelda: Spirit Tracks for my DS. I mean, what can I say? I love Zelda games. Always have and always will. This one is no different. Lots of side quests, VERY creative boss battles and puzzling dungeons. I am taking a break from it right now simply because I don't want it to be over.

Last, but not least, I saw Princess and the Frog, Disney's much-anticipated return to hand-drawn animation, last night. It was entertaining. I don't think it is quite the triumphant come-back I've heard other people call it, but it's definitely worth seeing. I was never very impressed with Anika Noni Rose (Dreamgirls, From Justin to Kelly)'s singing voice before, but she really delivers in this movie as Tiana. However, the songs are pretty unremarkable and nowhere near the quality of the Ashman-Menken canon that brough about Disney's 90's renaissance.

It was nice to see, for a change, a movie in which the theme was "wish on the star, but work hard to actually make it happen." However, as the movie progresses, this becomes cheesily preachy, thanks to some just vomit-inducing BAD dialogue. I wish they could have figured out another way to do it, because what could have been a really wonderful sentiment was just trite by the end of the movie. I also thought a certain character's finale (I'll leave it at that) was ridiculous and totally unnecessary.

Which, I also got to say-was anyone else scared out of their freaking MINDS by parts of this movie? Voodoo is freaky stuff and Disney did not shy away from it. The "henchmen" of the story are these shadow men that only exist as shadows on the wall or floor, but can still drag people and stuff. I mean, I may never sleep again. I'm just sayin...

ALSO--I was a little put off by some of the animation style. It seemed very mid-90's WB in parts. For instance, for those of you that have seen the movie, does this look familiar?

That would be Darla Dimple from Cat's Don't Dance and the child version of Charlotte from Princess and the Frog (who of course I can't find a good picture of) basically looks exACTLY like her. I don't care that it was ripped off (because it's not like a highly individual piece of artwork or anything) but I thought it was not very Disney, which I didn't like.

However, despite all this, I enjoyed myself and I would recommend seeing it.

Happy Holidays!!

Papermill's "On the Town"

2009-11-30T09:37:00.000-05:00

Living in Ithaca has benefits other than beautiful gorges and wonderful education. It also leaves me within driving distance of wonderful theatre. While this obviously includes Broadway, it also includes the Papermill Playhouse in Millburn, New Jersey. One of the most famous regional theatres in the country, the Papermill regularly employs Broadway talent and produces top-notch musicals and plays. Getting there early yesterday, I got to poke around all of their production photos, which was real fun. They had two from Children of Eden, which they premiered (in the current version) in 1998. I just finished working on Ithaca College's production of the show, so I was interested to see material from its premiere. You can not find photos of Papermill's production online, and there may be a reason why. It kind of looked like a bad community theatre production. I wish I had taken pictures, but alas you'll just have to imagine. On the other end of the spectrum, apparently they did Sweeney Todd in 1992 with George Hearn and Judy Kaye. Why was I not there to see this? George Hearn is wonderful (you can see him on the tour and concert DVDs) and Judy Kaye, whom I saw on the revival tour a few years ago, is among my most favorite Mrs. Lovetts EVER.

Anyways, on to the show. On the Town is a great show, and that was this production's greatest asset, along with the choreography. The sets were mixed from me, ranging from beautiful to sloppy and community-theatre-looking, though fortunately with an extreme scarcity of the latter. The costumes were fantastic, including a multi-changing costume for "Miss Turnstiles" as she bounces from vocation to vocation in her opening number.

The performances were the most mixed. In the three sailors that lead the cast, they had absolute winners in two of the three. Jeffrey Schecter as Ozzie and Brian Shepard as Chip both gave fantastic performances that I enjoyed a lot. Conversely, Tyler Hanes as romantic lead Gabey was all kinds of bad. I have to wonder why Mr. Hanes, who does not have a lyrical baritone voice, was cast in this role, a lyric baritone. The character gets to sing such Bernstein classics as "Lonely Town" and "Lucky to Be Me," but his voice was incapable of having any line at all, making ballads totally useless. Even if he had been able to overcome this, his voice is so nasal that it still would have sounded totally inappropriate in Bernstein's wonderfully jazzy score. On top of all this, I often found his dancing and line deliveries to be, for lack of a better word, queer. This is one of my biggest pet peeves. Unless the character is gay, please cast someone who can act like a man. Why does this seem to be such a common occurence these days, even on Broadway? I guess Hanes was cast because he's attractive, which he is. I, however, would rather have seem someone who could perform the part. I mean, all the sections that involved him were just not entertaining, and I always found myself waiting for the other two to get on stage.

I thought the girlfriends were all fine, including Jennifer Cody as Hildy, though she wasn't exactly how I would have cast that role. I would have rather had a real broad with a nice meaty belt that befits the character. Cody got the role and did a nice job, but had to vocal growl every five seconds to make her voice sound appropriate to the music and character.

Now, as I was thinking of all these things, I chastised myself for being too much of a purist on the singing. After all, I'm studying to be a musical director. Maybe I've gone too far off the deep end. However, I don't think that's why I have these complaints. Bernstein's score, and in truth the entire show, is highly stylized, jazzy and 1940s. Some of these performers' inability to perform in this style made it not sound right.

Which brings me to the music in general. First off, there were four keyboards, which I was just not expecting going to hear a Bernstein score. I incorrectly assumed they'd spring for a nice big orchestra, but I'll admit the sound wasn't terrible. Most of the problem lied in the orchestra's inability to play a lot of the syncopation in the correct style. This resulted in the band being off from the performers several times, which in many ways is just as much the performer's fault as the band's, but either way it was muddy. I also didn't appreciate the amount of musical changes they made to the score. The changes they made just felt unnecessary and cheap compared to Bernstein's brilliant original. For example, they added a stomp-like cave man dance to "Carried Away" that was absolutely ridiculous. I've seen the show as originally performed before and it doesn't need help to be entertaining. I really don't consider myself to be a purist, and certainly the score needed some updating to accommodate modern methods of transition and scene change, but many of the others fell flat.

All of this aside, it was mostly a very entertaining production. On the Town is a wonderful show that nobody seems to ever do, mostly because, like West Side Story and Fiddler on the Roof, the original production was dance oriented, being based on a Jerome Robbins ballet. However, unlike his later musicals, Robbins' choreography for On the Town is now lost, making any new production a hefty undertaking for a choreographer. Patti Colombo has definitely risen to the challenge, giving exciting and decidedly Robbins-influenced steps to her dancers.

The other problem is a movie was made shortly after its Broadway premiere with Gene Kelly and Frank Sinatra, but for whatever reason the movie studio decided much of the show's material was too edgy for film. As a result, the movie of On the Town is completely unremarkable, if still entertaining.

The work of Bernstein, Comden and Green, however, is anything but unremarkable, and it's a great work worth exploring if you're not familiar with it. You could just go see Papermill's production, which runs through next weekend before moving to Seattle's 5th Avenue Theatre next Spring.

Fall Break Post-mortem

2009-10-19T10:48:00.001-04:00

I haven't blogged in a while on here, and that's basically because I've been very busy with school. It's a good busy, though. Regardless, Fall Break was this past weekend and I was very happy to have a break. So what did I do?

I drove to New York City. Yes, you read that correctly. I got up in the morning and drove my car to Manhattan. That is an awesome ability I have. There was no airport visit. There was no security line. There was Cody, me, my iPod and my car. Oh, and also--there's a Sonic in-between Ithaca and NYC. Perfection.

Aside from getting to spend some time with wonderful friends I haven't seen in a while, we also got to see some theatre. Now, usually I'd be bummed that we only got to see three things, but there is not much on Broadway exciting me these days. Actually, the only thing that I actively wanted to see was Roundabout's new revival of "Bye Bye Birdie," but more on that later. We also got to see the new musicals "Memphis" and "The Toymaker," the latter being part of the New York Musical Theatre Festival for new works.

I knew almost nothing about "Memphis" going in, which is my preference these days. I knew the story had something to do with a white DJ and a black singer and had also heard that it was pretty bad. Now, I'm not going to tell you it was amazing, because it wasn't--but it WAS entertaining. The story takes place in 1950's Memphis (who would have guessed) and concerns a white DJ obsessed with black music and his efforts to play it on the radio. He particularly enjoys a singer named Felicia (played by Montego Glover, who has an incredible voice) and even falls in love with her. But wait--it's the 1950s! You can't do that! Two hours of fun music and scary racism later, we've all learned a little something and have been moved.

The problem here is this has been done before, and other musicals with the same plot points have managed to do it with considerably less triteness and saccharine. What you get here is a very bubble gum version of racism and race relations. The other problem is the music ranges from downright terrible ("She's My Sister") to just completely unremarkable. That doesn't mean the music isn't nice to listen to, but it's just not special or memorable at all.

Despite all this, if you can go without any expectations, you will have a good time. Despite all the above problems, I enjoyed myself and the only real complaint I had walking out was that the choreography never really sizzled for me (parts of it inappropriately looked like it belonged more in West Side Story). I'm totally happy I saw the show and I wouldn't recommend rushing out to see it yourself, but if you have the opportunity, I wouldn't turn it down.

"The Toymaker," was most remarkable to me because of its dynamic leading lady: Miss Abby C Smith. Some of you may not think the role of "Ensemble" qualifies as leading, but clearly you have never seen Abby in a show. But seriously, now--the show is very new and needs work, sure, but it had some very nice tunes. The story is about a holocaust-era toymaker who makes toys for the kids in his town and has made toys for his own children only to be devastated when they are lost before they're born. Years later, a modern-era childless woman starts finding these toys on eBay and goes searching for more, feeling a connection to this man's story. The show goes back and forth between both stories trying to create a lot of mystery and intrigue as the toy maker's story unfolds. Now, this was a world premiere show so one can only expect that the work is much development left, but I found the music mostly angsty which got a little taxing after 130 minutes. I also think the story could use some work. At the end, they kept talking about what the modern woman had done and how she had been so courageous and life-changing, but it didn't appear to me that she actually did anything. I also thought the premise of her becoming fascinated with the toy maker's life was very thin. Essentially, the problem was that there were lots of dots being connected throughout the show that really came out of nowhere. For example, in one song, the modern woman (Sarah) and her acquaintance (a Czech street kid she enlists to be her tour guide of sorts) sing about their deep friendship even though we, as the audience, haven't really seen that develop at all. Right after, she requests that she go to this particular meeting alone, as if apologizing for leaving him out. This is odd, considering she's done every meeting alone up to this point.

I don't know if this show is going to go anywhere, but the writer clearly has talent. A lot of the music was very pretty, and I think with some further workshop and development, one could get a nice musical out of it.

Now we move on to the show I really wanted to see. "Bye Bye Birdie" has the power to make anyone acquainted with High School musical theatre to run away or at least yawn. I don't blame them--I was once this way too. Then, I worked on an equally obnoxious production as the piano/conductor and was forced to listen to it every night for a while. My conclusion was that it's actually a very clever and funny show, but no one that I've seen perform it has gotten it. It's a satire, people! It's supposed to be stupid, not saccharine! And those movies don't help much either. You can't really satirize dumb 14 year olds when you cast mature sexy Ann Margaret. So, because of all of this, I was excited to see the show's first Broadway revival ever. I didn't know anything about Gina Gershon and I'd thought John Stamos was supposed to be good in "Nine" and "Cabaret," so I remained excited. I got even more excited when I saw that for ONCE in professional theatre they cast people as the kids that actually looked the ages they were supposed to play. Conrad (Nolan Gerard Funk from some Nickelodeon show) seemed a little too young, but I get it--it was as close to Zac Efron as they could afford. Excitement!

Then I saw the show and became embarrassed and enraged at the Roundabout theatre. Their production of "Bye Bye Birdie" was not only bad, it was so bad that I will probably never see a Roundabout production again unless it comes HIGHLY recommended from a friend who has seen it and whose opinion I trust. The set looked like a 60's stylized laboratory. The main pieces of the set were white and made of some Plexiglas looking material, and though the trucks with the other sets were more colorful, they all retained the bizarre Plexiglas composure. Did this designer not see "The Little Mermaid?" Plasticization is not a good choice, people! The costumes were no better, offering standard designs for the show but then coloring them in RIDICULOUS stylized colors, coordinated by family. And when I say coordinated by family, I don't mean each family had the same accent color. I mean that each family had one color and their costumes were all that color (the same shade even) and there was little else on their costumes. They looked like freaking citizens of Whoville.

Now lets talk about the performances. John Stamos had little to no character, little to no comic timing, and very little concept of good tuning. He was so flat at the beginning "Baby Talk to Me" that I seriously considering heckling him. However, he was like Renee Flemming compared to his co-star, Gina Gershon. Now, I understand stunt casting. It brings in money and hopefully the person is at least okay in the role. Gina Gershon isn't famous. I don't think there's a single person in the world who is seeing this production because she's in it, and if there is, they're probably the one devoted Gershon fan out there. This would all be fine if she was good in the role, but she's not. She can't sing. I don't mean her singing isn't the best--I mean she can't sing. Whenever she would complete a song the audience members around me would turn to their friends with faces of disgust because they couldn't believe that a theatre of any reputation would hire such a performer for a major singing role in a major musical. This might even be excuseable if she was acting the part really well or something, but she wasn't. I actually suspect that her voice was so bad as to be performance ruining even for a very good actress, but her non-singing performance as Rosie was mediocre at best, rendering the performance a complete failure in every way. Rounding out the "celebrity" cast (as we continue on our F-list tour) was Nolan Gerard Funk as Conrad. Yes, he's way too young. Yes, he looks far more Backstreet Boy than Elvis as Brantley put it. He actually has a pretty good voice, which was to be enjoyed with so much off-key nonsense going on elsewhere. Unfortunately he couldn't act his way through the scene work at all so it's hard to call him a bright spot. He was, however, immeasurably better than anyone else in the cast which is a sad remark on how much everyone else truly sucked. He also fell victim to some ridiculous and needless scenes of vulgarity in which the director apparantly found it appropriate to exploit his "hot bod" for no reason. For example, in the scene in which Conrad is supposed to come in for breakfast looking haggard and gross (despite having the teenagers of Sweet Apple still swooning over him, hence the joke), this production chose to have him come in with nothing on but tighty whiteys, showing off his chiseled pecs and abs. As per usual, he then pulls a beer out of the fridge and gulps it down, finishing with a burp. This production, though, had him drizzle the beer down his naked chest, after which he rubbed it into his stomach. Picture that for a second. Yes, that's right. It was "Bye Bye Birdie" and it looked like a scene from a freaking porn movie. RIDICULOUS.

But the non-celebrity performers were good, right? Nope. Allie Trimm was apparantly in "13" and now she's in "Bye Bye Birdie." She also clearly has no concept of comic timing or the role of Kim at all. She has a very weak voice and little to no personality in her role. In fact, the entire [VERY young] kids chorus was almost across the board terrible. Their singing was muddled and the dancing... well let's just say I can't even comment on the choreography because the performance of it was so sloppy.

Maybe casting actual youngsters as opposed to adults who look like youngsters was just a mistep. I'm sure the adult cast knew what they were doing. In all fairness, most of the adult cast was unnoticeable in a good way. Dee Hoty gave a fine if seeming apologetic at times performance as Mrs. MacAfee, but her husband, played by Bill Irwin, was bizarre. He was trying very hard, and I'll give him that. It just never worked for me. His hijinks and crazy voices never seemed to mesh with the production as a whole, which could be partially because everyone around him was performing like blabbering idiots. Unfortunatly, Mr. Irwin also falls into the "can't-sing-to-save-his-life" camp. It's not a singing role or anything, but his "Kids" was bizarre at best, and... well let's just say I wish he'd only mouthed "Hymn for a Sunday Evening."

All in all a terrible production that Roundabout should be ashamed to be accepting money for. Don't go see it. I spent only $20 on my ticket and it was far too much.

The trip, however, was in total a complete success. I'm glad to know now that I can drive to Manhattan with no problem, something I definitely plan to do a lot so I can see all the wonderful people who live there!

Overheard in the staff lunchroom...

2009-10-09T12:50:00.001-04:00

From the lunchroom I chose to eat lunch in today, up here in New York State. On the East Coast, yes, but still...

Girl 1: Ya I tried to watch the NASA launch today but I didn't see it
Girl 2: Oh, they launched something today? From where?
Girl 1: Earth!

... it gets better ...

Girl 2: No, but like where on Earth?
Girl 1: Oh, I think Florida.
Girl 2: Well of COURSE you couldn't see it from Florida. That's really far away.
Girl 1: .....they were supposed to show it on TV but I missed it....

So glad I chose to eat lunch here today.

Andrew Lloyd Webber thinks he can improve The Wizard of Oz

2009-09-16T19:00:00.001-04:00

Remember that "You're the One That I Want" reality show that cast the leads in the Broadway revival of "Grease!"?

Well, the idea for those shows started in Britain, where, apparently, its a much more successful venture. They've done it with "Joseph and the Amazing Technicolor Dreamcoat", "The Sound of Music", and they're currently preparing to do it for a new revival of "The Wizard of Oz." I mean, everyone loves that movie and its a bonafide classic. I don't know about you, but I'd MUCH rather fork over $300 to see random people mimic the classic performances of Judy Garland and company, performances I could own on DVD and watch thousands of time for one easy payment of $20. That's just common sense.

But wait, there's more. Andrew Lloyd Webber, who was involved with all of these reality programs, has announced he's writing not one, not two, but six new songs for the revival. I can't even begin to explain how messed up this is. There is not anything that needs to be expanded in "The Wizard of Oz," and certainly nothing Webber, a pretty blah composer, is going to add to enhance it. He probably saw dollar signs out in the distance and jumped at the chance. After all, he is also working on a sequel to "Phantom of the Opera."

Seriously, Andrew--it's getting embarassing.

By the way, is it just me, or am I seeing something here...

Left: Andrew Lloyd Webber, composer of The Phantom of the Opera
Right: The Phantom of the Opera, as depicted in the 1925 silent film of the same name

..or maybe it's the other way around...

To fix the line breaks in Mac Word...

2009-09-16T14:48:00.000-04:00

I don't know if everyone was having this problem, but since getting the new Mac Office on my computer, I was very aggrivated by the default setting for line breaking. It would put a space like

this every time I pressed "enter," instead of a space like
this as I expected and wanted.

Well, I figured out the problem, and here it is! You have to edit the default template. How do you do that, you say? Well, I'll tell you.

Go to open a file. Go to your home directory (it should be there on the left with an icon of a house next to it) and then click Library-->Application Support-->Microsoft-->Office-->User Templates. In this folder you'll find a file called Normal.docm. Open it! It'll bring up a blank Word document.

Next, click Format up at the top and then Paragraph.

See that thing that says "Don't add space between paragraphs of the same style"? Make sure the little check box next to it has a check in it. Click "OK" and then save your changes. DONE!

If you were like me, you'd now be jumping for joy.

Thoughts on Glee

2009-09-09T23:56:00.001-04:00

It's not the worst thing I've ever seen, but... I just don't understand why this show is getting the buzz it's getting.

The lip syncing is really fake looking. It all looks fake, but there was even a scene in which two back-up-singing cheerleaders (one white, one black) were supposed to have the sound of at least three black girls. Isn't the show supposed to be about singing? Very odd choice.

Also, in general, it's just not that funny. They seem to be focusing on the dramatic aspects of the plot lines which is another incredibly odd choice to me.

Last, but not least, I don't understand why they think we are going to want to watch Matthew Morrison be married to a bitch for however long he is before he gets together with the guidance counselor.

Anyways... someone tell me what I'm missing and why this show is getting the buzz it's getting, because I'm lost.

Lightning Review: Official Book Club Selection

2009-09-08T16:10:00.000-04:00

I'm only a couple of chapters into Kathy Griffin's new book/memoir, "Official Book Club Selection," but I can already recommend it! Not only is it funny (as can be expected), it's also pretty interesting. I wasn't aware of how memoir-y it was going to be, but I'm glad it's like that. The audio book is abridged, which kind of pisses me off, because I would really like to hear her reading these things, but I guess everyone has their cross to bear.

By the way--did you know she also has a new CD out? It's called "Suckin' it for the Holidays" and it's only available digitally. I haven't exactly listened to it yet, but I'm sure it'll be as good as her previous specials and CD. I think this release was a little haphazard and mainly an attempt to get another Grammy nod. Either way, I'm happy to have another hour and a half of Griffin hilarity for $9.99. Actually, it was free. God bless going away parties!

As for the rest of my life, I have been incredibly busy. It turns out that free graduate school comes with a lot of stuff to do. I'm not complaining, don't get me wrong. I am loving the program and my classes have been wonderful so far. I also love the experience I'm getting. I always thought I'd be a good assistant after reading The Devil Wears Prada, and now I'm putting my money where my mouth is, so to say. Although, the demands made of me are a little more normal and mundane then, say, obtaining the next Harry Potter novel prior to publication.

By the way, not that this has anything to do with anything, but if you haven't already done so, I suggest reading the transcript of the speech Obama gave to school children this morning. You can read it here. Now, let me tell you I am not a big Obama fan. I don't hate him, but I don't think he's Jesus or anything. However, I am BAFFLED by the controversy on this thing. The speech is FANTASTIC and for once in my life I agree with every word of it! Not only that, but I found myself reading it thinking my Dad, my very conservative Dad, would LOVE this. What are people freaking out about?

SlingCatcher

2009-08-19T12:00:00.000-04:00

So one of the other unfortunate things about my Ithaca apartment is the only room wired for cable is the living room. Because I didn't feel like dealing with having another outlet put in, I decided to get a SlingCatcher, a device that lets you watch whatever you have connected to your Slingbox on a TV. I got it with trepidation, thinking it wouldn't work well and I'd have to take it back.

This was not the case! The video quality looks fantastic and I couldn't be happier with it. The remote works really well for everything I need it for, and if there's a not a button on the remote for something you need, you can press the options key and every other remote option for your device will come up on the screen.

Now I should say that I am using my SlingCatcher on a 4:3 tube projection TV output at 480i, so I'm sure it wouldn't look as good on, say, an HDTV or perhaps even a larger SD TV. However, alls I knows is that it's doing the job that I need it to do, and wonderfully to boot.

A word to the wise for those using or looking to use this with a TiVo: fast-forwarding and rewinding can be a little bit tricky as there is a delay in your remote command actually getting to the TiVo and streamed back to the SlingCatcher as it is being streamed over your home network. What I have figured out (and this has yet to fail me) is do two fast-forward clicks, and then when you see the program you're watching come back on, click play and then instant replay 4 times. Works like a charm.

The Move (Part 3): Ithaca at last

2009-08-18T12:00:00.000-04:00

We got into Ithaca super late Friday night after traveling all day. And I mean all day. We neglected getting a hotel reservation prior to arriving, and thanks to an influx of visitors for a Nascar race nearby (who would have guessed) we ended up in the craptacular Clarion Inn. Now, I'm not near as picky as my mother. All I want is a reasonably clean place to sleep and shower for the night. This place was a hole, and it didn't help that they were charging $200 a night per room. I, uh.. wouldn't recommend them.

We got to see the apartment that night, which was horrifying in some ways and refreshing in others. The living room was just as big as I'd remembered it, and if you know Cody and I, we are living room folk, so this was all good. However, the apartment was in pretty bad shape. There was a good quarter inch of dust on the top of all the windows (people had been living here up until a week or two before this, mind you), beer bottles under the bathtub, and an unmistakable red stain behind the toilet that could only possibly be vomited trashcan punch. Yummy.

The next day we went straight to work. My mom started giving the kitchen a good mom clean while my dad starting patching the hundreds (upon hundreds) of holes in the wall, some gaping giant holes. The movers were able to drop off our stuff that morning. In retrospect, this was probably a mistake. Taking a day to clean before having stuff would have been so very nice.

My parents were scheduled to leave at the butt crack of dawn the next day, but with the amount of work ahead of us, my dad graciously agreed to stay and help for a few more days. He ended up leaving Thursday afternoon, which was a godsend. That is, the fact that he stayed was a godsend, not him leaving on Thursday.

The time in-between was so terrible that I barely even want to speak about it. Stuff was everywhere, be it actual stuff that needed a place to rest, or moving trash, or new stuff trash, or one of the many many pieces of junk the previous tenants so... graciously... left us. We had to get things put away before we could really clean, and yet things had to be cleaned for us to be able to put things away without making our stuff gross. This basically meant that the apartment was a flustercuck for several days to say the least. On top of this, Ithaca was and is going through an unseasonable heat wave, and because this is not normal for Ithaca, our apartment has no air conditioning. Deep breaths.

We eventually got most of our stuff put away, or at least enough stuff to start painting. You see, the walls were white, and I use the word "were" because at one time they probably were white. In August of 2009, we found them a pale yellow at best, and that's only when any one color was constant. We painted, which actually added a whole new level of stress for me because after getting several rooms very close to done, we had to move everything to the center of the rooms so that the walls were exposed for painting. Though I could have left everything be most likely, I will say that the new paint makes the apartment look a LOT cleaner and nicer. It also gave excuse and reason to give the walls a really good scrub beforehand.

When Dad left, we were very close to being done, and in truth the work has slowed significantly since after the painting. Things were in a bit messy but good condition, and because of that, constantly doing stuff was no longer needed. This was not only good for my sanity, but for temperature issues and my desire to actually see Ithaca as well.

We have been continuing work and we are nearly done. We bought curtains yesterday and almost have everything put away. We have been able to see a movie (Julie & Julia, which was really good), rent a movie (17 Again, which was... not) and see some of the many wonderful things Ithaca has to offer.

It is beautiful, for one. TREES! I love trees and I don't know what I did before I had them around me. Driving out to the boonies in Texas reminds me of fields and being hot and miserable, but here it's a treat! Also, did you know Ithaca is the birthplace of the Sundae? Well, actually that fact is under dispute but I think that Ithaca holds the true honor. Just feels right.

Another thing that I really like about Ithaca and New York State in general is a couple of TV offerings we didn't have before. The first is New York 1 which covers a lot of Broadway stuff. The second and most impressive is public access television. Turns out anybody can have a TV broadcast in Ithaca as long as they complete a workshop that is free to attend. I don't share this intending to take it one day, but to impress upon you the amount of bizarre things you can see on it. For example, Cody & I have watched un-narrated horse footage being shown for seemingly no reason, a saxophone band in some club somewhere, and a lecture from these weird people on a very hippy strange lifestyle about harnessing energy and not focusing on the body or something. They had a word for it, but I forget. I came in half-way through on that one.

The main thing that annoys me about Ithaca TV is that Ithaca is such a small city that I think most of the programming is based in other cities around us. That might not seem like a big deal, but it is when you are forced to watch Sonic commercials and start craving it, knowing all the while that the nearest Sonic is about an hour away. Just. Cruel.

The other thing that [used to] annoy me about Ithaca TV (well, cable) is that they use something called Switched Digital Video, or SDV. It's basically a technology that requires your TV being able to communicate back to the cable company what channel is being requested so that only that channel is being sent over the coaxial cable, as opposed to "normal" cable in which all channels are sent all the time. Theoretically, this frees bandwidth on the cable lines making it possible to have better quality audio and video in addition to more channel options. This is all swell other than the fact that it doesn't work with TiVo. Usually to get digital cable on a TiVo you get something called a CableCard which basically makes it possible for encrypted digital signals to be received by the TiVo without a cable-company-supplied Cable box. Bad news is CableCards only communicate one way (information coming TO it, not out of it), and SDV has to have two-communication. It has to be able to tell the cable company what channel it is you're wanting to watch.

For a long time, this meant that if you lived in an area with SDV and had a TiVo you were basically screwed. Luckily for me, they have since come out with an adapter. I'll save you the long story by saying that it originally didn't work for me and now does, but I'll quickly add that the first thing out of the first tech who-came-out-to-fix-it-yesterday-morning's mouth was, "Well, I've never seen that before!" Lovely training, Time Warner. Oh, and he left some of his equipment at my house and never came to get it even though he called to say he was going to. Guess it's not important.

Other than all that craziness, I have been practicing the score to Children of Eden because that's the first show I'll be working on at Ithaca. I don't totally know my schedule yet with school or the production, but I expect things to be more clear after my meeting with my professor tomorrow.

A video apartment tour will be coming as soon as everything's good and finished!

The Move: Part 2 (Washington State)

2009-08-15T12:00:00.000-04:00

In between OKC and Ithaca, Cody and I took a little trip to Washington state to visit Cody's family. Let me tell you Washington state is BEAUTIFUL. The trees and the ocean--I mean it just basically doesn't get any better than that.

Day one I checked out some Seattle yarn shops while Cody had the wedding rehearsal. He has now officiated two weddings and was fantastic at both of them!

After the rehearsal, we caught ACT's production of Das Barbecü. Cody and I love that show and happened to see a poster for their production. It began performances the day we got there, so we figured we ought to go. Alas, it was pretty rough and terrible. The performance was plagued with lots of costume and technical issues, and some booooring performances added in made the evening less than entertaining. The sad thing is they clearly had tons of money to spend on their set and costumes and stuff but paid very little attention to details. You know, like casting good people or delivering jokes as jokes. I'm talking LOTs of money here. Enough to have elaborate and realistic looking topiary set pieces that are only in one scene and burned versions of the same also for only one scene, with real smoke coming off them and everything. I know this is picking at a really small issue, but at one point a character was eating chips out of a frito bag, but the chips were potato chips. That's just embarrassing for the theatre which is pathetic because fixes don't get any easier than that. Where do you get the money for a set like that but not to have freaking fritos in the fritos bag?!

Moving on, Cody had the wedding the next day and I set out for Ferndale where Cody is actually from. I set my GPS to avoid high ways and took the very scenic route. I was very glad I did, because I got to drive through some gorgeous woods and past beautiful lakes. About half way through, I felt bad keeping Lainey locked up in her case, so I let her out and even SHE loved it. She kept staring out the window at the trees, which is not usually what she does in the car.

Back in Ferndale, I got to be a guest of the Smith family which was awesome because they have a big family with a lot of little kids that are really cute. They also like to do picnics on beaches which, well.. I wish Texas or Oklahoma had beaches. Picnics are a lot less fun when you are surrounded by flat fields and melting in 100+ degree weather.

Then my parents joined us. Cody and I met them in Seattle where we spent a fun filled day capped off with another night at the theatre. We were lucky enough to catch the world premiere try-out of "Catch Me If You Can." It's a new musical by most of the team from Hairspray, and yes, it's based on the book and movie. It was not without problems, but for a world premiere it was in fantastic shape. The team took a cue from the 60's time period of the piece and made a campy and cool 60's musical, complete with technicolor TV specials, an onstage orchestra and flight attendants doing musical numbers! The ending was terrible, but this was a world premiere and given the caliber of writing going on almost everywhere else, I'd say this is one to watch for in the future. Norbert Leo Butz as the FBI agent chasing con artist Frank Abignale gave an especially entertaining performance, especially given his sister was murdered in Seattle days before the show started performing. I have to imagine that having another life to escape into at a time like that is probably a blessing in some ways, but I can't imagine a tougher thing to deal with. But seriously, his performance was fantastic, news story or not. Leading man Aaron Tveit also gave a nice turn as Abignale, and given he is an Ithaca alum (although I don't think he graduated) it made me a little more excited to be going there next!

We spent a day in Ferndale and then on the way back to Seattle, we went on a whale watching expedition. I didn't think I was going to be too into this, but it was really cool. We had some gigantic whales swimming quite close to our boat. Actually, just being on the boat and by the water alone was really fun. After that, we said our goodbyes to Cody's fam and headed to Seattle for one last night.

We headed out to Ithaca early the next morning, but more on that in the NEXT installment of my moving extravaganza!

A brief tale of comedy

2009-08-14T12:05:00.000-04:00

So this just happened and I had to share it.. AND it was too long for twitter.

I just called Cody into the kitchen to look at Lainey, who was being extra special cute laying in the window sill and looking out on the street. To accommodate her love of windows, he went to open the blinds fully. He goes "Don't be scared!" and literally the next instant he yanks the blinds cord and they come crashing down on her. Hilarious!!!

The Move: Part 1 (Goodbye)

2009-08-14T11:45:00.000-04:00

It has been a long time since I blogged, and that is because I have been a gritty, dirty, nasty hell hole called moving. I'll try to tell the tale if you're in.

Packing was a bit of a nightmare. Who wants to spend hundreds (and I mean hundreds) of dollars on what is essentially trash? Boxes, packing peanuts, bubble-wrap are apparently way more expensive than I would have guessed. Regardless, the movers arrived and most of our stuff left with only 3 days of Oklahoma City living stuffless.
As you can see, we were squatters in our own house. Lovely.

Our last days were filled with some lovely going away parties (shout out to the guys at GYC, and the gals at SWAK!) in which we received lots of yarn, a cake, and even authentic Bucky's beaver nuts (corn pops covered in the stuff they put on popcorn to make it caramel corn). They were tasty, friends, and you can make any joke you want.

You know, I've said goodbyes before, but I think when you're the one leaving, it's a lot worse. It was a rough experience and I hated every second of it. I'm glad that I'm moving on to the next chapter in my life, but saying goodbye to the closest friends I've had in my entire life... well it stinks.

And in that spirit, here is a list of things I will miss about Oklahoma City

SWAK
Brenda Holleman
Ted's and Tex-Mex in general
Blue-Bell and Braum's ice creams
Cheap gas
Air conditioning
My bestest friends

And in another spirit completely, here's a list of things I will NOT miss about Oklahoma City

The drivers
The heat
Paying utilities
Having roommates

I had to think about the last one before typing it, but I decided to accompany it with the following: I have ADORED all of my roommates since junior year of undergrad (and many of you will remember the one tumultuous year that requires that start date), but as time has gone on, it has become increasingly apparent to me that I needed to be living sans roommates (Cody doesn't count). We will always have a couch (at the very least) ready for ya, though!

The next stage of our journey was a stop-over in Seattle, but more on that next post!

It's $#*&ing HOT

2009-07-16T14:00:00.001-04:00

I don't mind telling you that in Ithaca today, their freaking HIGH is 82. At any given time, if you check the actual temperature, it is likely to be somewhere in the neighborhood of 69-76. There are times in this 100+ degree bake oven that I think I might just hop a plane and move there a couple of weeks early.

But I have friends to enjoy more time with, and money to make. Yadda yadda yadda.

In case you were wondering, the move to Ithaca is going as smoothly as a cross-country transplantation can be expected. You see, the fork in the gears here is Cody's cousin is getting married at the beginning of August, meaning we have to go to Seattle in between moving out of Oklahoma City and moving in to Ithaca.

Don't get me wrong--Seattle weather is going to be a fantastic change from Oklahoma and a little pre-moving vacation is going to be wonderful. It's just that it made planning and executing the move a lot more difficult.

We hired a moving company. Yes, no live tweeting of a horrific cross-country drive with a cat in the car. Sorry. Even my car is going to be shipped. This also means we will be without our stuff for as much as a week and a half when we get to Ithaca. That could be pretty bad. Fortunately, I plan on traveling with my laptop and wireless supplies. The cable company already has an appointment with us for the day we arrive, so if we have nothing else, we will have interwebz.

Cody and I took one last trip to Dallas this past weekend before going to Dallas becomes much more involved of a process. It was a nice visit, though kind of bittersweet. I found myself dwelling on how weird and terrible it is that it will be a LONG time before I get to see my parents' dogs again, and how I will probably never get to drive my car around Dallas again. For that matter, it may be quite a while before Cody gets to be in Dallas with me. If he's getting to fly away somewhere, chances are it will be to his parents in Washington state.

Cody has dealt with being this far away for 5 years now, but I haven't and I only hope that I will be OK with it. Of course, I'm not even mentioning all the fantastic friends and places in Oklahoma City we're leaving behind.

But seriously. It's hot. I'm hoping that at least at the beginning the drastic and very positive weather change will eclipse my homesickness, and I wouldn't be surprised if it did.

And with that, I leave you with this very interesting article from LifeHacker on how to cool down your scorching-hot car in greatly reduced time.

Harry Potter and the Half Blood Prince: Let's get down to it

2009-07-15T11:10:00.002-04:00

I bit the bullet at saw the latest Harry Potter movie last night at midnight and am paying for it right now as I sit at work exhausted. But I digress.

Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince yadda yadda 6th in the series yadda yadda late release yadda yadda franchise yadda I love yadda yadda expectations yadda. The 6th book is easily my least favorite, and here's why: NOTHING HAPPENS IN IT. Sure, there's a bit of action in the last 50 pages, but you have to get through a lot of expositionary filler to get there. Oh, and not to give anything away (and believe me, this isn't) but even when you THINK something happened.. well it's disappointing.

The movie reflects this. The lack of moving plot made a tough job for the cast and creative team making this movie interesting to watch, and they did a fairly good job. Jim Broadbent was especially good and there are interesting sequences. For the most part, however, nothing was happening in this film and it showed. The ending was not near as climactic nor moving as the ending of the 5th movie.

In conclusion, I suggest seeing this movie because it was entertaining, but I doubt that this will be remembered as one of the better entries in the franchise. Let's just get it over with and get to the needlessly-split-because-it'll-bring-more-money-in-that-way 7th (..and 8th...) movie.

100th Post: Free Chicken Day!

2009-07-10T11:58:00.003-04:00

No, I'M not offering free chicken, but Chick-Fil-A is. All you have to do is dress like a cow. Or maybe just look like one. I'm not real clear on that.

The bad news is I'm working all day, so I shan't be participating like I did last year. Drag. Regardless, enjoy these pictures from last summer's celebration.

Happy 100th LogBlog and more importantly, Cow Appreciation Day ;)

Rollover Minutes: Really?

2009-06-26T17:10:00.003-04:00

We've all seen the commercials, and they're hilarious (kind of). But... if you are not using all of your minutes one month what is the actual chance of going over your minutes the next month? It doesn't make any kind of sense to me. Le sigh.

Goodbye Nokia... FOREVER

2009-06-20T02:29:00.001-04:00

As you all know, my iPhone 3GS came in yesterday. It's perfect. Much faster than the 3G, with an awesome camera, compass and voice control. I love it.

And now for the good stuff: watching me destroy my old phone in a video shot on my new phone. Enjoy.

I was offered a job!

2009-06-19T10:20:00.003-04:00

I got an e-mail today from a company that looked at my resume online and from that, offered me a job with the following responsibilities:

Process work requests that necessary to maintain an effective payments transfer program
Managing cash and balancing receipts
Making collections (if necessary)
Posting payments
Making bank deposits
Perform related duties and responsibilities as required

I don't know why they think I'd be good at these things, given that my only resume is filled with my various music direction and performance gigs, but I'm happy to have the offer. Yes, random Internet company! A million times yes!

The finish line

2009-06-18T12:40:00.002-04:00

Today is my last day of iPhonelessness. Hallelujah!

I know what you're all thinking, and no, I have no flipping clue.

Pop Music and the New Musical

2009-06-17T14:30:00.001-04:00

I found this quite fascinating.

American Theatre Wing - Working in the Theatre - Pop Music and the New Musical - September, 2005

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