Ugh. So much to discuss: (1) White House egg-on-the-face: After months of beating the war drums to invade Iraq, it turns out that Iran doesn’t have a nuclear bomb program after all. As Matt says: "Meanwhile, how outrageous is it that the best twelve months of alarmism from Bush & Cheney have come in the context of an environment where … Read More
The Best Christmas Pageant Ever Opens Tomorrow
Preview here. I’m really too close to it to step back and say whether it is good or not. I’m pretty pleased with it though. I was very lucky to have Kelly Wallace play Grace (the mother who gets saddled with running the pageant) and Sarah King as Beth (Grace’s daughter, and the narrator). Both of them are real pros, … Read More
Inventor Of Gatorade Dies
There’s a joke or pun to be made. Can’t seem to get the bat off my shoulders though.
California Boy Is Al Qaeda, Apparently
Fox News and conservative blogs have been falling all over themselves trying to — forgive the pun — fan the flames of fear by suggesting that the California wildfires were intentionally set by (cue dramatic music) al Qaeda. Read here and here and here and here and here and… all these. While evidence suggested arson, nothing other than paranoia suggested … Read More
Fake News
FEMA holds a press conference with itself: The agency gave reporters 15 minutes’ notice before the press briefing, making it almost impossible for most reporters to get FEMA’s DC offices (which are nowhere near downtown or Capitol Hill). But the agency didn’t want to hold a press conference on national television without questions, so FEMA employees stood in and gave … Read More
Presidential Candidates Respond To California Fires
First, the Democrats: John Edwards has been out front in responding to the fires in Southern California, both on his website and through One Corps. Barack Obama offers this statement of support for the fire victims and his website prominently features the following message: California needs us. …with a link to California Volunteers. Hillary Clinton‘s website features a "How to … Read More
Correction To An Earlier Post
The California wildfires are not — repeat, not — the fault of al Qaeda. We are now informed by the rightwingnut machine that the deadly fires are the fault of homos and gay marriage supporters: They shook their fists at God and said, "We don’t care what God says, we will issue our legal brief to support gay marriage in … Read More
Fox News Blames California Wildfires On Al Qaeda
Seriously, will these guys ever shut up? UPDATE: Glenn "I Should Be On Fox" Beck should shut up too. UPDATE: More silly speculation with this head-banging-against-the-wall evoking statement: Although a new Osama bin Laden video was issued at almost exactly the same time these fires began, and might have contained a coded command to his operatives to carry out planned … Read More
Reverse 911
Not much to say about the terrible fires in California. It’s all very sad. But this underreported aspect to it caught my eye: Our posting about the wildfires mentions that officials in San Diego used "reverse 911" calls to notify residents that they had to evacuate. We hadn’t heard of this practice. Thankfully, Debi Jones at Mobile Messaging 2.0 knows … Read More
Little Shop Opening Weekend
On the plus side: Pretty large houses and a decent review. On the minus side: Not as polished as we had hoped. On opening night (Friday), we had a few minor bumps, attributable to opening night jitters I suppose. We seemed to have gotten over them by Saturday night, when the first Act was (for me) the best, and everything … Read More
Another Little Shop Write-Up
A very nice profile of Dennis and Winston, the two guys who play "Audrey II", the plant in WSTA’s Little Shop of Horrors which opens tonight at SECCA: WINSTON-SALEM — It’s a fairly safe bet that he’s the most popular carnivorous plant in the history of musical theater. Even though Audrey II, star of "Little Shop of Horrors," might have … Read More
Little Shop Preview
Usually, pre-show write-ups tend to be — oh, I don’t know — mundane. But I kind of like the writing in this one. It does a nice job promoting the play, but also the playfulness of the performers: A darkly funny musical: Theatre Alliance to present Little Shop of Horrors Sunday, October 14, 2007 By Mary Martin Niepold SPECIAL TO … Read More
Sweeney Todd At UNCG
Good luck getting tickets. We had to pull a few strings to get ours for Friday night (which was sold out). Here’s what you missed: Emily Mark as Mrs. Lovett. ‘Nuff said. Oh, sure. Zac Campbell’s menacing brooding Sweeney was a thrill. And the actors who played Anthony, Joanna, and Judge Turpin also shined. The ensemble was strong. The set … Read More