Monday, May 13, 2013
Vehicular Madness
I've been watching a lot of Top Gear on Netflix recently. The British one with Jeremy Clarkson, Richard Hammond and James May. Not the US knock off with that fool Rutledge Wood. For those of you not familiar with Top Gear it's host Jeremy Clarkson did all of the Autovista commentary and the intro movie for Forza Motorsport 4 (A few of my favorites: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xd-LBGixtyk, http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3Yu9WEHj8Kg and the greatest intro movie ever:http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pcQu73d3Z2E) Clarkson's love of high-dollar European supercars and hatred of any American car except for the Ford GT is obvious in every episode. His take on late 70's American cars was rolling through my mind as I have spent the better part of the last week trying to get my 76' Cougar to start. (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pjzpx_jUUA0) The car is enormous, loud, guzzles down gasoline, breaks down frequently, and the suspension is completely inadequit at keeping the 4,300 pound car under control while corning at any sort of speed. As I was waiting for the tow truck to come and pick up my daily driver a 98 Ford Taurus who's starter crapped out in front of the storage unit where I keep the Cougar I realized that most of these quirks are why I love the car so much. I love being able to hear the engine running and feel the chassis roll through the turns. I love having a full gauge panel to monitor engine vitals. Most modern cars have tried to eliminate these things. Would I like to get better gas mileage Yes would I like to not have to fix it every couple of weeks? Yes. But for whatever reason I refuse to give up this car. I hope to finally have it running again so I can take the gas guzzling beast with me to my summer stock job. If not come July 23rd I will be back under the hood.
Sunday, July 29, 2012
The Great American Trailer Park Musical: A Reflection
This summer I was fortunate enough to stage manage Flat River Community Players production of "The Great American Trailer Park Musical" I had never stage managed before but I am slated to stage manage a student-directed production of "Gone Missing" when I get back to school this year so I decided to take the gig to game some experience.
The first thing I learned was that FRCP has a very different idea of the stage managers job then we have at CMU. I attended as many rehearsals as I could with my work schedule before we moved into the performance space. I was told I did not need to attend until we moved into the theater but I decided to do so one because I wanted to know the show as well as I possibly could, two because I wanted to get to know the cast so that when control was handed over to me I would have a good relationship with them.
As always with doing theater at the community level people have multiple jobs and help out wherever they can to get the show going. Aside from stage managing I helped with set building, props, run crew, weapons wrangling and I even made a cameo appearance onstage. It was a lot of time consuming work and most nights I was exhausted but I couldn't have cared less. Theater is my love and I enjoy every minute I put into every show that I do and this show reinforced that.
Over the entire summer I was able to get to know many wonderful cast and crew members. It was a learning experience that allowed me to get used to running the show once we got into production mode. Managing my crew and delegating tasks to them. Keeping track of the cast (calling places etc...) It will be of much help to me in a few weeks when we have our first production meetings for "Gone Missing"
I would personally like to thank the entire cast and crew for a successful show that thrilled audiences that turned out in record numbers.
"Honey this here's White Castle not white trash."- Bad Ass Betty
Until next time,
Matt
Expect a post this weekend about the Jegs/CRA All-Star Race.
The first thing I learned was that FRCP has a very different idea of the stage managers job then we have at CMU. I attended as many rehearsals as I could with my work schedule before we moved into the performance space. I was told I did not need to attend until we moved into the theater but I decided to do so one because I wanted to know the show as well as I possibly could, two because I wanted to get to know the cast so that when control was handed over to me I would have a good relationship with them.
As always with doing theater at the community level people have multiple jobs and help out wherever they can to get the show going. Aside from stage managing I helped with set building, props, run crew, weapons wrangling and I even made a cameo appearance onstage. It was a lot of time consuming work and most nights I was exhausted but I couldn't have cared less. Theater is my love and I enjoy every minute I put into every show that I do and this show reinforced that.
Over the entire summer I was able to get to know many wonderful cast and crew members. It was a learning experience that allowed me to get used to running the show once we got into production mode. Managing my crew and delegating tasks to them. Keeping track of the cast (calling places etc...) It will be of much help to me in a few weeks when we have our first production meetings for "Gone Missing"
I would personally like to thank the entire cast and crew for a successful show that thrilled audiences that turned out in record numbers.
"Honey this here's White Castle not white trash."- Bad Ass Betty
Until next time,
Matt
Expect a post this weekend about the Jegs/CRA All-Star Race.
Monday, July 9, 2012
Introduction Part 2/A.J. Allmendinger
Hello again everyone,
I thought I should give more of an introduction. My name is Matt and I am currently pursuing a BFA in Acting and Directing at Central Michigan University. I will be writing in this blog about my experiences in the world of theater along with other important things in my life. Stock car racing and my deconversion from Christianity to Atheism will be popular topics, along with interesting things that happen in my life. I may also on very rare occasions discuss politics but it will not be a regular topic. I will post whenever I have something to write about and I hope you all will enjoy it.
On to more pressing manners. Like many NASCAR fans I was shocked to hear on Saturday that A.J. Allmendinger had been suspended from NASCAR for failing a random drug test. the ruling came down late Saturday and Penske Racing flew in their Nationwide Series driver Sam Hornish Jr. to pilot A.J.'s Shell/Pennzoil Dodge in Saturday's Coke Zero 400. NASCAR has yet to release what drug he tested positive for and as of now all we know is that he is working with the team to go through the process. My guess would be that he is waiting to have his B sample tested before making a public statement.
A driver testing positive for drugs is not a new thing in the world of NASCAR. The sanctioning body implemented a random drug testing policy after Camping World Truck Series driver Aaron Fike was arrested for possession of heroin in 2007 and he admitted to using the drug on race day. Shane Hmiel and Kevin Grubb were busted in previous years before the policy had been enacted. Hmiel went back to sprint cars after recovering from his addiction and was seriously injured in a 2010 crash at Terre Haute Action Track from which he is still recovering. Kevin Grubb never returned to NASCAR and tragically took his own life in 2009. The first big name to get busted was Jeremy Mayfield in 2008 he tested positive for crystal meth and fought his suspension for years. He has never returned and a couple of times a year it seems we hear about his various court battles over unpaid debts and his guard dogs attacking mail carriers.
A.J. Allmendinger has always come a cross as a wonderful human being, I have never heard a complaint about him from anyone. A young talent who was just starting to take off. But we also heard all the nice guy talk about Mayfield when he was first busted. As for my opinion I really hope that A.J. is a victim of a false positive test and if not I hope he follows NASCAR's Road to Recovery program and is reinstated. He is a great talent with a future in this sport and I hope he is able to stick around.
Until Next Time,
Matt
I thought I should give more of an introduction. My name is Matt and I am currently pursuing a BFA in Acting and Directing at Central Michigan University. I will be writing in this blog about my experiences in the world of theater along with other important things in my life. Stock car racing and my deconversion from Christianity to Atheism will be popular topics, along with interesting things that happen in my life. I may also on very rare occasions discuss politics but it will not be a regular topic. I will post whenever I have something to write about and I hope you all will enjoy it.
On to more pressing manners. Like many NASCAR fans I was shocked to hear on Saturday that A.J. Allmendinger had been suspended from NASCAR for failing a random drug test. the ruling came down late Saturday and Penske Racing flew in their Nationwide Series driver Sam Hornish Jr. to pilot A.J.'s Shell/Pennzoil Dodge in Saturday's Coke Zero 400. NASCAR has yet to release what drug he tested positive for and as of now all we know is that he is working with the team to go through the process. My guess would be that he is waiting to have his B sample tested before making a public statement.
A driver testing positive for drugs is not a new thing in the world of NASCAR. The sanctioning body implemented a random drug testing policy after Camping World Truck Series driver Aaron Fike was arrested for possession of heroin in 2007 and he admitted to using the drug on race day. Shane Hmiel and Kevin Grubb were busted in previous years before the policy had been enacted. Hmiel went back to sprint cars after recovering from his addiction and was seriously injured in a 2010 crash at Terre Haute Action Track from which he is still recovering. Kevin Grubb never returned to NASCAR and tragically took his own life in 2009. The first big name to get busted was Jeremy Mayfield in 2008 he tested positive for crystal meth and fought his suspension for years. He has never returned and a couple of times a year it seems we hear about his various court battles over unpaid debts and his guard dogs attacking mail carriers.
A.J. Allmendinger has always come a cross as a wonderful human being, I have never heard a complaint about him from anyone. A young talent who was just starting to take off. But we also heard all the nice guy talk about Mayfield when he was first busted. As for my opinion I really hope that A.J. is a victim of a false positive test and if not I hope he follows NASCAR's Road to Recovery program and is reinstated. He is a great talent with a future in this sport and I hope he is able to stick around.
Until Next Time,
Matt
Saturday, July 7, 2012
Never Done This Before
Hello friends and internet,
As the title implies I have never done anything like this before in my life. I feel it might be interesting to share some of my experiences with the rest of the world. There will be more to come later.
As the title implies I have never done anything like this before in my life. I feel it might be interesting to share some of my experiences with the rest of the world. There will be more to come later.
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