One week out

The time is nearing. One week until my favorite day, sadly it only comes once every two years. The President and Vice President are now running to GOP strongholds and asking this question: "Can you risk giving Democrats power?"

It is my firm belief that the real question for the entire country is: "Can you risk leaving the GOP in power?" They have only:
enabled record deficits
stood idle during national emergencies
mired the country in an expensive and unending war
refused to secure our ports
authorized huge expenditures on a symbolic fence
limited our civil rights
invaded our bedrooms
suppressed medical advancement
and the list goes on...

These are the stakes...fix government and force a redirect from nation building to anti-terrorism or...more of the same irresponsibility.

7 day, know your polling place, know your rights, know your candidates.

3...2...1...contacts

I wear gas permeable rigid contacts because my eye sight is, well, really bad. The rigid lenses allow for a sharper focus, but are not as comfortable as the soft lenses that most people wear.

I mention this because several times these contacts have become a "player" when I am in performance. Such was the case this weekend. Friday night I went out for my third scene (second character) and about two lines in I felt a light brush on my check. Then I noticed that my left eye was really blurry. Argh! Worse I could still feel the contact on my face. I attempted to hold still and still give the "animated" performance, but my desire to give the best performance possible won out, and the contact fell off my face and on to the floor. Worse I then had to run down stage and sing a song. After which Scot charged across the stage and attacked me and I leave the scene. I am followed in the scene by 5 people traipsing across the stage and then a scene change.

In the mean time I spent my back stage time applying my mustache and wondering how I would be able to drive home. Upon entering the next scene, half blind, I decided to see if I could spot the crushed ruins of my contact lens on the floor. The scene is direct address and had a false beginning, just enough time to look in the spot where it fell.

Low and behold, I see the lens, unscathed, on the floor just on the corner of the big red square in the center of our stage. In my old man persona, I bent down, picked it up with my finger and pocketed it. Game on.

This has happened before. On tour I once lost a lens during the "Pyramus and Thysbe" scene in MidSummer. I went back after the curtain call and swept the stage, and found the lens that way. I also lost one inside a gigantic dog puppet during Peter Pan, but that was because the head gear that held the dogs head to mine was too tight and it pulled my eye lids so that when I blinked the lens popped out. The first time that happened I was able to find the lens in the fur, but the second time I lost it for good and was 1/2 blind for two days. The worse was during In the Boom Boom Room, when in the climactic wife beating one of my lenses broke in half in my eye. My optometrist was both horrified and impressed. But that didn't stop him from charging me for a new one.

I guess I should get an extra pair.

Horse Shit on Tap

It's getting really ugly. Yesterday the DEM's put out a testimonial ad in support of candidates that support stem cell research, headlined by Michael J. Fox. The GOP reply, Rush Limbaugh claims that Fox is "acting" in the ad, as Fox's medication makes him herk and jerk just like everyone else with Parkinson’s. Chris Matthews then claims that Fox did not appear to be so sick on an episode of Boston Legal this year, which has to be the nail in the coffin for Fox since there is no way that anyone did any "editing" during the post production phase of Boston Legal - no that would be ridiculous, everyone knows that Boston Legal is one continuous shot with no cuts, just like every other hour long tv drama. Asshole.

To ad insult (literally) to slander, the RNC airs an ad about Harold Ford, Jr., featuring a playboy bunny claiming she met him at a playboy party, claiming that he took money from porn producers, hinting at the other name for the estate tax, that he is anti gun, and then ends with the same playboy bunny asking Harold to "call her" with a seductive wink. Race Baiting Assholes.

Where are these peoples mothers? Who taught them that this kind of discourse was ok. This is blatantly un-American. These people, this party, and those that support them when they act this way are Traitors. Period. And Assholes.

Frankly, this is Bull Shit. It makes me want to walk around Potomac and punch Republicans in the face.

This packs a punch

This was sent to me by my "party people." Warning, you might get the "last episode of Family Ties weepies."

After the Garden is gone

Assuming that the Democrats retake the congress this year (and as we all know when you assume you make an ass of you and Uma Thurman) what are we going to make theatre about? Yes there are all of the old stories, and there seems to be a large number of new plays out there that don't focus on the War or a evil maniacal dictator, but these new plays have a serious problem. They are written like movies or TV.

I just might scream the next time I read a new script with the stage direction, "cross fade." Writers, I thought you were suppose to be the educated ones. I happen to fund my life by working in the "recorded story telling medium" and I can tell you, with out a shadow of a doubt, that the cross fade does not happen on stage. In addition, 45 minutes of two people in an office is a bold step into the realm of boring an audience to death.

Perhaps it more a question of what I am going to make theatre about. I finished my National Players touring in 1998 and started with Rorschach Theatre in 1999, so it wasn't until 2002 that I started directing (read: making theatre.) Every show I have directed was heavily informed by the political circumstances that were the result of the 2000 election. So I guess it's my decision, do I veer off hard left, or hold center and find shows that...dare I say it...make money? I don't know what the path ahead contains...but that may be the best thing for me as an artist, so I welcome the change. As long as the change gets made.

15 days...can't you just taste it?

The Chase

I miss Karl.

The Count

11 of the last 15 Washington Post articles on the MD Senate race have been about race. None of them invole the issues.

And by the way, Mike Tyson says he wants to fight women. Does Michael Steele support battery? Looks like it.

Also, Tyson is Steele's former Brother-in-Law. So the real headline is: Ex-Brother-in-Law Supports Candidate; Has no Cash, only a Record. It does open up a lot of Michael Steele "ear mark" jokes.

News flash: Steele wants Cardin to Shut Up....

Well. Michael Steele's campaign seems to have gotten it's slogan from Bill O'Reilly. Every time Michael Steele gets angry he just starts screaming "Shut Up." Does he not know that this is rude, that as a US Senator one must be able to remain calm and statesman like even in the face of incendiary rhetoric? Is this really the kind of man we want to be representing Maryland? With deep roots in the GOP, no examples of the independence that he claims, backers like Convicted felons Don King and Mike Tyson, and a very high profile relationship with George Bush.

Moreover; wasn’t it the GOP telling DEMs to "stop whining" a few years ago. Turn about is fair play. If the tables were turned the GOP would be savage and never apologize for anything they said. They still haven't apologized to Max Cleland; and the GOP's tactic in that case was treasonous.

Be warned republicans, you will be punched in the mouth this year. And we will punch until you have no teeth left. And you will have to take it. The American people don't like a whiner. We know. So you’re the ones who need to "shut up." We don't want to hear your lies anymore. You have ruined the country, made your friends richer, and left 80% of the country out in the cold, your turn to sit with your nose in the corner.

A bit of advice...spend this time looking for the statesmen in your party, purge the pedophiles and white collar criminals, and get back to the states rights, small government platform that made you a party in the first place. If you keep touching the cultural issues, you’re bound to get burned.

20 days, and if there is any cheating, I'm getting a gun in one of those red states with lax gun regulations...and lets just say...it's open season.

I hate writing about this...

The Washington Post has published yet another story about Michael Steele wanting to tap into the African American Democratic population in Maryland. I would estimate that this constitutes 50% of all Post articles involing Michael Steele.

Why is the Post trying to make this campaign about race? Shouldn't it be about issues? Oh wait, Steele would loose on issues. But if Steele would loose on issues, wouldn't that be a justified loss? Dare I say, fair?

I am starting to believe that the media (I will only call them the press when I think they are doing a good job) is trying to make this race dirty because they will make more money on it if it gets dirty. The tighter a race, the more necessary large ad buys. It's possible to make a lot of money when one canidate is down and trying to catch up, but the real profit is to be made when the candidates are running (or percieved to be running) neck and neck. Then you get huge ad buys from both candidates.

So where is the check on the fourth estate? How is one established? Is the media manipulating politics? Ok, that last one is a stupid question.

Just beware Washington Post, from now on I will be counting the race based articles. Racism cuts both ways, and a mass of articles of this ilk can only be aimed at trying to encourage racism. Don't make me write another letter.

21 days until the midterm elections. Issues are king. Steele fooled MD once, don't get fooled again.

He's Steeleing your money....

What I want to know is who has agree that it's okay to misrepresent what is going on the MD Senate racer. I've been off this race for the past few weeks as Radical Racist George Allen is just more fun to be outraged with, but I have been disturbed by how the MD race has been covered and interpreted recently.

I posted a while back about the poll nonsense, but I have found even more damning evidence at a false assessment of Steele's chances. On hines sight (which is partisan) they have complied all of the available polling data and found Cardin polling at about 50% and Steele at about 35%. The damming factor is the trend line: Cardin holding steady, and Steele consistently dropping in support.

If making this out to be a closer race than it is, is part of some kind of DEM strategy...those close to the party...let me know, because all it does now is confirm the conservative media bias that I believe has permeated the media sin the mid 90's.

On the other hand, it also makes me feel as though a overwhelming and embarrassing defeat must be dealt to Michael Steele. I mean humiliating. The man must be purged from MD politics forever, or at the very least turned into the Marshall Coleman of Maryland. Nothing could be worse from Michael Steele than to have to back to practicing law. Why? He never passed the BAR exam that’s why. The man has no skills, and that (as much as any other reason) is why MD just can't afford to keep subsidizing this mans career. Since when was it ok for a republican to be taking hand outs? Bribes I understand, but government handouts? Michael Steele can’t make any money on his own, so he is getting it from the people of Maryland, and providing nothing in exchange.

22 day to the midterm elections. And the October surprise has to be right around the corner. Unless it a November surprise to be timed with Saddam Hussein’s sentencing on November 5^th, what a coincidence.

Disillusioned Mom

In my continuing series of political discussion with my mom I find her becoming more and more disillusioned. To recap: Mom lives in Virginia and has a history of voting independently. She will vote for the best person regardless of party including: Anderson, Nader, Rockefeller, and Stevenson. She is a retired school teacher, but since she is a Virginian, has never belonged to a union. She grew up in a small rural town, lived in NOVA for 4 years, and Richmond for over 30, and now lives in a distant Richmond suburb...kind of like living in Leesburg or Fredrick.

So she hates her choices in the Virginia Senate race. I really can't blame her. She has to a certain extent been given no choice. There is a Bush Republican and a Reagan Democrat. I would be upset with such a choice. She bemoans the "shouting matches" that the VA Senate debates have become. I worry that the tactic in place will work.

Several weeks ago the RNC released to the press their strategy for the 2006 midterms: Character assassination and negative ad blitz. It seems that our "fair and balanc3ed" media thought that it would be fine to just put out the release and not comment on it. It seems to me that if a political party announces that it will engage in a mean spirited campaign, and mentions assassination of any kind, that good honest people would say, "Hey, this is bull shit."

Normally I don't swear on the blog, but it's just gotten stupid out there and I ma determined to call a spade a spade. My mom thinks now that her only choice is to vote against someone, namely Radical Racist George Allen. For me, that would be enough, but she does want to like the person she is voting for, so I suggest that she look at it this way: Not looking it as voting against Allen, but for a Congress that is actually a branch of government and not a ATM for a President that is obviously insane. Righting the ship is a positive choice for 2006, so a vile as one might consider the alternative to a "bull shit" incumbent, choosing new management must be considered a positive vote in this election year.

Open and on the Road

After a lovely after opening party, during which I somehow lost my coat with my cell phone in it...yet, picked up the Artistic Director's coat with the box office in it...and did not find this out until 2:30 am, I got to complete a full weekend with a trip to Philadelphia on Sunday night. Why Philadelphia? You may ask.

Well, there is really only one thing that can make me get into a car at 8 pm on a Sunday night and drive to a city that smells like sulfur and garbage.............GOMEZ. It wasn't hard to guess right? Because of my companions tech schedule we could not leave for the City of Brotherly Love until 8pm for the show. This did have me nervous, but I was assured that the opening band wasn't going on until 9:15 - so plenty of time to get there and see most if not all of the show.

However; one incident with a fire truck on the back streets of South Philly and the band moving the start time for the opener to 8:15 made for me missing a large part of the set. But I was not disappointed because it's like 6 more Gomez songs than any of my other friends saw live on Sunday night. Plus I have discovered that the Gomez fans in Philly are a better group to see a show with than in DC.

Sorry DC, but these folks were in the right mood and mind set. Lots of screaming, singing, and dancing as opposed to the catatonic state that most Washingtonian fans bring to the 9:30 club (normally I am against dancing, but I require it at a Gomez show as I can not stop myself from doing so, and believe me I have tried.) So I'm going to the Theatre of Living Arts in the future for my Gomez viewing (I'll still see the DC shows though.)

On the happy side, the boys in the band looked and sounded better than a couple of months ago. They have really tightened up the show from what I could tell, and Ben and Tom look thinner - not sick thin, like less beer thinner. Devil Will Ride was the best I have ever heard it, and they ended the encore with both "Love is Better than a Warm Trombone" and "Whippin' Piccadilly." So over all it was worth it. For my money I would prefer they didn't play "Ghosts and Alcohol" as part of the encore - but hey...they aren't playing much off of How We Operate anyway so I guess I can give them that one.

And by the way...

When one poll (Survey USA) puts the GOP candidate up by 1%, and all the others have the DEM leading by anywhere from 5% to 11%...which poll do you think is wrong?

I smell something fishy.

If they cheat, I'm gonna blow something up.

If there isn't a landslide DEM victory on November 7...they are cheating:

17 soldiers and marines killed in Iraq since Saturday
Abramoff
domestic spying
billions of dollars for an incomplete fence in Texas
trying to re-write the Geneva convention
sex with boys
and just on general principle

All DEM's did in '94 was raise taxes so they could balance the budget. If that causes a landslide, the list above should put the DEMs at 400 and GOP 35. But I will take a 10 seat majority.

35 days people.