Day 909: Year in Review – 2005

You know how I said 2004 was the last year I associated my life with theatre productions I’ve worked on?  Well… that is partially true.  I actually started off the year in a four person musical called, “I Love You, You’re Perfect, Now Change.”  And, on March 6^th, 2005, about two weeks before opening night… I met Serena.

The play itself comically chronicles the lifecycle of love.  The first act is about coming of age and dating… and the second act is about marriage and parenthood.  After meeting Serena for the first time (maybe a week after we first met) my director, Nelah, looked at me and said, “Oh my God… your entering act two in real life!”… Needless to say, but Nelah (one of my many adopted moms) approved… and now she looks back on this play and claims that it actually conical my life  more than anything else… I guess it’s pretty poetic when I also tell you it’s the last time I’ve appeared on stage.

To give you an idea to what Nelah meant… here is a clip from Act 1 Scene 4 ‘Men Who Talk and the Women Who Pretend They're Listening’.  Although this isn’t from my production, I’m the ‘aerodynamic engineering’ guy… I also apologize for the spotty camera work, but this is the best version of this scene on YouTube (a website that was launched in 2005).  Also, if you make it to the end for the musical number ‘Why? Because I’m a Guy’, you won’t be disappointed.

Also in the first Act is this great scene titled ‘He Called Me’… although… when watching this scene you should reverse the roles and imagine me in the pajamas… but make them manly blue pajamas. 

Why? 

Well, I had a great time on my first date with Serena… I was really taken with her, but I didn’t get the ‘I’m interested’ vibe back from her.  And I also jumped the gun… I tried to plan our second date during our first date (horror!)… I invited her over to my place for dinner and a movie… and… well… at the end of our first date it was kind of awkward and Serena only offered me a hand shake… I walked away feeling pretty confident that I would never hear from Serena again.

The very next day… she called me:

So… that gives you a little flavor of the whole dating portion of the show… now for the final scene of Act 1: Wedding Vows.  I played the part of the groom… and keep in mind… Serena was in the audience.

 

Which brings us to Act 2… all about marriage… and my three musical numbers that Nelah says predicted the next phase of my life… I played the father/husband in all three:

Act 2, Scene 2: Whatever Happened to Baby's Parents?

Act 2, Scene 4: The Family that Drives Together...

 

Act 2, Scene: Shouldn't I Be Less In Love With You?

No… despite as it may seem from this post 2005 wasn’t “I Love You, You’re Perfect, Now Change’… it was simple the underscore.  2005 was the year I met Serena and my life changed for forever… for the better… and besides there being a lot of rain I don’t really remember anything else about that year.

Day 908: Year in Review – 2004

Well… in the Fall of 2004, Serena finished her assignment in Kenya, all the while dreaming of some dreamy guy who would sweep her off her feet in 2005.

Speaking of feet… for me, 2004 was all about playing Paul in ‘Barefoot in the Park’… if you haven’t figured it out by now, theatre folk have a tendency to associate time with the productions they worked on.  2004 also marked the last time I did that.

Starting in 1993 with ‘Balcony Scene’, for the next eleven years I associated time with productions.  1994 was ‘M*A*S*H’, 1995 was ‘MacBeth’, 1996 with ‘Glen Garry Glen Ross’,  1997 was ‘Last Supper, 1998 was ‘True West’ and ‘Angels in America’, 1999 was ‘America Hurrah’, 2000 was ‘MarsQuest’, 2001 was ‘Don’t Drink the Water’, 2002 was ‘Mona!’, 2003 was ‘It’s a Wonderful Life, and 2004 was ‘Barefoot in the Park’… as for 2005?  Well… you’ll have to wait for my next post for the answer to that one, but I’ll tell you this… I won’t be telling time through productions anymore.

Today I think I’ll let my man Conan give us the skinny on 2004:

Day 907: The Oscar Race, 2010

Okay, so as you all know I LOVE movies… and if you’ve been reading SchutzHappenes for the last year or so, you’ll know that I also follow the Oscars very closely.  It’s a sport for me… or an addiction… which is maddening.  But it’s my madness and I will own that.

Most years I wait until the Oscar Nominations are announced and then I watch as many movies on the list as possible before the big show… last year was only the second time I had successfully seen all the Best Picture nominations prior to the broadcast and since there were 10 last year, I didn’t have the chance to anything nominated in other categories… best foreign film, documentary, or even the best acting categories… which is always a bummer… for me.

Also, looking back over the last four years (since I put on the hat of father) my general movie consumption has become limited children’s movies (for Grayson), romantic comedies (for Serena), and my once a year Oscar Nomination marathon (which Serena merely tolerates as a loving wife)… what I’m trying to say is this: I no longer have a good base from which to judge the nominations.  I can only compare the films actually nominated with other films that are nominated!  I have no point of reference for the movies NOT nominated… left out… snubbed… and historically… some of my favorite movies and performances never made the Oscar Cut.  Like one of my all time favorite movies, “You Can Count on Me” was snubbed for Best Picture!  How did Jean Reno not get nominated for ‘Leon: The Professional’?  And why are comedies like ‘Shan of the Dead’ and ‘The Hangover’ constantly left out of the mix?  The fact that Damon Waynes was snubbed for one of the greatest comic performances of all time is a travesty. 

What performance you ask?  Well… I’m talking about ‘Major Payne’… of course! 

Can you imagine?  And let me tell you a secret about acting.  It is a heck of a lot harder to be funny than it is to be dramatic.  All actors are dramatic.  But not all are funny.

Anyway… I’m going to step off my soap box now and focus on what’s important:  Oscar eligible movies… which are really any movie released in the United States in 2010.  Now… I’ve counted… and at the end of the year I’d seen 24 eligible movies.  I know… that probably sounds like a lot.  But I should tell you, I only saw 4 of those with my family around: ‘Toy Story 3’, ‘How to Train Your Dragon’, ‘Eat Pray Love’, and ‘Sex and the City 2’… the good news is that I enjoyed the movies I watched with Grayson. 

Where did I see the rest?  Would you believe I saw 12 of the 24 on airplanes last year?  Seriously.  12 movies on airplanes: ‘Alice in Wonderland’, ‘Date Night’, ‘Percy Jackson & The Olympians’, ‘Dinner with Schmucks’, ‘Shutter Island’, ‘The Last Airbender’, ‘The Sorcerer’s Apprentice’, ‘The Other Guys’, ‘Valentine’s Day’, ‘Diary of a Wimpy Kid’, ‘Get Him to the Greek’, and ‘Nowhere Boy’.

As for the other 8?  Well, I watched them during my down time in Pakistan: ‘Hot Tube Time Machine’, ‘Iron Man 2’, ‘Kick-Ass’, ‘Prince of Persia’, ‘Robin Hood’, ‘Salt’, ‘Scott Pilgrim vs. The World’, and ‘’A-Team’.

So… why am I telling you all this?  Well… because this is the Oscar Race and I only have 46 days left.  The Oscars air on February 27^th and I aim to see as many 2010 Oscar Eligible Movies as possible.  My goal?  60 Movies.  That’s right!  60!  And I’m just over halfway there.

Since arriving back in Pakistan I have seen 7 more eligible movies: ‘Inception’, ‘The Social Network’, ‘4.3.2.1’, ‘The Town’, ‘True Grit’, ‘Animal Kingdom’, and ‘The Fighter’.

60 movies.  Only 29 left to see in 46 days.  I can do it?  God only knows!

And what happens on Oscar Sunday? 

SchutzHappens. 

I’m going to enjoy the Oscars live (Monday morning my time) sipping coffee while posting live on facebook & twitter… and on the blog, I’ll post my Top 25 Movies of 2010 List! 

Why 25?  That sound pretty excessive doesn’t it?  Well… I’m going to do 25 because everyone in the world does a top 10 list… and they almost always contain the same movies… most of them deserving… but almost always the same.  So, I thought about doing a top ten list of Oscar snubbed movies… but then I thought it would be unfair to neglect nominated movies that from my list even if they were deserving… and at the same time it would be unfair to ONLY honor movies that happened to be nominated.  So, I settled on 25 and only 25.  No secondary lists for best performances or any other sub-category nonsense… simply the best all around 25 movies of the year. 

I predict that my list will be much more diverse than most… and you might need to update your Netflix queue when I’m done!

BTW:  I have added an additional page to my blog to track my progress.  The link is just below the title.

Peace!

Day 905: Year in Review – 2003

Man!  The Anderson Cooper special on 2003 is ultra depressing yet again… Time to recruit the talents of Jon Stewart.

But first, 2003 was actually a pretty nice year for me.  Work was good and I had started acting a lot more than I had in the previous two years.  I was called upon twice to replace actors who were fired less than two weeks prior to opening night: Quincy in ‘Dracula’ and George Bailey in ‘It’s a Wonderful Life’.  As you can imagine, learning all of George Bailey’s lines and blocking (where I move on the stage) in such a short amount of time was pretty nerve racking… especially since the only time I left the stage was intermission.  Think what you will about me being in alone Pakistan… but nothing is more stressful or rewarding than taking stage under rehearsed and pulling it off… that’s the kind of stress that makes you feel alive.  Other than the theatre, I’ve yet to experience anything like it (expect for the time Serena, Grayson, and I narrow missed being involved in an accident with a tractor-trailer on I-75… but that’s a different story).

Anyway, it was really fun and in a lot of ways, theatrically speaking, I had finally settled back into the kind of reputation I had left behind in Charleston… back then I had a very similar experience stepping into the role of Louis in ‘Angels in America’ (a three hour play) two months into the rehearsal process, with only two weeks to go.  Then in Atlanta, without really trying, I had somehow regained my reputation of being dependable and good under pressure… a combination that doesn’t always go together in the theatre world.  It felt really good.

But enough about me… I bet you’re wondering what Serena is up to during this time.  Well… I neglected to mention in my 2002 review, but Serena had joined the Peace Corp as a Small Enterprise Development volunteer in Kenya, a two and a half year commitment.  By 2003 she had finished her training, was fluent in Kiswahili and was working on a USAID funded project aimed at natural resource conservation and management, looking specifically at indigenous resources and methods of using the resources to generate income while supporting conservation efforts… but it was her stories about being attacked by a hippo and an elephant that stole my heart.

Take it away Jon (Sorry, the embedded link wasn't working:

http://www.thedailyshow.com/watch/mon-november-9-2009/decade-in-review---2003

Day 904: Christmas Eve and Santa

Christmas Eve this year was an amazing special event.  We spent the afternoon and evening with some friends who have kids close to Grayson and Gilliam’s age… and as a whole their just good company. 

However, as fun as the evening was as a whole, one thing happened that capped my night in a very special way.

When it was time to go, Grayson was still playing and he wasn’t all that excited to leave.  While Serena got Gilliam organized and started negotiating with Gray I took all of our stuff outside and started organizing the car. 

It was cold… My hands were full… I was fumbling around with my keys… I finally unlocked the car and opened the truck… and just as I began placing our bags inside Grayson came running towards me like the house was on fire, his face as serious as a heart attack, “Dad!  Dad, quick!  We have to go!”  He grabbed the handle to the car, flung it open, climbed inside and began buckling himself in.  “Come on dad, hurry.”

The whole thing happened so fast it took me completely off guard; after all, about a minute ago he wanted up to stay so he could keep playing.  “Grayson, what’s wrong.”

“Santa, we can’t miss Santa.”

I couldn’t help myself.  I smiled.  My boy was finally the perfect age.  The Santa age… and my wife… well… she is crawly clever when it comes to getting Grayson motivated. 

Anyway, I quickly got the family home and in bed… I curled up with Grayson and we read ‘Twas the Night Before Christmas’… and he quick fell to sleep.

And little did Grayson know… but once he was fast asleep… his Santa gave him a kiss on the cheek… quietly crawled out of bed… and delivered toys to the two best little boys he’s ever known.

Day 903: Year in Review – 2002

Arg!  What a horrible year!  At least the 2001 video reminded me of some nice things… but the video for 2002?  Well… at least there was Hallie Berry’s Oscar win.  If you haven’t seen ‘Monster’s Ball’ you need too.  It’s a rough movie and there is a sex scene more uncomfortable than the one in ‘Brokeback Mountain’… but Hallie’s performance, alongside Peter Boyle, Billy Bob Thornton, and Health Ledger is nothing less than astonishing. 

And you know?  I realize that a lot of people think I am goofy when it comes to my obsession or take on entertainment.  I find entertainment a very interesting escape for people… and frankly, when times are tough in the more unlikely things happen in the entertainment world that captivates people and gives them hope.  As goofy as it sounds… in 2002, we needed ‘American Idol’ and we needed someone to root for… we needed Kelly Clarkston.  There was something oddly special about the first season of ‘American Idol’… the show itself is a bizarre mix of escapism and reality… it was just what we needed at the time.

Anyway, here is what 2002 looked like from where I stood:

Day 902: The Sheer Randomness of it All WINS!

Pins and needles, right?  I know you are all wondering about the SchutzHappens poll… you know the one… about your favorite parts of my ever meandering blog?  Right?  You know…

You have no idea what I’m talking about do you?

Well, who cares, on to the results:

·         The Sheer Randomness of it All!!!!   (71%)

o   Hurray!

·         Hearing about Traveling and Life in the Foreign Service  (61%)

o   Hmmm… I guess you guys are right… I did start this blog to talk about life in the Foreign Service.  However… being a diplomat isn’t as cool as you might think.  It sounds awesome until you’re actually the one traveling for more than 24 hours at a pop multiple times a year.  That said… I do have some good stories coming your way.

·         Observations of Strange Holidays  (52%)

o   I am proud to report that my entry about ‘Take Your Teddy Bear to Work Day’ is now my second most read blog entry ever.  How awesome is that!  And Joe Bear and I were actually reunited on Christmas! 

·         Stories about Family and Fatherhood  (38%)

o   Besides the Foreign Service experience thing, talking about family was the other main motivator for this blog.  I’m afraid, regarding this subject, that my tone may have gotten a bit melancholy… but that is to be expected, after all we were apart for four and a half months.  BUT!  I back from my first R&R and I’m recharged with plenty of Grayson hugs and Gilliam kisses to get me through the second phase of my unaccompanied tour!  And I have some GREAT Christmas stories for you guys.

·         Epically Long Stories that Never Get to the Point  (38%)

o   Seriously.  I promise to finish ‘The Chair’ this year.  It’s my New Year’s Resolution and I’m really good about my New Year’s resolutions.  Like the time I gave up caffeine… umm… bad example.  Oh, I know!  Like when my resolution was to dress more professionally… er… take myself more seriously?  Yeah… resolutions aren’t really my strong suit. 

·         Wacky Websites and Videos  (33%)

o   What can I say?  They make for good filler when I’m feeling uninspired.  Would you rather I go silent?

·         JP’s Obsession with Movies and TV  (28%)

o   Again.  This one hurts.  Especially with the Oscars right around the corner.  But I will point out again, my post on the Emmy’s and Chritine Baranski is STILL my most read post in SchutzHappens history!  And did I mention Oscar season?  Hold onto your potatoes… it’s going to be a Movie Bonanza up in here!

But… beyond the poll one thing is for certain.  There are a lot of folks from all walks of life reading my blog.  And judging from the 10 most read entrees (scroll all the way down to the bottom of the page) I would NEVER in a million years be able to predict what you guys enjoy reading about… which is why I am so happy to know what you all appreciate the most: the sheer randomness of my mind.

Have a great one everybody!