Life, Fannishness, and Thespic Infatuation

This weekend was a C.S. Lewis weekend at work.

Friday night was a one-man show starring David Payne as C. S. Lewis. I got to see pretty much all of Act I and much of Act II. The play is presented as if you've stopped by to visit Jack, and he tells you stories about his life to entertain you while waiting for his brother to arrive.

We also screened the three Narnia movies over the course of the weekend, though having read only the first book, I didn't watch any of the second two movies.

My favorite quote of the weekend . . . when talking about the change of diet his state of health required:

"He that but looketh on a plate of ham and eggs to lust after it hath already committed breakfast with it in his heart."

:D

Happy Independence Day to my American f-listies! I hope you have a safe and festive day with family, food, fireworks, and fun.

I've just gotten back from giving open house tours of the theater restoration where I work and will be working once the theater opens. My feet are numb, I've melted in sweat, and I'm ready for a nice cold shower. But the theater is going to be quite amazing when it's finished!

In a couple of hours, Geo and I will be heading back to the theater to watch the fireworks from the new "garden terrace" balcony of the theater. I get fireworks this year! Whenever I miss out on fireworks, July 4 just doesn't seem quite finished.

Actually, it's hard to believe that it's July 4 already. Where is the summer going?

Each year, I try to share a quote from 1776 one of my favorite musicals, that really brings to life the personalities of those individuals and motivations of the American Revolution. The following quote is one that was running through my head (though I couldn't remember it exactly) with the most recent turn in the road with our adoption journey--

Abigail Adams, reminding John of something he'd told her:

Commitment, Abby, commitment. There are only two creatures of value on the face of this earth--those with a commitment and those who require the commitment of others.

"When [actors] are talking, they are servants of the dramatist. It is what they can show the audience when they are not talking that reveals the fine actor."

~Sir Cedric Hardwicke

You know who I immediately thought of, right?

It's driving me a little nuts.

I'm into S3 of SPN now, and during the opening "Then"s, Dean says, "Dad's gone now, and we have to carry out his legacy. That means killing as many evil sons of bitches as we can."

For the life of me, I can't place that quote. What ep is it from, or is it a VO that they had Jensen record for the purposes of the "Then"s?

Anyone?

Anyone?

Bueller?

Three of the best lines in TV ever:

1. Are you my mummy?

2. Whatever you do, don't blink.

3. Count the shadows.

(Okay, that last one just sent a shiver down my spine.)

And so, since pie is a common point of interest in both the NX Cookbook and SPN, I thought I'd post some items of interest from the book regarding pie. (Page 108)

( Holling [Vincour] on Cream Pies )

( Maurice [Minnifield] on Cream Pies )

( Shelly [Tambo] on Cream Pies )

And as a bonus, ( Adam on Salad Dressing )

Honestly, NX cracks me up. Maybe I'll pull out some of those over hiatus. Also, someone once wrote a NX/SPN x-over of sorts. I have no idea where I misplaced that link.

Off to bake a pie. And make my own crust this time. Wish me luck.

From tonight's Pushing Daisies:

Olive: Myyyyy, look at all those bridges.

Chuck: And all that water flowing under them.

I need a Pushing Daisies icon.

I don't have too much to say about the strike, as I don't know a whole lot about it. What I do know about it, I support the writers. I continually find it amazing that corporations (i.e., the studio execs) value their personnel (in this case, the writers) so little. IIRC, the last writers strike resulted in the abundance of "reality" TV we "enjoy" today. (Yeah, I know. Some people love reality TV. Imo, from what I've seen of it, with the exception maybe of the talent-oriented shows, it's little more than loosely scripted soap opera. But I digress.) I'm just constantly amazed that the higher-ups don't seem to get that they make money from the talents of their production crews . . . starting with the writers. No writers, no stories. No stories, nothing to produce. And if they're gonna make money from the work of these employees, it only makes sense that they give these employees a fair shake. I mean, yeah, there comes a point wherein a product loses its original value, but it seems quite unconscionable to say to an artist (or any other employee), oh, sure, we'll pay you for the work--after it's lost its value. (I refer to an article I read somewhere that said the studios would give the writers a portion of what's made off their shows, like, six weeks after it hits the 'Net. In other words, when everyone who wants to see it has already seen it and they aren't making money off it anymore).

It's stupid of the studios not to pay their talent a portion of the revenue generated from Internet "broadcasts." Seriously. The writers (and actors and costumers and set designers, etc.) produced the show, you're making advertising bucks off the show--pay your employees, for goodness sake! Pay them *something*. They're not doing this on a volunteer basis, and they're not doing this for their health. Shop Owner Friend back home, when I was working at the pawn shop, told me that he believed in thanking his employees verbally, but he also believed in thanking his employees in a more practical way, monetarily. (I didn't stay at the shop long enough to start making commission, but that's what he was referring to.) If only the studios understood this, what with living in one of the most expensive areas of the country and all.

Now, I'll be fair and acknowledge the fact that the studio execs have people they answer to--their boards of directors, their shareholders, and the like. And I'm also of the opinion that in a lot of ways, that some unions have more power than they should in this country. However, I worked wardrobe on a non-union indie film a few years ago, and it truly did give me a new appreciation for why Hollywood unions exist. The hours I worked would *never* have been allowed by a union. The pay I received, same thing. I'm glad I had the experience, and I did it because Geo was involved in the project, but I totally understand why production and crew people need rules that they can point to and say, "Hey! I'm allowed to have a life. I'm allowed to make a living from this." And if they feel they're being taken advantage of, they need to stand up for themselves.

All this babbling to say the following: "Pastor Dale" at my church back home always does a Labor Day sermon on the value and importance of work. In one such sermon, he talked about how writing poetry was just as important a job as fixing cars. One of my favorite quotes came from that sermon. It's a paraphrase of something written by John William Gardner, something to the effect of this (insert "writer" for "philosopher" if you like):

A society that values neither its plumbers nor its philosophers is a society in which neither its pipes nor its ideas hold water.

Okay, it's not like I need any more t-shirts. I've got a whole drawer full of t-shirts from various plays I've been in, places I've vacationed, and that Geo has brought home for me.

But looking through a novelty catalogue recently, I came across some that just so fit me:
* What part of MUAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA don't you understand?
* What I really need are minions.

And there's the ever-popular:
* Do not meddle in the affairs of Dragons, for you are crunchy and good with ketchup.

Closely realted to:
* If you can't stand the heat, don't tickle the dragon.

Then there's one of my favorites, which I haven't seen in a long time:
* If all the world's a stage, I want better lighting.


It's sunny outside, and Geo is more chipper today. This is a good thing. :-)