Deeply Surprising

Hmm.

So I wrote about a cactus and suddenly ... wham.

I spent some time browsing conservapedia Sunday morning (I'd link but the site is not funcational after the swarm of traffic) looking for the funniest entry I could find.

I got a cactus. I posted. Boingboing.net got it, and I see now that there's a link on the Guardian's news blog. Perhaps it shows what an Anglophile and geek I am that I'm more excited about being linked to from the Guardian then Boingboing.

This whole Internet thing is crazy.

Tacoma Power!

Good for Tacoma Power. They are further investigating a proposal to use the Narrows tides to generate power if it is economically and environmentally feasible.

Good for them. I would be very proud of my Power Company.

Welcome Visitors

So my entry on the conservative cactus got picked up by boingboing.net today, apparently thanks to Mr. Kevin Freitas.

It would appear that many others thought it was amusing, seeing that 3200 people have visited my blog since noon today. (Yesterday I welcomed about 100 visitors).

So to all those people who visited me today for the first time: If you like book and movie reviews, theater, and have an affection for Tacoma, WA, stick around! Other than that, I'm not sure I have too much to offer you unless you want to hear my latest diatribe on why we should nationalize railroads or force taxis to be hybrids.

Man, too bad I don't have ads...

Conservapedia's Tree Dwelling Octopus

Another blogger suggests that Conservapedia is a hoax designed to make conservatives look bad. He cites this entry, for the Pacific Northwest Tree Octopus, which supposedly can be found on the Olympic Peninsula.

From the text:

Their habitat lies on the eastern side of the Olympic mountain range, adjacent to Hood Canal. These solitary cephalopods reach an average size (measured from arm-tip to mantle-tip,) of 30-33 cm. Unlike most other cephalopods, tree octopuses are Amphibian, spending only their earliest life stages and mating seasons in their aquatic environment. Because of the moistness of the rainforests and their well designed skin adaptations, they are able to keep from becoming dried out for prolonged periods of time. (Citation Needed)

You have to cite that? Really? The same blogger also pointed to the Kangaroo entry, which is nearly just as bad as the cactus entry.

Like all modern animals, modern kangaroos originated in the Middle East^[1] and are the descendants of the two founding members of the modern kangaroo baramin that were taken aboard Noah's Ark prior to the Great Flood... After the Flood, kangaroos bred from the Ark passengers migrated to Australia. There is debate whether this migration happened over land^[2] -- as Australia was still for a time connected to the Middle East before the supercontinent of Pangea broke apart -- or if they rafted on mats of vegetation torn up by the receding flood waters^[2].

Can this site be real? I doubt conservapedia as a whole is a hoax. Most likely it has been infiltrated by people who believe the idea is so outlandish to begin with that they have added their own entries that drive the site to the absurd. But the full scope of the site, makes me think it is for real.

Chalk that up to another fun fact for the day: kangaroos rafted to Australia on mats. Them marsupials were sure dedicated to getting there.

The Politics of the Cactus

Andrew Sullivan, whom I laud pretty frequently on this blog, linked yesterday to a website that is absolutely, incredibly hilarious.

It's called conservapedia.com, and it is what it sounds like, a "conservative" wikipedia. According to the site, it wants to give an alternative to the liberal bias of Wikipedia. Wikipedia has a liberal bias, you ask? Naturally. Here's a great entry from the "Examples of Bias in Wikipedia page."

For example, even though most Americans reject the theory of evolution,^[6] Wikipedia editors commenting on the topic are nearly 100% pro-evolution.

Uh huh. I had a great time scrolling through conservapedia and I learned a lot.

Did you know, for example, that "Big Oil has also proven valuable in funding independant [sic] scientists who are able to dispute the propaganda behind Global warming without worrying about losing their government or academic funding due to liberal reprisals."

Or did you know that only Christians have "faith." No foolin, it actually says that.

But my favorite entry is on the cactus. I don't know how I stumbled on to this entry, but it is truly wonderful. I'll give you the first couple paragraphs.

The secularist view of the Cactaceae is that they are roughly two million years old, and that they have evolved exclusively in the new world. This view fails to explain, however, how it is that the Opuntia genus is native to the island of Opus, near Greece. Cacti are known for their high content of alkaloids, and have often been used in the sacramental rights of the Native Americans. Because of this, the early Catholic missionaries in the west thought the plants to be the work of Satan, and this is perhaps a preferable view to that of materialistic evolution since it is difficult to imagine how something like mescaline could have evolved by natural selection. Besides that, the psychoactive content of many cacti have inspired the writings of such ungodly men as Aldous Huxley and Albert Hoffman.

Several species of cactus are now endangered in the west due to "poaching" by collectors and invasive species. But, since Genesis suggests that man has been given dominion over all of the earth, the environmentalist concerns on this note are entirely inappropriate. It may also be that environmentalists, in addition to flauting the Word of God, are merely concerned about the effects that declining cactus populations will have on their supply of mescaline.

Obviously, going to conservapedia is a place to learn valuable stuff.

I have been reading Andrew Sullivan for a good long time now and I have a great deal of respect for him, most especially his attempts to separate conservatism from fundamentalism. (I'm currently reading his "The Conservative Soul" which makes some impassioned arguments for a conservatism founded on doubt and skepticism.) Websites like conservapedia.com show how much work he is going to have separating a true conservative movement from the fundamentalist Christian base.

No wonder the New York Times is reporting that fundamentalists like Falwell and Robertson and having a hard time finding a candidate to support. How many people can have an honest shot at the Presidency who believe that environmentalists only want to save cactuses to keep their mescaline supply stable?

Place your bets

Tomorrow's Oscars are apparently "wide open" if you read the news on the Internet. I'm not sure I agree. Sight unseen, I think Iwo Jima will likely win, although Ebert thinks its Babel.

Here's my list for some crucial categories.
Best Picture: Letters From Iwo Jima
Best Director: Martin Scorsese, The Departed
Best Actor: Forest Whitaker, The Last King of Scotland
Best Actress: Helen Mirren, The Queen
Best Supporting Actor: Eddie Murphy, Dreamgirls
Best Supporting Actress: Jennifer Hudson, Dreamgirls
Best Original Screenplay: Little Miss Sunshine
Animated Film: Cars
Best Foreign Film: Pan's Labryinth

Those were my entries on rogerebert.com. If I'm right, I might get to go to Mexico.

I rather like this idea

Here's an idea that seems incredibly sound to me: convert taxis into hybrids. First, they drive on average 10 times more than regular passenger cars (that actually seems low to me). And second, there are 196,000 of them in North America.

You could cut smog substantially, reduce emissions, and it would be a stepping stone toward greater fuel efficiency for all cars. But since taxis are already registered and monitored, why not? Mandate that all new vehicles applying for their taxi license be hybrids; and all taxis must be hybrids by 2012, five years from now. Brilliant!

Of course, a lot of things appear brilliant at 12:25 am on a Saturday night after an evening of theater. But this one will stick, I think.

New Artistic Director at TLT

I learn from the Spew that TLT has a new Artistic Director, David Duvall. He has an impressive resume and I wish him well in the new job.

Interesting, the Spew also writes:

In addition to the new top dog at TLT, the theatre also announced it has strategically restructured its leadership hierarchy so that Duvall will partner with existing Business Director Corinna Chapo to jointly manage the 88-year-old institution.

Oy. That's a hard way to go.

"Molly Sweeney" opens, plus a Tribune review!

"Molly Sweeney" opened last night and I thought it was a great show. We seemed to get a great response from the audience, too.

I was particular surprised and pleased to see the Tribune's review was on-line this morning too. Rosemary Ponnekanti's review starts with a great line:

Anyone who’s been complaining about the lack of theater talent in Tacoma should
get themselves to “Molly Sweeney.”

Tickets are still available on-line or at the Box Office for 'day-of' tickets.

A Truly Truly Wonderful Book

I've reviewed some great books on this blog in the last half year. In fiction, The Caine Mutiny, John Dunning's "Bookman" mysteries, and The Plague. In non-fiction, 1776, Freakonomics, and Moneyball.

"Devil in the White City" is a great book that could fit on either list. Yes, it's non-fiction, but it's also a great yarn that could easily be a novel. I've seen this book on the shelves for a few years and was put off for some indescribable reason. Finally I caved and read it and I'm glad I did.

The book has it all: a struggle against adversity, unexpected engineering marvels (quick: what US engineer figured out how to create an engineering marvel more spectacular than the Eiffel Tower? The answer will surprise you.) The book also has a crazy serial killer, cameo appearances by the rich and famous, great writing, and even a great tale of urban studies, if you can believe it.

I came late to this party, but it's well worth it. Go for it.

Our Stage

This picture gives a pretty good idea, I thought, of what the theater will look like when we open Thursday night. You can click on it to blow it up and make it a little bigger for better detail. The stage looks great, the audience is on a few different levels for good sightlines, and up in the shadows you can see the lighting equipment that we installed on the beams of Commencement Bay Coffee.

I hope you'll come check out the space and see the show! (Tickets available on-line here.)

Tacoma theater news via the Inbox

Tacoma has won a bid to host the 2009 National Community Theater Festival. TLT and TMP as well as the Washington State Community Theater Association landed the bid this past weekend.

From the release:

AACTFest 2009 will involve hundreds of volunteers from around Washington State, and will bring twelve performing companies from around the United States as well as representatives from U.S. amateur theatre companies abroad.

Big Kudos to the Judy Cullen, TMP, and TLT for landing the project! It's some great news.

Molly Sweeney

I am very impressed with how "Molly Sweeney" has turned out. Am I biased? Ya betcha. But Studio 21 has done a great job with the show. We open Thursday (tickets available on-line here) at Commencement Bay Coffee.

And actually, the theater space itself will surprise you when you come see it. The entire warehouse has been converted to a great-looking theater. I'll try to snap some pictures of the rehearsal tonight and post them. Hope you'll come!

The Caine Mutiny - The Movie

I've been on the go all weekend and am now lying in bed with a cold. So why not take this opportunity to mention that my dad and I watched "The Caine Mutiny" which I had wanted to see since I finished the book last year.

Bogart's performance as Captain Queeg really makes this film great, followed by two other really good performances: Fred McMurray in a really wonderful role for him, and Jose Ferrer as the defense attorney who tells his client "I'd rather prosecute."

It stays remarkably true to the book, too, although--as usual--I would recommend the book over the film. Especially when the author is Herman Wouk.

Some seafood notes

I haven't ordered fish and chips for awhile now (and I've been in a few places where I could) because I wanted to try out the St. Helens Cafe. I ventured in last week but ducked out because it was so empty. That was less intimidating this week because it was actually bustling pretty well.

I was most definitely impressed with the fish. I'm glad to have another option just a block or two away.

I also ventured out to the Margarita Beach Cafe this week. I was more disappointed there than I expected. The seafood was great, I should stress that immediately. But the atmosphere was a shock. After going there when it was the Beach House, and then going again with the re-brand ... I guess I just expected something different. The views are--of course--spectacular, and I might be willing to stop by some fine evening just for that and some coconut prawns on my way to the Lake.

VDay 2007

I was surprised to see this at the Broadway Center, but a big kudos are due for the BCPA for hosting the Vagina Monologues at the Pantages next Saturday night, the 24th. It's a really wonderful show, if you haven't seen it. I saw it twice in college on consecutive VDays.

Here's an very interesting take on the script from a Catholic nun, who felt she had to remain anonymous to be able to publish it.

I really do think this is a great piece of theater and I really think everyone should go, men and women alike. Don't be scared!

The Bridge Time Lapse

Here's a great clip of the construction of the new Narrows, specifically the lifting of the deck pieces from the barges. Best of all, it's a time lapse video over a few days. Well worth the viewing.

365 Days Ago ...

Sometimes you catch a certain date and think ... hey! I know what I was doing one year ago today. Today was like that, except that while I didn't know exactly what I was doing, I knew enough to know I was in Torino, Italy at the Winter Olympics.

That's where a blog comes in handy. A few clicks back to Feb. 13, 2006, and--voila!--it turns out Phil and I were watching the US women's curling team get beat by the Norwegians.

If you love the Winter Olympics, you already know that we are 3 years away from the Opening Ceremonies of the 2010 Winter Olympics because you get the emails from vancouver2010.com. But you may not know that the Tribune launched an Olympics blog recently.

Just in case you're interested.

The Stage

We've had to move "Molly Sweeney" from the Horatio Theater space into Commencement Bay Coffee, on the corner of S 25th & Jefferson. If you want to check out some good theater, you can get tickets on-line. We open February 22 and run until March 11.

The conversion of the theater space is going very well, too. The cell phone picture doesn't do it justice, but we're on our way!

The Carleton Mustache Club

Sometime during my tenure at Carleton College--I am going to hestitantly estimate it at my junior year--the Carleton Mustache Club came into being. I was never a member, but many of my friends were, including a particular roommate.

Today they have achieved fame with an article in the Chicago Tribune. You can read more about the club on their official website here. (May I say that I love their t-shirts, by the way.)

If you enjoy Carleton lore, as I am sure you all do, I would say that one of the finest feats of the Mustache Club was to take a black and white picture of themselves with some crazy moustaches and old-time Carleton gear and mount it in the Burton dining hall along with many other pictures from the early 20th Century. I believe it is still there, blending in perfectly with the old pictures. Check it out and you'll see some 2002 alums looking like they graduated in '32.

Go Mustachios! You guys are awesome.

Proposed TAG 'Solution' is bad news

Today's Tribune had a huge spread by Ken Miller, a former TAG board member, with his ideas on how to save TAG.

To sum up, Miller suggest that TAG has been hurting for two reasons: a crowded market (competition from other theaters) and higher costs. His proposal to fix the solution is a heavily collaborative theater environment where all theaters in the area partner together to create a year long theater festival where theaters use each other's spaces and 'companies' in a partnered system.

The reasons he points to for TAG's financial pain are flawed, as is his solution.

First, of course TAG is facing higher costs. But Miller writes:

In the early days, TAG paid starvation wages because there were few opportunities to work in theater. Now the overflowing market puts TAG or any nonunion theater at a disadvantage.

Not true. TAG, and only TAG, pays even a starvation wage. The community theaters cast mostly volunteers or give small stipends to their talent with low paid administrators. TAG pays union rates for talent, which has certainly gone up since TAG was founded, but Miller's suggestion that there is a glut of theaters taking TAG's talent pool is not accurate. Because if you're an Equity actor or technician, TAG is the only ball game in town, no matter how many other community theaters there are. You can't work in them and stay in the union. The community theaters might be draining each other of talent, but they aren't draining TAG.

Miller also unjustly goes after theater competition for shrinking TAG's audience and donor pool. Perhaps it's because I'm opening a theater myself that I'm a little sensitive to the suggestion, but I have a better explanation.

TAG, as the only professional Equity house in Tacoma, failed in the late 90s and very early 2000s to differentiate itself from community theater.

With Union actors, Union technicians, TAG should be a full head above all other theater in Tacoma. With Proof, I think we will see TAG shine again as a great theater (I got to see the sets earlier, by the way, and they look really good).

But if TAG was choosing shows that any community theater could do, they weren't doing their job. And that's where I see the biggest problem with Miller's suggestion of combining all theater into a single collaborated entity (which I call TAGTLTTMPLP). He wants TAG to intermingle with community theaters and that takes out all the reason to have an Equity theater in town. It's the surest way to kill TAG off, I'd say.

The way to 'save' TAG, is for TAG to put on some great theater and for donors to support that great theater in turn (see TheHitList.org).

It goes without saying, of course, that the theater needs exceptional management with wise allocation of resources. And whether TAG is doing that neither Miller nor I are in a position to really know. What we can see is the product, and we should see great theater. That's what a professional Equity house is for.

I am very much looking forward to Proof and I sincerely hope that once Tacoma sees what TAG can do, and not Bellevue Civic Theater, the community will have confidence in the theater again. And we can get past talking about how to save TAG and get on to seeing plays.

Obama Official On O8

You can watch his entire announcement here. It's worth it, I swear. He knocked it out of the park.

Here's Andrew Sullivan on Obama. It's not an endorsement, but for a conservative, he's pretty excited by the guy. Here's a quote:

There's no question that Obama needs major work in foreign policy. But he is obviously better informed at this point than, say, George W. Bush was in February 1999. And Obama's internationalist pedigree seems to me a golden opportunity for the United States.

Electing a half-African president, with Hussein as a middle name, who attended school in a Muslim country: it's almost a p.r. agent's dream for America. It would instantly give this country a fresh start in the world after the disaster of the Bush-Cheney years. It isn't enough: Obama will need skills and determination in the terror war. But soft power helps; and Obama would put it on steroids. As for youth, Tony Blair was 43 when he became prime minister; Obama would be 48. What's the problem?

Also ...

The picture on Andrew Sullivan's blog pretty well sums it up, I'd say.

I'd also like to point out that the NYT refers to Anna's life as "hardscrabble." This is, of course, what they called Tacoma last June (here's my post on it). I'd say the description is far more apt for her.

On Anna

What else to say, but this: what a sad, hard life.

Her wikipedia page has some more information, but I want to pull out the basics from that page.

Pregnant at 16. Separated at 17. Waitress at Jim's Krispy Fried Chicken, Red Lobster, and also a Wal-Mart employee. Finally turns to exotic dancing.

At 25, she's on the cover of Playboy, because of her loose resemblance to Marilyn Monroe and extremely large breasts. She becomes Playmate of the Year the next year.

The year after that she marries a former customer and fan when she was an exotic dancer, an oil billionaire, 63 years older than her. He dies the next year.

She spends the next few years self-financing awful movies and fighting in court with the oil billionaire's son (who is older than her) about the money.

After winning her Supreme Court case last year, it was pretty much a downhill slide. The paternity of her daughter was in question and a judge ordered a paternity test to establish who the father is. Just days after the birth of her daughter, her son died in the hospital room from a drug overdose.

And now she goes, at 39, for causes still unknown.

I'm not sure why I wanted to write all that out. I haven't posted something about a star's passing on this blog since Robert Altman, and plenty have passed since then. Certainly her young age has something to do with it. But at the same time I never liked her; I thought she was a golddigger; I never got the appeal of her as a sex symbol ...

But after reading the news on the NYT earlier and then finding her wikipedia page made me feel just plain sad. Viewed at the end, you can see a life of struggle, ridicule, probably not a little shame, bankruptcy, drug addition, litigation, litigation, litigation, and a lot tragedy.

It's just plain sad.

The Departed

This movie really was awesome.

First, the characters are fabulous, as are the stars. DiCaprio, Damon, Baldwin, Sheen, Wahlberg, and of course, Nicholson. The story is male dominated, and only one woman who has more than a single line. Fortunately she has one of the best roles.

Good script, excellent editing and directing (Scorcese packs a lot in to each sceen and we never get lost in the cutting back and forth).

Interestingly, unlike the over-the-top mafia violence of Goodfellas or other Scorcese movies, the violence in this film is quick, cold, and efficient. And it's necessary to the movie in every case.

I was really impressed. Go see it on the big screen tonight.

(Note: This puts me at 3/5 for Best Picture nominations. I hope to see Iwo Jima sometime soon, but will likely skip Babel entirely. Unless it wins.)

Countdown to Wednesday

It's been many a week since Lost left the air. To pass the time, I purchased a Christmas gift for myself: a "Mystery of Island Jigsaw Puzzle, #1 of 4, The Hatch".

In previous years I have purchased a computer game at Christmas like Railroad Tycoon or Civilization as something to zone out with in the week between Christmas and New Years. This year it was a Lost puzzle.

I thought other fans of the show might enjoy seeing the puzzle, and what was included (why does Geronimo Jackson keep coming up?). And people who are not fans of the show might like to see the puzzle so they know to mock me appropriately.

Man I was way off

Good think I'm not a bookie. Colts take it. 29-17.

The Challenge of Revitalization

Exit133 re-published an article from the Seattle Times about the costs of revitalization in the hilltop neighborhood.

If you're interested in the long term health of the city, it's worth a solid read.

For my own money, dealing with gentrification and not pricing out the lower (and even middle) class is going to be one of our most difficult tasks as we move forward.

Regarding the Game

If I were a betting man, which I suppose I am, I'd put money on the Bears today. Bears up by at least a touchdown.

Snagging Residents from King County

According to some recent data, more people are moving to Pierce County from King County than vice versa. From 2000 to 2005, 24,000 more have moved King to Pierce than Pierce to King.

More in the Tribune.

In another very related article, we are spending hours commuting. Methinks all those people who moved here are still working in Seattle. According to the article, an "estimated 69,047 Pierce County commuters traveled at least 45 minutes to work."

Without sounding too much like I'm bragging, I am very happy that I can do door-to-door in about 12 - 14 minutes in the morning. It's usually 15 - 20 in the evening commute.

Of course at the Grand, it was 30 seconds at a flat out run (I think I only had to do that once) and a two minute walk. Although Hannah Heights lengthened that when they closed off the south end of my alley.

Unhappy Meals

This (very long) article was published last week in the NYT Magazine. If you have the time, it's well worth the read. If you don't have the time, read the first couple pages and the last two. It's pretty fascinating reading on health, food, and "the omnivore's dilemma."

Eat food. Not too much. Mostly plants. That's what it all boils down to I guess.

Point. Sold. Match.

The Winthrop has sold. Officially. Prium has bought the property from AF Evans.

Interestingly, the news came from AF Evans, not Prium. I'm not quite sure if there's anything to be drawn from that, but that's the news.

Let the planning commence. We're still a year or more from the actual conversion, but we're moving in the right direction.

Thanks for the tip, Erik B.

On wireless

A long time ago--late 2002, actually--I jumped on the wireless bandwagon. Actually, that's not exactly right. At that time, I was pretty well ahead of the wireless bandwagon.

My dad and I installed an 802.11 b wireless router down at my apartment in the Bostwick on 9th & Broadway and I can't tell you how cool we thought it was.

My little router was powerful enough that I actually turned one small corner of the Tully's into a wireless hotspot. (Let me also give my kudos to Tully's for putting free wireless in their cafes last year. I've gone much more frequently since then. I give Starbucks another 12 months before they decide they have to do the same.)

I have been working off the same router since 2002, and after about four years I figure I'm due for a major upgrade. From 802.11 b to n, courtesy of Apple's new wireless router, the Airport Extreme.

It does a fair amount more than just sending wireless signals, thankfully. One of my favorite features will be the ability to plug my external hard drive into the router and have continuous access to it as if it were attached the side of my computer.

My TiVos will also be able to trade shows much much faster (yes, I have two, I'm a technophile of the worst kind) and sending The Office or 30 Rock to my laptop will get faster too.

I am looking forward to my shipment from Apple. Unfortunately, it may take two or three weeks because they have a backlog of orders. But it looks pretty sweet.

We'll see if it helps me blog any faster.

Houston, we have a date

July 21 for Harry Potter VII, the Deathly Hallows.

Last year Kings Books was the place to be at midnight on the 20th to get your copy. I'll see you all there then.