Month: February 2016

News Chum Stew: This and That

Posted onAuthorcahwyguy

Observation StewIt’s been a couple of weeks since we’ve made some news chum stew, and I’m hungry for a nice heaping bowl. Please join me, and let’s discuss some of these:

  • Inclusion and Integration. Let’s start with an article I chose just for the graphic, which is appropriate for the Oscars tonight and #OscarsSoWhite . I had seen others use this graphic before with respect to diversity discussions, and I realized that it is also wonderful to explain security system engineering, and how security truly needs to be included in the engineering discussion, not just considered in a separate area.
  • Food and Health. Here are two articles related to food and health.The first explores how the proton-pump inhibator heartburn meds (such as omeprazole, which I take) may be associated with a higher dementia risk. This is of concern to me; it is why I’m trying to wean down on the meds (I’m at every other day). Specifically, a new study links the widely used PPIs — which include Nexium, Prevacid and Prilosec — to an increased risk for cognitive decline, though researchers caution the study has limitations, and does not show a definite cause. PPIs have recently been linked to kidney disease, heart disease, and deficiencies of B12 and other vitamins. While patients have reported side effects of the drugs, not taking them often results in stomach pains and worse heartburn as the drug leaves their systems.

    The second highlights a fascinating finding about pasta: Reheating your pasta makes it healthier for you. When pasta is cooled down, your body digests it differently, causing fewer calories to be absorbed and a smaller blood glucose peak. And reheating it is even better – it reduces the rise in blood glucose levels by a whopping 50 percent.

  • Cruz and Gluten Free. It seems society just wants to hate and bully. We’ve all seen various people, shapes, and trends become scapegoats for society’s extended mockery. Recently, Ted Cruz marched into the frey by declaring the military shouldn’t provide gluten-free meals. This promped a lovely editorial in HuffPost asking people to stop making fun of the gluten-free diet (which was the real article that prompted this item). Yes, I know there are many folks doing it because the diet is trendy and they believe it will help them. The problem is that if people start feeling that folks only do it for trendy reasons, then they won’t be careful in making things truly gluten free. That can create significant health problems for those that are Celiac and truly must eat gluten free.
  • Kitchens and Shopping. If you’re a cook, you’ve probably gone shopping at those high end kitchen supply stores. Have you gone to a restaurant supply store. It’s quite fun. We’ve gotten a few things there that we use every day. Here’s a good article on what you should be buying at a restaurant supply store. I particularly recommend the cutting board advice: get a really large one you can sit over your sink. You can then rinse and cut without the water going over your counters, and scrape the cuttings right into the disposal. They also have colored boards, so you can segregate vegetable from meat boards.
  • Humor and Jews. This article got an incredible amount of shares when I posted it on FB: Mad’s Al Jaffe explaining how Mad helped make American Humor Jewish, bringing in Yiddish along the way.
  • Calculators and Caller ID. Recently, an app on my Android Phone informed me it was using Caller ID, and I needed to go into its settings if I didn’t want that. The app, PowerCalc, and yes — it is integrating CallerID to make money for its authors. Needless to say, I want to find a different calculator app now.
  • Cars and Satellites. Here’s a real interesting one. I work in El Segundo, and regularly drive now Nash Street. I’ve never thought about why it was named what it was. However, a posting in an LA History group on Facebook provided some fascinating history. Evidently, what is now the Boeing Satellite Facility at Imperial Highways and Hughes Way used to be the Nash-Kelvinator Assembly Plant. Thus: Nash Street.
  • Names and Processors. A number of years ago, picking a processor was easy. You went for the latest x86 and clock speed. Then came Pentium and Celeron and Atom, and now there are Cores and iX and more. Here’s the first cogent explanation I’ve found of Intel Processor naming. This will be a big help next time I go processor shopping. I wonder how they differ architecture-wise, in particular in memory mapping and privilege rings — things us cybersecurity folks care about.
  • Tuna and Pianos. Get it? Piano Tuna? Nevermind, I’m here all week. You may have seen the recent Android commercial where they play one song on a regular piano, and one song on a piano where every key makes the same note. You might have wondered whether they made a square piano to do it, in order to have all the strings the same length (remember: a piano has the same number of strings as a harp; it is just that they are buried in a box and hit with a hammer). Here’s a Scientific American article on what they did, and exploring if you could make all strings sound the same just through tuning.
  • A, B, C, D, E, and F. If you are old enough, you remember the days before “forever” stamps, when postage changed so frequently they issued lettered stamps worth make up postage between the old rate and the new rate. One wonders if they would issue negative postage stamps now, given that stamp prices are set to go down 2c in April. That’s right. Down. From 49c to 47c. I’d wait to buy that “forever” postage.
  • Maps and Places. We’ve all heard about it, but is it really done? Atlas Obscura explores the legend of fictitious place names on maps. Can they really be used to copyright a map?
  • Restaurants and the San Fernando Valley. A couple of articles on restaurants and the valley. The first explores 118 Degrees, a new raw vegan GF restaurant. The second is supposedly the essential valley restaurants, although I find some a bit trendy for my taste (and as usual, then tend to think only of the Boulevard, instead of the Northern valley). This becomes clear when they mention Lum Ka Naad’s outpost on the boulevard, instead of mentioning the original location near CSUN (which is about a mile from where I live). PS. While we’re talking about the valley, here’s an obit of interest: Rabbi Gordon of Chabad in the Valley has passed away. Z”L.
  • Malls and ShoppingTowns . In the news recently was an article noting how the Beverly Center mall near Cedars Sinai is getting a makeover. I remember this area well: I remember when the mall was built in the 1970s (drove by it on the way to WBT). It replaced the beloved Beverly Playland. The redevelopment is part of a trend of mall redesign, where developers take what were indoor malls and make them outdoor strolling areas. Think “the Grove” or “Americana at Brand”. What goes around, comes around, I guess. I remember when this was done at places like Fallbrook; I also remember when outdoor malls were turned into indoor malls (Panorama Mall; Sherman Oaks Fashion Center). They are about to do a similar transformation on the Westside Pavillion (which folks remember used to be a little lovely outdoor shopping center with a Vons and May Company). Should be interesting to watch.

Lastly, I’d like to highlight a few “GoFundMe”s of interest, related to folks I know. Orlando de la Paz was the scenic painter at the Colony; he recently had a stroke and is raising support funds. Jolie Mason worked with me at SDC; she’s now running the LA Radio Reading Service, a group that is raising funds for studio upgrades. Bruce Kimmel, a producer out here in LA, is raising money for an LA Themed Musical, which will premiere at LACC around May 13 for two weeks.  The family of one of my counselors from camp days is raising funds for his care; he’s dealing with a brain tumor and the prognosis isn’t good. The LA Theatre Community is raising funds for its legal fight against Actors Equity; they’ve already raised 75K. Lastly, the Men of TAS are raising funds to improve the Social Hall Kitchen; we’d love it if you could help.

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Rails to West Hollywood – A Lunchtime Musing

Posted onAuthorcahwyguy

userpic=metrolinkWhile eating lunch, I’ve been staring at an article from Curbed LA titled “West Hollywood Refusing to Let Metro Rail Pass It By”. The gist of the article is that West Hollywood is trying to convince Metro to extend the a-buildin’ Crenshaw line northward to West Hollywood, connecting the neighborhood not only to Metro’s system, but also directly to LAX. A feasibility study is needed to determine the exact route a train line would take to WeHo, but the advocates for this proposal are hoping for a route that spans from San Vincente to Santa Monica Boulevard. The train would run completely underground, making it’s way through West Hollywood before connecting with the Red Line at Hollywood and Highland.

Here’s the map from their website:

First and foremost, haven’t they seen Volcano? You don’t build a rail line near Cedars-Sinai; it only will create a canal for the magma.

Seriously, it appears that whomever is proposing doesn’t understand the problems with the rail network in LA. The Expo, Green, and a-buildin’ Crenshaw line are all above ground light rail. Overhead caternary. The Red and Purple lines are underground, third rail. Yet this proposal shows the above ground line connecting with the underground line. At the present time, there’s only one place where that happens: The blue/red line connection downtown, and there the blue line is on the upper platform and doesn’t travel more than a few blocks underground. This proposal would have the Crenshaw extension traveling multiple miles underground with overhead caternary, and connecting to *existing* Purple and Red stations (or heaven forfend — new stations). Connecting to an existing station with a different power system means you need to be on a different level, making tunneling and construction even more difficult.  Of course, there’s also the fact that this is geologically unstable land through oil and gas fields.

There’s also the issue of how this would cross the Santa Monica Freeway, and where it would safely go underground.

This won’t happen.

If West Hollywood wants a rail line, their better bet would be to jump on the eventual line that will run from Westwood to the San Fernando Valley under the Santa Monica Mountains. They could come off the Westwood spur, and possibly coordinate for an underground connection at Hollywood and Highland. Of course, that does mean tunneling under Beverly Hills.

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It’s Hard to Find a Banjo Player Up in Heaven 🎻 “String/Awakening”

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String/Awakening (Muse/Ique)userpic=folk-guitarThose of you who know the Austin Lounge Lizards know the lyric in the title:

So gather round and raise your pleasant voices
And play that gospel bluegrass, while you live
It’s hard to find a banjo player up in heaven
There’s some things that even Jesus won’t forgive

Perhaps I should explain why I’m sharing the Lizards (as if one needs an excuse): Last night, we went to another event from the wonderful counter-cultural orchestra, Muse/ique (FB). The event, called String/Awakening, was billed as follows:

String instruments are magic machines born of an ancient mystical technology.  When guided by master hands, these basic devices made of simple parts have the awesome power to change everything.

A few inches of string becomes a thread that connects humanity’s every story from Eleanor Rigby to Bach’s Air on a G String.  The handheld box is like a treasure chest that holds our common experiences and emotions – reminding us that we are all alike.  And the bow is like a magic wand, conjuring in the listener a willingness to imagine the world differently.  

With childlike passion for discovery, Rachael Worby and the musicians of MUSE/IQUE will turn from the tuxedo clad safety of the concert hall to unleash the full and delightful fury of the violin, cello , viola, harp, bass and more.

In other words, the evening was a celebration of all things string. We had all sorts of orchestra strings on the stage: cellos, violas, violins, harps, basses. We had a cajon (stringed percussion box). We had chimes… hanging on strings. We had a guitar used for percussion. We had drums with the head held on by twine.

But that wasn’t all. We had tables with cats cradles, yo-yos, and string cheese. We had people spinning and knitting. We had a dancer who hung by a string. We even had a five minute speaker from Cal-Tech on String Theory.

We had wonderful music that emphasized the strings:

  • Mozart: Eine kleine Nachtmusik
  • Bach: Brandenberg Concerto
  • Mendelssohn’s Octet in E-flat major,
  • Vivaldi: Winter
  • Piazolla: Spring in Buenos Aires
  • Eleanor Rigby
  • Somewhere Over the Rainbow

All of this being held in the parking garage of a florist; said garage being the former service bay of a 1920’s Cadillac Dealership.

It was a lovely evening. Only one thing was missing… or should I say one thing was there: string snobbery.

They didn’t highlight the fact that the violin is also the lowly fiddle. They didn’t play guitars, ukukleles, or heaven-forfend, banjos. Certainly some Segovia would have fit in. They could have morphed from Segovia into Chet Atkins or Tommy Emmanuel. Certainly they could have done bluegrass.

But this was heaven, or at least heaven as it exists in Pasadena. And well all know what isn’t in heaven.

Actually, I’m being a little tongue in cheek here. Actually, String/Awakening was a delightful evening with a fascinating lecture on string theory bookended by some wonderful music. Alas, I can’t name the musicians, because they didn’t hand out a program. But it was quite fun.

[ETA: A subsequent email provided some credits: “Artistic Director Rachael Worby (FB) led and conducted a group of amazing friends and artists including violinist Roger Wilkie, harpist Alison Bjorkedal and the strings of MUSE/IQUE! We would also like to thank our extraordinary supporting cast: percussionist Mona Tavakoli (FB),  String Theorist John Schwarz, choreographer Shauna Barger (FB) and the dancers of Artists Plus, and weavers led by Ruth Souza.” They also posted additional pictures of the event.]

P.S. to Ms. Worby, if you read this: Next time you invite a speaker from Cal-Tech, please remember the appropriate way to enforce the time limit. Much better than playing with your watch 🙂

* 🎭 🎭 🎭 *

Ob. Disclaimer: I am not a trained theatre critic; I am, however, a regular theatre audience member. I’ve been attending live theatre and concerts in Los Angeles since 1972; I’ve been writing up my thoughts on theatre (and the shows I see) since 2004. I do not have theatre training (I’m a computer security specialist), but have learned a lot about theatre over my many years of attending theatre and talking to talented professionals. I pay for all my tickets unless otherwise noted. I am not compensated by anyone for doing these writeups in any way, shape, or form. I subscribe at three theatres:  The Colony Theatre (FB), Cabrillo Music Theatre (FB), and I just added the  Hollywood Pantages (FB). In 2015, my intimate theatre subscription was at REP East (FB), although they are reorganizing and (per the birdies) will not start 2016 shows until August. Additionally, the Colony just announced that the remainder of their season has been cancelled, so the status of that subscription is up in the air. Through my theatre attendance I have made friends with cast, crew, and producers, but I do strive to not let those relationships color my writing (with one exception: when writing up children’s production, I focus on the positive — one gains nothing except bad karma by raking a child over the coals).  I believe in telling you about the shows I see to help you form your opinion; it is up to you to determine the weight you give my writeups.

Upcoming Shows: February closes with more music: The Band of the Royal Marines and the Pipes, Drums, and Highland Dancers of the Scots Guards at the Valley Performing Arts Center (VPAC) (FB). March starts with “Man Covets Bird” at the 24th Street Theatre (FB) on March 6 (the day after the MRJ Man of the Year dinner). The second weekend of March recently opened up, due to the cancellation of “Another Roll of the Dice” at The Colony Theatre (FB). We’ve replaced “Dice” with another musical: “All Shook Up” at the Morgan-Wixson (FB) in Santa Monica.  [This also permits me to get more music for my iPod Classic (now at 512GB) by visiting Record Surplus)] The third weekend of March takes us back to the Pasadena Playhouse (FB) on March 19 to see Harvey Fierstein’s Casa Valentina, followed by Bach at Leipzig at The Group Rep (FB) on March 20.  The last weekend of March is being held for “A Gentleman’s Guide to Love and Murder” at the Ahmanson Theatre (FB) (pending Hottix).  April will start with Lea Salonga at the Valley Performing Arts Center (VPAC) (FB) on April 1 and an Elaine Boosler concert at Temple Ahavat Shalom on April 2 (this concert is open to the community; get your tickets here). April will also bring the Turtle Quintet at the Valley Performing Arts Center (VPAC) (FB), “Children of Eden” at Cabrillo Music Theatre (FB) , and our annual visit to the Renaissance Faire (Southern). April may also bring A Shred of Evidence at Theatre 40 (FB). As always, I’m keeping my eyes open for interesting productions mentioned on sites such as Bitter-Lemons, and Musicals in LA, as well as productions I see on Goldstar, LA Stage Tix, Plays411 or that are sent to me by publicists or the venues themselves.

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A Man Has Got To Play His Own Song 🎷 “Prez” @ Chromolume

Posted onAuthorcahwyguy

Prez (Chromolume Theatre)userpic=theatre_musicalsIf you haven’t figured it out by now, I love music. My taste is broad and varied, covering numerous genres and styles. One of the many styles I like is jazz; my tastes run from New Orleans to Swing, Fats Waller to Big Bad Voodoo Daddy. My wife is also a jazz lover; her tastes are even broader, expanding to Marsalis and Coltrane, and a lot of the modern artists. We know the Dukes. We know the Kings. When I received an announcement of Chromolume Theatre (FB)’s latest show, Prez (a special selection for Black History Month), I was intrigued. Prez was a World Premiere solo show written by playwright Willard Manus, author of “Mott the Hoople” and “Bird Lives“. The play chronicled the unique life of jazzman Lester Young, whom I had never heard of. The press release noted that Young was a unique jazzman whose deceptively simple style–laid back, low key, relaxed yet earthy and swinging–-brought him fame, first with the Count Basie Orchestra, then with the likes of Nat ‘King’ Cole, Oscar Peterson, Teddy Wilson, and his best friend and alter ego, Billie Holiday. Born in the Jim Crow south to a showbiz family, Young was a non-conformist who fought against racism and intolerance all his life, climaxed by his battle against the segregated army in WW II, an experience that affected his attitude toward life but not his playing, which never lost its creative spirit–-the very spirit of jazz. This sounded fascinating for both my wife and I, and I quickly scored some tickets. Last night we saw the show, together with a co-worker and her husband.

Coming into the show, I knew nothing about Young other than what you read above — the information that was in the press release. Coming out of the show, I wanted to learn even more about the man and his music; I certainly plan to identify at least one of Young’s albums to add to my collection. Without saying anything else, I think that’s an indicator of good theatre: it makes want want to learn more about a subject or era; it uses its story to pique curiosity and interest. The show made me realize why Lester Young is probably the most important Jazz musician you’ve never heard of.

[I’ll note that while researching this write-up, I learned there was even more about Young than was in the play. For example, it was Young who originated musical hipster jargon, such as the terms “cool” for something that was interesting, and “bread” as a reference to money. His style of jazz influenced numerous modern jazz artists and styles, including Stan Getz, Charlie Parker, and Charlie Mingus. One website noted, “Whenever you hear a sax behind a pop singer you are hearing echoes of Young’s seminal body of work accompanying Billie Holiday.”]

Manus structured the story to be a one-man show. The conceit is that Lester Young, who was nicknamed “Pres” or “Prez” (as there was already a King, a Duke, and a Lady, and Young was a favorite of the people) was being interviewed by a off-stage French journalist (whom you never hear) while in Paris in 1959 for his last concerts at “The Blue Note”. Through her questions, he tells much of his life story — his ups, his downs, his successes, and his failures. The research I did when I got home from the show demonstrated that Manus captured much of Young’s life story in the presentation, although I did find a few places where the facts on the net disagreed or omitted some of the facts in the show (for example, Manus reported that Young served his Army sentence in Georgia; most articles have him at Fort Leavenworth in Kansas). None of these changes seemed substantial.

Prez (Publicity Photos)The success (or failure) of a biographical play with the solo structure selected here — assuming the subject of the biography is interesting — depends significantly on the quality of the book, the quality of the performance, and the quality of the direction. After all, dramatized vignettes of a real story can draw upon character interplay and dialogue and can spread the weight across multiple actors. Look at the success of a Jersey Boys, or the failure of a Chaplin, as an example. In a single-person show, the words must keep and draw the attention. The actor must not only inhabit the character, but become one with the character. He (or she) must be able to make you believe you are seeing the subject of the story come to life.

So did that happen here?

Storywise, I think it did. It certainly captured and help my interest. I heard one comment that perhaps it was too wordy, but I really didn’t feel that was the case. To my eyes, there was sufficient movement, music, and characterizations of others in Young’s life to keep things interest. The story moved at a reasonable pace from Young’s days with the family band through his time with Count Basie, the Army, and the Norman Grantz JATP era to his declining days in the 1950s.

It was helped tremendously by a strong performance by Leslie A. Jones (FB) (CDBaby) as “Prez”. Jones believably portrayed the man, capturing the internal pain as well as the external character of the man. He was also strong on the musical side, handling the drums, and Tenor and Alto Saxes well during the show. He never did a complete song, but essentially did samples of styles throughout. This actually fit well with the energy that Young had at this period in his life, where disease and drinking had just sapped his youthful energy.

[I should note one interesting thing I discovered about the performer after the show: we work at the same company. We were talking to him, and I complemented him on his ability to inhabit a character — a skill I don’t have as a computer security engineer. He indicated that he understood, as he worked with engineers every day in his day job. I asked him where he worked; he indicated “Aerospace”. I asked him if he meant The Aerospace Corporation in El Segundo. He said yes, which is when I pointed out that I worked there too, as well as the co-worker we had invited to join us. So if you see this, remember that you’ve got a “security officer by day” doing this remarkable job of inhabiting a jazz musician on the weekends.]

In addition to capturing what seemed to be realistic mannerisms of the man (having never seen Young on film, I can only go with their believability in the context created for the show), he captured the look well. As I indicated earlier, when I got home I did some web searching to read up on Young. Both Young and Jones had similar facial structures, and in his pork-pie hat (another stylistic aspect that Young originated) and long black coat, he looked remarkably like the pictures of the real Young.

It really was a strong performance (and that was something I felt before I discovered he was a co-worker 🙂 )

The last aspect making the show work was the direction of Daniel Edward Keough (FB), who also did the scenic design. Modulo a couple of “nit” level quibbles, the direction was spot on. I’ve noted before that in a good production, it is difficult to separate the actor from the director — to know what aspects come from each. That was true here. The two together created believable movement and reactions, from putting on records to the addiction to absinthe, from the mannerisms of clipping on the Sax to how Jones/Young moved through the room.

[So what were my quibbles? First, Young played about 5 records on the older record player in the room, pulling them from a 1920s style record album (which was like a book) of records, as opposed to individual LPs. However, this wasn’t a player with a obvious stacker, and Young didn’t take off the old record and put it away before playing a new one. A musician such as young would most likely have done so. Secondly, there was a torchiere lamp in the rear of the room; lamps of that style weren’t around in 1959. My wife also noted that the musical cases weren’t 1959 era. As I said, minor quibbles that only an engineer would catch, and that don’t affect the show.]

Turning to the technical and creative: I’ve already noted the set, which was designed by the director. This was a simple hotel room: chair, coats hanging on hooks, a dresser with a collection of liquor, and the horns and drums. Modulo the quibbles, it was sufficiently timeless to work. Similarly, the lighting design by Lauren J. Peters (FB) was simple but effective. I noticed a few lighting changes, but generally they unobtrusively amplified the mood without being obvious. The sound design by James Esposito (FB) was more problematic, primarily because the on-stage speakers were turned up so high there was a continual amplifier hiss that was distracting. This was unnecessary; at worst, as the actor was not amplified, they could have been turned up the few times they were used to play music. Other than that, Esposito did a reasonable job of making it appear that the sound was coming from the record player. There was no credit for costumes, so I’ll just note that they effectively appeared to capture Young’s unique style. Olivia Sedoryk (FB) was the stage manager.

[ETA: One additional suggestion I forgot: During the show, loads and loads of names of Jazz musicians are mentioned. Most audience members will not be familiar with this artists. Their experience would be enhanced if the program had contained mini-reference of Jazz contemporaries of Lester Young.]

This was our first time visiting Chromolume Theatre (FB). I was pleased to read in the program that the theatre is part of a family-run minority-owned business. I’ve written before about the importance of diversity (see here and here), and I’ve felt that diversity must be on-stage, back-stage, and in the audience. Having a minority-owned theatre is a great step in ensuring that voices will be heard. I plan to keep my eyes open for more interesting productions at the Chromolume. As for this production, there is just one more weekend, and I strongly encourage you to go see it. This is a show that could succeed at the Colony or Pasadena Playhouse (quick, someone get Sheldon Epps down here before he leaves the Playhouse), so go see it at the intimate level while you can.

Prez continues at the Chromolume Theatre (FB) through February 28, 2016, with shows Friday and Saturday at 8pm, and Sunday at 2pm. Tickets are available through the Chromolume Store online, as well as through Goldstar.

Dining Notes: Before the show, we went to dinner at My Two Cents (Yelp, FB), a wonderful southern-style restaurant with horrible signage about five minutes away on Pico just W of Hauser. They are at the end of one of those corner malls, and their primary signage doesn’t have the restaurant name; look for 🍴 and ♥ (i.e., the sign has “fork” + “knife” = “heart”). What is intriguing is the large number of gluten-free items, including an incredibly rich gluten-free Mac and Cheese, gluten-free BBQ fried chicken, and “grits fries”, which are cheese grits formed into fry-shaped sticks and fried. If you’re bell pepper sensitive, be aware that their braised greens have peppers, so ask when you order.

* 🎭 🎭 🎭 *

Ob. Disclaimer: I am not a trained theatre critic; I am, however, a regular theatre audience member. I’ve been attending live theatre and concerts in Los Angeles since 1972; I’ve been writing up my thoughts on theatre (and the shows I see) since 2004. I do not have theatre training (I’m a computer security specialist), but have learned a lot about theatre over my many years of attending theatre and talking to talented professionals. I pay for all my tickets unless otherwise noted. I am not compensated by anyone for doing these writeups in any way, shape, or form. I subscribe at three theatres:  The Colony Theatre (FB), Cabrillo Music Theatre (FB), and I just added the  Hollywood Pantages (FB). In 2015, my intimate theatre subscription was at REP East (FB), although they are reorganizing and (per the birdies) will not start 2016 shows until August. Additionally, the Colony just announced that the remainder of their season has been cancelled, so the status of that subscription is up in the air. Through my theatre attendance I have made friends with cast, crew, and producers, but I do strive to not let those relationships color my writing (with one exception: when writing up children’s production, I focus on the positive — one gains nothing except bad karma by raking a child over the coals).  I believe in telling you about the shows I see to help you form your opinion; it is up to you to determine the weight you give my writeups.

Upcoming Shows: This evening continues the music with “String/Awakening” from Muse/ique (FB). February closes with The Band of the Royal Marines and the Pipes, Drums, and Highland Dancers of the Scots Guards at the Valley Performing Arts Center (VPAC) (FB). March starts with “Man Covets Bird” at the 24th Street Theatre (FB) on March 6 (the day after the MRJ Man of the Year dinner). The second weekend of March recently opened up, due to the cancellation of “Another Roll of the Dice” at The Colony Theatre (FB). We’ve replaced “Dice” with another musical: “All Shook Up” at the Morgan-Wixson (FB) in Santa Monica.  [This also permits me to get more music for my iPod Classic (now at 512GB) by visiting Record Surplus)] The third weekend of March takes us back to the Pasadena Playhouse (FB) on March 19 to see Harvey Fierstein’s Casa Valentina, followed by Bach at Leipzig at The Group Rep (FB) on March 20.  The last weekend of March is being held for “A Gentleman’s Guide to Love and Murder” at the Ahmanson Theatre (FB) (pending Hottix).  April will start with Lea Salonga at the Valley Performing Arts Center (VPAC) (FB) on April 1 and an Elaine Boosler concert at Temple Ahavat Shalom on April 2 (this concert is open to the community; get your tickets here). April will also bring the Turtle Quintet at the Valley Performing Arts Center (VPAC) (FB), “Children of Eden” at Cabrillo Music Theatre (FB) , and our annual visit to the Renaissance Faire (Southern). April may also bring A Shred of Evidence at Theatre 40 (FB). As always, I’m keeping my eyes open for interesting productions mentioned on sites such as Bitter-Lemons, and Musicals in LA, as well as productions I see on Goldstar, LA Stage Tix, Plays411 or that are sent to me by publicists or the venues themselves.

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Always Faithful 🎭 “Dogfight” @ Chance Theatre

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Dogfight (Chance Theatre)userpic=theatre_ticketsConsider the following story: A bunch of fresh Marine boot-camp graduates, on their last liberty before shipping overseas, decide to hold a “dogfight”: a competition of who can bring the ugliest date to a bar, and hopefully, go to bed with her. Along the way to the bar, they joke between each other about the best way to get the women drunk so they can have their way.

In today’s eyes, this would be abhorrent. Today, we’ve become sensitized to abuse and coercion. We (hopefully) have come to learn that consent and respect are the way to go.

It wasn’t always so.  Back in the early 1960s, the attitude was very different. Look no further than Bill Cosby for evidence of this: Early 1960s mores saw nothing wrong with drugging women to get them to bed.

Perhaps this is one reason the first act of Dogfight, a recent Off-Broadway musical in its Los Angeles and Orange County premiere at the Chance Theatre (FB) in Anaheim,  is so uncomfortable.  Dogfight, with book by Peter Duchan (FB) and music and lyrics by Benj Pasek (FB) and Justin Paul (based on the 1991 movie Dogfight written by Bob Comfort and directed by Nancy Savoca), tells the story of Eddie Birdlace, a young Marine just out of bootcamp in 1963. Birdlace is about to ship out to Vietnam with his buddies for a year of being an advisor and isn’t worried at all. After all, the Marines have trained him for this, and what could be worse than boot camp.

The first act of the musical focuses on the titular “dogfight”. The Marines are going to “Frisco” (yes, that’s what they call it) for a night on the town before they ship out to Okinawa. The group includes “the three Bees” — three recruits who have become close friends during boot camp thanks to alphabetic and size proximity: Birdlace, Boland, and Bernstein, as well as three other Marines — Fector, Stevens, and Gibbs.  They want to get laid, they want to win the dogfight, and they want some fun before they leave. They all work to find the ugliest girl and bring them to a dance at a bar where they will get them drunk before the girls are judged. Eddie finds his dog working in a local diner: Rose Fenny, a young girl into folk music, working for her mother as a waitress, who has no experience with boys, men, and especially Marines. He asks her to come to a party that evening by feigning interest in folk music. She’s not interested, but he keeps pursuing her, and she eventually relents. Boland finds his by recruiting Marcy, a toothless prostitute.  Bernstein ends up with Ruth Two-Bears, a Native American woman, and the others find equally odd-ball choices. When Birdlace picks up Rose, he sees how much this party means to her and how innocent she is. Later, at the party, Birdlace sees how the women are being encouraged to overdrink, and how they are being treated, and tries to convince Rose to leave before the “dance”. She refuses: she came for a party, and she wants a party. So the judging dance begins, and Rose and Eddie are about to win… but Marcy removes her teeth, and… we have a winner (note that the girls, other than Marcy, are oblivious to the competition). Rose  goes to the bathroom, sick from too much alcohol. There she meets Marcy where she learns the truth about the competition, and about Marcy and her relationship with Boland. She comes out, slaps Eddie, and tells him she wishes he and his friends would die overseas, and heads home to cry in her bed.

Thus ends the first act. At this point, we were really unsure about this musical. We didn’t like its attitude towards women. We didn’t like some of the stereotypical portrayals (I was particularly bothered by Ruth Two-Bears, which had the stereotypical “Indian” dance and chop moves). The clash between the 1963 mores and our modern sensibilities was too jarring, and we didn’t know where this musical was going. All we could sense was that there might be some form of love story between Eddie and Rose. We decided to give the musical a chance to redeem itself in Act II — after all, this had a great cast album and it had gotten many awards in its New York premiere.

I’m pleased to say that the show did redeem itself in the second act, although not in the way we expected. The second act focuses on the deepening relationship between Eddie and Rose and the strong bond between the “Three Bees”. It also features the departure for the Vietnam War, the horrors of the War itself, and what happens when the heroes return home. I don’t want to spoil things with the specifics, but they are in the synopsis, if you want to read it.

This morning, as I worked on this writeup, I strugged with what to call it. What was the heart of this story? Although titled “Dogfight”, the heart wasn’t the fight itself — that was just the catalyst to get the audience to see and meet these characters. But then I thought about a question during the after-show Salon — a question about a common phrase these characters used: “Semper Fi, Do or Die”. The heart of this story — both what holds it together and the questions that it raises — is the devotion to faithfullness and fidelity. Semper Fidelis. Always faithful. There was the faith and fidelity between the Three Bees: the bond that let them to work together to protect each other in life and in battle. There was the faith and fidelity that grew between Eddie and Rose, a different sort of bond. There was also the faith and fidelity to the ideals: of being a hero, of doing what a hero does, of coming home to that heroes welcome. This bond was very strong in Eddie: he had that heroes heart, which was hurt by not doing right by Rose in the first act. At the start of the second act he redeems that heroism, but at the sacrifice of the fidelity to his buddies. He goes off to war, and redeems himself in battle. He comes home, only to find what many servicemen found on their return to Vietnam in the mid-to-late Sixties — that they weren’t heroes in the eyes of the public… that their service wasn’t appreciated. The people didn’t want that war, and they didn’t want the people who fought it (this is a very different attitude than today, but event today Vietnam Veterans often don’t get the same respect and thanks that Iraqui war veterans get). Disappointed, Eddie held on to the one aspect of faith and fidelity he knew — Rose. Even though he never contacted her during the war and she moved on, he ultimately finds his welcome — and his faith — restored by her.

So, ultimately, what was the verdict on this show? Did the cultural mores-clash of the first act overwhelm the show? Did it leave us with a good feeling about these characters?

I’m still not sure. It left us thinking, which is perhaps what good theatre does. It left us aware of how society has changed — how we have gone from a society that thought “dogfight”-ing was acceptable to one that values women in all roles — even in the Marines.  It showed the horror of war, and the value of redemption. I think the best that I can say is that this musical moved me; in moved me in ways that I did not expect.

Dogfight (Publicity Photos)The performances, uniformly, were excellent. I think this was due to a combination of the excellent direction by Matthew McCray (FB) and the acting talent of the performers below. McCray brought in Vietnam Veterans to talk to the performers, all but one of which were not alive during the conflict and its aftermath, and coached them on how to interact and behave in this story. Based on what we heard from the Salon before we had to leave (dinner reservations), he also gave them the freedom to find things in their characters and bring them to the stage.

Nowhere was this seen better than in the performances of the leads: Andrew Puente (FB) as Eddie Birdlace and Ashley Arlene Nelson (FB) as Rose Fenny. Puente gave a touching performance as Eddie, moving easily from Marine bravado and bluster to a scared teen on his first in the first act; he showed through his performance that although boot camp toughened the exterior, there was something deeper inside. In the second half, he was able to turn this around to find the man inside. Particularly touching was the shaky hand after that war; that touch of PTSD that demonstrated how deeply the war experiences had changed the man. Nelson radiated an equal vulnerability. Perhaps her character was harder to watch in the first act because we had been there — my wife and I grew up in this era (although about 10 years younger). We knew the vulnerable types into folk music and out of step with the rest. Nelson captured this perfectly: both the excitement and fear of a first date, the awkwardness. She also captured finding the confidence in her inner self as she got to know Eddie. In the second act, she also captured the worry of war well; during the Salon she revealed that her boyfriend is in the military, providing her a deeper understanding of the character and her fears. It was just a beautiful portrayal, combined with a beautiful voice. Note that Nelson also had a particularly lovely voice and guitar style, demonstrated on “Before It’s Over”.

The other 2 of the 3 Bees were played by James McHale (FB) (Boland) and Jonathan Rosario (FB) (Bernstein).  McHale’s Borland was the opposite of Birdlace: invulnerable (in his mind) and focused on winning at any cost, even if it meant bending the rules. Of the three, he came across as most loyal to the triad, believing that its strength was what would allow them to survive the conflict to come. It was a great portrayal. In contrast was Rosarios’s Bernstein: young, naive (in many many ways), unsure about women, unsure about life. He, too, believed in the triad and hope that it would save him. Also a strong portrayal.

The remaining non-emsemble character was Kim Dalton (FB)’s Marcy. Dalton captured the hard prostitute exterior well, as well as the softer side in her interactions with Rose. She was wonderful in her main song, “Dogfight”.

The remaining actors constituted the ensemble, portraying many characters. I tried to map from some of the character lists out there, and Chance seems to switched around some of the dual roles (for example, traditionally Mama and Ruth Two-Bears are the same actress, but that was clearly not the case here; most casts lists do not have Pete/Sargent as a separate character, instead dualing with Stevens; most list a Lounge Singer, who was not explicitly identified here. The ensemble gave strong, umm, ensemble performances — especially the Marines, who bonded together as a strong group. About the only portrayal I didn’t like was Ruth Two-Bears. I don’t know whether it was the way the character was written, what the actor brought to the character, or what the director or choreographer brought to the character, but I’ve gotten too sensitized to cultural appropriate for that form of a Native American portrayal to be comfortable. Other than that, a uniformly strong ensemble performance. The ensemble consisted of Robin Walton (FB) [Pete / Sergeant / Ensemble]; John Wells III/FB [Fector / Ensemble]; David Sasik (FB) [Stevens / Ensemble]; Joseph Ott/FB [Gibbs / Ensemble]; Cassendra Rieck (FB) [Mama / Ensemble]; Nohely Quiroz (FB) [Chippy / Ensemble / Ruth Two-Bears (guess)]; and Monika Pena (FB) [Peggy / Ensemble].

The onstage musicians were under the musical direction of Taylor Stephenson, who also was on the keyboard. Supporting him were Jimmy Cormier (FB) [Guitar], Lois Good [Violin], and Jorge Zuniga (FB) [Drums / Percussion].

Choreogrpahy was by Angeline Mirenda (FB). This show didn’t have large dance numbers (as you might see on some musicals), but did have some interesting coordinated movement — especially of the Marines, who were very precise in unison. There was also effective choreography during the war sequence.

Turning to the non-performance creatives: The scenic design by Christopher Scott Murillo (FB) was … adaptable. There was a background flat-ish with an odd TV-ish design, and a number of rolling counters, tables and benches. These opened up to become bars and diners, bedrooms and scenic overlooks. It worked to tell the story, but didn’t have that depth to evoke a particular place or a particular time. There needed to be something more 1963-ish about it, but I do understand limited theatre budgets.  The sound design was by Ryan Brodkin (FB).  There were elements of the sound design that were strong, such as the background sounds in a number of scenes. But there were also places where the microphones were noisy (static) or unbalanced; in particular, the band overpowered the voices at times, and there was some significant microphone hiss. These adjustment problems should have been resolved during previews. The lighting design of KC Wilkerson (FB) was very effective, particularly during the war sequence where much of the story was told through lighting. Costume Design was by Christina Marie Perez (FB). This was mostly effective, particularly for the women. However, with respect to the Marines, she really should have consulted with USMC Pendleton down the road: although as privates there would be no rank insignia, my understanding is that there would be service and name tapes and olive-green undershirts uniformly. [ETA: My earlier information was incorrect. I checked the regs with an AF Officer and he provided some clarification, as well as pointing to the Marine Corp regs. There would not have been nametags, but with the short-sleeve khakis as shown, the pants would have been olive-drab, and the undershirts would have been uniformly white. It appears there should also have been a Marine insignia pin on the collar. Being privates, there is no rank insignia.]  Not a fatal flaw, certainly, but something that struck me from the beginning.  Courtny Greenough (FB) was the stage manager.

Dogfight continues at the Chance Theatre (FB) through March 6. Tickets are available online or by callling 714.777.3033. The Chance page for the show lists numerous discounts, discount tickets may also be available on Goldstar.

Dining Notes: Whenever we go to the Chance, we always eat at the same place: True Seasons Organic Kitchen (FB), a healthy organic hot pot restaurant across the street from the Chance. Healthy vegetables, healthy meat, gluten free options, and home-made flavoring broths. It made a lovely valentines dinner.

* 🎭 🎭 🎭 *

Ob. Disclaimer: I am not a trained theatre critic; I am, however, a regular theatre audience member. I’ve been attending live theatre and concerts in Los Angeles since 1972; I’ve been writing up my thoughts on theatre (and the shows I see) since 2004. I do not have theatre training (I’m a computer security specialist), but have learned a lot about theatre over my many years of attending theatre and talking to talented professionals. I pay for all my tickets unless otherwise noted. I am not compensated by anyone for doing these writeups in any way, shape, or form. I subscribe at three theatres:  The Colony Theatre (FB), Cabrillo Music Theatre (FB), and I just added the  Hollywood Pantages (FB). In 2015, my intimate theatre subscription was at REP East (FB), although they are reorganizing and (per the birdies) will not start 2016 shows until August. Additionally, the Colony just announced that the remainder of their season has been cancelled, so the status of that subscription is up in the air. Through my theatre attendance I have made friends with cast, crew, and producers, but I do strive to not let those relationships color my writing (with one exception: when writing up children’s production, I focus on the positive — one gains nothing except bad karma by raking a child over the coals).  I believe in telling you about the shows I see to help you form your opinion; it is up to you to determine the weight you give my writeups.

Upcoming Shows: Next weekend brings brings “Prez” at the Chromolume Theatre (FB) on February 20, and “String/Awakening” from Muse/ique (FB) on February 21. February closes with The Band of the Royal Marines and the Pipes, Drums, and Highland Dancers of the Scots Guards at the Valley Performing Arts Center (VPAC) (FB). March starts with “Man Covets Bird” at the 24th Street Theatre (FB) on March 6 (the day after the MRJ Man of the Year dinner) The second weekend of March is open, thanks to the cancellation of “Another Roll of the Dice” at The Colony Theatre (FB); I’m thinking possibly of Hollywould at The Hudson Theatre (FB). The third weekend of March takes us back to the Pasadena Playhouse (FB) on March 19 to see Harvey Fierstein’s Casa Valentina, followed by Bach at Leipzig at The Group Rep (FB) on March 20.  The last weekend of March is being held for “A Gentleman’s Guide to Love and Murder” at the Ahmanson Theatre (FB) (pending Hottix).  April will start with Lea Salonga at the Valley Performing Arts Center (VPAC) (FB) on April 1 and an Elaine Boosler concert at Temple Ahavat Shalom on April 2. It will also bring the Turtle Quintet at the Valley Performing Arts Center (VPAC) (FB), “Children of Eden” at Cabrillo Music Theatre (FB) , and our annual visit to the Renaissance Faire (Southern). April may also bring A Shred of Evidence at Theatre 40 (FB). As always, I’m keeping my eyes open for interesting productions mentioned on sites such as Bitter-Lemons, and Musicals in LA, as well as productions I see on Goldstar, LA Stage Tix, Plays411 or that are sent to me by publicists or the venues themselves.

 

 

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Weekend News Chum to Fill your Loving Cup

Posted onAuthorcahwyguy

Observation Stew’tis the weekend, and that means it is time to clear out the accumulated links that didn’t them… well, at least those I remembered to send back home from work. In the spirit of the day, feel free to share these stories with your sweetie.

 

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A Rumination: Women and the Draft

Posted onAuthorcahwyguy

userpic=war-not-healthySometimes, you just see an article or a headline and it starts a rumination in your head. So it is with an opinion piece in the LA Times this morning titled: “Should women register for the draft? That’s the wrong question to ask about our military.” I have a number of thoughts on this…

I still remember, many years ago, when I dutifully sent an address change to selective service (I think it was when we moved in 1989), and I got back a letter saying, “You’re too old; you no longer need to send us address changes.” I’m at the tail end of the old draft era, and at the beginning of the new draft era. My brother had to register for selective service, and had the real risk of being sent to Vietnam, if he hadn’t been in school. When I turned 18, that draft was already over. A new form of selective service — register only, but no service — started in 1980. So I registered, but President Carter told us we wouldn’t need to go.

As a result, I’ve never been called up or had to serve in the military. At 56, and with my various medical issues, that’s unlikely to happen now. However, once I graduated college I started serving the nation, and have actually been serving the nation for my entire working career. I’ve been helping develop, evaluate, and acquire secure systems that the Government needs; I’m actually cognizant and proud every day that I do so.

So do I think women should register for the draft? I think it is an absurd question in many ways.

First, there’s the “women” aspect. Not having women register means that we see some inherent difference in their ability to serve. The military has been co-ed for many years; women are now fulfilling combat roles. Further, denying the military the talents of women would put us at a severe disadvantage. Further, we’re in an era were we are erasing the gender-bound roles. We have marriage equality, and we’re bringing in equality for the transgendered. With that, we shouldn’t have the distinction at all. The requirements to register should apply to all adult citizens.

But then, there is the question of “registering” at all. If we require all adults to register, irrespective of sex, then doesn’t your selective service number become your defacto national ID? Who needs social security numbers anymore — just use selective service IDs. But if government is as much of a “big brother” as one says, there shouldn’t be the need to register because everyone should be automatically registered. After all, you have to get a social security number when you are born. You’re going to be someone’s dependent. You’ll be on the records. The government knows who the adults are from the tax records; even if it didn’t, “big data” out there does know. Why require registration when it isn’t technically necessary. A separate registration is an artifact of a pre-Internet era.

So let’s set aside the question of whether women should register, or whether there should be registration at all — and go instead to the question of whether there should be Selective Service. Here I think our laws are too lax. I think there should be required service to the nation. I’m not saying there should be military service, or that it should be volunteer. I believe that everyone should be required to do some form of service to the nation in their life. It could be service in the military. It could be working for the Federal government either directly or as a contractor (as I do). It could be doing research for the national good. It could be working with the Peace Corps, or helping to rebuild our cities. It could be working with charities or religious groups. Whatever is done, we live in a special nation with wonderful freedoms (despite its various flaws) — and we should all be working to make it better.

But the article in the LA Times that started this rumination was moving more in the direction about our military being too big. I’ve seen comments to that effect before, along with the chart that shows that defense spending occupies over 50 percent of the Federal budget. Usually, when that chart appears, it is accompanied with an exhortation that the funding should go to some other purpose — perhaps more subsidies to the poor or other redistribution schemes.

I look at government spending a different way. Instead of looking at government spending by department, look at it this way: how much of Federal spending is spent on jobs: either direct Federal employees or people working for Federal contractors? In doing so, note that Federally-funded research is also in the jobs category. How much is spent on acquiring things: building infrastructure, renting infrastructure, maintaining infrastructure, acquiring material — be it weapons systems, computer systems, or whatever. In that acquisition cost, think only of the physical items — the people that build them are jobs, not things. Lastly, how much is spent on subsidizes to people: programs like welfare, veterans services, tax breaks, and such.

When you look at the government that way, I’d suggest that the vast bulk of Government expenditures is for jobs. Be they jobs at Defense Contractors, the military payroll expense, employees at Agriculture, NIH, researchers. A much smaller percentage is on acquiring things; a similarly small percentage in on subsidies. So, making the significant cuts at defense as people propose would create significant unemployment; it would result in the loss of many well-paying jobs and hurt the middle-class of this country.

That’s not to say there isn’t waste that couldn’t be cut. There is lots of waste, much created because there were a few people who abused the system, and so entire levels of cruft are built up to prevent that abuse from happening again. But the notion of seeing the defense budget as solely for weapons of war is the wrong way to look at it. The bulk of the defense budget is spent on people: the military, the defense contractors, the veterans. The actual physical weapons are just a small part. That $35 million bomber: the raw cost of the components is nothing compared with the labor cost to build it, maintain it, and acquire it.

So, circling back to the original trigger for this rumination: Should women be required to register for the draft? You should walk away with the following points:

  1. It is silly to even attempt to make a gender-based distinction such as this these days.
  2. Separate registration shouldn’t be required in this era of big data. The government knows who the over 18 adults are already. Registration should be automatic.
  3. We think of selective service as being called to work in the military. In reality, all of us, as citizens of this nation, should be required to do some form of service that benefits the nation over our lifetime.
  4. Military spending isn’t for the machinery of war. Military spending is in reality a gigantic jobs program, including both those who work for the DOD, as well as supporting services and defense contractors. It is also a subsidy program for veterans. The raw material costs for things acquired is minor when compared to the other functions.

I thank you for your attention.

 

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Things That We’ll Be Seeing Soon

Posted onAuthorcahwyguy

userpic=theatre2This collection of news chum all has to do with things that we may (or may not) be seeing soon:

  • A Googie Sharkey’s. Twain’s Coffee Shop in Studio City has been shuttered for a year, with reports being that Sharkey’s, a wonderful Fresh-Mex chain, was moving in. The Twain’s building was clearly a Denny’s in some former life. Anyway, pictures have surfaced of the Sharkey’s remodel, and they are preserving the old style. This is nice to see.
  • A Full November Ballot. California is known for its ballot propositions, and recent efforts have moved all of them to the General Election ballot (instead of the June primaries). Here’s a preview of what we’re likely to see. There will be things like a plastic bag referendum, a proposition on prescription drug prices, a referendum of revenue bonds over $2 million, a modification of the “english-only” initiative, bonds for school construction, a proposal on hospital fees, with 66 more gathering signatures.
  • No More Metro Free Parking. A report is surfacing of a trial attempt at imposing paid parking at Metro stations.  Although on the surface I don’t like paying for parking, this one is making sense. It provides really low rates for those actually using Metro, with significantly higher rates for those taking advantage of the free parking to just do things in the neighborhood.
  • Tits and Ass at the Hollywood Bowl. The Hollywood Bowl has announced their 2016 season.  Their musical this year will be A Chorus Line; I’m not that interested in seeing it. There’s also a Star Trek concert and A Prairie Home Companion.  For me, the show that I’d like to see is Weird Al on July 22-23.  My wife would like the Copeland and Marsalis concert the following week (July 28).
  • Mooning in Coachella. At one time, a moon-themed resort was planned for Las Vegas. Anything goes, right? Well, the moon isn’t landing in Vegas, but in the Coachella Valley. The $4 billion, 4,000 all-suite, five-star lunar-themed Moon World Resorts has a opening date targeted for 2022 after two years of permit and entitlement processes and a 48-month build-out. Three thousand workers will be required during the single-phase construction, and, when completed, 8,000 Coachella Valley careers will be created. The 10 million-square-foot project will include cutting-edge space technology over a 10-acre lunar surface with a realistic lunar colony set in the world’s largest and tallest sphere reaching 750 feet. There also will be a 10,000-seat flexible event center and a 2 million-square-foot convention center, several star-chef celebrity restaurants and wellness spa with holistic health treatments.
  • Real Time Earthquake Alerts. Have you installed MyShake on your Android phone?  This is a new application from the UC Berkeley Seismology Lab that uses the phone accelerometer to detect earthquakes in a crowd-sourced fashion. The app’s algorithm is designed to ignore ordinary shaking, like a phone jiggling in a purse, and detect unique vibrations felt during earthquakes. If the phone detects what it thinks is an earthquake — usually something at a magnitude 5 or greater — it sends a message to a central server. If there are at least 300 phones sending warnings in the same 60-mile-by-60-mile zone, simulation tests show that’s good enough to tell the system that the shaking was an earthquake. Notices can then go out to advise those further away that an earthquake is coming.
  • A Supreme Court Nominee. As you all know by now, Justice Antonin Scalia has passed away. This opens up a space for President Obama to nominate a replacement. He says he will do it promptly; Republican leaders are vowing to not allow it until after the election (meaning at least two court terms — talk about delaying justice). The rumor mill is indicating that Obama will nominate Sri Srinivasan as the replacement. This is an interesting choice. Srinivasan was just confirmed to his current position by the senate in 2013 (just 3 years ago) with a vote of 97-0. Yes, some of the confirming senators are gone, but that makes it likely that he has strong support, and has already been through the vetting process (plus getting any confirmation through the 2012 senate wasn’t easy). It makes a wonderful statement on immigrant rights and diversity. Could be very interesting.

 

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