#book spotting at @auntiesbooks in @libertyspokane. #mothersday #spokane #tomes (at Auntie’s Bookstore)

#book spotting at @auntiesbooks in @libertyspokane. #mothersday #spokane #tomes (at Auntie’s Bookstore)

2 weeks ago
This one’s for Tia. Dixie Swim Club @spocivictheatre poster hanging outside @designspike #theatre #plays #graphicart #spokane (at Design Spike)

This one’s for Tia. Dixie Swim Club @spocivictheatre poster hanging outside @designspike #theatre #plays #graphicart #spokane (at Design Spike)

1 month ago

Comcast gives great customer service, really

(This is a Design Spike blog, fyi)

Let’s talk about outrageous customer service Twitter style

Everyone’s been there. You’re watching the morning news (in this case, KHQ local news was doing a series of spots on the Jersey Boys which opens tomorrow night right here in Spokane and being a theatre buff, I was totally stoked to see the spots, but alas…), the wind is blowing something fierce and BAM. The screen goes dark. Well, actually, the screen basically said something about this channel being unavailable and should be returning soon. Enter twitter. Enter outrageous customer service on Comcast’s part.

What’s a tweeter to do?

So, what’s a tweeter to do when the cable goes out? You guessed it. Tweet Comcast. What else? And here’s where the outrageous customer service comes in. Within one minute of my tweet to Comcast, good old @ComcastWill (or whoever is playing Will today) responds. Record time.  The tweet asks me to DM (direct message for you not so tweet-literate) my address and zip. In order to do so, @ComcastWill must be following me. Even if he only follows me for the duration of our interaction and then clicks the old unfollow button, that’s a pretty smart “Will”, wouldn’t you say?

Twitter feed from Comcast Customer Service

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7 months ago

And let the theatre begin…Opening night at Spokane Civic Theatre. 

The Gala at Spokane Civic Theatre

That meant a Gala dinner catered by Wild Sage, drinks with Dry Fly (buy local, drink local, drunk local) and, well, a little Mel Brooks action. So off we go to have one he!! of a good night, arm in arm with my date, Design Spike developer Will…ok not a date. I’m married and I could be his mother…and he thinks I’m a terrible human being, so not a date.

Obviously the dinner rocked out with it’s sock out. I am partial to all the Chef Charlie throws down at Wild Sage and this was no different. They had to have a pound of popover butter in every bowl and I am here to tell you I could have wallowed in it. The dessert: huckleberry or something brulee had some serious delish going on. One little tin, not enough. Just sayin, Charlie. Next time, I want more.

I finally got a tasty beverage made with Dry Fly goodness and meant to share it with Will, but, um, well, somehow it all went away…in my mouth. Sorry. Made it up to him by plying him with wine.

And on to the production….my thoughts in no random order (ooohhhh surprising):

  • Dan McKeever consider me your biotch. You and those lovely pigeons stole every single second of that show (except one and I will get to that later). I wanted to run up after the show and pinch your little cheeks. Guten tag, clop, clop indeed.
  • Hats off to Jerry and Mark as Max and Leo. I was convinced Mark Pleasant was as neurotic as he!! and Jerry was a putz (in a most wonderful way).
  • Ulla love that you were a real woman! Excellent choice, Marianne McLaughlin, excellent choice. But…..I really could only understand 50% of what you said…sorry darling. Could be my tinnitus so don’t take me seriously.
  • Lance Babbitt - you man among men, you came right out and heiled yourself like no one could heil ever. That was your shining moment of perfection and you sealed the deal. And the crowd went crazy.

So, here’s the deal: the show was rough in places (I’m not gonna lie) and some of the subtleties (did I just use that word in conjunction with Mel Brooks?) were missing. And I thought a few things were OTT but not OTT done right. Reel it in….I’m just saying. So, I’m heading back in a few weeks to see The Producers at Spokane Civic Theatre one more time. Let’s see if they can grab a few more shining star moments and I just can’t wait to see Franz and Roger….Have you seen the show?

7 months ago
It’s all about Woffie & Greater Tuna Via Dan Pelle of the SpokesmanReview : Michael Weaver as Bertha Bumiller and Patrick Treadway as Jody Bumiller in Interplayers’ production of “Greater Tuna.” A group of us were privileged enough to see Greater Tuna at Interplayers this week. Yea, yea, I know. You’re all like, Haysus, enough with the theatre blogs. Fine. It’s summer and I will shut up for awhile after this one BUT you should know, I laughed so hard at times, I should have considered wearing depends.  And now for my critique Michael Weaver & Patrick Treadway had little time to prepare for Greater Tuna as most of you in the theatre community are aware. For those of you who are not, read this obituary and then make a donation to the David Gigler Scholarship Fund at Global Credit Union. Just do it. Read. Donate. And as usual, I digress.  The comedic brilliance of these two gentlemen will bring tears to your eyes. I’m enough of a 14 year old boy to admit Pearl’s drooping, off center boobs made me giggle and the lady like way Vera sprawled in the chair during the ramblings of the Reverend Spike scored major points. And while Elmer Watkins creeped the hell out of me, it had to be Charlene Bumiller who  brought it all home for me. The line Woffie, you come through that door one more time and you’ll need drugs to kill the pain! was all I needed to know there was a g_d of some kind. Has to be. Stuff that funny don’t fall off trees.  So hat’s off to Interplayers and their barking and rotary phone dialing and Close Encounters of the Third Kind. I think we all enjoyed our evening and I am now a Tuna convert. 

It’s all about Woffie & Greater Tuna
Via Dan Pelle of the SpokesmanReview :

Michael Weaver as Bertha Bumiller and Patrick Treadway as Jody Bumiller in Interplayers’ production of “Greater Tuna.”

A group of us were privileged enough to see Greater Tuna at Interplayers this week. Yea, yea, I know. You’re all like, Haysus, enough with the theatre blogs. Fine. It’s summer and I will shut up for awhile after this one BUT you should know, I laughed so hard at times, I should have considered wearing depends. 

And now for my critique

Michael Weaver & Patrick Treadway had little time to prepare for Greater Tuna as most of you in the theatre community are aware. For those of you who are not, read this obituary and then make a donation to the David Gigler Scholarship Fund at Global Credit Union. Just do it. Read. Donate. And as usual, I digress. 

The comedic brilliance of these two gentlemen will bring tears to your eyes. I’m enough of a 14 year old boy to admit Pearl’s drooping, off center boobs made me giggle and the lady like way Vera sprawled in the chair during the ramblings of the Reverend Spike scored major points. And while Elmer Watkins creeped the hell out of me, it had to be Charlene Bumiller who  brought it all home for me. The line

Woffie, you come through that door one more time and you’ll need drugs to kill the pain!

was all I needed to know there was a g_d of some kind. Has to be. Stuff that funny don’t fall off trees. 

So hat’s off to Interplayers and their barking and rotary phone dialing and Close Encounters of the Third Kind. I think we all enjoyed our evening and I am now a Tuna convert. 

10 months ago
This morning’s KHQ Facebook post….now mind you, I’m not picking on the good peops at KHQ nor am I picking on whoever manages their social media…BUT let me get this straight: You wanna know if I think texting should be banned nationwide. Is that texting while I’m on the pot? Texting whilst talking to someone? Texting during a performance? Texting the all important Jewish mother? Oh wait, I’m betting what you meant to say was “Like this if you think texting while driving should be banned nationwide”. Whoops. Missed a few words there, didn’t you? Perhaps, you should have edited that or added the rest of the story in a comment.

This morning’s KHQ Facebook post….now mind you, I’m not picking on the good peops at KHQ nor am I picking on whoever manages their social media…BUT let me get this straight:

You wanna know if I think texting should be banned nationwide. Is that texting while I’m on the pot? Texting whilst talking to someone? Texting during a performance? Texting the all important Jewish mother?

Oh wait, I’m betting what you meant to say was “Like this if you think texting while driving should be banned nationwide”. Whoops. Missed a few words there, didn’t you? Perhaps, you should have edited that or added the rest of the story in a comment.

10 months ago

Dose of Whacktard: Matt Shea and his Messianic hate crime

Haters gonna hate, so let’s get this over with

Haysus in a handbasket! We elect some serious whackadoodle in this fine, fine country of ours. And I’m speaking about this dose of major whacktard: Matt Shea and his Messianic hate crime.

Now before I go on, let’s clarify

  1. I’ll never be an elected official (unless you count Scribe one year in summer camp when I was 11). I’m way too biased, distracted by shiny objects, and couldn’t legislate my way out of a cup of coffee.
  2. Did I mention I was biased? For the record, I’m Jew biased. Both Mumsie and Pa were Jews making every single cell in my body Jewish. And that is old school Jewish for all you goyim (this factors heavily later in my blathering).
  3. I’m not so smart. I can’t speak to lot’s of local political issues. I’m currently ok with that, but that may need changing.

And on with the post. Who the f*(k is Matt Shea and how is it he is now seeking his third term in the state House of Representatives? We really voted in someone who totally freaked out on Shawn Vestal (Spokesmanreview) on Twitter and I mean freaked. What the he!!? See for yourself:

Ohhhhhh all caps. Scary. Angry boy. And some of you, you voted for him. Care to explain that one to me? Oh wait, I don’t really think I care to know.

Now here’s the haters gonna hate part: Apparently someone painted swastikas all over some of Matt Shea’s “vote for me or else our Constitution is going to implode” signs. Hmmm, vandalism. Happens. Sucks. The signs are replaceable. Replace them. Take the higher road. Act respectably. React like a normal person. Right?

HA! In Representative Matt Shea’s twitter and email weirdness (I really should link to Shea’s blog, but I just cannot get myself to click the little chain link icon) towards Shawn Vestal (@vestal13), Matt Shea is calling this a hate crime (see image above) and plays the Messianic Jew card. WHAT THE F*&K? (See, I can do that all caps thing too, Mr. Shea). Really? Really? Get the f*%k outta here. You can call it a hate crime all you want but don’t think you lend credence to your argument laying down some Messianic Jew stuff. Hello, not Jews — see this is where things get sticky, I admit it. I’m fairly sure my tribe (see MOT) members do not believe in Jesus, his resurrection or his loaves of bread and buckets of fish. Just a thought dude. If you want to lend credence to your hate crime argument, why not cc Pride Foundation, or the JCC, or the leaders of the Sikh Temple of Spokane? Why not really try to make your point and go for the gusto, hmmmm? But I digress. And I’m missing the point of their whole argument anyway.

I’m just saying, you chose a group most like yourself to try and pump a little credence (not clearwater) in your argument. Try again.

And PS, thanks to Shawn Vestal who sent me the Washington State Legislature Malicious Harassment definition (which I did not read all of; told you, I’m one of the woefully uninformed) which includes the following as an act of a hate crime:

 Defaces property of a victim who is or whom the actor perceives to be of Jewish heritage by defacing the property with a swastika.

Are you Jewish, Mr. Shea? Not with a last name like that, you’re not.

So, folkes, how about we try to vote in some sane people? And don’t accuse me of going all liberal on your a$$. No, I’m simply saying regardless of whether you swing to the left or swing to the right (Stand up, sit down, fight fight fight….I had a brief foray in to the world of cheer leading in high school before I got kicked off the squad), how about you not bring all your cray cray baggage with you and attempt to make laws based on your emotional craziness. Pretty sure, our Constitution does not need to be butchered by your whacktardness.

Alright, start your hating.

11 months ago

It’s true, WestCoast Entertainment gave us great seats

Yup, as part of their tweet seat program, WestCoast Entertainment provided about 20 people with great seats for their Best of Broadway run of Mary Poppins. It was totally worth 2 1/2 hours of my life. I was thoroughly entertained both by the tweets and the show.

To the person who got their panties in a wad about a certain blog, let’s be clear here, WestCoast Entertainment provided seats to us tweeters in turn for our OPINION on what we thought about the show. They did NOT tell us to be all spoonful of sugar. Got it? Get over it. Just saying. Moving on.

Bring on the Spit-Spot

Mary Poppins made me reflect on what it is about theatre that really appeals to me. It’s weird, it’s not as if I didn’t like the show, and I walked out saying “great show” but not “holy he!!, that rocked my socks off”. The show itself was seriously supercalifragilisticexpialidocious (as if I could resist), the set was beyond amazing, and the signing was out of this world. I’m the issue. Not the show. Suffice it to say, had WestCoast not asked me to join the legion of tweeters for the night, I would not have run out to buy a ticket. That would have been a BIG mistake. A really BIG mistake. While I may not be all, “hey, I drank the koolaid and think Mary Poppins is all that and a bag of shiznit”, I really liked the production. Hands down.

So let’s break this thing on down:

High Points:

  • The genius who created the set. Who is this person? I mean really? Need to research this. Tricks, tricks and more! It’s no wonder it won a Tony for set design (those of you who saw the show should watch this video on Mary Poppins Set Design). We are talking transitions from dull, grey, rain, and sooty smoke to amazing, technicolor, peyote induced hallucination COLOR.
  • Codpieces. Starfish. Whatever you want to call them. Dare to look at the statues which come to life a little closer. Go ahead, look down. You know of where I speak. Although I believe these were meant to be leaves, they looked a little fishy.
  • Valentine. Argh! A doll come to life, the stuff of nightmares. With half a yellow leotard encases tush exposed and long, red fingers (the better to stab you with), I LOVED Valentine!
  • Nanny Ultimate Cage Fighting. Like brujas gone wild or something, seriously. Hands down, some of the best singing of the night: Brimstone and Treacle. That Miss Andrews sure can flex her golden pipes, just sayin’.
  • The dude originally played by Dick Van Dyke “Dancing on the Ceiling” (terrible Lionel Ritchie reference for those of you too young to get it. Love, love, love.
  • The bank. The perspective. The old, crippled, mean, mean, men of money.

Low Points (my opinion, peops):

  • The second half of the second half. Don’t get me wrong, it so had its moments BUT…..how about one less song, please? I’m an audience watcher and this was absolutely the point where feet began shifting, and rustlers began rustling.
  • Believe it or not, there were moments of where I could not understand what the heck the actors were saying. Now, that said, it is a documented fact that there are certain tones I am unable to hear. Perhaps the actors were hitting those points?
  • In my most humble opinion, all musicals need that climax moment - you know, the only thing that saves Cats is Memory (3.49 mark is what you’re looking for), right? I needed my memory moment, but, well, alas, it never came.

Now, these are all the opinions of my most humble Queen Narcissa self. And this is what I know, if you have kids, love musicals, know that all dreams are possible and can quash the question of why every nanny appears to carry a bottle of some narcotic or otherwise potentially hallucinogenic drug around, you would do well to check out Mary Poppins. For me, it’s time to revisit the movie and perhaps a little Step in Time.

11 months ago
So, is it true? If you give a kid a a cookie, will he shut the f*#K up? Or what? This book written by Marcy Roznick caught my eye on the way out of Auntie’s Bookstore. Thinking I should have stopped to pay a little more attention to what was between the covers but….I did discover that if you like cursing (he!! yes, I like to throw down with the best of you) this book is for you!

So, is it true? If you give a kid a a cookie, will he shut the f*#K up? Or what? This book written by Marcy Roznick caught my eye on the way out of Auntie’s Bookstore. Thinking I should have stopped to pay a little more attention to what was between the covers but….I did discover that if you like cursing (he!! yes, I like to throw down with the best of you) this book is for you!

11 months ago

Auntie’s Spotting June 4. Lebowski. All you need to know.

Working directly above a bookstore — oh, and not just any bookstore, but Auntie’s Bookstore in Downtown Spokane— proves to be mighty tempting. Every day something new catches my eye. Today it’s Two Gentlemen of Lebowski: A Most Excellent Comedie and Tragical Romance. Think Big Lebowski Meets William Shakespeare. Admit it, you want to read it now, don’t you?

Auntie’s Spotting June 4. Lebowski. All you need to know.

11 months ago