26 March
Well, it's been an annoying sixteen hours or so, thank you very much.
I was cleaning out the mounds of cat hair from my keyboard and now my spacebar doesn't work, so I had to borrow Cynthia's keyboard in order to type this, but I'm just going to have to bite the bullet and bring my computer off to be fixed. Unless maybe somebody at work could...nah, I really need to have the "g" and "v" keys replaced, and there's a new Gateway store near where I work, so I'll just have to bring my baby to them and live without a computer for a few days.
Argh!
I'm doing this photo job that I haven't told you about where it was going to be five photos (you know, like it says in the contract) but they ordered twelve instead and am I getting any extra money for it? No, but I'm doing it anyway. Am I getting paid faster because I'm cutting them a break? Sure amen't, 'cause it's not in the contract! But I'm ignoring the contract and doing more, aren't I?
Next time I'll know to be a hardass, or to find out if someone else is going to be a hardass before I am flexible.
And how did the show go last night? Funny you should ask!
It was puttering on as usual, nothing special, until the Guy at the End comes on. Now, the Guy at the End just has this little role, he comes on and says "Okay, the king is ready for you," and Moliere says "Please ask him for more time!" so he goes away and comes back and saying "It's okay, the king says that you don't have to do it." There are a couple more lines than that, but that's the jist of it--he's the deux ex machina that ends the play.
The actor playing the role came in late 'cause we lost somebody, but he was there at the tech, and did the role perfectly normally. He never came to any other rehearsals, but it is a perfectly simple role, and he did it fine, so it didn't matter.
Opening night, he did it just like he did it at tech--perfectly normally. Last night, he seemingly went insane.
He lurched onto the stage, shoving Moliere out of the way, he yelled, he pretended that he had a cold, he changed all of the blocking, he flirted with one of the actresses, and he wouldn't leave!
Moliere was, understandably, fucking livid, and started yelling at the guy practically before he got onto the dressing room. I hate scenes, so I went and hid in the bathroom until he was gone, because I could tell that it was going to be ugly.
When I got home and was telling the story to Cynthia and Fran, I said, "I mean, we all have these bursts of inspiration before our entrances, and it is our job as professionals to suppress them!"
One thing, though, it sure overshadowed the fact that I had forgotten my shoes and had to wear my Birks in a period play, not to mention the fact that I spaced on one of my lines, and by the time I realized that the reason we had stopped was because I was supposed to say something or other, we had moved on.
A tip for actors: if you're going to screw up, be certain that someone else does a much bigger screwup later in the play!
Okay, on a happier note, here are my Oscar picks:
Best Picture
American Beauty
Such an astounding film. And no matter how much I love The Green Mile, which is an awful lot, by golly, I gotta give it to Spacey and Co.
Best Actor
Russell Crowe The Insider
I love Spacey with all of my heart, and I thought that he was brilliant, but when it comes right down to it, it was all just his same old Spacey tricks, you know? Crowe was unrecognizable under that character, and it wasn't showy at all. Best performance of the year, male or female, I think. Though if Richard Farnsworth wins I'll be thrilled, too, because he deserves it not just for giving such a wonderful performance as Alvin Straight but for his body of work.
Best Actress
Hilary Swank Boys Don't Cry
I actually didn't see her performance, but the bits of it that I have seen says Oscar-worthy to me. It's a role that could have come off as showboating, but she just was so real.
Best Supporting Actor
Haley Joel Osment The Sixth Sense
Now, if David Morse was in this category, as he should be, perhaps I'd have a tug-of-war with myself, but since he's not, I can give it to the kids easily. This is not a great child actor, this is a great actor--the best kid since Lucas Black, who never got the recognition that he deserved.
Best Supporting Actress
Angelina Jolie Girl, Interrupted
Now, this was a showy role and a showboating part, but you know what? It fucking rocks. Give it to the fruitcake.
Best Director
Sam Mendes American Beauty
This is a tricky one, because Sixth Sense and Being John Malkovich are plenty deserving as well, but I gotta go with the Englishman.
Best Screenplay Written Directly for the Screen
Charlie Kaufman Being John Malkovich
The award is really called Best Original Screenplay, and by God, this one's original!
Best Screenplay Adapted From Another Medium
Frank Darabont Green Mile
Well, I gotta give my favourite film something!
Best Song
My man Randy Newman, always a bridesmaid, never a bride.
Today's horoscope:
It appears that young family members delight in thwarting you, but they are only testing their will. Turn contests into cooperation.
One year ago today:
...people yet getting angry when vendors would cut us off to the right of us, and into the valley of death rode the six hundred.
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Last Updated Wed 26 March 13:20:09 2000