American Demigods: "the truth comes out"

Barack's blog talked about his role in opening the Abraham Lincoln Presidential Library and Museum. What he didn't mention is my favorite aspect of this museum. They have these multimedia presentations of Lincoln and the most important people in his life, including, obviously John Wilkes Booth.

Someday Fritz Wilson will be known as having been one of the most important people in my life.

Anyway, they decided that Booth's famous cry of "Sic Semper Tyrannus" was too archaic for today's audiences so they had an actor record the dialogue samples "I must kill Lincoln!" ("But first, dinner!", I made that part up) and "Vengeance shall be mine!" Now Booth killed Lincoln to avenge the Confederacy I guess, but "Vengeance shall be mine" is awfully personal. But it plays in perfectly to my plan to write a screenplay for a revisionist biopic of Lincoln. You see it turns out the Booth family had a long history of violence, going back to the mid-1850's, when Booth's father led a pro-slavery militia on a bloody rampage through central Illinois. This murderous attack reaches its climax when the elder Booth brutally attacks the gorgeous young ingenue Mary Todd, at which point Lincoln wrestles him to the ground and impales him with a gaslight lamp, leaving John Wilkes an orphan. This incident lends a new element of complexity and motivation to the Booth character, which had always been lacking.

I got cable/Internet service the other day. Soon, I'll be able to write this blog from home! Maybe that will slightly increase my productivity as a worker! Except not yet because it's technically my roommate's and she haughtily informs me I need something called a "wireless router". Hmph, I was using computer bulletin boards when she was in...junior high. Also, the cable TV doesn't work, I had been lusting after the ability to watch the Daily Show every night again (in and of itself worth a couple of dollars a day, and screw "student loans") but all I get is a text box informing me that the channel should be available "shortly". The customer service number has an area code of 630. Fuck 630. The O'Hare suburbs have never done jack for me. 847 is an area code of great honor, 773 and 312 are stalwarts and even 708 has served its time. But 630? They can fuck themselves. I have no time for 630.

Macbeth preview is tonight, I think it's pretty good. It's a show I'm very much ready to have open so I can concentrate on the play writing and ocasional lounging around. But I wear armor. And I brandish sticks. "And you know that can't be bad..."

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Replies: 4 comments

Now that I am in the running to be your archnemesis, I am expecting great things from you. Otherwise, I wouldn't look nearly as prestigious.

That's why it's good to have an archnemesis, they raise the bar

Posted by Rory @ 05/03/2005 10:13 AM CST

Now that I am in the running to be your archnemesis, I am expecting great things from you. Otherwise, I wouldn't look nearly as prestigious.

Posted by Fritz Wilson @ 05/02/2005 05:57 PM CST

Rory, I'm flattered that I will be known as one of the most important people in your life. Naturally, my importance to you will not be analagous to that of John Wilkes Booth to Lincoln!

I very much hope not, Fritz, but I'm keeping a watchful eye on you anyway.

Posted by Rory @ 04/29/2005 02:05 PM CST

Rory, I'm flattered that I will be known as one of the most important people in your life. Naturally, my importance to you will not be analagous to that of John Wilkes Booth to Lincoln! But hey, it will be nice to be memorialized in a museum.

Sadly I will be unable to make the opening of Macbeth but rest assured I will make the scene at some point during its run, discount Thursdays or not. "And you know that can't be bad."

Break a leg, to you and to the rest of the cast!

Posted by Fritz Wilson @ 04/28/2005 07:34 PM CST

All rights reserved by those who feel they have to reserve things and thereby deny those things to others who might want to reserve them. This is currently the recommended method by which to affirm your personhood, if you are in any doubt.