Company, villainous company...

... hath been the spoil of me.

It's true. I'm spoiled. And I realized it recently when Theatre Banshee began rehearsals for Henry IV, Part 1. I was sitting in our first read-through, trying to analyse Shakespeare's words. There were times when I thought, "What the hell is he talking about?!" And there were times when it all made perfect sense. It came to me that the difference was who was speaking the lines.

The better the actor, the more I could understand it and the more I felt the emotion behind it. I've spent so much time around excellent actors that now when I'm faced with someone normal, it becomes blatantly obvious. I'm very jaded now.

And I find that I'm OK with that. Surrounding myself with exceptional artists can't be a bad thing, can it? It's not hurting anyone. I do my best to nurture and support all the actors I come into contact with. The rockin' ones don't get preferential treatment over the merely good ones. I work just as hard to help all of them learn their lines. I don't hide props from anyone. (Well, unless they really piss me off.) I yell at all of them equally for being late or missing a cue.

Although, if I didn't witness the "good" actors, the kick-ass ones wouldn't be so kick-ass. Ah hell, bring them all on! Just keep the crappy ones away. :) I have no worries about that. We'd never cast someone who couldn't hold their own among the best of them.

For this play they have to be able to wield a sword as well as act. We've got some excellent fight choreographers who've been helping us with that. By the time we open, we'll be able to have a full-on broadsword battle on our miniscule stage. I can't wait!

Monday Quotes!

Today, I bring you a selection of quotes from Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince.

"It was, he thought, the difference between being dragged into the arena to face a battle to the death and walking into the arena with your head held high. Some people, perhaps, would say that there was little to choose between the two ways, but Dumbledore knew - and so do I, thought Harry, with a rush of fierce pride, and so did my parents - that there was all the difference in the world."

"And now, Harry, let us step out into the night and pursue that flighty temptress, adventure."

"For future reference, Harry, it is raspberry...although of course, if I were a Death Eater, I would have been sure to research my own jam preferences before impersonating myself."

"I take my hat off to you--or I would, if I were not afraid of showering you with spiders."

"I would assume that you were going to offer me refreshment, but the evidence so far suggests that that would be optimistic to the point of foolishness."

"You can try," said Harry indifferently. "But you seem cleverer than Fudge, so I'd have thought you'd have learned from his mistakes. He tried interfering at Hogwarts. You might have noticed he's not Minister anymore, but Dumbledore's still headmaster. I'd leave Dumbledore alone, if I were you."

Friday Quote!

OK, so it's more than one. Sue me. :)

I've got a rather eclectic mix of quotes for this Friday.

"For there is none of you so mean and base,
That hath not noble lustre in your eyes.
I see you stand like greyhounds in the slips,
Straining upon the start. The game's afoot:
Follow your spirit, and upon this charge
Cry, 'God for Harry, England, and Saint George!"
-Henry V

"If you intend to sail to the weird and haunted shoals at world's end, you will need a captain who knows those waters."
"So, tell me, what's become of my ship?"
-Pirates of the Caribbean: Dean Man's Chest

"You know, I bet this is why [wife] number two came after you with a nine iron, isn't it? You just refused to sit down and talk things through."
"Actually, that wasn't it at all."
"So, what was it then?"
"Seven iron."
-NCIS, "Enigma"
(I love Mark Harmon.)

"From birth to age 18, a girl needs good parents. From 18-35, she needs good looks. From 35-55, she needs a good personality. And from 55 on, she needs cash."
-Sophie Tucker

Have a good weekend, cherubs!

Prince Charles?! No...

OK, this is the funniest clip from The Daily Show that I've ever seen. And I've seen some really good ones! I found it on YouTube yesterday and thought it would be good to share. I would have posted it directly to here, but I'm still trying to figure out how to do that... Anybody have suggestions? Ang?
Anyway, here's the link to it! Enjoy!
God, I love Stephen Colbert!

Friday Quote!

"A book is a mysterious object, I said, and once it floats out into the world, anything can happen. All kinds of mischief can be caused, and there's not a damned thing you can do about it. For better or worse, it's completely out of your control."
- Paul Auster

Happy New Year!

Turn Around Three Times and Spit

I read an article yesterday about superstitions and the theatre. I found it on wikipedia when I was wondering about the origins of calling Macbeth "The Scottish Play."

For those who don't know, it's exceedingly bad luck to speak the name Macbeth in a theatre. There have been many stories over the years of theatre's burning down and going out of business, actors and friends having accidents or even dying. Some say it started with the first production of Macbeth, when some prop knives were accidentally replaced with real ones and an actor dies. (For a very amusing time, you can watch the Blackadder III episode "Sense & Senility.")

I made the mistake, early in my stage managing days, of thinking it was all a load of crap and that no one took it seriously. I was standing on the stage setting props for our show and we were talking about that story. In my foolishness, I spoke the word itself and found a flurry of angry actors pouncing on me. They made me go outside, turn around three times, and spit over my left shoulder. Swear to God. It's supposed to exorcise whatever demons are conjured up by mentioning the Scotsman.

Just like that episode of The West Wing where Sam "tempts the wrath of the whatever from high atop the thing" on election day and they make him go outside and spit too... Sorry, that's the geek in me talking.

I don't normally consider myself a superstitious person, but when I think of all my "rituals" at the theatre, I find I have to reconsider. I have to sit in the same seat for every rehearsal. Everything has to be in it's place in the booth. (This could be superstition, or it could just be because I'm anal.) We have a basket that has to be somewhere on stage for all of our productions. The one time it wasn't, the show didn't do nearly as well as all the others have. We have a St. Brigid's cross that has been on almost all of the sets.

Usually, I'm perfectly willing to walk under a ladder, but I always stop myself from doing it when I'm at the theatre.

It's amazing the crazy stuff actors do for good luck. But, I figure that if it works, who am I to call them on it?

Now, if you'll excuse me, I have to go find my four leaf clover.

I Love Gobble Day!

"We don't give thanks in England. We mourn the loss of the colonies."
-Hugh Laurie

There are many things I dearly love about Thanksgiving. I love the memories of going to get the turkey at the turkey farm with Grandfather. He'd somehow talk me into having a calf suck on my finger. We'd stand in front of the turkey pen and say, "Gobble! Gobble!" And all the turkeys would gobble back at us. (For more on that, read my Auntie's blog post Becky in the Straw!)

I love sitting in my PJ's, watching the Macy's Parade. The Broadway stuff is always my favorite. And marvelling at the Rockettes!

I love breaking bread for the stuffing the night before. Ordering pizza and succumbing to the zen quality of reducing three loaves of bread into fingernail sized pieces. Watching GM mix the herbs and melted butter. Sneaking pieces of the herby, salty goodness to munch on.

I love naming the turkey and freaking out my family.

Setting the table and trying to figure out how on Earth I can squeeze that many people at a table that big. Pulling out all the fancy dishes and wine glasses. Finding the gravy boat, the mashed potato bowl, the stuffing bowl, and the nice butter dishes.

I love trying to keep the gravy off my roll. I love making a perfect divot in my potatoes, putting in the butter, covering it up, and waiting for it to melt. I love covering the whole piece of pie with whipped cream, so every bite has an equal amount on it. I love the shiny jeweled quality of a can of cranberry sauce, still ribbed from the can.

I love the lethargy that comes after eating SO MUCH food.

I love leftovers on Friday.

I loved that year when the power went out and we ate by candlelight. I love that we were seriously considering whipping the cream with a cordless drill and a whisk attachment.

I love GM's stuffing, Robyn's brussel sprouts, Susan's carrots, Josh's pie, and anybody's mashed potatoes.

I love my family and friends.

Ohana

I've known for years that the members of Theatre Banshee are my home away from home and my extended family, but in the past week it's been hammered home.

It's been a while since I've been on a date. But a week and a half ago, I met a really good guy who liked me enough to actually ask me out.

Well, the people of Banshee had pretty much two reactions. The women all wanted to know what he looks like and if he's funny. The men all wanted to know who this guy was, if they had met him before, and what he does for a living. (One of them was teasing me for going on a date with anyone, without having received approval of the guy first.)

I'm pretty sure all of them would be willing to pummel this guy with a baseball bat if he does anything to hurt me. (As I would be perfectly willing to do the same for them, were they in that situation.)

They were all very excited for me beforehand and wanted to know all the details afterwards. Hell, I even got a call from one of them DURING the date! (No, I didn't answer it! I got the voicemail when I got home. They were building our set at the theatre and wanted to know all the sordid details.)

I never had siblings growing up, but now at 26, I find I have almost twenty of them. I have to say, I really like it.

I am a GENIUS! . . . Wait . . . No, I'm not.

Years ago, I went through what some would call a "phase." Others would call it an obsession. Whatever you'd choose to call it, I was an obscenely huge fan of The Scarlet Pimpernel. Tangent: For those that don't know the story, let me enlighten you. The Scarlet Pimpernel is one of the very first super heroes. An aristocrat who disguises whimself to save innocents from the guillotine during the French Revolution. He acts like a fop at home in England to throw people off his scent. OK, end of tangent. The books (which kick-ass, by the way), the movies (which don't, really. OK, except for the 1932 Leslie Howard one. That's not too bad.), and the musical (which was nominated for two Tony awards). I even flew to New York, with my dear friend Kathy, to see the musical on Broadway. My geekness extends far beyond that, but my dignity won't stand the telling anymore.

My point is that I wrote some stories set in the Pimpernel universe. What's known as fanfiction, or fanfic, for you normal people out there. At the time, they seemed to be brilliant! They could stand up next to any other stories out there! In my head, I was up there with Arthur Conan Doyle, J.R.R. Tolkien, and Baroness Orczy herself! (She wrote The Scarlet Pimpernel and the many sequels that came after.)

I posted all of them to my juvenile website. (No, I will NOT tell you what the address is!) Recently, in a lull at my fantastic new job, I went back to read them again.

Wow.

I won't say they suck. But, damn, they're not NEARLY as OK as I remember! Apparently, the gap of . . . seven years has distorted my writing prowess hugely.

Now, I will say that I know I've improved. There are a few other stories that I wrote a couple of years after the whole Pimpernel thing. I went back to read them too, hoping to God that the same fate hadn't befallen them. (They're on at least one website that's MUCH more frequently visited than my poor excuse.) I am glad to say that they're actually BETTER than I remember them being. Woo hoo!

So, there it is. Proof that we're not perfect when we're teenagers. Believe me, I know I'm not perfect now, either, but at least I'm improving.

Which Pirates of the Caribbean character am I?

I don't know if this is particularly true, but it's cool anyway!



Which Pirates of the Caribbean character are you?

Inside the room of my soul...

What Your Soul Really Looks Like

You are very passionate and quite temperamental. While you can be moody, you always crave comfort. You are a grounded person, but you also leave room for imagination and dreams. You feet may be on the ground, but you're head is in the clouds. You believe that people see you as a bit small and insignificant. People pay more attention to you than you think. Your near future is still unknown, and a little scary. You'll get through wild times - and you'll textually enjoy it. For you, love is all about caring and comfort. You couldn't fall in love with someone you didn't trust.

Inside the Room of Your Soul

I couldn't have said it better myself.

Holy Hell!

Well, my cherubs, I have a new job!

I've been working at 1-800-Dentist for three and a half years now and tomorrow is my last day!

My friend Melissa has sucked me into her world!

My commute will be a fraction of what it is now and I'll get more money. I can't see anything bad about this!

Hopefully this means I will have more time to blog! Hopefully, this also means that I will have new amusing material. Of course, I've just gone into rehearsal for Theatre Banshee's next show Dockers and that's always a good source of fodder for the fire.

With the hope that you'll be hearing more from me, I'll leave it there.

-Kati

"Mastering yourself makes you fearless."
-Lao Tzu

You're On Notice!

And Hummers are DEAD TO ME!

The Thunder From Where?!

So, my Grandmother's 80th birthday is quickly approaching. And you know how she's going to celebrate? I love this! My mom, my Grandmother, and two of their friends are driving to Wendover, Nevada (no gambling in Utah, pumpkin) to spend the night. They've got a fancy schmancy suite with a jacuzzi big enough for four people. They've got spending money for the slot machines and Keno bar.

And they have lots of one dollar bills.

You want to know why?

They're going to see The Thunder From Down Under!!! Yup. The strippers from Australia! Four grown women in their fifties (and eighties!) going to the nine o'clock show. (The eleven o'clock is too far past their bedtime.)

Grandmother even has to miss the opera for it. She has season tickets and poor Grandfather has to take someone else, while his wife of almost sixty years goes to see the men in thongs.

I love my family!

Apologies!

Sorry it's been so long since I've posted. Life is rich and full. That's my way of saying that I hardly have time to breath, let alone post to my blog!

I've been working a little OT at my job, a little part time for the H.P. Lovecraft Historical Society, recording a CD for the same (An Even Scarier Solstice coming in October!), preparing for our take over of the theatre, and working my normal job as well. Whew!

I have a couple od extremely good stories that are lurking in my head, though. Not the least of which is regarding my Grandmother's approaching 80th birthday party.

So, I beg you to bare with me a little longer and I'll make it worth your while.

Theatre Banshee and The Banshee!

Well, my friends, my theatre company Theatre Banshee now has its very own theatre!

We've been renting our current space for the last 11 years and love it dearly. Two weeks ago, we had an emergency meeting and found out that the people who were in control of the lease want it no more and would much rather WE kept it, than having it turn into a tire store.

Now, this is no small thing. Many more responsibilities, much more work, and the ever-present idea of financial doom looming over our heads.

We tossed questions back and forth, debated, and argued. In the end what it came down to was that if we let it go, we'd have to find a new space. Finding a crappy theatre in L.A. is hard enough, let alone one that is as good as this one. (Aside from the fact, that we've got a lot of great memories from it.)

We also figured that if the people who used to control the lease could do it, then we could it better!

And so, one month from today, we take possession of The Banshee in Burbank.

The exorcism can begin. The painting, the cleaning, the scourging fire, etc.

I feel inspired! Bring it on!

Monday Quote

"I win. You lose. Twas ever thus."
-The West Wing, The U.S. Poet Laureate

Monday Quote

"The bally balliness of it all is so very bally bally."
-Jeeves & Wooster

Monday Quote!

Here's Monday's Quote in advance...

"Pray to your tasty chicken god, my friend, for the dinner bell tolls for thee."
- Get Fuzzy

(That's Bucky Katt to a bug-eyed chicken, right befores he gets his ass kicked by said chicken.)

The Dark Knight vs. The Man of Steel

Being that I saw Superman Returns this past weekend (or Super-Duper Man as my friend Melissa calls it...) and am inordinately fond of Batman Begins, I figured the time was ripe for a debate on who's better. Just for my own amusement, really, and because I'm leaving town for a week.

So, folks, have it out. Who kicks more super-villain ass? Who looks better in his super-suit?

Batman. No ifs ands or buts about it. Batman is the best. I mean, he has to WORK for his superhero status. He has to workout to keep in shape. He has to invent all his faboo little gadgets.

Superman just is. Cheater. Wave a little kryptonite in his face and he's screwed.

Take away Batman's utility belt and he can still pummel you into the ground with his fists.

Besides, with Batman's dark side and tortured past, you get a very human element. Sure, some people will argue that the destruction of Krypton wasn't exactly a walk in the park for Superman, but for my own purposes, I'll just ignore that. After all, this is my blog.

I'll take Gotham over Metropolis any day.