March 29, 2004
More power tomorrow?
The rumor through the grapevine is that Apple is poised to release the next version of the Powerbook tomorrow (or very soon). It won't be the G5 or dual G4's, but it'll be a nice speed bump and some other niceties. I guess it's about time to trade in my 1ghz TiPB (with a SuperDrive, of course) for a nice new portable, right? Now . . . to convince the wife . . .
Bad news: Sir Peter Ustinov just died in Switzerland. He was the British star of many Agatha Christie movies and probably best known for his role in "Quo Vadis?". My favorite quote of his was: "Contrary to general belief, I do not believe that friends are necessarily the people you like best, they are merely the people who got there first." Both the SF Chronicle and Associated Press articles are wrong in stating his Grammy Award was for Tchaikovsky's "Peter & the Wolf"...it was actually Prokofiev who wrote it--which makes sense because Peter was really Russian, despite the fact he was born in the UK. I sent a correction to AP and they actually fixed it! But the Chronicle didn't.
Or in the case of a few San Francisco police officers, they couldn't wait to go from friends to more in a classic drive out to ol' Inspiration Point. The duty officers at SF International Airport were caught by a fellow officer in a steamed up car in the parking garage. So THAT'S the secret to top-notch airport security. I feel so much more safe.
March 15, 2004
Room Service, anyone?
Yep, I've done it again. I've managed to get myself involved in another theatrical endeavor. This time it's the production of Room Service with the Ross Valley Players, a small yet award-winning theatre in Ross. It's a crazy, screwball comedy and I play the part of Sasha Smirnoff, a waiter-turned-actor from Russia who steals the show and makes everyone a million dollars. The Marx Brothers did a movie based on the play in 1938 and a few directors have touched it before my old buddy and director Michael-Paul Thomsett. Another old friend of mine, David Kester, is also in it and very funny. It premieres this Friday night (March 19th) and runs through April 25th. If you enjoy comedy and you want to see my brilliant performance, click here to visit RVP and get your tickets!
I also audtioned on Saturday for the 2004 season of the Marin Shakespeare Company. They're doing Othello, She Stoops to Conquer, and Taming of the Shrew (Directed by my old acting teacher James Dunn--no, not that one) throughout the summer months at the Forest Meadows Amphitheatre in San Rafael. Except for Room Service and Deathtrap, I've been doing only Shakespeare for many years now so I hope to get back into the swing of ol' Bill, whom I miss dearly.
In case you're curious, the photo is from when I played Othello at the ExitTheatre (circa 1991). The production was reverse-cast, Othello being white and the rest of the cast being African-American. (The other two actors are B. Chico Purdiman as Iago and Robert Auyong as Cassio.)