Super Sunday?

I have mixed emotions about the Cardinals making it to the "big game". A little history...

My family moved to Glendale, AZ when I was six. Two years later the Cardinals moved to Arizona from St. Louis. My dad was so excited to have an NFL team in town that he bought season tickets for the first 3 years whey were there. Year after year we cheered for them. Year after year they would lose so much that the playoffs were always just a preseason dream rather than even a late season possibility. After dropping the season tickets they continued to be "my team" as I went through high school and finally moved away to college. While in college they actually won their first playoff game (since 1947) against the Cowboys. However, they lost in the next round and they failed to turn that success into anything the would last in later seasons.

After college I moved to Seattle and have become a proud fan of the Seahawks and, given my past, someone who loves to hate the Cardinals. I lived hear when the Seahawks made it all the way to the "big game" themselves. I agreed with the rest of America (except Steelers fans) that they were robbed by a number of poor calls by the refs.

I digress... So here I am watching the Cardinals work their way through each round of the playoffs this postseason asking myself "who are these guys?" With each game I totally expect them to screw up like they have for all the years before, during, and after my childhood. Yet they haven't this season. How am I supposed to root for these guys?

A few years back I remember watching the Red Sox in the World Series with a co-worker I had at the time named Shane. At that time the curse was still on and the Red Sox had no business playing in the Series even according to their own fans. I remember Shane very deliberatly not showing any signs that he believed they would win, even until the last out of the last inning. They were going to blow it and he knew it. He had convinced himself that if he gave in to hope that he would just be disappointed. At the time, I couldn't believe how a sports fan could feel this way.

As I watch the Super Bowl today, I can now totally identify with Shane's feelings. In my heart I both know that the Cardinals are going to blow it, and hope that the Cardinals can actually pull this thing off. Either way, they've exceeded my expectations this season, and I'm happy for that.

A few facts I've heard floating around through the playoffs:

• Their first playoff win this postseason was their first home playoff game since 1947.
• They've won more playoff games this season than they have since the NFL merged with the AFL.
• They've never been to the Super Bowl since it was created. They won a national football championship back in '47, but back then it was called the NFL championship.
• Next to the Cubs, the Cardinals have held the record for major professional sports in America for the longest time period since the team last appeard in that sport's championship game. The Cubs haven't been to the Series since 1945 (which they lost).

The 5th goes green

So about a month ago the on stage musical adaptation of Shrek premiered at the 5th. The run has now finished and appears to have been successful because it's scheduled to open on at The Broadway Theater in November. A few days after we attended the musical I received an email saying...

Thank you for coming to SHREK THE MUSICAL. We hope you enjoyed the show! You can play a part in shaping SHREK THE MUSICAL for Broadway by sending your feedback directly to the producers.

It had a link taking you to a website where you could provide feedback. So I followed it and wrote the following:

My wife and I attended the first Saturday matinee performance. I just got a mail requesting feedback, so here you go…

Here were some concerns I had:

1. Shrek was not big/tall enough. He definitely looked wider than most of the other characters but not necessarily taller like an ogre should be. In the opening scene where he roars at the guards, some of the guards are as tall as he is which made the awkward moment where they’re supposed to run and Shrek reminds them confusing. Maybe just shorter actors for the guards in that scene would solve the problem.
2. The whole involvement of the dragon was confusing. At first when the dragon is introduced, it’s really cool with the giant (inflatable?) dragon. When the actress appeared as well it was a little confusing that she represented the dragon. However, in later appearances of the actress without the giant dragon, I don’t think everyone made the connection. In the climax when she breaks through the church window, it really seemed weird to have such a small actress accomplishing such a big feat. Not sure what the remedy here is, but the way it was presented Saturday was weird and a little confusing.

Here are some things that really impressed me:

1. The sets were amazing! I’m not sure how much of this is an artifact of the new “Downstairs at the 5th” work that allows for such great sets and we’ll just see a lot more of that this whole season or if these set’s are just really special all on their own. I’ll assume the latter. Great job on the sets. Best I’ve seen in 3 years at the 5th.
2. The Lord Farquad costume was hilarious. The creative ways it was used in the dancing scenes made it even funnier. The actor playing Lord Farquad must be a really good sport to be willing to walk on his knees for each performance. It’s totally worth it though. I found myself looking forward to every scene he was going to be in just because I knew it was going to be funny.
3. The makeup looked great from where I was sitting (row X orchestra aisle). Shrek and ogre-Fiona were very green and I loved it. Makeup was important here and you didn’t let me down.

Thanks,

[K61]

To my surprise, a few weeks later, I received the following reply:

Dear [K61]:

Thanks so much for your e-mail message letting me know your response to the preview of Shrek you attended. We are very happy that you were able to join us and that you took the time to write and let us know what you thought.

I was delighted to know that you enjoyed the show, especially the amazing sets and the hilarious performance of Christopher Sieber as Lord Farquaad. I was also particularly interested in your ideas about aspects of the show that could use improvement, especially your reference to the Shrek’s height and the synchronization of the dragon.

It is truly exciting for our theatre and our audiences to be a part of shaping this show for Broadway. I appreciate your response, as I realize you are an experienced and knowledgeable theatergoer; all of your comments have been forwarded to the show’s creative team.

I will look forward to seeing you again in the audience!

Very sincerely,

David Armstrong
Producing Artistic Director

I read in a recent article that the role of the dragon has been adjusted to be represented by a group of actresses rather than just one actress. I guess I wasn't the only one who thought the way the dragon was represented was a little strange.

Regardless, it was pretty cool to see Shrek adapted to the stage. It'll be even cooler if it turns into a big Broadway hit. Good luck Shrek!

Viva Pinata Ringtones

As a follow up to my last post, there's also some Viva Pinata romance dance music from the game that's available for download here. I currently have the ponocky dance as my ringtone for calls from my family, and the horstachio dance for my general ringtone.

Viva Pinata Soundtrack

For those of you who have an XBox 360 and kids, Viva Pinata is a great game. While they tried to make the tutorials easy enough for kids who can't read, there are enough gaps in there that they'll get blocked on and still need assistance. My oldest is in 1st grade now and can navigate the menues and game choices with minimal confusion.

A while ago I found the website for the game studio who created the original Viva Pinata, Rare. On their Extras/Download page they've slowly made more and more of the excellent Viva Pinata soundtrack available for download. They currnetly have 15 tracks available, 14 of which are 100% calming, orchestral music that is really fun to listen to in the car with the kids. Here's a direct link to their MP3 download page.

Dirty Politics

Sorry I've been quiet for so long. I'm busy.

Something just happened to me that I have to share though...

A machine called my home this evening and asked if I would be willing to participate in a political survey. I've been trying to keep up with the news regarding the presidential primaries over the last few weeks and so I was kind of excited to participate in a survey so I said yes. As the questions were asked it quickly became clear to me that this survey was not actually interested in learning my opinion but rather in trying to change my opinion by telling me "facts" about the candidates.

I wish I had had a tape recorder so that I could remember the exact verbiage of the questions, but alas, I was not expecting this call. So, I'll have to go on memory. It started by asking a question about whether it was important to me to vote for a candidate who valued life. I answered yes. It then asked if knowing that Mitt Romney had changed his opinion from pro-choice, to pro-life, to pro-choice, and then back to pro-life would affect whether I voted for him. Hmm... leading question? I think so. I'm aware that Romney is pro-life and that as governer some people misunderstood his "sustaining the law" comments as being pro-choice. Indeed the national law currently makes abortion legal in this country and there isn't anything that a state governor is going to do to change that, so it's a moot point.

It asked me a number of questions on various issues which I'm already having trouble remembering. I have to admit that I was in such awe that it was tough for me to parse the pointed questions that were being asked of me. The kicker though, which I do remember was this question: Did you know that Mitt Romney is spending $x million of his own dollars to finance his campaign and John McCain is a millionaire who's lived in Washington for years. Governor Mike Huckabee grew up poor and is running a modest campaign [can't remember the rest]. Does this affect your support of Mitt Romney or John McCain?

At this point I knew who I wasn't going to vote for!

The survey ended by informing me that it was paid for by Common Sense Issues and was not supported by any candidate. While Mike Huckabee may not support the call, it's obvious that he's not stopping it and that they support him. What they're doing is known as push polling and it's generally frowned upon and considered dirty politics.

Introductions

So a few years ago I was making room in our budget for a pair of season tickets to UW football when a friend of mine gave us two tickets to the 5th Avenue Theater to see Singin' in the Rain. We loved it. We enjoyed it so much that we decided to get season tickets to the 5th rather than to college football (I guess it helped that we have two daughters).

So now we're about to start our third season as 5th Avenue Theater subscribers. I've been kicking around the idea of starting a blog for a while now and my thoughts on the shows done at the 5th have been something I've wanted to share. It seemed like a good fit. Basically that means that at a minimum I'll be posting once for each show this season (assuming I make it to all of them).

I'll also probably feel the need to share my thoughts (or complaints) in other things I choose to spend my free time on. For example, the title I chose for this blog, "the 5th Column" is not only a reference to the 5th Avenue Theater, but also a shout out to The 7th Column which is a reference to the Halo game series for the XBox. I may have a little somethin' to say about the launch of Halo 3 this Tuesday for example.

I'll likely not speak at all about what I do at work or where I work. I'd be concerned about any legal issues that might arise from things I could say in this public setting. Regardless, this'll be a place where I speak my mind on things that are important to me outside of work. Whether anyone reads it or not; I'll have fun writing it.