Something for Ada Lovelace Day!

I've been asked to write something for Ada Lovelace Day—to be more specific, something about a woman in technology whom I admire. I've been persuaded, so I'm sharing this brief note about my neighbor, Myra, whom I admire.

Myra, who regularly participates in this blog, loves Broadway and also loves Apple. She knows from computers and regularly helps me with my annoying technology issues. (I try to keep them to a minimum, yet still they crop up over and over again! And by "issues" I don't just mean something like a problem handling files or fixing or buying or replacing a gizmo—I also mean my anxiety issues about those technology issues.) Myra's also been open to doing some last-minute Web work for a non-profit that desperately in need of her kind of knowledge and availability.

So on this Ada Lovelace Day I salute Myra, a woman in technology who's been extraordinarily helpful to me and others who are technologically needy. Come to think of it, she's also taken some of the burden off of The Other Dave, who has carried too much of it for too long!

Here's an Ada Lovelace Day video.



Source (3:33)

Breaking: Chelsea Clinton Picked for Mother's Vacant Senate Seat

That's right: Last night, the Other Dave and I carefully reviewed the possible choices for New York's vacant senate seat and figured that the best pick would be Chelsea Clinton. Unfortunately, the Constitution of the United States requires the age of a Senator to be 30. Ageism? Surely an amendment would set things right! Or maybe that wouldn't even be necessary.

No word yet from the Other Other Dave.

AUGUST: OSAGE COUNTY

Deborah recently asked about the play August: Osage County, so now that I've finally written up some productions that are on the verge of closing I suppose it's a perfect time to turn to this much-lauded play by Tracy Letts, which promises to run for a decent stretch past Tony season.

August: Osage County, a three-act play that basically portrays a dysfunctional family, received some extremely positive reviews, including raves from Charles Isherwood of The New York Times, who called it "the most exciting new American play Broadway has seen in years." Then came the cavalcade of awards, including the Pulitzer and many Tony honors. But if you listen closely enough, you might hear some less enthusiastic appraisals amidst the chorus of praise. Friends of BAT have left the theater wondering "What's the big deal?" or gasping, "We couldn't believe how hammy it was!"

My feelings: The play is good and substantial, though not nearly as swell as you might think from all those honors. As has been noted in the Times and elsewhere, the family drama is rich with strains of Eugene O'Neill and Sam Shepard, among others. These are so apparent that one might suspect that the playwright said things like, "Okay, this is my O'Neill section" when working on the script. Even the play's characters recognize when they're playing out a truth-telling or secret-revealing scene.

I don't really have complaints about this type of grafting—and it was great to hear virtually the entire audience gasping together at the appropriate moments—but based on my one viewing of the play my main concern is that Letts just seems to stop at the hommagelevel. He doesn't seem to add much more, which leaves me feeling that the play, while accomplished, doesn't go far enough beyond evocation of the masters to announce the playwright as a master in his own right. So I'm actually less enthusiastic thinking about what Letts has accomplished with August: Osage County than I am about what he might do next. (And I do wonder whether this play is just one in a planned series of play, perhaps arranged by months.)

Something that did impress me about this production was how well it played to the rafters. When The Other Dave and I came to our half-price seats, located three rows from the back of the theater and quite far from the stage, we were downcast at the prospect of spending a few hours straining to hear what the actors were saying. But we were pleasantly surprised to find that nearly every word was intelligible where we were perched. And though I can understand why some attendees felt that the widely lauded star Deanna Dunagan did go over-the-top in imbuing her character with the characteristics of a venomous snake, I can attest that the characterization, while less than subtle, came through clearly in the nosebleed section. That is a sign of a top-notch and considerate technical production—and it's the kind of thing that helps many audience members leave the theater feeling that they've gotten their money's worth. In contrast, I can think of at least two recent productions that fell short of that level. As mentioned previously, the sound produced by the musicians in Sunday in the Park with George was too strong for many audience members in the upper level. And in the Manhattan Theatre Club's production of Top Girls, many lines were hard to discern in the upper level. (And I'm not just talking about the overlapping dialogue.) Critics including Ben Brantley of The New York Times liked Top Girls, but I think audience reaction would have been much more favorable if the words had been easier to follow.

ASYLUM STREET SPANKERS: "WHATEVER" AND "STICK MAGNETIC RIBBONS ON YOUR SUV" PLUS "TRAINING WHEEL RAG"

Thanks to The Other Dave for sending me links to two great Asylum Street Spankers videos—nearly one year ago!

The Asylum Street Spankers end their stint in NYC on Sunday afternoon.

Here's "Stick Magnetic Ribbons on Your SUV" preceded by a dirty ditty.



Source (4:21)


And here's "Whatever."



Source (4:59)


Added bonus: An "independent" video of "Training Wheel Rag."



Source (2:28)

CARTOON CAPTION/ANTI-CAPTION CONTESTS CONTINUE!

I preface this week's results with a nod to The Other Dave, who recently posted a pumpkin carved to resemble the cover of the October 29, 2007 New Yorker!


In Caption Contest 117 (Mick Stevens circus ring in living room), the winner is

"My wife will be here any moment. She's loading herself into the cannon as we speak."
Elizabeth Ruelas (New York, NY)

So that's another victory for New York as well as NY! You can learn more about Elizabeth Ruelas here.


In Caption Contest 119 (Danny Shanahan's full-grown man in cradle), the nominees are

"Make sure you burp him after his 11 A.M. conference call."
Ellen Teitel (Hoboken, NJ)

"He sleeps through the night as long as the market's stable."
Jim McNicholas (Brooklyn, NY)

"If he wakes up, you can give him a Martini."
Alan Schulman (Richmond, VA)

My loser:

"He's always tired after Jerry Springer."

In Anti-Caption Contest 120 (Tom Cheney's Mr. Potato Head in a bar), the winner is

"Wha... Where'd the genie go? Well, if he granted my wish, I'm now a big stud. But where's your twelve-inch pianist? Oh, I see. It's in your pants."
mypalmike

A finalist was

"[Silence, because potato-head statues don't talk, and the guy at the bar is just quizzically contemplating the odd decor.]"
John Tabin

I was working on a similar concept, but I kept quiet about it. Instead, my loser was

"Your hat is out of style. Don’t you have a visor cap? That would be much more in line with what the people wear today. It would help you to blend in better."

Caption Contest 121 is here. Anti-Caption Contest 121 is here.

And the latest on the Thanksgiving cartoon contests can be found here and here.


THE STANDINGS

Here is the current New Yorker Cartoon Caption Contest breakdown by state. You can find it all mapped out here.

20 California

18 New York (16 from the Big Apple)

10 New Jersey

6 Massachusetts
6 Pennsylvania

4 Connecticut (two from New Haven, two not)
4 Illinois (three from Chicago, one from Lake Bluff)
4 Maryland (none named Mary)

3 Georgia (includes two-time winner Carl Gables)
3 Minnesota (Minneapolis 2, St. Paul 1)
3 North Carolina
3 Ohio
3 Texas
3 Virginia

2 District of Columbia
2 Mississippi
2 Missouri
2 New Hampshire
2 Oregon (both named Eric, both from Portland)
2 Rhode Island
2 Utah
2 Vermont

1 Alabama
1 Alaska
1 Arizona
1 Florida
1 Iowa
1 Kentucky
1 Michigan
1 Nevada
1 New Mexico
1 Oklahoma
1 Washington

Map Introduction

Thanks to Andriy Bidochko for Map Builder.

Image by David Marc Fischer using Samsung cameraphone