'Best of TBH Politoons'
Baron Dave Romm
Minnesota Fringe Festival '05
By Baron Dave Romm
As last week, please forgive the site specific column today. The Minnesota Fringe Festival will be over by the time you read this. Still, many of these performances travel the circuit and might appear somewhere near you. More and more Fringe Festivals are popping up in unlikely places: New York City, Melbourne, Toronto, Vancouver, San Francisco, Philadelphia, Cincinnati... do a web search for your area!
Last time I wrote, I was up to eight of the 168 shows. After attending (and reviewing) 24 of the shows, I was Fringed out and took the last two days of the festival off, to write and contemplate. What follows are my reviews of the best of the shows I've seen since last week. If you want to read all my reviews, go to Dave Romm's reviews on the Fringe site. I'm a tough reviewer, and have only given one show the highest, five star, rating. Also listen to the two most recent Shockwave Radio shows (KFAI audio archive, scroll down to Shockwave) for interviews with performers. At some point, my Fringe page will be ready with the iPod interviews and pictures and more, but there's nothing on the page as yet.
Nibblers: A Musical With Sharks, five stars
"It'll Cook Your Sushi": Sharks just wanna have lunch in this
marvelous musical that takes place in the Mall of America.
Familiarity with the MOA and environs is a major plus, but not
required. Like all good kids' stuff, Nibblers is mainly for adults.
The plot is silly but works. The songs are great. The singing is
great (the two kids are extraordinary). My favorite Fringe show
ever (so far).
Mythed, four and a half stars
"A Girl Made From Flowers": An unpronounceable Welsh myth done with
whimsy and charm. The singing is terrific, the harmony beautiful. A
simple set is transformed by the skill of the actors from a forest to
a house to a bedroom. An easy plot to follow and a delicious feast
for the eyes and ears.
THACO, four and a half stars
"A Critical Hit": (I can't believe I'm the first reviewer to use
that title.) If you ever stayed up all night gaming or still have
friends from high school you play D&D with, you will recognize the
characters in THACO, and one of them might be you. If you don't know
D&D from GURPS, subtract two stars from the rating and go with
someone who will explain the jokes to you. But after the show: The
fast-paced dialog barely gives a half-elf lawful cleric time to
breathe before the next joke comes along. The writing is crisp, the
acting... well, all the guys in the play looked awfully familiar.
So Kiss Me Already, Herschel Gertz, four and a half stars
"...to talk of many things...": Amy's life once again becomes fodder
for an hysterical (in more than one sense of the word) one-woman
play. Her Jewish teenage angst is well crafted into a monolog that
tugs on the heartstrings and the funnybone, often at the same time.
This play is for all the non-beautiful people who didn't quite fit in
during High School.
Charlie Bethel's Gilgamesh, four and a half stars
"From the Akkadian": Bethel is a terrific storyteller, and it's too
bad he only has an hour to tell this tale. He liberally translates
four thousand year old Akkadian idiom to 21st Century English, making
it clear exactly what went on and to whom and why. You don't have to
know the story for Bethel to make Gilgamesh come alive.
Man Saved By Condiments, four and a half stars
"My car isn't as prepared": A one-man, one-car show. A man is
trapped in his car, with only fast-food detritus for food. Not
generally the stuff of comedy, but Mary Jo Pehl has written an
excellent script performed superbly by Steve Lewis. Don't come
hungry and be sure to go to the bathroom before the show starts.
Soundtrack for the Common Man, four and a half stars
"A traditional revue": Excellent songs excellently sung. There is
no plot, just a sequence of musical numbers that fit just right. I'm
not common enough for the songs to have much personal meaning, but
the adult situations are well-served.
I'm Sorry and I'm Sorry, four stars
"I'm Sorry Too": Brilliantly acted but ultimately unsatisfying. Lots
of laughs and physical comedy that just doesn't go anywhere.
Michigan Disasters, four stars
"A peninsular autobiography": Simple stories of terror, death and
growing up in Michigan... but not at the same time. Tim Uren is good
storyteller and weaves history and geography together. Cornish
mining, Lake Superior maritime disasters and family plots are all
part of this one man show.
Speechless, four stars
"Slow But Engrossing": I interviewed Jessica on Shockwave Radio
(KFAI-FM), but still wasn't prepared. Jessica's one-woman show plucks
emotional moments from her life. She dabs her scenes on a nearly
bare stage, becoming characters through posture and body language:
Handicapped children, fellow mime-school students and others. This
requires the proper serious mindset to appreciate and may not be for
everyone, but actors and teachers will be moved.
London After Midnight, four stars
"An Excellent Penny Dreadful": Loads of Victorian fun as the pulp
fiction of the mid-1800s come alive. Superbly acted as lurid
storylines cross and collide. Rounded down to four stars because
it's NOT a Fringe must see: Encore
performances are scheduled for November and it's the first of a
series of related productions.
Dick Da Tird, four stars
"and didgeridoo too": The two most overused excuses for a Fringe
show are autobiography and Shakespeare, so the collision was
inevitable. Kevin Kling's personal reminiscences are hilarious and
touching. The songs in between sketches are well performed. The
show was a lot of fun... but all the pieces didn't mesh. Still, if
you like Kling, you'll like Dick Da Tird, and if you don't know who
he is this will will serve as a good introduction.
Baron Dave Romm is a conceptual artist and a noble of Ladonia with a radio show, a Live Journal demi-blog, a very weird CD collection and an ever growing list of political links. Dave Romm reviews things at random for obscure web sites. You can read all his music recommendations from Bartcop-E , and you can hear the last two Shockwave broadcasts in Real Audio (scroll down to Shockwave). Thanks to everyone who has sent me music to play on the air.
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Recommended Reading
from Bruce
Steve Ralls: An Army of 41,000 (Advocate.com)
With recruiting shortfalls in the military, the Defense Department needs to look elsewhere. Some estimates say there are 41,000 LGBT Americans who are ready to sign up for duty
Jeff Milchen: Hold the Applause for Amazon.com (AlterNet)
The hugely successful company -- now 10 years old -- contributed to the net loss of more than 2,000 independent book and music sellers during its first decade.
Aleksandra Todorova: A ... Scam You Might Fall For
It might seem like an obvious ruse to seasoned online buyers and sellers, but check fraud was the fourth most common scam cited in a joint report by the National White Collar Crime Center and the FBI in 2004.
ROGER EBERT: Junebug (4 stars)
"Junebug" is a great film because it is a true film. It humbles other films that claim to be about family secrets and eccentricities. It understands that families are complicated and their problems are not solved during a short visit, just in time for the film to end. Families and their problems go on and on, and they aren't solved, they're dealt with.
Roger Ebert's Most Hated
Sometimes, Roger Ebert is exposed to bad movies. When that happens, it is his duty -- if not necessarily his pleasure -- to report them (fairly, accurately) as he sees them. Whether they're so bad they're funny, so bad they're not funny, or so unfunny they're not funny, he must critique them. From bad Elvis to Deuce Bigalow, these are excerpts from reviews of some of the worst movies he's ever seen.
Rachel Kramer Bussel: Full-Frontal Photo Shoots (Adult)
The doubts, fears, and very personal rewards of posing in the buff.
Michael Hodges: Age After Beauty? (out.com)
Kelly hastens to add that he would put his assets to different use: "If I had tons of money, I'd hire people to leave dead animals on [U.S. representative] Tom DeLay's front yard."
Kim Ficera: Don't Quote Me: Jodie Foster and the Great Lesbian Hope (afterellen.com)
Faster than she can say "Tay in the wi-i-i-i-ind," the Lesbian Police will whack Jodie Foster upside her head. She'll be swiftly banished to public relations hell to spend eternity with Chastity, Rosie, Tom, and the most hated lesbian-for-a-moment of all time-Anne Heche.
Reader Suggestion
'The Two Sides of Leonard Nimoy'
In the 60s, This Was "Lord of the Rings" Entertainment!!
And Nimoy didn't even get a stinkin' cameo in
the recent movie series!
A music video of the "hit" single from Nimoy's
1968 album "The Two Sides of Leonard Nimoy".
The Ballad Of Bilbo Baggins
(Multiple sources, same video)
Bilbo
More Bilbo
Still More Bilbo
One More Bilbo
Jeff
Thanks, Jeff!
When the kid was very little that was one of his favorite songs.
It was the song that got sung in the car, and also while sitting on the potty.
Even have a copy of it in wav format - for disciplining purposes.
OTOH, still have my old vinyl copy of 'The Two Sides Of Leonard Nimoy'.
"Twinkle, twinkle little earth,
How I wonder what you're worth?"
Selected Readings
from that Mad Cat, JD
In The Chaos Household
Last Night
Overcast til mid-day, and a bit cooler.
Had a great time on Erin's show, as usual, but, jeez, we never get through half the links.
Portugal's Order of Liberty
U2
Members of U2 received Portugal's Order of Liberty, one of the country's highest honors, on Sunday in recognition of their work for humanitarian causes over the past 25 years.
President Jorge Sampaio presented the medals to vocalist Bono, guitarist The Edge, bassist Adam Clayton and drummer Larry Mullen Jr. in a formal ceremony at the presidential palace before the band's concert in the Portugese capital.
U2
Donating CD Proceeds to African Aid
Robert Plant
Robert Plant is donating proceeds from sales of a four-song CD to an Arizona-based charitable organization that aids people in remote regions of Ethiopia, Mali and Niger.
The former Led Zeppelin frontman has made donations to the group TurtleWill before, but nothing as high profile as his latest gesture.
The four-song CD by Plant's new band, Robert Plant and the Strange Sensation, features performances of "Shine It All Around," "Freedom Fries," "Tin Pan Valley" and "When the Levee Breaks."
Robert Plant
Doctor With An Opinion
Patch Adams
A U.S. doctor known for his signature use of "laughter therapy" and social activism used his acceptance speech for a health care award to blast President George W. Bush and materialism in society.
Dr. Hunter (Patch) Adams, who was the inspiration for the 1998 movie starring Robin Williams, was awarded the first ever Excellence in Health Care Prize presented by the Lima-based Global Organization for Excellence in Health.
Adams, 60, with a gray waist-length ponytail streaked blue, expressed "shame for our fascist president," referring to Bush, and told reporters that the only way global health will improve is if "we stop worshipping money."
Adams expressed his disgust with war in Iraq, offering his sympathy for the "unfortunate soldiers who are serving corporations" there.
Patch Adams
US In Wrong War
Lance Armstrong
Seven-time Tour de France winner and cancer survivor Lance Armstrong on Sunday said the United States, which is embroiled in a costly war in Iraq, should focus more effort on a war facing many Americans -- the one against cancer.
When asked if the United States was doing enough to fight cancer, Armstrong replied: "I think we could spend more money. I think we could spend our money in different places. And I think we could spend our money where it matters to the American people."
Armstrong, who is on the President's Cancer Panel, said that the National Cancer Institute and other U.S. health agencies need more money to better fight cancer.
"This is one of the few years where they have not had more money. As a survivor, I think we would be better spending money on an illness like cancer," said Armstrong, who was diagnosed in 1996 with testicular cancer that spread to his brain and lungs.
Lance Armstrong
Musician Comic
Guy Pratt
Bass guitarist Guy Pratt has backed some of the world's biggest rock acts, and his comedy routine at the Edinburgh Fringe presents a cast of famous characters whose behavior borders on the bizarre.
"Pink Floyd had an ambience coordinator who had two jobs; to obtain narcotics and look after your parents when they came on tour," Pratt said at the world's largest arts festival where acts include The Lady Boys of Bangkok and Puppetry of the Penis.
"(Madonna) was incredibly musical and could talk to musicians in terms they could understand as opposed to Tina Turner, who would say things like 'Could you make it more purple?"'
"Bono's words of advice to the Stereophonics when they were starting out are a classic. He told them 'Next time you go out for dinner, have a look around the table and if everyone is on your payroll, the chances are you have become a pr**k."
Guy Pratt
Book Of Short Stories
Owen King
Owen King may share his father's liberal politics and fervent support for the Boston Red Sox, but the two break ranks when it comes to ghouls, vampires and other denizens of the dark side.
There's no hint of the supernatural in King's debut novella and short stories. Nor is there any mention that the author is the younger son of horrormeister Stephen King and novelist Tabitha King. Instead, the title tale in We're All in This Together is an imaginative and absurdly humorous tale of political partisanship run amok, laced with quirky characters whose bizarre behaviour offers an object lesson in the perils of zealotry.
The book jacket purposefully makes no mention of the author's parentage and contains not a word of accolade from Stephen King, long known for his generosity in trumpeting the books of others.
To Owen King, 28, this reflects a desire to cut his own path and see his work accepted or rejected on its merits. But an even stronger motive, he says, is to dispel any assumption that he is writing in the same genre as his dad.
Owen King
Koreans Try to Save
Cathode-Ray Tubes
Samsung Electronics Co. has an odd sales pitch for one of its new televisions. A slide show for dealers features a drawing of a TV on a tombstone that reads, "The news of my demise is greatly exaggerated!"
The South Korean manufacturer is referring to cathode-ray tube, or CRT, televisions - the heavy boxes that have dominated the business since television was introduced at the New York World's Fair in 1939.
As rival technologies become cheaper, the era of the conventional tube TV is ending.
Yet Samsung and a South Korean rival, LG Electronics Co., are refusing to abandon the old-style tube TVs entirely. They continue trying to improve CRTs even as they and other television makers are building more and more factories that churn out super-thin LCD and plasma televisions.
Cathode-Ray Tubes
Catalogues North Korea's Rhetoric
Geoff Davis
Few can denounce the "imperialist ogre" or "kingpin of evil" as well as the writers at North Korea's official news agency, and a California graphic artist is now cataloguing their rhetorical masterpieces on a Web site.
Pyongyang's official Korean Central News Agency, or KCNA, is the only regular source of the views of the secretive government of Kim Jong-il available to diplomats, journalists and scholars.
But there was no way for them to search the archives of KCNA until Geoff Davis, fighting boredom during a rainy San Francisco spring, decided to hone his Web design skills on a topic he had followed in news reports on the North Korean nuclear crisis.
"Their propaganda is often unintentionally hilarious and I couldn't find an existing searchable database of the KCNA on the Web. Thus, NK News was born," Davis told Reuters.
Geoff Davis
Cartoon Censorship
Piraro
Here's how divisive the United States has become: A liberal cartoonist has to think twice about what he says in his artwork.
That's what caused a glitch in the text of the cartoon Bizarro on Thursday, so that some newspapers printed a cartoon with a reference to gay marriage and others got a much tamer version that made no reference to homosexuality at all.
"As you might expect, I've been dealing with nonstop e-mails from people who either saw both versions and want to know what happened, or saw the gay spouse one and have strong opinions about it," the cartoonist, Dan Piraro, wrote in an e-mail to The Chronicle.
He said his editor at King Features Syndicate (which is owned by Hearst Corp., as is The Chronicle) mentioned to him that he'd been getting a lot of complaints from editors about the cartoonist's left-leaning politics, and that running the cartoon could result in some cancellations.
Piraro said he had a general sense that the nation was more divided politically than ever, and he blamed the Bush administration. Actually, he said the nation was more divided since "The Death Star with Darth Vader" came into power in Washington, but you get the drift.
Piraro
Cartoons In Question
Failed Scots Colony Letters On Display
Panama
Three letters sent by a Scotsman who joined an ill-fated 17th century colony in Panama's remote jungle go on display this week in a reminder of a bizarre adventure that bankrupted Scotland and paved the way for its creation.
The only surviving letters sent home from the Scottish "Darien Venture" in modern-day Panama, which killed more than 2,000 settlers, came to light last year at the National Archives of Scotland as its catalogue was being digitized.
The letters were sent by George Douglas, who was one of 2,500 people who answered an appeal by Scottish financial adventurer William Paterson to establish a colony in Panama as a first step towards controlling and taxing trade between the Atlantic and Pacific from Darien, an inhospitable and remote jungle region even today.
Panama
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