Tonight I went to an Oscar party after striking down the Visit, and we watched the Oscars. I'm not gonna lie, I was throughly impressed. I laughed, some people cried, I learned. But I thought I might as well talk about it.
Amazing. The whole show. Props to you, Oscar people. The focus on "nominees" was a cool idea, and having the dance people dance out the nominees tickled me inside. They made a gun for Departed, a shoe thing for "Devil Wears Prada," and my favorite, the logo from "Snakes on a Plane."
There was also this really cool sound effects choir, which I really want to be a part of someday. They made noises, and yet they made music. Brings a tear to the eye, really.
And Ellen. I really like that Ellen Degen-lesbian person. She is a card. Probably the best host in a few years, not gonna lie.
The actual awards left us sometimes cheering and sometimes going "what? Huh?" Everyone was happy when Scorsese won Best director (wouldn't it've been funny if the "United 93" guy beat him? Am I right?). I mean, this was a monumental year. And then Jennifer Hudson and Alan Arkin for best supporting..who knew? Hudson, holy crap, raised in the Southside of this beautiful Chicago, loses on American Idol, and wins an Oscar. Suck on that, Reuben Studurd. Douche. I was a bit disappointed Wahlburg didn't win, but I guess I'll let that go. I liked Little Miss Sunshine. And then, duh, that GILF Helen won best actress, and that black guy won best actor. Diverse group, no movie dominating. I like that. You can smell the fear.
Best part of the night: Melissa Ethridge taking out three Dreamgirl's songs for Best Original Song. Funny stuff. The only way it could be worse would be if Randy Newman won. And I would stop watching.
Worst part: Jerry Seinfeld sucks. That whole rant about how he should be allowed to litter in movie theaters made me angry for all those hard-working, undereducated movie theater workers. C'mon, Jerry, you have nothing going for you. And Al Gore. Didn't like you at the Grammys, don't like you at the Academy Awards. Why don't you go get fatter? Huh? You hear that?
And best picture: The Departed (say it, De-paw-ted). I was a little taken aback, but I'll take it. I have owned for a few weeks, and I guess we'll have to have a Departy so that everyone can watch it.
Anyway, Marty, if you're reading, Congratulations! And I mean that, from the bottom of my heart. And Helen, if you're not too busy, maybe we can hang out sometime......
--Barry
Monday, February 26, 2007
Friday, February 23, 2007
Sure as a Rock
That's what I said last night in our first show since last week. The line's supposed to be "Firm as a rock," and then later I say "Sure as a gun." The funny thing is that the two girls behind me repeat what I say. So, after I messed up the line, there was a ten second pause where I'm sure they deliberated if they should repeat such a retarded line, and then they did. I have a feeling I'll never live this down. Whatevs, I'll add it to the list.
Other than that, the show went pretty smoothly. I'm hoping tonight will go a lot better, we shall see....and then the 'rents come Saturday. This will be interesting.
After the show, I went over to the Burgo's house and chilled. I watched 'Lost' for the first time since last season, and I had no idea what was going on. I hate shows that confuse me more than I am already. It's not fair.
After Lost, we went back to Zips and started doing a reading of "Arcadia," one of the shows going up in the mainstage next year. I really hope I'm able to get into this one--it'll be pretty cool. The basic premise is that people in present time are trying to figure out what happened 200 years ago, and the play switches between the two periods. Some of it gets incredibly dry, but some is really funny. The reading went pretty well--and there's a bunch of juicy male roles. I'm pumped. Other than that, we're putting up 'Guys and Dolls,' so I'll have to work on my Fugue for Tinhorns. I was in Guys and Dolls once in middle school. I was Harry the Horse, and to answer any questions that are burning in your head, no, I was not an actual horse. I was just some bookie guy. I'm hoping for something better this time around. We're also doing other stuff, but I can't remember what that is. Oh well.
One last thought. Oscars. 2007. What's up with that? Maybe later I'll post my thoughts, but unfortunately I haven't actually seen almost any of the Best Picture noms. I feel like a loser. But I keep my spirits up.
Firm as a gun,
Barry
Other than that, the show went pretty smoothly. I'm hoping tonight will go a lot better, we shall see....and then the 'rents come Saturday. This will be interesting.
After the show, I went over to the Burgo's house and chilled. I watched 'Lost' for the first time since last season, and I had no idea what was going on. I hate shows that confuse me more than I am already. It's not fair.
After Lost, we went back to Zips and started doing a reading of "Arcadia," one of the shows going up in the mainstage next year. I really hope I'm able to get into this one--it'll be pretty cool. The basic premise is that people in present time are trying to figure out what happened 200 years ago, and the play switches between the two periods. Some of it gets incredibly dry, but some is really funny. The reading went pretty well--and there's a bunch of juicy male roles. I'm pumped. Other than that, we're putting up 'Guys and Dolls,' so I'll have to work on my Fugue for Tinhorns. I was in Guys and Dolls once in middle school. I was Harry the Horse, and to answer any questions that are burning in your head, no, I was not an actual horse. I was just some bookie guy. I'm hoping for something better this time around. We're also doing other stuff, but I can't remember what that is. Oh well.
One last thought. Oscars. 2007. What's up with that? Maybe later I'll post my thoughts, but unfortunately I haven't actually seen almost any of the Best Picture noms. I feel like a loser. But I keep my spirits up.
Firm as a gun,
Barry
Monday, February 19, 2007
Opening Weekend Musings
Right now, I'm tip-typing away next to a man with a self-imposed bald spot. He looks like some monk from the Church of Creepers with Mustaches.
He plays the Burgomaster in "The Visit."
Last Friday was our first official show. There was some craziness caused by the fact that one of the cast members (and the girl who's cast as Cinderella for the musical) suffered from a collapsed lung that morning. We were able to cover it, and everything went pretty smoothly. At some point in the first scene, the gloves I carry fell out of my pocket and into the audience, never to be seen again. This apparently severely pissed off one of the ASMs, but I think she already thought I was mildly retarded. For some reason I can never really escape that stigma. Alas, live and let live. Plus, I only have to put up with her crap for another weekend. It's only her too...the other ASM and stage manager are totally cool.
Whatever. I'm not gonna worry about it too much. They had an extra pair of gloves, so it all worked out. And now all I have to look forward is strike.
The process, however, has been great. The cast is bomb diggity, and now I have my foot firmly planted in the door of the Loyola theater fun time group. I get a pretty cool bloody apron as the town butcher/abortionist. And I smoke a bunch of cigarettes. Crazy times. I'm pretty pumped for next weekend, when the fam shows up to see it. You could come too, if you cared at all. Thursday, Friday, Saturday, and Sunday. You have plenty of options. But you're a douche. I see.
Whatevs. It's been a total blast so far, and as my first non-musical stage experience, I say it's a great success.
Over two kilos (that's a quote)--
Barry
He plays the Burgomaster in "The Visit."
Last Friday was our first official show. There was some craziness caused by the fact that one of the cast members (and the girl who's cast as Cinderella for the musical) suffered from a collapsed lung that morning. We were able to cover it, and everything went pretty smoothly. At some point in the first scene, the gloves I carry fell out of my pocket and into the audience, never to be seen again. This apparently severely pissed off one of the ASMs, but I think she already thought I was mildly retarded. For some reason I can never really escape that stigma. Alas, live and let live. Plus, I only have to put up with her crap for another weekend. It's only her too...the other ASM and stage manager are totally cool.
Whatever. I'm not gonna worry about it too much. They had an extra pair of gloves, so it all worked out. And now all I have to look forward is strike.
The process, however, has been great. The cast is bomb diggity, and now I have my foot firmly planted in the door of the Loyola theater fun time group. I get a pretty cool bloody apron as the town butcher/abortionist. And I smoke a bunch of cigarettes. Crazy times. I'm pretty pumped for next weekend, when the fam shows up to see it. You could come too, if you cared at all. Thursday, Friday, Saturday, and Sunday. You have plenty of options. But you're a douche. I see.
Whatevs. It's been a total blast so far, and as my first non-musical stage experience, I say it's a great success.
Over two kilos (that's a quote)--
Barry
Saturday, February 17, 2007
A Plug
Last night was opening night for my show, "The Visit," where I star as town butcher/abortionist. It's good time. Here are some dates:
Saturday: 7:30
Sunday: 2:00
Next weekend:
Thursday, Friday, Saturday: 7:30
Sunday: 2:00
Crazy times.
"We may be heathens, but we are not Jews..."
--Barry
Saturday: 7:30
Sunday: 2:00
Next weekend:
Thursday, Friday, Saturday: 7:30
Sunday: 2:00
Crazy times.
"We may be heathens, but we are not Jews..."
--Barry
Wednesday, February 14, 2007
FREAKIN SNOW!!!! and a lesson about karma
Today. Was intense. I woke up this morning in a bit of a daze, and said to myself "O Barry, I should sleep now instead of going to my 11:30 class." As always, it was a pretty decent idea, and I didn't really notice the damage that WINTER BLAST 2007 WA-HOO!! left at Chicago until I went to lunch around 1 PM.
It was ca-razy. Snow was piled up in giant mounds everywhere. Little girls were being knocked over by the wind. The snow would whip you in the face no matter which direction you walked, as if saying, "that's right. Take it." At least that's what it said to me.
In it's own way though, it was beautiful. I took some pictures of it while waiting for the El, but I can't put them up because my camera batteries are dead. Sucks for you, I know. The snow always dampens the sound, so where ever you walk it seems as though you're in your own little microcosm. What can I say? I prefer to call myself a romantic, not a weirdo.
And the lesson about karma. Two Thursdays ago I came home to find my computer had slit it's wrists. I sent it to the computer hospital last Tuesday, and happily received back in the mail today. I rushed up to my room (well, not really considering the wind eating my face) and turned that baby on...only to find it has the exact same problem. After exactly five minutes of being on, it turns itself off. I'm getting increasing pissed off as I talk about this. I'm not sure how this is a lesson in karma. I'm pretty much perfect, and I don't know why the universe would be mad at me...however, from now on I'm gonna try to be even more perfect. It'll be tough, but I don't want to be hammering out Blogs in the computer lab where everyone can read them. I guess everyone can read them anyway, considering the nature of blogs...
I found out their was a sale on the Office Season Dos at Borders until Valentine's Day. I made this epic-level journey only to find they had sold out. Don't ask me how, but I ended up buying a M.C. Escher coffee table book and"The Departed" DVD (apparently this is the first day it's out, and it was on sale for like freakin 20 bucks. I rule). Hopefully I can still find that Office Season Two somewhere (Borders has it on sale for $19.99. I want it soooooo bad)...
Happy V -Day!
--Barizzle
P.S. Not Happy VD day. No day with VD is happy.
It was ca-razy. Snow was piled up in giant mounds everywhere. Little girls were being knocked over by the wind. The snow would whip you in the face no matter which direction you walked, as if saying, "that's right. Take it." At least that's what it said to me.
In it's own way though, it was beautiful. I took some pictures of it while waiting for the El, but I can't put them up because my camera batteries are dead. Sucks for you, I know. The snow always dampens the sound, so where ever you walk it seems as though you're in your own little microcosm. What can I say? I prefer to call myself a romantic, not a weirdo.
And the lesson about karma. Two Thursdays ago I came home to find my computer had slit it's wrists. I sent it to the computer hospital last Tuesday, and happily received back in the mail today. I rushed up to my room (well, not really considering the wind eating my face) and turned that baby on...only to find it has the exact same problem. After exactly five minutes of being on, it turns itself off. I'm getting increasing pissed off as I talk about this. I'm not sure how this is a lesson in karma. I'm pretty much perfect, and I don't know why the universe would be mad at me...however, from now on I'm gonna try to be even more perfect. It'll be tough, but I don't want to be hammering out Blogs in the computer lab where everyone can read them. I guess everyone can read them anyway, considering the nature of blogs...
I found out their was a sale on the Office Season Dos at Borders until Valentine's Day. I made this epic-level journey only to find they had sold out. Don't ask me how, but I ended up buying a M.C. Escher coffee table book and"The Departed" DVD (apparently this is the first day it's out, and it was on sale for like freakin 20 bucks. I rule). Hopefully I can still find that Office Season Two somewhere (Borders has it on sale for $19.99. I want it soooooo bad)...
Happy V -Day!
--Barizzle
P.S. Not Happy VD day. No day with VD is happy.
Wednesday, February 07, 2007
Snowy Skokie
Last Thursday night, my computer died. Dead. Nada. Kaput. Game over. Do not pass go do not collect $200 dollars.
So I called Tech support, which is always interesting. Everyone there has the thick Indian accent, and I talk funny, so we end up repeating ourselves ad nauseum. Anyway, I was finally able to communicate to my tech support chick that my computer was unfixable by someone as qualified as myself. They promptly sent me a box with the firm instructions to only send it from a Fedex Store, the closest of which is in Skokie.
That was my journey today. The quest to Fedex. It started off innocently enough, me catching all the trains right in the nick of time, not having to wait for anything. I was somehow always afraid of Skokie. It sounded like a place I'd be totally cool with not ever having been to in my life. I mean Skokie, it sounds like some punchline, like Yonkers.
It turned out to be pretty enough. It reminded me of home, since most of everyone I know lives in the Toledo suburbs. Just a bunch of cute little houses huddled in the snow. And I had to trek through a needless block of the snow because I didn't know how to manage the Pace bus. And that's where my trouble began...
Shipping my laptop consisted of me waiting behind two people, both of which got a snappy response from the attendant ("um, it says that my package is here." "Yes, but it won't be available until tomorrow." "So, wait, it's here, but I have to wait a day to get it?" "Yes, sir, that's just how it works. NEXT!") I have expected her to chew me out for having the sticker in the wrong place, but I got finished in roughly two and half seconds.
Then I waited for the bus for 15 minutes. In subzero temperatures. Without gloves.
That wasn't the bad part. The bad part was my Chuck Taylors, which sucked up the water and turned my little piggies into toesicles. I have expected to peel my sock off when I got home and find my foot had been turned black from frostbite. That might not be so good for my career...
However, I wouldn't let my foot take the rest of me down. I walked around a little of downtown Skokie, which consisted of mostly delis (Skokie has always for some reason brought up images of some sort of 'Jewville, USA,' and, like always, I wasn't far off). The food was good, and I left happy.
The real highlight of the trip, though, is that I was able to steal one of the Yellow Line map things. The Yellow Line has two stops...Howard, and Skokie. But for some reason they figured they might as well put up maps. For all those people who felt their intelligence was insulted, I decided to steal one and plus it adds to my collection (I got red, and purple, and that's about it right now).
Alright, well I gotta peace,
B to the arry.
So I called Tech support, which is always interesting. Everyone there has the thick Indian accent, and I talk funny, so we end up repeating ourselves ad nauseum. Anyway, I was finally able to communicate to my tech support chick that my computer was unfixable by someone as qualified as myself. They promptly sent me a box with the firm instructions to only send it from a Fedex Store, the closest of which is in Skokie.
That was my journey today. The quest to Fedex. It started off innocently enough, me catching all the trains right in the nick of time, not having to wait for anything. I was somehow always afraid of Skokie. It sounded like a place I'd be totally cool with not ever having been to in my life. I mean Skokie, it sounds like some punchline, like Yonkers.
It turned out to be pretty enough. It reminded me of home, since most of everyone I know lives in the Toledo suburbs. Just a bunch of cute little houses huddled in the snow. And I had to trek through a needless block of the snow because I didn't know how to manage the Pace bus. And that's where my trouble began...
Shipping my laptop consisted of me waiting behind two people, both of which got a snappy response from the attendant ("um, it says that my package is here." "Yes, but it won't be available until tomorrow." "So, wait, it's here, but I have to wait a day to get it?" "Yes, sir, that's just how it works. NEXT!") I have expected her to chew me out for having the sticker in the wrong place, but I got finished in roughly two and half seconds.
Then I waited for the bus for 15 minutes. In subzero temperatures. Without gloves.
That wasn't the bad part. The bad part was my Chuck Taylors, which sucked up the water and turned my little piggies into toesicles. I have expected to peel my sock off when I got home and find my foot had been turned black from frostbite. That might not be so good for my career...
However, I wouldn't let my foot take the rest of me down. I walked around a little of downtown Skokie, which consisted of mostly delis (Skokie has always for some reason brought up images of some sort of 'Jewville, USA,' and, like always, I wasn't far off). The food was good, and I left happy.
The real highlight of the trip, though, is that I was able to steal one of the Yellow Line map things. The Yellow Line has two stops...Howard, and Skokie. But for some reason they figured they might as well put up maps. For all those people who felt their intelligence was insulted, I decided to steal one and plus it adds to my collection (I got red, and purple, and that's about it right now).
Alright, well I gotta peace,
B to the arry.
Sunday, February 04, 2007
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