Reefer Madness

While Phoenix isn't known for it's art scene, this year I've made it a point to seek out more cultural experiences in town. The latest is Nearly Naked Theatre's production of Reefer Madness: The Musical. This was the second of NNT's I've seen -- the last being their production of As Bees In Honey Drown.

NNT stages their production in the Phoenix Little Theatre -- located in the Phoenix Art Museum complex, the Phoenix Little Theatre is a small, intimate space that puts the audience almost on top of the actors. Seating a little under 150, I was pleased to find out that the weekend's shows were sold out.

Reefer Madness is a perfect show for NNT - it's campy and goofy, which lends itself to a relatively inexperienced cast. NNT is clearly a labor of love an Phoenix can use more of those.

Flicks

Alex just posted Entertainment Weekly's list of Top 100 movies in the last 25 years. The meme is to bold the movie if you've seen it, place asterisks next to the ones you really love (I've rated them from 1-3 with * with 3 being the highest) and cross out the ones you hate.

1. Pulp Fiction 1994
2. The Lord of the Rings trilogy 2001-03***
3. Titanic 1997
4. Blue Velvet 1986
5. Toy Story 1995*
6. Saving Private Ryan 1998
7. Hannah and Her Sisters 1986
8.The Silence of the Lambs 1991**
9. Die Hard 1988
10. Moulin Rouge 2001***
11. This Is Spinal Tap 1984
12. The Matrix 1999**
13. GoodFellas 1990
14. Crumb 1995
15. Edward Scissorhands 1990*
16. Boogie Nights 1997
17. Jerry Maguire 1996**
18. Do the Right Thing 1989
19. Casino Royale 2006
20. The Lion King 1994*
21. Schindler’s List 1993
22. Rushmore 1998***
23. Memento 2001
24. A Room With a View 1986
25. Shrek 2001*
26. Hoop Dreams 1994
27. Aliens 1986**
28. Wings of Desire 1988
29. The Bourne Supremacy 2004*
30. When Harry Met Sally… 1989*
31. Brokeback Mountain 2005***
32. Fight Club 1999
33. The Breakfast Club 1985**
34 Fargo 1996*
35. The Incredibles 2004*
36. Spiderman 2 2004*
37. Pretty Woman 1990
38. Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind 2004
39. The Sixth Sense 1999**
40. Speed 1994
41. Dazed and Confused 1993
42. Clueless 1995**
43. Gladiator 2000**
44. The Player 1992
45. Rain Man 1988*
46. Children of Men 2006
47. Men in Black 1997
48. Scarface 1983
49. Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon 2000**
50. The Piano 1993
51. There Will Be Blood 2007
52. The Naked Gun: From the Files of Police Squad 1988*
53. The Truman Show 1998
54. Fatal Attraction 1987
55. Risky Business 1983
56. The Lives of Others 2006
57. There’s Something About Mary 1998*
58. Ghostbusters 1984**
59. L.A. Confidential 1997
60. Scream 1996*
61. Beverly Hills Cop 1984
62. sex, lies and videotape 1989
63. Big 1988*
64. No Country For Old Men 2007
65. Dirty Dancing 1987**
66. Natural Born Killers 1994
67. Donnie Brasco 1997
68. Witness 1985
69. All About My Mother 1999
70. Broadcast News 1987
71. Unforgiven 1992
72. Thelma & Louise 1991
73. Office Space 1999
74. Drugstore Cowboy 1989
75. Out of Africa 1985
76. The Departed 2006
77. Sid and Nancy 1986
78. Terminator 2: Judgment Day 1991*
79. Waiting for Guffman 1996*
80. Michael Clayton 2007
81. Moonstruck 1987
82. Lost in Translation 2003
83. Evil Dead 2: Dead by Dawn 1987
84. Sideways 2004
85. The 40 Year-Old Virgin 2005
86. Y Tu Mamá También 2002
87. Swingers 1996**
88. Austin Powers: International Man of Mystery 1997**
89. Breaking the Waves 1996
90. Napoleon Dynamite 2004
91. Back to the Future 1985*
92. Menace II Society 1993
93. Ed Wood 1994
94. Full Metal Jacket 1987
95. In the Mood for Love 2001
96. Far From Heaven 2002
97. Glory 1989
98. The Talented Mr. Ripley 1999*
99. The Blair Witch Project 1999
100. South Park: Bigger Longer & Uncut 1999**
I've seen most of them, hated a few, loved several.

Denver Recap part 1

Now that I've had a chance to recover from my trip to Denver, here's the scoop. Not only was this my first trip to Denver, as well as my first chance to visit my friend Paul (on the right) since he moved back to Denver several years ago (he's visited Phoenix a few times in that span), but it was also my first chance to meet Paul's partner, Michael (on the left), in person. We've gotten to know each other via e-mail, chat and over the phone, but it was a great experience being able to meet someone in person and have the friendship already be there in part and yet take a more concrete form.

Denver had a very familiar feel -- it's a western city and felt like a combination of being in Phoenix and Flagstaff at the same time. Unlike being in Philly, where I took the train almost everywhere we went, Denver was very car based, although we did think about taking the light rail at one point... but we never quite made it. It's a difficult mindset to change in the west -- whereas some of the people I met in Philly didn't even own cars.

I had heard many good things about Denver's downtown. Coming from Phoenix, I'm always interested in experiencing more of a big city feel, as Phoenix's downtown has never been very interesting. I was impressed with the architecture of Denver's art museum, which is much more adventurous than anything we have currently in Phoenix. I also liked the open, grassy plaza areas around the capitol and city hall. Having open, enjoyable public space is a very good thing. Phoenix, take note.

Another similarity between Philly and Denver is the availability of funnel cake. I had never heard of such a thing before my trip to Philly, which rather surprised Eric. I guess the closest Arizona equivalent that I am aware of would be Indian Fry Bread. No matter where you go, if you're at some sort of outside fair, there must be plenty of fried dough available in one form or another. For the record, I didn't eat any funnel cake, though I did end up having a sopaipilla at Little Anita's for lunch. (The sopaipilla was good, the rest of the food -- not so good.)

Marc's Midweek 'Redrum' Beef Haiku

All work and no play
sure does make Jack a dull boy.
Hey, here is Johnny!

Back Home

I'm back home after several days in Denver. Took most of today to get caught up with sleep. I'll write more about the trip tomorrow.

Rocky Mountain High

I'll be heading to Denver for the first time tonight to visit my friend Paul (and his wonderful partner, Michael) for his birthday and to catch Denver Pride over the weekend. I plan on taking plenty of pictures and hopefully there will be lots of salacious bits that I couldn't possibly blog about.

Marc's Midweek HUNKY HELO Haiku

My HUNKY HELO,
always so super sweaty.
Let me lick you clean!

OMFGBBQ!

HOLY FUCKING SHIT IT'S HOT TODAY!

Apocalypse

So it's almost 10pm on June 16, 2008. Gays began marrying at 5:01pm in California, not long after the California Supreme Court's ruling that struck down the state's ban on gay marriage. God's retribution was swift and sure, as several large meteors devastated the Golden State, wiping out most of the state's large population centers. To make sure He wasn't missing anyone, the Divine mutated most of the state's agriculture to turn the rest of the population into monstrous, flesh eating zombies. The Rev. Fred Phelps, of Westboro Baptist Church, finally having been vindicated after many long years of being called a hate-crazed lunatic, issued a statement: "I told you so. We were right about the gays, now maybe you'll believe me when I tell you that God hates shrimp."

Wait a second... I guess that didn't happen -- it was an odd amalgamation of the plots of Deep Impact and The Happening ("oh. my. god. we're. all. going. to. die. *yawn*") that came in a dream I had during a nap I took earlier. Heh. The funny thing is that the picture of Meteor Crater comes from a funky creation science website that strives to help push creationism into public schools. This is, of course, preposterous, as we all know that the Earth and all of creation was touched by the FSM's noodly appendage. When will these heathens see the Divine noodly goodness of the FSM? Fortunately, the FSM is much more merciful than some of the other false gods out there.

Bloom

One of the things I've been noticing lately, as spring turns to summer in Phoenix, is the desert plants in bloom. When you hear the word "desert," generally the idea of some dry, barren wasteland comes to mind... even to me. Life has evolved some pretty prickly defenses in order to survive in a place where water is scarce. Even with all the spines and thorns, even the sharpest of these still ends up blooming -- I guess that's what's really spoken to me -- the juxtaposition of all the thorns and needles to keep things away and the flowers designed to draw things in.


I guess that in some ways I see myself as one of those cacti -- having spent a lot of my life developing defenses to keep people at bay... and at times, forgetting that I was still designed bloom. These days I'm working on having more flower, less thorn.

The Latest

I've been a little quite lately here on the blog -- I haven't really felt inspired to post lately, so I figured I'd just let things sit for a bit. Nothing earth shattering going on -- I'm heading to Denver in a little under two weeks, which is exciting. Aside from that, I'm working on a new CD, which always takes a while.


One thing that I've really enjoyed getting involved with is a site called Kiva -- essentially, it's a program that makes microloans to individuals and groups in developing countries. The cool part about it is that it allows individuals to sign up to fund the individual loans in whole or in part. For example, a bunch of different people might come together to loan money to a group of farmers in Bolivia to buy more land and equipment to help farm... not just a nameless, faceless group, but THIS group of farmers pictured on the right.

What I love about this program is that instead of donating money to a charity and feeling like it's a drop in the bucket and wondering if it really makes a difference, you get to see exactly who you're helping and where the money goes. What makes it even more satisfying is that you also get to see as they repay the loans month by month, which lets you know that this program really is making a difference. Maybe it doesn't solve the world's problems all at once, but it's moving forward bit by bit. The other cool part is that once the loan is repaid, the amount you contributed is returned, so you can lend it again to someone else. It just keeps cycling through over and over again.

For me it's been a great reminder that change often comes in small steps like that, instead of big leaps. Sometimes I lose sight of that in my own life, as I keep hoping for those big leaps instead of being willing to keep taking those smaller steps. It all makes a difference.

And you too can make a difference (perhaps to this group of farmers or someone else) by visiting Kiva.

Vamp

The woman is 81 years old and still amazing. I confess that I don't know much of her music -- but I went simply to experience such an iconic performer.

The night started out a bit rocky as Adam and I were seated next to older women (on each side) who thought that they needed to hum along (off key and rather loudly) to the Symphony's entire opening set. I was also admonished not to take pictures inside Symphony Hall, despite the fact that I had turned the flash off.

After the intermission (where Adam and I remarked on how eclectic the crowd was), we moved a few rows ahead where there were no humming old women. It made quite a difference.

The audience gave Eartha a wonderful response when she came on -- she wore a black velvet dress with a slit down the left side... after all these years she still looks amazing. What impressed me most was that time doesn't seem to have really have changed who she is or what she does -- I was struck by her warmth, charisma and the fact that she is still a vamp at age 81. That's damn impressive.