Life On the Wicked Stage: Act 2

VW Bringing Back the Bus?

2008-09-06T12:37:56-04:00

I'm betting this would be popular if Volkswagen decides to go forward with plans to bring by the Microbus. Apparently they are looking at this for North America only, with no word set on if, when, or how.

Via CrunchGear

Technorati Tags: Volkswagen,Microbus

Did Scientists Cure Cancer Last Week?

2008-09-06T12:23:45-04:00

This is certainly interesting if true. Rett Anderson posts on Health Salon that scientists at The University of Alberta in Edmonton may have discovered a cure for cancer last week that is cheap and easy to produce. The idea is also not patented.

The drug is dichloracetate or DCA.

Scientists tested DCA on human cells cultured outside the body where it
killed lung, breast and brain cancer cells, but left healthy cells
alone. Rats plump with tumors shrank when they were fed water
supplemented with DCA.

Supposedly this is so easy to make it could be added to drinking water.

I can't say whether this is accurate or not, but I'd certainly like to hear more.

Unnecessary Farce Heading to Audiences This Weekend

2008-09-05T15:16:26-04:00

Wow, it has been a rough week of rehearsals. But then doing comedy usually does lead to a lot of hard work. As we have our final dress rehearsal tonight for Unnecessary Farce at Wayside Theatre, I find myself in that unsettled place I usually am when working on a comedy. I don't think anything is funny anymore and I've lost all perspective. Drives me nuts, because I know we have one heck of a funny script and a very funny cast doing great work.

My staff gets tired of hearing me say I hate comedy, but in the final days before an audience shows up, I really do hate staging comedy.

Tomorrow we'll see just what adjustments we need to make once we get first audience reactions. I'm actually really looking forward to that. It helps me re-live why I loved the play in the first place.

Technorati Tags: Unnecessary Farce,Wayside Theatre

Comcast Wants It All: Sues FCC Over Recent Hand Slap

2008-09-05T11:40:28-04:00

Comcast looks like it wants its broadband caps and its throttles too. Not content with just capping home users at 250GB, Comcast is going to sue the FCC over the recent wrist slap the FCC handed down for Comcast's throttling methods on P2P.

A big fight is going on in corporate boardrooms across the Internet as those who control the pipes try to figure out a way to squeeze every last cent out of your use of their plumbing. It is a fight that won't resolve soon, but it will be one that will continue to aggravate and punish users and stifle innovation. I've said it before and I'll say it again. If the pipe owners want to charge more so be it. But come up with service and reliability that gives us some real value and reliability and not headaches and run-a-rounds.

Microsofts First Seinfeld Commercial: Huh?

2008-09-04T23:19:17-04:00

Call me crazy. Maybe call me tired. I just don’t get this.

Technorati Tags: Jerry Seinfeld,Microsoft,Bill Gates

Oops. Make Sure Those Mikes are Off Before You Open Your Mouth

2008-09-03T17:02:02-04:00

A couple of A-list Republican talking heads, Peggy Noonan and Mike Murphy got caught with ~~their pants down~~, er... um... microphones still turned on while they were chatting about the Sarah Palin pick.

And you thought it wasn't really just a game, now didn't you?

Via Talking Points Memo

Technorati Tags: Sarah Palin,Peggy Noonan,Mike Murphy

Palin Gets Some Training

2008-09-03T14:02:36-04:00

This is just funny.

Via The J-Walk Blog

Technorati Tags: Sarah Palin,John McCain

Another Wedding Anniversary Celebrated in Tech Rehearsals

2008-09-03T12:14:28-04:00

Happy Anniversary to my wife, Thomasin, and I guess also to me. This one is number 8. We’ve celebrated most of them, as luck would have it, in rehearsals for one show or the other and this year is no different. We’re in technical rehearsals for Unnecessary Farce, and the entire company is having both a blast and a tough slog making this wonderfully silly farce work. The show I mean, not our anniversary.

But celebrating in rehearsals is one thing we are used to. When you consider that we got married on a Sunday, a day after two performances, then went into rehearsals for the next show on Tuesday, it only makes sense for our life in a small theatre. Too often, far too often, Thomasin has to play the ~~preacher’s~~ Artistic Director’s wife as we continue to try and grow and sustain this small theatre, and on many levels that’s a shame. She also works hard trying to sustain me as well. But she does that with the same talent, grace, and humor that she throws at everything in life.

I love you sweetheart and can’t thank you enough for all the wonderful things you bring to my life. Happy Anniversary.

Checking Out Google Chrome

2008-09-02T17:35:23-04:00

So far so good in checking out Google Chrome. I am seeing snappier action than with IE8 Beta or Firefox. Memory usage seems to be ok, even with multiple tabs running, although I’m seeing some reports that this isn’t the case with others.

We’ll have to see how this works with continued testing.

Technorati Tags: Google Chrome

Google Chrome Screenshots Hard to Come By

2008-09-01T20:54:31-04:00

I’m sure we’ll have plenty of screen shots of Google’s new Chrome browser soon, but at the moment they are hard to come by. But Phillip Lenssen, who broke the story, has some up on Google Blogoscoped.

Technorati Tags: Google Chrome

This Election Changes History Now and Later

2008-09-01T08:10:02-04:00

I don’t know why anyone is surprised by this given how easy it is to edit Wikipedia and how politicians (and others) love to shape and reshape their images. The New York Times has picked up on a story that has been floating around during the Labor Day Weekend that Republican VP choice Sarah Palin’s Wikipedia entry was edited at the end of last week leading up to the announcement.

Apparently the individual doing the editing, named YoungTrigg, (her youngest son is named Trigg) started polishing up Palin’s entry. Others did as well. The Times details some of the edits, and it basically looks like a PR polish job from what I’m reading.. It also looks like another user or users did some re-working of the re-working. Apparently another user edited the entry on Thursday night to say Palin was the VP choice.

But given that Wikipedia does make it reasonably easy to edit, and that quick editing has been credited with some breaking (or should I say premature) news of late, it raises some interesting questions that have been raised before about objectivity and Wikipedia’s role in the information game. Some are calling it typical dirty tricks. Heh. I say it is just taking advantage of the opportunities that exist.

Technorati Tags: Wikipedia,Sarah Palin

NOAA Starts Twittering

2008-09-01T07:53:24-04:00

The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) has started Twittering so folks can follow developments with hurricane Gustav. You can follow NOAA here. It looks like this happened overnight as there aren’t that many followers yet, but I would imagine in the future this will become a valuable tool during these kinds of events.

Technorati Tags: NOAA,Gustav,Twitter

Happy Blog Day

2008-08-31T15:48:54-04:00

Chris Brogan reminds that it is Blog Day.

BlogDay was created with the belief that bloggers should have one day dedicated to getting to know other bloggers from other countries and areas of interest. On that day Bloggers will recommend other blogs to their blog visitors.
With the goal in mind, on this day every blogger will post a recommendation of 5 new blogs. This way, all blog readers will find themselves leaping around and discovering new, previously unknown blogs.

So, here are five blogs I’m passing along that I think are worth you taking a look at.

Bang The Drum: Karoli of NewsGang Live does her political blogging here. Great stuff.

Echovar: Cliff Gerrish is a thinker and someone I follow on Twitter. er…. um…. Identi.ca. His blog Echovar will cause you to think too.

Armchair Actorvist: Friend and actor, R. Scott Williams, is doing some very good blogging lately on theatre and entertainment.

Sumocat’s Scribbles: Yes, this blog is in digital Ink. Sumocat is the father of Ink-Blogging and he covers more than just Tablet PCs.

Rob Bushway.com. My good friend and colleague Rob Bushway and his family are suffering through a serious health issue with Rob’s daughter Maggie. Quite frankly, the situation is enough to try the patience of Job. But if you want to glimpse a powerful sense of faith, hope, love, and determination; alongside despair, anguish, and heartbreak, you need to read Rob’s updates on his daughter’s condition. You can not come away without being moved.

Technorati Tags: BlogDay2008

Storms Tossing

2008-08-31T15:07:45-04:00

Shakespeare’s Prospero couldn’t conjure up a more wicked and twisted storm scenario. Hurricane Gustav is picking up speed and now looks like a Monday morning landfall on the Gulf Coast. Evacuations are moving forward ahead of what looks and sounds like a horrible event. Prayers and good thoughts continue for all those in danger’s path.

Both political campaigns are also reacting with storm like intensity to the event, as the storm and its aftermath will become, in one way or another, a crucial event in the life of the presidential race. Face it. Neither campaign has a choice and they have to operate with intensity on this one.

McCain and Co. headed to Mississippi today to check on preparations and the Republicans are getting set to announce changes in their convention schedule this week. Word is that the Republicans are planning on using part of their convention as a fund-raising tool to help victims.

Obama’s campaign is revving up as well. While not heading to the area ahead of the storm, his campaign is talking about using its email list to help raise money and volunteers after the extent of the storm’s wrath is known. Wonder if they’ll use their social media tools as well? The Obama campaign has one hefty database of names, so it will be interesting to see how this pays off. It could herald the change that many who have been following Obama’s use of the Internet say is coming. This will certainly prove to be a big test, and on many, many levels.

While it will look like the campaigns are trying to out Samaritan each other this week, I’m guessing that the focus on aid will probably be a great service to those who it increasingly looks like will need it.

Technorati Tags: Hurricane Gustav,Barack Obama,John McCain

Animating Emily

2008-08-31T10:13:02-04:00

This is both fascinating and also a bit scary. Image Metrics recently showed off its facial animation at SIGGRAPH. At some point we’ll never know when to trust our eyes.

Technorati Tags: Image Metrics