It is of no use to appeal to God if there is first appeal to power.
Tuesday, December 08, 2009
LOST Season 6 promo with Willie Nelson singing "Amazing Grace"
Even without a single image from Season 6 (that I can tell anyway), this is the most haunting and foreboding promo for Lost that I've ever seen.
Here it is, featuring Willie Nelson's rendition of "Amazing Grace"...
The final season of Lost begins on February 2nd, 2010.
Monday, December 07, 2009
There are 17 days 'til Christmas
I'm going to misbehave as much as I can until then in hopes that Santa will put a lump of coal in my stocking. Hey, we're in a recession and I gotta keep the house warm...
U.S. military developing zombie pigs
Yeah you read that right: the Pentagon is working on zombie pigs now.
Before you reach for the nearest shotgun or chainsaw though, you should know that there's some practical applications being sought from this. The problem is severe injuries of military personnel in combat situations: massive blood loss from wounds that without immediate (and often nearly impossible) treatment leads to death or debilitating lifelong trauma that may stand a chance of being averted. So the eggheads at DARPA (Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency) are experimenting to see if a state of hibernation can be achieved in pigs, similar to squirrels and other mammals. If it can be made to work in pigs, humans could be the next step. Artificially slowing down brain and heart functions long enough to get an injured soldier to proper treatment could save many more lives from the battlefield.
'Course, another idea to drastically lower the number of combat deaths and injuries is to stop waging wars with no damn purpose or definite goal! But, that's just me...
Had enough of Johnny Robertson? Not enough apparently...
This blog hasn't had much to report on local cult leader/pathological liar/convicted felon/public menace Johnny Robertson lately. Been almost a month since I posted anything new.
This next item though is sufficiently wacky enough that it screams to be talked about.
Some people have been writing to let me know that Johnny Robertson and all of his followers (those being James Oldfield, Micah Robertson "The Lesser" and Mark McMinnis) have been conspicuously absent from the airwaves of local television station WGSR in recent weeks. Instead What Does the Bible Say? and A Word from the Lord (AKA "The Martinsville Taliban Show" and "A Word from James Oldfield") have been in reruns, one of which was Oldfield's two-hour spiel about why it's a sin to place money in the Salvation Army kettles. That particular screed prompted one person known to this writer to make a fifty dollar contribution to the Salvation Army on behalf of James Oldfield, but I digress...
So, wanna know where Johnny Robertson and his crew are?
Siddown. Y'all ain't gonna buh-leeeeve this one.
Robertson and his cronies are currently on a madcap dash around the country visiting the few other gatherings of their "Church of Christ" cult (which again, has nothing at all to do with the mainstream Churches of Christ) in a bid to raise money for more airtime on WGSR.
But wait: it gets better...
Currently, the "Church of Christ" cult broadcasts for four and a half hours each week on WGSR out of Martinsville, Virginia and Reidsville, North Carolina.
Johnny Robertson has decided that this isn't enough "information" (which approximately consists of 50% bragging about himself, 40% harassing other people and churches and 10% sloppy PowerPoint presentations and 0% about Jesus Christ).
So now he is attempting to raise funds to purchase TWENTY-FOUR HOURS OF AIRTIME PER WEEK!
That is about 3 and a half hours per day that Robertson and his co-villains will be attempting to fill with god-knows-what (not God that is, but the god of this world that Robertson and his cronies serve and commit evil for).
Wouldn't surprise me if Robertson ordered what few followers he still has to ramp up their attacks and intimidation tactics of innocent people and church congregations around here. Maybe even going as far as harassing Greensboro, Burlington and Winston-Salem since Robertson is apparently goading WGSR general manager/personal stooge Charles Roark toward expanding into those markets...
...But that also means that this blog will be expecting a lot more traffic in the near future as people start Goggle-ing about Johnny Robertson, "Martinsville Church of Christ" and the like as more begin to discover the brazenly unethical behavior coming out of WGSR and its current management.
Twenty-four hours per week? I don't know of any politician who's that conceited...
Pearl Harbor mystery solved: Japanese mini-sub discovered
But what of the fifth Japanese mini-sub?
There's been evidence for decades - particularly an intercepted radio transmission from the day after the ambush reporting on the success of the mini-sub - but no hard proof of the role it might have played. Historians have debated it for years.
But today history has one less mystery. The scuttled remains of the fifth Japanese mini-sub have been found three miles south of Pearl Harbor, its 800-pound torpedoes emptied and likely fired at the battleships West Virginia and Oklahoma and perhaps causing enough damage for the latter to capsize in in one of the most iconic destructive acts of the raid.
Amazing, isn't it? That even today, there are still things we don't know about World War II that every so often finally come to light.
Even as we remember those who fought and served and even perished in this most terrible of conflicts, let us pray that there may never again be such an occasion for enigma.
Back to regular blogging
Wow. I'd actually forgotten what this was like...
Can't help but feel like this day won't be complete without lugging a fireman's oxygen pack around though :-P
Sunday, December 06, 2009
Classic SESAME STREET: Ernie "helps" Bert give Baby Brad a bath
One of my fellow cast members of The Best Christmas Pageant Ever - namely Eric Smith, who portrayed Reverend Hopkins - told me during the show's run this past week that he loves it when I post vintage Sesame Street sketches and whatnot on this blog.
So Eric, this one's going out to you especially :-)
This is one of the few appearances of Bert's adorable baby nephew Brad, who is staying with his uncle and about to get a bath. Of course, Ernie has to show up and... well, be Ernie.
The results? Hilarity!
THE BEST CHRISTMAS PAGEANT EVER is done... for now
Eight shows in four days.
Whew...
This was my third productions with Theatre Guild of Rockingham County and I can see how it's true, that each show has its own vibe, dynamic, spirit, whatever that the cast and crew imbue it with. This one... was certainly unique in that right, but there was also something else at work that I'm at a loss to find words for. Our final show this afternoon once again played to a sold-out house and no doubt as with the rest, there were more than a few people in the audience that were brought to tears as much as they were laughing out loud.
Darn. I'm gonna miss doing this. Yeah, even the fireman's gear and heavy oxygen pack that I wore while running up the aisle and onto the stage :-)
But this might not be quite as final as we are usually conditioned to believe. There are whispers... whispers mind ya... that The Best Christmas Pageant Ever could be in production again and sooner rather than later. If that happens, I would gladly don the firefighter getup again... if only just to once again bellow out "HEEEELLLPPP!!!" at the top of my lungs :-)
To everyone who came and enjoyed our show: Thank you for your patronage! We are glad you got to see it :-)
And to everyone that I have worked with during the past seven weeks: I thank God for the opportunity to have collaborated with good friends once again, and to have met and made many new friendships along the way as well. Looking forward to doing another show with y'all ;-)
Just one more performance of THE BEST CHRISTMAS PAGEANT EVER left
Can you tell how wrapped-up I've gotten in The Best Christmas Pageant Ever that I've barely been able to blog during the past few days? We did two performances yesterday. Had good friends come to see both of them (thanks y'all!). And in light of what happened during opening night, some of us wondered if we might have invoked the curse of "the Scottish play" during a discussion we were having about it with the younger kids in the dressing room that evening. So just to be on the safe side (and also 'cuz I thought it would be fun to be able to say that I've actually done it) I performed the "counter-curse" before the 2:30 p.m. show yesterday: walking around the building containing the stage three times, then spitting over my left shoulder and muttering a profanity. Did it work? No way to be sure, but everyone is in agreement that both shows yesterday were terrific!
And now we do it for the final time of this production his afternoon at 2:30. Theatre Guild of Rockingham County's website has all the info you need about the show. Hope to see you there :-)
Saturday, December 05, 2009
Report on Opening Night of THE BEST CHRISTMAS PAGEANT EVER
Theatre Guild of Rockingham County's production of The Best Christmas Pageant Ever packed the entire house for its first public performance: not an empty seat in the place and they even had to bring in some more chairs for the extra-sized audience!
The show was great! The kids in the cast are especially doing a phenomenal job. The one thing close to an Opening Night calamity though happened to Yours Truly, when I was leaving the stage after the fire scene and tripped on the risers in the dark... while wearing all that firefighter outfit and oxygen pack, mind ya. I didn't "fall off stage". I actually "fell onto off-stage", LOL!
The upshot is that I have a slightly sprained ankle. And I've still gotta run up that aisle with the heaviest costume in the show three more times. There is no understudy in community theater. But hey: The pain is temporary, the play is forever! :-)
Next show is this afternoon at 2:30 and then again tonight at 7:30 p.m., with one more tomorrow at 2:30. Performances are at Rockingham Community College Advanced Technologies Building Auditorium. Visit the Theatre Guild's website for ticket pre-ordering and other information.
Friday, December 04, 2009
Man in Taiwan "beats" WORLD OF WARCRAFT
Click here for many inevitable jokes on Slashdot about this hard-earned... victory?
Thursday, December 03, 2009
How community theater can help YOU lose 15 pounds in 5 days!
So tonight we had the fourth performance of Theatre Guild of Rockingham County's production of The Best Christmas Pageant Ever. That was four performances we did on this first day of the show (mostly for elementary students). We don't take to the stage again until tomorrow night at 7:30.
A lot of people in the cast and crew have mentioned that in the past few days, that I might have lost weight. So after getting home I got on the scales.
Since dress rehearsals began Monday night, I've lost fifteen pounds. All from wearing the full firefighter gear and carrying the oxygen pack around.
Wondering how much of that might be water, 'cuz inside that thing, under the lights, you can't help but sweat like a pig. I've said it before but it merits saying again: I now have a whole new appreciation for firefighters, after experiencing just this very small bit of activity they go through regularly.
Four more shows to go before the end of the weekend! And call me crazy but... I'm beginning to think about going into firefighting now. Hey, who says I couldn't ride a ladder and do filmmaking on the side too? :-)
The first three performances of THE BEST CHRISTMAS PAGEANT EVER are already notched on our belts!
Whew...
Cast and crew was in the auditorium at 7:30 this morning. The first show was at 9 playing to a packed house of elementary students. Then we did it again at 10:30. And again at noon!
Looks like we've got a hit on our hands: the kids loved the show! Many of them said they'd be coming back and bringing their parents (which is always good :-)
So we've got three shows down, five more to go. The next one is a closed performance tonight and then it opens to the public tomorrow evening at 7:30. Visit the website for Theatre Guild of Rockingham County for ticket information and directions to Rockingham Community College.
And now... I'm going to take a nap before showtime! :-P
A "Zhu Zhu Pet"? What's THAT?!?
Back in my day we had nothing but Wacky Wall Walkers... and we liked it, dang-nabbit!!
Up early, prepping for four performances of The Best Christmas Pageant Ever today (three this morning and afternoon for the county's elementary students, and a closed performance tonight). Then four more across the weekend.
And there's a chance of wintery weather for Saturday. As if the kids in the cast weren't excited enough already... :-P
Wednesday, December 02, 2009
Late Wednesday night theological thinkin'...
It is the living in Christ and not the preaching of church by which the Kingdom of God will grow.
Fun behind the scenes of THE BEST CHRISTMAS PAGEANT EVER
Last night we finally got our dressing rooms!! Awright, to be honest they're conference rooms in the Advanced Technologies Building at Rockingham Community College, which the Theatre Guild just appropriates for shows. We're thankful for Rockingham Community College letting us perform there but all the same: it will be much nicer when we have the new civic center with a bigger stage and dedicated dramatic facilities.
Anyhoo, during our dress rehearsal last night we often found ways of entertaining ourselves until our cues (we know when we're about to go onstage because of the baby monitor that's broadcasting live from the auditorium: can you tell now that we really are community theater? :-). Here's Eric Smith (who plays Reverend Hopkins) strumming a tune on his new banjomer (a combination of banjo and dulcimer)...
By the way, word on the street is that Eric has been wrecking all kinds of good-hearted mischief running around town in his reverend getup :-P
During our first dress rehearsal on Monday I found that my firefighter pants have a tendency to drop. Not so much that it would be a hazard or, ahem, expose me (even though I'm wearing bluejeans underneath) but I was wanting a bit of extra piece of mind. I asked Dad if he had any suspenders that I could use with my costume.
So he found a set...
And if you click on that photo to embiggen it, you can make out the Miller Beer logo printed all up and down the front of them bracers! Yah I know: not completely the most appropriate attire for a play with a large cast of children, but nobody is going to see the suspenders under my firefighter jacket. And besides: every fireman needs red suspenders for his outfit! :-)
Here's a better pic of me in full costume, including the real oxygen pack...
Opening Night for Theatre Guild of Rockingham County's production of The Best Christmas Pageant Ever is this Friday at 7:30 p.m. Click on the Theatre Guild website for more information and ticket pre-ordering. Hope to see y'all there!
