I drove the van here from just outside of Philly, where we performed for a handful of children in a theatre that I had performed in during the last tour, which in my mind begs the question, "Why the hell are we back here three months after the last time we were here?" We had sold the place out the last time, so really, how many more kids did they think were going to show up this time? And according to the crew, we're scheduled to come back again in May. And do what? Perform for three kids and some ushers? I don't understand the thinking sometime. We have also discovered that our next trip to Florida has been cancelled. We were supposed to go to Niceville Florida at the end of this month, then up to Mississippi, then to Alabama. Well, it turns out that Dallas sold better than Mississippi, so they've switched the MS show to Dallas, and cancelled the Florida show the day before, because there's no way in hell to get from FL to Dallas in one night. It also means that we have to cancel the Alabama show since it'll be damn impossible to get from Dallas to Montgomery in one night as well. So I am praying that there is a sold-out crowd waiting for us in Dallas, otherwise I can't see how it was worth it to cancel three shows to perform one. But that's why I'm not a Broadway producer. The show today actually went quite well, and the drive was uneventful, save for us having to find somewhere to kill some time since the truck wasn't going to make it to the hotel before us otherwise since it can't go on the New Jersey Turnpike (remember that people--especially keep us in your thoughts later on during this tour when we return to Purchase, NY, scene of the truck decapitation.) and Levitt was driving the truck. Turns out that lunch at a Pennsylvania Cracker Barrel and a side trip to find a post office ate up the time just fine and allowed the truck to beat us by about ten minutes. I aim to please. There was a moment of panic at the hotel when we were informed there was a problem with the card and they only had two rooms they were able to get for us, but after a while it was worked out and we got all four pof the rooms that were booked. I'm not sure what kind of problem they would have with Chamber's credit card, but I will say this--maybe you shouldn't have switched hotels in Fairfax from the reasonably priced Comfort Inn to the pricey (and amenity-challenged) Marriott. Just saying....
Not much else going on here tonight. My wisdom teeth are acting up and annoying me no end, so it's time for a trek to the Walgreen's to get something for the pain, since it wouldn't do to be drinking before the show. I'm not famous enough for that yet. Been looking into a little of the news of the world, and it's nice to see that it hasn't changed all that much. Let me just say this to the people who are bitching about Obama giving money to help people who are in danger of being foreclosed on because it's rewarding people who made stupid mistakes and not making them bear responsibility for their choices, and it's going to be a burden on the people who actually played by the rules and paid their mortgage on time. I will for the time being put aside the arguments focusing on how bad it would be for the economy as a whole if a slew of home owners defaulted on their loans and saddled the already failing banks with more bad debt and the arguments of how for the average person buying a home is an experience roughly akin to wandering around a hostile foreign country with no map or knowledge of the language and you trust what the guide (broker) tells you. If he tells you that you can afford a certain loan because of this incentive and that special and your payment will be this and doesn't fit nicely into your price range and don't worry about this balloon payment--we can refinance before that happens or you can sell, and that won't be a problem because everyone knows the one thing that always appreciates in value is real estate, then you listen to him and believe him. After all, he shows you numbers. Putting all that aside, there is the horrendous hypocrisy and self-contradiction these people exhibit, since almost all of them also support bailing out the banks that made the bad loans in the first place (not all the banks, mind you just the really important ones--you know, the ones they've done business with.) It's imperative that we save them, otherwise the whole economy will come crashing down, even though you are talking about people who made stupid mistakes and now are asking to be saved and not have to take responsibility for their mistakes and rewarding them for greed and bad behavior, and they will be a burden on everyone who tried to play by the rules. But for some reason, we have more sympathy for the banks who conned the homeowners than we do for the homeowners who were conned. It used to be (and maybe this is just nostalgia talking) that the prevailing attitude in this country would have been to to help the people conned and punish the people who actually did the conning. Now I'm not saying don't bail out the banks. Obviously we don't want them to fail, but don't use an argument to stop help from being given to one group when the group you DO want helped falls even more neatly into that argument. I'm just angry. I'm tired of people trying to stop someone from attempting to fix what they have broken so ably by yelling socialism and nationalization, as if this country has no experience with either of those things and runs the risk of sliding into some 50's era Soviet gulag country. It's ludicrous. Requiring people who borrow money from you to make an accounting of how that money is spent is not nationalization. And socialism is not necessarily the opponent of capitalism. One is a governmental model, the other is an economic model. There are capitalist socialist countries all over the world. Government having a share in a business is not the same as government owning a business. And since we've been subsidizing industries in this country for years, it's not like we're unfamiliar with the concept. It's just fear-mongering, and I'm tired of it. Politics as usual and partisan shit has messed this country up big time, and anyone who thinks they're doing their duty by continuing this crap is blind, stupid, or both. You don't think it's going to work, then fine. But pitch in and try to help. If it doesn't, then you were right. If it does, though, then you actually got to be part of the solution instead of a huge roadblock. I'm not saying don't dissent or bring up valid points of consideration, I'm just saying don't throw crap in front of the path of it just because you don't like the person who came up with the idea, or you're still adhering to some outdated philosophy that became obsolete the minute the shit hit the fan which we can no longer afford since we're out of work. Just once I'd like to see the people who run this country actually pull together to fix a problem instead of try to find a way to play the problem to their greatest advantage. Do what's right for the country for once instead of what's right for your party. At least we've got a guy in the White House who seems to get that. (Obviously, since he's pissed his own party off) It'd be nice to see some of the people who work under him get that same attitude. But what do I know? I'm just a hack. (Pond in 2012--He Can Hack It!)
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