The Alchemist

We had our first (and only) rehearsal for Star Trek vs. Batman today. What a fun bunch of folks Chris Allen has assembled for this film! We had an absolute blast reading through our parts and mimicking our 1960’s counter-parts! I’m now starting to feel more comfortable in Adam West’s characterizations of Bruce Wayne and Batman and I can tell the Joshua Ramsey is is definitely taking to his James T. Kirk impression. We also had some nearly dead-on readings from Daniel Boughton as Robin / Dick Grayson and a surprising, but excellent reading of The Joker from Gavin Rulon! Victoria Floro is going to be one red-hot Catwoman… it’s no wonder Kirk falls for her! Although, Kirk apparently keeps some very attractive female lieutenants on board the Enterprise as well - in the form of Dee Stotts and Sadie Tysdal… as Batman eventually finds out!

Beyond reading through the script, we also did a little bit of the fight and stunt work. Jim Dougherty is choreographing the fight scenes, and it is apparent he’s given some thought to this. He had Kirk throwing a thug with a nice rendition of Tomoe Nage (the Judo circle-throw that brought back memories of Judo days gone by) and Batman doing a nice overhead lift and throw of a smaller opponent. Now this should be fun! (And personally, I’m still holding out hope for the ultimate sword fight between Batman and Sulu!)

A woman got a 30-day jail sentence for leaving her three young children home alone for several hours, while she and her boyfriend attended a videotaping of “The Jerry Springer Show.”

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This is a very funny interpretation of Bush’s presidency as a text adventure game (like Zork). Here’s a quick sample:

Oval Office You are standing inside a White House, having just been elected to the presidency of the United States. You knew Scalia would pull through for you.

There is a large desk here, along with a few chairs and couches. The presidential seal is in the middle of the room and there is a full-length mirror upon the wall.

What do you want to do now?

> INVADE IRAQ
You are not able to do that, yet.

> LOOK MIRROR
Self-reflection is not your strong suit.

> PET SEAL
It’s not that kind of seal.

Highly recommended for a good laugh.

Judd, if you read this, Shari would like you to contact her. This has been a public service message. Thank you.

Mr. Windows himself (Chris Pirillo) makes a bold statement with his Ten Reasons Your Next PC Will Be From Apple.

He has some good reasons listed, and although I’d usually argue that the best reason is not that you could run Windows on it, he’s right in that having Windows available as a fallback could finally be the thing to let people understand what a wonderful experience using OS X really is…

I must have one.

http://www.apple.com/macbookpro/

Over and over I was told during the run of Forever plaid that in playing Smudge I was a dead ringer for Barry Bostwick as Brad Majors in The Rocky Horror Picture Show. I wasn’t buying it, but now I see it’s scarily true. Wow. Guess if I ever get a chance to play this role, I should go for it!

Update: Some people didn’t understand this post because both photos look like a photo of me. No, the first photo is Barry Bostwick as Brad Majors in The Rocky Horror Picture Show movie. The second photo is a photo taken of me after a performance of Forever Plaid. Seriously.

Parent Hacks is described as “a collaborative weblog of practical parenting wisdom.” What a great idea!

And here’s one tip from that site that I can really vouch for:

TiVo is the biggest and best family TV hack there is. We’re no longer hostage to program listings or broadcast times. When the kids have 30 minutes to watch TV, there are always at least three or four parent-approved options from which to choose, including more than one episode of their favorites. We zoom past all commercials, when there are any. The only live TV the kids can browse is rated G (everything else requires a secret code). No need for channel-flipping: TiVo is the gateway to all TV-watching, and we all like it that way.

Yup!

Children have been clamoring for Floam™, a micro-beaded modeling clay that has been heavily and attractively advertised. Unfortunately, people who have ordered Floam™ report long delays and deceptive business practices. Instead, make your own Floam™-like clay in whatever quantities and colors you like.

We found several anonymous recipes online. My husband Keith Golden tried three different recipes, then refined the best one. The result is virtually identical to Floam™ (except for smelling better).

Make your own imitation Floam

When The Edge World Question Center asks top minds “What is your dangerous idea?”, the result is fascinating reading:

The history of science is replete with discoveries that were considered socially, morally, or emotionally dangerous in their time; the Copernican and Darwinian revolutions are the most obvious. What is your dangerous idea? An idea you think about (not necessarily one you originated) that is dangerous not because it is assumed to be false, but because it might be true?

Just a couple of the ideas explored:

• Free will is going away
• Democracy is on the way out
• Your motives are not known even to you
• There is no clear boundary between humans and non-humans
• The purpose of life is to disperse energy

These and many more fascinating ideas are explored by these deep thinkers. Yes, these ideas are dangerous: They make you think in new ways. It’s well worth your time.

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