Holy shitcrackers!

This is by comic book artist Tony Millionaire, creator of Sock Monkey and his friend Drinky Crow. I believe he has done animated segments featuring his character Drinky Crow on the MTV2 show 'Wonder Showzen,' also a riotous laugh-fest.

I hope to see Wallace and Gromit tonight.

Bark at the moon, bitch...MAHALO!

MACBETH!

For the record, I do not subscribe to the much ballyhooed superstition/myth/notion that it is "bad luck" for an actor to mention Shakespeare's Macbeth, either onstage or off, in production or not. It is said bad things will happen to you, or a production if you do. However, case in point: During production of Beauty and the Beast, I was speaking with Cork Ramer (The Beast) about his previous work performing Shakespeare on the green in the summer. He mentioned "the Scottish play." I relented and said, "Oh, you mean MACBETH!" That very night, or perhaps my memory does not serve at all, one of the extras got his foot caught in the revolve and it busted, the bone piercing through his foot, and this was at the beginning of the scene! Oddly enough, the unfortunate man in question was Dr. David Rutz. He is mended now. But again, I DO NOT believe in this Macbeth hookey-ness. I say it proudly. MACBETH! MACBETH! MACBETH!

The Prints played last night at the culture center on the UNL Campus. It was a rollicking good show, and with two new numbers, paired with Robert's whinsom quips regarding a troubled sea voyage, the effect was magnifico! Despite some wacky tempos from time to time, the band played to great effect and was adored by the small congregation there gathered.

Sleep is a blissful time. I had a strange dream last night, but in my midnight wanderings, the details of this strange and troublesome nightmare have since been forgotten, laced and put away by the ribbons of the dawn.

I want to speak for a moment about my favorite tv show. A collective groan. Oh yes, my heart belongs to South Park, and the Sopranos, but every Friday night on the Travel Channel comes MOST HAUNTED, a British show where a gangly group of cavorting ghost hunters seek out the most haunted locales in all of the British Isles! Hosted by the spry Yvette and the ever-knowing spiritualist medium Derek (with his ghost friend Sam), some of the best episodes have been their visit to the stately manor Craig Y Nos, where ghostly laughs were heard coming from nowhere; the Old Ram Inn, where the ghost of a 12th century witch "attacks" crew member Stuart; Kinnity Castle, where a white apparition appears walking across the castle grounds, and a spirit makes contact with the crew by knocking on the cieling! It's fun to watch stuff happen, granted some episodes nothing happens. Still history abounds, and that's where the going gets wierd, and the wierd turn pro. Better than any two-bit ghost documentary on Discovery, and way better than the pathetic bumblings of the ultra-high tech Ghosthunters on Sci-Fi, coupled with my affinity for a good scare, and my affection for just about anything British, the best ghost show on tv in my opinion is Most Haunted. http://www.livingtv.co.uk/mosthaunted/

More later...MAHALO, bitch!

GO! FUSKERS!

After a long, and frusterating week at the office, I like to unwind with my best mates. It's too bad though, I have most suave comerades this side of the Pecos! They're the Prints of Apple Island, and I'll tell ya, nothing beats dancin' your pants off to these cats grooving tunes. The sway of sweat and the swirl of arms and limbs, and you'll find your troubles are dead and gone. You can find out about them at www.printsofappleisland.com.

In other news...
I work at Time Warner Cable here in Lincoln. I know, working for "the Man." But it's a really good job, the folks are great, and I love it. Much better than working at Wal-Mart. And I get free cable, free internet, and half price on my phone service. But I'm not one to gloat. Everyone else has to pay for these things, and if I had to pay for cable, I wouldn't want it. It's madness. Especially with this pathetic Husker game coming up. Everyone is calling in asking for the game since we offer it only on Pay-per-View. I could care less, but the volume of calls I've taken the past few days are only indicative of the mania that grips Husker fans when it comes to their undying, unyielding devotion to the football team. As Marx once wrote, "Husker football is the opiate of the masses."

It's been a very depressing week. I'm looking forward to getting paid next Tuesday. More later...MAHALO!

Bring forth the royal diadem!

The best news I've read in quite some time...
http://www.ananova.com/news/story/sm_1541732.html

In other news...
* Streetcar rehearsal goes well, however, our lady Stella doesn't seem to be able to show up for ALL practices, which leaves most of us in a lurch. And speaking of lurches, the rehearsal schedule for the show has run amock, and some of my apprearances as Dali will be affected. No fun. Ah well. This means I will be obliged to dress up for the sport of it, regardless of the season or affair.

* I love fall. What an enchanting time of year. I've been going to bed at midnight everynight, and the hours seem to gliss across the spread of the evening. It's very serene. A good night for zombies. I saw Return of the Living Dead Part II a few nights ago on tv. It was so awesome. It featured Dana Ashbrook as the strapping, intuitive young hero. Twin Peaks fans, like myself, may recall him in the role of Bobby Briggs from...Twin Peaks...The greatest show ever...(Cue theme music). Plus, next to Shaun of the Dead, it's the second best homage to zombie movies ever. What other zombie move throws in a reference to Micheal Jackson's Thriller video? Anyway, it's still pretty funny, blood, guts, and BRAINS! BRAINS! BRRRRAINS!

Feigning disinterest...More later...MAHALO!

Tie those tubes in a knot!

AAAAAIIIIIEEE!!!!!!!!!!!!

http://www.cnn.com/2005/HEALTH/parenting/10/12/sixteen.kids.ap/index.html

Today...A post posted on the Saturday Night Live boards, regarding the "sorry state of affairs" at SNL...

What the hell is wrong with SNL?

If you ask me, plenty. And last night's Ashlee Simpson reprise, an apparent attempt to cover up the debicle created by her last appearance on the show, seemed only indicative of the sad state of affairs at SNL. Was last night's audience paid, planted, or what? A real audience would have booed her sorry no-talent [censored] off the stage, but somehow, she held her own, and belted out two no-talent songs. Kanye West, where are you when we need you? Well, at least by next week, we have Franz Ferdinand to look forward to.

First, the cast: WTF. Every few years, there comes a lull in the talent and personality in the cast of SNL. Consider the featured casts of the early eighties and the mid-ninties. It wasn't until the likes of Sandler, Farley, Spade, and later, Oteri, Farrell, Shannon, Hammond (just to name a few) revived the show and gave us new personalities and characters WORTH tuning into every week. It's obvious that this season is not the IT cast, nor does it seem this will be the IT season. The addition of new cast members who can only manage a dead-on imitation of "name-your-favorite-movie-star" is no real talent, and simply acting like a college frat boy on air is not going to cut it. Not with me anyway. Plus, there's a baby-boom on SNL, and two of the most talented and versatile females on the show are temporarily out of commission, Tina Fey and Maya Rudolph. While Horatio Sanz is adequately prepared to take the place behind the Weekend Update desk, the duo of Sanz and Poeler is a long shot and a far call from the glory days of Akroyd/Curtin, Norm Macdonald, Collin Quinn, and Fey/Fallon. Sanz gift on air is presence and impersonation. Doesn't matter if it's Elton John or Gene Shallit. His impersonations are hilarious, charming, without being too dead-on to strike marvel and awe in the viewers. Still, and sadly, Weekend Update is in transition, and personally, I'd rather get my "fake news" from the Daily Show.

Another remarkable thing about SNL as an institution is it's always growing up. Since its inception, SNL has never been content, and changes in cast and production have always been a boon to it. But like I said, every few years, it's obvious Lorne needs to rethink the formula, and cater to the changing target audience of late night TV. The adult fare of the early years has been replaced with the MTV-savy, bubble-gum pop of recent days. It works, but in a way, it works only because it has to in order to survive in a Saturday night, 11:30 time slot. Consequently, the writing has suffered, and jokes are half-assed, and the audience seems to be a little too forgiving of platic-pop-production Ashlee Simpson, who caused the biggest musical shocker on air since the infamous Sinead O'Connor/Pope John Paull II picture ripping incident.

In its growing pains, as Lorne Micheals seeks to perfect the perfect late-night variety show formula, let's not forget better days are always ahead. Being a cast member on SNL not means just having talent. Anyone has talent, but only a select few, Radner, Farley, Belushi, etc. had had the character and personality to back it up, on and off air. No matter if they were in front of the camera or not, they made Saturday Night Live an cultural institution unto itself. True to say, there are cast members who are an asset to the show this year, and those that are not. Fey, Rudolph, Armisen, Sanz, Poeler, Meyers, Forte, Dratch, Parnell, and the ever-ready veteran, Hammond. Here's hoping the new cast members will earn their stripes, and if not, be politely excused from SNL, which seems to be sufferring from that dreaded lull in its production, writing, cast, creativity, and savy that comes about every few years.

A little poem, I just made up, a little bit ago...

Flowers and weeds.

Poppies and half-breeds.

The world is a cornucopia

of shit and shine.

Riddles and laughs all the time.

10/10/05

So, my homies. What is new? It has been so long. And sooooo much has happened. Where do I begin? I begin NOWHERE! But allow me to ring around the collar, inform of my latest exploits in style, and dipense swell-sounding wisdom along the way:


* The above picture features me as Lefou in Disney's Beauty and the Beast, which I performed in out in the open air out at the Pinewood Bowl in Lincoln, Nebraska. Gaston, played with such gusto by Mike Tully, and I became very good friends, on and offstage. He will next star in Mozart's The Magic Flute, a story about people who are love with birds who fall in love (I think). I had a great time playing Lefou, but my sinuses and allergies were awful during rehearsal. Notice the wig I am wearing. I have worn this same wig in two past productions.

* I am currently in the role of Mitch at the Lincoln Community Playhouse's production of A Streetcar Named Desire. It is a fun experience, and it's quite refreshing to acutally have a set almost half done several weeks before the show opens (for once).

* I am still at workon my Salvador Dali costume. It is going quite well. I have suit, pants, cane, shoes, mustache, although special care must be taken to the mustache. It takes about an hour to create it, and then make it turn upward in Dali's characteristic fashion. I asked my sister to be Gala (pictured left). I hope she can come to at least one party. Everyone is so busy and consumed. Being an adult sucks sometimes.

More later, MAHALO!