Saturday night I got to sit in on a performance by the Eau Gallie High School folks of the Broadway play Beauty and the Beast. Most of the leads (especially the Beast and Gaston) were great and the ensemble was fantastic. The dance numbers were astoundingly good (I have no clue how the cast kept all those steps in their heads, or how the choreographer(s) put all that together ), the band’s music was great, and the sets were impressive.

It was pretty easy to forget we were watching a performance by a high school cast and crew — apart from a lackluster Belle and some minor problems with two wireless mics (apparently a flap of fabric on two of the costumes cover up the little mics, but fortunately the two actors with the problem had strong enough voices that they projected just fine without the mics), this is the caliber of show you could expect to see on Broadway. The $10-per-seat ticket price was a steal for this

My congratulations to the cast and crew! My buddy Shannon snapped some shots backstage with my camera (hehehe — nobody said the cast couldn’t snap a few pictures behind the scenes!); they’re available right here, or right here on a separate page in case the “embedded” version goofs up. Standard procedure for both: click the thumbnails for bigger versions; a little magnifying glass w/plus sign icon in the bottom-right corner zooms in even more.

Technorati Tags: Media Performance Pictures Site

[acidfree:1211 align=right title=’Cherenkov Radiation’] Hot on the heels of my recent post about the Saint Lucie Power Station that’s nearby comes more digging and happiness — for whatever reason, nuclear power is an interesting topic to me. The grand “red herring” of nuclear fusion is something we’ll eventually turn into something usable, not just a joke (and the pictures you get from that stuff are just stunningly beautiful). Note the person taking the picture of that live, operational reactor is completely safe from the radiation it’s producing — a simple pool of water is plenty of protection. Not a bit of radiation gets past it (just don’t go for a swim or take a drink ).

Click on that picture and then try to tell me you’re not at least mildly impressed

Or maybe I’m just easily amused by glowing things.

“From there to here, from here to there, funny things are everywhere.”
— Dr. Seuss

I’ve added another pile of pictures to the collection at my gallery. Have a look if you’re so inclined:

• See a list of all new pictures on the tracker page.
• Scope out the first pictures of Rugen on the new system/site.
• See new pictures of Monty doing goofy things.
• Marvel at the cats behaving in a relatively civil manner towards each other in some group shots.

More posts to come tonight; my desktop’s been working overtime to piss me off today and there’s some other good topics that deserve some attention, too.

No character, however upright, is a match for constantly reiterated attacks, however false.
— Alexander Hamilton

What a depressing thought.

[acidfree:883 align=right title=”“]I’ve uploaded a bunch of new pics from assorted things, including some silly shots I didn’t take (or edit) myself. You’ll know ‘em when you see ‘em.

• Marvel at disgustingly cute pictures of cats (these weren’t mine; see the page for citation)
• Some new pictures of all the cats in the pets section
• Check out some shots I took of the Sunset Cafe up in Cocoa Beach, including some really spiffy long-exposure shots.

Click, browse, and be merry

Life is both difficult and time-consuming.

Heh, and to think, the new pictures I’ve tossed online tonight are less than half of the new stuff I have to upload, and probably less than a tenth of what the old photo gallery had (that I still intend to rebuild here). Who cares? Let’s look at some spiffy photographs (click the links to see that specific album, or visit Will’s Gallery to see the whole bloody thing):

• I took a tour in early October 2006 to the Kennedy Space Center with a friend.
• Later that month, the same friend (and the rest of her immediate family) took me up to Orlando to check out Universal Studios Orlando and the “Halloween Horror Nights” promotion they were putting on. She even got me on a big thrill ride (a first for me, yikes!). Thankfully, we did not buy the picture they took of my distorted, twisted face as we plunged down a 90 foot drop.
• She also participated in a Halloween Show at the Super Flea & Farmer’s Market this year; lots of good shots of all the participants in the show here.
• Catch a couple shots of my debut karaoke show at the Dog House in Palm Bay back on October 27, 2006.
• Look at my cat, Maggie. She’s cute. Admit it. You know you want to.

There’s more coming, but I’m getting tired tonight

If fifty million people say a foolish thing, it’s still a foolish thing.
— Bertrand Russell

Where was this damned quote when I was writing my PHP rant a bit ago?

I finally uploaded some pictures from the Halloween night festivities at Kelley’s in a new photo gallery; have a look to see lots of costumes (including some from the costume contest) and assorted antics. There’s more coming as well from the Halloween Horror Nights in Orlando from a few weeks back; I just need to get those filtered & uploaded.

And no, you’re not going crazy; some of the shots are blurry. The camera’s beginning to show its age and isn’t focusing so well anymore

Captions/descriptions on the pictures are coming soon.

The worst is not so long as we can say “This is the worst.”

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