LJ: Make yourself worthwhile (was: Eat your young)

Nipsey Russell's DOB: 13.October.1924. In case you were wondering.

Peter Angelo, owner of the Orioles, just got paid by the state of Maryland $145 million. He was a lead attorney suing the cigarette companies, and was a player in that 10-figure settlement. If I can, I'd like to address Pete for a second.

Pete... I don't know how to tell you this gently. Your team sucks. If it weren't for the Tigers, you'd be the laughing stock of the majors. If it weren't for Camden Yards, you'd be... well, you'd be the Phillies. I suggest convincing your other owner buddies and dear old Bud to move the Expos to DC next year, then get in on the sweet deal a new Senators team represents. PS: We still remember 1988.

Okay, I just had to get that off my chest.

Remember all that stuff I said about being in a rut? Yeah, that was hogwash. At least, that's where I'm at today. Two awesome things happened today.

First, Cherry Red. Ian's announced the majority of next season, and I am absolutely jazzed about the final show, "Kenneth, What is the Frequency?" It's a play Ian and Monique (currently playing Carol in "Angel Shit") are writing about the mystery surrounding Dan Rather's getting pummeled by some thugs while he was walking around the Upper-west side. You might want to check out the press release here. In all seriousness, it's going to be a fantastic play. It's one of those plays that's being so well researched that we'll need to present the audience with a guide-book to follow along as we wing all these nutcase references at them. I saw some of the preliminary work they've been doing a couple of weeks ago, and read the Harper's Magazine article, and it's just fucking phenomenal. I'm already convinced that Barthleme was involved. Once you see all the stuff they're throwing at the audience, you will too.

Also, I was reading a lighting industry trade rag today, and I got to the LD-at-large column and nearly shit myself. This probably won't mean anything to you, but Paul Dexter echoes everything I've been saying almost since I had any clue about this business. The point of the article is that folks who run lighting production houses (like me) work so hard to please the client, and are so afraid of losing clients that we'll go to extraordinary lengths to keep them happy, like giving them tremendous discounts (to underbid the other houses) and a host of other things, all of which are so true. It felt like he was writing about the things I've been dealing with.

The point is, this article is so specific that only I and the people in my office were enthused about it. The folks I was IMing with could've cared less. You probably couldn't care less. But Paul Dexter earned a lot of respect around here today. It was the first time I can honestly say I've had some completely anonymous validation from an uninterested third party.