Observations Along the Road – Page 23 – 🎭 Theatre Writeups, 🛣️ Highway Updates, 📰 Musings on the News, and other 🗯️ Rants and Roadkill Along the Information Superhighway

🗳️ March 2020 Primary Election Ballot Analysis (IV): Measure for Measure

Posted onSunday, February 16, 2020Tuesday, February 18, 2020Authorcahwyguy

I’m now registered as a permanent vote-by-mail voter, and I recently received my ballot for the March California Primary. And that means it is time to start doing the detailed ballot analysis. This is where, for most contests, I examine each candidate and share my conclusions, and invite you to convince me to vote for the other jerk.

Because this is a long ballot, I’m splitting it into a few chunks:

The Presidential Primary
The Congressional, State and Local Offices
Judicial Offices
Ballot Measures (this post)
Summary

This part covers the following Ballot Measures: State Measure 13 ❦ Los Angeles County Measure R

🗳️ March 2020 Primary Election Ballot Analysis (III): Judicial Offices

Posted onSunday, February 16, 2020Thursday, February 20, 2020Authorcahwyguy

Because this is a long ballot, I’m splitting it into a few chunks:

The Presidential Primary
The Congressional, State and Local Offices
Judicial Offices (this post)
Ballot Measures
Summary

This part covers the Judicial Offices, all Judges of the Superior Court: 17 ❦ 42 ❦ 72 ❦ 76 ❦ 80 ❦ 97 ❦ 129 ❦ 131 ❦ 141 ❦ 145 ❦ 150 ❦ 162. California’s systems for judges is — in some ways — a strange one. I’m sure it is shaped by past abuses, especially by politicians appointing unqualified judges. How it works is that lawyers wanting to move into the judicial system (and further their careers in a non-corporate law world) must start by running for the Superior Court, from which they can be appointed to the Court of Appeals or California Supreme Court. But winning a seat on the bench is more than a question of just your skills as a jurist. I don’t know whether each office handles different types of cases — that isn’t make clear on the ballot. But each election cycle, a certain offices come up for election. Up for election in 2020 are 188 Los Angeles Superior Court judges. Those who opt not to run in the March 3 primary and do not retire before their terms are up and in time for the governor to appoint a successor, will create open seats. The lawyer/potential candidate has to (a) indicate all the seats they might want to run for, and then (b) pick one of those to actually run in — hopefully the one with no or weak competition. Sometimes you luck out, and no one runs against you. Other times, you end up against equally strong people, and are faced with a public that often only picks people randomly or based on your job title. Lucky for you, I try to sort this all out.

ETA: Here’s a clarification from a friend of mine familiar with the area: A couple points of clarification. First, judges can either be appointed by the governor (more common method) or elected (less common method). Lawyers can theoretically be appointed directly to the Court of Appeal or to the Supreme Court without serving as superior court judges first, but it’s rare. (Justices Groban and Kruger are examples of CSC justices who were never superior court judges.) Second, judges who fill a seat either through appointment or election are not guaranteed a particular assignment. Judges do rotate their assignments so they could be in civil for a few years and then move to juvenile or probate or criminal or whatever. It depends on the needs of the court based on workload. By sleuthing around on the court’s website you can usually figure out what the current judge’s assignment is. Third, if a judge’s term is up, the judge elects to run for re-election, and the judge is unopposed, then that judge does not appear on the ballot and they are automatically re-elected. But if the judge is opposed, then you’ll see their names and the names of their challengers on the ballot.

🗳️ March 2020 Primary Election Ballot Analysis (II): State and Local Offices

Posted onSunday, February 16, 2020Wednesday, February 19, 2020Authorcahwyguy

Because this is a long ballot, I’m splitting it into a few chunks:

The Presidential Primary
The Congressional, State and Local Offices (this post)
Judicial Offices
Ballot Measures
Summary

This part covers the Congressional, State and Local Offices:

Federal: US Representative, 30th District
State: State Senate, 27th District ❦ State Assembly, 45th District
LA County: District Attorney
LA City: Council District 12
LAUSD: Board of Education, District 3
Other: Democratic Central Committee, District 45

🗳️ March 2020 Primary Election Ballot Analysis (I): Introduction & Presidential Primary

Posted onSunday, February 16, 2020Tuesday, February 18, 2020Authorcahwyguy

In Los Angeles County, this election is bringing big changes. I predict chaos. Los Angeles is getting rid of the old “Inkavote” system, where you would go to your local precinct, and use an inked stamp to mark a ballot, which you then took to a precinct worker to confirm you didn’t mismark (i.e, vote twice for an office, not ink dark enough), and then you put your ballot in the collection box.

Under the new system, everything — and I mean everything — changes. Gone are your local polling places. Instead, there are regional voting centers — fewer in number, but open for between eleven to four days before the election. You don’t have to go locally — you can go to any center in the county and they will verify your registration and pull up and print your ballot for you to vote.

Here’s a description of the process, somewhat edited, from LAist: “First, a county poll worker looks up your information on new digital “e- pollbook.” The election worker confirms your address and prints a custom ballot specific to your precinct. You then walk that ballot over to a machine, insert it into a slot. The tablet reads your ballot, and presents you the selections to vote on a touchscreen. It then lets you review your selections at the end, and prints it out for you again. After looking things over and confirming they are correct, you insert the ballot back into the machine and you’re done.

The project is called VSAP, There are even videos explaining things. What could possibly go wrong?

Oh, lots. They’ve done tests, but small scale. I can just imagine the lines when the electronic verification of registration gets backed up or goes down (here’s your first point of failure, with no backups). There are printers, and tested demonstrated problems with getting ballots printed. Then there are the ballot readers — and remember anything with mechanical collection can break down. That’s not to mention all the behind the scene risks related to the software, counting, collection, and such.

There’s also the user interface: it takes multiple screens to see all the candidates, and on a touch screen, people are more used to swiping as opposed to a “more” button. Some security experts are concerned about independent test results showing vulnerabilities, and there is a vocal contingent of election advocates who believe the only way to safeguard voting is by requiring hand-marked paper ballots whenever possible. Luckily, as the County Registrar notes, “It is still a voter-marked paper ballot. This device is not retaining your voter choices, it’s not tabulating your votes. It’s just allowing you to mark the ballot in a way that’s clear. For tabulation, the printed ballot is the official ballot.”

Note that, as part of the conditions for certifying the system, everyone has the option of hand-marking a paper ballot.

As for me, I’ll be voting early. Partially, that’s because I’ll be out of town (in Madison WI) on election day. But I also want to try this system when it is less crowded. That’s one reason I’ve been pushing to get this analysis done.

Because this is a long ballot, I’m splitting it into a few chunks:

The Presidential Primary (this post)
The Congressional, State and Local Offices
Judicial Offices
Ballot Measures
Summary

This part covers the Presidential Primary.

🎭 Why I Do Not Accept Comp Tickets (excepting Fringe)

Posted onThursday, February 13, 2020Authorcahwyguy

As you know, I do lots of theatre writeups, which some folks view as reviews. Because of this, there are many people out there who view me as a critic. I always respond that, no, I’m just an audience member who loves to share my views on theatre with my friends and the broader world, with the hope of enticing more people to discover live performance. But they still think I’m a critic. This includes publicists, who then offer me comp tickets to their shows. I generally decline (with one exception), citing the ethics policy of my real-life employer. Although I generally do not state who I work for other than that I work in the field of cybersecurity (although one can find that information if one looks), I do note that we have ethics rules that prohibit us from receiving gifts from suppliers above a nominal value (around $10). The logic being that if you get such a gift, and then make a decision of judgement regarding such a supplier, it could appear to be biased due to such a gift.

I have always felt that this applies in the arena of theatre reviewing. Why should you accept a gift from a theatre, and then write a review of that theatre? After all, Consumers Reports doesn’t accept products from suppliers and then review them — they go out and buy the product on the open market. That is why I always pay for tickets, with the exception of the Fringe Festival (which is often of nominal value). I will accept discounts, but that’s because I would normally pay for half-price tickets through Goldstar. So I’m paying the theatre what I would pay through Goldstar.

I will never forget a discussion with one local critic regarding this, where his response was that he would not review a show unless he received free tickets and free parking. I think that is just wrong. I will note that, however, that this does highlight one key difference (in my eye) between “reviewers” and “audience members that write up shows”. Reviewers have editors that assign them shows to provide coverage in a market. Audience members pick the shows they want to see because they think the show will be interesting, and then write up what they see. Both can be critics, and both can apply critical thinking and constructive criticism to what they write up.

I bring this up because of a recent crackdown by the FTC on “influencers”. Here’s a quote from that article:

Commissioner Rohit Chopra called for tougher penalties on companies that disguise advertising on platforms like Instagram, YouTube, and TikTok as authentic reviews in a statement sent out Wednesday. The statement came after the FTC voted 5-0 to approve a Federal Register notice that would seek public comment on whether Endorsement Guides for advertising (which haven’t been updated since 2009) need to be reviewed, according to TechCrunch.

For years, the Federal Trade Commission has required influencers to disclose sponsored posts, but the guidelines seem to have had little effect. In one recent case mentioned in the letter, a Lord & Taylor campaign paid 50 social media influencers to post about a dress on Instagram, but didn’t require them to disclose that the posts were sponsored. The FTC charged Lord & Taylor with deceiving the public, settling the case by prohibiting the company from “misrepresenting that paid ads are from an independent source,” but didn’t levy a monetary fine.

Influencers and online personalities are often given products for free by companies hoping to get some exposure. While some reviewers will disclose that detail, it’s often hard to tell when an endorsement is genuine, or if a review is coming from an undisclosed partnership. Now the FTC is cracking down, but the focus is on holding advertisers and companies accountable, not small influencers.

Note the sentence I have highlighted. If a critic receives a free ticket to a show, how is that any different than being given the product for free by a company hoping to get some exposure? Yes, it is traditional — but as we’ve seen with #MeToo, tradition doesn’t makes something ethically or morally right. At minimum, critics must disclose whether they were given free tickets by the theatre directly or by a publicist for the theatre.

This emphasizes why my ticket policy remains. I do not accept free tickets for non-Fringe shows. For the Fringe festival, where tickets are of a nominal value, I will accept free tickets if I can fit the show into my Fringe schedule, but I will always disclose when a producer has given me free tickets. I encourage — indeed, I challenge — other critics to adopt this policy.

🗳 What Makes the USA: Loyalty to the Constitution, or the President?

Posted onWednesday, February 12, 2020Wednesday, February 12, 2020Authorcahwyguy2 Comments

Today, on the van ride home, we discussed an interesting scenario: Suppose we hold the election in November, and the Democratic nominee resoundingly wins the popular vote, and wins the electoral college. Donald Trump refuses to accept the result of the election for whatever reason his ego comes up with, declares a “national emergency”, suspends Congress, and refuses to leave his office.

A large number of the Blue-leaning states consider this to be an unconstitutional act, and decide that he has abdicated his oath of office. They declare themselves to be the real United States of America, proclaim their loyalty to the original Constitution, and inaugurate the duly elected President and Vice President based on the electoral college results. They reconstitute Congress, with whatever Representatives and Senators from their states who wish to remain in the new Western United States of America and Eastern United States of America (from both parties), in a new location. They retain whichever Justices of the Supreme Court wish to come over. States hold special elections to fill vacancies, and (quite likely) DC and Puerto Rico are admitted as states. A good portion of the military would also likely come over, as they are more loyal to the Constitution than the President.

Is this secession?

After all, the “new” United States are loyal to the Constitution, have as leadership a President and Vice President that were elected following that Constitution. On the other hand, the United States of Trump have suspended the Constitution, and are following a President that holds office without authority of the vote, and only by virtue of his suspending and ignoring the election results.

Would we see a civil war where the “new” US (the USA) tries to regain the Trump-loyalists (UST)? Probably not. Would the UST try to wage war against the “new” USA, or would they have the attitude of “good riddance” to the Liberals and RINOs? How might property and facilities be divided?

One might think this is far-fetched, but I do think it is a possibility if Trump refuses to leave. Note that this is NOT the scenario where Trump gets elected and attempts to suspend the Constitution. A secession in that case is more problematic: although there is loyalty to the Constitution, you do have a duly-elected President. Although, if there is an investigation that shows the vote was tampered with and Trump really didn’t win the election, then it might happen.

Interesting thought experiment.

🎭 Is There A Reason Behind The Intimate Insanity? | The $5 Shakespeare Company @ 6th Act/Theatre 68

Posted onMonday, February 10, 2020Thursday, February 13, 2020Authorcahwyguy

The $5 Shakespeare Company (6th Act @ Theatre 68) Often, when I have two theatre shows in a weekend, there’s some common theme between them — some sort of connecting through line that I can ruminate on. In this case, that through line is Los Angeles, and some of the unique things that we find in the city. One is the West Adams district, which was the subject of our play on Saturday night. West Adams was also the home of an intimate theatre that, alas, is no more, Chromolume, that used to do remarkable productions held together with love, talent, and I think lots of duct tape. Chromolume made miracles out of a little, and the people kept doing what they were doing for some unknown reason, until their landlord figured they could make more money with a tenant that could pay more.

The play we saw Sunday afternoon, The $5 Shakespeare Company, explores intimate theatre in Los Angeles, This World Premiere from The 6th Act at Theatre 68 in NoHo, written by Matthew Leavitt, tells the story of one of the shoestring companies, The $5 Shakespeare Company, whose mission is to present Shakespeare plays on no budget for $5 in a storefront theatre (implied to be on Theatre Row on Santa Monica Blvd). You’ve all been in these theatres during Fringe: a black box stage and perhaps 50 seats. The action, which reminded me a bit of Noises Off without the full-on farcical elements, alternated between the back-stage story of the company and the on-stage presentation of A Midsummer’s Night Dream (in February). This allowed you to meet all the characters, learn their stories, see both how they were invested in the company and why they were there, as well as seeing the quality of the performance. The Noises Off comparison is apt, as just as in Noises Off, there is deterioration of the relationships backstage as well as the performances to the audience.

I’ll do my best to describe the characters in the story, although alas I was dealing with a slight headache that gave me microbursts of drowsiness beyond my control. The head of the company was Jacob (Adam J. Smith (FB)), an actor who was fired from a sitcom for pushing a camera into a wall in an outburst, now serving as the Artistic Director of the company trying to hold it together and move it forward. Lillian (Liza Seneca (FB)) is another long-time company member, who had aspirations to run the company until Jacob was selected by the membership. She remains because it allows her to play roles that she would never get to normally play. Working closely with Lillian is Elena (Carolina Espiro (⭐FB)), who has been in the business a long time, and is introduced to the audience requiring liquid fortification to go on with the show. She’s also having an affair with Randall (Kenajuan Bentley (FB)), an actor who enjoys his Shakespeare … but also enjoys torturing the understudy in the show, Louis (Luke McClure (FB)). Louis, a recent graduate of RADA … in Riverside CA … thinks he knows everything about theatre professionalism.

Also in the $5 Shakespeare Company is Everett (Emerson Collins (⭐FB)), the stereotypical gay character who longs to play Tatiana. He’s tortured Noel (Jamie Zwick (⭐FB, FB)), the type of actor so proud of his body he takes off his shirt and oils up at the slightest opportunity. The elder actor in the community is Chester (Andy Robinson (FB)), who has basically done it all and seen it all, and is cynical about it all, and wants to play King Lear before he is too old to remember the lines. The two youngest members of the company are Camille (Cindy Nguyen (FB)), whose doesn’t have the greatest amount of talent but whose father is bankrolling the company, and Spencer (Sami Kolko Zwick (FB) at our performance, normally Natalie Lander (⭐FB)) a young actress who is expecting her big break any moment (and who thus must have her cell phone with her at all times … all times).

As you can see, this company captures most of the archetypes of actors in Los Angeles, from the experienced to the not, from the stage professionals to the TV actors. The script is loaded with references that LA natives, and LA folk that love theatre will get. I think there were also quite a few inside references that I didn’t get (being a cybersecurity guy) that others in the audience (who were clearly in the industry) got. But that’s good — that makes this a play that works at all levels.

The play, under the direction of Joel Zwick (FB), moves briskly (90 minutes, no intermission), and the actor capture and are clearly having fun with their character types. I can’t necessarily say they are realistic portrayals, because I think the characters were written to exaggerate the behaviors. Stylistically, they capture well what I expect the backstage of an bare-bones theatre would be like — one shared dressing room for all, with threadbare decor and no privacy for changing except standing behind something. But I think Zwick also does a great job of turning what could be a bunch of stereotypes into a believable family that cares about each other — foibles and all.

Overall, I found the play entertaining and quite funny — and one that even made me laugh out loud (which is rare). The performances were strong, and the story was in essence a love letter to the people that do intimate theatre for rewards that are certainly not monetary, but are more spiritual. I think it is well worth seeing, especially if you (like me) are an audience member that loves the creativity that only small theatres can bring. My wife (who brought the show to my attention) found it rolling-on-the-floor funny. It really was a great show.

I’ve cited the performers before. I’d like to highlight a few that particularly caught my eye. The first was our understudy put-in, Sami Kolko Zwick (FB), who was a delight to watch as Spencer. Also fun to watch was the other young actress, Cindy Nguyen (FB). I really liked Adam J. Smith (FB)’s Jacob — you could just sense the exasperation. I thought Andy Robinson (FB)’s name was familiar, but I never even recognized Gareck in Chester, his portrayal of Chester was that strong. I also enjoyed the easy familiarity of Kenajuan Bentley (FB)’s Randall. But all of the actors were great.

Chris Winfield (FB)’s scenice design was suitably dilapidated for a company doing thing on the cheap, as were Ashphord Jacoway‘s costumes. Nick Neidorf (FB)’s sound design provided the appropriate sound effects. Chu-hsuan Chang‘s lighting design blended into the background, quietly establishing the mood. Other production credits: Nick Neidorf (FB) Composer; David Elzer, DEMAND PR Publicity; Michelle Hanzelova (FB) Graphic Design; MacKenzie Smith Stage Manager; Sami Kolko Zwick (FB) Assistant Director; Megan Donahue (FB) Assistant Stage Manager.

The $5 Shakespeare Company continues at Theatre 68 in NoHo through March 8. Tickets are available through Eventbrite. Discount tickets may be available through Goldstar (which even gets a mention of the show, about the importance of getting a good review on Goldstar).

🎭

Ob. Disclaimer: I am not a trained theatre (or music) critic; I am, however, a regular theatre and music 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 (or I’ll make a donation to the theatre, in lieu of payment). I am not compensated by anyone for doing these writeups in any way, shape, or form. I currently subscribe at 5 Star Theatricals (FB), the Hollywood Pantages (FB), Actors Co-op (FB), the Soraya/VPAC (FB), and the Musical Theatre Guild (FB). 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. Note to publicists or producers reading this: here’s my policy on taking comp tickets. Bottom-Line: Only for things of nominal value, like Fringe.

Upcoming Shows:

Next weekend brings A Body of Water at Actors Co-op (FB) and It Shoulda Been You at Musical Theatre Guild (FB). To top all of that, the fourth weekend brings The Simon and Garfunkel Story at the Hollywood Pantages (FB), Escape to Margaritaville at the Dolby Theatre/Broadway in LA (FB), and Step Afrika at the Soraya/VPAC (FB) the fourth weekend. Yes, that is the Pantages and the Dolby the same day — that’s what I get for not entering season tickets on my calendar before ticketing a bonus show. The last weekend is open, but I’ll probably find some theatre in Madison WI when I’m out there; alas, I’ll be missing both Nefesh Mountain at Temple Israel of Hollywood and Tom Paxton and the Don Juans at McCabes.

March starts with Passion at Boston Court (FB) the first weekend. The 2nd weekend brings the MRJ Man of the Year dinner (and possibly The Wild Party at Morgan Wixson). The 3rd brings Morris’ Room at Actors Co-op (FB) ; and the last weekend brings Spongebob Squarepants at the Dolby Theatre/Broadway in LA (FB) and the MoTAS/TBH Seder. April is similarly busy: the 1st weekend is Mamma Mia at 5 Star Theatricals (FB); the 2nd is during Pesach and is open (but has Count Basie at the Soraya/VPAC (FB) the Thursday before); the 3rd is Once on This Island at the Ahmanson Theatre; the last is Hamilton at the Hollywood Pantages (FB) (and possibly Hands on a Hardbody at the Charles Stewart Howard Playhouse (FB)), and the first weekend of May is Mean Girls at the Dolby Theatre/Broadway in LA (FB)

As always, I’m keeping my eyes open for interesting productions mentioned on sites such as Better-Lemons, Musicals in LA, @ This Stage, Footlights, as well as productions I see on Goldstar, LA Stage Tix, Plays411 or that are sent to me by publicists or the venues themselves. Want to know how to attend lots of live stuff affordably? Take a look at my post on How to attend Live Theatre on a Budget. Want to learn about all the great theatre in Southern California? Read my post on how Los Angeles (and its environs) is the best area for theatre in the Country!

🗯️ Four Things to Remember … and a little bit more

Posted onMonday, February 10, 2020Tuesday, February 11, 2020Authorcahwyguy

Four important things to remember this election season:

You will not find a candidate that 100% matches your political positions. This means you must compromise on the candidate that comes closest, remembering that…
Any broad policy initiatives must be approved by Congress, and will assuredly change. As we keep reminding those who support Trump: the President is not King. There is only a limited amount that can be done through Executive Order. Most policy needs to come through Congress, and all appropriations need to come through Congress — and bold broad initiatives, such as healthcare, require funding. This means that whatever position the candidate takes will not make it into law in exactly that form. Don’t think you’ll get “Medicare for All”, for example, as that likely won’t make it through Congress.
ANY of the Democratic candidates is better than Trump. This is a key point to remember. Any of the Democrats will respect the role of Congress and the role of the diplomatic and intelligence communities. None will attempt to be autocratic like Trump. So you don’t like Bloomberg because he’s a rich oligarch and buying the election? Even at that, he’s better than Trump. Don’t like Bernie because he’s an angry old white man? Still better than Trump. Don’t like Pete because of his corporate connections and inexperience? Still better than Trump. Don’t like Biden because of his gaffes and history? Still better than Trump. Always remember: ANY of these candidates is better than Trump.
Not voting is a vote for Trump. Thinking of sitting out the election because you don’t like the Democratic candidate that was nominated? Think again. Not voting gives more power to the people voting for Trump. So unless you think having Trump in office is better than than whomever is the Democratic nominee is, make sure you get out to vote.

and here’s the little bit more:

A Democratic Senate Solves Many Problems. It is vital we take back the Senate, so if you live in a state where a Republican senate seat is on the ballot, vote for the Democratic candidate. If we have over 51% in the Senate, we can do another impeachment trial — but this time with witnesses. If we can get near 2/3rds, there is the possibility of removing Trump from office even if he is reelected. Having a Democratic senate will also allow House initiated legislation to finally reach the President’s desk (winning the White House means nothing if legislation gets blocked in the Senate), and provides a real check on the power of appointment — especially of judges.