Pic of the Week

"Personal Shopper"

Pic of the Week

"FaceTime"

Pic of the Week

"Big Sister Love"

Home Theatre

It's commonly accepted that theatre originated in ancient Greece, at a time when arts and imagination where exploding beyond the camp fire tales and cave art that had, to that point, encompassed the entirety of human creativity.  It became a showcase of perfection: scripted dialogues and choreographed moves, each moment strategically designed to illicit a specific response from the targeted audience.  As a theatre major in college I know all  to well the various forms out there.  I've studied everything from Dada to Kabuki; performed everything from Shakespeare and Sophocles to Berrie and Bernstein.  But through all my exposure to the art (and I think most of us on and behind the stage realize this) it's evident that the idea of "art" to the audience varies widely from that of the artist.  You're watching a play and you feel it's the actors job to perform.  The actor sees the very word for what it is. ... "play".  It's all rooted entirely in humans ability to imagine; to create; to make believe.  What a glorious moment that is.  When you create something entirely you.  Even if it's a song scored by another or a monologue written by another: no one is ever going to say it, sing it, dance it just like you.  It's your own.  It's beautiful.  To watch my daughters "perform". ... to play. ... to make something that started as a tiny spark in their perfect imagination and grew, and grew, traveling down their nervous system until it jolted their bodies and their mouths in such a fashion that this ball of creativity manifest through their limbs and vocal chords.  It's the very same spark that ignited the Greeks to action.  It's the same spark that ignited Jackson Pollack to swing a paint brush.  That forced Beethoven to pound on his first ivory keys.  That guided Shakespeare's pen to record the beautiful words swirling in his head.  And somewhere, even if never conveyed through words, they each had a father who sat in wonder. ... just enjoying the show.

Pic of the Week

Not often is my daily quote app good enough to steal "pic of the week".

The Great Escape

There are those moments in life that completely take you by surprise.  Like going to get your 18 month old out of her crib in the morning and having her meet you in the hallway.  Yea. ... that is unexpected.  Looks like we're making that transition to toddler bed sooner rather then later.

There's Just No Cure For Stupid

With out fail, every summer, every week, you hear a similar story.  Temps sky rocket and some poor child or dog has been left in a car and, literally, cooks to death.  It's atrocious.  And it's so preventable. ... assuming that most of the population had a brain.  Right now, here in So Cal, we are in the midst of an epic heat wave.  They're saying it's top three in the last 100 years.  Even worse for us is we just moved inland from the beach so, for us, it's exceptionally hot.  Yesterday we were out running errands (went a little crazy at Marshalls) and with the girls spent Gina had one more store she needed to run into.  So the girls and I putzed around the parking lot while she got to it.  After a while she called me - stuck in line - and told me a woman had come in screaming about a dog locked in a car.  She asked me to go scope it out.  I drove around the lot until I came onto the scene.  A brown Ford Flex with paper plates and a Rottweiler sitting in the passenger seat.  Now, the windows were cracked slightly - but in 103 degree heat, what's 2 inches of open air going to accomplish.  That's like taking the top off the boiling pot of water and claiming it's chilling.  Security was already on scene and had called the police, so I was just spectating on this one.  A short time later the man comes out - huffy that so much attention was being drawn to him over this, and begins arguing with security and the screaming woman my wife had met.  Worst part of all of this (maybe not worse then the dog being left, but certainly the icing on the cake): the store he had come out of. ... .PetsMart.  Yup.  The one store in the world that ASKS you to bring your dog inside with  you.  Where's the excuse on this one buddy?!  You leave your kids in the car when you go to Toys R Us, do you?!  No matter how many news reports; no matter how many warnings; no matter how many heat waves we go through and see this same thing play out in tragedy, you just can't cure stupid.