Oh, the things we do for love...

The wife is directing "Aladdin and the Wonderful Lamp" at my favorite theatre. Only two rehersals are underway, and already it's shaping up to be a blast, even the rehersal process. Her show starts it's run two weekends after mine stops. Well, one of her main character's dropped out. I say dropped out, but we really don't know what happened to him. He was supposed to help backstage on my show and play the Nusphed the Camel in Aladdin. But, he didn't show up for our performance last Saturday, and he wasn't there for the second rehersal. In all fairness, his phone is disconnected and he doesn't have a ride to the theatre, but still, courtesy calls for calling both directors to explain his absence, even from the neighbor's or a pay phone. Unfortuneately, no one has heard anything from him in the past week. Most people are calling for his head and that's understandable, but I don't think anyone should "convict" him until we hear his side of things. Alas, that apparently isn't going to happen...

Back to the point... The things we do for love. In this case, there's a new camel in town and his name is ML. You really have no idea how much of a sacrifice this is going to be for me to make. I mean, I will in all likelyhood have to shave my moustache, at the very least, in order to make me look more camel-like. That's going to be 6 to 7 weeks of little to no facial hair, not including the month it takes to grow back. Oh, bother. Oh, the sacrifices we make for our love and our art.

Please, no comments about my toes...

Peeee Esssss: Da Guestbook is all wonely.

One of my favorite band's, and indeed an influence, are the Canadian's known as Barenaked Ladies. It's especially pleasing to my ego to have sucessfully passed their music onto the kid. He especially enjoys watching the DVD of all their music videos. But, I don't know exactly how to react when he says in public, "When we get home, can we watch Barenaked Ladies?"

Sorry... no wit or wisdom today. My mind is pretty full of mush right now. We were installing new bigger drives to the edit system at work. Everything seemed to work just fine, all the video and audio files were safe and accessable, until I made that call. The call that goes, "yes honey, I'm leaving in just 5 minutes to come home." Never should have made that call. Long story short, something got fucked up and in the end had to re-format the drives in order to map them to the network. Meaning we lost about 1 hour of video and lots more audio for all of the projects at work. That's about 15 projects... The silver lining is a lot of crap that didn't need to be on the drives got wiped out, so all of that junk is gone. Is the pizza here yet?

If you watched last night's Surreal Life, then you already know why we'll be seeing more of Vince Neil on the WB. If you didn't watch, you really didn't miss Corey Feldman's singing (Fox is touting "Who is America's worst singer?" in promos for the next American Idol episode, but WBers already know it's Corey Feldman). But since Vince won the Talent Show, he not only won a one night stay in the house's master bedroom, he also won a guest role on another WB show. Which one? We don't know yet, but let's examine the possiblities... Vince Neil on the Dubba-U B...

Smallville: A stranger (Vince Neil) arrives in town claiming Lana Lang is his long lost love child from the days when her mother was a drugged-up groupie. Meanwhile, Clark must choose between Lana and Chloe, while Lex broods about Clark's mysterious secrets.

Dawson's Creek: Dawson tells Joey how he really feels about her and a mysterious man (Vince Neil) shows up to beat him to a bloody pulp. Pacey ends up getting drunk and Vince Neil shows up to beat him to a bloody pulp, too. Then, he bangs Jen and rides of town with her on his Harley.

Jamie Kennedy Experiment (a.k.a. JKX): Jamie Kennedy X's Vince Neil and gets beat to a bloody pulp.

Birds of Prey: um... sorry not even Vince Neil could have saved this show...

Gilmore Girls: Lorelai dates the new guy (Vince Neil) in Stars Hollow and the townspeople talk about her behind her back. Rory tells her mother that she doesn't like her new boyfriend and they yell snarky comments and insults at each other. Realizing they hurt each other's feeling, mother and daughter kiss and make-up, which turns Vince on. So they have a freaky threesome and Vince leaves Stars Hollow on his Harley. The question is which Gilmore Girl is pregnent?

Let's not forget the possibilites on 7th Heaven -- he could be the new preacher in town, or a guy that picks up Mary, or get arrested by Lucy's boyfriend, or beats Barry Watson's character to a bloody pulp...

Maybe there could be a clash of Rock and Country when Vince appears on Reba...

Maybe one of Sabrina's spells goes awry and she turns her cat into Vince Neil...

Maybe Corey Feldman can guest star too and Vince can just beat him to a bloody pulp, unless that happens later on the Surreal Life...

Holy Croly! How in the *heck* did I design this place to have nearly the same color scheme as Guster's website??? That was purely unintentional and surely subliminal. Musically, they are an influence. I guess I just didn't realize exactly how much...

I hate coming up with a wonderful riff and even hammering out a melody to go along with it, then the words just don't happen. I have nothing to inspire my lyrics. And then, I'm stupid enough to not write down how the riff goes. Some of the greatest rock/pop songs have been written and you'll never know it because I forgot how it went!

Wanted: One muse for lyrical inspiration...

I remember when today was made a national holiday. I was in the 7th grade and had Mr. P for social studies. We called him Mr. P, well, because he asked. But I think it had something to do with his surname being something French that started with "P" and ended with "-eaux" and was completely unpronouncable. Mr. P was black and it's from him that I get my thoughts about today being a holiday.

Before 7th grade, most of the blacks at our school would skip out on Dr. King's birthday. And, I think that's part of the reason why it's a holiday today. I believe the thought process was "well a high percentage of the people aren't showing up for work or school, so we might as well give everyone the day off," or along those lines.

Mr. P, and now I, never quite understood why blacks felt the need to take Dr. King's birthday off. Afterall, it was after all his hard work and struggle that the black community, and other minorities, could receive an equal education and equal rights. Dr. King fought predjudice and discrimination so that all people, no matter what race, could receive the best education possible. Isn't it sort of a slap in his face to skip a day of school, denying yourself the education he fought so hard to get for you? Wouldn't his memory best be honored by going to school on his birthday?

Now, I'm not saying the man doesn't deserve to be honored or anything like that. He should be looked up to as a role model and honored as such. I just like the irony...

HEEELLP!!!! I being forced to watch the figure skating crap on ABC!!! At least, most of them are falling... One girl even bumped the ice so hard, her knee was bleeding and needed 5 stitches. Almost like hockey...

Why did I have to be home tonight and not last night?!?! The wife reports that there was hot lesbian action on Fastlane (episode 11). Hot lesiban action... Uh-oh, that oughta bring some bizarre hits...

Despite my complaints about the rehersal process, the show is actually pretty good. Kids, the intended audience, should get a kick out of it. If you have kids and are in the Houston area, it's a good way to spend a little quality time with them.

The Magic Ring Dang Do opens this Saturday and runs twice a day every Saturday until March 1st. Go here for more information on gettng tickets or feel free to contact me. As with any show, I'd recommend seeing it in the middle of the run. The kinks should be fully worked out and the energy will still be high...

Update: If you really wanna go, I might be able to hook you up with some comp. tickets, or maybe 1/2 off... just ask...

The kid's school has automatic bathrooms. That is a good thing because now our kids won't be contracting germs when they go to flush. However, I don't think the school thought this entirely out when they installed the automatic flusher.

While I am completely happy with the knowledge my son is safe from the germs that hideout in the school's bathroom, that does my family and household no good when he's totally forgotten -- nay, unlearned -- how to flush...

My life is really a musical. At least, in my head. I'm just waiting for the perfect moment to jump into song and dance to sing this:

She asks me why I'm such a hairy guy.
I'm hairy noon and night. Hair that's a fright.
I'm hairy high and low. Don't ask me why. Don't know.
It's not for lack of bread like the Grateful Dead, darling.

Gimme a head with Hair - long beautiful hair.
Shinin', gleamin', streamin', flaxen, waxen.
Gimme down to there hair. Shoulder length or longer.
Here baby. There momma. Everywhere daddy daddy, Hair.
Flow it. Show it. Long as God can grow it my hair.

Let it flying in the breeze and get and caught in the trees.
Give a home to the fleas in my hair.
A home for the fleas. A hive for the buzzin' bees.
A nest for the birds. There ain't no words for the beauty,
the splendor, the wonder of my hair.
Flow it. Show it. Long as God can grow it my hair.

I want it long, straight, curly, fuzzy,
Snaggy, shaggy, ratty, matty,
Oil, greasy, fleecy, shinin',
Gleamin', streamin', flaxen, waxen,
Knotted, polka-dotted,
Twisted, beaded, braided,
Flowered, powered, bangled, tangled, spangled and spaghettied.

Oh, say can you see my eyes, if you can
Then my hair's too short.

Down to here. Down to there.
Down to where it stops by itself.

They'll be ga-ga at the go-go when they see my in a toga
My toga made of blond, brillantined, biblical hair.
My hair like Jesus wore it. Hallejuah, I adore it.
Hallejuah, Mary loved her son. Why don't my mother love me.
Hair. Flow it. Show it. Long as God can grow it my hair.

I have the song down. It's the choreography that's a bitch...

Can someone explain this phenomenon to me? When you do a search for "Tamyra Grey" and this entry comes up:

Everything (except Tamyra) Grey - Everything Grey, Stuff about me Name: ML Location: Houston Age: Younger than ya think EMail: everythinggrey @yahoo.com AIM: Sawrowe ...

do you really think you're gonna find something about Tamyra Grey here? Why do you click? I ask because I get a plethora of hits from people searching for Tamyra Grey. And, there have been one or two posts about American Idol where I mentioned her. But, I would think that if something said "everything (except tamyra) grey" the people looking for Tamyra Grey wouldn't click here. Now, I'm not complaining about the extra hits. I'm glad to have the extra readers. I'm just curious as to why people click here when (I think) it's obvious from the entry above that you won't find what you're looking for.

By calling this place Everything (except Tamyra) Grey in the title, my intention was to tell people who search for her that this is not the place to click. Is my little joke too clever? or not clever enough? OY! I guess I'm inviting more Tamyra searches with this post...

Just for the record, I can't understand how Tamyra didn't get more votes than Nikki...

Update: According to what looks like her official website, it's spelled G-R-A-Y, not G-R-E-Y. That explains alot...

I notice the strangest things about commercials. I guess that's comes from my commercial production background...

Next time you see a commercial for the Visa Check Card or American Express or some credit or debit card commercial, watch it very carefully. Watch for the 1 second clip of the card being slid through the credit machine. The logo of the card company is always visible at the top of the card. Now, if you take a quick look at your credit card, you'll notice the magnetic strip is at the top of the card, too. So, exactly how is that card in the commercial being charged? The magnetic strip never goes through the slider. Unless, of course, they are filming me with hidden cameras when I slide my plastic 'cause I never do it right the first time. That little picture of which direction to slide always looks backwards to me.

The Surreal Life on the WB takes 7 famous, well, C-List celebrities, at best, people and puts them in a house for 10 days or so. It's kinda like a Real World, but with people who were super-big. The "stars" include M. C. Hammer, Emmanuel "Webster" Lewis, 2001 Playmate of the Year and Baywatch Alum, Brande Roderick, ex-Motley Crue frontman, Vince Neil, Corey Feldman, Gabrielle Carteris of 90210 fame, and Jerry, a.k.a. that bitch from the second Survivor. Seriously, who's bigger? Corey Feldman or Vince Neil? Who is the biggest name on that list?

Actually, I got a good kick out of this show. Not having cable and never seeing Anna Nicole or The Osbornes, this is a very interesting take on has-been celebrity life. The tensions are already pretty high. Hammer had problems with the sushi dinner, not just because it was raw fish, but because it was served on a naked lady's body. Noteably, Vince was sitting at the foot of the table as it were...Great view, I'd imagine... Surprisingly, Corey Feldman didn't partake in the meal because he's a vegetarian and his girlfriend wasn't there. After all his rehab and his problems, I have to give him props for that... Though, it really wasn't a surprise that Corey seemed to already know everyone else, except Jerry, as if at various times in his life he would hang with them...

Emmanuel Lewis still has an infectous laugh. Everytime he laughed, we couldn't help but being jovial ourselves.

I don't read Wil Wheaton's blog, but I'm interested in knowing if he was asked to be on this show. He probably turned it down when he found out there was no interent access. Afterall, no 'net access means no blogging... hmmm... would that really be that bad?? Oh, I hope they ask him to be on the next season...

The Surreal Life airs Thursdays at 9pm/8 central on the WB.

I've talked before about how I'm in this play. Well, it's really a musical. That's musical with the root word "music." Meaning, there's songs to be sung and they're an important part of the show.

We had rehersal tonight...with music. Just back from that in fact, and I can't believe how aggrivated I am with this show. Why, you wonder? After the accompanist had left, the director was giving us notes. And this is a direct quote from her, referring to our next rehersal which the accompianist can't make it to:

"We can learn the songs better without the music anyway."

How the fuck can we sing on key and keep on rhythm "learning the songs" without the music?? Doesn't the music player and the actor have to be on the same page??

I really don't understand the attitudes at this place. It's only community theatre, but "professional" is an attitude, not a paycheck. Of course, the most problematic attitudes come from the people who have the money. Myself and others (read: those without alot of money) have felt very secluded from the rest of the group. It's like we're looked down upon and can be treated like shit because we lack sufficent funds.

Everytime I come home from rehersal, I ask myself why am I putting myself through this. I guess I've got that work ethic that says once I've signed on, there's no backing out of it. That's very unprofessional. This is the only theatre, community or otherwise, that I have felt this isolated from the group. There is no sense of togetherness at this place, unless you have money. Other places I have worked at, there was a friendship between the cast and crew. You could go out right after rehersal for some drinks or go to someone's house for late night movies. Not here...

What's really funny to me about this particular show is that I am the only person in the cast who hasn't been in it before. Yet, I seem to be one of the people NOT struggling with their lines. Ok, I did miss one line tonight, but several cast members are constantly calling for their lines. The show opens next weekend and we have about 3 or 4 rehersals left. We should NOT be calling for lines at this point, but suffering through dropped lines and keep the show going. Problem is when so many lines are dropped, it's difficult to get the show back on track without stopping and backing up.

I guess I should be happy that the director hasn't given me any notes. Suppose that means I'm doing a good job with the character? Who knows? Possibly the director... *rolling eyes*

***The following post contains absolutely ZERO sarcasm. It is said with 100% sincerity. And that's a very disturbing fact.

I don't know which is funnier: Dude, Where's My Car? or the commentary on the Dude, Where's My Car? DVD.

Oh, how they worried that the "Dude - Sweet - Tattoo" bit wasn't gonna work...

I need help...

There's still 4 days of my vacation/work break/holiday left. It's been a while since I posted and it will probably be a few days more before I get back to regular posting, if I ever was regular... I don't want to bore you with my vacaton. And "bore" is a good word to use because I have felt bored alot, but that relaxation is a good thing right now. Oh, what the heck, I'll give a little recap while I listen to Ryan Adam's latest album. I can't stop listening to it.

I missed out on most of the horrible rain and weather as I left Houston headed home. Of course, that's because I was in the airport terminal most of the time. Arrived at Hobby Airport at 11:30am to check in for a 1:30 one-way flight to New Orleans. The wife and kid were already in NOLA and would pick me up. I go to check in and Southwest cancelled my flight. They blamed the weather in Dallas. I heard something about tornados. But, luckily, I was the first person on the priority stand-by list. And even more luckily, I got a boarding pass for the 1pm flight out of Hobby to NOLA. A full half-hour before my original flight. Lucky lucky me!! Except that they overbooked that flight by at least 12 folks and asked for volunteers to get off so passengers who had a layover in N'Awlins could catch their connecting flight. I had sat down and had my belt buckled when they called for 5 more people to get off. At least I was well compensated for my seat. I probably have enough comp. money for 2 round trip tickets on Southwest. That's cool. I ended up on the next flight out and was with my family by 4pm.

That night we were to get together with my father-in-law. We planned the whole meeting since the wife's parents are divorced. Let's just say that once all the siblings had arrived, everything was nice. But, only until then. :) I think we were supposed to be there for 6:30 and didn't arrive until 8pm - not our fault. Still, it was a good time. My father-in-law offered me a drink (a first - he really likes me!!). That probably explains the good time I had...

On to Xmas with my family. My mother's family has a family reunion at every "big" holiday. Xmas at one aunt's, Easter at another, Thanksgiving, you get the idea. Now, when I was in high school and college even, I dreaded these. Looking back, I think it's because everyone - cousins, aunts, uncles - were either 5+ years older than me or 5+ years younger. No one in my generation to hang with, so to speak. But, now that I've grown up alot, I enjoy these a heck of a lot more. Dare I say, I even look forward to them. I'm even participating in the pot luck by bringing some chili to the New Year's Day festivities, hosted at my uncle's house.

Xmas in whole was spectacular. I really take alot of pride in joy in the gifts we give. This year, we made fleece blankets and everyone was thrilled to get them. That's what I receive at this time of year - the Joy of being appreciated. I loved seeing the smiles on people's faces as they feel all warm and cuddly in a blanket we made. I'd rather have that smile than some thoughtless token. And, Santa was good to me this year. It's is really the thought that counts with me.

Then, I got sick. I had a fever of 100.6 degrees F at one point. And, I don't think it's possible to do less than I did on my worst day of being ill. My thumb is the only thing that moved. Click - Trading Spaces - Click - MTV - Click. At least now, I'm just about over it all. Just some congestion in my lungs. Sometimes, you can hear the phelgm as I breathe, but seriously, I'm fine. The wife and kid are sick now though... my present to them... Just kidding. God, it is 2am. No wonder I'm rambling.

Back to the program... The highlight of my birthday was my mother-in-law calling me back to tell me, "You didn't tell me it was your birthday." Thanks for calling. I really needed that. Aside from the family I am with, that was the only acknowledgement that I had turned a year older. And no, honey, that doesn't mean Dude, Where's My Car? on DVD wasn't a good idea and don't like it. That just means it was a close second highlight of my birthday. Sadly, that's not sarcasm. All the fudge is the third.

And now a new year is here. What are my resolutions?

1) To be a better father. Sometimes, I don't think I'm there enough for the kid. I hope to better that.
2) To be a better husband. Women are nuts, but I can probably to more to help the wife out.
3) To start being more creative in non-work time. Less remote control and computer keyboard; more writing and playing guitar and piano.
4) And the ubiquitous - To start losing 50-70 pounds. I'm nearly naked - that's 3-5 lbs of clothes. If I cut my hair, that'll be another 5 lbs. Shave totally - 20 lbs. So I'm well on my way!!

Hopefully, this cold won't keep us from doing what we really want to do before we go home - See Jeff and Rikki's new baby boy, Dean!

Hope your year is wonderful, or at least all you need it to be. Until next time...