Stupid people bug the hell out of me.
And tonight I was about to kick several people in the butt.
1) I went to the worst production ever made by an amature opera company of Madame Butterfly. And it was by a professional opera company. The acting was horrible. The sets were atrocious. And let's just not talk about the singing, because I thought I was going to hurl when the chorus sang off stage. You would think a professional, travelling company would hire people who could sing their ways out of paper bags. And then there was fundamental stage deportment, ie: There was an offstage conductor for the chorus. Fine, but I don't want to see her HANDS STICKING OUT FROM THE CURTAIN WHILE CONDUCTING!! Oh, and what about when the chorus actually made their way on stage? Oh, yeah, they couldn't hold up their conversation for a silly little opera, so they CONTINUED IT WHILE ON STAGE!! There's a difference between patter and actual conversation, and it's OBVIOUS! Then, there was the lady not-quite-in-the-wings off stage right, who decided to pop in and catch part of the opera. She was wearing a red shirt, blue jeans, and had her purse slung over her shoulder. I suppose she figured, "Well, if they're paying upwards of $30 to see this, why not add me to the mix?" The entire audience could see her.
2) To add insult to injury, Columbus proved its ignorance by GIVING THEM A STANDING OVATION!!! WTF?! Hannah and I just sat there in amazement that people could be this out of it. I often wish the world-class performers who come to the River Center would take their audiences seriously and actually try to do their best, then I see how a perfectly horrible performance is recieved, and I remember why they don't think they need to.
3) Then it takes me THIRTY MINUTES TO GET HOME!! I know that's not much to you folks in the Atl who live five minutes away without traffic, but that's a WHOLE LOT in Columbus. It is absolutely ridiculous that I should have had to take more than fifteen minutes to get home, accounting for the traffic in the parking deck. Oh, but, I forgot, this weekend is friggin School of the Americas weekend. Some genius organizing the yearly event decided, "Why confine our protests to Fort Benning? Let's share them with the people of Columbus who have SHIT to do with what's going on in the effing Western Hemisphere Institute for Security Cooperation!"
So I'm turning out of the purgatory that is the parking deck, and I find myself in the middle of a mob of people who have decided they are too good to use the damn sidewalk to fuss and shout like the rest of us have to, and I end up waiting for ten minutes, creeping along like a float in a parade. I did see Daniel Bustemante (sp? No idea), and I pointed out to him that there are CARS ON THE ROAD TRYING TO GET HOME AFTER A HORRIBLE SHOW!! I wasn't that grouchy. I probably should have been.
I mean, I just read up on the SOA thing, and, yeah, it's quite atrocious, but is this really the way to solve it? A yearly retreat for hippies and kids that just want to get out of class for a little while? So they can march on Fort Benning, a place that really has nothing to do with the funding and orders which come at it to keep the place open?
You want to know the affect which the SOA protests have on Columbus? Once a year, the downtown restaurants like the Cannon and Fountain City rake it in, hotels are booked, and gas stations are innundated. Our economy booms because 20,000 people descend upon our town. Way to show 'em, guys! That one little march in a street which is nowhere near and has nothing to do with SOA is really gonna teach 'em!
Start letter-writing campaigns to your congressmen. Make petitions. Maybe the protest is helping it get in the news, but it doesn't stay, and it's not even to the point where it makes headlines! What I found on the internet tonight where little sidenotes in papers like the Kansas City Tribune. You really want this to change? Work on a different tact!
And that is the end of the ranting.
1) I went to the worst production ever made by an amature opera company of Madame Butterfly. And it was by a professional opera company. The acting was horrible. The sets were atrocious. And let's just not talk about the singing, because I thought I was going to hurl when the chorus sang off stage. You would think a professional, travelling company would hire people who could sing their ways out of paper bags. And then there was fundamental stage deportment, ie: There was an offstage conductor for the chorus. Fine, but I don't want to see her HANDS STICKING OUT FROM THE CURTAIN WHILE CONDUCTING!! Oh, and what about when the chorus actually made their way on stage? Oh, yeah, they couldn't hold up their conversation for a silly little opera, so they CONTINUED IT WHILE ON STAGE!! There's a difference between patter and actual conversation, and it's OBVIOUS! Then, there was the lady not-quite-in-the-wings off stage right, who decided to pop in and catch part of the opera. She was wearing a red shirt, blue jeans, and had her purse slung over her shoulder. I suppose she figured, "Well, if they're paying upwards of $30 to see this, why not add me to the mix?" The entire audience could see her.
2) To add insult to injury, Columbus proved its ignorance by GIVING THEM A STANDING OVATION!!! WTF?! Hannah and I just sat there in amazement that people could be this out of it. I often wish the world-class performers who come to the River Center would take their audiences seriously and actually try to do their best, then I see how a perfectly horrible performance is recieved, and I remember why they don't think they need to.
3) Then it takes me THIRTY MINUTES TO GET HOME!! I know that's not much to you folks in the Atl who live five minutes away without traffic, but that's a WHOLE LOT in Columbus. It is absolutely ridiculous that I should have had to take more than fifteen minutes to get home, accounting for the traffic in the parking deck. Oh, but, I forgot, this weekend is friggin School of the Americas weekend. Some genius organizing the yearly event decided, "Why confine our protests to Fort Benning? Let's share them with the people of Columbus who have SHIT to do with what's going on in the effing Western Hemisphere Institute for Security Cooperation!"
So I'm turning out of the purgatory that is the parking deck, and I find myself in the middle of a mob of people who have decided they are too good to use the damn sidewalk to fuss and shout like the rest of us have to, and I end up waiting for ten minutes, creeping along like a float in a parade. I did see Daniel Bustemante (sp? No idea), and I pointed out to him that there are CARS ON THE ROAD TRYING TO GET HOME AFTER A HORRIBLE SHOW!! I wasn't that grouchy. I probably should have been.
I mean, I just read up on the SOA thing, and, yeah, it's quite atrocious, but is this really the way to solve it? A yearly retreat for hippies and kids that just want to get out of class for a little while? So they can march on Fort Benning, a place that really has nothing to do with the funding and orders which come at it to keep the place open?
You want to know the affect which the SOA protests have on Columbus? Once a year, the downtown restaurants like the Cannon and Fountain City rake it in, hotels are booked, and gas stations are innundated. Our economy booms because 20,000 people descend upon our town. Way to show 'em, guys! That one little march in a street which is nowhere near and has nothing to do with SOA is really gonna teach 'em!
Start letter-writing campaigns to your congressmen. Make petitions. Maybe the protest is helping it get in the news, but it doesn't stay, and it's not even to the point where it makes headlines! What I found on the internet tonight where little sidenotes in papers like the Kansas City Tribune. You really want this to change? Work on a different tact!
And that is the end of the ranting.