The Detroit Tigers have clinched a playoff spot!!

For the first time in 19 years, the Detroit Tigers will be playing in the post-season! By winning on Sunday, they guaranteed themselves EITHER the Wild Card OR the Central Division Championship.

Now that they’ve reached this milestone, the next goal is to try and win the division, and not just settle for getting into the playoffs as the wild card. Why? Because winning the division guarantees home-field advantage in the first round of the playoffs, something the Tigers would LOVE to have!

As a long suffering Tigers fan, I’m almost at a loss for words. 3 years ago, in 2003, this was the worst team in baseball. By a lot. In fact, they were ONE LOSS away from equaling the worst season in modern baseball history! That season was painful, but we went. We cheered, we booed, we gnashed our teeth.

This season has been different. They’ve led the division for months! They are once again on top of all of Major League Baseball with the best record! (The Yankees are close!)

So, what next? 6 more games of the regular season, where they try and clinch the division. Then the American League playoffs, where they try and make it to the American League Championship Series. Then, if the win that, the World Series against whoever wins the National League Championship series. So – lots of baseball left to be played. Lots of excitement left in the season! However, win or lose, this has been a marvelous season to be a Tigers fan.

I love this game!

We’re into previews of Rounding Third at Williamston Theatre, and audiences are liking the show so far! Like most theatres, we’d like bigger houses, but that will come with more word of mouth and as we build our patronage – with only our second production, we know it’ll take time. One fun moment last night, in Act II – we had a big storm going on outside, and there was a clap of thunder or lightning or something that was so loud it shook the building, and all the power in the building flickered for a second. It poured the rest of the night, and is still yucky outside this morning.

The Tigers have widened their lead in the American League Central to a game and a half! They whomped the Royals last night, and Minnesota (our closest rival for the division championship) lost to Baltimore. SO – with 8 games left in the season, the Tigers are still holding on to First Place in the division! For a look at the current standings, check this out.

Both Survivor and The Amazing Race are back on the air – thank goodness for TiVo, so I can just watch them when I get a chance! Also, the new Studio 60 is on – it’s the new show from Aaron Sorkin, creator of The West Wing. It features Bradley Whitford and Timothy Busfield, from West Wing, as well as Matthew Perry and some other good actors. I’m hoping it’s as good as West Wing was in its prime – we’ll see.

I’ll be taking a daytrip to Buffalo soon, for my first meeting about the show I’m directing there, The Mystery of Irma Vep. Very much looking forward to working at Studio Arena Theatre! Excited about going and seeing the space, meeting the staff. Plus, I get to hold some auditions while I’m there, which will be a lot of fun and, hopefully, productive! As I’ve been looking at the script in preparation for the meeting, I’m reminded of how much fun I had with John Lepard and John Seibert putting that show together when I directed it for the first time! What a silly, ridiculously fun process and production that was! It’ll be a nice lesson, discovering how much of my ideas and discoveries from that first production can translate into this show – with a whole new cast, almost all new designers, it’ll certainly be a different collaboration with a different outcome. My job will be to make it as least as much fun as the last one, and I can’t wait!

But before then there are a couple more shows, and a lot more work to be done, at Williamston Theatre. It’s going well. I want bigger audiences, but as my wife Jeanne says, “It’ll take time!”
Yes.
True.
But I hate being patient! 🙂

Well, tonight we start previews for Rounding Third at Williamston Theatre.

It’s been a good rehearsal process, and I like the show, so I’m looking forward to seeing how audiences respond. Houses are kind of light, September is always slow for theatre in Michigan, so I’m hoping that they’ll pick up soon. Previews are fun, though, and it gives us a chance to keep polishing some scenes I want to keep working on, while we also learn a bunch from watching the audience watch the show!

Plus – hey, getting into previews always means that getting more sleep is just around the corner!

Can’t wait to see how it goes tonight!

Don’t forget, it’s International Talk Like A Pirate Day today!

A tradition for years, every September 19th is Talk Like A Pirate Day!

Remember your 5 A’s; Ahoy, Avast, Aye, Aye-Aye, Arrr!!

(for more info, see the column from journalist/humorist Dave Barry!)

Have a Piratey Day! Arrr!!

Not enough hours in the day.
In Tech Week for ROUNDING THIRD.
Sleep is a thing of the past, and of the (hopefully) semi-near future.
Got home from work later than I wanted to, but had enough time for the kids to show me their newest karate exercises from class before bedtime.
Caught the new show Studio 60 tonight, right between getting the kids to bed, prepping for tomorrows rehearsal and working on the sound design for the show.
Have some sci-fi to watch on tape, still. (the Stargates). Still have to watch The Amazing Race on TiVo. Probably this weekend.
Had our first production meeting for the Co-Production with Meadow Brook Theatre. The show is going to be ridiculous amounts of fun. Every Christmas Story Ever Told!! (And yes, the exclamation points are IN the title!) Give me a couple weeks to get this show open, and I’ll post more about that one!
Hey, the Tigers are still a game and a half ahead of Minnesota! Go team.
Got a small grant from Meijer Corporation today for Williamston Theatre. We were hoping for more, but every little bit helps.
No more time for LJ tonight. Must finish sound, and try to get more than 3 hours of sleep.

If you comment on this post:

1. I’ll respond with something random about you.
2. I’ll challenge you to try something.
3. I’ll pick a colour that I associate with you.
4. I’ll tell you something I like about you.
5. I’ll tell you my first/clearest memory of you.
6. I’ll tell you what animal you remind me of.
7. I’ll ask you something I’ve always wanted to ask you.
8. If I do this for you, it would be appreciated if you posted this on yours.

Elton John ends fued with George Michael

Thank goodness. Because between the war on terror, not having enough money to pay my bills, and trying to open a show next week, it was the Elton John/George Michael feud that was keeping me up at night.

…because it reminds me that the best science fiction is as much about the humanity of the stories as anything, and that’s why I’m such a fan of the genre.

This is a quote from Rose Tyler (played by Billie Piper), from the season finale of the new Doctor Who series, when she finds herself back in her old life, believing her traveling companion, The Doctor, to be dead.

It was a better life! I don’t mean the travelling, and seeing aliens and spaceship and things, that doesn’t matter. The Doctor showed me a better way of living your life! That you don’t just give up, you don’t just let things happen! You make a stand, you say “NO!”, you have the guts to do what’s RIGHT when everyone else just runs away!

It’s sad that Steve Irwin, the Crocodile Hunter, was killed recently. However, these idiots are going around killing stingrays because of it?! It’s so hard to talk to my kids about “making good choices” when idiot adults all over the place do stupid things like this.

I missed posting about Star Trek‘s 40th Anniversary, which was a few days ago. What a 40 years it’s been! 10 movies, 5 tv shows, hundreds of books and comics. Pretty amazing.

I have, TWICE this week, paid less than $2.40 per gallon for gas. While I’m quite happy about that, at the same time it also makes my head hurt that I’m actually happy about paying that much. Oh, how times have changed. Thank you to the current administration – you’ve done a spectacular job of lowering our expectations on all sorts of things.

Rehearsals are going well at Williamston Theatre. Our production of Rounding Third is coming along quite nicely!

I’ve discovered Weeds, the Mary Louise-Parker show on Showtime. It’s quite wonderful. Smart, funny, heartwrenching, and available on iTunes! I highly recommend it!

The Detroit Tigers won last night, and it’s a good thing. They’re having a bunch of trouble winning games recently (only winning something like 11 out of their last 33!). Their lead in the American League Central has dropped to 1 and 1/2 games. It’s going to be an exciting 2 and 1/2 weeks as we race to the end of the season!

A reminder to all you reality tv fans – Survivor and The Amazing Race start this week. Thank goodness for TiVo!

This is just neat, and should be seen by everyone! I think it gives me permission: I’m going to stop washing my car, in case I want to do some art work of my own.

Okay, the Michigan Lotto is up to $165 Million! Just a fraction of that would really help, so whoever wins (if it’s not me), consider a nice tax-deductible donation to Williamston Theatre, will you?

Christine had me write the letter for the Rounding Third, and for fun I thought I’d reprint it here…this will be in the front cover of the program. It’s just a first draft, some cleaning up will probably happen when I’m not falling asleep at my computer.

Just click the link!
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