Password considerations

May. 28th, 2025 12:40 pm
onepageatatime: Me outside St John's before my confirmation at the Easter Vigil 2016 (Default)
[personal profile] onepageatatime
I've been trying unsuccessfully to come up with a new password.

It's rare that I'm doing this myself: long ago, I outsourced the vast majority of my password creation to my password manager. Makes it much easier to not reuse passwords.

But one of my earliest passwords has stuck with me through thick and thin. (I think I first used it about 30 years ago.) At one time, it was, in some form or another, everywhere in my pre-password-manager days. Sometimes with digits added or a form of punctuation thrown in to get around rules that, at the time, felt pretty obnoxious. There is almost nowhere that I continue to use that password today.

Yes, I said almost.

That one place? My login to the computer I own.

But the time has come to change it. Not because I think it needs to be more secure (though it probably should be), but… because it refers to a part of my identity that is no longer. And in an area of my life where I have been moving in a different direction.

But I don't know what I want to change it to. And it's one of those passwords that I want to be easy to type because I need it every time I unlock my computer, and often when installing things on it. And trying to find that easy-to-type, having-meaning-to-me, and not being trivially easy for others to guess password feels like I may have to relax at least one of those points.

Did you miss me?

May. 28th, 2025 11:18 am
neonvincent: For posts about Twilight and trolling (Twilight Fandom wank trolls you)
[personal profile] neonvincent
I was busy preparing to travel and then traveling, so I skipped posting here.

Revenge Is A Dish Served … Orange

May. 27th, 2025 11:29 pm
[syndicated profile] cahighways_feed

Posted by cahwyguy

userpic=trumpRecently, there’s been a meme going around that states that Trump is going after Harvard because they rejected Barron, but accepted the Obamas. Now, that meme is pure supposition; Snopes rates it as unverified. To me, the reason that meme is going around is not its accuracy; it is because to the liberal community, it is plausible. That’s the real problem: We’ve come to believe that the President using the power of his office to take personal revenge on those who he believes has harmed him in any way is normal.

It is not.

The job of the President is to ensure that laws passed by Congress are enforced. He doesn’t get to create new laws; he doesn’t get to selectively enforce laws on those he doesn’t like. The President doesn’t get to take punitive action because someone told him “no”. The President doesn’t get to withhold legally authorized funding because a private organization exercised the right of free speech (or allowed a private individual, attending that private organization, to exercise the right of free speech).

It is clear that the President is selectively targeting Harvard. He doesn’t seem to be going after any other university with equal vengeance, so the impression being given is that this is some form of revenge. We don’t know the specifics, but revenge does seem the most logical explanation. After all, his excuse of antisemitism isn’t strongly borne out, nor would it engender this specific response (it hasn’t for other universities where similar speech has occurred). His excuse of wanting immigration records is also not borne out; HHS and ICE should already know the students on Student Visas that are attending Harvard. No, this is clearly punitive. This is a personal grudge.

We elect the President to work in the best interest of the nation, not himself or his family. We’ve already seen numerous examples of where this President is working to benefit his family or pocketbook.  We also expect the President to have a sufficiently thick skin that he can set aside the personal grudges while in office. After all, we didn’t elect a King (or Queen) that can yell “Off with their head” at the slightest provocation.

Harvard has done nothing to justify the response it is getting from this administration. We need to somehow get our congresscritters and the courts to stop this policies of revenge. I may not agree with what the Harvard students have said to provoke the President, but they do have the right to say it.

ETA: It appears that the attack on Harvard may be motivated not be revenge, but the Heritage Foundation’s Project Esther. The NY Times has a longer exploration of the project. However, it is important to remember that disagreeing with the Israeli government on the handling of Gaza DOES NOT imply agreement with the goals of Gaza leadership. In particular, support for a two-state solution, where it is recognized that both Israeli and a Palestinian nation have a right to exist in peace and with secure borders, is not antisemitism.

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Revenge Is A Dish Served ... Orange

May. 27th, 2025 11:29 pm
cahwyguy: (Default)
[personal profile] cahwyguy

userpic=trumpRecently, there’s been a meme going around that states that Trump is going after Harvard because they rejected Barron, but accepted the Obamas. Now, that meme is pure supposition; Snopes rates it as unverified. To me, the reason that meme is going around is not its accuracy; it is because to the liberal community, it is plausible. That’s the real problem: We’ve come to believe that the President using the power of his office to take personal revenge on those who he believes has harmed him in any way is normal.


It is not.


The job of the President is to ensure that laws passed by Congress are enforced. He doesn’t get to create new laws; he doesn’t get to selectively enforce laws on those he doesn’t like. The President doesn’t get to take punitive action because someone told him “no”. The President doesn’t get to withhold legally authorized funding because a private organization exercised the right of free speech (or allowed a private individual, attending that private organization, to exercise the right of free speech).


It is clear that the President is selectively targeting Harvard. He doesn’t seem to be going after any other university with equal vengeance, so the impression being given is that this is some form of revenge. We don’t know the specifics, but revenge does seem the most logical explanation. After all, his excuse of antisemitism isn’t strongly borne out, nor would it engender this specific response (it hasn’t for other universities where similar speech has occurred). His excuse of wanting immigration records is also not borne out; HHS and ICE should already know the students on Student Visas that are attending Harvard. No, this is clearly punitive. This is a personal grudge.


We elect the President to work in the best interest of the nation, not himself or his family. We’ve already seen numerous examples of where this President is working to benefit his family or pocketbook.  We also expect the President to have a sufficiently thick skin that he can set aside the personal grudges while in office. After all, we didn’t elect a King (or Queen) that can yell “Off with their head” at the slightest provocation.


Harvard has done nothing to justify the response it is getting from this administration. We need to somehow get our congresscritters and the courts to stop this policies of revenge. I may not agree with what the Harvard students have said to provoke the President, but they do have the right to say it.




===> Click Here To Comment <==This entry was originally posted on Observations Along the Road as Revenge Is A Dish Served ... Orange by cahwyguy. Although you can comment on DW, please make comments on original post at the Wordpress blog using the link to the left. You can sign in with your LJ, DW, FB, or a myriad of other accounts. Note: Subsequent changes made to the post on the blog are not propagated by the SNAP Crossposter; please visit the original post to see the latest version. P.S.: If you see share buttons above, note that they do not work outside of the Wordpress blog.

[syndicated profile] cahighways_feed

Posted by cahwyguy

The Spitfire Grill (Actors Co-Op)C’mon, what’s more appropriate for a church-based theatre company than a show about a raffle, right? Perhaps next they should mount the musical “Bingo – A Winning Musical”.

OK, I’ll be serious. As I’ve written before, this seems to be the year for seeing musicals that I’ve only heard, but never seen. A few years ago, a Foothill Performing Arts Center in San Fernando — the same one that mounted the rare musical version of Two Gentlemen of Verona that I love) tried to entice me to attend their production of The Spitfire Grill. For reasons I can’t remember now, I was unable to attend that production. But I remembered the show, and recently obtained the cast album. It had interesting music, and didn’t come off as your typical song-and-dance production.

Prompting the purchase of the album was the fact that a small company to which we had subscribed pre-pandemic included The Spitfire Grill in their 2024-2025 season. I wasn’t interested in the other shows, but made a note to explore Spitfire when it came around, and this company (Actors Co-Op) tends to do an excellent job with both plays and musicals (we really liked their last musical, The Human Comedy).

So, musical I had heard but never seen met a favorite company doing that musical. You know what that means: I purchased a ticket, and you get a writeup.

The Spitfire Grill is a popular small-theatre musical to license, as it has a cast of six and doesn’t require a lot of settings that require flyspace or theatrical magic. It is based on a 1996 film of the same name, and depicts the journey of a young woman just released from prison, who decides to start her life anew in a rural town in Wisconsin. As she starts her new life, the sparks a reawakening on the town, which has been down on its luck.

This woman, Percy Talbott, is finagled a job and lodging at the only diner in the small town of Gilead WI, The Spitfire Grill, by the town sheriff, Joe Sutter. The town is suspicious of her, and the town gossip and mail-mistress, Effy Krayneck, is spreading rumors. Percy has a prickly relationship with the Grill’s owner, Hannah Ferguson. After Hannah hurts her leg, Percy (who has no cooking experience) takes over the grill, assisted by the wife (Shelby Thorpe) of Hannah’s uncle and the town real estate agent, Caleb Thorpe. In the process of learning to run the grill, Percy learns that Hannah has a son that went to war and ended up MIA, and that Caleb has been trying to sell the grill for 10 years. Percy and Shelby become close, and the grill runs better after Shelby takes over the cooking (teaching Percy along the way). They come up with the idea to raffle off the grill for $100 an application, together with an “essay” of why people want the grill. As the first act ends, the letters start pouring in. Act II continues the story of the raffle, and how Percy and Shelby reenergize the town. There are some predictable results, if you know musical theatre, along with some twists that I wasn’t expecting.

The story itself fits in well with the mission of this company, as it focuses on redemption (in many ways). One of the problems I’ve had with Actors Co-Op (and it is really more my problem than theirs) is that they are a Christological theatre company. Their mission, as noted in every program, is to be “an outreach of Christ’s hope”. As a Jewish audience member, this can sometimes make their performance a bit too close to the preachiness line; that’s one reason I had no interest in their play Lewis and Tolkein earlier this season. This also makes me borderline on subscribing, as I don’t always get the breadth of shows I’d like. They haven’t quite gone back to the season subscription model yet post-COVID. If they do the membership model instead, I might be interested*. One thing that is always guaranteed with Actors Co-Op, however, is that you will have an excellent performance. In all our years of attending their shows, I don’t think there has been a single clunker.
————————-
* For those unclear on the difference: A subscription model guarantees you a seat to each show (sometimes they pick, sometimes you); a membership model is a donation that then guarantees a significant discount to shows.

This show was no exception. The talents and skill of the cast, combined with the story, drew you into the drama. The songs less so: the toe-tapping ones are few and far between, and it is unclear how well the songs propel the plot forward. They seem to be more emotional punctuation. I did tend to like “Out of the Frying Pan” and “Shine”. There were some outstanding performances of note. Caitlin Gallogly shone as Shelby Thorpe, with a remarkably clear and beautiful voice. She also excelled at the comedy aspects of the role, and had a likeable personality that was broadcast to the back of the theatre. Also strong was guest artist Hannah Howzdy as Percy Talbott. She captured the personality of Percy well, in terms of both the hesitancy and the strength. Lastly of note was Co-Op regular Lori Berg as Hannah Furguson, who captured the early bitter and lonely old woman well, as well as the rejuvenated Hannah in the second act.

The scenery was simple, but well done: two rocking chairs on the side, and a center turntable for both the opening scene and the diner (luckily it didn’t turn too much, as it was manually done and sliding, not rolling). Projections were well used to establish the seasons.

The Spitfire Grill continues at Actors Co-Op until June 8, 2025. It is nice heartwarming musical, not your typical song-and-dance piece, and well worth seeing. Tickets are available through the Actors Co-Op Site.

Credits

The Spitfire Grill. Music and book by James Valcg. Lyrics and Book by Fred Alley. Based on the film by Lee David Zlotoff. Directed by Bonnie Hellman.

Cast (æ indicates Actors Equity): Hannah Howzdy Percy Talbott; Gavin Michael Harris Sheriff Joe Sutter; Lori Berg Hannah Ferguson; Spencer Roweæ Caleb Thorpe; Treva Tegtmeieræ Effy Krayneck; Caitlin Galloglyæ Shelby Thorpe; Ben Kientz The Visitor / Eli.

Music Department: Stephen Van Dorn Musical Director. The orchestra is not credited in the program, but I know they were live because I heard them tuning.

Production and Creatives: Kimi Walker Producer; Nikki Alday Stage Manager; Rachel Kupfer-Weinstein Property Designer; Marc Antonio Pritchett Sound Designer; A. Jeffrey Schoenberg Costume Designer; Nick Foran Lighting Designer; Nick Santiago Projection Designer; Tim Farmer Scenic Designer; Judi Lewin Wig & Makeup Designer; Jennie White Asst. Stage Manager; Nora Feldman Press Representative; Spencer Rowe Marketing Show Manager.

Support Your Local Theatres

One last note: Under the 47 administration, arts are in peril. We’re seeing cuts to the Corporation for Public Broadcasting and the National Endowment for the Arts. Many theatres are seeing NEA grants pulled, putting at risk productions already budgeted and started, and also putting at risk future seasons and potentially the existence of companies. Pleading emails have gone out to supporters, for without government support is it up to us, the audience, to support the theatres. And before you say government shouldn’t be involved, remember that Queen Elizabeth was a patron of William Shakespeare, and enabled his art to be produced. The Theatre Communications Group had a nice article on this titled “Unkindest Cuts: How Theatres Are Managing the Loss of NEA Funds“, in which they note:

But the arts are a public good. They inform conversations, they teach empathy, they both tell us where we are in the world and yet somehow cause us to step away from where we are and travel somewhere else in our minds. They also contribute economically to their communities.

An easy thing you can do to show you care about the arts is contact your congressional representative, your senator, and the president. Complain to them about the terminations and about Trump’s plan to eliminate the NEA entirely. If you are pressed for time, click here for a form letter that will go to your representatives urging them to support NEA and NEH funding for next year. You can even add in a line about the grant cancellations.

You can also donate to the companies or programs in this story by clicking on the theatre names. Donate to other organizations you are attached to. Thankfully, some communities have been responding in exactly this way to the immediate cries of theatre companies.

[…]

Clearly, the fundraising needs of the American theatre go beyond just making up for the NEA grants terminated. We’re not going to save the world by making up for one $10,000 grant, but that will help.

If you can’t donate yourself, encourage others to do so. Post about a theatre company on social media. Encourage businesses to back theatre. Local businesses have recently been turning away from the arts, but if they know how important the arts are to their community, they might change course. It’s good business. I plan to go to Columbus in the fall, and I’m totally going to see if The Kitchen has a public event during that time.

There is talk about changing the funding and production infrastructure, sure, and those talks should continue, but right now we can raise money to assist struggling companies. There is, of course, the concern that raising money privately proves that the NEA isn’t necessary. But that fear can’t be as great as the need to help these companies.

[…]

Every little thing is a step in the right direction. Some terminated Institute for Museum and Library Services were already reinstated. That is because of some type of pressure.

Theatre will always happen, with or without federal money. But we’ve already seen tremendous downsizing in recent years, as a substantial number of theatres have shuttered since the pandemic. In just the last week, two theatres in major cities have announced “do or die” campaigns, and everywhere companies are doing fewer shows—and that hurts the creative landscape. Each blow stings. Just because one show or program can continue without a specific NEA grant doesn’t mean that funding isn’t necessary. We all need to work together to make sure theatre remains plentiful and accessible. Funding is needed.

Consider this message my part. Donate to your local theatres. Buy tickets. Attend shows. Spread the word about the fact you attend live theatre on all of your social media. Demonstrate that attending live performance is not a Democratic or a Republican thing. It is something that we as human beings need to nourish our souls, and that theatre artists must be free to express themselves, even if it puts itching powders in the clothing of the leadership. Theatre has long served as a commentary on society, whether it be Showboat in the 1920s, South Pacific in the 1960s, Chicago in the 1970s, Hairspray in the 2000s, or Hamilton in the 2010s.  Mr. President, theatre is much more than Cats.

Administrivia

I am not a professional critic. I’m a cybersecurity professional, a roadgeek who does a highway site and a podcast about California Highways, and someone who loves live performance. I buy all my own tickets, unless explicitly noted otherwise. I do these writeups to share my thoughts on shows with my friends and the community. I encourage you to go to your local theatres and support them (ideally, by purchasing full price tickets, if you can afford to do so). We currently subscribe or have memberships at: Center Theatre Group/Ahmanson TheatreBroadway in Hollywood/Pantages TheatrePasadena PlayhouseThe Soraya, and 5-Star Theatricals. We’re looking for the right intimate theatre to subscribe at — it hasn’t been the same since Rep East died (it’s now The Main, and although it does a lot of theatre, it doesn’t have seasons or a resident company), and post-COVID, most 99-seaters aren’t back to doing seasons (or seasons we like). I used to do more detailed writeups; here’s my current approach.

Upcoming ♦ Theatre / ♣ Music / ◊ Other Live Performance – Next 90ish Days (⊕ indicates ticketing is pending).

Share

cahwyguy: (Default)
[personal profile] cahwyguy

The Spitfire Grill (Actors Co-Op)C’mon, what’s more appropriate for a church-based theatre company than a show about a raffle, right? Perhaps next they should mount the musical “Bingo – A Winning Musical”.

OK, I’ll be serious. As I’ve written before, this seems to be the year for seeing musicals that I’ve only heard, but never seen. A few years ago, a Foothill Performing Arts Center in San Fernando — the same one that mounted the rare musical version of Two Gentlemen of Verona that I love) tried to entice me to attend their production of The Spitfire Grill. For reasons I can’t remember now, I was unable to attend that production. But I remembered the show, and recently obtained the cast album. It had interesting music, and didn’t come off as your typical song-and-dance production.

Prompting the purchase of the album was the fact that a small company to which we had subscribed pre-pandemic included The Spitfire Grill in their 2024-2025 season. I wasn’t interested in the other shows, but made a note to explore Spitfire when it came around, and this company (Actors Co-Op) tends to do an excellent job with both plays and musicals (we really liked their last musical, The Human Comedy).

So, musical I had heard but never seen met a favorite company doing that musical. You know what that means: I purchased a ticket, and you get a writeup.

The Spitfire Grill is a popular small-theatre musical to license, as it has a cast of six and doesn’t require a lot of settings that require flyspace or theatrical magic. It is based on a 1996 film of the same name, and depicts the journey of a young woman just released from prison, who decides to start her life anew in a rural town in Wisconsin. As she starts her new life, the sparks a reawakening on the town, which has been down on its luck.

This woman, Percy Talbott, is finagled a job and lodging at the only diner in the small town of Gilead WI, The Spitfire Grill, by the town sheriff, Joe Sutter. The town is suspicious of her, and the town gossip and mail-mistress, Effy Krayneck, is spreading rumors. Percy has a prickly relationship with the Grill’s owner, Hannah Ferguson. After Hannah hurts her leg, Percy (who has no cooking experience) takes over the grill, assisted by the wife (Shelby Thorpe) of Hannah’s uncle and the town real estate agent, Caleb Thorpe. In the process of learning to run the grill, Percy learns that Hannah has a son that went to war and ended up MIA, and that Caleb has been trying to sell the grill for 10 years. Percy and Shelby become close, and the grill runs better after Shelby takes over the cooking (teaching Percy along the way). They come up with the idea to raffle off the grill for $100 an application, together with an “essay” of why people want the grill. As the first act ends, the letters start pouring in. Act II continues the story of the raffle, and how Percy and Shelby reenergize the town. There are some predictable results, if you know musical theatre, along with some twists that I wasn’t expecting.

The story itself fits in well with the mission of this company, as it focuses on redemption (in many ways). One of the problems I’ve had with Actors Co-Op (and it is really more my problem than theirs) is that they are a Christological theatre company. Their mission, as noted in every program, is to be “an outreach of Christ’s hope”. As a Jewish audience member, this can sometimes make their performance a bit too close to the preachiness line; that’s one reason I had no interest in their play Lewis and Tolkein earlier this season. This also makes me borderline on subscribing, as I don’t always get the breadth of shows I’d like. They haven’t quite gone back to the season subscription model yet post-COVID. If they do the membership model instead, I might be interested*. One thing that is always guaranteed with Actors Co-Op, however, is that you will have an excellent performance. In all our years of attending their shows, I don’t think there has been a single clunker.
————————-
* For those unclear on the difference: A subscription model guarantees you a seat to each show (sometimes they pick, sometimes you); a membership model is a donation that then guarantees a significant discount to shows.

This show was no exception. The talents and skill of the cast, combined with the story, drew you into the drama. The songs less so: the toe-tapping ones are few and far between, and it is unclear how well the songs propel the plot forward. They seem to be more emotional punctuation. I did tend to like “Out of the Frying Pan” and “Shine”. There were some outstanding performances of note. Caitlin Gallogly shone as Shelby Thorpe, with a remarkably clear and beautiful voice. She also excelled at the comedy aspects of the role, and had a likeable personality that was broadcast to the back of the theatre. Also strong was guest artist Hannah Howzdy as Percy Talbott. She captured the personality of Percy well, in terms of both the hesitancy and the strength. Lastly of note was Co-Op regular Lori Berg as Hannah Furguson, who captured the early bitter and lonely old woman well, as well as the rejuvenated Hannah in the second act.

The scenery was simple, but well done: two rocking chairs on the side, and a center turntable for both the opening scene and the diner (luckily it didn’t turn too much, as it was manually done and sliding, not rolling). Projections were well used to establish the seasons.

The Spitfire Grill continues at Actors Co-Op until June 8, 2025. It is nice heartwarming musical, not your typical song-and-dance piece, and well worth seeing. Tickets are available through the Actors Co-Op Site.

Credits

The Spitfire Grill. Music and book by James Valcg. Lyrics and Book by Fred Alley. Based on the film by Lee David Zlotoff. Directed by Bonnie Hellman.

Cast (æ indicates Actors Equity): Hannah Howzdy Percy Talbott; Gavin Michael Harris Sheriff Joe Sutter; Lori Berg Hannah Ferguson; Spencer Roweæ Caleb Thorpe; Treva Tegtmeieræ Effy Krayneck; Caitlin Galloglyæ Shelby Thorpe; Ben Kientz The Visitor / Eli.

Music Department: Stephen Van Dorn Musical Director. The orchestra is not credited in the program, but I know they were live because I heard them tuning.

Production and Creatives: Kimi Walker Producer; Nikki Alday Stage Manager; Rachel Kupfer-Weinstein Property Designer; Marc Antonio Pritchett Sound Designer; A. Jeffrey Schoenberg Costume Designer; Nick Foran Lighting Designer; Nick Santiago Projection Designer; Tim Farmer Scenic Designer; Judi Lewin Wig & Makeup Designer; Jennie White Asst. Stage Manager; Nora Feldman Press Representative; Spencer Rowe Marketing Show Manager.

Support Your Local Theatres

One last note: Under the 47 administration, arts are in peril. We’re seeing cuts to the Corporation for Public Broadcasting and the National Endowment for the Arts. Many theatres are seeing NEA grants pulled, putting at risk productions already budgeted and started, and also putting at risk future seasons and potentially the existence of companies. Pleading emails have gone out to supporters, for without government support is it up to us, the audience, to support the theatres. And before you say government shouldn’t be involved, remember that Queen Elizabeth was a patron of William Shakespeare, and enabled his art to be produced. The Theatre Communications Group had a nice article on this titled “Unkindest Cuts: How Theatres Are Managing the Loss of NEA Funds“, in which they note:

But the arts are a public good. They inform conversations, they teach empathy, they both tell us where we are in the world and yet somehow cause us to step away from where we are and travel somewhere else in our minds. They also contribute economically to their communities.

An easy thing you can do to show you care about the arts is contact your congressional representative, your senator, and the president. Complain to them about the terminations and about Trump’s plan to eliminate the NEA entirely. If you are pressed for time, click here for a form letter that will go to your representatives urging them to support NEA and NEH funding for next year. You can even add in a line about the grant cancellations.

You can also donate to the companies or programs in this story by clicking on the theatre names. Donate to other organizations you are attached to. Thankfully, some communities have been responding in exactly this way to the immediate cries of theatre companies.

[…]

Clearly, the fundraising needs of the American theatre go beyond just making up for the NEA grants terminated. We’re not going to save the world by making up for one $10,000 grant, but that will help.

If you can’t donate yourself, encourage others to do so. Post about a theatre company on social media. Encourage businesses to back theatre. Local businesses have recently been turning away from the arts, but if they know how important the arts are to their community, they might change course. It’s good business. I plan to go to Columbus in the fall, and I’m totally going to see if The Kitchen has a public event during that time.

There is talk about changing the funding and production infrastructure, sure, and those talks should continue, but right now we can raise money to assist struggling companies. There is, of course, the concern that raising money privately proves that the NEA isn’t necessary. But that fear can’t be as great as the need to help these companies.

[…]

Every little thing is a step in the right direction. Some terminated Institute for Museum and Library Services were already reinstated. That is because of some type of pressure.

Theatre will always happen, with or without federal money. But we’ve already seen tremendous downsizing in recent years, as a substantial number of theatres have shuttered since the pandemic. In just the last week, two theatres in major cities have announced “do or die” campaigns, and everywhere companies are doing fewer shows—and that hurts the creative landscape. Each blow stings. Just because one show or program can continue without a specific NEA grant doesn’t mean that funding isn’t necessary. We all need to work together to make sure theatre remains plentiful and accessible. Funding is needed.

Consider this message my part. Donate to your local theatres. Buy tickets. Attend shows. Spread the word about the fact you attend live theatre on all of your social media. Demonstrate that attending live performance is not a Democratic or a Republican thing. It is something that we as human beings need to nourish our souls, and that theatre artists must be free to express themselves, even if it puts itching powders in the clothing of the leadership. Theatre has long served as a commentary on society, whether it be Showboat in the 1920s, South Pacific in the 1960s, Chicago in the 1970s, Hairspray in the 2000s, or Hamilton in the 2010s.  Mr. President, theatre is much more than Cats.

Administrivia

I am not a professional critic. I’m a cybersecurity professional, a roadgeek who does a highway site and a podcast about California Highways, and someone who loves live performance. I buy all my own tickets, unless explicitly noted otherwise. I do these writeups to share my thoughts on shows with my friends and the community. I encourage you to go to your local theatres and support them (ideally, by purchasing full price tickets, if you can afford to do so). We currently subscribe or have memberships at: Center Theatre Group/Ahmanson TheatreBroadway in Hollywood/Pantages TheatrePasadena PlayhouseThe Soraya, and 5-Star Theatricals. We’re looking for the right intimate theatre to subscribe at — it hasn’t been the same since Rep East died (it’s now The Main, and although it does a lot of theatre, it doesn’t have seasons or a resident company), and post-COVID, most 99-seaters aren’t back to doing seasons (or seasons we like). I used to do more detailed writeups; here’s my current approach.

Upcoming ♦ Theatre / ♣ Music / ◊ Other Live Performance – Next 90ish Days (⊕ indicates ticketing is pending).

===> Click Here To Comment <==This entry was originally posted on Observations Along the Road as Raffles and Redemption | "The Spitfire Grill" @ Actor's Co-Op by cahwyguy. Although you can comment on DW, please make comments on original post at the Wordpress blog using the link to the left. You can sign in with your LJ, DW, FB, or a myriad of other accounts. Note: Subsequent changes made to the post on the blog are not propagated by the SNAP Crossposter; please visit the original post to see the latest version. P.S.: If you see share buttons above, note that they do not work outside of the Wordpress blog.

Photo cross-post

May. 25th, 2025 08:58 am
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[personal profile] andrewducker


After the rest of the party are kidnapped by gnolls the wizard thinks carefully about where he should have lunch.
Original is here on Pixelfed.scot.

March 2025 Prompts

May. 22nd, 2025 03:43 pm
fauxklore: (Default)
[personal profile] fauxklore
Continuing the catch-up ...

1. Name three things in your fridge right now that you are looking forward to eating I have corn tortillas and Mexican cheese blend, which means I can make quesadillas. I also have surimi and ramen noodles (and there are frozen Asian vegetables in the freezer) which will make a nice stir fry with the addition of sesame oil and soy sauce. And there are a couple of containers of Trader Joe’s strawberry-vanilla Greek yogurt. Aside from that, except for some eggs and a jar of spaghetti sauce (which really doesn’t need to be refrigerated since it’s unopened), almost everything in the refrigerator is some sort of condiment or a beverage.

2. What is the price of a dozen eggs at the store near you? Is there a price at which you will choose to not buy eggs? I think I paid $4.29 at Trader Joe’s a couple of days ago.

3. What does "copy cat,” mean to you? Someone with the good taste to imitate me.

4. What was your first pet? Why did you choose this pet? My brother and I both had turtles when we were really little. I don’t think there was any choice involved, since my parents bought them for us. Later on, we had Rosie the mouse, who we got from my next-door-neighbor after her mother objected to having a mouse. (I think her name was officially Rose Petal. She was a very cute white mouse.)

5. What is my earliest or happiest memory? My earliest memory is of being at my grandparents’ bungalow in the Catskills. I may have been chased by a cow, so it wasn’t actually a happy memory. I do have happier memories there which involve all the women playing mahjongg.

6. How are you going to make tomorrow a joyful day? Maybe working my way through my to-do list.

7. What are a few qualities you dislike in other people, and why? At the top of the list of annoying qualities is interrupting people. Mansplaining is a particular example of this.

8. What was your favourite thing to collect as a child, and why? I collected foreign coins, which started with buying a packet of them. I know I bought some at Expo ’67 in Montreal, but I may have gotten some earlier than that at the New York World’s Fair in 1964.

9. What is your greatest fear and how often do you think about it? I am terrified of heights. I can’t say I think about that a lot, however, since it is easy to avoid high places in my day to day life.

10. Have you ever moved? Tell about one of your moves. I’ve moved several times. Probably the most interesting was driving from Los Angeles to northern Virginia in 2002. I stopped at the Meteor Crater in Arizona and went to both the Cadillac Ranch and the less famous Bug Ranch in Texas. I ate some very good Mexican food in Tucumcari, New Mexico. I did not stand on the corner in Winslow, Arizona, but I resented the sign suggesting I should do so since I was then earwormed by the song “Hotel California” all the way to Oklahoma, where there was a sign telling me that the land was grand. I was also surprised in Russell, Arkansas where overhearing a conversation between two guys and a motel desk clerk informed me that dry counties still exist in some places.

11. Tell about a time you were given, or gave, flowers. My mother was really thrilled with the bouquet of flowers I had sent for her 80th birthday.

12. What is something that made your mother happy. Aside from getting flowers, Mom loved going to the theatre and I took her to Broadway shows for Mothers’ Day for several years.

13. What did your family do on Sundays as a child? My brother and I rode our bikes to Rhodes (officially called a delicatessen, but really more or less a general store) to pick up the Sunday New York Times and a box of “mixed fancies” (i.e. Italian pastries). We ate pastries as well as things like bagels or pletzel for brunch. We had to wait for Mom to finish with the NYT Sunday crossword before we were allowed to even look at it to try to fill in the words she didn’t know.

14. As a whole, do you live for tomorrow or today? Explain. I do both. I have long to-do lists for today, but I am also always planning things for the future.

15. Which talent would you most like to have? I’d like to have actual musical talent.

16. Which holiday has the most meaning for you-—and why? Passover brings back a lot of family memories.

17. What’s something exciting you are looking forward to? My upcoming paper conservation workshop in Greece.

18. Who do you feel most connected to right now and why? Probably Cindy, because we talk on the phone or text almost every day.

19. How much money is enough for you? As much as it takes to pay for my condo fees, food and other necessities (e.g. housewares and drugstore purchases), books, and a couple of trips a year.

20. How have your views on friendship changed as you’ve gotten older? I recognize that some friendships will inevitably end, just because of people moving or changing interests.

21. Make a list of 10 fun things you could do this week. I’m going to Balticon this coming weekend, so that probably accounts for 10 in and of itself.

22. What author, book or series do you refuse to read? I have no interest in the Fifty Shades series.

23. What helps you feel grounded and centered? This is a tough question. I guess completing some home organizing chores would qualify.

24. How are you and your parents alike? I share my parents’ love of books, especially mysteries. I also share some of their musical tastes, especially Broadway show tunes and humorous songs, e.g. Tom Lehrer and Allan Sherman.

25. What did your parents do for fun? My parents liked to go to the theatre and to play board games. Those are also things I do for fun.

26. If you had the option of living forever, would you take it? Only if that included perfect health and if the people I’m close to would also live healthily ever after.

27. What is your favorite day of the week? I don’t think there is any particular day of the week that is always my favorite. For any given week, there may be some event I am looking forward to, however.

28. Who do you talk to when you have a problem? One of my friends, usually either Cindy or Kim, depending on what the problem is.

29. What did you see today that was beautiful? The fabric that one of the women in my crafts group dyed.

30. Did you have a good sleep last night? Pretty good.

31. What are some things you are proud of yourself - for accomplishing, for being, for surviving, for changing, for not changing? I’m proud of how many places I have managed to travel to.

Today's annoyance

May. 22nd, 2025 11:30 am
andrewducker: (calvin dancing)
[personal profile] andrewducker
Companies that email you "Your parcel is on the way!", but it turns out that actually they've just reserved a tracking number and aren't physically sending anything for another day or two.

Interesting Links for 21-05-2025

May. 21st, 2025 12:00 pm
neonvincent: For posts about Usenet (Fluffy)
[personal profile] neonvincent
I decided not to use this video for Morrison bumble bee proposed for protection, news for World Bee Day. Too bad. It bops.

Progress on Deer Trail

May. 19th, 2025 09:45 pm
dianec42: Cross stitch face (DecoLady)
[personal profile] dianec42
Last week: I finished the top section. Time to scroll the frame!



At the Celebration of Needlework: I did some, messed up and undid some, did a little more.

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cahwyguy

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