Celebrating Good Health - An Anniversary

Today marks the 4^th anniversary of The Ancient One's emergency triple coronary artery bypass surgery. I remember the early part of August 30, 2004 very well. I remember when an angioplasty didn't get the artery open and being rushed into the operating room. I remember little else of that day. I seemed to heal well and went home 5 days later. Recovery was slow and I finally felt "good" again after about 3 months.

The Ancient One's open heart surgery was one week to the day before Bill Clinton's. Following his surgery I watched too much TV news and learned more than I wanted to know about the procedure and the use of heart/lung machines. I just wanted to get well.

Today, I am still heavier than I should be although 40+ pounds less than at the time of the surgery. I am obsessive about exercise; 3 days a week at the cardiac rehab center (my health club staffed by cardiac nurses) and walking every other day of the week. Strength training with 8 pounds weight is added in, usually twice a week (on walking, not rehab days).

I am a lot healthier now than I was 4 years ago. This is a happy anniversary. While it came about because of a medical threat to my life, that surgery added many years to my existence on this earth. I have now enjoyed 4 of those additional years and plan to be around for many more. I retired from my "job" and now do consulting and acting on my schedule, not someone else's.

Life is good! Sometimes it takes something like open heart surgery to appreciate all we have and how good life can be when it is lived in the now and the future. And The Ancient One is planning on being around for a lot of "future."

Amen!

There's That Man Again. . .

That man with the bald spot was seen again today; this time as he was preparing to be a "mall walker."

After he first appeared in the previous post, Charles Gramlich stopped by and guessed (correctly) that it was The Ancient One and that he was portraying (incorrectly) Sean Connery!

Thanks for the compliment Charles! And, perhaps Charles, having never seen me, doesn't know that in the normal world the guy in the picture does not have a bald spot on the back of his head.

Shortly after the above picture was taken, the shoot began. It started with the "mall walk" and then proceeded to a 2^nd location where The Ancient One changed first into a business suit for some scenes and later into pajamas. It was a long (11 hour) day and a lot of fun. I can tell you that once the clips are edited, they will appear on Talkshow With Spike Feresten which generally is aired at midnight Saturday nights on the Fox network. I am told that it will be broadcast at midnight, Saturday, September 13 (which some may argue is actually the start of Sunday, September 14).

I still can't tell you the name of the guy being portrayed in a comedy sketch that is a bit of a spoof. I can tell you that you will never see his face. I might get around to revealing all for those who miss the show. . . after it airs. I fully realize that many of us have trouble staying up past midnight. Yawwwnnnnnn!!

Who Is That Man?

Those of you who know The Ancient One know that he has a relatively full head of hair. No bald spots in spite of his decades on earth. But when an actor gets a chance at a paying job where he is supposed to resemble someone else and is only being shot from the rear and side, he sometimes is willing to do strange things.

Just who is that man? And whom is he supposed to resemble? Maybe The Ancient One will talk more about it sometime after tomorrow's TV shoot.

Oh yes, a special thank you to Josie at Rolling Hills Barbers for her valiant effort with scissors and clippers!

Now That's Popping Corn!

One day last week around mid-afternoon, The Ancient One had a craving for popcorn. He went to the pantry and sure enough there was a box of the microwave variety. He extracted a package and read the instructions since it had been a very long time since he had indulged himself and made popcorn. It said to put it in the microwave for 4 minutes on the "high" setting. Into the microwave it went. The 4 minutes were entered on the timer and the start button pushed.

The Ancient One went into the other room to get something and returned to the kitchen at about the 3½ minute mark. He smelled something acrid, looked up and, sure enough, there was smoke pouring from the microwave. Being of sound mind, he raced across the room and pushed the button that not only stopped the microwave but opened the door. There was this charred, puffed up bag belching smoke which quickly escaped filled the kitchen. And then a stranger thing happened. The revolving microwave tray suddenly exploded! Trying to recall a physics lesson from many decades ago, he wondered if the cooler room air caused the explosion when it came into contact with superheated glass. But it really didn't matter!

After extracting and dousing the bag and letting things cool off, The Ancient One finally removed the glass tray and cleaned things up, he pondered his fate. How would he explain the gremlins that caused this mess when dear Donna returned home from work? He thought quickly. To the computer he dashed. He googled "microwave turntable" and "microwave tray" and search for a replacement to order for the 3 year old appliance. He found what appeared to be the right vendor and the needed tray. He wasn't sure so he called the vendor. Yes, it was the right part and was immediately ordered. At this moment on this day he loved the power of the internet and its ability to save his hide.

When Donna retuned home, The Ancient One calmly told her about the calamity ending his explanation with ". . .and the replacement has already been ordered." She gave him that "oh, how stupid can you be look" that all wives seem to have mastered and asked, "How much did it cost?"

Yes, that was an expensive bag of microwave popcorn that I DID NOT get to eat; $26.95 plus shipping and taxes of course! It will be here in 3 days . . . please!

The Sheriff and the Judge (CCPT)

Thanks to Milton Chen, here are a couple of photos from one of last weekend's performances of To Kill a Mockingbird at Culver City Public Theatre (CCPT),

The first shows Sheriff Heck Tate (Eric Billitzer) and Judge Taylor (The Ancient One) just before their entrance onto the stage from the audience area early in Act 1.

And the 2^nd shows them moving across the stage a few moments later.

Thanks to Milton for allowing The Ancient One this opportunity for some blatant self-promotion.

Final performances of CCPT's To Kill a Mocking Bird are this weekend (August 23-24) at 2:00 p.m. in Paul Carlson Park at Braddock and Motor in Culver City. Y'all come by, y'hear!

Baseball Memories. . .

If you are a baseball fan, stop over at BillyBlog when you get a chance. The Ancient One's first-born son recalls attending a Detroit Tigers-California Angels game in August, 1974.

I can tell you that he warmed his old father's heart with his memories. And they brought a smile to my face as I recall the game about which he speaks as well as taking him to his first Major League game at Busch Stadium in St. Louis earlier that summer.

Thanks Bill!

Two Mysteries, Or Is It Just One

I had not previously read any of Catherine Coulter's novels. My introduction to her writing came via Double Take, the 11^th book in her FBI Series.

FBI agents Dillon Savich and Lacey Sherlock, married to each other, are at the core of the mysteries in this series. Yet, if I had not checked Coulter's website for some background, I would have seen them as just two of the "good guys" in this novel. It seemed to me that Special Agent Cheney Stone and Dixon Noble, a sheriff from Virginia, played more prominent roles in solving the 2 mysteries in Double Take.

Actually, it just seems like there are two separate stories here. Coulter very ably starts with what appears to be 2 unrelated investigations on opposite coasts and gradually weaves them together until we see at the end that there is a single source of the evil perpetrating the initial crimes.

It is highly likely that I will read other novels in Coulter's FBI Series. She does say on her website that they can be read in any order. Knowing how obsessive I can be, I'll probably go back and start at the beginning.

Challenges of Performing Outdoors (CCPT)

I write a lot about rehearsals and performances with Culver City Public Theatre (CCPT). Yesterday as I was sitting backstage waiting for Judge Taylor's entrance for the trial in To Kill a Mockingbird, I was thinking about why I enjoy performing in the park so much. While I enjoy the camaraderie among the actors and being part of a good ensemble cast, there is also great satisfaction simply in the challenge of presenting a credible performance in an outdoor venue with no amplification

When I first performed in the park in 1996, I remember the director bringing in a voice coach to do a short workshop with those of us new to the outdoor theatre environment. I don't remember the individual's name, but I remember clearly his stating that our job was to make our voices "bounce off the houses across the street." This requires the ability to breathe correctly and to project our lines from the diaphragm and not the throat. If we were to shout without proper breathing and projection, we would quickly lose our voices. Since that first summer, I have often commented that if you can successfully perform in the park, you can perform anywhere.

But there are other factors that challenge the actors. There are numerous distractions that drown out voices and make it difficult to stay focused. The loudest of these are the fire engines with their screeching sirens that can be heard from blocks away and the jet planes and helicopters that fly overhead. We've succeeded in getting the ice cream man to NOT ring his bell as he comes by to hawk his wares. We have silenced the leaf blowers by offering gardeners bags of popcorn to arrange their schedules so that they are not across the street at performance times.

Yesterday there was another event in the park where they were using amplified music. They didn't seem to even consider our request to hold down the volume during the children's show. Occasionally, a birthday party and the joyous shouts of children celebrating with a piñata will drift across the park. Next week, the annual Fiesta Ballona will be going on a few blocks away and we will have to face rock music from their main stage flowing through the neighborhood into our performance space.

And if the outside noises aren't enough to distract us, there is the wind. There is always a cooling breeze in Carlson Park. But sometimes it does more than cool the summer air. Today the wind toppled two of the flats defining the set just prior to the start of Sluefoot Sue and Pecos Bill. Those of us backstage took turns holding the legs on the flats to make sure they stayed in place during the performance. Then, as the wind gusted during To Kill a Mocking Bird, the prosecuting attorney had to scoop of papers with his notes as they took flight during the trial. The judge had to weigh down and reposition his legal pad to keep the pages from flapping in the breeze.

And yet I find all of these challenges to be an integral component of the joy I find in performing with CCPT. And I was thinking of all of this while waiting for the beginning of Act 2 and my entrance in a wind blown judge's robe to preside over the trial of Tom Robinson.

So come join us next weekend for the closing performances of CCPT's 2008 season. For those in the Los Angeles area, Paul Carlson Park is at Motor and Braddock in Culver City. Sluefoot Sue and Pecos Bill starts at 12:00 noon and runs 1 hour. To Kill a Mockingbird begins at 2:00 p.m. and runs for 2 hours.

Come join us. You'll have a wonderful afternoon. And it's free!!

Mailboxes 1

I seem to notice all sorts of interesting things on my daily walk (at those times my face is not buried in a book). I've taken and posted pictures of colorful banners. Earlier this week it was a striped fumigation tent covering a large 2-story house.

Today it's mailboxes! Below are several colorful painted receptacles into which neighbors receive their bills and advertisements (among other things).

Now 2 boxes with decorative additions to the standard shape and design.

Finally, brilliant red decorated by the local population of crows.

The next mailbox post (whenever it may be), will include boxes that have different shapes and interesting frameworks built around them.

Hmm! I am starting to think that I have too much time on my hands? Enjoy!

Now That's a Tent. . .

I just love the way they fumigate houses around here (and elsewhere, I assume). They get rid of those creepy, crawly, usually hidden critters by putting a big tent over the house and pumping it full of some toxic gas that kills the little invaders. It seems this is usually done when the house is sold and the buyers want assurance that termites and other pests are not part of the reception committee when they move in.

On my morning walk a few days ago I spotted a house being readied for fumigation.

Now that's a tent! It probably has 4 bedrooms and 3 bathrooms.