Waiting for Godot - McKellen and Stewart, Hensley and Crudup

Over the years, I have heard of the play "Waiting for Godot."  I have seen (perhaps in a class somewhere?) a brief scene, and I remember thinking "This is strange."  It's one of those plays I somehow knew I should know more about, but it's not as if it's an accessible Broadway musical comedy which is going to be part of a Civic Theater season.

Then, two actors I admire got together a production of it on Broadway.  And, we happened to be going to New York to visit Leah while it was playing, so we simply had to take the opportunity to see  it.

What an experience!

Let's get a few misconceptions out of the way:

• The cast has five actors.  Many people think of it being about two people, and certainly the characters played by Sir Patrick Stewart (Vladimir/DiDi) and Sir Ian McKellen (Estragon/GoGo) are the central parts.  But Pozzo (Shuler Hensley) and Lucky (Billy Crudup) are critical to whatever "meaning" this play ultimately has for you.  Even the Boy has a crucial part to play, small as it is.
• The play is accessible.  OK, so it's hard to describe what it's about, and there are nonsensical lines, but when acted and directed as this production was, the interactions make much more sense than they would if you just saw lines on a printed page.
• The play is funny!  Oh, it's deep, too, and dramatic, but there is plenty of opportunity for humor, and this cast did a wonderful job of giving the audience a wide range of emotional responses.

These actors played off of one another amazingly well.  The timing was exquisite.  I laughed.  I was moved.  I very quickly stopped thinking of the actors as the parts they played in other works, and started living with them as incarnations of Beckett's characters.  Certainly, there were times when an expression of Stewart's would remind me of Captain Picard, or a groan from McKellen would stir a memory of Gandalf.  But that just helped to emphasize how completely different their "Godot" characters were from those other roles.  Oh, and Billy Crudup was practically unrecognizable, so there was no chance I would think of Dr. Manhattan or his role in Big Fish (one of my favorite movies.)

Live theater is to be treasured, in part, because each performance is unique.  And because these shows do not go on forever.  Sometime in February or March, these fine actors will close down "Waiting for Godot" and "No Man's Land" (being performed in rep) and it may well never happen again.  I will treasure this memory, of seeing such fine acting, from such gifted performers, with my wife and daughters.

My only regret is that we did not plan to see both shows.  I would have loved to see this cast in another great play.

Bravo!

Vladimir	Patrick Stewart
Estragon	Ian McKellen
Lucky	Billy Crudup
Pozzo	Shuler Hensley

(I'll credit the actor who played the Boy) when I have access to the program from the performance.)

Creative Team

Written by	Samuel Beckett
Director	Sean Mathias
Set and Costume Designer	Stephen Brimson Lewis
Lighting Designer	Peter Kaczorowski
Sound Designer	Rob Milburn and Michael Bodeen

Games and James - Games of Christmas 2013

Each year, the vacation I take for Christmas is an extended period of time, always lasting through New Year's Eve.  During this festive time, we celebrate the holidays (in particular Christmas -- "the most wonderful time of the year") and we gather with family and friends.  We've also developed a long tradition of filling many of our hours with gaming, and the three days of December 29, 30 and 31 in particular are almost completely devoted to games.

I heard this year that Adam thinks of these days as the very best days of the year.  It's not hard to understand why this is:  Adam loves games, and he has grown up, his whole life, with this period of gaming surrounding him.  As a young child he could only watch, but as he grew, he got more involved, and now he anticipates "New Year's Gaming."  By the way my other children react and participate, I think the feeling is similar for each of them.

To commemorate the gaming which is such a big part of our holidays, I have written an annual summary of the "Christmas-time games" in this blog for four years now.  (See 2009,  2010,  2011, and 2012.)  Continuing the tradition, here is the annual "Snippets and Wisps" recap of the games which were played over the long holiday vacation.


This year, we had many new games join the roster.  I think I will start with those, and then move on to the older games.

Games New to Us This Year

Alhambra - I wrote about this game back in January of last year, after seeing it on the web series TableTop. I never did buy it, though, so I put it on my Christmas list and received it from Adam and Marisa.  I won the first game we played, and Sherry won the second game we played (and the first she played.) Still, it was pretty clear that everyone who played it enjoyed it.

Elder Sign - Here's another game I saw first on TableTop.  Convinced I would like it, and so would my friends, I bought it.  Still, it sat unopened until this Christmas.  The game is actually pretty fast to play -- Once You Know the Rules!  Well, the rules took a long time to read and explain, which was strange because I watched people actually play it on TableTop (video of the game is here) and I thought it was very well explained.  The game is a trimmed-down version of Arkham Horror, played without a board, and so it is another cooperative game, with all the players trying to defeat the game together.  We didn't actually finish (probably because it was time to eat one of Sherry's fantastic meals) but it was pretty clear we were going to win.  I must play this soon with my Rochester Game Dudes.

Ticket to Ride: Africa and Ticket to Ride: India are new maps, with some rules variations, for the popular Ticket to Ride railroad games.  I greatly enjoy this style of game, but I must admit that I did not play either of these during this Christmas vacation.  Why?  Well, as you can see, there were many games to be played.  And this type of game appeals to several of my guests who did not like playing other games (such as Dominion or Magic: the Gathering.)  So, sometimes there were two different games going on, and I had to make a choice.  Troy and Sarah own almost all of these games, and I see them more frequently, so I figure I will get a chance to play these at some point.  I certainly hope so!  The reviews I got from those who played them sounded quite positive.

Smallworld: Underground - Another Days of Wonder game, and another I did not get to play!  What makes this even more surprising is that I bought this game earlier this year, forgot I had done so, didn't open it until December 29, and had never played it before!  But still, I was busy with some other game, so Lucas, Troy and someone else played it.  They said it was good, and I believe them!  I certainly like Smallworld (it will come up in the list below.)  And while I did not see this version of the game on TableTop, I did see the original there, so this makes the third game on the "New Games" list tied to that web series.

Rayman: Legends (for the Wii U) - Sherry surprised me with this gift for Christmas.  We enjoy playing video games together (she usually watches while I play and gives me ideas of what to try next) so it's not surprising she would buy a game.  What was surprising is that I had not asked for this game.  I guess she saw a short review of it on TV somewhere and thought it sounded fun.  We started it after the crowds had left, and we are having fun with it.  It's a single-player side-scrolling game, with many options.  I will probably write more of a review when we have played more of the game.



Games We Had Played Before

Superworld  is the traditional game of the holiday season at the Will house.  We've been playing this Superhero Role Playing Game for over 20 years on or around New Year's Eve. This year, our group of heroes was sent on a search and rescue mission.  The team included Anastasia, Foil, Solo, Toymaker, Phoebe, Phoenix (no, not that one) and Icebird.  This year's scenario took some real determination and focus on the task at hand.  We captured a flunkie working for our arch-enemy, General Isotope, who has been a thorn in our side since we started playing.  This flunkie could have led us straight to the General's compound!  But, we are heroes, and there were people missing and probably in danger.  We had to put off our assault on General Isotope so we could explore an abandoned mine and attempt to rescue some ordinary folks from the clutches of unknown super-villains, while also attempting to avoid waking what we dubbed "Water Cthulhu" which was living in the underground Lake of Evil. Exciting!

Magic: the Gathering.  Though this is one of the favorites for many of us, we do not typically get to play many games of it over the break, because it does not involve enough of us.  That was true again this year for the times when a large group of us was around, but there were several times when fewer people were available, and then we Magic players played.  There were three 2-Headed-Giant games played, and a couple of Three-For-Alls.  I did not participate in the Three-For-Alls this year, because there were other games to be played.  Including ...





 Dominion. This is the game I have been most interested in for the past year. It might be my new favorite game (perhaps excluding M:tG.)
I wrote about it  before in this blog, and I've played it quite a bit since last Christmas.  Both games which were played this year included the Dark Ages expansion I received last Christmas.  And I even won a game, despite the fact that Adam and Lucas were playing, too (they are very, very good at Dominion.  Very Good.)



The Great Dalmuti - Again, a New Year's Eve tradition. It's not fair, but then again, life is not fair. And we all play for fun.  We called Mike as we started to play, to wish him a Happy New Year and a big Huzzah! This year the ones who earned their way to being crowned Great Dalmuti were Sherry and Paul, so I was always part of the crowd wishing the new Dalmuti Huzzah!





Skip-Bo is an old stand-by and must be played every New Year's Eve. We had a 6-player game one day, and then an 8-player game the next.  The game says it's designed for up to 6, but we figured out how to have two teams of four, and it was quite exciting.  I believe it moved much faster, and that's not a bad thing.

Small World is a really fun game I encountered because of the new web series "Tabletop" on the Geek and Sundry YouTube channel.  I bought it immediately and played it soon after.  I mentioned the Underground expansion above, which I did not play.  But I played this original game again.  I didn't win, but I really don't care much about that.  Honestly.  And I know this is one of the games which Tyler was around to enjoy, so that was a bonus.

 

Star Trek Catan - I am surprised to find that I have not blogged about this game yet.  It's a version of Settlers of Catan, but done in space, and with new rules which incorporate the characters from Star Trek (the Original Series.)  Personally, while I greatly enjoy the original Settlers game, I find this version to be much more fun.  I was glad to introduce it to Paul.  When it first came out, it was only available at Target.  I'm not sure if it's more widely available now, but I was very happy to receive it (for my birthday, I think.)

Lord of the Rings: the Card Game - I have played this game a few times with Troy and Sarah.  We were the only ones who played it over Christmas.  It's another cooperative game (I am quite happy these games are being designed!)  Before playing this game, I had never been involved in a cooperative game where the players lost.  This time?  The game kicked us to the curb, ran over us with its back tires, and splashed mud on us as it left us for dead.  Later in the vacation, Troy and Sarah redesigned their decks to have a better chance of beating the scenario, and they won!  What a cool idea!  Learning by losing, and then cooperatively redesigning to win.



Whoonu - Making its return for the first time since 2009, this party game is a game you play to get to know your friends and family. Paul and Sherry demonstrated their knowledge of the others by sharing victory, though if Adam had not mistakenly put another card in the sleeve when it came time to learn about Sherry, his "Scrapbooking" answer would have put Sherry over the top, we are sure!



Funglish was played in 2010 and 2011, but somehow did not get played in 2012.  I'm glad it made a comeback. It is really funny, as long as you're not too terribly interested in who wins.

Legend of Zelda - The Wind Waker. Apparently, this is a Christmastime game.  Leah looked back through my blog to see when we had played this last, and it was around Christmas several years ago.  In any case, it's been a long time, and as far as I can tell, I never owned the game.  I think it belonged to Lucas.  So, when the game came out for the Wii U, I decided to pick it up again.  The changes for the Wii U are not all that significant.  It is prettier -- it takes advantage of the High Definition capabilities of the system.  We finished beating Ganondorf the evening of December 28th, just before company arrived on December 29th.  For the record, we only had 12 Hearts of health, and we completed the final battle with a fairy left in a bottle.  I am glad to have it in my library of games, and I bet I will go back to it again in a few years.

Forge of Empires - I must include this as an Honorable Mention, since I have played this online multiplayer game over the break.  I've completed all of the ages which have been released to this point (Progressive Age is the last one so far.)  I mentioned this game in late January, 2013, so I guess I have been a part of the game now for about a year.  It's something I would probably have given up (Mike and Adam have) if I didn't have a couple of friends and a couple of family still playing.

Dave and Buster's - I haven't mentioned this before, but during many of our recent Christmas seasons, the Will family has gathered at this restaurant which features a large number of arcade and video games.  I can't possibly enumerate each of the games which were played, but we certainly had fun playing them!

I think I have listed every game, though I reserve the right to revise this post (I almost forgot three games as I was preparing this!)  As you can see, the Will House is a very game-filled house over the long Christmas-to-New-Year's-Eve break, and we enjoy those games quite a bit!  In the coming year, I will be looking for even more new games to add to next year's gathering.

But I would be remiss if I did not list the most entertaining part of Christmas and New Year's:  James!  Having a grandson around for all of the eating and talking and gaming was extremely special.  In fact, when we were playing Great Dalmuti, we assigned the Least Merchant the job of sitting out and watching this nearly-9-month old.  That position -- Least Merchant -- was the most coveted position in the game!


              HUZZAH!

            

Movie Micro-Reviews: Edition 96

Some really entertaining movies this time.

Rise of the Guardians	70	I had heard good things, and this lived up to it.  Interesting mythology, fun characters.  Just don’t do a sequel, OK?  A complete story.
Argo	81	I take back anything I ever said about Ben Affleck as an actor.  Clearly, with a director who understands him (himself) he has chops.  Tension is hard to achieve when we know the resolution.  They did it.
Silver Linings Playbook	87	Wonderfully mature movie with realistic people and problems.  Jennifer Lawrence is far too good to be this young.  Or is it the other way around?
Life of Pi	82	I never read the book – and I’m glad.  This pulled me in from the first scenes, and I rode along gladly.
Star Trek: Into Darkness	94	Oh Wow!  Something for every Star Trek fan, and PLENTY for non-Star Trek fans.  Wow!  Must see again!  The chemistry among the main actors is fantastic!

Netflix TV - the Future is Here

Many years ago, or it seems many years ago now, I was happily buying seasons of my favorite TV shows on DVD.  I remember discussing the future with my family.  I clearly remember saying how great it would be when, one day soon, we'd have enough DVDs that we could create our own nightly programming on TV.



I envisioned a time when we could watch an evening, for example, of three episodes of Star Trek, from three different series, on Monday, followed by a Tuesday with some exciting dramas, a Wednesday with X-Files, a Thursday with comedies (if we could agree on comedies we'd all like) and a Friday with Stargate plus whatever Star Trek series we had not seen on Monday.

Oh, yes, life was going to be grand, then.  We would not have to watch commercials, and we could skip whatever formulaic shows the networks decided we needed to see.

As the years went by, I added more series to my future line-up.  Series such as Lost and Battlestar Galactica and (for nights when I would be alone) Monty Python's Flying Circus.  And now, finally ...

I don't need any of them.  (Almost.)

Netflix exists, and its streaming line-up contains pretty much every television show I purchased during those years, plus series which I thought we worthy, but which not even I could convince myself were worth my limited "fun money."

Tonight I found myself alone in the house again, and the networks were showing nothing (almost) worth watching.  "Reality" TV shows about getting in shape, or finding made-for-TV love are not interesting.

I had exercised on the treadmill after work today, and as I typically do, I watched an episode of a Star Trek series.  (I am into Voyager right now.)  So when I saw the line-up on the TV schedule, I decided I would finally implement my future.

So what was tonight's line-up?

Here it is.



Eureka, which I am watching for the first time, because I have heard it's the kind of show I will like (and that's true.)

The West Wing, which was a remarkable show for its pace, its cast, its ability to address real issues while also being engagingly dramatic.

And, yes, Battlestar Galactica - one of may all-time favorites. It's not a Science Fiction show, no matter what it may look like; that is, while some of the ideas for the story are speculative science, it is far more. The series examined themes of government and military, religion and science, democracy, freedom, and inalienable rights.  And it did it with the threat of total annihilation of the human race in the balance.  The creators took great advantage of its setting to tell gripping stories of what it means to have faith, to endure suffering, to struggle, to fail to live up to ideals, and succeed in upholding them; in short, what it means to be human.

I am not upset that I bought all those DVDs.  Truly.  For one thing, Netflix doesn't have every series I want, and for another, there are definite advantages to having DVDs (not every TV in my home is Netflix-connected .... yet.)  Instead, I am glad I can finally realize my longed-for evenings of seeing things I want to watch.

Of course, I don't have a personal schedule which supports five nights of TV shows.  I probably never did.  But the core idea is still there.  We have options today, and we have access to material we've seen, and material we didn't see the first time around, and it's good.

The future is here.  I like it.

Star Trek Continues

I don't know how this came about, but a web series is getting set to begin which continues the stories of Star Trek (the original series).  I'll point you to their site for complete information. ( http://www.startrekcontinues.com/)

Watching their initial clip, it is clear they are trying to faithfully recreate the series.  This is not a "reboot" -- like the latest movie was.  This allows the "five year mission" to continue, with new stories, using the same elements used in the original series.

Here's the clip. It appears to be the last several minutes of the episode "Turnabout Intruder" -- the final episode of the original series. The people behind Star Trek Continues describe it as "a vignette that bridges our new series to the original."



As a fan of all things Star Trek, I am looking forward to seeing this new entry take its shot at being worthy of the franchise.

Where is that *expletive* Video?

A while back, (by which I mean, I can't remember when and it's driving me *expletive* crazy) I saw a video (which is undoubtedly on YouTube, because where else would it be) in which a very clever woman with a guitar demonstrated how musical consonance (notes which sound good together) and dissonance (notes which remind one of fingernails on chalkboards [which people younger than 40 don't seem to remember so if you're that young, just think of the sound your mom made when you'd leave your dirty dishes sitting in your bedroom for a few weeks with the remainders of your kung pao chicken, fried rice and peanut butter getting both moldy and encrusted before you thoughtfully put it on the counter next to, but not in, the dishwasher, very close to, but not in, the sink]) are actually related to how the vibrations which make up the notes are mathematically related to one another. 

That alone was cool, but then she went on to demonstrate that these mathematical chords are used in song after song after song. (It was very clever.  [And she was kinda pretty. "Not that we care about such things in this day and age."] )  She didn't simply list the songs, she performed enough of each to get the point across that all of these songs used the same chords.

By this point in my blog, I hope one of my readers remembers the same video and made it a bookmark/favorite or something. (Which clearly I did not do. [As will become apparent, soon., if it wasn't already, by reading the title of this post.] )

So, I went looking for the video, because I wanted to see it again. (And why else would I go looking for it?  That's really a pointless subclause, right there. [And I think I can be a writer?] )

Could I find it?  (You guessed it.)

No (*expletive*) way!  (FYI - I don't actually use expletives, [of the typical vulgar or rude variety] but conceptually I understand that one belongs here..)

But, in my search, I did find this video, which is quite cool, and is similar (but without the math [though the band performing it is called "The Axis of Awesome," so that makes up for the mathlessness a bit.] )



So, yeah.  Does anyone have the video I was really looking for?  (I shared it on this blog, or on Twitter, or on Facebook, but I can't remember where or when. So, well .... [*expletive*] )

Movie Micro-Reviews: Edition 85

Some really excellent films this time.

Descendents (The)	83	I’m sure real families have some of these same personal issues.  Clooney played the role of a father forced to finally deal with being a real dad, and did it well.
Hugo	81	My recommendation – don’t find out anything about this movie before you see it.  But see it.  You will like it.  There’s a little something magical about it.
Lord of the Rings: Return of the King	100	In the last edition, you saw we had seen the first two again. So you just knew you would see this, right?
Lockout	40	Cannot recommend this – wants to be “sci-fi” but the application of science is totally wrong.  Wants to be “action” but the editing puts shots together about ½ second too short each time, so the action is hard to follow.  We know Guy Pearce can be better than this. The only believable character was Maggie Grace’s
National Treasure	81	A clever action mystery.  Fun clues.
National Treasure: Book of Secrets	81	Another well-written mystery.  They followed the formula they created in the first movie, and it worked.  Fun!  We will own it.
Girl with the Dragon Tatoo (The)	70	Rooney Mara plays one of the most interesting characters in recent memory – Lisbeth Salander - with complete dedication.  The mystery was very good.  All in all, I liked the movie.  BUT.  But some of it is so disturbing, so graphic, so violent that I can’t recommend it except with that warning. I won’t see it again.
50/50	62	J G-L is a likeable actor, who seems to be able to handle most any role.  Here, as a young man faced with a 50% chance of surviving a cancer which is aggressively attacking him, he helps us put ourselves in that sad situation.  My main problem with the movie is Seth Rogan, who seems to play the same rude sex-obsessed “buddy” every time I see him.  Though he has some redeeming qualities, it’s hard for me to watch him sometimes.  That was the case here.
Avengers	94	Wow!  Such a good comic book movie!  OK, if you had not seen the previous movies, maybe you’d be a little lost.  But, of course, I HAVE seen them, and this movie is a fantastic result. Heroes with big egos fighting each other – because that happens in comics all the time!  Heroes dealing with their personal issues, both as strengths and weaknesses – a Marvel hallmark.  And action-upon-action.  Yet none of it would make the movie great without the humor.  So much humor!  Loved it!
Much Ado About Nothing	75	Shakespeare at his most accessible.  Kenneth Branagh makes the Bard’s words sound natural.  Emma Thompson is a wonderful Beatrice.  And Denzel Washington brings more life to Don Pedro than Shakespeare probably ever dreamed possible with the actors of his time.  Delightful.

Star Trek Voyager - Running to Season 4

If you've been reading my blog for a while, you probably know I watch Star Trek episodes when I am getting exercise on my treadmill.

During today's run, I watched the final episode of Season 3 of Star Trek: Voyager.  That means the next time I go for an indoor run, I get to start Season 4!


I am excited.


Why?

I'll give you Nine guesses.

And if you get Seven of them right, you'll know.

Welcome, Jeri Ryan, and the introduction of the character who added the most consistently interesting story lines to the series.  Seven of Nine.

In the Zone -- Thirteen Decks and Counting

Over the past few weeks, I've been wanting to build Magic decks so I can have fresh things to play over the nice, long Christmas-to-New-Year's break.

Well, I've made progress.  The photo shows the decks which I have either built from scratch, or significantly re-built during this stretch.  That's 13 decks, so far.  It's possible I'll build one more tonight (Tuesday) before bed, but then I'll take a break for a couple of days to spend time with Sherry before she goes back for her last two Finals.  Then before she and Leah are home on break, I probably have one more night of opportunity for building. 

Designing and building decks is always a hot/cold thing for me.  I put episodes of Stargate: SG1 and Star Trek: Voyager on the DVD player as background entertainment, and they often distract me.  But then, all of a sudden, inspiration will strike and I will grab cards from this box and that box, run into my den to grab more cards, and lay them all out in front of me. 

That's when I get "in the zone."

A digression:  Both of my boys play Magic.  So does my son-in-law.  Sarah learned enough to be able to test Troy's decks with him occasionally, but I can't recall ever playing a game of Magic with her.  Until recently, though, I never thought Leah would want to play.  

Well, it turns out she had learned to play, too.  She told me one of her goals for this upcoming break is to learn to play better.  She asked me to help.

A little tear comes to my eye.  [Figuratively.]

I doubt she really needs to know how to design & build a deck.  She probably just wants to have me talk about the finer points of the rules, and how they affect tactics and strategy.  But as I got "in the zone" this time, I did reflect on what I teach people when I teach them about deck design. 

Back to "the Zone":  So, I have all these cards in front of me.

It seems like I always have about 80 cards which fit whatever "theme" I'm building, and I have to trim it to 37. [A deck should contain 60 cards, with rare exceptions, and approximately 23 of them need to be land, with slightly less rare exceptions.]  I divide the cards into piles based first on color, and then on effective converted mana cost.  As much as I am drawn to the cards which are hardest to play [I am a "Timmy" -- which means nothing to you unless you've read my blog entry about types of Magic players -- or the great Mark Rosewater columns {One, Two and Three} which describe them] I know a deck won't work unless I limit the number of them in the deck far more than I want to.  So I pick out which of them I really, really want to experience.

The rest of the cards ... well, I didn't really intend this blog entry to turn into a full deck design treatise ... so let me say I typically make my selections of the rest of the cards to support the "bombs" -- those cards which are the hardest to play.  It's pretty frequent that some mid-range cards which I initially threw in the pile because I thought they would support the theme get left out of the deck.  Those mid-range cards often become the theme for another deck.

Anyway, I now have thirteen "new" decks.  Troy "helped" me try out five of them this past weekend.  If all goes well, I will get to play them all by the end of January.  If it goes really well, I will play them all by New Year's Eve.

As if there weren't already plenty of reasons to love Christmas and vacation!