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Chicago at Wolf Trap

Last night we went and saw the musical Chicago at Wolf Trap, it was very well done. I have sympathy for the performers and musicians for having to perform in the beastly heat and humidity (by opening number it had cooled down to 85F, but was still close to 90% humidity). The buffet at Ovations at Wolf Trap was very good.

Stellar performances are delivered by Terra C. MacLeod (as Vema), Michelle DeJean (as Roxy), Carol Woods (as Mama), and Kevin Carolan (as Amos). Gregory Harrison (as Billy Flynn) can really sing beautifully, but I was disappointed in his dancing.

I gather that Chicago (the band) will be playing Wolf Trap in August, so lots of people were confused when I said we were going to see Chicago at Wolf Trap. Life is fun sometimes.

The show will be running through Sunday the 16th.

photo of show courtesy of wolf-trap.org

2006 07 12 snolan Dance
Fun
Music
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Gypsy Kings at Wolf Trap

Sunday night was perfect weather for stretching out on the lawn at Wolf Trap and seeing the Gypsy Kings concert with a bunch of good friends. Lovely night, nearly full moon, great music and friends…

2006 07 10 snolan Music
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Lamont vs. Lieberman

Jeffrey Feldman has a fascinating and insightful story about the Lamont vs. Lieberman debate televised a few nights ago. Bruce, you will love the NASCAR comparisons of politics as an American entertainment/sport venue.

There are many, many issues other than the occupation of Iraq; but the bottom line for me is that the occupation is wrong, the invasion was an enormous mistake, and any politician who continues to support the Bush/Rove/Cheney (lack of) plan for Iraq should no longer be supported.

Lieberman would not get my vote if I lived in Connecticut, just like Warner and Allen will not get my vote here in Virginia. John Warner has been a respected mainstream Senator from our state for many, many years; he has been able to count on support from both sides of the political spectrum, but not anymore. This year is it time for Allen to get tossed out, and 2008 it is John Warner’s turn to get tossed out.

I’d kind of like to see Mark Warner replace John Warner in 2008. While many people want Mark to run for President in 2008, I personally feel that like the occupation of Iraq or not, we are stuck in there and it will take someone with real combat experience to figure out how to get out. Wes Clark strikes me as a much better candidate in 2008 for President. Mark Warner is young enough to try for the oval office after serving a term as U.S. Senator.

2006 07 07 snolan Foreign Policy
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Webb for Senate Volunteer

Erci and I finally made the long trek in to Arlington (Rosslyn/Courthouse) to do some volunteer work for the Webb for Senate Campaign (phone bank for more volunteers and fixing a spreadsheet problem). It was a lot of fun, and we met fabulous people (Bruce & Beth: Sarah says “Hello”). I made about 200 calls, and got seven volunteers, and we volunteered to help one person we called clean out his flooded basement (sometimes when you call someone for help, they need more help than you do).

Continue reading ›

2006 07 01 snolan Personal
Politics
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Rain and Floods

Sutragirl has written about last night’s trip back from Spamalot in DC already, so that’s where you should go if you want to hear more about the flooding on Constitution Avenue. People made it home safely, though Ruth and her girls had a long, segmented trip after their van got stuck in the flood.

We have several friends who are dealing with flooding or close to flooding basements. So far we only have a small roof leak into our bedroom closet (moral: get gutters cleaned regularly). Roads are closed in several low spots where water is flowing over the road. Be careful out there folks.

The ground is so saturated that the next 30 hours of rain are all going to be flooding and problematic. Hopefully it never arrives.

2006 06 26 snolan Cars
Personal
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First Prius Complaint/Suggestion

I’ve been driving the new Prius a lot and in general I love the thing, but I have a first complaint and suggestion.

This thing needs a relatively quiet, alternate horn in addition to the normal load one it has for emergencies.

Several times now I have nearly run over pedestrians when driving around parking lots looking for a space. What happens is that said pedestrian will be walking along in a straight line, and I will come up the path behind them slowly and the Prius has invariably shut off the gas engine because it does not need it any more. What I keep failing to realize is that said pedestrian cannot hear any engine noise and does not realize I am there at all! Often the pedestrian, without looking, suddenly darts out across the traffic lane which they assume is empty, and I need to brake suddenly to avoid a squishing.

It’s not really their fault, cars have made noise their entire lives; the sudden appearance of a near silent one takes getting used to. It’s not my fault, I am going very slow in parking lots (as evidenced by the complete shutdown of the gas motor).

I used to have similar situations while riding my bicycle in parking lots, but on the bike I can simply talk out loud or give mild warnings like “coming up on your left” which alert the walker of a risk without causing them to panic (like a sudden loud horn toot). In a my car, this is less instinctive; it does not occur to me quickly to talk out loud… and I don’t want to annoy anyone with the loud horn.

Prius needs a small rattle on the grill, or a quieter horn alternate…

I suppose this will fix itself when the heat of summer kicks in and running the A/C forces the motor to stay on and make the car just a little noisier.

BTW – so far, 50.7mpg is my average and they tell me it goes up slightly once the car is broken in. Filling the tank the first time was a shock. From empty to full was only 9.549 gallons of ordinary gas, and I have not put only $28.26 into a gas tank since it was less than $1.00/gallon and I was filling a 1971 Buick Electra 225 (24.5 gallon tank)!

2006 06 15 snolan Cars
Cycling
Hybrid
Personal
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Primary Election Day!

If you live in Virginia, it’s primary election day, remember to go vote!

Results are on the state board of elections website, and will be updated live. I am following very closely to see if we will be hosting a Webb fundraiser or a Miller fundraiser later in the summer.

We just found out that Mr. Webb has a scheduling conflict and we may not be hosting his fundraiser this Sunday after all, more as soon as I know. There are other candidates, you can find out more, on a non-partisan site I have here, or on Politics1.com or the Virginia State Board of Elections website.

I am disgusted that six years into the 21st century, my precinct still has no verified voting system. We still have black box voting machines that are easy to program to skew the election. So much for trust but verify, there will be no verifications here. We must be the most backwards state in the union.

I don’t trust my bank to issue or collect $20 without a receipt and a paper trail, how can our stupid state government assume I trust their system to collect my far-more-valuable vote without a paper trail?

2006 06 13 snolan Computer Security
Politics
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Fundraiser Event, Postponed!

Update: Mr. Webb has a personal scheduling conflict that I don’t want to talk about here. I am still very happily supporting him in his campaign, but we are not having the fundraiser on Sunday.

Please consider trying to meet him at another event on his schedule (posted on his campaign website (http://www.webbforsenate.com/). Contributions are still very much needed.

If Jim Webb wins the June 13th primary election, Erci and I will be hosting a fundraiser event at our house on June 18th from 2pm through 4pm. It is vital that we back the challenger in this November’s general election and we throw Senator George Allen out of office.

Please mark your calendar and consider coming out to our place to meet Mr. Webb and donate to his campaign. Your contribution of $100, $500, or $1000 will be very welcome, and you’ll get to help take back our goverment.

If Harris Miller wins the June 13th primary, Erci and I will be trying to get on his calendar to do the same thing later in the Summer.

Election 2006 details are online.

2006 06 12 snolan Environment
Foreign Policy
Personal
Politics
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Arthur Murray Showcase, June 2006

What an incredible feeling. I’ve been taking dance lessons for roughly 10 years and I have always had fun with it. Last night I entered the full silver/gold level all-arounds and lucked into Foxtrot, Viennese, Samba, and Bolero! They do not usually do Samba, but it is one of my favorite dances. I danced the best I have ever danced (thanks in no small part to the careful teaching of my teacher, MJ), and had the time of my life. I placed 2nd – so others felt I did ok too, but frankly it was all about the music, the dancing, and the wide open floor!

2006 06 11 snolan Dance
Fun
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Maryland Police foil terrorism attempt!

Kudos to the local police in Maryland for foiling this domestic terrorism attempt.

Wonder if George will elevate the threat condition to Orange or something to scare up some election support and/or distract us from Iraq, the budget, the environment, the fleecing of the taxpayers…

2006 06 09 snolan News
Politics
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