Category Archives: Literature

joyous outerwear ballet

Posted on by
Reply

The OvercoatI am stunned. I generally dislike ballet and mimes. And yet I find the images of CanStage’s production of The Overcoat (based on Gogol’s short story & Shostakovich’s music) will not leave my mind. It was moving, well acted, immensely satisfying…and even had a “sad ending.” No matter; the show leaves you hungry for life, for meaning, for joy, and to listen to more classical music. Well done, CanStage. No wonder tonight’s 10-year anniversary production (& closing night) was sold out.

I really should do a proper review here, discussing how Peter Anderson’s The Man (uncannily looking like Jonathan Pryce) is at once a Brechtian Common Man and the protagonist of a Greek Tragedy, describing the brilliance of the choreography with Shostakovich’s more ambitious works, and the strength of the ensemble’s choreography and stage presence. I should talk about innovative rolling drafters’ desks that double as cabaret tables, scrims and sliding windows used effectively to separate scenes, and a suitably unifying wardrobe. I should mention the parallels to Chaplin’s Modern Times and Tati’s Oncle films. I might even describe in passing how similarly I’ve felt to The man when he dons his new coat (I even have a new purple coat in the same colour!), and how agonizingly upset I’ve been when a prized possession has gotten ruined.

But I won’t. I haven’t the time. ;)

CanStage Bluma, I’m expecting similar brilliance with next month’s The Rocky Horror Picture Show. Don’t disappoint! :)

an atypical manifesto

Posted on by
5

il manifesto, by http://www.flickr.com/photos/hedrok/

I’ve been a bad blogger. I haven’t been giving back to “the community,” nor have I even found time to read what “the community” is writing. engtech says:

“…blogging is a 10 to 50 hour a week commitment when you include reading and commenting on other blogs. Blogging takes away from other aspects of your life. Are you prepared to make that kind of commitment? Is anyone?

I’ve realized I don’t blog here. I journal. I’m leaving a trace. It’s time to explain my motivation:

An Atypical Manifesto
Continue reading →

getting worse

Posted on by
6

Things have gone from bad to worse. I have not heard from anyone about my grandfather. I phoned the company that runs the hospital he went to, and they have no information either. Supposedly they evacuated that hospital to another one, but the second hospital too is flooding, and according to reports on nola.com, running out of food and water. There are 350 people there at last count.

They say that the flooding is so bad in St. Bernard Parish that the water is flowing back over the levee into the Industrial Canal.

Perhaps the worst is that the St. Bernard Parish president, Henry “Junior” Rodriguez, isn’t getting any attention. He can’t even get through to FEMA and local employees to help coordinate rescue activities and focus efforts on the worst areas: the Civic Center, the Domino Sugar Refinery, the High School, the Medical Center, and so on.

For anyone who is listening in who has loved ones in the area, here are the best resources I have found for information:

St. Bernard Forum @ NOLA.com: http://www.nola.com/forums/stbtownhall/index.ssf This has the most up to date info. Go up to just http://www.nola.com/forums/ for other parishes.

Secondary forum @ wwltv.com: http://www.wwltv.com/forums/viewtopic.php?t=2486 (registration is offline so this forum doesn’t get as much activity as the NOLA.com one)

Best news coverage: http://2theadvocate.com/

Streaming video of WWL-TV: here
Worst news that I’ve gotten so far: http://2theadvocate.com/stories/083005/new_penny001.shtml

Letter from Junior: http://stbernardafterkatrina.blogspot.com/ (scroll to bottom)

Photos: My cache which I’m building right now. I will update this as I get more photos of the affected area. Many cached from http://geckodog.dyndns.org/gallery/katrina (thank you!)

More photos: http://parishphotosafterkatrina.blogspot.com/ taken from KHOU-TV in Houston that’s covering St. Bernard. The general consensus is that CNN isn’t covering St. Bernard because there are too many floating dead bodies, and that’s “unsuitable” for the nation.

Official St. Bernard Parish website has a few pictures. Quote from the gentleman who runs the site:

“If I can interpret “gone” by someone, the reference is probably to a “current way of life”, or inundated with Noah’s new flood, or perhaps a “future” way of life. Looking at either interpretation, it’s a depressed feeling. I believe that St. Bernard is not alone and so many of us who have lost so much will band together at some point (as here) and hopefully give a total effort towards complete recovery with a memory that will last a lifetime. It’s a statement, sad but somehow is sprinkled with truth. “Alas, poor parish. I knew it well.” –Rebuilding as a Phoenix from its ashes. –Jerry”

Rebuilding St. Bernard Parish blog

More photos, downtown: from directNIC operator 2

“Checkin site”: http://www.katrinacheckin.org seems to go down often…

Other: http://groups.yahoo.com/group/theparish/
LiveJournal blog of an operator at directNIC.
Missing Persons
Raging Redfish forum
Photos of lower Plaquemine Parish are at this site
Red Cross: 866-438-4636 or 1-800-HELP-NOW
Number to call to see if people have been rescued: 1-225-925-6626
Company that runs Chalmette Medical Center: 800-347-7750 ask for Heather, you can get on a list and they’ll call you when they have an update
Pet rescue:

General Info:http://www.nola.com/forums/kennertownhall/index.ssf?artid=24151

Kenner pets:http://www.nola.com/forums/kennertownhall/index.ssf?artid=24154

http://www.nola.com/forums/kennertownhall/index.ssf?artid=24158

Jefferson pets (some of the links provided are showing up blank…I don’t know why though):http://www.nola.com/forums/jefftownhall/index.ssf?artid=14940

http://www.nola.com/forums/jefftownhall/index.ssf?artid=14954

The two cats I gave my grandfather are surely dead now. poor aRTie and Baskin…

drama

Posted on by
9

Ok, most of you by now have realized how dramatic I can be when I write. Why do I do it? Well, it comes naturally. That doesn’t mean I like it when I realize my blog sounds like angsty teenage drivel. But I’ve spent most of my life thinking, hey, negativity is everywhere. I can see it!

It makes for a good career in incremental process improvement. I can take just about any technical business into which I’m thrown and help make it better. But the trick I learned in the business world – to present the good things and to praise them, and to present the bad things in a constructive manner – are hard to apply to myself.

Why? Because I’m so used to being down on myself, to criticize myself before someone else does. That’s a good way to never be happy. So everything comes out like drama. In the end, though, every single one of those entries represents something I’ve figured out about myself. It’s made me happy! And why not wax eloquent about it? I think I will continue to be poetic, but I’m gonna be a little bit less dramatic. ;)

Still, I miss posting silly stuff here and sharing the best with you guys. So here’s a collection of great links:

Find me on IRC if you want some decidedly more off-colour links. I’m trying to keep the website a bit more family-friendly these days.