Day 1: The Beginning

For those of you who read my blog last year, you'll remember that at the beginning of each Fringe Festival day I put forth some brief thoughts, and then the day's random bits. The entries thereafter for the rest of the day describe each of the timeslots in which I saw plays (or in some cases, missed seeing plays).

So... It is that time. The first day of the Fringe Festival. The first show is at 4 p.m., and since it is the only show in that Time Slot, I'll be there. Can't avoid it, really. No other options for my die to find. Thereafter the charts do their thing.

Last night was the final Fringe Preview. We got to see a bunch of snippets from the out-of-towners. Of the things we saw last night, I'd like to recommend Pentecostal Wisconsin and Speechless.

I didn't see the last two offerings of the evening, as they were running late, and by then I'd run into Nancy Donoval, who happens to be one of my favorite people on the planet. We went and talked about theatre, her show from last year, our families, and just life in general. Good conversation. I love that woman! Hopefully her boyfriend has no problem with that.

I am going to avoid saying anything bad about the shows from last night. However, I will say that if you're going to continually point out that you're from New York as if it is some pedigree, then put up or shut up. Also, apparently you can have been from MN until after last year's Fringe, move to NY, and come home as an out-of-town artist. That's handy. I think next year I'll claim to be from Spain and be an out-of-towner myself!

My charts are almost done. I'm a little ashamed as they are not as good as they were last year. Far from it, really.

Okay, before the random bits, two quick things. First: At least one of my d20 dice will be appearing in Michael Shaeffer's show, Tantrums, Testicles, and Trojans. That makes me happy. And, there is another show that is all about the gamer sub-culture: THAC0. The title is derived from a gaming term that stands for "To Hit Armor Class 0." It is a term from Advanced Dungeons and Dragons - 2nd edition. That's a game that was replaced by the "d20" version of D&D. For at least 15 years, AD&D-2ed. was THE main gaming system out there, and just from the title, this show holds a special place in my heart. This is the second time that I know of that cast member Duck Washington has played a gaming geek, and that's noteworthy, too. He's good at it. Oh yeah, he really is one, too. TYPE-CASTING!

Okay, time to do something random!

I'm not biking the Fringe today. I don't have time to get a bike ready until tomorrow. I'll do that then.

My daughter had a few lines within a skit that the kids did at the kindergarten graduation thing yesterday. It was very cute, and she did a really good job. She spoke much more clearly than she does around home. Seems to verify my thoughts that she speaks in a modified slang/baby-talk around the house, but is much more verbally advanced elsewhere. I'm wondering if that's an attempted way to manipulate her parents, or what?

Spoon!

Some day I would like to try para-sailing.

Why isn't Erasmus James in training camp yet?

And now some trivia from Stuie's Trivia: "Coca-Cola was originally green." -- That doesn't sound very appetizing at first, but then you have to remember that it also originally contained cocaine, so that probably counteracted that whole gross color thing.