Transferred-From-LJ – Page 6 – Observations Along the Road

Friday Clearin’ O’ The Links

Posted onFriday, November 18, 2011Authorcahwyguy

Friday at lunch time. You know what that means: Time to clear out the collected links that didn’t fit into any of the week’s themed news chum posts. As a reminder, I do it this way to make your life easier, as opposed to loads and loads of Facebook shares. Now, aren’t you grateful for that 🙂

Holiday Gifts. Let’s start easy. Yesterday was my daughter’s 17th birthday. She came to me, and indicated she wanted an iPad for Chanukah. Guess what? She’s not alone. Nielsen has surveyed kids, and iPads are the most requested holiday electronic gift, followed closely by iPod Touches and IPhones. ETA: Here’s a buying guide.
College Planning. Speaking about my daughter, she’s busy with college applications. So, naturally, articles about college catch my eye. The first is an interesting discussion of legacys and applications, and whether legacys should have application priority. For the record, legacy is only a factor at one of my daughter’s hopes, Wash U. in STL, where my mother went. UC doesn’t care about legacys. Of course, one problem with colleges is cost, and colleges are now offering more effective cost calculators. Lastly, with respect to colleges, I’m sad to report that my daughter’s desired major, History, is on the list of the 11 majors with the highest unemployment. This is a big deal for the economy, as college grads moving back home are a big drain on local economic purchasing.
Money. This week, Canada introduced a new plastic monetary note, with all sorts of high tech features. I think this is pretty cool: not only does it last longer, but it is more resistant to counterfeiting. Of course, it is worse for the environment. Meanwhile, the US continues to debate whether to change the $1 bill to a coin.
Wait Wait. Alas, I haven’t seen many more details on this than what is in the article, but “Wait Wait Don’t Tell Me” is coming to TV.
Muppets. I don’t see movies that often. One that is attractive to me, because I love the humor, is the upcoming muppets movie. The NY Times has an interesting article on how they designed the new muppet.
Loving Your Music. As many folks know, I love me my iPod classic, and have over 26,000 songs. It appears that neither Apple nor Google love me back. Not only has there been talk about getting rid of the large-capacity Classic, but iTunes Match won’t work with libraries greater than 25,000 songs, and Google Music won’t work with libraries greater than 20,000 songs. What’s a music lover to do?
House Hunting. Looking for a house? Perhaps the answer is to buy the land, and then find a house to move to it. That’s an approach a lot more people are doing, as moving a house is often cheaper than building one.
Actors Synagogue. Lastly, an article about the Actors Synagogue in NYC, which is down on its luck and trying to raise funds. This is quite an interesting article, demonstrating the plight of the older city-based synagogue, as well as how religion has changed in the modern era.

Speaking of synagogues, a note for those in the LA area. Temple Ahavat Shalom is having its Holiday Boutique on Sunday from 10a to 3p. My wife will have a booth there, so come on over (I’ll be helping the Men’s Club). I’ll be posting a more specific plug regarding this on Facebook.

Landmarks and History

Posted onFriday, November 18, 2011Authorcahwyguy

Earlier in the week, I wrote about changes in Granada Hills, Santa Monica, and Westchester. Here are a few more:

Death of a Muffler Man. There are those of us that love our muffler men. These are the giant fiberglass statues of a man, typically holding a muffler or other implement, that dot Roadside America. Alas, the golfing muffler man may soon be dead. The Carson Golf Course (home of the Muffler Man), as well as vacated Don Dominguez Apartments, are being torn down to build a new Porsche “Experience Center”. The “Experience Center” will feature a world-class test track and handling course where drivers can practice maneuvering on rain, ice and snow. A section called Ice Hill will have a steep slope and water jets. Another off-road area will include 45-degree declines and ascents. But will it have a muffler man holding a Porsche? I doubt it.
They’re Just Dense. When I was growing up, my parent’s accounting office was at 11704 Wilshire Blvd—the corner of Wilshire and Barrington—above “Diamond Jims” (which is no more), the Barrington Pharmacy (which is no more) and Lindberg Nutrition (which is no more). The Crocker Bank (which is no more) and Market Basket (which is no more) was next door. Platos Restaurant (which is no more) was across the street, as was La Barbaras (which is no more). Kitty-korner to the office was a low-rise shopping center with a junk store and a liquor store. That was eventually replaced with a building that housed 20/20 video. That’s now all gone. What is going up in its place? Curbed LA is reporting there will be a new mixed-use development at that corner, renamed the bw, that will be a six story apartment building with 78 units ranging in size from 700 to 1,300 square feet, with rents from $2,200 to $4,000. Just what that neighborhood needs. Not.

Theatre News You Can Use

Posted onFriday, November 18, 2011Authorcahwyguy

A few theatre items that caught my eye of late:

Fela Replaces Funny Girl. The Ahmanson Theatre was thrust into an odd situation recently when the announced revival of “Funny Girl” with Lauren Ambrose, scheduled to start 1/15/12, was put on indefinate hold. Center Theatre Group’s solution: They are moving Fela from its scheduled late April position to start in mid-December, after the tour completes in San Francisco. This means that Fela will run Dec. 14-Jan. 22 (plus a Dec. 13 preview), and hottix ~~should~~ go on sale Nov. 22 (confirmed: on sale 11/22 for 12/13-1/1), and CTG gets some breathing room to schedule something to start in April.
Bring It On. Currently running at the Ahmanson is “Bring It On – The Musical” (we’re ticketed to see it on 11/25). A drawback to a new musicals is that one often doesn’t get the cast album to remind one of the show. Thus, shows such as Pasadena Playhouse’s “Mask” are unrecorded, and there are only the demo tracks for “Having It All” or “Dangerous Beauty“. Luckily, that won’t be the case for “Bring It On”, for Playbill reports that “Bring It On” plans to record a cast album.
Musical Revivials of Interest. An interesting story in Playbill: Bernadette Peters and Martin Short are exploring doing a revival of “I Do! I Do!”. The two last worked together in the musical version of “Goodbye Girl”, and they made an interesting duet and dynamic. I could see this “I Do! I Do!” working quite well.
Play Revivals. Another interesting revivial coming up: Jim Parsons (Sheldon, in Big Bang Theory) is in negotiations to play the Elwood P Dowd role in a revival of “Harvey” on Broadway. I could see this working quite well. He would be very different than Jimmy Stewart, but could do wonders with the role.

ETA: For my reference: LACC is presenting “Lost and Unsung”, with songs cut from classic and flop musicals. We 11/30, Th 12/1, Fr 12/2, and Sa 12/3. I might try to squeeze this in before ACSAC, possibly on 12/2.

Signs of the Times

Posted onThursday, November 17, 2011Authorcahwyguy

In looking through today’s collection of news articles for a unifying theme, one thread stood out: they are all reflective of today’s times.

The Foreclosure Mess. An interesting article in the NY Times highlights a side-effect of the foreclosure mess: at many college campuses, it is cheaper for students to band together to rent a McMansion than to pay the University to live in a dorm. This is particularly true for schools such as UC Merced, which has not fully constructed their dorm infrastructure.
Economic Fears. We constantly hear that the engine of job creation are our nation’s businesses. But their fear is preventing job creation. No where is that better seen than with small businesses, who are having trouble getting loans to expand and create jobs from the big banks. In many ways, this is emphasizing one of the points of OWS: we need to move our money from large national-scope institutions to institutions with local scope and local interest, who want to reinvest in the community.
Impact of Technology. Two articles in papers from each side of the country related to a common topic, but find radically different answers. The New York Times opines that the new car test drive is dead. Their position is that it is now so easy to research a vehicle, that more and more people are skipping the test drive. People focus on design and information on overall quality more. The Los Angeles Times goes the other direction, stating that test drives are even more important and should be longer. They argue that short test drives are pointless, and drives of at least an hour are required to judge how easy the navigation and console systems are to use, whether the vehicle can interface with all your electronic devices, whether the gauges and systems are readable at night, etc. BTW, in other car news, the food truck trend has led Nissan to introduce a new food truck design.

ETA: I forgot to metion that today is National Unfriend Day. However, don’t unfriend me. I really want your comments!

Some Local News, with a Little Extra

Posted onWednesday, November 16, 2011Authorcahwyguy

Today’s lunchtime news chum brings together a collection of items with a local flavor:

Hows. Well, first I stick the flag in the sand… For those living in Granada Hills, the market in the Knollwood Center has long been the little market in the area. First an Alpha Beta, and later a Hows, it has been closed for a while. Good news. It’s going to be a Fresh and Easy.
One Way or the Other. One side effect of living in the San Fernando Valley is water use. For years, conservation has been pushed, but it has a side effect the city doesn’t like. Never fear. The DWP is urging an additional $5 monthly fee to make up for losses due to conservation. Of course, bringing water to Los Angeles is an expensive job, as discussed in this article from the LA Times. Lastly, what DWP is doing shouldn’t be a surprise. Banks do it all the time: when they can’t get money one way, they get it another.
Building 5. Many years ago, I worked for SDC. In Santa Monica, the buildings included 2500, 2600, Q7, and Building 5. Building 5 was 3000 Olympic, and it is actually the only original SDC building still standing (the rest were sacrificed for the Water Garden project). 3000 Olympic was gutted, chopped, reworked, and became the Lantana Media Center. It’s in the news day, as the Expo Light Rail is planning to run through the area, and so Lantana is building their own sound wall abutting the parking they are losing behind the building (along the rail line).
Look, a 707. Of course, I grew up near LA Airport, in Westchester. This was the time before they started taking houses due to noise and runway growth, but eventually loads of homes were gone, including homes of friends of mine that lived S of 92nd, in the hills near Trask, and in other areas in Westchester. Now it looks like LAWA is finally developing a plan to use those areas. The usage will be a mix of commercial, hotel, and open space.

Bonus Item: Folks probably know I love my iPod. If you are a long time user, you should know that there is a recall of 1st generation iPod Nanos due to batteries reheating. If you have one (I did), you can look into replacing it here. Related to this, I saw an article about how CDs are dying (I see those regularly), and began to think of an ancillary impact: It will be harder to see your used music. This must have echoed into the ethersphere, for shortly after those thoughts I saw an article about how the RIAA doesn’t like resale of used digital music files. We’re moving from an era where you own the copy of the music, to where you are licensed to listen to it. This is why I don’t want my music in the cloud, and why I eschew purchasing from the iTunes store (which has digital rights) in favor of Amazon (which sells unlocked MP3s).

The Power of Change

Posted onTuesday, November 15, 2011Authorcahwyguy

Yesterday, I wrote about the sexist (or perhaps it is stereotypical) themes in the 1905 2nd Oz novel, “The Land of Oz”. Today, while we chat over lunch, I’d like to explore something more positive: some interesting reports of positive change:

More Than Fried Chicken. It turns out that Harlan Sanders had a secret. No, not his recipe for artery-clogging chicken. Rather, his desire for a celebrity cook book, chock full of homespun anecdotes and life lessons from Sanders, who struck it rich late in life… as well as a heaping helping of his favorite personal recipes. These include personal recipes for omelets, pancakes, casseroles, pies and many more dishes that he said reflected his affinity for “real old-time country and farm cooking.” Now, you would think KFC would want to sell this and make more money… but they don’t. KFC plans to publish the manuscript online, probably sometime next year, said Laurie Schalow, a spokeswoman for Yum Brands Inc., the parent of KFC. The Colonel’s insights on hard work and giving it your best will be available for free, she said.
Keeping Communities Alive. You would think with the way Fox News spins things, hispanics and other immegrants are destroying America. They aren’t. They are saving it. No where is this better seen than in the small communities in the plain states, where the hispanics are reviving towns on the verge of death. For generations, the story of the small rural town of the Great Plains, including the dusty tabletop landscape of western Kansas, has been one of exodus — of businesses closing, classrooms shrinking and, year after year, communities withering as fewer people arrive than leave and as fewer are born than are buried. Offsetting this trend are the Hispanicsm who are arriving in numbers large enough to offset or even exceed the decline in the white population in many places. In the process, these new residents are reopening shuttered storefronts with Mexican groceries, filling the schools with children whose first language is Spanish and, for now at least, extending the lives of communities that seemed to be staggering toward the grave.
Saving Soap. Hilton Worldwide has partnered with Atlanta-based nonprofit Global Soap Project to donate discarded soap from its 3,750 properties to be recycled for use in impoverished communities throughout the world. Global Soap Project, founded by Uganda native Derreck Kayongo, uses a process of sanitizing, melting and remolding discarded soap from hotels throughout the country. Since 2009, the organization has sent recycled soap to 20 countries on four continents, including Afghanistan, Ecuador and Haiti. According to UNICEF, which on Oct. 15 held the fourth annual Global Hand-washing Day, washing hands with soap can reduce the incidence of diarrhea among children under five by nearly 50 percent and respiratory infections by up to 25 percent.
Tuba Time. Quite a few years ago, we were good friends with a tuba player (we’re still good friends with his ex-wife, who I’ve now known for almost 25 years!). He used to do things like go to “Tuba Christmas”, an all-Tuba holiday music concert. So an article in today’s paper made me think of him, as it noted the resurgance of the Tuba in Mexican bands. The tuba had gone from a lowly instrument in the back to a place of prominence and a star attraction.
Girl Nerds. Lastly, the SF Chronicle has an article on the resurgence of girl nerds on television these days, and muses that this is inspiring more women to go into technology these days.

The Sexist Land of Oz

Posted onMonday, November 14, 2011Authorcahwyguy

As I mentioned last week, I just finished reading the last book in the Oz quartet by Greg Maguire. This prompted me to reread the first two L. Frank Baum novels in preparation for rereading all four Maguire books. Most people are familiar with the first. Less are familiar with the 2nd book. It has a number of problems.

In the second book, the Emerald City is taken over by General Jinjur. Why? “Because the Emerald City has been ruled by men long enough, for one reason. Moreover, the City glitters with beautiful gems, which might far better be used for rings, bracelets, and necklaces, and there is enough money in the King’s treasury to buy every girl in our Army a dozen new gowns. So we intend to conquer the City and run the government to suit ourselves.”

The invasion is a secret, which is surprise, because according to Jinjur “our army is composed entirely of girls, and it is surely a remarkable thing that our Revolt is not yet discovered.”

The girls only weapons are knitting needles, but they are not worried because “What man would oppose a girl, or dare harm her? And there is not an ugly face in the entire Army.”

So what do they do when they take over the city? Pry the emeralds out of the ground, and stand around and gossip all day while the men cook and clean. (At least Baum notes that the men find the work hard, and wonders how their wives do it all—they must have iron constitutions)

And what happened when Jinjur was overthrown? “At once the men of the Emerald City cast off their aprons. ANd it is said that the women were so tired of eating their husbands cooking that they all hailed the conquest of Jinjur with joy. Certain it is that, rushing one and all to the kitchens of their houses, the good wives prepared so delicious a feast for the weary men that harmony was immediately restored in every family.”

Don’t believe me? Read “The Land of Oz” by L. Frank Baum. I think I prefer Maguire’s reconception of that world. [ETA: Although I note that Maguire’s Oz has its problems as well. Not as much sexist, as there is stronger recognition of matrilineal rularship. Maguire’s Oz has more problems with political abuse of power, and mistreatment of citizens, especially Animals. I’ll also note that neither Oz is actually a democracy, with elected leaders. I’ll have more analysis on both Oz’s after I reread Maguire’s books.]

The Women in His Life

Posted onSunday, November 13, 2011Authorcahwyguy

Two of a man’s most fundamental relationships are those with his wife and with his dog, not necessarily in that order. The play we saw last night, “Sylvia“, by A.R. Gurney, which is currently in production at the Edgemar Center in Santa Monica, explores just those relationships.

Here’s the scoop, Scooby-doo. Sylvia takes place in the mid-1990s (although it could be anytime) in New York City. Greg, a middle-age middle-class man who hates what his job as become finds Sylvia, a dog played by a human, in the park and takes a liking to her. He brings her back to the empty nest he shares with Kate. Kate, on the other hand, has finally escaped the kids and the dogs, She’s got a new job teaching English to inner-city kids, and is enjoying going out with Greg to the nightlife of New York. A dog destroys this. So when Kate comes home to Sylvia, she wants her gone. They eventually decide that Sylvia will stay for a few days before they decide whether she can stay longer, but Greg and Sylvia have already bonded. Greg starts spending more and more time with Sylvia, and less and less time at work. Greg talks to Sylvia, and she listens. Tension increases between Greg and Kate, and eventually, Greg becomes completely obsessed with Sylvia. Meanwhile, Kate is fearing that their marriage is falling apart. Kate and Sylvia are at odds with each other, each committed to seeing the other defeated. The detent continues until two breaking incidents: first, Sylvia goes into heat and has an encounter with Bowser at the dog park, leading to Sylvia getting spayed. Secondly, Kate applies for a grant to teach in London, and gets accepted. This means that Greg must decide between Kate and Sylvia, because the UK has a six-month dog quarantine. I’ll leave the final resolution a surprise. If you’re really curious, read the Wiki Synopsis.

(I’ll note the synopsis discusses a scene with a therapist. Either I blacked out at some point, or the Edgemar cut that scene (at least last night). The character is listed in the program, so perhaps they had it at one point. I didn’t miss it.)

At its heart: Sylvia is a combination love story and growing older story, just like “On Golden Pond“. In this case, the growing older part addresses the (far too often, although I’m still waiting for mine) mid-life crisis that men go through. They’ve been with the same job for 20+ years, the same woman for 20+ years, and having a new beauty in their life adds spice and vitality, and reenergizes them. This beauty can be a sportscar, it can be a mistress, or in Greg’s case, it can be a dog. They lavish time and attention on this thing, which loves them back, while ignoring older relationship. This comes back to bite them in the butt, and they eventually need to decide: which relationship is more important. Sometimes they can work it out, sometimes they can’t. This is what Sylvia explores, in a very funny manner.

At the heart of Sylvia is Sylvia herself, the little bitch (I had to work that in somewhere). Sylvia is portrayed by Tanna Frederick^æ, a super-energetic skinny little thing who works her tail off, bounding from here to there in a performance that is not overly cutesy. Tanna jumps on furniture; she licks; she humps; she barks. She captures all those dog mannerisms in a portrayal that is, at its heart, human. You really get the feeling that she loves Greg, unconditionally. You sometimes wonder why her original owner gave her up.

Sylvia’s owner, Greg, is portrayed by Stephen Howard^æ. I truly liked his performance, perhaps because he seemed so easy going, so lost in where his job was going, and so needing the acceptance that Sylvia gave him. You didn’t get the feeling that this was an actor playing a character; you felt this was a man with his dog. Stephen was just at home being Greg.

Greg’s wife, Kate, was played by Cathy Arden^æ. Again, Cathy was at home with the character of Kate. You could tell she was in love with Greg, and wanted to spend more time with him… and was thus exasperated when his attentions turned to Sylvia, the other woman. An enjoyable performance.

Rounding out the cast was Ron Vignone, in the dual roles of Tom and Phyllis (a third role, Leslie, is also listed in the program, but this is the therapist scene that was cut). Evidently, Vignone was a replacement for Tom Ayers, who became sick in August, threatening the future of the play’s run (it started in May). Vignone has down well with the small parts, especially with the portrayal of Tom in the second act, when Sylvia goes into heat.
[^æ denotes members of Actors Equity ]

I should note that there is a significant reason why this cast works so well together: the three principles played the same roles when the production was done at the Sierra Madre Playhouse a long time ago.

The production was directed by Gary Imhoff, who not only has managed the mayhem, but turns humans into dogs quite convincingly. Leslie Turner served as stage manager, assisted by Jo Amari. Sylvia was produced by Alexandra Guarnieri.

Turning to the technical. The set was designed by Joel Daavid, who created a warm and welcoming apartment scene as well as side areas that served as the dog park. Daavid also served as lighting designer, using a simple design that focused on the actors. No credit was provided for sound, although there were suitable sound effects during the dog park scenes, as well as a wonderful collection of dog-themed music both before the show and at intermission.

“Sylvia“ continues at the Edgemar Center for the Arts; no end date has been announced. Tickets are available through the Edgemar; they are also available via Goldstar.

Upcoming Theatre, Concerts, and Dance: Next weekend brings “Chitty Chitty Bang Bang at the Simi Valley Cultural Arts Center on its opening night, November 19. Karen will also be seeing “Riverdance” at the Pantages on November 16. Thankgiving weekend brings “Bring It On” at the Ahmanson on Friday and the last show of the REP season, “The Graduate”, on Saturday November 26. The first weekend of December is lost preparing for ACSAC—you are coming, aren’t you? The next weekend is busy, with a Mens Club Shabbat in the morning, and “Travels with my Aunt” at the Colony Theatre in the evening. The remainder of December is unscheduled, but I’m sure we’ll fill things in for Winter Break. Of course, there is the de rigueur movie and Chinese food on Christmas day. January will bring the first show of the REP East season, as well as (hopefully) “Art” at the Pasadena Playhouse and “God of Carnage” at ICT Long Beach. February will bring “Ring of Fire” at Cabrillo Music Theatre, possibly the “Funny Girl replacement show” at the Ahmanson, “Old Wicked Songs” at the Colony Theatre, and Bernadette Peters in concert at the Valley Performing Arts Center. As always, open dates are subject to be filled in with productions that have yet to appear on the RADAR of Goldstar or LA Stage Alliance.