Oh, cat, don't fly away again. My head's killing me.

There's a Sainsbury's in Euston Station, and after I get back from the theater it's more convenient (and cheaper!) to buy dinner there & carry it back to the hotel. So of course I need to get a new bag for 5p every time. I know they will be of good use!

Today I took a little detour that I've been dreaming of for years, and rode out to the Leytonstone station on the Central line to see the Hitchcock Mosaics... I took pictures of course, and they're horrible, other people have documented these better than I did, but it was great to see them in person.

Matinee was "the Master Builder" at the Old Vic, with Ralph Fiennes in the lead, solidly translated and performed, and, even better, my seat was next to a pillar AGAIN! They make the best seatmates, though the lady on the other side of the pillar engaged me in conversation and was quite interesting. She approves of my plan to eat haggis in Scotland but warned me that "there's good haggis and there's bad haggis."

Evening show was Hangmen from aging infant terrible Martin McDonagh. Enjoyable enough from moment to moment, but it failed to build and repeated a lot of the writer's go-to tropes. More to the point, if anybody gives you a free ticket for Balcony A-26 in the Royal Court Theater, DO NOT GO. Don't go even if they offer you money, up to $750. It's not really a seat, it's a little angled bench tucked off the side of the stairs, with barely room to side facing sideways, and you have to turn at a painful angle to see the stage properly. Only 20 £, which by my count is 558.38 £ overpriced. Happily, Sainsbury's has aspirin. And I have another Sainsbury bag!

Tomorrow, Shakespeare in the indoor theater at the Reconstructed Globe, and then the Caledonian Sleeper! Very excited by that.

One of the worst theatrical experiences of my life was the production of La Bête in 1992. 22 and a half years later and I still shudder when I think of that afternoon. I left the theater shaken and disgusted, swearing to myself that I would never again buy a ticket for a comedy composed entirely of rhymed iambic pentameter, set in the French Ancien Régime.

Which, in retrospect, makes it odd that I bought a ticket for another comedy composed entirely of rhymed iambic pentameter, set in the French Ancien Régime.

This was a little different; the Metromaniacs is an adaptation of an actual French play, not a pastiche like La Bête... and the costumes on this one didn't make me want to retch. But still, something about this combo pushes all my buttons. I found myself trapped in my seat (oh how I love aisle seats & grieve when I don't have one), squirming, filled with a sense of existential revulsion. First act was less than an hour, but I couldn't make it that far; I begged pardon of the two women between me and escape, and cut out. I'm still a little shaken.

I hate that this happened. And it's entirely me, not a reflection on the quality of the work; everybody else there was having a great time. And it's not a reflection on the French, either, whom I love as a people and consider more polite on average than the English, even though the third worst theatrical experience of my life was Pelléas et Mélisande.

Hello again from NYC -- now in the lobby of the Milford Haven(sic) and logging on one of the iMacs they have available for free use of patrons... which contrasts mightily with the $14.95 a DAY for WiFi if you want to use your Windows or Linux machine. So I'm now required to learn the details of an alien OS, and could use your help, Apple-user readers. To change the little icon picture for the post, what the HELL do you do? There must be a way but I can't figure it out.

Today, took in the 9/11 Memorial -- LOTS of walking, because they've got the fountains open, but the rest of the area is a dirty construction zone; the visitor line snakes hither and yon to avoid falling-debris areas. The fountains are beautiful, but just piss me off & get me depressed. Watching the falling water made me think of the people who fell out of those buildings... and their lives are being memorialized here, but the shits who committed the crime, and the shits who deliberately let it happen, thought no more of those human beings than they would a drop of water.

The shits who did it are all dead. Good. The shits who enabled it still live in luxury and privilege, get interviewed on TV daily, and command large speaking fees. One of them is listed as being on the Board of Directors for the Memorial. Which pisses me off & depresses me.

Oh, I also got to see the Titanic Memorial Lighthouse, which fortunately did not list Ince as being on the board.

On to MOMA, one of my favorite museums ever -- Starry Night in one room, Picasso's Chicks of Avignon in another, Monet's giant water lilies, sleeping gypsies, one treasure after another. Saw an artist named something like Ensol, and the paintings looked shocking and new for 1940 -- but they were from 1887! I gotta learn more about this guy. There was also a film installation from the 1960s, with a naked man & woman throwing a beach ball back & forth in a small apartment living room. Reminded me of the Star Trek blooper reel for some reason. I can't imagine the stern museum guard thought much of my guffaws.

Tonight I'm going to see a show I didn't even know existed yesterday morning -- the Gentleman's Guide to Love and Murder. Got the ticket at the TKTS half-price booth. The story is Kind Hearts and Coronets, and they've got one guy playing all the aristocratic characters who were played by Alec Guinness in the movie. So, why the change in title? Why haven't I heard of it? Am I about to fulfill one of my lifetime goals and see a Broadway flop on Broadway? (I've seen any number of them in San Francisco previews, but never ON Broadway).

It's stars Liza Minnelli and Mickey Roarke.

Only time will tell.

First thing I've done that I've done before -- riding Eurostar from Paris to London. We were 45 minutes late because somebody got sick & had to be taken off the train, so if I'd left 30 minutes later I would arrived 15 minutes sooner, I guess. Finally, back in a country whose language I am no worse at than I was 20 years ago! Well, a little worse. Though for some reason the very nice hotel still only has WiFi in the lobby. No pictures again, thanks, Holiday Inn Express! But the hotel is perfectly located for the weekend's activities, just a short walk to the riverfront, a right turn to Shakespeare's Globe, a left turn to the South Bank Centre.

Tonight, the Tempest at the reconstructed Globe. I've been to London several times since the theatre was finished, but only in Winter, so this was my first opportunity to see a show here. And sold out! I had the seat farthest on the circle, second level, so I saw a lot of actor butt. It is a great theater, wonderful acoustics; if I get to come back someday I will brave the standing room "groundling" section. I say that but I like sitting down.

Show was superb, unsurprisingly; they even found the comic rhythm for Act 1 Scene 2, which can be awfully dry, and the masque in 4.1 actually got vigorous applause. Alas, the Clump'o'Nobles in 2.1 couldn't be brought to life, but I've seen billions of Tempests and I've never seen that scene work, so okay.

I should admit that I panicked and thought I was late, and ran to get to the theatre, only to find I was an hour ahead of time; still on France time apparently. I took the extra time to walk across the Millenium Bridge, which gives you a nifty mid-river view of Tower Bridge, and doesn't trigger my acrophobia at all.

Which doesn't mean I'll agree to ride the London Eye. But that's tomorrow.

Last night took Beloved Tenant to see Xanadu at NCTC, my first live theater excursion of the year and a complete hoot (don't get too excited, I think it's totally sold out). Yeah, the leading lady sang sharp, and the leading man sang flat, and the musical accompaniment was canned, and the unison high notes in "I'm Alive" were truly painful, but you know what? All of this just contributed to the joy. Hell, it's camp, that's half the fun. We were both especially taken with Nikki Arias, who played villainess Melpomene (not present in the movie, and correcting one of the movie's flaws by supplying an actual adversary - not as important as correcting the MAIN flaw of the movie, which the musical also does by not featuring Michael Beck). So I'd say, go, but I think it's sold out. So, go when somebody else produces it.

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Other news is exclusively work (new database, inadequate training for new team launch, no surprises) and rehearsal. My part in Arcadia is tiny - 27 lines. Which is fine with me because I'm lazy so it's less work. I'm really appreciating Stoppard for one thing -- a number of the parts in the play are small, but every one of them is interesting and gives the actor fun choices. Yeah, half my lines are "Thank you, your ladyship," but it's how it's said that matters. Also fun is the costume, which for me will emphasize my girth. You really need to come see this.

Everybody needs a day like yesterday every now and then, if only to confirm to oneself that one prefers campy movies with pre-show drag comedy to ballet.

I first read "Macbeth" when I was 12. Barely a year hasn't gone by that I haven't read it again. I've seen dozens of productions of it. And yet...

...only tonight did it dawn on me that the porter says, "Knock, knock. Who's there?"

Yet another thing Shakespeare invented that he doesn't get credit for. Or blame.

Today was the afternoon of staged readings of short comedy plays, starring me & 6 other actors at the Live Oak Theater in Berkeley. I was Drunk Santa in a a nicely written piece (Santa and the elves get right-sized by Jesus); I'd done the piece before at a table reading and had been asked to reprise my Drunk Santa. Quite the honor! Getting to know the hugely talented director was great -- we only had a few minutes to go over each piece, but she hit all the points and made the process seem smooth. I enjoyed meeting the other actors as well, great people.

One performer in particular, name of Janice, had the first of the short pieces with me (we played an eldery computer-challenged married couple), so we had time to chat. She was from San Diego, and had been in shows at the Old Globe... at least one of which I saw. She was Mistress Quickly in the 1965 production of Merry Wives! Kinda cool stuff.

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And tomorrow San Diego is where I'll be, going to spend about a month there to help out while my Mom recuperates from surgery. Last semi-staged reading for me for a while.

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Update: Good friends progbear and bigjohnsf were in attendance. Thanks, guys!

Parked at the Hayward Peet's right now with scottasf; we would have gone to a movie but it's all kinda crap, except for the latest Resident Evil movie, and I promised my sister-in-law that I'd take her to that when I got down there next week.

She was silent for a moment after I made this promise. Then she said, "Uh huh," very slowly.

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If you're in the Berkeley area tomorrow afternoon, worse things you can do than go to the Live Oak Theatre and see me (and others) in a staged reading of 8 short plays. It's free, and I play Drunk Santa in the last one. My laptop also has a starring role in one piece, which it earned by having the power cord plug on the left hand side, which will be downstage. The director's laptop' power plug is on the right side, thus upstage and less visible. Of such minutiae are great careers born.