Hey folks, I wanted to tell you all about a new blog that I have started tonight. Let me give you some background. The girls in the dressing room upstairs have taken to lowering down barbie dolls with messages to our dressing room one floor below. Well, I took the last messenger hostage, and she has started a blog. Go and check her out at: www.barbieintrouble.blogspot.com
(Matty and me at the tidal basin about 3 weeks ago)
Sorry, folks. I went into a little bit of the doldrums after that last post. I couldn't post anything else because I felt like as soon as I did, Mr. Cooper would really be gone. That has kept me away from the blog for over a week, and I'm ready to move on now. I know it sounds silly, but I loved that dog. Anyways, I'm back on track now. What have I been up to? (photo of me and Joel Blum)
Well, smelling this guy's armpit nightly in Meet John Doe at Ford's Theatre, which is now extended to May 20th. The show has been going very well, and I have to tell you, I laugh my ass off in the dressing room every night: when you have the pleasure of sharing a dressing room with Chris Bloch, Evan Casey, Joel Blum and others of the like, you end up in stitches most of the time. I have been terrorizing the dressing room with a fart machine that I purchased at Urban Outfitters. It has been my favorite toy in a long time. I know, I'm 10. What else?
I've been reading this: Which I LOVE.
I also have put up the tent in the back yard. I've already taken the TV out there and watched these films outdoors: Event Horizon, 13 Ghosts, Zombie, Night of the Zombies, South Park the movie, The Kentucky Fried Movie, and Terms of Endearment. Buddha has been his usual self walking with me and Matt, eating, sleeping, smoking cigarettes...
So I am back, and will be talking soon about several more bad movies that I had the horror of watching this past week... Talk soon, SGS
I am very sad to say that one of my favorite dogs that I ever walked or spent time with passed away last night. His name was Mr. Cooper. He was a Doberman Pincer of about 11 or 12 years, which is extremely old for his breed. He had beaten cancer in his lifetime, and somewhere along the way lost all of his hair. Petting him was like petting a shark with it's scaly skin. I loved him to death. He was always so cool to spend time with, as he seemed to be wiser than most people that I know. He was the Clint Eastwood of dogs. The first time I walked him, I sat outside his house reading his information sheet before going in. I was a little bit intimidated, but intrigued all the same. His info sheet said "Doberman", so I was naturally a little apprehensive. Then I saw his age, and felt a little better. The info sheet said, "He has lost all of his hair, but he doesn't seem to mind." I laughed. The next bit always seemed a little magical. "He will bark at you until he sees that you have his leash in your hands. When you get him on leash and take him outside, he will show you the way to the park." I was confused, but my interest was piqued. I went inside, and he dutifully barked at me from a distance...this bark was the stifled bark of an old man who still was trying to be intimidating, knowing that he wasn't really. He might have been saying, 'Get out of my house you gall' derned kid you!". I got his leash and the hostility left as his little stub of a tail wagged in delight. We went outside, and he was a man with a purpose. This is a video I took of us walking to the park about a year ago.
He knew exactly where he wanted to pee, and where he was pulling me to. I let him take me where he wanted to go. It was several blocks to the park, and his steps and stops were the product of years of repetition. He had his little places to visit that he checked in on every time he came to check on "his" park to make sure everything was in order. When we got to an actual park, I laughed a little knowing that I had no idea where I was walking, since I had never been in this neighborhood before, but was relying on a dog to take me to a place that he knew. It was kind of cool. We walked through the park as he thoroughly examined it, making sure his favorite place was still ship shape. After a complete examination, he felt satisfied enough to move on and lead the way back to his house. I was in love with this old man. This routine never got old for either of us, and we enjoyed each other's company immensely. I even pet sit him on several occasions when his owners were out of town. These were my favorite pet sitting visits. His house is where I saw the movie "Sideways" for the first time. I would blast the demo for Nevermore at high volumes and dance around the house. He seemed to approve. When it was time for bed, he took on guard duty at the bedroom door. I was amused. He stood watching the doorway for about 10 minutes, then sat down for 5, then he fell asleep. At this point, I fell asleep. Some time later, I was awakened to him climbing in bed with me. Now Mr. Cooper was a dog of some considerable size, so this was no small undertaking, but I scooted over. He looked at me for a few minutes, and I wondered whether he wanted me to go watch the door for awhile. I decided not to, and he was fine with that. As far as pet sitting or dog walking went, you couldn't ask for a better dog than Mr. Cooper.
Time does march on, and Cooper was not a young pup. Time ravaged his body in the past year, and many times we thought that he was going to leave us any day. He became crippled, and was no longer able to walk to his park. We had to basically carry him down to the yard to simply pee, and that was exhausting to him. The last few times I visited him, I cried. He would no longer bark as I entered, as he needed my help to get him up off of his bed. He would simply tremble for a minute, knowing that he was helpless against me, if I were to bear him harm. I would go down on the floor and hug him, and he smelled that it was me, and I would carry him out. I took these pictures one of the last times I visited him. The last walk that I had with Mr. Cooper was Friday. I was astonished to see him get up by himself and greet me. I was overjoyed, thinking, "See! You are definitely getting better!" and knowing that he could not be. I still carried him down the stairs, but instead of a quick pee, he wanted to go further. Not to the park, but to the back yard. He even pooped, a thing that he hadn't done on a walk with me in a long time. I was so proud of him. Before I left, I gave him some extra cookies to chew on. I hugged him and kissed his snout and said goodbye. Every time that I said goodbye to Cooper, I knew that it might be my last time, and cried. For some reason, I didn't cry the last time. He was happy. He still is. He's gone somewhere where he can walk again, run again, bark again, and maintain his glorious park. I will never forget this wonderful creature who I had the honor of caring for. I liked him more than most people that I know.
I want to say a warm and happy congratulations to fellow cast mates from Assassins, Will Gartshore, Donna Migliaccio, and Andy Brownstein, who all won Helen Hayes Awards for their excellent work in Assassins at Signature Theatre. I would also like to congratulate Joe Calarco, who won for Best Direction for Assassins. This show's bold and in your face concept was so fresh and exciting, I am so happy that he was recognized for his work. Last night was a fun night as always, but I am a little bummed that I forgot my camera. :( Congrats to all of you. :)
(Matt Conner and J. Fred Shiffman walking to last years awards) Well, I probably won't get to post again till after the HH Awards tomorrow night. Scratch that, till Tuesday. So I will either see you there, or talk to you later!
Tonight was the 142nd anniversary of John Wilkes Booth's awful deed at Ford's Theatre. I felt weirdly priveledged to be there on the night. There was a definite presence there. Connell's milk bottle flew from the table to the stage. I don't really think either one of us touched it. An actress saw a chair move by itself last night. At 10:13 PM, the girls were locked into their dressing room. While they have had problems with this door in the past, they had been locked out of their dresing rooms, but never locked in. At 10:15 PM, there was a toast on stage...3 of us heard the sound of something falling from stage left. I wanted to leave after that. I had seen enough. I know that the Ford's that stands today is not the origional building and all, but it is the original physical space. I also know that John did not die there, but I don't know...things were very wierd.
Well folks, I am a little bit under the weather with a cold. I am more annoyed than anything about it. I hate colds, they are so pointless. When I am sick, however, I turn back into a 10 year old. When I was little and I was home sick from school, my mom and dad would make a tent for me with a card table and a blanket, putting pillows inside and a vaporizer as well. The tent would park right in front of the TV, and the TV would be turned to TBS, usually. Back in those days (80's) TBS played some of the trashiest old horror flicks during their day time programming. I remember watching Attack of the Crab Monsters, The Unseen, Mausoleum, Motel Hell,Billy the Kid Vs. Dracula, and Bug to name a few that stick out in my memory on these sick days. Bug's tag line is especially catchy and to the point... "They Look Like Rocks...Possess A High Intelligence...Have No Eyes...And Eat Ashes...They Travel In Your Car Exhaust...They Make Fire...They Kill!" Well, I didn't watch Bug today, but I paid a visit to some of my other all time stinkers. On the bill today: Chopping Mall and Flesh Eater, (look at her hair!)
Any movie that has lines like these: Woman: How's come you never kiss me like that? {looking at another couple making out} Man: Maybe if you had tits like her, I would! Woman: Go straight to hell!
Yes lines like that delivered by people who look like this:
Martin is about a modern day vampire, or is it? The movie opens with a suspenseful scene of a youngish man sneaking into a lady's cabin on an overnight train ride. You see him sneak in while she is in the shower. He hides and waits until the moment is right for him to spring out at her. But does he bite her? No. He is not a vampire in that kind of way. He injects her with a sedative, then cuts her with a razor, and drinks from her while she is asleep. One is never sure if he is truly a vampire, or is just crazy. The movie evokes a sad feeling of extreme loneliness throughout. There is scene where he breaks into this woman's house that he has been watching. He thinks that she is supposed to be alone, and when he breaks into her bedroom, he sees another man there. He has to think quickly so he stabs the man with some of the syringe made for her and quickly runs out. He hides in the den as the couple frantically fuss with the phone trying to call the police, but Martin is crouched in the dark, holding the phone in the den and punching in random numbers as she tries to dial, not allowing the call to go through. He finally gets another shot (so to speak) at getting the man with the syringe again, and soon is upon the woman again in a stressful sequence of running and slamming doors behind him, he seems to have the house mapped out, trapping the woman in the web of her own home. It is an incredible sequence.
There are also supposed flashback sequences shot in black and white, indicating that Martin has truly been alive for hundreds of years, although we are never sure if it is in his head or true. The movie if framed with the device of a radio talk show host, presumably late at night interviewing Martin, who calls in late at night after he has finished a feeding. The radio host thinks that the guy is a nut and takes the calls as a goof, but you can tell that Martin is using the calls as therapy. They occur throughout the film. Actually, this film should not be under my favorite "Bad" movies, but simply my favorite movies, as it is a truly great film, made by the masterful George Romero. I think why it is so scary is the whole element of home invasion. That is just one of the most terrifying things to even think about. On to the next movie, which is definitely a stinker. Children of the Living Dead I from time to time watch bits of this because it cannot be watched in its entirety. Your head will explode. I'm not kidding. It is just that bad. The plot concerns a "spooky story" about a local criminal named "Abbot Hayes". Abbot's mother dressed him as a girl as he was growing up, torturing him mentally, which led to him killing his mother, then doing the same to countless women. He was caught and sent to jail, where he was murdered in prison. (Big shock). Then, well gosh darn it all, every now and again in this little area of Pennsylvania, dead things come back to life. "It's been happening since '68" a character says, alluding to the year that "Night of the Living Dead" came out. Not that this movie is even fit to be mentioned in the same sentence as Night, however. Abbot Hayes comes back, and seems to have some sort of magical powers. He also seems to have put on a troll mask and gloves, because his hands and head are larger than they were when he was alive...oh whoops! That is supposed to be what he looks like as a zombie. wow. nice costume. He nances about the forest of the town, and I do mean he nances, remember: his momma dressed him as a girl. Is that? Yes I do believe that it is lipstick that Abbot wears! Some of the line readings in this movie make my teeth hurt. Horrible cliche lines like, "Of all the places in all the world my dad could have picked to build his dealership, he picked the one right down the street from Walking Dead Central." are delivered by horrible actors. This is just a tortuous movie, but worth watching in little installments. It is good for a giggle if nothing else at Abbot Hayes, the super zombie cross dresser. Here's a horrible clip.
Well, that's all I have time for today. I think I'm gonna go take more vitamins and crap. Take care of yourselves! luv, SGS
So it has been a while since I have blogged. Sorry. Lots of things are going on in SGS world. Stress abounds. What I can say is that I will NOT be doing Summer of 42' at Round House, due to conflicts. I booked this show one year ago, and am very sorry that it won't work out, but these things happen. I just booked "The Phantom Tollbooth" at The Kennedy Center which is in the late Fall, with book and lyrics by Sheldon Harnick, (Fiddler on the Roof), who will be down and working on the show. I am in the position of booking my theatrical year right now, and am potentially booked thorugh the Spring. That doesn't mean that I truly am, just potentially. Now if I could only get the rest of my life together! ;)
