Have not yet seen the movie

August: Osage County

March 1, 2014

Theatre in the Grove

Forest Grove, OR

August: Osage County is not an easy play. It is not easy for either the production or the audience. That being said, it is awesome.

I had the opportunity to experience Theatre in the Grove’s production the other night and was both impressed and a bit exhausted after. Yes, it is a three hour play and that can be tiring, but it was the family drama and the performances and how locked in I got that was tiring, not the run time. The cast is very much all in on the material, which is necessary, but also risky as it is easy for it to become heavy handed melodrama if handled poorly. It is handled well.

Family drama is the worst as it can linger and fade and come roaring back at the slightest provocation.  Family members will keep distance or even move away as a result of ongoing drama.  This often only delays or defers the inevitable in the event it comes to a head over other issues or tragedies.  The family In August: Osage County is not merely dysfunctional it is flat out broken.  Time and distance have not changed anything and when a terrible event brings them all back together it is only a matter of time until old issues become immediate problems.

The lead roles in Theatre in the Grove’s production are excellent.  Part of what makes this play so difficult is that it hits so close to home and the actors bring what could be mere archetypes to life as genuine people that at times one feels sympathy for and others one simply wants to slap. Supporting cast members get meaty moments and come through.  In a three hour play without a large cast there is plenty of stage time for many of the actors to be temporary focal points.  They held my attention.

Yes, the first act seems long, but not long in the sense that it drags.  By the second intermission I had picked up many different threads and genuinely wanted to see how these people came through, or not.

I am glad that I really did not know much about this play prior to seeing it, although I was warned about length and that it would be R Rated.  The recent film version was not something I was familiar with.  As a result I was getting a first account of this family through the play.  The material was fresh to me and I really found myself locked in and trying to sort out in my own mind what was likely to happen.  The material is not predictable in that the end results are not always obvious or the safe way out dramatically.  Bad things happen.  

Suddenly looking forward to Con season starting

My Devil's Panties Dveil Girl plush toy came in the mail from being a Kickstarter supporter.

The lapel pin will be on my badge all weekend at ECCC.

No, I just need to take the artist and hubby out for some shotgun trap shooting.

Trying the guitar another way

Dean Moller with Wayne Porter
Local Color - Seattle, WA
February 24, 2014

While walking through the market on a blustery Sunday afternoon, I stumbled upon a booth selling the coolest guitars ever.  The vendor also sold really cool copper pieces for slide guitar. Yes, I bought one of the little pieces and desperately want one of the guitars some day.

Am I trying one more (final?) time with the guitar?  My hands just do not do what needs to be done to be able to really play.

Weird $#!+ I get to do for work

Back in January I got to play with these circuit boards.  I had to take them home and play with them and turn a banana into a mouse.  Some days work is better than others.

A super hangover and some absurdity

Super Bowl Champions parade.  Beast Mode with the cheerleaders, because he can. February 5 from Westlake.

My mom's two hats.

Yes, Skittles in the sausages.

Winter Camping Rules

I Heart Flowing Lake.

What not to tell your tenant about a rental increase

Today, my rent went up.

It is now almost 50 percent higher than it was when I moved in 9 years ago.  It went up a good 13-14 percent today. From a standpoint of inflation that is effing ridiculous. However, that is not what this blog is about.  I am not bitching about the admittedly irritating increase, it is the reasoning behind it.

I got a letter.  A very business talk like letter with business words like market.

It appears that rents in my neighborhood are higher so the market is such that the rent I was paying was too low.

Basically, "the market" means that "others are doing it and so we are and you won't find anything cheaper so it sucks to be you".

Higher taxes? Big expenses? Nope.  Just, "others are so we are". That is the reason I was given. The letter implies that since the market is that I probably shouldn't bother to look around and move because I will just find this out for myself so I should just save myself time and pay more for the same thing.

I could totally understand why they sent the letter, but it does not actually reflect well on their business acumen if all they do is follow what others are doing.

I sent in the check.

I did no add the eff off I repeated to myself as I wrote said check.