Stopgap Post

Longer post coming soon, but for now this brief post to appease my ravenous fans and keep me from going the absentee route of Brownsox.

First, we threw a kegger in our department building a few weeks back, to celebrate our conference. Highlights include the beer pong, the flip cup, and our immediate hush when campus security showed up at the building. Then magically we made it all disappear the next morning, roughly 20 minutes before we used the same room to run panels all day. Though I think the faculty is under the impression we were kicked out of the building, which we decidedly were not. Not that they'll tell us this openly, as that would admit that they knew we had a kegger, which violates the "don't ask don't tell" policy we all seem to have mutually agreed on.

Second, saw Urinetown this past weekend, which the University Theatre was putting on (two of my students were in it). The show itself is great, and is now added to my list of awesomely good musicals. The production was good, but not stellar. The director was going for some overly stylized stuff, trying to echo stuff like Threepenny Opera and The Cradle Will Rock; some of it worked, some didn't, and some just looked plain dumb. Not really the fault of the actors, just a director who wouldn't pull things back when they needed it. The male lead, while suitable for the part, wasn't really selling the higher register stuff, which seems necessary for the role. Although maybe that critique comes just because of my own girlishly-high vocal range. But if you're hired for a tenor part, you shouldn't look like you need to stop acting just to hit the high notes. And overall the sound was kind of messed up; the orchestra sounded like a recording for some reason, even though I could see them playing, and the choral numbers just didn't have that much oomph to them. Not to blame the chorus, as they were clearly putting their all into it and doing some very nice dance work. I think it was mainly a sound issue. Oh, and that theatre is a deathtrap waiting to happen. There are no aisles, people! It's just one long row that wraps its way around the entire house! Madness!

But the play itself is great, and you should see it if you get a chance. Very dark and yet hilarious at the same time.

Third, saw Spider-Man 3 last night. Again, good but not great. It wasn't Spider-Man 2, but then again, it wasn't X-Men 3 either. Everyone seems to have a different critique, though most seem to agree there are too many villains. I personally just don't buy Sandman. I almost laughed whenever he was on, as Venom and Harry Osborn made much better villains for me. I can see why they kept all 3 in there, but it was just too much. They should have focused much more on the Peter/Harry infighting, as that was my favorite part of the movie. But Bruce Campbell again rocked out his cameo, which leads me to point four.

Fourth, am in the process of renting and watching The Adventures of Brisco County, Jr. If you've never seen it, this is a Bruce Campbell t.v. comic western that was on Fox for all of 26 episodes back in the early 90's. Phenomenal stuff.

Fifth and last, watch Heroes. If you aren't, you're a chump. Cause it rules. Quantum will back me on this, unless the ants have already taken over his brain (see Bourbon Samurai's blog for elucidation). New episode tonight, and only 2 more after that. Embrace your inner geek!

For next time, a meditation on what to do for my birthday. Should I accept the challenge of 15 bars in one night? Or save that for a more random time this summer?