Fishing and Soymilk

I'm currently drinking coffee with some soymilk instead of regular milk. It seems to give it a slightly nuttier taste (go ahead, make a joke, you know you wanna).

[And thanks to "proofreader" -- your moniker looks familiar for some reason -- for the comment from May 22, re Shenandoah backstage. I'd forgotten how interesting backstage theatricals can be, so I'll try to talk more about that with future shows, whenever those may be . . . .]
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In the news: Ken Lay and Andrew Skilling have been found not just guilty, but WAY guilty. Good. Lay's defense of "just because I was in charge doesn't mean I had any clue what was going on" didn't fly. Hopefully this translates into more prison time than for someone caught smoking pot (cuz they caused a lot more harm). No link, cuz this news is easy to find.

From NewScientist: getting a good night's sleep isn't just good for you, it can help you lose weight (or: not gain it):
http://www.newscientist.com/blog/shortsharpscience/

And here's a silly drawing I did during the run of Shenandoah :

Sticky

I was originally going to post a picture of an "architectural model" of an ant "nest," made by pouring orthodontic plaster down an ant hole (I originally read about this on BoingBoing). But I thought this (from NewScientist) was cooler (more cool?) -- a robot version of a gecko:

It's called a Stickybot. And it sticks to walls and other surfaces the same way a real gecko does, using "an intermolecular force called the van der Waals force" (vdW force is neat stuff, but I'm not going to try to explain it right now, lest people's eyes glaze over). Stickybot comes from Stanford U., and the article also mentions that "The Pentagon is interested in developing gecko-inspired climbing gloves and shoes." The Pentagon, heck! I want some of those!http://www.newscientisttech.com/article/mg19025526.500

But if you still want to see ant nest, which is pretty wild on its own, go here:
http://www.bioone.org/perlserv/?request=get-document&doi=10.1672%2F1536-2442%282004%29004%5B0001%3ATNAOTF%5D2.0.CO%3B2#toclink6

The Sun Sets on Shenandoah

Oops. Carl noted that I didn't mention what my callback was for on 5/15. It was for The Foreigner at the Olney Theatre. I read for Froggy and Charlie. My Froggy reading was good; my Charlie wasn't anything special. I haven't heard back from them re further callbacks, and the grapevine has it that casting has been finished for that show. 'S okay -- I felt a bit young for Froggy, and perhaps they felt the same. Meanwhile . . . .



Shenandoah closed yesterday. I don't really feel it yet, but I've been going pretty hardcore these past few weeks, with the show plus 18 hours of commuting per week plus various auditions plus teaching part of an acting class plus a couple of other little projects, etc. It's Monday, which has been my official "day off" for the past 15 weeks, though this is the first time in a number of weeks it has behaved like a day off. I could very easily spend the day staring into space and in a quiet monotone repeatedly muttering "hwuhhhhh." I'm exhausted.

What a ride it's been lately! Hooboy! Does Shenandoah have a future after this? There have been murmurs of a Broadway run or a tour, but currently there's only murmurs. This might be the "end" of it. But it might not. It would be a kick for it to have a second life. Right now, though, I'd love something with more meat to it for me personally. I'm itching to chew on some scenery.
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And in the news: Prince has been voted the "sexiest [male] vegetarian" in a PETA online pole. I can't say I'm jealous, because I eat seafood, and therefore don't qualify. Besides, he's vegan, which takes a lot of dedication.
http://www.goveg.com/feat/sexiestveg2006/

SIX SQUARED

That's me. Six squared. This is a long one, so if you don't want to read all of this, skip to 5/14.

Much has been happening lately --
5/8 (Mon.) -- a callback audition for Back at Leipzig at Rep Stage. The callback went poorly -- I thought I gave a pretty mediocre audition.
5/9 (Tues.) -- taught the last of a basic acting class at Howard Community College (I took over the last month of the class when the original instructor had to go to NYC for a show. Unfortunately, this means there's no rapport with the class). It was the final presentation of scenes. A few of them did okay, i.e. they remembered all their lines and their blocking (sense of character? Uh, never mind). From there the remaining scenes gradually descended into tragedy. We had a show that evening.
5/10 (Wed.) -- Toured the White House (the cast received an invitation from the "Office of the First Lady"). Well, just of the White House -- the East Wing, a couple of floors. Saw the Blue Room, the Red Room, the Vermillion Room, the Green Room, a couple of other rooms, lots of paintings of past Presidents, First Ladies, relations, other influential folks, lots of antique furniture, pictures of Presidents with their dogs, a picture of George Bush (I) with the Queen of England and Angela Landsbury. It was all okay, but oddly, not as spectacular of a tour as you might think, but now I can say I went to the White House by invitation. Another performance that evening.
5/11 (Thurs.) -- Two shows, noon and 7:30. Between shows, I graded stuff from the class (wee) and had a brief nap and looked over lines for industrial. Got home at 11:30 PM, which is normal.
5/12 (Fri.) -- Got up at 6AM, drove into Baltimore, filmed an industrial (for Sylvan Learning Center) for two hours, which was delightfully quick. We used teleprompters. So when I was talking to Todd (the actor playing the "Sylvan representative"), I was actually looking over his shoulder at a screen that had the script on it (Supposedly, the audience never knows this, because of the angle of the camera). It's wierd trying to respond to someone that not directly looking at. Actually, this was kinda fun, since I'd never done it before. Evening performance -- Andrew, who plays James (one of the brothers), was out with a hurt back, so (dominoes) three understudies went in. We eventually found out that he has a bulging disk in the lumbar region. He'll be out for the remainder of the run, which is a shame. Welcome to the magical world of theatre.
5/13 (Sat.) -- My dad, my stepmom Pat, and my little brother Matthew came out. We had lunch in Historic Ellicott City, and they and Jenny saw the show that evening. There were a lot of hiccups in that show, but most went unnoticed by the audience, and the relations had a very good time.
5/14 (Sun.) -- IT'S MY BIRTHDAY, IT'S MY BIRTHDAY, IT'S MY BIRTHDAY, IT'S MY BIRTHDAY!!!!! 36, aka (for the math geeks) 6 squared aka 3 squared x 2 squared. For the more spiritually (?) inclined, this is the year of the Dog (that's me), and 3+6 = 9 = my "life number." This all means that great things should be happening for me RIGHT NOW. Right? We had two shows today. It's a good thing I like my work -- I actually had a very fun day, even though I have a bug in my system that's playing havoc with my voice.
5/15 (today) -- I have a callback audition in an hour and a half. No time for proofreading, so please excuse the typos. Gotta go!

Slacker!

Why, you ask, hasn't Peter posted in so long? Because Peter is . . . a slacker. I have some lame excuses: show, understudy rehearsals, visiting relatives, car issues . . . but, really, I coulda posted 1 or 2 or 3 by now. Anyhoo --

News:
1) Relations. My mom visited for a couple of days. She saw Shenandoah on Tuesday the 25th and said she really enjoyed it. I introduced her to a few people there, like so -- Me: "Hey, _____, this is my mom." Mom: "You can call me Marge." This intro eventually became -- Me: "Hey, _____, this is my mom. You can call her Marge." Mom: "Hi!" Then Jen's mom and dad (Terre and Barry) came to visit, arriving hours after my mom left. They stayed through the morning of May 1. I didn't get to spend much time with them, because of my work. But they saw the matinee on Saturday the 29th, as did Jenny's aunt and uncle (Leslie and George -- George and Barry are brothers). Everyone seemed to be fairly impressed with the show, and we all went out for an early dinner afterwards.
2) Callbacks. I have a couple of callbacks coming up soon. First, Bach at Leipzig at Rep Stage, where I might see my good friend Carl Randolph, who also was called back. Then, a week later, a call back for The Foreigner at the Olney Theatre . . . where I might once again see Carl! So, wish us luck. Cross your fingers, knock on wood, etc., etc. Carl and I were both in The Killer Angels at Wayside Theatre (directed by Warner Crocker, who as far as I know was not called back for these shows, but then, he didn't audition in the first place. So there you go.).

Malia, the Muse

Haha!! This blog has made a difference in the world! (Sort of.) Malia Arguello, the amazing, knitting SM (that's Stage Manager, not Sado-Masochist, though I have no proof that she isn't) has finally updated her blog after long last. (Okay, I sent her and a few others an e-mail to let them know that their blogginess had inspired me to start my own. Yes, deep down, I'm a conformist.) Malia, for those of you poor souls who don't know, is the SM (Stage Manager) at Wayside Theatre. She has a rapier wit, and a dangerous beauty. She looks stunning in black. She probably looks stunning in other colors, but, uh, she usually wears black. Which probably makes mixing and matching her wardrobe easier. So, Malia fans, check out the latest Malia-news at "Malaysia's Musings" --
http://maliaarguello.blogspot.com/

Good Friday

Yesterday was the anniversary of Lincoln's assassination. Yesterday was also Good Friday -- and guess what? The assassination also occurred on Good Friday (I heard someone say that some people back then were critical of Lincoln when he decided he was going to a theatre instead of to church on G. F.).
Well, during yesterday's performance, I was quite aware of the significance of the date. And, to be honest, I kept feeling as if ol' A.L. himself was watching us from that famous box seat. And I kept feeling like he was really enjoying the show. Well, Abe, just so you know, that made me feel pretty good.

Watch It Wiggle . . .

Heh. One of these days, I'll have to explain the Tofu Dance. (Check out the comments from the previous entry. Those of you who know me from Wayside Theatre will understand.)

Today we had a 4-hour understudy rehearsal (before the evening show). The first two hours was dance, and thanks to Noah, the dance captain, for his patience. The next two hours was also fairly physical. That, plus the evening show, plus not quite enough sleep, plus a good workout the day before . . . and I'm tired.

But here's some important info that must be passed along before I collapse: apparently there's a mathematical formula to evaluate the quality of a female bottom. According to David Holmes, a psychology lecturer at Manchester Metropolitan U., "The perfect female derriere has firmness to the touch and a resilience that prevents undue wobble or bounce, yet looks soft with flawless skin," and, ' "Slender thighs and a hip-to-waist ratio of 0.7 will frame the perfect bum, well perfectly." ' This article is a must-read for those with and/or interested in the female posterior:
[Note: the weblink for this has been removed because it was messing up my blogpage.]
Unfortunately, for those with and/or interested in the male posterior, you're out of luck. And that's a shame, because Jen thinks I'd score well.

Examining the Brain

Well, this is called Peter's Brain, isn't it? So I felt it would be proper to share the following tidbit with you.

I recently received the following e-mail from my older brother:

My six year-old son Ethan just said to my three-year-old son something full of extraordinary profundity and gravitas: '…then you go to high school, and then you’re a man. Then you’re an old man. And then… you die.' My next thought was, 'Damn. I’m already two out of four. Maybe three out of four….'
Phil

This is my response:

Wait, wait! I think you're safe. We just need to dig into the true meaning of these words. Okay:
1) "…then you go to high school"
2) "and then you’re a man"
3) "Then you’re an old man"
4) "And then… you die"
The key here is #2. At first I was thinking, Well, by 'a man,' Ethan probably means 'a male grown up,' a statement of mentality rather than physicality. 'Male grown ups' are easily identified in society by their lack of toys. These men often pursue such careers as accountants, politicians, and TV evangelists. When they become 'old men', i.e., 'old grown ups,' they start telling stories about 'when I was your age I had to walk 47 miles uphill both ways in the pouring rain and snow to get to school' -- and they believe these stories to be true (as opposed those who tell these stories for the sake of personal amusement, making the younger ones roll their eyes while they wish you'd shut up so they can borrow the car. These are not 'old grown ups,' but they occasionally like pretending to be one, cuz it's funny).
But then I thought I should check the dictionary for the word 'man.' Knowing that the dictionary is put together by lunatics and communist pinkos, I skipped definition number 1. Definition number 2a says a 'man' is "a feudal tenant: VASSAL." Realizing that Ethan is extremely intelligent (due to the quality of his parentage), I knew that this was probably what Ethan really meant.
Either way, Phil, I think you're safe, and have a good chance of living forever, or nearly so.
Logically yours,
peter

By the way, if you still wonder about my brain, I suspect that on closer examination you would find that it looks and feels like wrinkley tofu. But now I'm just guessing.

Gobble, gobble.

Today we had a 12 pm matinee and a 7:30 evening show. 12pm matinees are for school groups, and this is the second one of those we've had thus far. And so far, both 12pm matinees have been preceded by me walking the hallways, waving my hands above my head and saying, "Screaming teenagers, woohoo!" Because that's what they do whenever guns are fired, and during curtain call. Actually, I've rather enjoyed it. They've been good audiences.

By the way, Shenandoah has been extended to May 21, though Scott B. will be leaving after April 30. Brian Sutherland will be taking his place for the remainer of the run (he's a good guy, and I heard a rumor he was in the original production of Cats). AND -- we got a good review in Variety magazine.
http://www.variety.com/review/VE1117930133?categoryId=33&cs=1


Meanwhile . . . here's proof that things can get better in the world, to wit:

1) Charles "Find My Picture In The Dictionary Next To The Word Corrupt" Taylor is in prison and will be tried for crimes against humanity. And why not? I think he's earned it.

2) Tom "Oh, Hammers Can Be Used To Build Things? Who Knew?!" Delay is resigning his seat -- uh, because polls have shown he has only a 50-50 chance of retaining his seat in the next election? I thought he liked a good fight. I think there's more to this than that claim. We shall see.

3) A new dinosaur has been discovered in Utah: Hagryphus giganteus, which means "giant four-footed, bird-like god of the western desert.” It is believed to stand about 7 ft. tall, and it supposedly looks like a giant turkey. I don't know why, but it seems to me that Utah is the perfect place to find a 7 ft. tall, prehistoric turkey. Happy Thanksgiving.
http://unews.utah.edu/p/?r=040306-2