Cooper: Diane, last night I dreamed I was eating a large, tasteless gumdrop, and awoke to discover I was chewing on one of my foam disposable earplugs. Perhaps I should consider moderating my nighttime coffee consumption. 
                        -- "Twin Peaks"

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March 2006
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About me:
* Born in Dayton. Eldest of 10. Lived there 21 years.
* Graduated University of Dayton, 1986.
* Two years in Binghamton.
* Eight years in Chicago area.
* One year in Fort Wayne.
* Back to Chicago area, since 1998.
* 1993: First album recorded.
* 1999: First Regis experience.
* 2003: First theater experience.
* 2005: Eleventh album recorded.

Sunday, March 26th

Theater


A lot of people I've been in shows with seem to like to take a couple months off before auditioning again. I, however, just finished doing two shows simultaneously, and in only the first week after they ended, I'm missing it. Heck, I even like the rehearsals. I mean, when they say, let's try that again, I'm like, yeah, all right! I don't understand all the people who start moaning. Especially given that we're all there voluntarily. So, anyway, I'd love to just go from one show to the next. If only I were good enough. But my greatest talent is being male (although that's not the kind of mad skill I expect to lose). Sometimes, however, that's not enough.
Dan on 03.26.06 @ 01:11 AM CT [link]

Tuesday, March 21st

Standup Philosopher


It amazes me how many people came out to see "Narnia". They sure weren't there to see me. And it's hard to imagine that each kid has 20 or so relatives that would have come. But that's neither here nor there. I would have liked another weekend, a couple more chances to get it right. Not that it was wrong, but I think I could have done better. Friday was probably my best show, when it would be sweeter if Sunday was. But we only had 3 shots. And that's kind of neither here nor there, too.

I wonder if I have a problem accepting compliments. I'd say I do not. But compliments are a rare thing. I'd submit that what passes for compliments are more than often just polite remarks. And that's not to say there's anything wrong with that. It's much better than vicious, snarky attacks. But things like, "that was a great show", or "you did a great job", or "we decided not to cast you but you gave a really great audition", are ways for people to be nice -- which is a good thing -- but recognizing that does make it hard to sound really sincerely thankful. It seems fradulent to respond to simple pleasantries as if they were actual words of praise. But that's how civilized society works. So, allow me to say with only the faintest wink of an eye that I'm sure is unnoticeable: thank you very much.
Dan on 03.21.06 @ 08:47 PM CT [link]

Friday, March 17th

Theater


"Feel as larky as a skylark larking in the sky. Lucky lark who feels as good as I." Yes, the weekend for the Round Lake Area Park District Community Theatre's "Narnia" is here at last. A 40 person cast will be larking it up tonight and tomorrow at 7:30, Sunday at 2. At the high school.
Dan on 03.17.06 @ 11:49 AM CT [link]

Tuesday, March 14th

Music


Today I was listening to a couple of my old albums, The Garmonbozia Within and More Nuggets Of Joy. It's amazing how primitive they sound to me now, and these were the 8th and 9th albums I'd made. And yet, I can still hear some good tunes and clever lyrics -- sometimes even in the same song! But they did generally seem to have some problems, like the drums were mixed too low and the bass was either muddy or just too loud. But I still like them. Maybe I should re-record them with my current mad skillz! I wonder if the equipment I used on the last two albums makes that much difference. Because the guitar, keyboards, drum machine and mics have been the same for a long, long time. But for One With Landru, and the subsequent Killer Owl album, which sound so much better, I switched from recording on a 4-track cassette to an 8-track minidisc. And I think that's when I started using a vocal harmony processor. Maybe I've also finally hit on a good technique for my recording process. I'd kind of hope there's more to it than just better equipment. I wonder if 10 years from now I'll look back on the stuff I've recorded recently and think the same thing, that I can't believe how crudely primitive these recordings are. You know, the way people look at old pictures and laugh -- or groan -- at the clothes and hair, and feel superior about how sensible and normal we are today. And in the future they'll do the same with pictures from today.
Dan on 03.14.06 @ 11:09 PM CT [link]

Saturday, March 11th

TV


I suppose it was a long shot, but we didn't make it past the written test for "The World Series of Pop Culture". I'd have to say it was a pretty hard test. They don't tell anyone their scores, but it sounds as if each of us (me and 2 others) probably got between 35 and 40 right out of 50 questions. And that's not going to cut it. But our team name got singled out when they were killing time and the P.A. who seemed to be running things read off some he liked. Of course, it wasn't clear if he would have liked the *real* name. Our name was "Elvis Needs Boats", but someone had written it down as "Elvis Needs Boots" -- I assume they thought "boats" didn't make sense and decided it must be a typo.
Dan on 03.11.06 @ 06:15 PM CT [link]

Friday, March 10th

Theater


It looks like there could be a break from shows for a bit. Nothing from ETC. And, even though there are 3 decent auditions next week ("Lily, The Felon's Daughter", "The Movie Game", and "One Flew Over The Cuckoo's Nest"), they're all scheduled during "Narnia's" tech week, which leaves me out! That's some amazing timing.
Dan on 03.10.06 @ 03:05 PM CT [link]

Sunday, March 5th

Theater


There's one more weekend of "Butterflies Are Free", followed by a weekend of "Narnia". That means it's audition time again! I went to the Elgin Theatre Company for the first time. They're doing "Moon Over Buffalo", which has 4 male and 4 female roles. There were 10 women and 2 guys, counting me. I imagine they'll have a lot more tomorrow. The Oscars were on tonight, to go along with some messy snow. They had me read a couple scenes, but I think they were mostly dealing with how to sort out all the chicks.
Dan on 03.05.06 @ 11:00 PM CT [link]


TV


Now, I've never actually watched "Deal Or No Deal", so maybe it's not my place to cast aspersions. But what little I've read about it made me uninterested. And seeing a bit about it on "Best Week Ever" confirms it. Remember when "Who Wants To Be A Millionaire" was big -- it's still on, by the way -- and some people complained that it was too easy? (Which I'd have to disagree with.) Well, a monkey could play "Deal Or No Deal". Or a well-behaved dog. (He picked at one. He licked the other. He went in circles. He dropped dead.) As far as I can tell, it's no different from asking a kid to pick the hand with the nickel in it: left or right? Hey, you win! Is it possible there's a "game show" easier and more pointless than "Street Smarts"? Heaven help us.
Dan on 03.05.06 @ 12:18 PM CT [link]

Friday, March 3rd

Theater


"Butterflies Are Free" is ready to roll. Tonight's the first of 6 shows at Victory Memorial Hospital in Waukegan. I'm sure the anticipation will mount to a painful level before Ralph Austin, the director of the play for which the girl auditions, makes his grand appearance, insults the blind kid's mother and unwittingly breaks up the lovely couple. The blind kid, his mom, and the next door neighbor chick are all pretty talented. And you can see them for $12. Or volunteer to usher or help out somehow and see it for free.
Dan on 03.03.06 @ 01:14 PM CT [link]

Wednesday, March 1st

Politics


So, for the last week or so, I've been bombarded with mail and phone calls about how McSweeney's running a negative primary campaign against other Republicans for Congress around here. I wouldn't have known about it otherwise. All of the noise about it is coming from the Salvi campaign. From what I've pieced together, it sounds to me as if the whole thing got started after McSweeney tried to defend himself against an attack by Salvi's husband, who used an out-of-context quote to characterize McSweeney's position on abortion as different from what it really is.

Today I finally saw something from McSweeney, which basically said we need a businessman like McSweeney in Congress, and not a personal injury trial lawyer like Salvi. Is that the kind of negative attack ad that's gotten the Salvi campaign in a frothy dither? I guess calling someone out as a lawyer is pretty dirty pool! And it seems that Salvi's husband is also a lawyer. All the smack they've been talking (whining?) about how the other guy is being negative pretty much seals my mind against voting for her. The fact that she and her husband are both lawyers doesn't help her case. I wasn't all that worked up about anyone in particular before, but everything the Salvis have done recently has put me firmly in McSweeney's camp. Until a few weeks ago, she seemed about as good as any of them. Unfortunately, the Salvis have struck strong and hard and relentlessly, which is probably the way to run a campaign. They're even pressing the point that McSweeney's campaign is failing and desperate, when from where I'm sitting, it seems as if that describes her campaign. Very smart. Sadly, what they've been saying is probably all that most voters will hear, and that may be what's gotten me a little riled up about the whole thing. I wish there was a way people could get the whole picture and not just whatever's being shouted the loudest. I guess in 3 weeks we'll find out if her strategy is as brilliant as it appears to be. Is attacking someone while denouncing the concept of going on the attack the way to go? Being better than average at manipulating words and people is a given for successful lawyers such as the Salvis.
Dan on 03.01.06 @ 11:05 PM CT [link]