Turning into Stephen???

Without even an intentional plan to do so, I'm in the midst of one of my more ambitious periods of reading, this early summer.

In early June, I blew through volume six of the Harry Potter series (my 2nd time through, in preparation - as a lot of others are preparing - for the release of volume seven). That was pretty easy game, and a fast read, of course. I then, on a whim, undertook the legendary Catcher in the Rye. One of those "I know I should read it" situations that'd been lingering for years. I'm pleased to say that I'm Loving It. As I mentioned to Mighty Tom yesterday, it's fascinating (and satisfying) to see such a complex and disarmingly insightful character in a book that is that been so highly regarded and popular through the years. It's a surprisingly short book, and I've been squeezing in a couple of chapters a night, with just a couple to go.

Concurrently, I am aspiring to mix in audiobook "podcasts" into my nearly every day cardio machine workouts. Based on a tip from Mixdorf, I checked out LibriVox, which is a volunteer endeavor to record as many public domain works to electronic audio as possible. My first download, which I'm (also) about a chapter or two from finishing, is The Strange Case of Dr. Jeckyll and Mr. Hyde, which is (beautifully) read by an Englishman with a wonderful pace and speaking voice. My sense, being new to the whole audiobook thing, is that the reader is everything. I lucked out here. Anyway, my next audiobook is going to be Mary Shelly's Frankenstein. Theme? Classic horror for early afternoon workouts? Two corroborative methods for raising my heart rate???

My next print book I'm planning to launch into? A Morbid Taste for Bones, by Ellis Peters. By chance, on the way back from camping this last weekend, Sharon said she wanted to watch a movie (a relatively rare occurence in and of itself). We swung by the library and found an episode from a PBS movie series based on the Brother Cadfael series. Basically, a murder-solving, progressive and worldly monk, seeming to be a bit in the model of William of Baskerville from Umberto Eco's In the Name of the Rose (though the publication of the first book in the series predates In the Name... by three years). We watched the episode/movie (over 100 minutes long) and, while it was pretty good, we had the sense it was hacked and condensed quite a bit from the original book. I can't wait to get started on that. I'm absolutely fascinated with the history of Christianity through the middle ages. Such vileness, savagery, and political maneuvering; yet how amazing the works of art and richness of pomp & circumstance. If this series proves to be even partly as fascinating on those counts as was Eco's book, I'm in for quite a ride, as there are 20 books in the series.

It's Been Awhile Since My Last Bush Rant

The fact that Bush (& anyone associated) can climb up on a podium and actually begin sentences like, "What the American people have to understand is..." is not only the act of somebody utterly without shame, it's insulting and infuriating to those of us who seem to have a better handle on policy with 1% of the information he has. We've long talked about the whole "is Bush dumb" thing, but I gotta say - there's a lot of evidence to suggest the man is sick in the head. No one would have that much gall.

While I'm on the subject, I'm kind of amazed that a press corps can sit around, straight-faced, and take notes while this moron rambles on. I keep half-expecting somebody - ANYBODY - to stand up and suddenly say, "Is he for real?" What gives?!?" I was watching the press conference with Bush sending off Tony Blair and, regardless of my political differences; when Blair spoke, I was listening to an intelligent and even somewhat inspiring man. Bush followed him and started up with his ridiculous, "I know one thing - what the world needs is courage, and here stands a courageous man..." bullshit. Completely without substance and, of course, hemmed, hawed, & stammered. I swear to God, it seems like one of that spate of movies in the late 80s where kids suddenly were in adult bodies. He sounds like a friggin 4th grader. And a mean bully one, at that.

I'm sitting there, watching the press and various dignitaries in attendance; the majority if not all of them learned people with lengthy, impressive resumes, who have reached the pinnacle of their career to be on the short list of attendees at a White House. And I'm thinking, "Jesus, the President of the United States is the dumbest guy in the room."

It's funny, but this punk-ass chimp wrecking the world renders it not quite so "ha ha funny."

By All That Is Holy...

Friends, buy Harry Potter from a huge bookstore chain, and everything else you read from an independent bookstore.

http://news.yahoo.com/s/nm/20070611/en_nm/retail_harrypotter_dc

Check THIS Out

My theatre's new kickass website. There's at least three images of me on the various pages, but I'm not suggesting that's what makes it kickass. Stephen, Mighty Tom , and The Johnsons may recognize the image on the front page as one from our production last summer.

Workout!

I've always been a guy that has, for the most part, shunned "that fancy equipment" in the local health clubs and focused on, pretty much, free weights for strength, and running for cardio fitness. Both things I can do on my own time, in (or around) my own home.

Enter 2007: Strapped with two kids that demand all of me at home, I have neither the time nor the energy to workout in the evenings. Mornings? I'm up late trying to get some time to myself, so forget about it. Plus, I'm fairly recently out of an appointment with an orthopedic specialist (should have blogged about it but didn't, for whatever reason), where some of my worst fears were confirmed about the current and potential future condition of my knees. Gone may be the super-intense, all-running-based training sessions and the pounding that puts on my knees. The recommendation? Cross-training; especially the low-impact kind, such as you can get from elliptical trainers, excercise bikes, and stair steppers (all of which I remember mocking heartily in my head as I strode between rows of them on my way to the running track at Bally's in the early 90s).

My workplace has an incredible fitness center that is available to me for $20 a month. I feel compelled to mention that nothing is a pittance these days, but this price is certainly a good one, compared to what I'd be paying at any of a number of health clubs in the Twin Ctiies. This morning I headed in for an initial fitness assessment (not good, not good, as a result of much theatre & parenting, and not many cardio workouts in the past seven months - but nothing too surprising). I went in with the idea that I would try to hit that club a couple of times a week and make it out to Hyland Park for a trail run once a week (all during business hours, mind you). After my first workout, I'm pretty excited about the amount of stuff they have in there, and the potential to mix it up a bit. I may try to step up the frequency from that initial goal, even. We'll see.

In any event, I had - in my first time on an elliptical machine - a grudging sort of awe at the ability to track my heart rate (trying not to let myself fury my way out of the "cardio zone") while working my way through a program that is specifically designed to work different muscle groups in your legs at different points during the workout. Wow.

Invited Dress

Lost from the radar of The Oliopolis is the culmination of the last year of building up funds, audience, connections and experience for my theatre group, and that is our play, "A Company of Wayward Saints." It's lost, no doubt, because I'm not acting in it; a very painful personal decision for me, due to my need to be at home with my family following an Insane Spring. But make no mistake, I've been quite busy with the play - trying to sell ads (gag!), writing press releases, helping at our performance space in assorted capacities ranging from actor fill-in at rehearsals to helping paint a stage.

We're on the eve of a 10 performance extravaganza, spanning three weeks. We're expecting reviewers from a couple of major local publications, and have brought in an impressive array of talent for our director and cast. In short, we've come a long way.

So, not being actually in the play (again, it hurts, it hurts!), I have the opportunity to see it with Lucy, which I will tonight at dress rehearsal. The play is in the commedia dell'arte style (think Gilligan's Island), and is quite uproarious and not a little bawdy. Here's my thoughts on that experience for her, lifted from an email I sent our box office manager today:

I'm just slightly iffy on the content for Lucy. Obviously, innuendo & such will go over her head, but kids are perceptive enough to know when things ARE going over their heads, and it seems kind of mean, in a small way, to let that happen. I guess that's the reason we don't have her watch any sort of "adult-oriented" TV & movies.

That said, I ended up thinking that the opportunity for her to be part of "the live theatre experience" is just too compelling. We've talked, at length, about all the rehearsing ("practicing") that goes on and everything that goes into to getting ready for the show, and about how it's kind of magical to be in the middle of a crowd where everybody is laughing together and getting serious together and seeing it all happen right then, in the moment. I'm hoping she'll just get caught up and be dazzled, and I don't have to sit there and explain thing after thing after thing.