Being Grounded Sux!

Posted on January 20, 2008 by Bullfrog117

But every once in a while you get a breath of fresh air and then you get back underwater with your self-contained breathing apparatus and just curse your own stupidity. But anyways! I was permitted to go social dancing at Disneyland this evening because my dear friend Lila’s pass was expiring soon and I wanted one more chance to dance with her at Disneyland AND Stompy Jones was playing. So I get to Carnation Plaza Gardens just as the band is coming on, and I’m a little concerned with the dancer turn-out…practically nobodies there. But by the end of the third song, the dance floor is crowded! And with tons of really great dancers! I mean people who haven’t been seen at the park in years were there dancing and it was an absolute blast! Hooray for Martin Luther King Jr. getting us a 3 day weekend! Well, and all the other really far more important things he did with civil rights. Actually do I thank the U.S. government for choosing to honor him with a national holiday? I think I do. *shudder* I actually have to thank the government. *shudder*

During the second break (8:30 – 9pm), the Shim Sham gets played very unexpectedly (it’s normally played after the fireworks). Yay! I haven’t done the Shim Sham publicly in several weeks! There are also some high-end photographers (using digital SLR’s) that take some great pictures of me…stay tuned for the results.

Right before the third break and fireworks, Stompy decides to play Hand Clappin’, which is an awesome incredible high-tempo lots of fun number and one that 9 times out of 10 creates a jam circle on the floor. This jam circle was kind of weird though since there were basically two lines on either side of the stage creating the circle instead of the usual circle like apparatus (my favorite word of the day obviously). After Morgan and Lila started it off, everybody just kind of stood there clapping along. So I walked around the circle and technically participated in the jam circle. I didn’t do anything really flashy or performance worthy though…I just wanted to dance with Lila to a great song. Soon enough, someone else jumped in the jam circle and it was off again, but just as the circle was heating up, Stompy comes to the “false ending” they have built into their version of Hand Clappin’. But because they’re up against the fireworks, they can’t keep it going, which is just MURDER!

During the fireworks, Lila and I head over to the Tiki room and lindy-bomb it! SOOO much fun! When we get back, the fireworks have ended and canned music is playing. Suddenly it’s Shim Sham time! Again! W00 h00! There isn’t much more to talk about except that I had a really fun time getting back into the world – even if just for a couple of hours. Of course it becomes bittersweet upon being re submerged in the “real world” (needing to leave as quickly as possible once dancing is over so I can keep my curfew)…but I’m still thankful that I got to have a little bit of fun…making the last 11 days of January that much more bearable with the bittersweet memories and the glorious promises of February.

Blue Man Group How To Be A Megastar Tour 2.1, The Pirates Who Don’t Do Anything

Posted on January 13, 2008 by Bullfrog117

So I drove up to the Honda Center (or as I call it, the Honda Ponda) to see the Blue Man Group tour, but as I got there, I realized I didn’t have ANY cash on me (which you need to park your car). So I spent 15 minutes struggling to remember my PIN # at an ATM before deciding to just drive down Katella to the Stadium Promenade (where the Century Theatres are) rather than search for a Bank of the West where my PIN # MIGHT come to me. The thing about the Promenade is that it explicitly states that you’re not supposed to park their for events (like Angel Stadium or the Honda Center. So I park in the back, walk up to the ticket booth and purchase a ticket to the movie with the latest starting time, then deceivingly walk past the restaurants (so the security guys think that I bought a ticket and then went to dinner) and walk to the Honda Center.

Blue Man Group: How To Be A Megastar Tour 2.1
This show was incredible (as always). Some new songs, some old favorites, and tons of fun! I took a LOT of pictures that turned out pretty decently despite all the lights and chaos and et cetera. They took the art they create from the stage show (the spin art with the paint balls and the marshmallow “creation”) and made them souvenirs for 2 lucky audience members. I was so jealous (even though the lady who got the marshmallow hat was a little repulsed…doesn’t she know that thing is worth $4,000 – by the Blue Man Groups expectations that is). Luckily I caught the spin art guy after the show and took a nice close picture of him. I REALLY like Blue Man Group and I’m not even entirely sure why…I first saw their show when I was much younger at the Luxor and thought it was fun (bought their album), but it wasn’t until recently (after I saw them again at the Venetian and bought The Complex CD/DVD combo) that I started to really enjoy them, and now I try to see them whenever I have the chance (whether it’s the Vegas show or the tour). One of the band members (the bassist) reminded me a LOT of Alan Rickman for whatever reason…but I’m crazy like that. The opening act, Mike Relm, was very impressive – a “DJ” who manipulated audio AND video on the fly (here’s my favorite sample on YouTube) – so you had him scratching the disc and making the video go back and forth in time with the record scratch going “Oh, Oh” and things like that. It was very cool! I’m on a quest to compile a list of the “Rock Concert Movements”, but I’m not sure where to put it…I’d like to put it in online in some form that is publicly editable so that people can submit their own or edit current entires….but I kind of want to be in control, so maybe I’ll just put it on my website in a Blue Man tribute area and say, “If you have a correction to any of the listed RCM’s or want to submit one I don’t have, email me at…”. Yeah I like that idea. More definably accurate that way.

After the concert (I didn’t win the backstage pass contest which required me to sign up for the newsletter AGAIN), I ambled (not walked or ran) back to the theatre, making a detour at Starbucks to use the bathroom and get some chai latte for my sore throat (screaming is SO much fun). My barrista had difficulty opening that tab on a gallon of milk which led to a little banter, and then she sees my name on my cup and goes, “I thought I knew you.” Turns out we went to OCHSA together. She was in commercial dance and knew my girlfriend at the time! Yay Starbucks!

The Pirates Who Don’t Do Anything
A Christian allegory that’s funny? [mock outrage and indignation] WHAT?!?!?! [/mock outrage and indignation] It’s not even very heavy handed! It’s just plain silly pirate fun that has a really great message…it’s a shame it couldn’t go head to head with Golden Compass, because it would have been a favored movie for Christians boycotting it (not that I’m sure anyone physically boycotted – they just spread the word about what it was really about and so forth). The movie actually reminded me a lot of Galaxy Quest because of the way the main characters pretend to be heroes and then have to explain that they’re not, but then they really are…it was intriguing. Does this mean Galaxy Quest is a Christian allegory? Anyways, it’s a hilarious movie that I really enjoyed.

Got gas after all my adventures and wandered into the store to get my snack on. A man walked in and had some kind of conversation with the attendant while wandering about. When I went up to pay, I discovered that he had a PYTHON on him. Curious, I asked him how long he had had it. “Since it was hatched.” He proceeded to tell me that it was some new species of Burmese Python. I just kind of absorbed it all and as he was leaving told him to enjoy the rest of his day (even though it was after midnight). He wasn’t a perfect match, but he reminded me a lot of Sam Elliot…a tough, leathery old man who’s still too cool for school.

The Rat Pack: Live At The Sands

Posted on December 6, 2007 by Bullfrog117

Last night, Laura, my dad and I headed up to Wilshire Blvd. to see The Rat Pack: Live at the Sands. Drinks at the bar – I had a Sailor Jerry & Coke (they didn’t have any Captain) and Dad and Laura had a Malibu Pineapple. Before the show, Laura and I got some lindy bombing in at the very front of the theatre and it was INCREDIBLE. I mean we’d lindy bombed theatres on two previous occasions (Jersey Boys and Pajama Game), but this time there was more room (even if it was on carpet). The last song, I finished with a frog(with a long hold)-tuck-turn-dip that was SOOO clean and smooth. We also experimented with a balboa cross-break/salsa transition that works REALLY well. We got applause after our first dance and at the very end. Then on with the show.

Frankie was dead-on (voice and look). Sammy was decent voice, decent look (was Mr. Bojangles ever exaggerated THAT much?). Dean was the most off of the three – his voice was too high (all songs were raised a third) and his look was alright, but not as close as the others. Beyond that, the show was absolutely incredible. While this wasn’t my first experience with a Rat Pack Trio (see The Atomic Gig story), it was the first time I’d sat and gotten to watch the entire show. I was REALLY happy when they did a joke that I’ve loved since I first saw it (during the reprise of “Me and My Shadow”, Dean and Frankie sing, “We are Italian and you are a Jew” to Sammy…hysterical). I missed Sam’s Song, which is a fun duet between Dean and Sammy.

What else was fun…Dean did an incredible prat fall down stairs – saved his drink by covering it….very funny.

Dean: These are phosisticated people.

Dean: *while holding Sammy* I’d like to thank the NAACP for this award.

Frankie and Dean did a High Society reference. *giddy*
Dean: Is this your drink Frankie?
Frankie: Yeah, you drank it.
Dean: Well did you evah.
Frankie: What a swell party THIS is.

Sammy did a great Louis Armstrong impression instead of singing “That Old Black Magic”. He has the perfect eyes for it!

Dean: *to audience members who didn’t get the joke* Go home and think about it, you’ll be howling later.

Jekyll and Hyde and Why I’m Pathetic

Posted on October 19, 2007 by Bullfrog117

Jekyll and Hyde is a fascinating musical adaptation of the classic Robert Louis Stevenson novel featuring the schizophrenic, “chemical”-addicted Victorian doctor trying to destroy the “Duality of Man”. I don’t remember ever reading Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde, but somehow the concept has always been present in popular culture. Anyone know why? I mean it can’t just be The Pagemaster (featuring Leonard Nimoy as Jekyll and Hyde), can it? Anyways. T. Eric Hart did a fascinating job as the aforementioned Doctor, but the real star of the show is the music. Frank Wildhorn is an incredible composer. His music has this indelible movie-soundtrack quality that makes it so much fun to listen to.

Yesterday at my singing lesson, I briefly talked with my vocal coach about the upcoming Sweeney Todd adaptation and I voiced my opinion how in the beginning of the trailer, Johnny Depp sounds a LOT like Jack Sparrow, and how I hoped that that was just his generic English accent. But then today I’m watching the trailer again and it hits me why I think that. Something my coach had mentioned was that they started out with generic trailer music (before transitioning to Stephen Sondheim’s delicious treatment of Stephen Sondheim’s music), and guess what? It’s the music from the Black Pearl trailer. Therefore I conclude that by tying the two together, they are not only saturating our conscious mind (as if all the Pirate lovers aren’t already going to see Sweeney JUST because of Johnny), but also our sub-conscious mind with the thought that if you loved Pirates, you’ll love Sweeney Todd. Which reminds me of how after Wicked became popular, when Rent the movie came out, all the teeny-boppers who loved Wicked became Rent-heads because of Idina Menzel, despite the fact that they had NO CLUE what being a Rent-head is about (then again, neither do I since I’ll never be a true artist working in New York…I just hit puberty while singing along to the soundtrack). I guess I don’t mind since it’s a sound marketing strategy…maybe I’ll just have to make sure that I either catch a midnight showing of Sweeney or at a time when I won’t be surrounded by swooning girls who don’t get it or think it’s too violent.

Recap! Sure It’s All About Atomic Ballroom…

Posted on October 14, 2007 by Bullfrog117

…but it’s my home away from home, so why not!

Last Sunday was Video Game Night at Atomic Ballroom. While under publicized, it was still a tremendous success and a blast. If only I didn’t have 9am classes keeping me from playing video games until 3 in the morning! Grrr.

We had 4 gaming stations set up:
on the atomic screen with tim’s projector we had an xbox 360 with halo 3, dead rising and only 2 controllers
on a bed sheet in front of the disco ball with charlie’s projector we had DDR with a real metal pad on my playstation 2
on a tv brock brought we had an xbox with halo and 4 controllers
on the studio tv (behind the bar) we had guitar hero: rock the 80s with 2 wireless guitars and a wii with 4 wii-motes, mario party 8 and wii sports

A lot happened during the week especially since I was SOOO tired. I’m just not suited for staying up to midnight and then waking up from 9am classes and it’s so damn frustrating, because I have to take these classes at the only time they’re offered in order to graduate. When did school become such a chore? Anyways.

Friday night was the first night that Atomic Ballroom started teaching the Thriller choreography for an event called Thrill the World. Basically, this dance instructor got it into her head to break the Guinness World Record for “most number of people dancing simultaneously” with Michael Jackson’s “Thriller”. She put together a DVD that very effectively teaches you the dance. She also uploaded the DVD in sections on YouTube. I started watching them Friday afternoon and actually got pretty far in the time allotted. Oh, and when I say the Atomic Ballroom started teaching it…I mean I started teaching it. I wasn’t the only teacher up there, but I was the primary instructor. I basically fed the class the YouTube bits I’d been watching, but there’s always more to it than that. When I had first introduced the OC Team Leader (Tom, a friend from college) to Atomic Ballroom, I hadn’t been influenced negatively or positively by the concept. I’d never really watched the music video or listened to the music that mush, so I was just kind of “eh…” But now having done some of it, it’s really fun!

Yesterday was the Richard Simmons High Hair Hop at Club Slimmons in Beverly Hills. The gig had been on the calendar for a while (Jerry did it last year), but all of a sudden on Sunday night, they asked us to do a number to music from the movie/musical Hairspray to coincide with the theme of the party. So the teams got together, created a medley of three songs, choreographed a number and mastered it in time. It was a lot of work, but a lot of fun. But the best part of the whole gig was the after party. We drove up to Burbank for a late dinner at Bob’s Big Boy. At some point, we lost a birthday card from Richard Simmons and spent a lot of time looking for it (going so far as to dig through the trash with our waitress). Eventually it was found inside a menu at another table. Since the other party that had found the menu had graciously reported and returned it, we decided (as a dance team) to honor them with a free performance. We caught them on their way out the restaurant, lined up on the sidewalk in front of Big Boy and performed one of our routines. We didn’t have music, so we sang along. It was so much fun. This was why I joined the Atomic Swing Teams. It’s not just about swing dancing…it’s about having as much fun as freaking possible!

The Weekend To End All Weekends (so far)

Posted on October 5, 2007 by Bullfrog117

Brief run-down

Friday
school [grumble]
Atomic Ballroom’s Frankie Manning Weekend 2007

    Harlem Lindy Variations with Jerry and Aubri
    Big Apple with Frankie Manning and Audrey Wilson
    Friday Evening Swing Dance (left early)

Saturday
5:30 AM wake up call, arrive at Disneyland at 7 AM, Cruzin’ Disney’s California Adventure Tour (Flickr: Bullfrog117′s photos tagged with segwaytour)

This was a lot of fun (mostly because I didn’t get rained out like last week*). The tour takes about 3 hours. The first half hour is a talk through about the Segway I-2 and it’s various features. During the next hour, you go inside California Adventure and do a training course in the Hollywood Pictures Backlot (drive in a circle, duck, uphill, downhill, around poles). At 8:45 the tour of California Adventure begins. First stop: Condor Flats. Dedicated to the history of aviators in California (Chuck Yeager broke the sound barrier at 2:20 something…the time is frozen on the clock inside Fly’n'Buy). Next stop, Grizzly River Rapids and Redwood Creek (most of which is surprisingly Segway accessible…that was really cool). Next we headed to the Fine Arts Palace replica that houses Golden Dreams for a brief talk about that. Next was the two hidden mickeys near Burger Invasion and a bathroom break. Next we were allowed to tool around all along the front of California Screamin’. This was rather frustrating as we were in “Turtle” mode, which only allows you to go 6 miles per hour max, and I couldn’t figure out how to maintain that speed. So I’d ramp up to 6 and the Segway would push back on me saying, “Oh no you don’t!” and then it would start all over again. So that was frustrating, but it was still fun to just tool around for fun. After that we headed around the pier to that ampitheatre for pictures. Then it was through the Pacific Wharf area and into A Bug’s Land. Then we went backstage (where there’s an exterior door on the second floor of the animation building…bizarre) to get back to the Hollywood Backlot and that was it. We got a special pin and a printout of the picture. The only real downside of the tour was the fact that even though the park is all dressed up for Halloween, all the guides did was talk about DCA as it was originally constructed. That and the fact that it was California Adventure. I mean, all that really matters is that you’re on a Segway for about an hour and a half and walking sucks afterwards.

Atomic Ballroom’s Frankie Manning Weekend 2007

    Frankie’s Favorites I with Frankie and Audrey
    Shim Sham Variations with Jerry and Aubri
    Real Bar-B-Que Lunch
    Frankie’s Favorites II with Frankie and Audrey
    Charleston and Tandem Variations with Jerry and Aubri
    Meet Frankie’s Story Time
       This is probably the thing that is MOST worth your time. Frankie Manning was one of the first innovators for lindy hop and he has shared so many unique experiences with so many great people in swing dancing that it is a hoot to hear his stories. So much fun. That and the underwater lindy hop clip he showed us. Oh and the clip of Bill and Hillary watching a private performance of lindy hop. I need that clip…prime material to roast Hillary with!

Disneyland Swing Dancing featuring Jumpin’ Joz
Atomic Ballrom Vintage Night Swing Dance Featuring The FABULOUS ESQUIRES Big Band Orchestra until 1:30 AM

Sunday

Atomic Ballroom’s Frankie Manning Weekend 2007

    Frankie’s Favorites III with Frankie and Audrey
    Aerials I with Jerry and Aubri
    Pat and Oscar’s Lunch (aka nap time and food)
    Mystery Class with Frankie and Audrey
    Weekend Wrap-Up (Puttin’ It All Together)

* Last week, Laura and I tried to take the tour, but we went outside for the training just as it started to rain. We got on and off the Segway’s, but at that point, they officially canceled the tour on account of the weather. So we whined and moaned and then went back to the “briefing room” to get refunds/reschedules. Had I known what the tour would be like, I would have argued a bit more because by the time we put the Segway’s away, the rain was finished. The Segway’s aren’t waterproof and the puddles wouldn’t be a problem – on the tour, we drove through puddles all the time. SOOO depressing, but oh well.

A Weekend In The Country

Posted on September 1, 2007 by Bullfrog117

[Bonus points if you understand the title reference]

So here it is…Labor Day Weekend 2007. I spent the weekend at the King Frederick Best Western in Solvang. The whole purpose of the trip was to see PCPA’s Urinetown, but I also ended up finishing Pearl Harbor by Newt Gingrich and William Forstchen. The theatre ended up being less than a 1/10 of a mile from our hotel, and it felt really fun to walk to the theatre, see the show and then walk back to the hotel. I’ll have to make this Solvang trip more of a regular thing to see more theatre and walk back to my room.

Urinetown…Not
the Place, The Musical

The Pacific Conservatory of the Performing Arts (PCPA) presents Urinetown in Santa Maria and at Solvang’s TheatreFest.

At first Officer Lockstock seemed a bit too over the top with his gay act, but after a while, I grew to enjoy it.

An Asian Bobby Strong with a white Old Man Strong? I didn’t know the people who cast Disney’s Cinderella (with Brandi) was still working!*

One of the Equity cast members who played Mr. McQueen (Mr. Cladwell’s assistant, third from the right) looked exactly like Steven Spielberg. Creepy cool!

The program for this show was actually quite informative (if not a little too commercial for my taste). It contained liner notes for all the shows for the Summer 2007 billing (makes sense – cheaper on printing and I can’t imagine the amphitheatre doing many shows during the possible rainy season). One of the most interesting things I learned from the notes highlights an old (I don’t want to call it a maxim, but I can’t think of another word for it) maxim of mine that the more times you watch something, the more you will get from it***. Robert Malthus wrote the “Essay on Population” which is referenced and even cited in the play. Hence, Officer Lockstock at the climax of the finale cries, “Hail Malthus!” While I’m talking about that maxim, I also finally decoded another line from the show that I never really comprehended (leave me alone…I have hearing problems when there are multiple sound inputs). It’s during the song “Snuff that Girl”.

“Nuts, they fall close
So they say, to the tree
Looky here, here’s an a-
Corn from Cladwell I see
I say, she is the nut
and of course, we’re the squirrel!
She is what we saved for winter
So let’s snuff that girl!”

Speaking of “Snuff that Girl”, the program said that the show paid homage to West Side Story and Cabaret. I was a little puzzled by this because I had never thought about those shows as being even remotely close to anything in the show. But then not only did Officer Lockstock do the Jet jump randomly, the entire “Snuff That Girl” song is practically inspired by West Side Story’s “Cool”. Nothing familiarizes you with a show like doing it (West Side Story that is). Oh and I can’t forget the Fiddler on the Roof reference that totally topped the song “What Is Urinetown”. I mean the thing is already a classic Russian folk song, but then they went and added the bloody bottle dance to it. Love it! Oh and I can’t forget the Will Rogers’ “Favorite Son” choreography that inspired a moment in the show…I could have sworn it was during “Run Freedom Run”, but without choreography notes, I couldn’t tell you.

Another problem with outdoor amphitheatres? Bats. Several times during the show, a bat (couldn’t tell if it was the same one or another from the flock – what is a group of bats called? A gaggle?**) swooped in and out of the lights above the stage. Kind of distracting, but what can you do. Also, it’s Solvang, so all silences throughout the performance were punctuated by monster cricket chirps.

All in all, a fantastic performance. Quick! Check it out before it disappears.

Pearl Harbor

I have several issues with what I would consider print issues in the book. After a decent-sized preface that details the problems with telling a story containing Asian culture that tries to remain historically accurate, they don’t make up their minds. The biggest issue about that was they said they would call it Nanking and Peking instead of the modern Nanjing and Bangkok and then they call it both things! Frustrating. Also, despite the book being subtitled “A Novel of December 8^th”, I KNOW their intention was just to approach it from the Japanese perspective: the morning of Sunday December 7^th, 1941 was the morning of Monday December 8^th, 1941 in Tokyo. And they totally screw that up because the little date index that appears above the section where the battle actually takes place says it’s December 8^th Hawaii time and December 9^thTokyo time. But then they go and talk about how the weekend crew at Pearl Harbor is more lax than the week crew. So it’s a simple little print error, fine. So I’m obsessing, fine. I still think that a book of this quality deserves better than that.

I’ve been raving about this book for a while now, so there’s not really much more I can say. It’s a phenomenal read with characters through whom you can really feel the conflict and emotions that lead up to the attack on Pearl Harbor. And as I keep saying it’s a fascinating insight into Asian culture that I am just blown away by.

* You know, how the Prince was Asian, his father the King was white (Victor Garber) and his mother the Queen was black (Whoopi Goldberg).

** It’s actually a colony. http://www.madsci.org/posts/archives/jul99/932000898.Gb.r.html

*** The most popular example I have of this is the now-extinct Country Bear Vacation Hoedown. The three stuffed heads on the wall (Max the deer, Buff the buffalo and Melvin the moose) are arguing.

“Buff: The way you’re always hibernatin’, you must be part bear.

Melvin: Aw heck, I’m only part moose as it is!”

War and Disney’s Beauty and the Beast

Posted on August 28, 2007 by Bullfrog117

Luke Adams (fellow cast member from Torrance’s Joseph (2004) and Camelot (2005)) was cast as the Beast in Starlight Theatre’s outdoor production and did an incredible job. I was lucky enough to head down there for the closing performance. We left Orange County around 3:30 with the hopes of catching a movie before the show. Success on both fronts!

War featuring Jason Statham and Jet Li

This was a very exciting film, portraying the tale of Rogue, a Yakuza (Japanese mob) hitman who pits Yakuza members in San Francisco against the Triad (Chinese mob), and John Crawford, a member of the FBI’s Asian Organized Crime unit out to avenge his partner’s death (to the extent of all else – his marriage, his son, etc.). Aside from Jet Li and Jason Statham being incredible fighters, the story was really solid and really enjoyable. At least that’s what I can claim – I had a huge niggling problem with the “prestige” and I can only assume that I missed something in the first 5 minutes that explains it all (we were late getting into the theatre). As in Rush Hour 3, this film was deeply embedded with Asian cultural concepts – honor being a huge proponent. Just another awesome piece of culture that continues to increase my fascination with Asian culture (the other piece being Newt Gingrich’s Pearl Harbor). A must see!

Disney’s Beauty and the Beast presented by Starlight Theatre in San Diego

I haven’t seen the show but once a long time ago, so for me it was basically another Disney musical adaptation (i.e. I don’t hate it as much as Lion King). Starlight performs in Balboa Park’s Starlight Bowl, which is unfortunately very close to the airport. What’s that? You don’t see how an airport right next to an outdoor ampitheatre might be a problem? Why else would the program list a Plane Spotter? So that was a fairly amusing aspect to the performance. According to the cast, the pit has a traffic light set up to warn actor’s of incoming planes…the evening’s policy was to hold for dialogue, but previous policy was to interrupt musical numbers as well (basically it was up to the conductor). Despite these grandiose interruptions, I enjoyed the show very much.
The director gave Cogsworth a German accent. Nicely done. Interesting having the three minor players (Lumiere, Mrs. Potts and Cogsworth) thus representing France, England and Germany…especially in a French castle…

There was something I wanted to say about Belle…something about a French maiden really enjoying something so anti-French…but the moment has passed…

Lefou was short….really reminiscent of the cartoon – very cool
All in all, a fantastic performance. And what better way to really enjoy theatre then by going to Friday’s with the cast afterwards! It just amuses me so that Friday’s is practically a theatre tradition…at least in Southern California.

West Side Story Injuries (Detail)

Posted on August 21, 2007 by Bullfrog117

Thursday night (3 performances left) during the opening number, I started a move, went up on my left toe and came down to a crouched position….when I did, something popped in my left knee….the choreography had me jumping back up a half second later (longest half second of my life), but the damage was done. I made it through the rest of the show alright and saw the chiropractor in the morning. Luckily I had just hyper-extended it, so the muscles were a little stiff, but prone to damage, so I did the next show with a knee brace. Then during that show, I bruised my right thumb during “Cool” (I have to support myself/push myself up with my hands during the show and I did it wrong). I saw the chiropractor again the morning after, but there was very little to do except ice it and use it as little as possible. So now here I am, missing a show that went really well until closing weekend. Oh well…it was still a great experience and I wouldn’t trade it for anything. And now I’ve got my own West Side horror story!

Other Things
I came up with a really great analogy today. It’s political and probably controversial, but I’m going to share it anyways. My dad told me about a CNN reporter who said something really…you have to read this for yourself.

CNN’s Christiane Amanpour says that President Bush is the main cause of Islamic extremism worldwide.

Of course, this is from Rush Limbaugh, so I will be the first (as the poster) to question the bias. If however, she really did say this and this is what she believes, I have a comparable analogy of some merit. If President Bush is the main cause of Islamic extremism worldwide, then William Shatner is the main cause of Star Trek extremism worldwide. Trying to pin a worldwide movement on just one person has very little merit as it is, but this is ridiculous. President Bush and William Shatner were just doing their jobs (I will not accept arguments about Bush…I’m broad-stroking the reality of his job-performance)…they’re not responsible for the extremism movement.

And that’s about all the other news I have…I’ll be posting reviews of my weekend, after it happens, but it promises to be a rollicking good time. Friday night I’m seeing The Bill Handel Extravaganza at The Grove in Anaheim, Saturday night I’m seeing John Williams with some orchestra and the Irvine Ampitheatre and Sunday night I’m going to see my friend Luke Adams as the Beast in Disney’s Beauty and the Beast in San Diego’s Balboa Park! Enjoy your week/weekend and see you around!

Unfiltered

Where randomness is king (it’s a word!)

Category Archives: life