The Dumping Ground

I'm watching the Cubs - Zambrano just had a nice 1-2-3 inning - and in between the top and bottom of the first inning is a commercial for a drug for genital herpes.

One study found that up to 70% of people who had genital herpes got it from their partner when they had no signs of an outbreak.

So, what I want to know is: What about that other 30%? Did they just not notice? Were they drunk? Or is there some sort of oozing-sore fetish I haven't heard about?

If Slurm is, as I believe, intended to be a scathing parody on the real soft-drinks we Americans consume so voraciously, despite all their horrible effects on our bodies, then what happens when that parody is made real and actually marketed as the very thing it parodies? Is that some sort of meta-parody? Or is it just really, really sad?

Slurm can found on the web, and used sans license in good faith, for fair use commentary purposes.

From the Washington Post Corrections for October 12, 2007:

An article in the Oct. 7 Magazine about roller derby said the television series "American Gladiators" was short-lived. The show ran from 1989 to 1997.

Sure, eight seasons cannot strictly be considered short-lived on television, but perhaps the original author was thinking in terms of social consciousness. American Gladiators' popularity occupies that brief inter-decade period where the cultural norms in our minds, that normally separate one decade from the next, are mixed and blurred beyond simple identification, into a sort of slurry of pop stereotypes. When I look back, and try to place it, American Gladiators clearly falls within the Casio-keyboard, big-haired, cocaine-fueled nineteen-eighties.

And though the facts certainly disagree, I can't help but forgive any writer who'd want to at least imagine that era as "short-lived".

Hedda and I went to see Reefer Madness: The Musical Friday night. The musical was based on the original 1936 short film Tell Your Children, which consequentially became a cult classic for it's bad acting, poor production values, and ridiculous portrayal of the physical and social effects of marijuana. Wikipedia has a pretty good history of the film.

The story centers around Jimmy and Mary, two young and naive all-American children whose lives run tragically afoul because of the Stuff. Solid performances are turned in by Andrew Sonntag as Jimmy, and Lawrence Redmond as The Lecturer (and several other humorous bit parts), but Lauren Williams absolutely shines as Mary Lane, the hilariously-too-innocent girlfriend. Her extraordinary facial control and body acting brings the character to life in exactly the right high-contrast, caricatured way. On any other show, it would be absurd over-acting, but in the re-make of the campy classic film, it's absolutely perfect. And she smokes it, so to speak. The rest of the cast has yet to fall into that groove, and sometimes seem almost embarrassed to really play their parts. I don't blame them - I might be, too - but, hopefully they'll follow Ms. Williams' lead and get over it.

The cast sounds good and harmonizes well, and it's easy to hear on the small stage. The music is funny and fun, though mostly forgettable. The notable exception is the musical's theme, which Hedda and I have been repeating to one another constantly since our attendance: "Reefer Madness...Reeeefffer Maaaaadness......Reefer Madness...Reeeeffffeeeer Maaaaaadnesss!" There isn't much in the way of dance, except for a brief, well-done number "Down at the Ol' Five-and-Dime".

The run at the Studio Theater has just opened, and it definitely shows. Some of the rough edges include a continuing prop problem with a falling-over lamp, a follow-spot that can't seem to find the leads in time, poor lighting and design (although it's hard to tell: it could be the players missing their spikes), and not enough brownies to meet demand during intermission! There was also some - I'm not sure what else to call it - confusion about the set. The main stage was where all the action took place, and the only area ever lit, but there was what seemed to be another, smaller, set area off stage right. There were other set pieces - the refrigerator alluded to, prior to Ralph's major munchies attack, for example - and at a few points, it seemed as through action was intended to be happening there. But since it was never lit, whatever it was was stillborn. It seems the production could have used another week or two of rehearsals to iron out the kinks.

Overall, it's a fun show, as long as you go into it expecting it to be what it is. This isn't the next great American Musical, but it is a fun evening nonetheless. Hopefully the wrinkles we saw will be gone by the time you see it.

The show is quite funny, and pays due homage to many of Monty Python's most famous gags. The show is loosely based on Monty Python and the Holy Grail, although they do rip out the hit "Always Look on the Bright Side of Life" from The Life of Brian. Unfortunately, the song isn't nearly as funny when not sung by a chorus of crucified men.

The first act is definitely outshone by the second, as the former is mostly an attempt to cram as many famous Holy Grail scenes as possible into an hour. Several scenes, such as the French Guard, have been expanded and extended from the original material, usually to good effect. Occaisionally, however, I found myself shakinig my head at their attempt to drag as much as they could out of an already old joke.

The second act, however, deviates fairly significantly from its namesake's plot, and delivers fresh side-splitting hilarity in the usual style. The ending is utterly fantastic, and the Diva almost steals the show. All-in-all, the second act makes the show.

So, should you see it? If you hate Monty Python, then no. If you watch And Now For Something Completely Different every other weekend, or maybe have a blog category named after one of their works, then the answer is an emphatic yes.

Thanks for my present, Hedda!

I almost forgot! Hedda took me to see Spamalot on July 9th, and the show happened to run smack dab in the middle of the final game of the 2006 World Cup. Here was my favorite line:

Knight of Ni: We are now no longer the Knights Who Say "Ni!" We are now the Knights Who Say "Ekky-ekky-ekky-ekky-z'Bang, zoom-GOOOOOOOOOOOOOAAAALLLLLLLLLL! *inhale* "GOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOAAAAAAAAAAAALLLLLLLLLLLLLLL!! *inhale* "GOOOOOOOOOOAAAAAAAALLLLLLLLLLL!! ... "It's one-one at the half, by the way."

Awesome.