unseen has too many themes, too many possibilities, and too many symbols to be either fun or worthwhile. It's a well-meaning piece with two fine actors, and you will discuss your ideas about how to improve it. But, overall, it's only 2 stars out of 5.
Sometime in March I decided to gather photos of the signs that marked the END of streets. Today I uploaded my 450th END to the gallery "Signs of the End" gallery.
“Ma Rainey’s Black Bottom” hits Netflix tomorrow, December 18. I was lucky enough to see it last Friday, and I would like to recommend it! Highly! Forgive me if I assume that you know that the original play was written by August Wilson and that you know his importance in American Theater. My name was watermarked on all scenes so that I couldn't record it and anonymously share it before its release. And, you probably know that “Ma Rainey” is set in Chicago in the 1920’s and is the play deals with a recording audition for Ma and her band. [...]
For our anniversary Geoffrey was given a Purple Air sensor. So, now we are on the Purple Air website and on the Government's air quality map. And, we can also embed our own information on this blog... Geek Alert! Loading PurpleAir Widget...
As I walk around San Francisco during the Time of the Plague I am often delighted/confronted by special sights that would never be allowed in any "well organized" city plan. Previously I have discovered a street with two END signs blocks apart (St. Marys) and a street with no beginning but two ENDS (Hilton). Today I confirmed another city planning/street labeling impossibility: there is apparently a negative block of Pacheco. Looking up the Pacheco stairs from where there is a sign announcing the start of the street at the 000 block headed toward the Grand Pacheco Stairway..Looking away from The [...]
There is a lot to like about Senator Kamela Harris, and I celebrate her selection as Joe Biden's running mate. She's an experienced office holder who has done well in contentious hearings in the Senate. Before going to Washington, Harris was a strong Attorney General for the State of California. And, before that she navigated the torturous San Francisco City political circus to become our first woman, first person-of-color District Attorney. She's bright, dedicated. And from my own personal experience she is focused on doing what's right instead of just what's politically beneficial. Kamela Harris photo by Mobilus In Mobili [...]
Black Lives Matter. Period. The deaths of black men at the hands of police are tragedies that we as a society must work to stop. Demands for change are appropriate and necessary. But, I worry that anti-police and anti-government protests don't help us move forward. To me there is a difference between insisting on systemic changes and insisting that authorities are evil. In the 1960’s governors stood in the doors of schoolhouses to keep black people out, politicians publicly advocated segregation, and law enforcement openly planned how to violently attack marchers. There is no 2015 -- or 2020 -- equivalent [...]
It's been 40 years since my dispatching days at Long Beach Police. Have things changed? I remember working the day shift and wondering why whenever a certain officer radioed that he was going to investigate a suspicious subject on his own initiative, a unit or two would immediately go to his assistance. He didn't ask for back-up, but units who were supposedly busy magically cleared and showed up at his side. Unit 7 -- or was it Unit 21? some details fade -- was rarely alone with someone he stopped. Other units investigated people and wrote tickets without other cops [...]
A Midsummer Night's Dream written by William Shakespearedirected by Joseph Haj Ashland, ORat the Oregon Shakespeare Festival A Midsummer Night’s Dream (2020): Jeremy Gallardo (Snug), K. T. Vogt (Robin Starveling), Cristofer Jean (Francis Flute), Ensemble. Photo by Jenny Graham, Oregon Shakespeare Festival. Oh dear! I really didn't want my last comments on this COVID-19 affected season to be anything but positive. I had hoped that I would see more plays later in the year that I could sincerely applaud. Unfortunately the virus shut down all but two weeks of the season, and what I saw opening weekend is all that [...]
written by Karen Zacariasdirected by Shariffa Ali Ashland, ORat the Oregon Shakespeare Festival The Copper Children (2020): Ensemble. Photo by Jenny Graham, Oregon Shakespeare Festival. Copper Children has much going for it: an under-told, important story, a talented playwright who entertained and educated us with Destiny of Desire, and an experienced and immensely talented cast. Unfortunately, this world premiere wasted its assets and delivers an evening that is a moralistic plod which fails to create drama or feelings. The play tells the story is of white Catholic orphans from New York who get sent out west for adoption by good [...]
