Update from hell

This has been one of the longest tech weeks ever. Because of that stupid holiday in the middle of it. Although I shouldn't denigrate it, it gave me a day off, the first in a while.
The Set Designer is an ASS. His decisions are un-thought out, his drafting is on CAD with no thought to the reality of physics, his attention to detail has been minimal and his level of caring has been nil. He did the minimal amount of work, in the least amount of time, usually late. Once again, we're having to design by committee.
Money has been short. And by short, I mean non-existant. The paychecks for the week before Thanksgiving came out the DAY before Thanksgiving (after 10pm so we couldn't cash or deposit them for two days). At the same time, we were told that there was no lumber for finishing the set (though due to our "TD"s lack of planning or foresight, we've needed about 4 lumber deliveries; he buys lumber for the next step in his process, and not two or three steps ahead, or, Gods forbid, for the whole set!)
To make a long week short, Tonight, when we're supposed to have an invited audience of friends and family for a final dress rehearsal, it'll be a closed rehearsal. Because it'll be the first time that the actors will have been on the big final act set piece, a full stage bridge, complete with crash pad for the villain, Bill Sykes, to get shot from the bridge into (just another side note about the designer, the bridge doesn't really seem to span anything, it just is there.)
So I left last night about 3am, leaving 3 carps and the props girl still working. I'm in and the theater is dark (well they left all the worklights and radio on, but you get the idea). We'll see when they get in.

Heavy drinking is on the schedule for this next week.

Coolest bugger ever.

I came across this bugger on the internets. Linked from Fark. It's a Glasswing Butterfly. More pix on my Flickr page.

"Assclown Bugger"

Election day rant.

I did my civic duty. Now, where's a rock I can hide under until the decisions are final; in, what? three or four weeks? Where are the good old days of knowing the election results the next morning? I guess the politicians are just getting too good at finding new ways to rig elections. Gone are the days of a guy with a shotgun at the polling place, this is the era of fixing the eligibility or validity of voters. (Now that we've given the blacks the vote, lets make sure that their votes don't count, they'll just vote Democrat.)
It's more and more apparent that old Joe Stalin was a man ahead of his time when he said, "The people who vote decide nothing. The people who count the votes decide everything." Maybe the Republicans have just studied his methods better than we expected them too. After all, they are the party of "The ends justify the means" aka the "Win at any cost" party. Not that the Dems are much better, they just hide behind social conscience better. The Republicans hide behind hypocratic religious fervor.
Ok, I'm now off my soapbox, and disappearing under my rock. Knock when the decisions are done.

Cowardly or smart

Finally had a poker night again. Actors and technicians together. We met at J's apartment, and played a 5$ game, and then after rehearsal let out, the director and a couple of actors joined us and we played a second one. I didn't do well in either. The first one, I went all in on a flush, having pegged the other guy at a three of a kind, when he had the additional pair to boot. So I was out first. The second game, I lasted longer, going out 4th of 7. Oh well. I'll win one later.
However I was the first to arrive, and J was going around looking for her misplaced wallet. At one point she asked me "If you were my wallet, where would you be?" I literally had to bite my lip to not say, "In your pants." I'm still not sure how risque I can get away with with her. I'll probably mull over that missed comeback (come on?) for a while.
Also discovered that the new TD not only doesn't play poker, he seems to be a complete idiot at cards in general. The cards have a 'cheat sheet' with the rank of hands, giving an example of each kind of hand. The boy was confused that those SPECIFIC CARDS weren't the only winning combinations. Sometimes you just gotta shake your head.

A late costume party

It's another one of those really long days, a morning show, and a talkback after the evening show that we're required to attend. And in between? well, we're still waiting on designs for Oliver. I mean that we've gotten some, but they're not what we expected, and so they are now going to change or at least be added to, to a major extent. I had a meeting with the director yesterday to discuss what was happening where for each scene, but with all the unanswered set questions, it was really pointless to have the meeting. So I'm continuing to finalize my ideas for "looks" for each scene, and thinking about how to achieve those looks.
But the anticipated event of the day is, you guessed it from the title of the post, a late Halloween party, costume party, at one of the actors apartments. Looking forward to my pint of rum, and a lot of schmoozing with pretty ladies. I'll take some pix and post them later.
Speaking of pics, I just posted some pictures from Photo Call of Sherlock's Last Case, which happened last night.
That's the news for now. I'll dish the dirt from the party later too.