Birthday Party

Sunday night I went to Tango Sur for the birthday of my friend James.  The steak I had was so-so but the company was great.  Later we went up to Andersonville to party in the second floor of Hamburger Mary's.  It's a gay bar and they have karaoke there on Sunday nights.  It was a fun time and I sang "You Learn" by Alanis Morissette.  

End of Rattlesnake?

This weekend Rattlesnake High School found out that we were cut from the iO schedule.  This came as a complete surprise to all of us.  We knew the iO Commission was looking at our shows but we never took the threat seriously.  We (I) believed that Charna liked us and that the show quality level of our shows was vastly superior to most teams' output lately.  Our shows lately have been really good and we've been pretty darn consistent on top of it.  I thought we were showing students in the training center just what you could do with a Harold.  In terms of good, quality improv that was also entertaining, I thought we were in the top 3 of teams at iO.

We know most of the people on the iO Commission and most of them say they were on our side.  This means some of them are lying big time.  I hate to think these thoughts.

I really don't get the decision.  We're consistent.  We're dedicated.  We have good attendance.  The audience loves our shows.  Students love our team.  We're funny.  We do smart improv and we do good acting scenes.  We're not some team that does non-stop bits.  We're not a team that does sloppy, goof-around improv.  I just don't get it.

~~~

The new schedule came out Sunday night.  We only got 48 hours to process this and maybe try to change some minds.  Other teams knew about this way in advance.  Did they wait this long to tell us so that we'd have no time to change people's minds?  I hate having these thoughts.

I'm on a newly formed team at iO.  I should be grateful for that.  I could have been cut completely from the schedule.  But it's not the same.

I've been on Rattlesnake for over 3 years.  The team itself has been around for 5 years.  It's a big chapter in our lives.  I need time to grieve.  Or possibly not accept the termination of the team and perhaps champion the idea of keeping Rattlesnake together?  I know so many other teams have said that in the past too.  And they meant it too but never stayed together after they were cut from iO.  I don't know what's going to happen.  I've just got to take this day by day.

Beatbox Understudy

To my utmost disbelief, I was offered an understudy position in the Beatbox Show. I was shocked because I have a large amount of schedule conflicts for both shows and rehearsals. That and I'm so-so at freestyle rap. But I think my awesome scene skills got me in. I don't mean to boast, but my scenes in the audition were pretty boss.

Still, I haven't really advertised it around that I'm a part of the show now. I'm sure those that didn't get in and who know how poor my raps are will feel hurt that I got in over them. But hopefully no one will bring that up to me personally.

Tonight's show is Andy Carey's last show. It's also my roommate's first show as a cast member.

Bike Fixed

I got my bike fixed finally. It made me as happy as a first kiss makes me happy. I was grinning all the way to and from the bike shop. Turns out Kozy's Cyclery had my wheel lock key. I ordered a replacement key but it still hasn't arrived by mail. Frustrated over this delay and the fact that I couldn't find the key anywhere in my room, I called Kozy's as a last ditch effort. I did this last time I lost the wheel lock key. However, this time they HAD it!

At the shop, I voiced my concern over my tire tube becoming flat over and over again. The guy at the shop informed my that my tires are super basic tires and are very thin. He recommended I upgrade to a better tire. He mentioned a bike tire type that he and other guys at the shop use and I immediately agreed to it. So I changed my back bike tire to a nicer tire. I didn't personally change it, the shop guy did. But I did authorize it to happen. But perhaps in 2 months time I'll be able to do this myself, after I'm done with the Build-A-Bike class.

This issue got resolved just in time, too. This weekend is supposed to be in the 70s and 80s.

Scott & Dave

For the first time in years I bought an actual ticket to a show at iO. It was for the TJ & Dave show, only instead of TJ, it was 30 Rock's Scott Adsit. I got there early and got a front row seat so I could take pictures of the show. The show was really good and I thought Scott Adsit really showed why he's considered one of the best improvisers.

The Vermont People

Last night I didn't have CSz rehearsal so I was able to go to the Hidden Shamrock for a pub quiz. An acquaintance of mine, JPG, runs the pub quiz. Instead of downloading or buying a regular pub quiz like some places do, he creates his own categories, themes, and questions for the quiz each week. There are 7 rounds and each round has its own theme. For example, last night round 1 was "summer" and round 2 was all about crude oil. He also has a matching round and a pictures round; the pictures round last night was a series of pictures of SNL actors and we had to write down their names. The matching round last night was authors and their characters. There was a "Kevin Bacon" round last night as well. In it, JPG gave us the name of two actors that were co-stars with Kevin Bacon and we had to write down the title of the movie. The last round is always worth double points and its answers and questions refer to the previous rounds. The pub quiz is $5 per person, teams cannot have more than 5 people, and the top three teams win some money back.

I was on a team with Bess, Manley, and The Ferg. We named ourselves "The Vermont People." This is a reference to Ferris Bueller's Day Off, when the mom is yelling at Jeanie in the car "I was about to close the deal with the Vermont people." After two rounds we were in 5th or 4th place. After 4 rounds we were in 4th place. At the end of round 6, we were in 3rd place. We needed a good showing in the final round if we wanted to remain in the money. We were confident that we had 9 questions down right. But one question really threw us for a loop. "What was the name of the body of water that the Valdez has it's oil spill in Alaska? It took us around 10 minutes before we put down an answer. Our answer: Alaska Gulf. The real answer:

Anyone?

Anyone?

Prince William Sound.

I thought getting that question wrong was the difference between winning first and getting second. I was wrong. We came in first place and were ahead of second place by at least 6 points! We were all so amazed. It was really an awesome rush of excitement. The high of winning was great and we all stayed around for at least a half hour, basking in the remarkable sort-of come-from-behind victory.

The 2nd and 3rd place groups were fellow improviser groups, too. So all three improv groups swept the night, taking the money home.

My favorite bit of the night? Being able to say to Gilley: "All the groups that lost are going home and complaining to their significant others, 'I can't believe we lost that game to The Vermont People."

WNYC's Radio Lab Podcast

I found a new favorite podcast to listen to while I'm at work. It's WNYC's Radio Lab podcast. It's like This American Life, only about science. It's amazing. It taps into my science nerd brain and awakes my natural curiosity about the world around me. What exactly is time? Is mortality really necessary for humans or can we avoid it? Are our memories really made of proteins in the brain? Fascinating stuff.

Allergies

It was only a matter of time before my allergies caught up with me this year. This past weekend is when they decided to strike. And strike hard they did. Right in my face, like a punch from a boxer.

The last time I was actually checked for allergies was when I was a kid. I have no idea if any of my childhood allergies have gone away or if I've gained new ones over time. But when I was checked out, I was told I was allergic to dust & mold, cat dander, white oak, some type of bush I don't remember, and a fifth thing which has also faded from my memory. I've gotten better as I've aged in taking my allergy medicine. I was much more stubborn in not taking allergy medicine. I didn't want to admit that I needed them. I felt the same about vitamin pills. Now I take a vitamin pill daily (I'm still remembering to do it every day! I'm so proud of myself) and at the first sign of my allergies coming, I run for the over-the-counter allergy medicine I take.

What do I reach for? I'm a big fan of Chloro-Trimenton. It's antihistamines are wonderful. If I were a big time celebrity, I would proudly do their advertisements.

Weekend Update

Pennybear rehearsals are going pretty well.  We're now required to email in our scene ideas to the director the day before rehearsal and this helps me to be actively trying to come up with ideas.  Before, I'd think about ideas on the walk or bike ride over to rehearsal. I'm pretty lazy by nature so it's good to have a kick in the pants.  We're also going to start rehearsing two times a week and this is exciting.  We've got about a month before our run at the Apollo.

I went to see the Second City ETC show Saturday night.  I liked it and it was neat to see the actors taking some really cool risks in the show.  Their slower paced, slice-of-life scene were really good and it was good to see it in a show, since Pennybear is like that too.

I auditioned for Beat Box today.  The audition went well and I did so-so.  Not as bad as I thought I'd be, but definitely not good enough for the show in my opinion.

But 2 things are on my mind this weekend that I'm willing to share with you, random Internet blog reader.  One is that I'm looking forward to getting my replacement bike wheel-lock key in the mail.  Then I'll be able to get my back tire fixed.  The second is that I'm super pissed that the Sci-fi Channel hasn't put the latest aired Battlestar Galactica episode up on the website.  How dare they!  Don't they know I must watch this episode so I can talk about it with friends?  I was at a BBQ yesterday and Griffen, a fellow BSG lover, had seen the last episode but wasn't able to talk to me about it since I had yet to see it.  So embarrassing.

Bike News

Nothing much really to report.  I had another Friday night of two shows at CSz back to back.  I did the 8pm and 10pm shows.  It's not too taxing to do them but I never seem to have time to get dinner and by 11:30pm I'm starving.  But I just remembered that I only ate half of my foot-long sandwich from Subway, so now I don't need to buy myself lunch today.  So that's good.

I emailed a person at West Town Bikes again, this time asking about how long the waiting list for Sunday afternoon classes were.  To my surprise, he said they had slots open and all I needed to do was come on down and drop off my check to secure my spot in the class.  So I did that after work yesterday and now I'm gonna get to do the class this summer.  That's awesome.  I can't wait to learn more about bike repair.

Motion Detectors

I was restless after CSz rehearsal last night and I didn't want to do what I normally do when I go home at night. Namely I didn't want to play poker on facebook. I didn't want to sit around at home. It had just rained and I wanted to be out and about but also be alone. I decided to run an errand and go up to Rogers Park and sign a form for the NYC Fringe Festival. So went home, grabbed my iPod, and got on the Clark bus. There's just something I find tranquil in riding public transit, listening to my music, and watching the city go by through the window.

I wasn't really able to do this on the way north because the bus was packed with Cubs fans since the Cubs game had just ended. But I was able to do this on the way back south. During this tranquil period, I noticed that the new modern CTA buses are really well designed. There's ample room, adequate bars for standing passengers to grab a hold of, and the chair are thin yet rigid which allows for more seating. The windows on the side are very large which allows for good views of the city and the method of opening then in the case of an emergency is super easy. The outside sign on the front is large and well lit, which allows for better visibility to those on the street to see which number bus is coming. The front entrance is larger than older buses, and it allows for two lines to form; those with plastic cards to the right and those with The Chicago Card Plus to the left. The equipment that tracks where the bus is and announces the next stop does so very well and with enough warning for you to pull the cord to signal you'd like to get off and for the bus driver to pull to the stop without having to put on the brakes hard. The bus has a back window, which I'm sure helps the driver (older models didn't have a back window). The bus's maneuverability also seems improved and the acceleration on it seems pretty good. The handicap ramp is super improved; the bus's front hydraulics are pretty amazing in that it can lower the front of the bus down to almost level with the curb and then the handicap ramp just flips out and Presto! the wheelchair can get on the bus with much ease. This process is also pretty fast, a great improvement to the old system.

And then I noticed the back door mechanism. The door indicates for you to place your hand on the yellow strips to open the door. I noticed that just above these yellow strips are motion detectors; that's how the door knows to unlock itself and allow you to open it! Genius.

Madskillz?

I've been in 5 shows since my last post. Two ComedySportz home shows, one non-brand ComedySportz remote, a Rattlesnake High School show, and the performance show for the Madskillz class I was in. All were unique in different ways.

The Fri 8pm show was a roomie team show where I was on the same team as Tara and Tim, my roommates. The theater was packed with middle school kids who had the attention span of gnats and talked throughout the show. I never really felt like I was doing quality improv on top of it. The Fri 10pm show I was the blue team captain and the audience was light and reserved. I felt better improv-wise but I'm not sure the audience was really into the show. The remote show was at a yacht club near the border of Wisconsin. We played in a large room and we tried very hard to be heard. We had hand mics but doing improv with a hand mic never works. They were very reluctant to give suggestions and I couldn't tell how much they liked the show. But afterwards many of them came up to us and talked about how much they liked it. So what do I know? The Rattlesnake show was good but the show was much more narrative than most of our shows and so I felt a little lost at times. But it was cool that we tried something new in a show. Last night was the Madskillz show at CSz. I was super nervous. I guess I did okay since people said such after the show but I didn't feel all that great. Mostly what people said was that I was really funny. I was trying to be good/passable in my raps; I wasn't trying to be funny. So I felt like I missed my goal.

The above picture was taken during the Madskillz show by my friend Lindsay.

Visiting with Family

While I was in LA, I was able to visit with my uncle Joel, his wife (my aunt) Kristen, and their newborn son (my cousin) Jonah. Joel is a carpenter/designer and is working on some new home in Pasadena. Kristen is a real estate agent. Jonah is a baby. Joel is only 39; I'm 31. I'm closer to age to my uncle than my uncle is to my father (they're brothers). My dad was the first born (1951) and Joel was the last born (of 7 siblings; 1968).

It was good seeing them, and I try to see them every time I'm in LA, which has become once a year. It was neat seeing Joel as a new father. Having a newborn son brought out more silliness in him than I'm used to seeing in him. It was cool to see.

LA Comedy Festival

I went to LA with Pennybear for the LA Comedy Festival. It was fun but tiring since I flew in Monday morning and flew out Wednesday morning. I wasn't able to see most of my LA friends, which sucked. Our shows were good and the people that saw them liked them a lot.

On the plane to LA, I saw Gary Cole (boss in Office Space) on the plane. And in a neat example of Six Degrees of Separation, Nancy's friend's boyfriend's friend is Tony Hale and he came with Nancy's friend and her boyfriend to the Tuesday night show. The group got to talk to him a bit after the show and he was very nice.

Here's a picture of Venice Beach.


Here's a picture of the Venice Canals.


Here's a picture of the Rockies from the plane on my way to LA.

Shows

Thursday night I went to see the "Picked Up" series at the Neo-Futurists. The show this week was "No Place Like Home." The head writer of it was my friend Lauren.  The show was very funny and the whole audience gave it a thumbs up at the end of the show.  Afterwards a bunch of us hung out at a bar nearby and that was fun.  I had a chicken dinner there that was to die for.  So good.

Friday night Rattlesnake High School had 3 people for the show so we had 4 sit-ins.  The show was good and I had a fun time in it.  Afterwards I went home and watched Battlestar Galactica.  I'm such a geek for that show.

Saturday I went with a bunch of friends to see "Iron Man" at the movie theaters.  It was a pretty darn good movie that left me wanting more.  The special effects in it were pretty good too.  It didn't feel at all like a comic book movie, which is a good thing. I really liked it.  Afterwards I had a CSz show at the Apollo for an overfill show at 8pm.  The audience was a high school band group from Canada.  They were an amazing audience and they ate the show up.  They loved it.

Yesterday Pennybear got the news that we've been accepted into the New York Fringe Festival.  This is awesome news.  I'll make a point to not loose my ATM card right before that trip; although such a note might be moot since I wouldn't need to rent a car in NYC.

The Machines Strike Back

I mistakenly forgot to take my ATM card out of the slot when it popped out after I was done withdrawing money from it. I only realized this about 5 hours later when I wanted to buy a Sunday ticket for the Pitchfork Music Festival (in July). ATMs suck up cards if you don't take them immediately. Then they are destroyed. So needed to order a new debit card. This wouldn't have been a problem if it weren't for the fact that I need a debit card to rent a car.

I'm going to LA this coming Monday because Pennybear, the sketch group I'm in, is performing in the LA Comedy Festival. We get two shows. I may get to see my newborn cousin while I'm in LA. I may get to see friends who are now living in LA. These are great things. But they are marred by the fact that I won't be able to drive around LA in a rental car. I could have used my credit card for this, but I'm the kind of genius that doesn't use the only credit card I have for 2 years and let's the card status become "restricted." Restricted is credit card company speak for "the credit is $0 and the only option you have is to close out this account and then reapply for a new card."

Ugh.