Recent entertainments
I recently noted that I ought to be posting about the more pleasant things I've been doing lately, so here's a quick overview of some of my recent passtimes:
Book-It Rep production of "Frankenstein, or The Modern Prometheus": For those unfamiliar with Book-It Repertory Theater, it's a local company that specializes in book adaptations for the stage. Shortly after I came to Seattle they won my heart with their production of "Jane Eyre" (material about which I am notorious hard to please), and became my favorite local company. Their works never disappoint. If I dislike what I see (which is rare), at least it's always interesting and thought-provoking. If you follow my theater tag below, you'll see reviews of their other productions. Anyway, the production of Frankenstein that I saw last Friday night falls under the "liked it well enough with quibbles" category. The adaptation was very faithful to Mary Shelley's novel, presented as Victor's recollections told to a sea captain who finds him stranded in the Arctic. The play is graphic and was presented with some lovely stage magic to portray severed limbs being reanimated with electricity, as well as the autopsy of a body on stage. All the performances were good ones, especially Connor Toms (whom I saw in Seattle Rep's production of "Red") as Victor, and Frank Lawler (who was my supervisor more than a decade ago at Microsoft/Expedia) as Walton, the sea captain. I disliked the lurid make-up applied to the actor who played the creature; and I really disliked the director's choice to hide a male nude body in full silhouette but to pointedly display a female body fully lit later. That particular choice really angered me because the moments were analogous to each other; the inequity pissed me off, and when I received Book-It's survey asking me about my experience, I made a point to mention it. That said, however, it was a good show--not the best of theirs, but I was satisfied and entertained.
Cosmos: Watched the first episode of Neil deGrasse Tyson's reboot of "Cosmos" and enjoyed it quite a bit. I remember Sagan's portrayal of our cosmic address, and it was fun to see this update. I'm looking forward to more episodes.
Smashed pennies: I don't remember whether or not I mentioned it, but I find myself once again on the Board of Directors of The Elongated Collectors. One of my roles is to administer the annual coin design challenge, in which we choose a theme and challenge the club membership to submit coin designs based upon it. This year's theme celebrated space exploration and science fiction. Of course, being the administrator, I couldn't submit a design! But I was delighted to receive the entries and run the Board's vote for the winner. We chose a pretty nice design, I think, and I've written the newsletter article to announce the winner. From here on out, my role on the board will be to cast votes and voice my opinion as needed; no further hard work required. I'm OK with that. This was fun enough.
H.M.S. Surprise by Patrick O'Brian: Just completed this book, the third in the Aubrey/Maturin series and am completely hooked. It's all ironymaiden's fault! While I'm searching for a copy of book 4, I must figure out what to read in the meanwhile.
Knitting: I mentioned last week that I've taken up knitting and I recently finished my second piece, a charcoal-gray infinity scarf with metallic thread running through it. I'm pretty pleased with the result and I learned quite a bit while doing it. My next project will probably be a hat, mostly to learn more techniques rather than because I really want to make a hat. In the meanwhile, here's a picture of the completed piece:
Book-It Rep production of "Frankenstein, or The Modern Prometheus": For those unfamiliar with Book-It Repertory Theater, it's a local company that specializes in book adaptations for the stage. Shortly after I came to Seattle they won my heart with their production of "Jane Eyre" (material about which I am notorious hard to please), and became my favorite local company. Their works never disappoint. If I dislike what I see (which is rare), at least it's always interesting and thought-provoking. If you follow my theater tag below, you'll see reviews of their other productions. Anyway, the production of Frankenstein that I saw last Friday night falls under the "liked it well enough with quibbles" category. The adaptation was very faithful to Mary Shelley's novel, presented as Victor's recollections told to a sea captain who finds him stranded in the Arctic. The play is graphic and was presented with some lovely stage magic to portray severed limbs being reanimated with electricity, as well as the autopsy of a body on stage. All the performances were good ones, especially Connor Toms (whom I saw in Seattle Rep's production of "Red") as Victor, and Frank Lawler (who was my supervisor more than a decade ago at Microsoft/Expedia) as Walton, the sea captain. I disliked the lurid make-up applied to the actor who played the creature; and I really disliked the director's choice to hide a male nude body in full silhouette but to pointedly display a female body fully lit later. That particular choice really angered me because the moments were analogous to each other; the inequity pissed me off, and when I received Book-It's survey asking me about my experience, I made a point to mention it. That said, however, it was a good show--not the best of theirs, but I was satisfied and entertained.
Cosmos: Watched the first episode of Neil deGrasse Tyson's reboot of "Cosmos" and enjoyed it quite a bit. I remember Sagan's portrayal of our cosmic address, and it was fun to see this update. I'm looking forward to more episodes.
Smashed pennies: I don't remember whether or not I mentioned it, but I find myself once again on the Board of Directors of The Elongated Collectors. One of my roles is to administer the annual coin design challenge, in which we choose a theme and challenge the club membership to submit coin designs based upon it. This year's theme celebrated space exploration and science fiction. Of course, being the administrator, I couldn't submit a design! But I was delighted to receive the entries and run the Board's vote for the winner. We chose a pretty nice design, I think, and I've written the newsletter article to announce the winner. From here on out, my role on the board will be to cast votes and voice my opinion as needed; no further hard work required. I'm OK with that. This was fun enough.
H.M.S. Surprise by Patrick O'Brian: Just completed this book, the third in the Aubrey/Maturin series and am completely hooked. It's all ironymaiden's fault! While I'm searching for a copy of book 4, I must figure out what to read in the meanwhile.
Knitting: I mentioned last week that I've taken up knitting and I recently finished my second piece, a charcoal-gray infinity scarf with metallic thread running through it. I'm pretty pleased with the result and I learned quite a bit while doing it. My next project will probably be a hat, mostly to learn more techniques rather than because I really want to make a hat. In the meanwhile, here's a picture of the completed piece: