A little bit more about Shakespeare. My roommate is producing and directing audio recordings of Antony and Cleopatra and Much Ado About Nothing as what I gather is some sort of tutorial exercise for a high school academic competition. Anyway, she held callbacks in our apartment on Tuesday night. And my living room was filled with actors, some of whom I knew and others whom I didn’t. It was a bit surreal but very exciting. I always had hopes the apartment would become a performance arts hotspot. Folks have requested the info on the Big Mac Show’s performances, here it is: Absolute Big Mac Show Thursdays through Saturdays at 8 Sundays at 7 Breadline Theatre 1801 W. Berenice $20 $10 on Thursdays and Sundays with “Proof of industry” E.G. headshot, resume I think the Thursday and Friday of the third weekend might be a bad time to come because the understudies will be performing those nights. No disrespect to them, who are all great, especially the excellent Kelly Hoogenaker, who will play Lady Macbeth those nights (and has recently become a reader of the page so obviously I shouldn’t be dissing the readership) but you’ll miss the notorious Bobby Z as Macduff and you don’t want to do that.
Just came back from my weekly “Power Lunch” downtown with my high school/college mates, Marc, Eamon and Rob. Always invigorating but it never makes me enthusiastic to come back to the office. It was actually the second power lunch of the week as yesterday, Eamon couldn’t make it and was coincidentally (because he happened to be in the Executive Antechamber of the Jimmy John’s) replaced by Fighting Fritz Wilson, the insurance industry’s most fearsome young defense attorney. High powered young executives like us are always on the go, adapting to the changing needs of our clients and such, so the substitution flowed perfectly. An important idea that came out of the Power Lunch institution recently followed the realization that neither Marc, Eamon, Rob or myself have ever fired a gun. We’ve been too sheltered by our comfortable, white, middle class, “blue state” lifestyles and the time has come to change that, because we want to Shoot Some Stuff. Most importantly, we want to be prepared for the possibility of a zombie attack, which will require the firing of shotguns. When zombies attack, we’re not going to be able to stop them by firing regular guns. We need shotguns. And people who know how to fire them. How likely is it that Americans will soon be attacked by zombies? In my judgement, *any* possibility is too much. I feel we should use the same reasoning towards potential zombie attacks that the Bush administration used towards the possibility that Iraqi nuclear weapons were going to vaporize the Eastern Seaboard. It may not be an “imminent threat” but it is a “grave and gathering” danger, and we cannot afford not to act. And that, ladies and gentlemen, is why my friends and I will be arming ourselves with shotguns soon. So you can rest easier about the zombies. Today is apparently Cinco De Mayo. I love Cinco De Mayo, Marc and I have longstanding plans going back just about ten years to create an animated special about children exploring the True Meaning of Cinco De Mayo. It helps that we’re not exactly clear on what that true meaning is, and please don’t try to tell me! I want to keep my quest for its meaning pure. My friend Twinters says some receptionist at her office (named Hoffman) complains about the office having a Cinco De Mayo party and thinks they should give equal time to Oktoberfest. I’ve always found white people whining when minorities get to celebrate things pretty damn obnoxious. “When ruling the world just isn’t enough…” I remember hearing white people (not even my uncle Gerald) complain about kids getting MLK Day off from school (I think I was the kid in question at the time) and we didn’t get, like, St. Patrick’s Day off. To me, thinking of Martin Luther King’s birthday as some sort of “black” holiday comparable to an ethnic feast day rather spectacularly misses the whole point of, well, Martin Luther King but I started thinking about it more and more today. The respective accomplishments of Martin Luther King Jr. and Saint Patrick aren’t really that different. I mean, MLK chased all the snakes out of Birmingham, Alabama didn’t he? Think about it. Don’t actually.
I didn't read the thing you sent me. My ignorance must remain pure. I was at a party over the weekend talking to a real live German girl telling us that Oktoberfest happens in Munich and only in Munich. All other "Oktoberfest" celebrations are imitations. I happily accepted this.
I do find it funny that the Miss Hoffman in question complains constantly about not having an Oktoberfest celebration. Her rationale is that Oktoberfest ties into many cultures: anyone with German, Polish, Bohemian, or Czech descent. (Okay, so that's just three...) If we apply the "drinking beer is fun" a bit further, Oktoberfest should be equally as appropriate for those of British, Irish, and Russian descent. And if you think about it, most Latinos and many African Americans have some European ancestry. So could Oktoberfest be The Perfect Ethnic Holiday? Who cares. I'm just looking forward to Maifest next month. P.S. I already told Rory the true meaning (which I, a Francophone, was not aware of until an office email went 'round). Don't let him pretend he doesn't know!
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