today, i went to a play!

"Good for you! That's the first one this month, isn't it?"

Of course it is. That hernia surgery really put a crimp in my style, or else I'd be going to several plays this weekend. The Savannah Stage Company has "Blackbird" at the Sentient Bean, but all performances are after 7 PM, so those are out. Savannah Arts Academy has "Six Degrees Of Separation" at the Tybee Post Theatre, but two of the three performances are at night. Not that it would matter, as it's still too far to drive for me at this time. However, there's this matinee today, by the Garrison Arts Academy, and it was at Yamacraw Performing Arts Center and that was just perfect!!! "Myth-Understood" was exactly the comedy needed to bring smiles to my face and laughter to my heart!

"Most excellent!!! Was it Roman or Greek mythology?"

It was Greek! I don't recall being into those works in the 5th and 6th grade, but these kids sure were. The two-act play was done completely by those students! I sat near a mom who had seen it last night and was back with her son's siblings so they could enjoy it, too. A family day with live theater!

"Good for her! So, tell me which stories were spoofed!"

That's just it, these were supposedly the real stories, from the very lips of the gods themselves to the two teens writing a report for their class. Hermes had fetched the girls to Mount Olympus so Zeus and Hera could bring forth the others to clarify the myths. For instance, Prometheus had been punished for stealing fire from Zeus, right? Well, what actually happened was this: Prometheus claimed to have invented fire. He was punished for lying about that.

"Oh, really?" (one eyebrow arched)

For sure, as the two girls found out. He took their phone, then claimed to have invented the phone! Later, he would claim to have invented the internet, youTube, and door-dash! Such a rampant liar! LOL! Then the girls heard the true story of how Persephones ended up with Hades in the underworld. Persephone wanted to go to hell so she could dress dark and be in a band, so she followed Hades. He didn't even know she was behind him! Then, when she got there, she found two others and they became rockers known as Queens of the Underworld! Her mom didn't like it, but Persephone did agree to come back above ground once a year to bring spring.

"Queens of the Underworld? Really?"

Yes, yes, and that's not all. When Eurydice died and went to the underworld, she became friends with them.

"Say what?"

Yeah, it turned out Orpheus was a bit of a stalker, so she deliberately stepped on a snake so she would die and get away from him. Then, you know what happened, right? He followed her down there, too! He even asked Hades to let him have her back. So Hades cut him the deal that they could be reunited if Orpheus didn't look back to make sure she was following. Ah, but Eurydice tricked him by saying, "Hey, there's Mick Jagger!" Hahahaha!

"Oh, that's funny!!! Such a nice coincidence! His name came up yesterday!"

I know! Right place, right time!

"Pretty amazing how often that bit of mythology gets plucked for retelling. I bet that tale has been told at least four times in the last decade."

Yep, that would be my count! Now, who else got to tell their side of things? Well, there was Pandora, cursed by Zeus to be overly curious, then given a jar - not a box - and told not to look inside. She got her husband to open it, so he's the one that should be blamed for all the ills of the world. LOL! Then there's the story of Medusa, who just wanted a hairdo that would stand out at school. Athena knew she was a herpetology fan, so that's why she gave Medusa a head full of snakes. Just helping a girl out, you know?

"Hahahaha! 'Be careful what you wish for!' LOL!"

The thing is, Medusa really liked the new 'do, just not all the teasing from the other kids. Then what was there? Oh, yes, a dating game spoof called "Apple of His Eye", in which Paris has to pick which goddess he favors. That's them in the seats out front: Athena, Aphrodite, and Hera. Of course, he chooses Aphrodite, who promises to make Helen of Troy fall in love with him. We all know how badly that went!

"Yep another case of someone getting what they wanted and having the world collapse all around them. So, how did the teacher like the girls' report?"

She gave them an "F"!!! She said they didn't even try to research, just "made it all up" instead. Everyone on Mount Olympus was shocked! They had listened in and thought the report was fabulous, as the girls told their truths, but I guess the world just wasn't prepared to hear that from two 11-year-olds. At least the teacher gave them a chance to make up the bad grade by trying again.

"LOL! Yes, who's gonna believe two 6th-graders? The gods must have been crazy to think that would work."

That's my guess. Now, I need to finish up here as I have places to be! Such a nice afternoon this has been!

front porch of the jea!

This was meant as a gift for members of the Savannah JEA, but they opened up the comedy show for any and all... so I accepted the invite!

I tried to get a few others to come, including my Monday-night crew, but they had other plans... so I took myself there!

After all, 'tis the season and I love gifts!

I was amazed by how much talk of Christmas there was by the children at the Jewish Educational Alliance!!!

Right place, right time!!!

Front Porch Improv had five members of their troupe present.

I never caught the name of the keyboard man, but the others are Jesse, Abby, Beth, and Ava, and they put on a fabulous hour of fun!!!

I was delighted that they used two of my lines in the comedy skits, too!

The first of those instances was in the second sketch, with Abby and Jesse over at Grayson Stadium playing baseball on the diamond, kinda sorta like I have done there as well as when  I was in Iowa. 

Jesse had just hit the ball, then he pulled the slip out of his pocket and said, "Are we there yet?" - hahaha!

He told her it was his catchphrase... was that a baseball pun?!?!

I'm saying it was!

(smile!)

The next skit that used a suggestion from me was near the end of the hour.

Jesse was up again, this time for "Press Conference", where he had to guess why he was being lauded.

The other troupe members asked him questions and he found out he was a swimmer who had crossed the Atlantic Ocean, pulling an elephant, with Barney as his travel companion... very funny!

And that bit about the elephant... that was mine!!!

Wondering why that would have been on my mind?

A couple of skits earlier was all about asking the audience for jokes.

Why did the chicken cross the playground? To get to the other slide!

What do you get when you cross a snowman with a vampire? Frostbite!

Why was the bee's hair spiky? He used a honeycomb!

Hahahaha!

I was going to tell one of Mama's elephant jokes, but missed the chance.

Nice that I got the elephant in there another way.

i thank You, God!

Now, I've been home again, watching the Grand Prix ice skating highlights, aired instead of football by one of the local stations.

Guess what I just saw?

My man, Yuma Kagiyama, winning another silver medal at this event!!!

He's 20 years old now, and still just delightful to watch!

Right place, right time!

(smile) 

neighing away!!!

Because of the pain in my right leg, I've been sleeping oddly.

See, I prefer to sleep on my right side, and that has become an issue with my sore hamstring and hip.

What did I do to cause that?

Beats me.

Acetaminophen helps - which is good, as that's the only pain reliever I'm allowed while on Eliquis - but it gets 'all used up' in less than seven hours.

That means I'm up at crazy times to take another so I can finish sleeping.

Thankfully, this time I was able to catch "Bill and Teddy's Adventure"!

 

Hahahaha!

That's my name for this scene!

Nice pun on one of my favorite history movies! 

Teddy Roosevelt had challenged Bill to a Hobby-Horsin' Hootenanny and it was ON!

That's Bill on the left, with his steed, 'Broomstick'. 

Teddy, astride 'Little Texas', had to split the win of the first two jumping contests, but they managed to beat out the competition in the third round.

Very funny!!!

By the time that was done, and I'd watched two cartoons that featured hobby horses, the pill had kicked in.

i thank You, God, 

for this bit of merriment!

Now, I'm awake again and well-rested, and ready to head off to Suds for laundry.

I'm even tackling the double load of bed linen this time.

Why a double instead of a single?

Well, that's 'cause I've been slack.

I've had a fitted sheet and a flat sheet left over from a few months back when I didn't want to be bothered with folding sheets.

Silly me!

Hooray for quadruple loader machines and 25% off Wednesdays!

not with a bang, but a giggle

Tonight, I ended 2014 with a roomful of strangers, with a few acquaintances scattered about.
What fun!
I was at one of my favorite places in Daytona Beach, the Cinematique, for an evening of entertainment - and dinner! - for only a couple of Jacksons. Very nice! The night began with an opening hour of free wine and beer, with noshes at hand. I sipped two glasses of Cabernet while nibbling on cheese, chips & salsa, and olives - yum!
Then Random Acts of Insanity arrived for their first set! I had caught the last half of their improv last night when I had arrived to town and was thrilled to get more of the zaniness! Andrew Ramos (the lead instigator of frivolity) and Menos were the only ones tonight had in common with last night. Both have voice talents which allow them to seamlessly riff between their own and those of Christopher Walken, Marlon Brando, Jimmy Stewart, and Robert Deniro - fun! They were joined by George, Scott, and JG tonight for quite a few games, including Fractured Fairy Tales, Forward/Reverse, Ding, Two-headed Date, Party Guests, and others. Each of the guys took turns being the emcee and several of them were called upon to be "girls", as in the day of Shakespeare.
Seriously fun!
I made sure to participate by calling out suggestions for game themes, items or words to be included, accents to be used - oh, yes, just as if I were home at an Odd Lot show! About half the audience had never been to an improv show, but by RAI's post-dinner set, everyone was chiming in. Good!
The dinner, a buffet between sets, was catered by an Ormond Beach group, DB Pickles. Big bowl of crispy salad, baked chicken breasts in gravy, roasted red potatoes, and garlicky green beans - quite tasty! Of course I had seconds! Then, for dessert, fabulous chocolate macaroons and red velvet cupcakes, along with an assortment of cookies for cRuNCH!
I was glad the fellows weren't tasked with entertaining us during the dinner. Rather, the dinner was sandwiched between the two hour-long sets of improv, allowing full enjoyment of all aspects of each.
The final game ended just a few minutes before midnight, allowing all guests the time to receive a glass of champagne and get their party favors in hands or atop heads. (I wore my sparkly pink and silver headband-cum-tiara, so I was set from the get-go!)
Then the grand countdown! 10... 9... 8... 7... 6... 5... 4... 3... 2... 1...
HAPPY NEW YEAR!!!
There were even fireworks, courtesy of the city, visible from our perch on Beach Street!
Nicely done, y'all!