Danblog (Jun-Sep 2003)
Jerry: Look at what she gave me: a whole leg of lamb! You sprinkle some
garlic on that, some fresh mint, that's rotisserie heaven!
-- "Twin Peaks"
27 Sep 2003
I just saw "The Getaway" tonight. Yes, it's not the first time. I
didn't just discover it. Anyway, I've only seen the well-known ones
(The Cincinnati Kid, The Great Escape, The Thomas Crown Affair,
The Hunter, The Towering Inferno, etc.),
but I have to wonder: is there a bad Steve McQueen movie?
25 Sep 2003
Here's a shrunken, scanned version of the poster for "The Mousetrap".
24 Sep 2003
As we march ever closer to opening night, one can't help but
wonder... how the heck am I going to do this! I guess I'm getting
more comfortable, but will there be enough time to get it right?
There aren't any dudes understudying any roles, so perhaps they're
stuck with me. They brought some posters promoting the play
tonight. Five shows: Oct 31, and Nov. 1, 2, 7 and 8. If I
can get my scanner working and squeeze it on there (it's 11x17),
I'll post a copy. (Scanner? When's the last time I used
that old thing.)
17 Sep 2003
How's this for an adventure. I went to the Cubs game today.
(Cubs 2, Mets 0). I drove 20 miles to pick someone up.
Then another 10 or so to get to the El; the north end of the
Red Line, which has a stop at Wrigley. That's not it, though.
After the 3rd inning, I felt like I'd been in the sun a little
too long, so I thought I'd go down the ramps to the shade.
We were sitting in the bleachers. Suddenly I was so weak I just
sat down on the ramp, since there wasn't anywhere to sit. I did
work my way to ground level and found a stump to sit on, but
it wasn't getting better. My legs and arms were getting tingly
and finally my hand scrunched up into a claw and I couldn't move
it. Just before that happened I got out a message on my two-way
pager to someone I was with -- but her pager was at home! By
that point it didn't matter because it had gone way too far.
I hadn't started feeling better by resting in the shade. I
was feeling clammy and I started thinking, whoa, don't people
die from the heatstroke? I thought I might pass out. I was
able to get some people's attention that I needed some kind
of first aid. Then the fine staff of Wrigley Field got
me an ice pack and a glass of water and wheelchaired me
over to the first aid room -- which isn't really all that
accessible from the bleachers, but when you're with the staff,
you can get anywhere. By the time I got there
most of the tingling was gone and I could move my fingers.
No heatstroke, just dehydration. They say that caffeine isn't
good for dehydration -- I was on my second coke -- but I don't
remember it ever letting me down before. And I only had one
beer. I ended up missing 3 innings by the time I got back
to the bleachers. So, kids, have an extra glass of water
for me tonight.
The rehearsals for "The Mousetrap" continue. Am I the only non-loud,
non-outgoing person in the cast? I believe I am. How did I get here?
I do not know.
08 Sep 2003
Let's see. Which one of these things is not like the others. At the
first meeting after the "Mousetrap" cast was picked, the other
seven people in the cast seemed awfully comfortable reading
their (accented) lines; and with each other. I'm still restraining
myself from attempting the accent, although it'll be coming out soon. Soon.
And how refreshing is this. I went to a wedding this weekend and they
didn't smash cake all over each other. And there wasn't the "dollar
dance" deal, pleading for money for the couple. And the glass banging
to get the couple to kiss only happened once or twice instead of the
typical every few minutes. It's like they read my mind when they were
planning it. I'm sure wedding reception practices haven't changed, but
at least they showed it can be done without those things.
03 Sep 2003
Hi-diddly-ho, neighborino. Well, sports fans, coming off the bench in
the role of Giles Ralston, it's ... me! Apparently someone in the
original cast list decided he couldn't do it or something. So they
called old Dan. He'll do it! Am I too proud to be second choice in
a community theater production? Of course not. I was one of those
guys at the audition just plain reading the parts. I read for all the
parts (well, the male roles) and I pretty much read each one the same
as far as I could tell. I know I'm starting at square one. Or
square zero, if that's been discovered.
What the heck am I doing? And how did
I find myself in this situation? Beats me and beats me. I thought
about reminding the lady of my complete, no kidding, utter lack of
stage experience, but I decided the time for selling myself short could
come later. (I'm a tremendous slouch!) On with the show!
02 Sep 2003
Like, wow. I got the cast list for
"The Mousetrap".
The "wow" isn't that
I'm not on it. I wasn't paying too much attention to the nametags at
the audition, but I did remember one chick's name. She seemed like a
shoe-in and she's not on the list. Now, maybe I was wrong
about her name -- I've been wrong before about things I was absolutely
sure of -- but I really seem to remember one specific name from that
night and it's not on the list. Making it even more surprising to me
is that less people showed up for the second night of auditions. On
the first night there were only 2 chicks who could possibly get the 2
roles for chicks under 30. (And this one was young, hot, emotional,
dramatic, what have you.) Given the numbers, it seems as if the
only possible explanation is that I was wrong about her name! I guess
those second night auditioners must have been super groovy.
And, if you're keeping score, there were 8 roles, 5 for guys. A total
of 17 people tried out for those 8 roles.
29 Aug 2003
Hello, America, and assorted third world countries! Who loves you, baby.
Welcome to Rejection Friday. I found myself on Monday
auditioning for a part in the Round Lake Area Park District Community
Theater's upcoming production of Agatha Christie's "The Mousetrap", in spite
of (or because of?) my thorough lack of experience or training in the
field of acting, at any level.
In high school and college, I didn't just not try out for plays;
it never occurred to me to even consider it. I was hoping, by giving my
email at the audition, that I'd get some kind of call sheet showing who
specifically got the roles; I'm imagining some kind of thing posted
on your high school's bulletin board. Since I didn't, and since they
said the choices would be made by Friday (or as I like to call it,
Rejection Friday), and since the small number of
auditioners would
lead me to believe they wouldn't need extra time to decide -- I could
pretty much decide myself who was solid that same night without any
experience as a casting director -- I must conclude that my path
to the Great White Way is no shorter than last week. Which, in fairness
to the serious, dramatic, accent-affecting auditioners, is the way
it should be.
22 Aug 2003
It's been 3 long weeks since my mission of mercy to New York -- if by
"mercy" you mean "futile attempt at getting on a
game show."
It was a long hard drive and a brilliant performance -- if by "brilliant"
you mean "sucky". And it's been 2 long weeks since I got the polite
but firm notice that my services won't be required. I suppose that's
enough time to get over it and take solace in my complimentary magnet
and pencil. It was all worth it. And now I can return to my porch
rocker and resume whittling.
20 Aug 2003
I've been looking at a couple "real" blogs. So eye-catching.
So fancy. With all their categories and links and calendars
and what not and I'm assuming some kind of front-end that
the peoples fill in which automatically transforms the entries
into what's seen on their web page. Yeah, I don't
think I'm ready for all that.
I think the recent "flash mob" phenomenon is only a couple months old,
and yet, is it already played out? Maybe I could be the king of Lake
County (Illinois)
flash mobs!
Except I'm not much of an organizer.
And I don't particularly care for crowds.
06 Aug 2003
"Hope for the best, prepare for the worst." Sounds like the cry of the loser,
doesn't it. Can success only really be achieved by not accepting -- or
"preparing" -- for failure? Beats me. I'm not the right guy to ask.
01 Aug 2003
Bryant Park.
New York Public Library.
World Trade Center Site.
Central Park.
St. Patrick's Cathedral.
Things to do by yourself for free in NYC.
22 July 2003
Who wants to finance my campaign for Senate? The only problem with the
Republicans is that they're too much like the Democrats. And vice versa.
I could be the pro-drugs Pat Buchanan! I just don't know the hoops you
have to jump through to run and I don't have a million bucks to blow on
a proper campaign. But I'll give it my best shot. I'm not a lawyer.
And I'm not a pretty-boy hypnotic speaker. I can't imagine any interns
throwing themselves at me -- but I'm not making any promises, dude.
And I'm not beholden to any special interests. Except yours.
17 July 2003
Best Katharine Hepburn movie I've seen in the last two weeks:
Holiday.
Sure, Spencer Tracy's a mensch, but Cary Grant has that anti-work, playboy
attitude that the 21st century slacker can identify with. And if
The Philadelphia Story or some other movie is really the best,
hey, I did say the last two weeks, which covers half a dozen selections.
Thanks,
TCM!
12 July 2003
Whoa, someone's actually looking at this. Too bad I'm too boring
to really have anything to say. That doesn't seem like quite enough to make
my lifelong dream of meeting
The Donnas
at the MTV Video Music Awards come true.
09 July 2003
Have I been reduced to
hoping
for a 1 in 120 million shot? Apparently so. Ack, what could
have brought us to this lowly state! It's only 12.5 miles to the border,
you know.
04 July 2003
Happy Independence Day! This is the day the founding fathers voted for
independence in 1776, based on a debate begun on July 2. After further
editing of the Declaration of Independence, they signed it on Aug 2.
Ben Franklin was the cool, fun dude of the revolution. Party on,
Ben. In addition to pondering the genius of the dude on the hundred
dollar bill, check out "1776". Yes, the musical. Featuring
Ken Howard (whom you may know from such TV shows as "The White Shadow")
and William Daniels (whom you may recognize from such TV shows as
"St. Elsewhere").
01 July 2003
After a few days, I think I can say who my favorite Summerfest
performers were. Of course, there was "Weird Al", but what of the
lesser-knowns? If you don't mind a solitary chick strumming a guitar,
there was just something about
Wendy Debias.
I also admire how she started out doing open mic nights and now
she's accepted by the powers that be at Summerfest. And
The Lovelies
rocked. I'd call what I heard hard alternative, but who likes labels.
30 June 2003
The past weekend I was in northwestern Wisconsin, where there are three kinds of animals: pets, food, and wild.
27 June 2003
I went to Summerfest
in Milwaukee yesterday,
mostly because "Weird Al"
was playing. I was kind of surprised that he (and several others) were
scheduled to start at 11 pm, since it closes at midnight. I think he
must have done his regular show. The first video clips started around
10:45 PM and it ended around 12:20 AM.
The sad part is that I could mostly only listen. It was just on one of
the regular Summerfest stages, so naturally it was packed. I got to it
around 9 pm, while the preceding band was still playing, but people
must have been there for Al already. The seating didn't really clear
out. So I settled for standing just outside the seating area, which wouldn't
have been too bad, except that people eventually came around and stood a little
too close for my comfort. More importantly, people at the picnic tables
which surround the bleacher-type seats all got up and stood on the picnic
tables! At least the video clips were projected up high to the sides of
the stage.
I'm sure there are websites that compile the set lists from every
concert, but here's how I remember it. The "medley" isn't what
I would call a medley in the same way that "Hooked On Classics" was, but
I think that's what people call it. All the medley songs were performed right
after the other and none were the complete song --
but they were all at least one verse. For the unitiated, the video clips
are an integral part of the show -- plus they allow time for Al's
costume changes.
Video Clips
1. Couch Potato
2. Angry White Boy Polka
3. Party At The Leper Colony
4. A Complicated Song
Video Clips
5. Wanna B Ur Lovr
Video Clips
6. It's All About The Pentiums
Video Clips
Medley:
7. Money for Nothing/Beverly Hillbillies
8. Jerry Springer
9. Jurassic Park
*10. The Toppings Go On
11. Ebay
12. Theme from Rocky XIII
13. Ode To A Superhero
14. Lasagna
15. Pretty Fly For A Rabbi
16. My Bologna
17. Gump
18. Eat It
Video Clips
19. Smells Like Nirvana
Video Clips
20. Amish Paradise
Video Clips
21. Fat
Pause before the traditional "Weird Al" closing encore:
22. Yoda
* Not sure of the name. This is a non-album song, to the tune
of that Celine Dion "Titanic" song.
22 June 2003
I don't know when blogs started, but now everyone and their grandmother
seems to have them. I started "The Cube Wall" in 1997. So now, in my
never ending attempt to always be a few years behind the curve, I'm
changing it into ... Danblog!
Will it be updated with any more regularity
than when it was titled "Dan's Pad"? We'll see, but probably not.
My laziness hasn't suddenly evaporated and I haven't magically acquired
interesting thoughts and activities to discuss. The main difference,
besides using an already dated term such as blog, is the format, which
is now less of a mock-up of what I might put up on my cube wall and more
of a thought stream.
I should add that my familiarity with the concept hasn't translated
into following anyone's blogs. I'm just assuming there's no wrong
way to do this. As usual, I'm going with my basic, simple html
for formatting, or lack thereof. Gherkin!
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