third time not a charm

back from seeing pirates 3. similar problems i had with spidey 3 - too many stories. and a complete lack of fun. too much time needed to follow the thirty-two different sub-plots going on to give us any entertaining bits of dialogue or fun. it's like hollywood has lost the ability to tell simple stories - always need more characters, more subplots, more senseless scenes to show off our f/x capabilities. probably why i avoid blockbusters most of the time. i know there's rumours of doing a fourth if it works out, but i hope they end it here. would like to get pick up the first dvd - no use getting all three.

gina asked if i could name any movie franchises where i liked the third movie. i couldn't think of any, other than return of the king and chasing amy (though that last one doesn't really count). anyone have one?

i'm always thinking of things to write about but then i sit down and none of them come readily to mind...oh wait, that's right...

went to my first ever cattle call audition yesterday for the league of cincinnati theatres. just ten actors in front of twenty theatres. never done a monologue and a song audition before and figured it would be fun for the experience. went ok - i didn't knock anyone over, i'm sure, but i was satisfied given the minimal amount of prep time i did. did a monologue from midsummer and "stars" from les mis. had a couple of former cast members in my time slot - amy from sharonville's midsummer (wall) and elliott from chess (arbiter). good to have a couple of familiar faces to take the edge off. ted was there too, representing falcon, which helped. won't be getting any leads, but they might remember me if they need some character role or chorus help, which is all i really have time for right now anyway.

spent time friday night downloading music from emusic (yes, i gave in and rejoined). here's what i got:

erin mckeown - sing you sinners
the hold steady - almost killed me
rosie thomas - these friends of mine
soundtrack featuring jay farrar - the slaughter rule
various artists - a testimonial dinner: the songs of XTC
richard cheese - 18 random songs off his cds

want to load the songs onto my mp3 player, but i'm swiftly running out of room and need to do some pruning to get it all on. never thought i'd use up 40gb, but obviously i was wrong.

was hoping to use some time yesterday in the auditorium to finish up grading my research papers, but i actually had to do more than sit on my lazy butt this time. had to wire a couple of chandeliers for the ballet portion of the dance recital, which took much longer than i anticipated, partially because i didn't know what i was doing and partially because the chandeliers were out of balance and i had to improvise. but they seemed happy with them, which is all i care about i guess. at least i earned enough money yesterday to cover my airfare to vegas. or close to it anyway.

found out my neighbor vernon's wife has alzheimers. talked to him a bit before church this morning. i cannot imagine going through something like that, to watch someone deteriorate before your eyes, knowing your helpless to stop it. can't imagine how much it alters your life - he mentioned it several times, like having to turn off the kitchen breaker so she won't try and cook when he leaves. sad. another thing to add to my prayer list. need to see if i can help in any other way, too.

it's officially summer - i saw my first firefly tonight. made me smile.

enough for tonight. maybe more for tomorrow. i have nothing planned for memorial day, other than finishing the research papers so i can pass them back on tuesday. hopefully that won't take too long. probably will find somewhere to get a hot dog off the grill. seems appropriate. night!
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tunes: richard cheese - baby got back