Black

Stratford's Cabaret
Was quite a disappointment,
All icing, no cake.

Those who know me well know that Cabaret is near and dear to my heart for many reasons. It was unfortunate, then, that this production missed the boat on a great many counts. It spent all of its time trying so hard to be clever -- and even worse, trying to TELL us how clever it was -- that the impact of the story was sacrificed. The whole thing played out with such emphasis on technical gimmickery and "big dance numbers" that the the audience was kept at an arm's length from the characters themselves. A series of missed opportunities ran into another series of missed opportunities; the director seemed to throw things in just for the sake of it -- seemingly "setting rules" for the world she created -- and then threw them out the window just as randomly. And the Emcee? Just a non-entity. Wandered through the show without power over anything, least of all the audience. I'm not saying it's the actor's fault (though I think he was miscast, in any case) since the director didn't seem to want to give his character any focus, any teeth, regardless.

Shadow

The end is in sight,
The writing is on the wall;
I'll soon lose Martha.

Martha's been showing signs of weakness and difficulty quite a bit lately. Gets run down very easily. Drops things without warning. Spotty vision. Which is sad, but not as sad as one might think. Martha's one of my phones (the other is George) and she hasn't been right for some time. I can see that her days are numbered and I'm going to have to have her replaced. So sad. So sad.

Maroon

Tiny rooibos leaves
Drift downward in slow motion;
Suspended beauty.

I noticed how cool and lovely my steeping tea was today in my Tea Master from Teaopia. It completely beats any lava lamp. It also reminded me of American Beauty and the blowing bag scene, to which I could completely relate.

Yellow

Seussical, Jr.
Performed by a happy bunch
Is a joyful thing.

Such fun to watch while a whack of kids put on the show, having a blast doing it. They were great, they were clearly having a great time, and were very much dedicated to the theatre of it Yay, Brenda! Fun!

Atomic Tangerine

A&E felt that
Graphic violence could stay in
But bleeped coarse language.

I was watching A&E's The Andromeda Strain mini-series tonight and found it very odd that, as an A&E co-production, they were fine making the mini-series with some coarse language, but that they weren't fine with showing it without bleeping it. (Okay, it technically wasn't bleeped, it was blanked.) Furthermore, they blanked quite mild language common on network TV. Don't worry, though. Unpleasant scenes of violence (prehaps most notably, a suicide by chainsaw) was apparently permissable.

In the end, I'm undecided about this remake. A lot of updating and story expansion going on. I do have an affinity for the old movie that won't leave because of a hot new version. In any case, I preferred the book to either. (Surprise.) I remember reading it in a single day years ago while at a cottage with the family.

Edited to add: Oh, I forgot to mention that they stopped bleeping/blanking in Part II. Funny.

Green

During a phone call
My dad became excited
Thinking this was me.

Seriously. Mid-conversation (well, really it was a monologue starring him), he suddenly said, "Were you just on TV?" and then realized that, no, it was quite unlikely that I was starring in a big budget movie about the Incredible Hulk.

Okay. I guess I should visit more often.

Wild Watermelon

Mid-afternoon naps
Produce dreams elusive and
Bizarre by nature.