SEE YOU, SPACE COWBOY...

My"Selective Anime" kick has reaquainted me with "Cowboy Bebop", which my sister introduced to me a few years ago. Now I can't stop watching it; midnight on Adult Swim- they are playing the episodes in order.

I never thought I'd be eagerly awaiting a cartoon like this, but it's a sort of dirty little secret of mine. Well, one I wouldn't bring up in conversation in any case. I felt pretty self conscious renting the "Best of..." episodes and movie last week at Blockbuster. Not sure if Amy would appreciate a Netflix Anime takeover, currently on hiatus.

"Cowboy Bebop" music is incredible and fun. It really helps hold it all together, aside from the great characters and gritty stories. It's made me appreciate the genre. It sets up a world in 2071 where crime syndicates are powerful, and bounty hunters are more predominant than ever. Some devastation has occured to Earth in the past (ie. no more Moon), but society somehow manages.

One episode recently kind of got to me: "Speak Like a Child". Faye, one of the Bebop bounty hunters, has an old beta tape mysteriously sent to her. Her comrades go hunting for an old beta-tape player just to see what's on it (Jet tells Faye she can't watch the tape until she reimburses him for the C.O.D. charges). Finally getting a hold of one, the tape shows a young Faye in the very early 21st century, making a tape for herself to look at 10 years in the future. Faye, as it is revealed in the story, has no clue to her past. She was caught in the middle of a terrible accident when she was 20, and placed into a cryogenic freeze to save her (reviving her 54 years later). No one knew her name or where she was from; just the debt she owed the hospital from being woken up. Faye spies at the tape playing, realizes that it's definitely her, but feels nothing as she stares at the TV screen. She wants to know her past, but has no frame of reference for it.

I felt, for a cartoon even, that it really did a remarkable job of capturing a moment of humanity, not resorting to some cheap or melodramatic tricks. Just a closeup of Faye's face watching the screen, her expression of mixed emotion revealed just enough.

"Stiff and mannered"

It's wierd being called "stiff and mannered" when the character is everything but...

http://www.startribune.com/121/story/1458077.html


Let William Randall Beard eat cake! With rat poison in it... ;)

randoms

I have been rehearsing for a week. Love it. It's beautiful outside, and having lunch at one of the picnic tables on the Old Log property. Rehearsal is going well. We are apparently ahead of the curve.

It's interesting being directed by Tom Stolz; he micromanages moments on stage- he knows exactly what he wants. Normally, this might sound like a nightmare, but he has a keen insight into where laughs occur, what the ideal positioning is for actors, crosses on stage, etc. I normally subscribe to the organic style of letting things unfold, but I am being paid well enough to just shut up and listen. Given the 2 weeks of rehearsal, actors don't have much time to figure out everything; it makes sense a few weeks later (Sean pointed this out to me as his experience in acting out there- the Stolz family apparently has this down to a science). It's all working out fine.

On a sad and related note: Don Stolz's wife passed away last night. It was expected, and Tom announced his mother's death to us this morning. He handled it really well and said he'd rather not be anywhere else than at rehearsal. He also gave us the compliment of having a cast that made it easy for him in this time. A cast that "had heart".

Got a new used car last week. Not an American model- a 2004 Hyundai Elanta. I think half the country has this car, but it runs well enough. A little more than I wanted to pay, but it beats a rust-bucket anyday.

The Truck is Dead, Long Live the ...?

My truck is officially scrapped with a $3600 bill. Apparently, my fishing trip to Wisconsin was all it could handle before the ball bearings in the engine ripped their surroundings apart. Tonight, I'll take the truck home on it's final deluge home as it chugs along for 2 miles. Rehearsals start Monday and I definitely need a car to get to and fro, so I am forced to get something this weekend. Forced to make payments and pay for full coverage.



This truck belonged to Amy's dad before he passed away. He placed a pin of St. Christopher attached above the driver's side seat on the ceiling. The Patron Saint of Travelers. I guess I should be thankful for the 2 1/2 years of safe travel, and no accidents or speeding tickets.



There is always a sentimental attachment to material objects, and I realize this when I have to get rid of it, whether it be a Tshirt going to Goodwill, or a book being sold at a thrift sale. It's as if part of my memory is gone, and the times that I associate with that thing are forever lost. A little reminder that time keeps on slipping into the future, as Steve Miller would say.



My fear of commitment to a new car spreads to my inability to predict my finances. But other than that I really have nothing to bitch about.

Un-forgettable...

I failed to get my temp timecard signed in time before the deadline this morning, which means I have to wait until NEXT Thursday to get a direct deposit paycheck. Just in time for rent. Whee. Meanwhile, I must not be so carefree with my monies.

Much to Amy's chagrin, I have been preparing a re-written copy of "Among the Oats" suited to my production ideas for use in next year's Fringe Festival, if I enter, and if it gets drawn in the lotto. I am glad that I transcended any bitterness I had about not being drawn this year; I never really felt any. Amidst the crap shows I saw, I felt like everyone got a fair shot at whatever they wanted to do. Fringe was fun, but a bit underwhelming for me. Amy despises the Fringe, more than anyone I've ever talked to.

She didn't care for "Oats" when I did it the first time either. She was in a bad place at that time, and her chief criticism was that the play really had no satisfying resolution. For me, that was kind of the point, but I can see from a dramatic aesthetic one wants to see a show go SOMEWHERE. This next incarnation that I want to do does this, and then some. Using two different episodes, I've got a kooky resolution and a dramatic arc going. The episodes are meant to stand alone, but the three I've compiled (Dream, Fashion, and Death) give a hint of history and lend something to the relationship that the three characters have.

I dunno. The show is "fringey". I think others would dig it. It turns me on. Thas all.

Die- et

When will all Chinese food places stop putting pork into every single eggroll they sell?

It's a mad, mad, mad, mad, mad buffet of sin.

I lied...

I checked out a few reviews, not only of my Fringe show, but others. I am out of integrity.

At least City Pages gave us a favorable review... :)