2nd Show

The second show was threatened by more potential headaches. Jonas told me he cannot go on the 5th, which means that my carefully crafted schedule goes right out the window. As it now stands, both of his shows are with Kaye. I forced him to go on tonight instead of Miko. I hope his next show will be seen by his and kaye's blockmates. That would fire them up.

Then, there was Kaye. She has had no more than five rehearsals since coming back from her vacation hiatus. She was still missing lines, and was very nervous about going on with so little preparation.

But those fears were all gone once the show ended. I had worries about the viability of the Jonas - Kaye tandem, since they couldn't stop snickering at each other during rehearsals. But once the stage lights came up, they did their part. It was a bit too fast, but the energy was there and the audience was along for the ride. And Kaye made me remember why I immediately secured her services after her audition. She was believable, and she played the part to an almost perfect T. She even failed to follow some of my instructions, and it still looked good! (Coincidentally, I am revising some of my instructions.)

Oh, and Jonas made it through the seven count without dropping Kaye. Although, it was a bit scary.

Overall, we've proven that the first show was not a fluke. Now to do something about that damn door....

Watch Quandary on these dates:

Dec. 1, 7:30 pm
Dec. 3, 7:30 pm
Dec. 4, 7:30 pm

ALB Dining Hall, University of Asia and the Pacific

The First Show: Vindication

Was my first show perfect?

No. Not yet, anyway.

But what first show doesn't have its mistakes? Furthermore, all the mistakes made were minor and very fixable.

What made this first show special for me was all the crap that happened on the way. The curse on this play, the hastened preparations, the greenhorn production crew and cast, everybody saying we weren't ready... all these faded away tonight.

We were ready. We had that audience. We had them laughing and we had them tensely silent. We had them where we wanted them.

Those mistakes will be corrected. Even then, everything flowed well. Miko and Rachelle were awesome out there tonight. We were all vindicated.

We beat that damn curse. The Flood Play lives!!

Catch Quandary, a Viare Production, on these following dates:

Nov. 27 - 7:30 PM
Dec. 1 - 7:30 PM
Dec. 3 - 7:30 PM
Dec. 4 - 7:30 PM

Venue: ALB Dining Hall, UA&P

See y'all there...

Lefties Are Better Children?

Time for more "The UK is Run by the Stupids"...

Actually, the headline here is that some group is asserting that lesbians make better parents than...well...everybody else. But what I find absolutely asinine is the measure by which they say lesbians are "better parents".

His arguments are supported by experts who have found, over years of research, that children brought up by female couples are more aspirational and more confident in championing social justice. They show no more tendencies towards homosexuality than the offspring of heterosexual parents.

Daughters of lesbians are more likely to aspire to professions that were traditionally considered male, such as doctors or lawyers.

Okay....

The implication here is that children raised by lesbos end up becoming lefty statists (the euphemism "championing social justice") and feminists. No shit. Its like these morons just discovered that water is wet.

But, how in the world does breeding mini feminazi communists make these children "better" than normal children everywhere? This article actually reveals more about that group of intellectual retards than it does about anything regarding parenting. Nobody in that herd of independent minds even bothered to ask why the benchmark of the study was so far from objective that it would need air mail just to say hello.

Then, there's this nonsense about showing no more tendency towards homosexuality than kids raised by mom and pop. How in the world do they measure these things?

And these people are going to influence UK policy?

One more step towards the cultural hara kiri that is British society.

Critics' Night

I don't know how to characterize it, really. The other plays did well enough, but when it came to the one I was directing, all I can say is that it was a learning experience.

I learned that, cursed or not, we can go full steam ahead, damn the torpedoes, defy fate and put on a show.

I also learned that it probably won't be a very good show. Heck, the iPod carrying the rain sounds froze up for no apparent reason. Fate just said "fuck you" and waved her invisible finger.

I learned that I have the best assisstant director / stage manager / everywoman in the world. Or at least, in school. Kara is awesome. Battling a cold, stage fright and having to memorize lines and physical nuances at the last minute before stepping into the bright lights, she pulled off a decent performance. If she weren't so against acting, she'd be amazing.

I also learned that, for all your planning and calibration in casting, character counts just as much as talent. It is bitterly ironic that my most talented cast member was "character not included". "I don't feel well" did not fly as an excuse during Pygmalion, especially where a show was on the line. It does not fly tonight, moreso when you inform everyone 30 minutes before show time. Kara did not feel well. She kicked ass.

I realized that everybody deserves a second chance. I still want my most talented cast member to redeem herself. To paraphrase Mr. Brando's character in "On the Waterfront", she could have been a contender. I refuse to believe that she is a bust. My great disappointment is due to the fact that I have come to respect her potential. If she redeems herself, redemption would be sweet indeed.

I also realized that I am not alone. Struggling though it may be, the organization that hosts me is a good one.

I learned that my directing style can be ruinous. Being too nice and accomodating creates the impression that there is no urgency. Hence, some people begin to think that their presence in the production is not so much a blessing, but a chore that breeds feelings of false entitlement. On this regard, I may be just as much to blame for the character lapse of my best actress as she is. Her redemption is my redemption as well.

Nice guys finish last, after all. And here I was thinking that my being an asshat did not have its uses.

All in all, we took on the curse and came out of the other side, battered, yet unbowed, with nothing so bad that few tweaks won't fix. This show is going to kick so much ass.

See y'all on Nov. 25.

Modern Warfare 2's Best Lesson: Great Expectations = Massive Disappointment

When you port a console game onto the PC expect maximum suckage.

So much for the "most anitcipated game of the year". Can't even play fucking LAN anymore. MW 2 is like a cool gun with no bullets. You might as well be wielding an expensive club.

Note: Check out the articles' comments.

More like LOL of Duty.

Michael Bay Signs $50M Deal to F*** Up Thundercats

I know its from the Onion, but the best parodies are the ones that make you think that such an absurdity can happen. In this case, it may well happen.

"I couldn't be more excited to completely fuck this up," said Bay, who plans to begin production on destroying the live-action adaptation next month. "ThunderCats has a great story, endearing characters, action, adventure, space-travel, and fantasy. It will be an honor to run it into the ground."

"I'll use every directorial tool I have to suck the very life and charm out of this beloved cartoon," added Bay, claiming that the film could turn out to be the most colossal piece of shit he's ever worked on. "I won't rest until I get every last scene exactly wrong."

Art Imitates Life (Again)

Some guy in Big Hollywood remembers a Cheers episode wherein country bumpkin Woody Boyd wins an election, as part of a Dr. Frasier Crane social experiment, while doing nothing but spouting vague cliches and worn banalities like "hope", "change" and whatnot.

There is no need for that social experiment. Just look at Philippine politics. Nary a substantial thing to say. In fact, the only guy who even talks policy is running dead last along major candidates in the next Philippine presidential elections.

Good Lord, just hear Noynoy Aquino III talk out of his ass. There's a walking motherhood statement / cliche / banality for you. Villar is trying his best to catch up though. Good thing Loren "Al Gore Wannabe" Legarda is nowhere in sight, or Noynoy just might have to up the bullshit.   

C-Fam Needs 1 Million Sigs

C-Fam is attempting to bring a petition before the United Nations asking that the Universal Declaration of Human Rights' provision for the right to life be interpreted to include unborn children. Considering the vast entrenched evil that permeates UN bureaucracy, this may be a Quixotic venture, but that does not make it any less worthwhile.

I already signed it. I like noble Quixotic gestures.

Maybe It Wasn't All That Far-Fetched

A few weeks ago, I was laughing at the notion that Nature would send ripples back through time to stop the re-creation of the God particle by the Large Hadron Collider.

Then, this happens.

Come on! A bird dropping a baguette can shut down this doomsday device? Who designed this thing? Dr. Evil?

Events like this are what the term "epic fail" was invented for.

The theory is beginning to sound more and more plausible...

Random Thoughts on the Week At Large 07.11.09

A week with no internet...brrr.... My antenna got knocked down by the last storm. It won't be fixed til Sunday. Right now, I'm mooching off of kindly neighbors. Just because they don't know about it doesn't mean I'll appreciate the non-existent sentiment any less.

***

Dissent in Hollywood has a price. That awesome show I once mentioned here premiered to record-breaking ratings for a sci-fi show. However, the show garnered some harsh critics from the literati, who were disturbed from their daily Obama fellatio by what they see as frightening parallels to the tinpot messiah's presidency. The show's producer has already been replaced by the network. The irony is, the producer in question, Scott Peters (also responsible for "4400") is a raving Obama fanboy who expedited his US citizenship application in order to vote for him.

Nice to see somebody prick the Obama bubble once in a while. I'm sure, with all these fits of swooning by media types, the show will end up descending into banal moral relativism ala Battlestar Galactica.

Still, viva la resistance.

***

Way too much COD 4 this week. This game makes me realize how old I am. Younger players with better reaction times regularly turn me into a bullet cushion.

***

Being without Internet for the week has made me realize how nice it is to be able to read. Just went through Lord of the Rings again. And Silmarillon.

***

One thing I remember hating about the LOTR movies...it was Meriadoc who undid the spell that held the Witch King together when he used the Westernesse blade from the Barrow Downs on him, not Eowyn Warrior fucking Princess. "I am no man" my ass. Neither was Merry.

***

Finally got to rehearse with a functioning cast (and some sounds) today. Rachelle finally came around, and Miko took his accent from Melbourne to the East End of London. Miko still does his Batman voice due to illness, but at least this won't be much of a problem down the line. Rachelle looks prettier without make-up. Maybe its because she seems more cooperative without make-up on. Maybe I should ban make-up.

Whatever else I may say, I love this crew I'm working with. Even if we do seem cursed.

***

The funny thing about that movie "Jennifer's Body" is that, apparently, you don't get to see all that much of it. (And no, I'm not willing to waste money verifying this.)

***

A kundiman band is wasted on "Nobody But You". That song is awful. Just saying.

***

According to the boys, that girl in a picture in the UA&P brochure (standing beside Steph Sol) looks like Maria Ozawa. I don't see the resemblance. But, I do understand the sentiment behind such an assertion. After all, I once had a student I thought looked like Olivia Wilde. In retrospect, she doesn't. Not even close. Olivia Wilde is hawt.

***

Did I just spell it h a w t?