Halloween
When I first moved to the Chicago area, Halloween seemed strange because just about everywhere, kids went trick or treating on Halloween night. There weren't beggars' nights (or days) with hours designated by the town. But now, 16 years later, it seems like most places have gone to specifying trick or treat hours, like it always was when I was a kid. So today I was interrupted all afternoon by kids at the door, some of them with no patience at all. And, even though it feels cheap, I gave one piece of candy to each person, in the hopes of not running out. I'm guessing that's what most people do. Who knows. But that makes me wonder why anyone, except the really small kids, bothers going out. Just spend a few bucks and buy your own bags of candy. People still come, though. Not enough to use up my 3 bags of candy. There were supposedly 15 pieces in each bag and I'm sitting on 13 leftover bite size reese's cups.
Dan on 10.30.05 @ 04:40 PM CT [link]
Saturday, October 29th
Theater
I went to my first rehearsal of "The Nutcracker" today, a Round Lake Area Park District Community Theater/Studio of Dance co-production. Holy cow. I wasn't really surprised -- it was pretty much what I was expecting -- but it's a little jarring with the long dialogue-free dance sequences and only instrumental music. And it's slightly overwhelming to jump in at the 6th weekend of rehearsals. But never fear, in my role as Herr Drosselmeyer, I won't have to fumble through all the fancy serious dance type of dancing. You know, as opposed to the kind of dancing I've done in musicals. The main thought I had was, whoa, this is almost all blocking. Much more than I could scribble down in the margins of the script. Compare that to "Charlie Brown" -- opening next Friday! -- which has very little blocking. Outside of the musical numbers, the "Charlie Brown" characters very often just pop up on one part of the stage, say a couple lines, and disappear.
"The Nutcracker" will be my 6th show of 2005. I didn't really think that would be possible when my 1st show didn't open till Memorial Day weekend.
Dan on 10.29.05 @ 03:50 PM CT [link]
Monday, October 24th
Hurricanes
This picture is from hurricane Wilma in south Florida. I like to think that someone did this on a lark before they evacuated, not knowing who might see it. As opposed to it being the work of some enterprising photographer hoping to get the wire services to buy something from him. Either way, it's pretty cool.
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Dan on 10.24.05 @ 12:49 PM CT [
link]
Thursday, October 20th
Theater
Opening night's only two weeks away. "Charlie Brown" is at the Jack Benny Center For The Performing Arts in Waukegan. $12; or $10 for the kids. November 4th, 5th, 11th, and 12th at 8 pm; November 6th at 3 pm. (Remember, that's me as Schroeder. And a bunch of talented triple threats as CB, Lucy, Linus, Patty, Frieda, Snoopy & Woodstock.)
Dan on 10.20.05 @ 08:21 PM CT [
link]
Wednesday, October 19th
Trouble Train
You'd think I'd be sick of the Killer Owl album by now, as familiar with it as I natually am, but I still keep listening to it. I've replaced the CDs in my car several times in the last month, but kept that one in there. You could make some kind of argument about false praise or left-handed compliments, but it could be the best recording I've made. Best. Album. Ever. I stopped listening to it long enough to update the band description on download.com.
Vanilla pudding.
Vanilla ice cream.
I even fall asleep in my wildest dreams.
Dan on 10.19.05 @ 09:38 AM CT [link]
Tuesday, October 18th
Traffic
Who is it that's supposed to make sure that freight trains don't come through during rush hour? No, really. I want to know so I can vote against him and choose the lesser (or greater) of evils the next time he's up for election. There is such a rule, yes? I mean, I thought I've heard of that. And surely it's not just dumb luck that I've gone a year -- until today -- without having to wait for trains in the morning, other than commuter trains. Not that those few minutes make that much of a difference. Trains can't be blamed for all the slow drivers. Every time I hear someone complaining about how the problem is all the speeders and how much of a menace they are and oh, think of the children!, I can only think that you wouldn't have so many people going 80 when they get the chance if they hadn't just spent 10 minutes stuck behind someone going 40. The sad thing is that I'm sure these sub-speed limit drivers believe they're actually helping.
Dan on 10.18.05 @ 09:08 AM CT [link]
Monday, October 17th
No Gas
Phillips 66? Phillips Nixty-Nix!
Dan on 10.17.05 @ 10:14 PM CT [link]
Sunday, October 16th
The New Style
I'm not sure if I should change, but I kind of want to try out an interface that looks like a blog, as opposed to my old straightforward, simple html. Greymatter is open source and it appears that you've really got to dig into it to do any customizations. But it is free, so I'm giving it a shot as my blog software.
The previous content is still available, but I'll be making new updates here, unless I decide to bail on the new style. There doesn't seem to be any easy way to import all the old stuff and it's probably not worth wasting any time trying.
Dan on 10.16.05 @ 06:54 PM CT [link]
