roll over, moses

I do not quite know why I found this so funny, but I did. There was a column in this morning’s Star Telegram penned by a James H. Fowler that mentioned the benefits for politicians willing to appear on the Colbert Report, exposure being one of them.
The humorous part comes when the possible downside is brought to light. It seems that GOP Rep. Lynn A. Westmoreland has pushed to have the Ten Commandments placed somewhere along the walls of Congress.
Look, if you are going to appear on a show like Colbert’s, be prepared. Apparently, Westmoreland could only name three of the commandments.
I must admit that I showed the column to my wife and we decided to try and name them. We only managed about 7, but then again, we are not advocating their placement anywhere.
Besides, haven’t those things already been etched in stone someplace?
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sceneshop: out of the loop

Wondering what to do with your Saturday night? Think about calling 817-784-9378. That'll getcha Stage West and you can make reservations for the newest sceneshop
creation. $12.00 buys an evening of live theater with a little live music thrown into the mix as well.
Thanks to writer/actor Steven Alan Mcgaw for passing along the following info:


This coming Saturday, March 1, SceneShop premieres its entry in this year’s Out of the Loop Festival with a one-night show in the Lobby of Stage West’s spacious new facilities just south of downtown Fort Worth.“The ability to host SceneShop is another prime example of why we are glad to have our own home again ,” says Dana Schultes, Stage West’s Director of Development; “Opening our doors to other arts groups has always been what Stage West is about.”

For the ‘Shop, it’s both a return to tradition, and a new space. From 1996 to 2002, each edition of SceneShop included a performance at Stage West’s then-home on University Drive. Although this is the fourth year SceneShop has participated in WaterTower Theatre’s well-regarded Out of the Loop festival in Addison, 2008 marks the first time the ‘Shop has included a hometown performance in its Loop itinerary.


“It just seemed like a great idea,” says Melodee Halbach, SceneShop’s Executive Dirfector, “we’ve got a show up and running; we ought to do it once in Fort Worth.”


Loop performances typically run about 70 minutes, so SceneShop has added a fourth scene and a live band to flesh out the evening. The individual pieces in “Stories We Can Tell” are as follows:
“Watch Your Head” Actress, playwright and educator Lynda Rodriguez recounts her struggle back from the effects of a stroke, suffered in New Mexico a few years back. With Rodriguez’ characteristic acerbic wit, this is no episode of “ER.” Amy Brown, who’s performed with Hip Pocket and in several locally produced independent films, performs the piece.
“Finding Your Inner Timberwolf” Natalie Gaupp wrote this piece especially for the March 1 Stage West show and performers Debbie Dacus and Steve McGaw. The clever piece takes a look behind the boozy banter and forced high spirits of a high school reunion.
“In BUtterfield 8…” Adam Whittington, in his third outing with SceneShop, bravely takes the reins of this piece by Natalie Gaupp in which a transsexual- on the eve of irreversible surgery- refutes those who object to her decision.
“Hugh and Betty”Peggy Bott Kirby and Gary Payne are squabbling spouses in this piece by Steven Alan McGaw. But there’s more to their rancor than first meets the eye…


DATES & TIMES:
Saturday, March 1, 8:00 pm Lobby, Stage West Theatre, 821 W. Vickery
at the Out of the Loop Festival, March 6-16 Saturday, March 8 at 5:00 pm, Sunday, March 9 at 2:00 PM Saturday, March 15 at 8:00 pm, Sunday, March 16 at 5:00 pm the Stone Cottage at WaterTower Theatre, 15650 Addison Rd.

of tortillas and toothpicks

Simplicity. There are certain minor tricks to keeping life easy that some of us learn later in life and wonder why we never thought of such obvious solutions before.
Some are learned earlier. Either way, they are certainly meant to be shared.
As a child, I had a propensity for eating tacos by starting in the middle and then moving on to the other halves. This was not the least messy of eating style choices. While I no longer engage in such a tactic, a crispy taco can still present the challenge of a cracked shell.
My step-grandmother, who is of Mexican descent, taught me to simply take a warm corn tortilla and wrap it around the hard shell. Simple enough, but I rarely see other people participating in this practice.
Now, often enough, I just prepare soft tacos, but there are times when the Tex-Mex crunchy cravings take place. Tortillas can be fried easily enough, but a nice timesaver (and far less splattery) is to simply buy some hard shells at the grocery store.
These, of course, are heated in the oven in order to enjoy the optimum taco experience. The only problem is, the open side of the shells have a tendency to slightly collapse, making it difficult to stuff them without cracking the shells before even getting to the point of biting in to them.
Credit my incredibly creative mother-in-law for this small tidbit of advice. Let’s say you have two shells. Take a toothpick and break it in half. Gently place each half a toothpick vertically in a shell so as to hold it open. Voila! An easily stuffed shell.
Simplicity.

the end of the football season shape of things

Well, football season is essentially over. Although I did just see a TV ad for next year’s Super Bowl, a game which will apparently air on NBC. I’m not kidding.
That reminds of something. Anybody remember Duane Thomas? Rookie of the year who’s career than took a nosedive due to altercations with Tom Landry, (personality issues) and the local police who frowned upon illegal drug use.
Whatever. Thomas did deliver quite a memorable quote once: “If the Super Bowl is the ultimate game, why do they play it again next year?” Gotta admit he had a point of sorts there.
It looks as though the U.S. government is once again trying to ram its under-performing nose into allegations of cheating in the sports world. Seems the Patriots may have secretly videotaped a walk through by the St. Louis Rams prior to Super Bowl Roman numeral whichever.
I have brought this up before, and call me naïve if you will, but can anybody explain to me just what exactly the feds have to do with this. Just the other day, Bill Belichick got his just desserts and paid the piper via an embarrassing loss and an obviously recognizable lack of character.
Christ! Teams have been trying to rip off other’s signals since the days that Neanderthals wandered the earth. Hmmm. Interesting and rather humorous comparison there. Whatever – that’s why teams try to hide their signals in the first place.
In other thoughts, perhaps in this off season, a receiver such as Limas Sweed out of U.T. could fall in the draft for the Dallas Cowboys to snag him. Isaiah Stanback would be good to give a test ride to as well. As least he is already on the roster and probably hungry for playing time. Either or both would provide a speedy compliment to T.O. on the other side.
By the way, I was as surprised as anyone this season by the switcheroo in Owens’
demeanor. Perhaps he either stopped taking, or then again, started taking mood altering drugs. Maybe he just got laid more often. Could it be something as simple that a change in coaching staff provided enough different direction that certain players would perform and behave in a more positive spirit?
Speaking of which, it has been suggested by some members of the media that Roy Williams would be better suited to play linebacker rather than safety. It’s a thought. At least he might take part in some head-on collisions rather than helplessly running after an opposing receiver sprinting toward the end zone.
A major mistake the Cowboys committed in their unnecessary loss to the Giants was to start Marion Barber ahead of Julius Jones. Not that Barber is not the better runner, but why change a scheme that had been so wildly successful all season. There is an old saying: “Dance with the one that brung ya.”
That’s about all there is to say on the subject for now. At least it should be, but one can never trust the stupidity of a useless senate probe.
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super, super bowl

Waddaya know? Bodega Train might have missed the exact score and was off by a point concerning the spread, but the Giants did indeed pull off a cool upset. Looks like the ’72 Dolphins can pop their champagne corks for years to come. And again, Dallas players, coaches and fans can at least sleep knowing that they were not the only favorite to be embarrassed. Credit has to be given to the Giants’ players for not being trapped into a mental funk. They won that game, not only in an exciting way, but with passion. The only question about Eli Manning now is how he will perform on Saturday Night Live. The writer's strike. much like the Patriot's winning streak, cannot go on forever.
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Super Bowl Prediction?

Okay. Forget the big names. Super Bowl game victories have often been decided by what might be described as the more plebian non-suspects.
Prediction in short: If the Giants hold a 4 point lead and have the ball with less than 3 minutes to go, they will spoil the Patriots’ hopes of doing it all like no one before. If not, there you go.
Here says Bodega Train: Giants 31 – Patriots 27.
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