For TBWITWW's birthday, my parents bought us tickets to Swan Lake at the Civic Opera House. I have to say, sometimes it gets tough to remember why I want to work in theater. The hours are bad, the pay is for shit, and long-term prospects are shakey as a whole. Granted, I've got a pretty steady deal going right now, but still.... And then I go see a show that reminds me why I do what I do. Ballet is amazing. Even discounting the talent, grace, and beauty involved, the sheer strength to throw your body into the air so much for 2 hours is amazing. And then there's the whole talent-grace-beauty thing. I have to admit, I found myself watching the male dancers almost more then the women. It's not a surprise to see women move with grace and be easy to watch. They're like that naturally. But men... we're a bunch of bumbling clods. It's what we're good at. Me lift heavy rock. Uhg. Then you see a guy leap into the air turn around a few times lift his leg about 10 feet and have a snack before he lands. That's pretty freakin sweet.
In any case, Tchaikovsky is amazing. I could listen to that stuff for hours. The set was very nice; simple and wide open as it needs to be for ballet, just enough scenery to set the scene. The costumes were lovely, of course, and the lighting was great. It rarely was even noticeable, the transitions were subtle and the few times when the lighting made itself known were approriate and clean. To my untrained eye, the dancing was beautiful and enjoyable. TBWITWW says there were a few more mistakes than she expected for a company of this stature, but then, she used to be a dancer so she notices that sort of thing more than your average joe from the street. All in all, it was a great show and it really did remind me why I do what I do.
Also, there's some pretty cool architecture at the Opera House.

Image removed (I can't find it) 10-18-2005

My first introduction to Neil Stephenson was In the Beginning was the Command Line, which I strongly recommend to anyone with an interest in computers. It's a relatively short read, and is very interesting in a lot of ways. Crytonomicon on the other hand is a looooong book. Coming in at almost 1200 pages in paperback, it takes a while to get through. There are 3 major plotlines, stretching across 50 years. These story lines interweave in ways that keep you guessing at what will come next, and frequently guessing wrong. This book is a great mix of action, cryptography, business, and technology. With as much focus as it has on mathematics and cryptography, it doesn't focus on them to a point that it goes above the head of someone looking just for a good story. And yet, if you have a facination with those things, there's enough depth to keep you interested. This book will definately make it into the category of books I read over again every few years.
9 of 10

WIL WHEATON DOT NET: lying in odessa - part oneWow... I've commented on Wil Wheaton's writing before, but this is some good shit yo. If you really want to screw with your mind, wait the 24 hours between each section that he made the "Regulars" wait. I don't even know much about poker and I was sucked in big time. If you're not reading WWDN, you need to. Oh, and buy his damn book... so he'll keep writing and I can get my fix.

Assured Response by Joe Webber is a fairly traditional techno-thriller. Not great, but something to kill some time on the train. In Assured Response, the heros are daring and lucky, while the bad guys are immoral, vicious, and nearly indestructable... but not quite. This book has all the things that go into the typical techno-thriller, but stepped up a notch. The terrorists manage to kill everyone on a cruise ship and send it barreling at NYC, nuke the Hoover Dam, and shoot down the space shuttle, among other things. They stay one step ahead of the Military, FBI, CIA, Coast Guard, etc. etc. but they can't escape Our Heroes. Yeah.
I found this book to be a little too formulaic for my tastes. Does this mean I won't read the next book that I come across from Joe Weber? Probably not. But I can safely say I won't be reading this one again.5 of 10.

I read a lot, and since I can read at work frequently, I tend to read pretty fast. The First American: The Life and Times of Benjamin Franklin by H. W. Brands, kicked my ass. I took me more than two weeks to finish this book. It's only about 700 pages, but it took me for-freakin-ever. This is by no means becaue it didn't keep my attention. In fact quite the opposite. There is so much information in this book that it's overwhelming. Ben Franklin was an amazing man. The fact that Franklin is mostly remember for political reasons, is a disservice to a man who was a writer, an inventor, a scientist, and more. He lived a long, full life in which he invented the things you know, such as bifocals and the Franklin Stove, but also a musical instrument. The First American tells Franklin's story in a way that keeps your attention and is thourough to an amazing degree. Most of the information comes directly from Franklin's writings and many sections are told in his own words. It tracks his life from birth, through his becoming a runaway apprentice, to England, into American Government, then to France and back to America to contribute to the creation of a new nation based on reason and virtue. His philosophy was that it was the good in men that made society work. Perhaps if more people had followed his lead, American history would have been very different, even to the point of avoiding the civil war. Who knows. The First American was well written and engaging. The only complaint I might have is that, like many biographies, there seemed to be very little focus on the negatives in his life.
8 of 10

The EnchantedAnother review(?) of our show is up. It reads more like an ad than an actual reviewm, as there seems to be no kind of opinion given as to if we did a good job with the show or not. I guess that's better than a bad review though. There's still time to see the show.

From The Chciago Reader

THE ENCHANTED Simple Theater, at the Athenaeum Theatre. Even in translation (by Maurice Valency), the mercurial language of Jean Giraudoux's 1933 confection delights. ...
Laura Forbes's charming staging is true to Giraudoux's quicksilver creation, seldom spoiling the enchantment. Still, Jen Hines's Isabel could seem a bit more haunted: her healthy curiosity seems to outweigh any drive toward death. Mike Rice brings resilience and welcome sanity to the witty suitor who fights for her life. --Lawrence Bommer

Hey... Not too bad I'd say. Considering the other reviews in The Reader include such phrases as:

...unable to make it all work
Sadly, their fine performances are for naught.
...filled with stiff performances, bad accents, awful timing, and indifferently delivered dialogue
...she really has nothing to contribute.
... the whole affair decays into a bizarrely upbeat show-tune take...

I have to say, in comparison, our review is practically worship. So if you're in the Chicago area and get a chance, come see The Enchanted.