Alexander

Bev, Just wanted to say that I'm a HUGE fan of your dad's work. I went through a stage in the late 90s/early 2000s where I collected every Stan Getz album I could lay my hands on. I'm sure I still don't have nearly everything worth hearing, but I'm very pleased with my collection. It must be wonderful knowing that your dad's music has touched so many lives... I recall that no less a figure than Trane once said of Getz, "We'd all sound like that if we could." Praise doesn't come much higher...

So THAT'S what Jules did after he left to walk the earth...

Best cast EVER.

According to this quiz, I am: Fascinating...

So this kid isn't aware of any films made before, what, 2005? Probably would have slowed things down to rope in every damn character from TOS, particularly April, who's mentioned in some of the technical books but didn't even appear in the series. (Though to get really geeky, they made good use of the character in an episode of the Animated Series.) I always really liked Number One in the first pilot, but then I liked Pike too. I think Jeffrey Hunter would have made a better captain than Shatner, frankly. Talk about a road not taken. Who could they get to play Number One now? Jennifer Connelly? Julia Stiles as Yoeman Rand? I actually think both of those would have been great casting choices! Stiles would make a great Rand! This marks me as an even bigger geek than most, but there is a comic book series out right now called "Star Trek: Crew" that details the life of Number One from the pilot episode from her graduating from the academy up to her joining the crew of the Enterprise. Three issues have come out so far and they are excellent!

"But one big beef just from the previews: They're building the Enterprise ON THE GROUND!! Stoooooo-pid!!!! Any moron knows that you build large starships in orbit, fer Chrise-sake!" Moreover, the Enterprise had been in service for quite some time before Kirk took over as Captain. There had been at least TWO Enterprise captains before Kirk: Robert April and Christopher Pike. The film had Pike (who was Captain in the original pilot, played by Jefferey "Jesus" Hunter) but no Number One (the unnamed first officer in the pilot, played by Majel Barrett). I was kind of hoping that they could have worked a little bit of the pilot (or at least the pilot's crew) into the film. I was also a LITTLE disappointed that there was no Nurse Chapel in the film (which means that TWO of Mrs. Barrett-Roddenberry's characters didn't make the cut) and also no Yeoman Rand. Hopefully, this will be rectified in the next film. I can't wait to see what the Klingons look like in this continuity! Will they look like the Original Series Klingons, or the movie Klingons. BTW, I talked to a young girl tonight (a high schooler) who asked if I had liked the film. I said that I thought that it was the best Trek film yet, to which she replied: "I thought this was the only one!" Then I felt OLD.

I was too! I was fully expecting this to suck. I'm so glad it didn't!

Oh, and who else LOVED the fact that young Kirk was rocking out to the Beastie Boys?

SPOILER WARNING - I LOVED the way the film included lots and lots of references to the show. The Red Shirt dying, "Dammit man, I'm a doctor not a physicist!", "I'm givin' 'er all I got!", "Fascinating!", Kirk making out with a green chick, Pine's little Shatner impression on the word "Bones" at the end of the film... It was a Trekker's dream come true! And speaking of daughters... My nine year old recognized Karl Urban, the actor who played McCoy, from his role as Eomer in the Lord of the Rings films! I didn't even recognize him!

The problem I had with First Contact was that it broke with the established continuity of the show. The Borg had been profoundly changed during the last few seasons. They had been infected with the individuality of one Borg who had been captured by the crew of the Enterprise. The next time we saw them, they all had names and individual personalities. Moreover, their ship design had changed (no longer big cubes). In the film, no mention of this. Everything was suddenly back the way it was before: Cube ships, hive mind. The new film also breaks with continuity, but it has a reason (this is a whole new universe). I saw the new film yesterday, btw. BEST...STAR TREK...EVER!!! George Lucas, you've just been OWNED!

Not only was "Tainted Love" a cover, but it's technically a medley of "Tainted Love" and "Where Did Our Love Go"!

My wife and daughter picked up tickets this evening for the 3pm show on the IMAX screen tomorrow. Can't wait! Anybody read "Countdown," the four issue comic book prequel to the movie? I've only been able to find issues two and three, but it looks cool! The idea is that it explains Eric Bana's character and his motivation. So yes, non-comic book readers. You can't just see the movie. You have to read the comic book to know what's REALLY going on. Data works well as Captain of the Enterprise, I thought...

GENIUS!!! Thank you!

Okay. I started acting when I was twelve years old. My very first experience was a professional acting gig in a production of "A Christmas Carol" at the Theatre of Youth (associated with Shea's) in Buffalo, NY. I played the kid who buys a goose for Scrooge at the end of the play (also played the spirit of Ignorance, which appears under the robe of the Ghost of Christmas Present, as well as assorted other "kid" roles in the play), a role I got largely on the strength of my ability to do an English accent. After that, I acted on and off in school and other "youth" theatre productions until I was in college. After college, I gave up acting to focus on other things. Two years ago, I auditioned on a whim for a community theatre company (again, the role demanded an English accent) and I was surprised to get it. Since then, I've been acting on a semi-professional basis. I've done several more community theatre shows (I'm currently rehearsing "Bus Stop"). I'm a member of a professional Improv Troupe (the Mop & Bucket Co.) and I just finished four days in Glens Falls, NY doing a school program with three other actors, all of whom do this for a living. I loved it and I've decided I really want to pursue this. The question is, what's the next step? I don't live in NYC (although I'm only a few hours away). I don't know what I need to do to get into Equity (although I have visted their webpage). I don't have an agent and don't know how one goes about finding one. The thing is that all my life I've been too afraid to risk rejection. But ever since I took the chance on that audition two years ago, things have taken off (relatively), which has proven to me that by taking action you CAN make something happen. So I want to do something, but I'm not sure what to do next. I'm already talking to people about getting some new headshots and making a demo reel for voiceover work (something else I'm interested in). I know we have people in all kinds of fields here. Is there ANYBODY who can give me some advice on how to proceed?

I have both albums and I find them both to be really enjoyable! Kudos to Branford for trying something different!

Yep. Great stuff! A friend of mine is disappointed that Toussaint doesn't sing more on the album, and I suppose he has a point. I'm just enjoying it so much for what it is, I haven't really had time to miss what it isn't!

i'm gonna be brutally honest and then i'll disappear from this conversation... I like BIG women. Like BIG. This is my personal ideal...

Yeah, the deluxe edition didn't offer anything I wanted or needed, so I just stuck with the single disc version. I have that episode of TTR on disc already and I had a feeling that I didn't need to see the Roy Silver Interview. I certainly don't feel like I'm missing out on anything! It's curious though: This makes two BIG strikes on Sony's part when it comes to Bob's most recent releases. Putting out the third disc of the most recent Bootleg Series collection in an expensive hardback book? Putting worthless bonus material in the "deluxe" edition of "Together Through Life"? The funniest thing about the third disc of "Tell Tale Signs" (which is readily available online for those willing to look...not advocating...just saying) is that the booklet that comes with the set speaks in glowing terms of the bootleggers who insisted on hearing everything, whether it was officially released or not. It talks about how we (the listeners) feel that we DESERVED to hear all the stuff Columbia and Dylan were keeping from us. It's like, "Okay...we'll just take that otherwise unavailable third disc to this set, then..."

Only heard it once so far, but I think it's great! Yes, Clem will hate it. So far, my favorite tune is "My Wife's Home Town." Ouch!

The thing is, we can't DO anything about it, so what's the point of freaking out? If freaking out reduced the number of flu related deaths, that would be one thing, but it doesn't. All we can do is take reasonable precautions (wash your hands, don't go touching your nose, eyes, and mouth) and hope for the best. That's it!

Two things spring to mind: One is the advice Bird is said to have given to Miles when Miles first joined his band: "When you make a mistake, do it again. And then do it again. People will think you MEANT to play it that way." The other is one of the principles we study in improv theatre: Celebrate failure. We fuck up ALL the time in improv. It's the nature of the beast. When you're making stuff up as you go, you're bound to fall flat once in a while. When that happens, OWN it! Not only will the audience understand, they LOVE it! They absolutely eat it up when performers make mistakes and don't flinch. It's part of what makes a pro a pro! Think of an acrobat in a circus: Let's say she's doing a triple somersault in the air. She does the somersaults, but when she goes to grab her partner's hand, she misses and falls to the net. Does she climb to her feet cursing and muttering? No! She throws her arms up in the air and does her bow, just as if she had nailed it. And the audience goes WILD. Probably moreso than if she had made it! Mistakes remind the audience of two things: One, we (the performers) are human too. Two, this isn't TV. We are all only here, in this moment, ONCE. Tomorrow night, something else will happen. It's an important thing to remember!

Wait a second. You mean it's not?

Why do pigs hate America?

It may not be YOUR world, but it is THE world and the genie ain't going back into the bottle. We have to learn to deal with it...

Good Copy, Bad Copy Very interesting and timely. Check it out.