The 48 Hour Theater Project for Theater Daedalus has come and gone.  Quick rundown.  Deborah and Remy participated as actors and I was again priveledge to be a director.  Eleven writers met were given instructions at 8pm Thursday:  write a 10-15 minute play, cast of 4 (2 men, 2 women, one of each over 35 and one of each under 35.)  They had to include the following actions: one character told a lie, one tells the truth and one laughs inappropriately.  They also had to include at least one of three lines: "What kind of day has it been?". "It all comes down to good guys and bad guys" or the exchange "What do you hear?  Nothing but the rain."

Twelve hours later the scripts were delivered to the five directors.  We read (and reread) the scripts, then ranked them 1-11 and submitted our results to our Stage Manager.  We ALSO ranked the 5 shows we'd most like to direct top to bottom.  After doing much math the top 5 shows were selected and assigned to the directors.  We met at 6pm to give our evaluations to the authors and to "draft" our casts.  

A couple hours of table work were followed by a rousing few hours of comraderie at Dirty Franks on S High Street (HIGHLY recommended for GREAT dogs and even greater prices.)   The REAL work began thenext day at 8am.  Warmups then blocking and serious workof developing and producing this scripts - creating new works and breathing live into previously non-existant characters.Lunch break at noon.  Twenty minutes of tech work on the stage.  A little more work on the "rough spots" ... a dry run, giving us a chance to see each other's work ... a dinner break ... curtain at 7pm... GREAT house of almost 100 ... and finally retreating to Planks on S High for much winding down and reverie.

What GREAT work.  Words can really not descrive the excellance that is brought to bear on this weekend.  Authors from Maint to Alaska ... mainly Ohio actors but a few returning from New York or Chicago to grace out Central Ohio stage again.  Directors from two states.

I can't begin to tell you how small and insignificant I feel in this program.  My thanks to all for your love and dedication to the project.  And for those of you stumbling across this missive, go to the site, http://www.theatredaedalus.com/ , see what they're doing, and become a part of it

of Democrat Party though on race ... covering the last oh 50 years or so ...

"I have never seen very many white people who felt they were being imposed upon or being subjected to any second-class citizenship if they were directed to a waiting room or to any other public facility to wait or to eat with other white people. Only the Negroes, of all the races which are in this land, publicly proclaim they are being mistreated, imposed upon, and declared second-class citizens because they must go to public facilities with members of their own race."

"I did not lie awake at night worrying about the problems of Negroes."

"I'm not going to use the federal government's authority deliberately to circumvent the natural inclination of people to live in ethnically homogeneous neighborhoods. . . . I have nothing against a community that's made up of people who are Polish or Czechoslovakian or French-Canadian or blacks who are trying to maintain the ethnic purity of their neighborhoods."

"The Confederate Memorial has had a special place in my life for many years. . . . There were many, many times that I found myself drawn to this deeply inspiring memorial, to contemplate the sacrifices of others, several of whom were my ancestors, whose enormous suffering and collective gallantry are to this day still misunderstood by most Americans."

"Everybody likes to go to Geneva. I used to do it for the Law of the Sea conferences and you'd find these potentates from down in Africa, you know, rather than eating each other, they'd just come up and get a good square meal in Geneva."

"I do not think it is an exaggeration at all to say to my friend from West Virginia [Sen. Robert C. Byrd, a former Ku Klux Klan recruiter] that he would have been a great senator at any moment. . . . He would have been right during the great conflict of civil war in this nation."

• "You cannot go into a Dunkin' Donuts or a 7-Eleven unless you have a slight Indian accent."
  
  
• "My state was a slave state. My state is a border state. My state has the eighth largest black population in the country. My state is anything [but] a Northeastern liberal state."
  
  
• "I mean, you got the first mainstream African American [Barack Obama] who is articulate and bright and clean and a nice looking guy."
  
  
• "There's less than 1% of the population of Iowa that is African American. There is probably less than 4% or 5% that is, are minorities. What is it in Washington? So look, it goes back to what you start off with, what you're dealing with."

Sen. Harry Reid (D-Nev.) in 2002 agreed with former Sen. Trent Lott's (R-Miss.) decision to resign his leadership role after Lott made what some felt were racist remarks at former Sen. Strom Thurmond's 100th birthday party.

"He had no alternative," said Reid at the time claiming, "If you tell ethnic jokes in the backroom, it's that much easier to say ethnic things publicly. I've always practiced how I play."

a few random observations

Musberger seemed amazed that the Bama line hadn't been called for holding in over 38 quarters.  Did he not SEE any games this season?  SEC officials were swallowing their whistles for Bama and the Gators.  Hell I'm surprised they had ANY calls against em.

Can the SEC win a Bowl Game w/o injuring a major opponent?

Why couldn't ABC find the Bama clarinet player at the half?

Nice musical selection by the marching Longhorns.

TWO blown defensive PI calls late in the 3rd qtr.  Texas is NOT gonna get a break.  And then an AWFUL call FOR Bama on an overthrown pass.  Are these SEC officials?  (ok, i know they aren't)

Gilbert has issues but when he DOES get the ball to a rec they need to catch the damned thing.

three point game - up to the TX D to continue what they've done the whole 2nd half

3:21 ... tick tock Clarice

fumble ... game over dude

Congrats to the Crimson Tide

so here's a rundown:

C-SPAN Asks to Televise Health Care Negotiations 

C-SPAN TO CONGRESS: LET US IN! When President Barack Obama was campaigning for the job in 2008, … 

Much-anticipated Obama Transparency Fails to Materialize to Supporters' Chagrin 

Obama: Screw You, America, And Screw Transparency. Let's Ram Through This Bill 

L.A. TIMES: C-SPAN pleads with Reid, Pelosi to open final drafting sessions for Obama’s healthcare … 

Obama’s C-SPAN Problem. They look like promise breakers because they are. They look like they’ve got something to hide . . . because they do. 

“Obama lied, healthcare died.”

Press corps grills Gibbs: Um, didn’t Obama totally shamelessly lie about C-SPAN?

and just to show it's not all a bunch of us right wing wackos: CNN's Cafferty Slams Democrats' Closed-Door Negotiations on Health Care

 Back in August I did my preseason NFL picks.  Take a look, then we'll see how I did and where we're going:

PreSeason NFL picks

NFC East.  Eagles, with the Gints getting a wild card
NFC North.  Vikes, just like BEFORE the third coming of Bret Favre.  Weak division.
NFC South.  Saints.  Because, well, I'm a Saints fan.  Falcons get the wild card.
NFC West.  Arizone by default, but the Rams or Hawks could surprise.

AFC East.  Patriots.  
AFC South.  Colts, who don't belong here.  Send THEM to the North, send the Ravens to the East and send the Dolphions to the South.  Thank you.
AFC North.  As much as it pains me, the Steelers
AFC West.  IS there still an AFC West?  Chargers by default.  Like last year.

No wild cards.  My head hurts. 

NFC East: close but no cigar.  Eagles folded against Cowboys week 17, Giants just folded.

North: Bingo

South: Bingo, but Turner/Matty Ice injuries cost ATL the WC

West:  Duh.

AFC East:  OK.  South was easy.  Norh - I underrated the Cincy resurgance.  FWIW Steelers shoulda been aWC - Jets out.  West: correct.

So how do the playoffs play out?

Jets beat the Bengals.  Chris Henry will be missed.  

Cowboys beat the Iggles.  Shoulda beat 'em LAST week!

Patriots over the Ravens.  Pats are looking VERY good and the Raven's don't have to tools to overwhelm the Pats D.

Packers over the Cards in a yawner.

Only thing that saves my Saints is HFA.

from Donald J Boudreaux, Chairman, Department of Economics, George Mason University.

If an armed man breaks into your house, confiscates money from your wallet, insists that he and his goons are blessed with a grand vision of how you and your family should be provided with health care, and commands you to do as he orders, would you believe his promise to keep armed intruders "out of health care decisions"?  ("Text: Obama's Remarks on Health Care," July 22).

Of course not.

So why isn't the entire country furious at being insulted by Pres. Obama's patently absurd claim that his efforts to give government a greater role in paying for health care will "keep government out of health care decisions”?

I look fwd to some wonderful enlightened answers.

I hate the Steelers.  Alot.  But they got screwed this season.  The J-E-T-S Jets are in the playoffs thanx t picking up two forfiets in the closing weeks of the season.  IND and CIN both tanked.

Lots of chatter on the Inter-tubes on what to do.   Draft picks?  Doesn't seem right to me and takes players away from those who might need them more.

Here's an idea I picked up yesterday in the NYT (shhhh, don't let em know I read em) ..... Give a free timeout in the postseason to teams that win week 17.  Give two if they win 16 AND 17.

It's a small thing and might not make much of a difference ....until a team wins or loses based on having or not having that exra time out!

as the season ticks down ....

Was driving 1/1/10 (what kind of idiot wants a car delivered by 8 am January 2?) 

Capital One: in a shocking development, the SEC has asked LSU to resign from the Conference after loosing to a Big 1(1)0 school in a bowl game.

Sugar:  Mike, you still think Cincy is the best college team in Ohio?

Outback - REALLY sorry i missed this one - sounded like quite a game.  I gave up on the radio when it was 35-21!

Gator:  no more Bobby Bowden coaching ineligable athletes, and he got to beat one of the schools that ran him off...how nice ...Joe Pa stays on top

Gruden ... watching NYG/WRS claims never saw a "Swinging Gate" before - you gotta be kidding me! 

Rose - Gruden again, was amazewd at T Pryors speed.  He's been reading the rest of the countries news reports: everybody seems to think the Big 1(1)0 is a bunch of 6'tall white guys with crew cuts, black high tops and no face mask.

Papajohn's Bowl - OK...that does it .... the SEC will now disband - LOOSING a home bowl, going to OT against a mediocre B1(1)0 team and ony winnng when they disable the kicker, then LOSING to a women's basketball team - UConn - I meanGino A's the only coach there, right?

What has happened to Obama’s vaunted fluency?

Because George W. Bush could be such a trial to listen to, sometimes, I got into the habit of reading his speeches, and I always came away from them impressed by how substantive they were. When I read Obama’s speeches, I find myself thinking, “just words; lots and lots of words.” And lately, they’re not even particularly polished words.

The Anchoress concludes:

I suspect that what Obama wanted was to be the King, not the President. ...If a King is on vacation and his country encounters an critical issue, he knows there is no need to come jetting back to the palace, because the Prime Minister is taking care of reality. All the King needs to do is -in a day or three- show up at a microphone in casual dress and do the PR work of expressing concern over the issue and confidence in the government. The King can command instant coverage, even if there is only time for audio.

A King does not worry, so much, about representative governance, since it is irrelevent to his standing.

Sadly, though, America is not in need of his Kingship.

America needs a good old-fashioned President:

I miss old-fashioned American presidents; flawed men who had no allusions that they were perfect. Men who (in Clinton’s case) needed to be loved too much and (in Bush’s case) didn’t need it enough, but who still, for all the personal and political mistakes, were simply trying to lead America, not to rule it, or “remake” it or “save” it from its stiff-necked, fussy, independent, generous, vulgar, valiant, dreaming, energetic, creative, preening, heroic, world-leading, free and glorious self.

.....

I miss having an American President who could describe himself – as Clinton once did – as “a punching clown; you punch me and I’m bounce right back up and into your face;” or a president who could, with ironic self awareness describe himself as “misunderestimated.” America needs a guy who can laugh at himself and take the nation’s chaffing with a shrug, instead of a godling of the press’ needy creation, one “too perfect to be mocked”.

So, we have a King. But we haven’t a Prime Minister. Mrs. Pelosi won’t do, nor will Mr. Reid. We need a president.

To see the danger we face because of Obama’s return to a law-enforcement approach to terrorist interrogation, read today’s front-page story in the Washington Post.

At the very end of the article, the Post notes:

Abdulmutallab remains in a Detroit area prison and, after initial debriefings by the FBI, has restricted his cooperation since securing a defense attorney, according to federal officials. Authorities are holding out hope that he will change his mind and cooperate with the probe, the officials said. (Emphasis added)

Writes Marc Thiessen: Holding out hope? Change his mind? Are they kidding? A terrorist like Abdulmutallab is not a common criminal who should be told he has the “right to remain silent.” He is an enemy combatant, who tried to commit an act of war against the United States of America. He possesses vital intelligence about the terrorist network that deployed him to attack America, and may be planning still more attacks. The Obama administration has a responsibility to make him give up that information. Treating him like a criminal is an abdication of that responsibility, and puts our nation at risk.

Obama is taking heat for his delayed reaction. Mike Allen, among others, calls this “unfair”, and Josh Gerstein writes, in Obama’s defense, as well. Both argue that since President Bush took 6 days to talk publicly about the Richard Reid shoe bomber case, it is wrong to criticize Obama. Fair enough, I guess, except for one consideration which does make a difference: When Reid was prevented from igniting his shoe by his fellow passengers, Americans were completely aware that -silent or not- Bush was committed to the War on Terror and to our protection. Bush probably should have spoken sooner -apparently Michael Moore, among others complained about it- but on this issue, Bush was a completely known entity, and no one could doubt that, even if silent, Bush was working behind-the-scenes. Obama, who has increasingly seemed disengaged from things and gave a shaky performance after the Ft. Hood attack, is not that same known entity; his commitment to combating terrorism is not yet so absolutely defined and assured, and -given the timely warnings about Umar Farouk Abdulmutallab- this event is not an exact copy of Reid situation.