Welcome to town boys!

Rafael Soriano, making his seventh Spring Training appearance, gets the starting nod tonight at 7:05 PT, when the Mariners go up against the San Diego Padres' Triple-A affiliate, the Portland Beavers.

The sun is shining. It is 60 degrees. I got Centerfield playing on the MP3 player.

Someone tell me why I'm at work?

I recommend the new Mariner's commercials for your edification. I'm torn between the Kollectors and Epidemic.

To blog or not to blog

I am not a writer.

There.

I'm just not.

But I do so want to communicate. And I often find an interesting sort of peace when the things swirling in my head are finally articulated. A peace that is at times more powerful when it is articulated by someone else.

I’ve had three epiphanies in one week. No. That’s not the right word. See? Not a writer. We’ll just call them really, REALLY cool moments. At least until I figure it out.

One of them I want to tell you about. A play that stopped me in my tracks.

Pause for a moment while I reflect on the nature of Theatre. One of the compelling things about theatre is that it is a live (alive?) and dynamic medium. But for me that is also a real bitch. I can’t rewind or suggest a friend NetFlix it.

As a thespian I have great respect for The Script. That might be why I prefer Shakespeare. The guy kinda knew how to write and no one involved in a production is going to discount it. Which is why new works intrigue the hell out of me and playwrights doubly so. They are Writers. How do they string together such language? Line after line of perfect word choices that effortlessly articulate something deep in my core?

I usually get about one of those experiences a year. When a play is so great my mind can not let go. Angels in America by Kushner, Betrayal by Pinter, Arcadia by Stoppard. Last year it was Faust.Us. by a Portland playwright and in 2003 it was a play called Outrage by some guy younger than me from Berkeley. Well, Portland, he’s back and he brought us a world premier!

Here’s the press on Celebrity Row:

Fact:
The most secure prison in America is ADX-Florence, a.k.a. Colorado Supermax, a.k.a. the Alcatraz of the Rockies. It once held The Unabomber, Ted Kaczynski, Oklahoma City bomber Timothy McVeigh, Latin Kings gang leader Luis Felipe and World Trade Center bomber Ramzi Yusef, all on the same floor, at the same time.

Fiction:
In this brilliant, hilarious and free ranging epic, Itamar Moses {Outrage} imagines what might have transpired in the one hour a day that these prisoners were allowed access to each other. As seen through the eyes of the prison educator, Maze Carroll, these conversations morph into a humorous and excoriating examination of the freedoms we trade away for "security."

But this is not just a story of four sociopathic men - indeed it is the sole female character that we come away wanting to know more about. As an audience, we are not forced to take a side or a stance. The playwright simply suggests that we stop and THINK about what is at stake in light of these men’s actions.

I can’t explain much more. I wish more people could experience it. But maybe you can find a local production of one of his plays or at least experience his writing. Remember the name - Itamar Moses. Destined for greatness I tell you! Or perhaps already achieved it.

Oh...BABY!

I know the world is changing rapidly and that I am becoming the over 30 person my younger self swore never to trust. I know this because I'm increasingly horrified by what is available on the internet. An 18 year-old friend introduced me to My Space...SCARY! But then, in surfing for FloraFloraFlora's upcoming baby shower I found this. Really? Are there people out there just dying for a skull fleece baby hoodie? Is grandma hoping to purchase a Guns N' Roses thermal onesie? I'm sure every baby needs a Ramones bib?????

Wait...maybe I'm not so old and crotchety...I think the rosebud needs Converse All-Star Baby High Tops!!!

Mexican is the new Irish

I love St Patrick's day. I loved it when I was little and it meant I had an excuse to wear green from head to toe and pinch others who did not. I liked it when I got older and guys would try to kiss me because I obviously WAS Irish.

Now I love it because in Portland it's as big a holiday as Christmas in some ways. I will admit that I don't love the total insanity that generally happens by later in the evening down by the river ( I read that there were 24 DUIs that evening), but I do love how people come out of the woodwork to drink and celebrate - whether they have any Irish in them or not.

This year Amadan was coming out from their four month hiatus to play, so I geared up to join the crazies. Jane had given me their CD a while back but this was my first live show. She and I made careful plans to jet over to Kells ("If you can't go to Ireland, go to Kells") directly after work in hopes of beating the mile long lines. Thankfully, Amadan had a fairly early set, so we didn't have to contemplate the midnight madness. We did it too. We made it to the front tent around 5. The line still went halfway around the block, but I'm told it could have been worse. (It felt a little like waiting the Star Wars movie lines, only instead of light sabers there people with shamrock headband antennae and green pants) .

Amadan was fantastic, some would have been appalled by the none-too-careful sound engineering. You couldn't hear Naoyuki or his fiddle at all. (yes, a short Asian-Canadian os the fiddle player for the Irish band from Portland. How could I not love these guys. Jane introduced me to her buddies Mark and Katie, said hi to the band and positioned ourselves right in front of the stage, where we proceeded to jump around like idiots for the next hour and a half.

So much fun. Highlights included:
- A very drunk indonesian guy with a rat tail climbing on stage... he was ignored, and eventually, his wife just pulled him back down
- Some enthusiastic, drunk, kilted male dancers behind us slammed into Katie and I one too many times, resulting in a surge of testosterone that sent Mark slamming back into them - with a bit more force and intent. His message was clear. While on one hand, I don't love the method, I was glad he did it - dirty looks and polite requests weren't working. He went back and chatted with them before we left, too, just to make sure all was ok. Whatever. Boy stuff. Don't get it, but I appreciated it. I'm sure Mark enjoyed getting to be manly and protective for three girls, too.
- Got a hug from Jeremy. What a cool guy. Didn't realize that he was in the band...doh!

We left after their set, and Jane and I handed off our insanely expensive entrance bracelets to some girls that seemed cool and were stuck at the end of the line, since we were going home. Then the four of us decided to end the night. . .at a Mexican Restaurant down on third and Alder. There Mark and Jane had what was, in retrospect, probably a somewhat inappropriate argument about immigrant rights.

Yup. So after that, Katie and Mark went back to the Fest, and Jane and I went home to our respective furry friends. But man, what a good night! And I was comfortably in bed with my book by 9:30! Is that sad or fabulous?

So yeah. Happy St Paddy's to all and to all a goodnight.

New Kid on the Block

Oh oh oh oh oh
Oh oh oh oh

We're on week two in the new office (much of it spent away from my desk in training...grrr) and while I can tell I'm going to be very happy there - we're in a transitional period. Connecting with the different folks. Two I've worked with before (bonus). One I worked with on a project team a while back. One, well, I don't know him but I stage managed his wife in a show the year they first started dating. Oh, and I went to high school with my approver's wife. Weird.

So now I need to connect and bond as it were. I've already found the Eddie Izzard fans so that's all good. And just as my old team prepares their annual American Idol brackets, my new team sucks me in to basketball. I didn't want to be a stick in the mud but I must be the most unqualified person to pick a bracket ever. I don't watch and could probably only name about 3 teams. But I was intrigued when told that, get this, I don't have to watch the games or know anything!

My theory on basketball is that nothing is ever decided until the last 5 minutes anyway. And most of the time I miss the 5 minutes because I can't be bothered. But this could work.

I did my homework and went here, here, and here. I came up with a bracket (thanks N, heavily relied on your suggestions and took Texas all the way but changed a minor few others that, well, I liked the sound of better...).

We'll see how I do but when I checked this afternoon I had 4 right and 1 wrong. In my world that's batting .800!!! Not bad for a rookie.

What me worry?

Happy Ides everyone!

Stay safe.

Kiss Me I'm Irish

What's that you say?

You aren't Irish?

But St. Patrick's Day is coming up! Everyone is Irish on that day!

But what should people call you then on Friday?

Go here to find out!

-Rosheen Guinness

There's a DVD?

Harry


Which Harry Potter Character are you?
brought to you by Quizilla

Stop the insanity

I'm refering to the insanity that is the aerial tram project in Portland. The plan to connect a new OHSU building in the new "south waterfront district" (SoWa? So what?) to the main hospital on top of pill hill. Besides the obvious question of why cities like to build their life saving medical facilities in hard to get to places why is a tram the only option to fix this??? Now we fin that the cost has more than tripled in three years to $55 million before the first bricks have been laid.

Personally, I've been in denial about the whole thing. I mean, SUCH a stupid idea. They can't be serious! Can they? Is this monstrosity really to come about?

I guess I issue this as a warning to all those who love our fair city but were otherwise unaware.

Cuter than Clooney

I took these Monday night of darling little Luci:

Hail to the Clooney

All these years I've never gotten it. Really, I tried but never understood. I went to see Syriana on Thursday and then watched the Oscars last night. Now I'm imagining his inaugural address. How did I get here?

Clique Here...

In reading the local free newspaper Willamette Week this week I discovered that Portland is known for more than hipster culture, indie rock bands, Powells, and rain. Apparently we have quite the blogging community as well. The guys at UrbanHonking have been getting recognition from San Francisco to England for their invitation-only blogging community. There is something for everyone!! It even expanded to add a calendar to keep us all informed of where to go and what to do. Too bad I'll be too busy here in front of the computer reading to go anywhere.