La Troupe De La Salle Presents The Sword in the Stone

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That time I directed a high school play  — Frank Levy and Bonnie Bess Wood's adaptation of The Sword and the Stone.
Update!!! 
To all my Blogger and Facebook friends: I have been working with a cast of twenty-five young people for the last two months. We are performing The Sword in the Stone. The story tells the tale of how the young boy Arthur grew up and became the legendary king of England. Frank Levy from Stories in Motion wrote the play. He adapted the story from the ancient legend for a contemporary audience. The show is funny and poignant and full of energy. We had our opening night this week and the show was a success. If you all could make it to tonight’s performance through Saturday (doors open at 7:00 and the show starts at 7:30) it would be great! Tickets are five dollars at the door at De La Salle High School on the third-floor theater in the Brother Arsenius Student Center. Parking is in the school parking lot on Leontine Street and St. Charles Ave. between the Jewish Community Center and the school. The show runs an hour and a half with a fifteen-minute intermission.

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Storm Report: On Leaving New Orleans for Hurricane Gustav

     After two beers and a Tylenol, I took a nap as Gustav was positioned 365 miles out in the Gulf of Mexico, inching its way inland.

Hurricane Gustav's trajectory 

according to the National Weather Service.

 
     Outside on the highways, contra-flow had begun directing people on the interstate highways east, west and north but I preemptively hate long lines, so I decided to get half-way inebriated and wait until evening, my only concern was the curfew. Police and military warned citizens that they would arrest anyone loitering in the streets. I did not want the experience of a Crescent city cop car chasing me out of the city. Nor did I want to go to Angola. Mayor Nagin reported at a news conference that anyone still in the streets after nightfall would be arrested and sent to general population in Angola (i.e., the prison).

Writing From a Laptop in North Beach, San Francisco, CA at Café Trieste

Writing this blog post from Café Trieste in North Beach, San Francisco, CA (But I mainly focus on my trip to Oregon, to see Ruy and friends, and that time I went to the Water Lily Festival).
I am posting this blog from lovely San Francisco, CA but the pics are from various and sundry places I have visited thus far so enjoy the unorganized panoply of prose and pics!
My friend Suzanne and Shawndeya know how to string a harp like the angel's on high. The chords made even the sea nymphs and forest fairies come out and sing.
At the Crystal Falls, Sarah told me in her best French, "laissez les bon temps roulez"! She did not want me to tell you guys that she has been trying to act cajun even though she is from the mid west.
This is common wood sorrel that Kevin and I tasted and concluded that its acidic taste is delectable but soon afterward can cause serious stomach churning.
Ahh, here is Ruy, Sarah, and Kevin relaxing at the Falls. AHHHHH. Isn't life sweet?

In San Francisco, early in the morning, the Golden Gate Bridge is veiled in a layer of fog and smog the color of cappuccino.


I drove through Humboldt County's version of the Redwood Forest. I cannot compare it to the actual Redwood National Park, but I was impressed. Man, those trees are ginormous.
This picture was taken on Mount Shasta in California. As I was ascending the mountain in my Toyota Echo I must have seen thousands of these creatures swarming, hitting against my windshield. I felt bad but there were so many of them it was like a love bug cloud you would find in the south but these guys are much more beautiful. By the way, Mount Shasta is gorgeous; some say it has a numinous quality about it that has led to conjectures about its mystical nature. I saw these hikers on the side of the road. They had hiked to the peak of the mountain which is about 12,000 or 13,000 feet up and they needed a ride to their car so I did my numinous duty and drove them back and they then, in turn, gifted me with twenty bucks.
I needed a break so I took off all my clothes and swam in the river. Do you believe that? Hey?! No one was looking but it sure did give new meaning to the phrase, "colder than a witch's tit"!
This young lady introduced me to the art of writing poetry on the back of a bamboo shedding. We went to the Water Lily Festival in Wilsonville, Oregon. It was da bomb.

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Photographs: "Eugene, OR"

Eugene, OR
In this post, I showcase photographs of people I know and not know from Eugene, Oregon.

Phoenix's Kids

Ruy Hiding

Chagamland

Crystal Falls

Water Lily

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Travel Diary: Corvallis, OR

Corvallis, OR

Riding our bikes in Avery Park, we saw a snake eating another smaller snake. We were stunned by the way the snake gobbled up the smaller creature. As Ruy said, "it is the way snakes are." I have this video here, but I am not sure how good a job it does of showing the event. Ruy says snakes are a rarity in Corvallis. A boy stopped and watched the eating process with us. He wanted to grab the snake and show us the head but Ruy protested that it would disrupt mother nature's process so the boy did not do what boys love to do best, but you can tell by his face in this picture that he was more than willing if we had given him permission.

     Avery Park in Corvallis is populated by a group of raucous men and their scraggly dog. These guys looked like they wanted to kill me when I first saw them but Ruy insisted they were harmless. They were huddled in a circle on the banks of the Marys River.
They kept on telling me that their dog had rabies which really scared me. I do not do well with rabid dogs!
We went to the Corvallis rose garden and we both laughed at the rose called "Sexy Rexy"! We climbed onto an authentic train engine populated by the area's children and Ruy who enjoyed climbing onto the train and acting goody. It was a lot of fun and Ruy appreciated seeing parts of Corvallis that he would not normally venture out to on his own.
We went to visit Shagamland. This is an intentional community in Oregon. An intentional community is what most of us would call a commune but I don't think they use that word anymore.

     Phoenix, pictured here, showed us around and gave us a glass of water. This couple who lived down the road almost called the police on me because they thought I was trespassing but when they saw Ruy they calmed down a bit. Whew. The last thing I need is to get arrested.
I am in the Beanerie here in Corvallis but I better get back to Ruy's place before he starts to worry. Tomorrow we go to the Pacific coast with Kevin and Sarah.

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Travelin' from the Rocky Mountains Through Colorado And Bend to Corvallis, OR - Ruy's Place

Corvallis, OR
I finally made it to Ruy’s place in Corvallis. I got here last night after traveling yesterday through the Willamette National Forest.

I do not have much time to say much today, but I did finally gather all my pics into one place so you can click here to see a photo gallery of the grande voyage thus far:
Kanpai Restaurant in Bend, Oregon.
This guy is a great chef and he was very nice too.

This was some of the best sushi I have ever eaten. This particular dish is called Mother and Child. Get it? It took me a bit to get it too, but then I finally figured it out with some help from friends.
This is Mount Washington. It looks better in person, obviously.
Ruy reading from Rimbaud. How chic.
It was Saturday at the Farmer's Market in Corvallis when this shot was taken.

This was a great shot I took in the desert of Colorado. One of my favorites of the trip.

This is a motel I stayed in at Maybell, Colorado. The woman in the photo is the proprietor. She is very proud of her sign; she told me explicitly to take her photograph in front of it so I did.
The room I stayed in at Maybell off of highway forty in Colorado. This really was the middle of nowhere. Not even a gas station.
This is a classic shot of the dessert on Highway forty in Colorado.
The deer are friendly in the Rocky Mountains
This is an interesting view of a lone tree in the middle of the valley.
You can see a dandelion anywhere, but everything looks prettier in the Rocky Mountains.

This is the public library in Hot Sulphur Springs, Colorado.
This is a picture from the Rocky Mountain National Park near the Old Fall River Road. I think this is the Chasm Falls.


This is an outpost off the Old Fall River Road in the Rocky Mountain Nat'l Park
My ugly feet. Gross, huh?

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