Who is the idiot that invented gas-powered leaf blowers? What I wouldn’t give for five minutes alone with the guy who came up with this concept… Isn’t it odd that Los Angeles, not Orange County, has outlawed these things? They are the scourge of my neighborhood, and I swear they are coming around more and more often (usually starting at… Read more →
Category: Other
Skiing at Big Bear
I hadn’t been skiing at all so far this year, but today I finally made it to the slopes at Bear Mountain. I’m glad too, because with all the grief the weather has been giving us, I would hate to have completely missed out on the one good thing all this weather has brought. The snow was good, and it… Read more →
The Lost Wallet
What a day. Not only have legal problems cropped up (through no fault of mine or anyone elses on the production) with Pick Up Ax, but I also lost my wallet. Actually, I don’t think it was lost–it was stolen. “What?!”, I hear you saying, “In Irvine? Nothing bad ever happens in Irvine!” That’s what I used to think too,… Read more →
Bureacracy
I just love the way bureaucracies work. Sometimes they can be a literal pain in the ass. You’d have to be living in a cave to be unaware of what “El Niño” (the weather phenomenon–not Chris Farley) is doing to the west coast. We’ve had something like two feet of rain in just the past couple of months. And living… Read more →
Fortune Cookies
You know you’re scraping the bottom of the barrel when you’re looking to a fortune cookie for advice. I mean, even the Magic 8-Ball is a step up from this thing. At least the Eight Ball is a dedicated bullshit meter. A fortune cookie is nothing but an afterthought from a cheap Chinese restaurant. Nevertheless, I got one today that… Read more →
Burnout
“Always sprinkle the goodies along the way. Be as tough as you want, but always sprinkle the goodies here and there. Because anything they can laugh at, they can’t hate.” –Jimmy Cagney Some days you really need to hear something like that. And boy is this one of those days. See, I have this terrible tendency to load up too… Read more →
Distributed Computing
With each passing year it gets harder and harder to imagine what the world must have been like without computers, films, television, telephones, powered flight, and cable modems. Okay, maybe not the cable modem. Every time I think I have a handle on the power of 20th century inventions, something else comes along to widen my short-sighted perspective. It’s like… Read more →
Museum of Tolerance
Happy Thanksgiving! As one of my friends recently stated with such elegance: where the hell did the year go?! One day I’m celebrating my birthday in January (hint, hint), and the next day they’re putting up Christmas lights in the parking lots at local strip malls. I mean, I like to sleep in as much as the next guy, but… Read more →
The Mikado
Yeah. I’ve been away for a while. Have you missed me? I’ve been spending lotsa time in a darkened theatre. And if you’re smart, that’s what you’ll be doing too! Because The Mikado opens in 24 hours, and you’re going to come and see it. Aren’t you? (imagine a pathetic look on my face–I know, not hard to do, right?)… Read more →
Villa Lobos
What a dull week! I have nothing of consciousness-altering significance to show for the last seven days (or should that be years?) of my life. So I’ll have to vamp. Creativity, don’t fail me now. Personal Rehearsals for The Mikado started last week. This particular production comes from Australia, and it looks like it’ll be a really fun show. And… Read more →