Life On the Wicked Stage: Act 2

Happy New Year

Posted via email from Warner's Posterous

Best Person of the Decade

My wife gets the nod for Best Person of the Decade for many reasons. But mostly because she makes me laugh.

Sent from my iPhone

Posted via email from Warner's Posterous

JibJab Says Farewell to 2009

Lots of fun in only the way the folks at JibJab can do it.

Playing Carol of the Bells with Dominoes

Just fun stuff. About Carol of the Bells played by unleashing a domino rush?

Via Neatorama

Make Those Frog Legs Dance with a Little Salt

Frog legs aren't everyone's idea of a delicacy. But the can be entertaining as this video shows. Add a little salt and get ready for some dancing.

A New Meaning for Underwear Bombing

I'm not sure what it is about Flight 253 and folks from Nigeria, but I'm guessing that flight number is going to be changed pretty soon. After the thwarted attempt on Christmas Day to hear of another disruption today on the same flight was, to say the least, unsettling. From what I'm hearing currently though this was not an attempt to bring down the plane, but a different kind of underwear bomb. Apparently the man who had locked himself in the restroom merely had stomach troubles. Flight attendants pulled him out, no doubt obeying the new 1 hour before landing rule, and he got unruly. I'm guessing anyone in a similar condition would do so as well. Apparently security forces were in full force on landing the plane, but again, although the investigation continues, apparently all is OK, except perhaps this guy's dignity and/or his shorts.

Twitter was alive with all sorts of craziness about this as it unfolded with all sorts of hits at the TSA and its rules both in place and proposed. Jeff Jarvis tossed about a bunch of funny TSA rules and others joined in as well. Even though this is no win situation for anyone who has the guts to be in charge at the TSA because no matter what rules they try to put in place, you can't stop a case of the runs.

You have to acknowledge though that this is the most you've heard about underwear on the news during a Christmas holiday.

Wayside Theatre's Help Us Melt The Snow Appeal

This is a letter we've sent out to Wayside Theatre patrons and supporters. It also appeared in the Winchester Star as a Letter to the Editor. Hopefully you'll read it and respond.

Buried!

Last weekend’s large snowfall hit many in the Northern Shenandoah Valley very hard, and Wayside Theatre is no exception.

Wayside had to cancel five performances of its annual Christmas show, Miracle on 34th Street, due to weather and street conditions.

Like most nonprofit organizations and businesses, we simply had no choice but to cancel the shows. We’ve moved some of our customers to other performances through the end of the run on Dec. 27, and we added evening performances on Monday, Dec. 21, and Tuesday, Dec. 22, to offer our customers a chance to see the show. But unfortunately, the revenue we’ve lost is lost forever.

The Nigerian Crotch Bomber Lights Up Your Privates

It makes you scratch you head in wonder. Or maybe scratch some where else on your anatomy. Umar Farouk Abdulmutallab, now forever known as the Nigerian Crotch Bomber has proven once again that terrorists can succeed even when they fail. Trying to set off an explosive (PETN) hidden in his underwear on an airplane preparing to land in Detroit he managed only to start a fire that was extinguished by a passenger and he was then subdued. It gives new context to the phrase Sword of Allah. Vague and confusing claims of Al Qaeda ties in Yemen abound and of course new restrictions on airline passengers were immediately put into place.

But his successes are piling up. This is apparently the second time (the Fort Hood massacre being the first) that we've had some sort of warning about an individual. The US was apparently warned in some fashion by his father, who is a former Nigerian banker, that is son's religious beliefs had him worried about his future actions. A file was opened somewhere on the guy, and he ended up on a Terror Watch list, but his name never ended up on a no-fly list. Apparently his name was on the manifest that was approved by US officials prior to the plane's take off. So, his actions show once again that no matter what steps we take (read how much money we spend or how inconvenient we make life for ourselves) to attempt to protect ourselves, it is never enough and never will be.

Thomasin Goes 3D

Yep, we caught Avatar in 3D. Loved it. The most fun though was watching my wife Thomasin adjust to the glasses.

Merry Christmas

May you find peace, harmony, and the joy of being in the company of those who love you this Christmas.