Fish Biscuits

There'll be more when I get home.  Believe you me.

So, on Saturday I got to perform at the UCB theatre in New York.  It was only as part of the 101 class performance (The first level of classes at the theatre) but it was truly amazing.  Walking out to the stage area from behind the walls and the curtain, it was one of the greatest feelings I've ever had.  It felt more right to me than anything else has ever felt.  Then I went out there, I had fun, I added to things, I did what I was supposed to do.  I don't know if I can explain what it felt like, but I know that I have to keep doing it, as it's all that I want to do at this moment.  I signed up for a 201 class now, and that's very exciting frankly.  I need to do more of this.  This is a part of me.  I corrected a lot of the things that I was doing wrong and I really feel that I gave the best performance that I possibly could, and that was really, really amazing.  I felt alive out there, and I think the audience could tell.  It was heavenly.  I will hopefully have a video (probably a bad one) of the performance, but I will post it.

Looks like I got myself a fish biscuit.

I read this article recently after seeing "Sicko":

http://www.mtv.com/movies/news/articles/1563758/story.jhtml#ytuForm

I may post the text here soon, as I fear that it will go down, but this was to be my response to it:

While you bring up very good points and they are all very valid, I have a few issues with what's being said.  I understand that Moore is probably not showing us everything that's going on.  He will highlight the good when he wants to, and highlight the bad when he wants to.  This is not an uncommon technique in documentary film making, and it will continue to be used in the future.  Even this article is at fault for doing the same technique.  The author mentions that Kaiser Permanente did some awful things that were very upsetting, but they were never mentioned (such as leaving poor, sick, uninsured patients in front of free clinics).  Instead the article focuses on what Moore left out of the movie.  Also, the author mentions that Moore brought people to Cuba in a boat but  proceeded to leave out that Moore donated $12,000 to one of his biggest adversaries.  Both may have been props, but one was extremely generous (the other could be seen to be making a point or to provide some levity to an already heavy subject) and that was never mentioned at all. 

I bring all of this up, not to discredit what the author of this article had to say, or what Moore had to say.  We need this kind of back and forth dialogue or we will never progress as the human race.  I think that there were two things that the author of this article really missed, and I'd like to focus on those, if I could. 

First, the author mentioned a statistic about how many people were without insurance: "Some 47 million people are uninsured (although many are only temporarily so, being either in-between jobs or young enough not to feel a pressing need to buy health insurance). There are a number of proposals as to what might be done to correct this situation. Moore has no use for any of them, save one."  For anyone who'd seen the film (including the author), Moore said that "sicko" was not about the people without insurance, it was about those that had insurance.  He doesn't try to hide this fact.  As I recall, he said it at least 2 times in the opening of the film.  This may seem like a petty point to bring up, but it would seem to me that if this fact is mentioned in this article, it is being used to discredit Moore, but, as I already mentioned, Moore wasn't trying to make that point.  This fact makes me question who this article was written for.  Was it written for those of us who saw the film, and then wanted to discuss it, or was it written for those who'd never see the film and wanted to find holes within it's logic in spite of that fact?  That may not be the case, but I think it's an interesting point.

The second point I'd like to bring up came when Moore was talking to a couple in Britain after they'd just had a baby.  Moore asks them, "How much did that baby cost you?"  It's a lighthearted joke, but there's so much truth mixed within it.  Birth is a beautiful part of nature, and neccesary to keep the human race alive.  Without child birth, none of us would be here, but in America, People have to make a profit off of it.  I'm not trying to say that people shouldn't get paid to work (doctor's should get paid for their jobs), but it's a shame that right from the moment a baby steps into this world, probably a bit before that, it's already a financial burden upon it's parents in some way.

I'm not saying that this was Moore's point, but I am saying that it's a wonderful and rousing moment that I found in the film on my own through watching it, and if this article makes anyone not want to see the movie that's really a shame, as the dialogue will probably never be started.  In my opinion, and I will say outright that that's what it is, I think the point of the film is that we have to all take care of each other, and not dismiss others for our own personal gain. 

I told my girlfriend after seeing "Sicko" that this seemed like a Michael Moore film that I watched and instead of proverbially pointing my finger at the screen and saying, "yeah," I let my jaw drop and I said, "what?"  I feel like this article might exist for the group who doesn't like Moore and wants to do the former, and not have a discussion about what's going on to all us.

I think that it's having trouble posting to the MTV website, so I thought that I would post it here as well.

Yeah, I haven't gone away.  I don't know why I'm letting all of you know this, but I feel the need.  I'm fairly certian that only one person reads this, but I feel it's important to keep the lines of communication open.

Have yourself a fish bisquit.

Well, it may seem like I don't care about this thing, but that couldn't be further from the truth.  Keep it calm.  I've been pretty busy with Improv, Ron and the Glowbears, and My Coke Rewards. 

-Improv:  It's been amazing to be able to do Improv again.  I'd forgotten how much a joy it is.  I've done two scenes that have made me feel alive again.  One I was in a guitar shop/recording studio and a friend and I were goofing around, but I could only speak to him with the use of intercom, and that came up a lot, and I didn't even have to think about it.  It was astounding to me.  In another I had to be in a low status (I was baking bisquits) and then redo the scene where I was in a high status.  It was great, and I actually did very little speaking.  That was amazing.  I love improv and I hope I'm able to do it for the rest of my life, and I think maybe I can.

-Ron and the Glowbears:  I finally got a sight for these gentlemen, Ron and the Glowbears, and I can't tell you how excited I am about that.  I don't want to give too much away, but it's about a man who has to live with some mysterious creatures called Glowbears and the living situation is what I would call terse.  I've been putting a lot of my time into making the origin strip, which is turning out very well.  I'm so happy with all of it.

-My Coke Rewards:  So I got the silly idea about three weeks ago to try to collect Coke points to get mechandise (a Wii to be exact) and it's really starting to take off.  I've gotten like 406 points right now, which is from about 3 weeks of collecting.  I walk around my neighborhood and go through the recycling to collect the 12 pack cardboard things.  I'm doing pretty good with it, and I treat it kind of like a game, and it's, honestly, a lot of fun for me.  Also, my brother got a bunch of caps for me, and I'll have no problem getting all the points I need to get me a Wii, if not more.  I'm so terribly excited about it.

That's all for now.

So, the season 3 finale has come and gone, and man has it left me feeling exhausted and excited.  Every part of it felt magnificent to me, as if tasting food for the first time and just savoring it.  There was so much to digest in there, that I don't know if I can get it all in one post, but I'll do what I can.  I'll start with what amazed me.

I'm so glad that Charlie bit it.  They would have been real jerk-offs if that hadn't happened, and they knew it, and then they changed the way it went down.  They changed it all.  Penny was on the screen, the jamming stopped, and then, then he wrote that message, gave a sign of the cross and then he was done for.  I like that he could have probably tried to swim out the window but did not.  He knew, like all of us, that he had to die, and he became so much more than himself in so doing.

Tom came back, and then they killed him.  I think we've all started to fall in love with Mr. Friendly, and I said to Lindsey, "They can't kill Tom," and they didn't, they killed Zeke.  Tom we will miss, Zeke steals children, and he deserved everything he got.

Hurley's part was astounding.  Both Lindsey and I expected his part in all of this to be something very, very sad, but it turns out that Hurley knows how to rise out of the ashes to be the pheonix.  He killed a man.  I can't believe that he killed a man.

Walt came back.  Enough said.

Alex now knows, and it was very well done, and wasn't sad in any way.  God Bless.

Locke is still the weakest character on the island, and that's why he's so great.  He needs to kill someone, that's what this whole season has been about for him, but he's yet to do it.  I wonder when it will happen, my guess, he kills Ben.

The temple?

That scene where Jack beat the stuffing out of Ben was really amazing, and so heart wrenching to me.  I had my hand over my mouth the entire time in shock and awe.  Jack was an amazing character this entire episode.  The exchange where he told Kate how he felt was so touching and so well played.  Every part of his character was amazing, including the flash forward.

When Kate walked out of that Car, I knew it would be her (I didn't know for very long, I'm not trying to glout).  It was one of those moments when they are about to reveal the secret, and you never knew and then, like a bolt of lightning, the hair stands up on the back of your head, and you just know, and then the mind reels, and you wonder, "how could that be?  It couldn't."  Then you wait in anticipation, knowing that it couldn't be, as it's not possible, but knowing that it must be.  That's what a mystery show is about, mystery, and they dropped so many on us last night.  It wasn't so much a cliff hanger as an unexpected goodbye.  We said goodbye to what we knew of the show and started watching something else entirely.  What that is, I can't wait to find out.

Editor's Note (5/29):  It was pointed out to me shortly after I wrote this post that Locke did in fact kill someone(presumeably, but I will be presuming, thank you) and that someone was Naomi.  I think my comment still stands in that this is the third time that Locke has had to stare someone in the eyes and kill them for the greater good of "the family," and has not been able to do it. 

So, I didn't expect much of this episode of LOST this week, I just assumed it would be a lot of preparing for the invasion that we knew was coming, but it became a touching portrait of Charlie's past and one of the best flashbacks they've ever done, if you ask me. 
I've always liked Charlie but have seen him as kind of expendible, but this episode will make me miss him when he dies (which he'd better if you ask me) and I was not upset that he didn't die in this episode, as I expected it next week anyway.  There has to be some set up for the finale.  I love that he's been caught though, as he knows that he has to flip that switch and die, and if he doesn't then no one gets off the island, but he needs that to not die before that happens.  It will make for an interesting thing when it all unfolds next week.
There are some that say that the looking glass has some kind of portal in it, that you go through to get the islan, and then you enter the sub and go to the barracks and, since you're drugged, you'd never know that.  I like this theory a lot, and it makes sense with the title of Next week's episode (look it up, if you want). 
I like that there was some mythology in the episode (final confirmation and the destruction of the idea that the wire leads to the hydra island made me smile) with the looking glass.  I like that there was a shit ton of character developement, Charlie, Bernard (good to see him again), and Jack, fuckin' finally.  He needed to step back up, and now that Locke is off chasing the dragon that is Jacob, he can finally do it.  Sayid, God bless you for what you've done and what you said to Jack.  I'll be sad if you die.  I hope he doesn't. 
Seriously though, Charlie.  What they did with him was amazing.  This was one of the most touching episodes of LOST ever, I think.  It was kind of the perfect lead up to what we're going to see her in far too long, in my opinion.  Why can't it be Wednesday now. 

One of these days, I'll actually talk about LOST scholarly, as opposed to just stroking it's ego.  Just you wait.

Well, I'm finally taking Improv classes.  This is what I've wanted to do for, like, ever.  I couldn't afford them myself, and I had to rely on the generosity of a friend to take these classes, but I will continue to take them, and no one will stand in my way.  I'm so excited about them.  So damn excited about them.  They help to make me feel alive, and I didn't even do that much improv yesterday.  I seem to have pretty good people in my class, which is great.  I had a lot of fun yesterday, and I like the teacher as well.  It's just nice to be in a place where they promote working together as a unit to make improv, instead of having to sift through all the bullshit about what we should be doing, and then breaking into competition.  I Fear that I'm too rusty to take this on, but I think I can get it back.  In time, I'll be back to where I was before, and I'm so looking forward to that moment.  This makes me feel great again.

Last night's episode was pretty astounding.  Pretty really astounding.  It's been a long time since LOST has had me on the edge of my seat (which was technically impossible as I was on the sitting on the floor due to back/neck pain, but you get the idea) and it happened.  It felt great, and then, what I saw I didn't understand and couldn't explain.  It's really got it back again, I think.  I've loved it thus far, but last night it did what everybody else wanted it to do, I think.  That makes me happy, as I find a lot more Joy in talking about LOST than I do in just watching it.  I might watch  it again when I go home, and that would be great, I'm glad that I just thought of this now.  Now, on to what actually happened...

First off, we thought that a lot of people had Daddy issues, Ben takes the cake, which is appropriate since his Dad kept missing his birthday, and that was the day that Ben killed him in one of the most gruesome fashions.  Christ, watching Father's get killed is getting harder and harder.  Did the others or did Ben kill the DHARMA initiative, and does it really matter?  It was harrowing to see all of those dead bodies on the ground.  Quite a sight.

I can't not talk about the monster here, either.  I love the monster, and the fact that he appeared to Jacob as his mother, before, it would seem, that anyone knew of the monster is astounding.  How and when did the monster scan Ben, or did he scan his Dad and go from there. It was amazing to see the Monster was what beckoned Ben out into the jungle.  There's so much to read into this, I'm afraid to keep going, really.  Also, the timeline, for the Love of God, did the incident occur after the purge or before the purge.  I always saw the end of DHARMA and the incident coinciding, but that may not be the case.  It's all very exciting either way.

Then there's Ben as an adult, a frightened power hungry adult, and Locke, the new badass who bit off more than he could chew, which is always the case with that guy.  I don't think that Locke is dead, at least not yet.  The producers are smart and don't tease us too much as far as death goes, and Locke most certainly wasn't dead when the show ended, so he'll be around for a time.  How long, who's to say.  Ben is ruthless leader, which leads me to....

Jacob.  What the F, man?  At first I thought that Ben was crazy and that was scary enough, and then Jacob said "help me" and then it was all different.  Then there was the mass hysteria, a small controlled fire, and a momentary shot of him.  Where the hell did they go.  What was with that ash or whatever it was.  I assume it to be a salt circle, or essentially some sort of circle of material meant to hold in a spirit, or keep one out. 

Man what a show.