That's the kettle calling the pot smoked.

The end of the first week of touring. We completed our first week (though not our first FULL week) performing in an actual theatre, one with room for everything! It was glorious! But it was a little rushed, since we were operating under the usual amount of time to load in and set up, which is an hour less than we've had the past two performances. So once again, not all the lights got focused particularly well and the tech side of things went a little haywire. But from the performance side of it, it was definitely our best show. Gasps, laughs, cheers, whoops...and that was just us during warm-ups! But seriously, the kids were really into it and the cast was gelling really well. They loved Ted as the Frog today, so he is now an idol to about 1700 kids in Worcester, MA. Load out went faster again today, and I am convinced that being one of the truck loaders is going to result in me being in awesome shape...or in my death due to a set piece falling on me.

SO I now have a full weekend to look forward to here in Auburn, MA. There is a mall nearby, though I have heard tell it is miniscule and a little lame. Alice and Flo are rumbling about hitting karaoke again tomorrow night, but the big thing I'm looking forward to is sleeping in. And I have no roommate, as Ted has returned to Boston for the weekend to have some quality time with his girlfriend. So whatever the pans, I am sure they will proceed at a leisurely pace. Huzzah for leisurely paces!

Speaking of leisurely paces, tonight's rant is about pot. More specifically, Michael Phelps and his pot smoking. As I'm sure we've all heard by now, a photo of Phelps smoking pot at a college party has surfaced in a British tabloid. This has resulted in Phelps having to apologize, Kellogg's dropping him as a spokesman, and the US Swimming Association (or whatever the hell they call themselves) suspending him for three months and taking away the financial training assistance they give him. Now, understand what I am about to say--I do not disagree with the decision to punish Phelps. I personally think the whole idea of marijuana being illegal is a bunch of bull cookies, but I do recognize that it IS against the law, so he does deserve to have some sort of repercussions. But I do take issue with the tone of some of the reports that suggest he has somehow let us down. Oh please. Yes, winning 8 gold medals at the Olympics had never been done before, so one may be tempted to describe the feat as superhuman, but in reality, Michael Phelps is plain ol' HUMAN. He's a kid. What's the big deal? The concept that celebrities somehow owe us something, that they now are required to live up to standards higher than those to which we hold ourselves, is ridiculous. He didn't hurt anyone, he didn't destroy property or assault anyone. He grabbed a bong at a party and took a hit. Illegal? Yes. Stupid, considering he's followed around by a slew of reporters? Definitely. Something he shouldn't have done? You bet. Something to make a cereal company question his ability to sell Corn Flakes? No. Nowadays no-one gets any leeway to make a mistake. Once the public light is shone upon you, you must act perfectly at all times. And as far as I'm concerned, it's not even something that should've been put into the category of a mistake. I see no difference between that picture and if they had snapped him throwing back shots at a college party. Leave the guy alone. It's not like pot's a performance enhancing drug...unless you're a snowboarder. And it's really difficult to get one of those into the pool. Though I'm sure some have tried.

Save your vitriol for someone like Christian Bale, who went ballistic when his Director of Photography accidentally walked into the frame of a shot--twice. Now, this may seem like I'm contradicting myself in defending Phelps and vilifying Bale, but there's a difference that is very germane to this apparent contradiction. Phelps was out being social and his actions didn't hurt anyone. Bale was at work. He was on the job, and he went off on this poor guy in a profanity-laced, humiliating tirade that had other people on the set trying to intercede to calm him down. Intercession he very angrily refused. Some people have since come out and tried to defend Bale, saying he's so intense and professional that when his focus is broken, he's understandably upset. Or we don't know what kind of a day that was, or when it happened, so we can't cast aspersions. Well, call me the Aspersion Wizard, because I'm casting. I understand all those arguments, and thee are merits to them--merits to explain why he was upset in the first place. And I can even understand it would gall someone when a guy who's supposed to be a high ranking member of a movie crew makes a bonehead mistake TWICE. But there's no excuse for losing your temper and flipping out like that. You're on the job, you're supposed to be a professional, and a professional deals with things in a professional manner. Hell, Bale probably wasted more time and money bitching about how much of an ass that guy was than he would've if he had just said something amusing like, "If you really want to be in the movie, I'll talk to casting," and moved on. Then after the shoot was over, he could've called up whatever starlet he's banging and bitched about it to her. Go to a bar, have a whiskey smoke some cigarettes, vent. That's what grownups do. Children throw tantrums. I can understand it, I can sympathize with it (I've done some yelling myself at work) but I can't defend it. To lose control is never the mark of a professional. And, crappy stupid Batman voice aside, I am giving Bale the benefit of the doubt that in the end, he IS a professional.

Terribly sorry this post was so late--I started it last night after returning from the drink-and-bond exercise with the cast, and just plain fell asleep. Almost everyone else in the cast naps. I, alas, do not. I feel naps are for the very young and the very old. Passing out at two in the morning is the way grownups do it. So back off--I'm a professional....