Amadeus opens March 13.

Here's the email I sent to friends and family:

If you don't come to Amadeus opening weekend, THE DIRECTOR WILL KILL US ALL.

Now, really, which would you prefer:

a. seeing an amazing play, with music from a live orchestra and professional opera singers, not to mention Norm Gleichman as Salieri and myself as Mozart, with other starring castmembers such as Christa Kronser, Sandy Irving, Steve Feder...

or b. having the death of 30-odd people on your hands, because if you don't come to see it opening weekend, WE WILL ALL BE KILLED?

The choice is clear! If you don't come for me, come for Norm, who is mesmerizing; if you don't come for Norm, come for the music, which is, I kid you not, so incredible you may be moved to tears; if you don't come for the music, come TO PREVENT A MASS MURDER.

For more information, visit http://www.greenbeltartscenter.org/ , but here's the general skinny:

March 13 and 14 at 8 P.M. Call 301-441-8770 for reservations.

There are further performances over the following 3 weekends (including 2 Sunday performances at 2 P.M.), but really, those don't matter, since (as I think I mentioned) if you don't come this weekend, there will be no more performances, because WE WILL ALL BE DEAD at the hands of director Curt Somers, and producer Norma Ozur will be forced to act all the parts herself.


Hope to see you there... and, y'know, to live.

Zach

*sigh* I'm forced by my inner lawyer to state for the record that I am not in any danger of death at the director's hands, nor is anyone in the cast. At least, not until this email gives him ideas.

Current obsession. For full obsession-y goodness, start at #200 or so and keep reading.

About that prediction.

Mike says, "278? Looks like you were off by almost 100, my friend."

And I have never been happier to be wrong.

Why the paranoia? 2000 and 2004 conditioned me to expect the worst. And, honestly, I really do think that electronic voting machines are the tool of the devil (at least without a paper trail).

On a personal note, I really wish my father had stuck around for this election. He was a civil rights liberal in the best sense of the phrase, even if he was a little quick to see prejudice everywhere. I don't have the faith to think he's watching somewhere, but I know that if he were alive, he would be ecstatic, proud, and ready to join the spontaneous celebrations.

Obligatory Election-Day post.

In 1992, the Republican excuse for obstructionism was that Bill Clinton didn't win a majority of the popular vote. (I still remember Bob Dole gleefully declaring himself the "representative of the 53% of the nation that voted against Clinton.")

In 2000, the Republican rallying cry against obstructionism was that the popular vote didn't matter, and we needed to heal the country and stand behind "our President."

In 2008...

Let's say Obama wins with 60% of the vote. What will they say then? I humbly suggest this: "In a year like this, he should have won 70% of the vote, therefore he's not legitimate." Start your engines!

And my prediction, if anyone cares: Obama, 278 electoral votes. (It's low, compared to some, because electronic voting favors the Republicans.)

Blasting from the Pasting.

Where were you in 2001?

Yes, I'm Godwin'ing.

Michael Brown is on the news as an "expert" on disaster relief.

I'm beginning to think that if Adolf Hitler were alive, he would be a talking head "expert" on genocide when the media covered Darfur.

The Reasons Pneumonia Sucks.

I know, I know; like you need reasons?  Well, waking up every morning looking like you've just been in a boxing match is right up there.  My lips are swollen like they've been punched, and my eyes are so bloodshot I might as well be on heroin, except I don't have that whole "getting high" thing to make up for it.

I know I'm getting better--I can breathe easier now, and I'm not coughing up nearly as much phlegm--yet I feel worse today than I did yesterday.  Ironically, the best day was the first day AFTER I started antibiotics.  I actually felt normal--no fever, I could think straight, and if I was weak, well, that was probably because I hadn't eaten in three days.  But after that, it was like my body suddenly realized, "Hey!  I'm sick!" and went on strike.

You don't realize just how important bacteria are until you're on multiple antibiotics that are killing even the good bacteria.  You don't realize just how much you hate yogurt until you're forced to eat it to restore said good bacteria.  You don't realize how sharp your teeth are until you bite your upper lip while you're sleeping, creating the aforementioned puffy face.  And most of all, you don't realize how tiring it is to take care of your two kids until your wife finally has to stop caring for your sorry self and go earn a living.  (Thank you, K.  I couldn't have survived without you.)

There were so many things I had planned for these past two weeks between the end of summer camp and the beginning of school.  Gone now, like... like... Another problem is that pneumonia makes coming up with similes difficult.