Signs worth Reading

Hi All, A friend fowarded this to me as part of a bunch of email pictures. I liked several and will proably post them, so here's the first one to start you laughing (or at least thinking). Have a great week!

Let me hear from you!

This is more of an informational post. I want to let everyone know (who isn't already familiar with blogs) about leaving comments. There a little link below each blog post I have (as well as on most peoples blogs) that says "comments". If you click on it, you can then leave a comment either anonymously or with your name, email, etc. The comment gets listed on my blog for me and others to see. It would be great to know your thoughts on things I post, if you feel like leaving them. So don't be shy, give it a try!

King Kalimari Update

Well it's week 3 of King Kalimari the Musical. It's interesting to see how all the actors are more and more comfortable with their roles and we add little things (especially in rehearsals) to keep things fun and fresh. This week we will have some of the understudies taking on some of the lead roles but the show is always good. We got some good reviews at LATimes.com from some people who'd seen the show (and we didn't even have to pay them to say nice things), that was really great. We should be getting reviewed by LA Weekly and some other papers this weekend as well.

If you haven't gotten your tickets yet, DO! Remember to get them online and use code 007 to get $5.00 off the price.

Hope to see you all there for at least ONE of the performances!

Another Great Google Product

In keeping with my Google obsession, I'd like to introduce (or remind) people to Google Maps! I know most of us are familiair with Mapquest, and perhaps Yahoo Maps, but in my humble opinion, Google Maps seriously rocks! You can get your standard directions to/from places, but you can also click and drag the map to move it (very cool) and if you have a scroll mouse, you can use the wheel for things like zooming in/out. You can even remember various locations you've searched and create your own customizable maps of your favorite locations. They also have a really neat feature if you're looking up a business (say your favorite Chinese Restaurant). Once you've located the business you desire, you can click on a link, input YOUR phone number and Google Maps will ring YOUR phone and connect you to the business. Did I hear someone say directory assistance? Anyway, try it out! I think you'll like it.

CPOD

or Cool Pic Of the Day!

Just a really cool fractal picture I found on the web. Thought you might like it. I'm trying to amuse and entertain and keep things fun and interesting here on my Blog! If you have other cool pictures you'd like me to share, please feel free to let me know!

New (for some) EMail Experience

Hi everyone, I've become a convert of sorts to using GMail for my mail client. While I've used Outlook (and still do) for most of my email needs, I was introduced to Gmail a while ago and have been slowly using it more and more. It has some distinct advantages (and some disadvantages) depending on how you use mail. The advantages for me are that it's Online, which means as long as I have an Internet connection, which is most of the time, I can get to my email EASILY from any computer! This is wonderful for me since I'm often not at my personal computer (being a computer tech), but I almost always have a computer which is Internet connected. So I have almost always got access to my email regardless the PC I'm at (a friends, coworkers, etc.).

The main downside as I see it is that you can't (by default) get at your mail while you're OFFLINE. This could be a serious deal-breaker for some, but there are workarounds. There are several mail clients, Outlook, Thunderbird, etc. which can download your GMail mail and give you offline access to your messages (although not in the cool GMail interface) But Thunderbird's latest version is supposed to come close. I'll let you know once I've tested it how I like it compared to GMail and especially Outlook.

Anyway, check out GMail, if you're tired of your old email client and want online access to your mail, Gmail is the way to go. It's brought to you by Google which also has some other very cool online and FREE things, most notably Picasa for photo sharing and they even have a free online Document and spreadsheet program - all free. Google is my new best friend for online applications.

Anyway that's my Tuesday Tech Tip - Enjoy. Also, if you want a GMail Invitation, I have several I can send, but I think all you need is a cell phone to sign up for the free mail service.

Kermopoly Chronicles

THE OPENING!

Well it happened - we opened over the weekend! Both Friday and Saturday nights were packed with people and from all reports a good time was had by all. There were of course a few 'glitches' but then it's live theatre so that's to be expected. But I'm happy to report that there was nothing show-stoppingly-disastrous! Excitement was definitely high for all the actors and I think everyone did well from our perspective. I what to personally thank everyone who showed up both nights to support me and see the show! It means more to me than you may ever know! I REALLY APPRECIATE SEEING YOU IN THE AUDIENCE!

If you haven't yet seen the show and want to, please visit the King Kalimari website or the Avery Schreiber Theatre website for ticket purchases and information. Shows are Friday and Saturday nights NOW through June 2nd. Hope to see you all there.

Kermopoly Chronicles

Well we're down to the wire. Opening night is tomorrow 4/13 at 8pm! I can't wait! It's been a long several months of rehearsals with the cast, crew and everyone involved. I personally want to thank everyone involved in the production for many reasons. First for making this a truly wonderful experience for me! Being involved with all the cast and crew has been a real pleasure and a learning experience for me. There is some really great talent in this show!

Things have tightened up wonderfully and we have a really entertaining show planned for you. I hope it's as much fun for you to experience as I think it will be. If you haven't gotten your tickets yet (and you plan to) you should visit www.kingkalimari.com to do so. There's a link there to get your tickets online (and save $5.00) or you can get them at the door. It looks like opening night is sold out and there are (as of this writing) some tickets available for Saturday night. Or you can always attend another weekend. The show runs Friday and Saturday nights for 8 weeks. I hope to see you there!

Good Friday

Well, it's that time of year when people start thinking (again) about God, spirituality and the like. Since I have many friends of different faiths I started to think about what Good Friday and Easter mean to various groups. Living in California in a big city it seems that Good Friday in particular has lost (much of) it's meaning. By that I mean, for a religious holiday, it is celebrated very randomly (almost as bad as M.L.K. Day!) It seems some groups are heavily into it, while some barely notice (observe) it. I've also noticed that in 'corporate America' there is a huge amount of random (observance) tolerance for Good Friday. In my company alone, some locations are closed, some are closed half day and some not closed at all. It seems they allow a certain number of 'floating holidays' and if you (or your employer) decide Good Friday is a good enough reason for a holiday, then you can observe it. Frankly, I find the whole thing odd. Seems to me, that in a world which supposedly is tolerant of various religious and cultural beliefs, we (the world - or at least America) would be more willing to observe as many holidays, and days of celebration as we could get - SUCH IS NOT THE CASE! I guess, a capitalist society places the making of a dollar above anything else and after all, business must go on! We couldn't possibly take a day off to celebrate, reflect or even rest! And here I'd been told we were working as a society towards a life with less work hours and more free time. NOT!

Anyway, I'm done with my rant. I just had a few thoughts about the inconsistency of holidays in this country. Thanks for reading.

P.S. I just personally feel that ALL Friday's are GOOD!

Kermopoly Chronicles

Well, the countdown has begun! It's less than 2 weeks until opening (actually 12 days), but who's counting! I'm actually not stressing out (too much) which kind of surprises me. Though, I do believe the Direct/writer, Derek is starting to feel the crunch. Yesterday (Sunday) we had our "tech" rehearsal, which for me was mostly interesting. We spent all day 'moving into the theatre'. Which means, we got all the costumes and props together. We then spent the majority of the day going over the musical bit by bit stopping to adjust lighting and sound effect cues and making sure everything was well lit and the sound effects are at the right levels and sequence. It was interesting to me because I haven't had that experience before. It did make for a long day but it was well worth it. Things are looking better and better now. All the actors are starting to fall into their roles and become comfortable with everything. Tonight we had off, but the rest of the week we have LOTS of rehearsals planned so we can get it all together!

Cool Pic of the Day

Just wanted to post a really cool picture I found while surfing. It could make a great wallpaper for your computer or numerous other creative uses. Enjoy. From time to time, I'll be posting interesting pictures I find on the Internet and some I've taken myself.

Manic Monday

Hi to all - (all 3 of you LOL)

Hadn't posted in a few days because my schedule has been so crazy. So, I felt compelled to post SOMETHING new today. It's a raging fierce Monday and so once I had a few moments to breath I decided to post something. Hope all is well with everyone. I'm going to be doing a couple more updates on my King Kalimari show and some other things. Just wanted to let the few of you who do check out the site know I'm alive and well and trying to get through the day!