A Heartbreaking Work of Staggering Genius

please take the time to watch this 24:36 min video. it's beyond awesome!!

moot or hooey?

more successful positive world change has been made by individuals than any government in history.

Fat Pig

Neil Labute is the master of uncomfortable. Take the title of his controversial play, Fat Pig. With two, three letter words, he manages to outrage, a clever ploy that dares us to ask him to explain himself. And he does just that, with elegance, fluidity, and intelligence. The title may be a shock value tactic, but the play itself is clever, honest, insightful, and true.

Fat Pig, is a dark comedic look at how we are perceived and how we perceive others. The harsh truths behind who we are, with plenty of cringe in the process.

Labute thrives on exposing human frailty, cowardice, and vulnerability. He's also very good at comedy. His timing is superb. He can throw you into fits of laughter, and have you shifting in your seat, exposed and uncomfortable, before you've taken your next breath.

Director Michael Scholar Jr. has done a great job at staging the play in a way that keeps the audience focused and engaged. The set is minimal and shifts direction, both physically and metaphorically, at several points throughout the performance.

Kathryn Kirkpatrick delivers a brave and stellar performance as Helen, the object of Tom's (Lawrence Haegert) desire and Haegert pulls us in completely with his performance, giving us hope that he'll come through in the end. Jennifer Mawhinney and Aaron Craven's characters (Jeannie, Carter) provide the cringe. Their dialogue is rich with all we try to hide in ourselves.

Fat Pig is a play that everyone should see. If you can get past the title, it's definitely worth the time.

On Stage: Fat Pig

Where: Performance Works, Granville Island

When: May 20 – 30

Tickets: Tues – Thur & Matinees $21.50; Fri – Sat $25.50

contact: 604 684 2787

moot or hooey?

Labute has never drawn from personal experience for any of his characters or stories.

Idol Finale

I think America got it right.

I wanted to see them both win, and in the end, they did.

They are both great singers, but Kris said it himself, that he wouldn't know where to start in doing this on his own.

Now he'll have an entourage of people guiding him through to stardom.

He'll need that. It's a tough road.

Adam, he'll be just fine. He's been in the business long enough to know how to handle himself, and he's sure to get snapped up in a flash, if not by Simon himself.

Like I said before, If the results had been the other way around, I think Kris, for the reason above, would have stood a good chance at getting lost in the crowd as so many talented Idol finalists have done in the past.

That truly would have been a shame. He is one talented guy.

I've been a huge Adam fan from the get go. I accidentally caught Adam's audition one night while channel surfing, and that was that.

Adam will indeed reach "Madonna" status regardless, that, I am sure of.

So no regrets, "it is what it is"

moot or hooey?

Queen is looking for a new front man, and Adam is being considered.

final countdown

what the heck was that?

the grand finale of Idol performances and it just kind of (yawn)...

first, there were the repeat performances.

why?

why on earth, after (a) America and the judges have already given their opinions on the songs long ago, (b) it is the year 2009 and there are a freakin' gazillion crazy wild songs out there to chose from, and (c) with these two guys being as awesomely talented as they are at song choices and interpretations there of, would they ask them for a repeat performance, hmm??

why wouldn't they ask the contestants to pick their all time favourite song and do that instead?

a further glimpse into who they are, what they're capable of, and what we might expect to see on an album.

I'm just saying!

then there were the songs chosen by Simon. not Simon Simon, the other Simon.

I thought they were both ok, but just ok. no fault of the boys though.

both contestants did a great job on their songs, regardless of what the judges said, which brings me to what the judges said.

lol, this is rich.

"didn't like the songs. they weren't lively enough or good enough for this level of competition."

...bah, hahaha, you're kidding... right?

certainly they must realize they had no choice in the matter. that the songs had been hand picked... by a television producer. (a businessman, but I'm sure he's very musical)

I suppose someone had to crash and burn once the blunder was exposed.

and who's gonna bite the hand that feeds them.

last but certainly not least, the dismal DioGuardi song.

next to letting Paula get up on stage and lip sync her new single, that was one of the lamest things Idol has ever done.

poor Kris and Adam.

it wasn't right for either of them, the judges concurred. hmm, and yet somehow...

even Kara's face read clear the unsettling drudgery of the oversight, droning home the element of confusion that clung like hair to a glue ball over the night.

the boys must have been laughing their heads off when they heard that song for the first time.

that's probably where Kris' comment of Adam and him deciding "it wouldn't be a competition tonight, and instead, a great performance" came from.

"well, there's not much we're going to be able to do with this one" (high five)

after tonight, I really don't care much who wins. I love them both, and I think they both deserve record deals.

so, with that, I'm hoping that Kris wins tomorrow.

not because I think he's a better singer, but for this:

if humble, quiet Kris wins, he'll get an Idol record deal and have an entire entourage of people helping him through the transition to stardom.

He'll need that.

And there will be no doubt in my mind that someone will sign Adam as well, immediately, if Simon Cowell doesn't get to him first. Adam just stands out that much.

now if Adam wins, I'm not 100% sure that would work the same way for Kris. it should, and it'd be insane if it didn't, but I think there would be a good chance he'd get lost, like so many Idols in the past regardless of their awesome talent.

I'd like an opportunity to buy both their albums.

moot or hooey?

American Idol is going to let Alexis Grace go one tour with the others.

well who'd a thunk

I sure didn't see that coming... well, not really.

ok, so Kris really rocked it out last night. But Danny has never been in the bottom three, ever. Kris has been there a couple of times.

I guess at this point anything can happen.

who knows what they'll come up with for next week.

All I know is Adam better have his skates laced tightly, 'cause the race is on.

moot or hooey?

when Gokey cuts his record, he's going to guest star Jamal.

omega 3-6-9

Here's a glimpse of the journey I took:

Omega,

"great O"

standing O

Lambert's numbers are 3, 6, 9

He was the bomb tonight, no doubt...

however, I think Kris rocked the personal choice songs tonight more than anyone.

I was a little baffled at the song the judges picked for Danny.

All along they've been harping on him, and the others, about playing it safe and not picking songs with enough of a melody. It sounded like that song had six notes and that was it. All up high where he does his best work, yes, but a little surprising at the simplicity of the piece.

The song he chose for himself was a ton better as far as I'm concerned.

Kris, I thought did well on both songs, acing the second and clearly showing he has a huge gift. I agreed totally with Simon that the judges were lame in picking a song then placing blame on Kris for not doing it the way they wanted it to be done.

Personally, I've not been able to figure out why Kara is a judge, period.

If she's not cowardly echoing Randy, she's traveling down her narrow line of tunnel vision at the speed of light, surely not sound, or she may have picked up some audio expertise along the way.

Adam did quite well with Simon's choice of song, and it was a good choice. I didn't hear anything new though. Maybe that's one of the perils of being exceptionally exceptional. If Adam could have been just a little rotten in a couple of the previous rounds dammit!

I'm just mad at the $50 bucks I dropped the other day on eco-friendly eyeliner.

never mind.

The second song was good too, but how does one ice icing... glitter!

regardless of how this turns out, I'm buying tickets to catch the tour in Vancouver BC.

I know Adam's theatrical hands will be tied, but that won't stop me from hoping he burns a Wicked Ring of Fire in the middle of the stage.

way to go boys!

moot or hooey?

Madonna's manager has asked her not to contact Adam until after the announcement of the Idol winner.

Idol thoughts

I've thought from the very beginning (auditions) that Adam was the person to win. I still think so.

I'd originally pegged Adam, Danny, Allison, and Alexis as the top four. Not bad.

I do think that everyone's a winner this season. The top five anyway.

Adam's passion stands out though, and he has the showmanship to truly be great.

If he doesn't do something great through Idol, Tarantino is sure to write something for him.

I'LL write something for him!

I think Danny will be a very close second, Allison third, and Kris fourth.

Danny is very main stream and sexy. If he had just a bit more of an edge I think he'd pull ahead of Adam.

Allison can do everything. The only thing that's standing in the way of soaring past the boys is her age. She has yet to develop a "hunger" for what she wants.

I love Kris' voice. He has a very unique sound like REM, Aerosmith, Nirvana, but he's a bit too timid. If he doesn't reach out and grab it soon, it'll slip away from him.

having said all this, I think they're all ready to cut albums. Their careers have already been made. It's simply up to them to lasso the wave and ride it out.

moot or hooey?

if you ignore your hunger for 15 minutes, it won't come back until you've passed the ability to consume a full meal.