Random Nibble(s)

Christmas always makes me pissy. This makes me less so.

We now have mini-seasons. Who the Hell thought this was a good idea? Thirteen episodes that just get you into the show and then you get to wait for five to forty months until the next twelve or so episode that then lead you into another cliffhanger. Unless your show is "V" or "Flash Forward". Then four shows is enough. Enough for you to know that you don't want to watch it. Even on Hulu, where the bad mismatched commercials continue to insult and annoy. Television do you honestly expect people to stick around while being jerked around? I've enjoyed you for years, but now I can say that I don't care about high-def. I don't care to have 400 channels. I don't care to continue paying $120 a month for the 10 channels that I do watch, sometimes; when the commercials don't make me crazy. I'm disconnecting you. I'm watching when I want to, what I want to, where I want to and what I want to watch it on. I can watch "Mad Men...

These are the times that make and break theater. Notice that I didn't say "or". We were all in process to do a new show (a puppety Christmas Carol) when bang, all funding was cut and all funding for our school shows was cut and that makes for a great weeping lack of moo-la. Waa. So, now we're in process to do a readers theater version of Christmas Carol in several of the local hang outs through out the Napa Valley. It's like lemonade from kiwis, but with out the kiwis.

Yep. The only thing that was missing was liqueur. If there had been drink, who knows.

The economy has officially tanked. For me. So far this year I have, oh, no shows scheduled for the state sponsored health programs that I do. I really should have seen it coming. Last year I lost Washington state. Not literally. I know where it is. I lost the bookings. I also lost a school district that has supported the show for 11 years. This year California went to Hello Kitty in a Handbasket and I lost another school district that missed the round of budget cuts from last year. It could be worse. I could be in those programs. One of the people that I've worked through used to have a staff of three. Now it's a staff of he. So, I've advertised that I do birthday parties to fill the gaps. I will need to do 350 of them to start to fill the gap created by the economic meltdown. Now if I could just get medical coverage.

I like to start by going uptown and having coffee. Once I've done that and talked to people, I like to come home and check the interweb. Then I check or think about making my list of chores. Outside chores by this point are too hot, so I check the internet again. Then I make coffee or tea so that I can get started with the day. But now it's night time and time to eat. Then it's time to put the duaghter to bed. Then there is just enough time to check the internet and watch something on Hulu or Netflix. At 3am it's time to curse myself for not sleeping when I should of and/or getting work done and vow to do better tomorrow. Then I check the internet.

Working on yet another new show. This time it's "Tell Tale Heart". Yes, that one. At least it's not "The Raven". I am trying to do it without words. That should be amusing.

The Oregon Tour was, was fantastic . "Hansel and Gretel" (H&G) were received extremely well. At 50 minutes it entertained every one and, yes, it kept the little ones enthralled. Besides the "When are you coming back again" and "You are so funny" comments that I usually get (really) I also got: "Tell another story!", isn't 50 minutes enough? Me: "What kind of story would you like to see next time?". Kid: "One with tree people in it again" All the puppets in H&G are made with course sculpted limbs from a tree that fell into my yard. Take that tree. Me: "What was your favorite part?" Kid: "Oooh, oooh. RAAAAAaaa." I think it was the monkeys and the velociraptors that were in the forest. Maybe the elephants, but that was more of a trumpet sound. "My butt is sore. Next time I'm going to sit in a chair." "Maybe you could have us stand-up in the middle of the show so that wouldn't...

Net Neutrality is the radical notion that you can have service free of censorship, speed controls and that every one should be able to access the information of the web. Think of this as Library 3.0, Business 4.2 and Democracy 2.1, but all rolled up into one.

Touring in the Portland, Oregon area. July 24, The Dalles, 11am 722 Court Street, The Dalles, Or 97058 July 28, West Linn, 2pm and 4pm West Linn Public Library, 1595 Burns St., West Linn, Or 97068 July 29, Ledding Library, Milwaukie, 2pm 10660 SE 21st Ave, Milwaukie, OR 97222-7586 July 30 Gladstone 9:30am Sandy Dvorak - 503-656-2411 Gladstone Senior Center, 1050 Portland Ave., Gladstone, OR 97027. West Linn Teens, 2pm If you have a teen or tween this would be a nice mask making class to attend. West Linn Public Library, 1595 Burns St., West Linn, Or 97068 July 31, Canby, 11am Canby Public Library, 292 N Holly, Canby, OR 97013

Touring to the Oregon. The Portland, Oregon... oh, and parts of Washington state.

It's not so much the heat, it's the lack of time....

To my website. Thanks to Kelly in the Morning on KVYN. http://www.teatrocalamari.com/ftp/TimGiugniMaskedTheater.mp3

We opened a show. The preview had 9 people. Opening night had 2. We instigated the "fair fight rule" (if the cast can take the audience in a fair fight, the audience goes home.). The second night, we had an audience of none. Today's afternoon show, we will see? The afternoon show yielded results! Nine people and the reviewer. Woo.

The check for $2000 has been moved from it's old home at the Glazer Center to a new home in my bank. From there it will move to Darkroom Productions. From here I have some hallucinatory idea that the show "Dreams of Electric Houses" will finally get going.

Busy? Oh, heck ya. Servant of Two Masters... Hansel and Gretel... Make Faire.... Shadow Dome: The Musical Dreams of Electric Houses (v.03) As you can see, something gave. Make Faire was just in the wrong spot. Hell Week. I love Make more than Christmas, more than Chanaramakwanzamas. It makes me sad to miss.

The Servant of Two Masters continues apace. Still looking for one actor. An actor that has to be a guy or the play turns into a college professor's wet dream. Ah, the theater.

Today is the first day of the rest of the show. "Servant of Two Masters" begins today with faces molds. These will serve as the platform for the masks that the actors will be wearing. As for the cream cheese and shpaaaaaam. My daughter is eating cream cheese and I'm having Tempeh. Tempeh reminds me of shpam. That is if you cook it till crunchy and have lots of salt. What can I say? I'm wired that way. UPDATE: ShPAMMERz just because I wrote this with the word shpaaa in it doesn't mean that you freakin' need to spamz me. Stop. UP UPDATE: AGain?!!! WTF. Spa.mers, stop spa.ming me on this. GAAAAA. UP UP UPDATE: Okay. Any ref to shpa's proper spelling has been removed. Now, "Get off my internet lawn". UP the Date: (2012, January 11): FUCKing STOP IT.

I'm simply a buzz over getting rid of old stuff on Freecycle. Look it up freecycle.org and join your local group. I really should sleep, but I'm giddy with anticipation for the "Servant of Two Masters" show and cleaning up the house in preparation for the show. I wish I could be so into bookkeeping.....

Tax Day! My most favorite time of the year! Right next to Dentist Day, Colonoscopy Day and Windows Vista Update Hour. I'd like a tax overhaul, because I really don't think that the middle class (lower case) can survive on anything less than $500,000 a year and according to the taxes that is a rich person and you get taxed for making 'a lot of money' when in reality it's not a lot of money any more.

I have a cast. Now all I need is to get crackin' with the production.

This is going to be fun. Il Teatro Calamari and Darkroom Productions stage Goldoni's "Servant of Two Masters" at a host of venues through out the Napa, Sonoma, and Solono counties. No puppets this time, but a lot of physicality and beautiful mask work staged in the great out of doors. More later or you can find the where's and when's on the Darkroom Productions site.

Well. Things are moving again on the project. New artists have given an official nod to assisting me and there is a performance date for version 1.1 of the show. If it wasn't almost midnight I'd be much more engrossed and engrossing.....