Hypoallergenic Kitties
January 30, 2009
Like cats?
No? Neither do I. Not really. I mean I have 4 of them, but they’re so much like throw rugs that I just tolerate them. And, I tolerate them because I don’t have the luxury of saying that I’m allergic.
Well, now neither do you.
As long as you have six thousand dollars to blow, you too can no longer have the luxury of saying you’re allergic, and avoiding the whole “pet” thing altogether.
A company called Allerca produces cats that are “hypoallergenic” if you can believe it.
Now, before you say, “Ha! I still don’t have to get a cat because I don’t believe in genetic manipulation.” you can rest assured that these hypoallergenic kitties are bred to be hypoallergenic – and their genetic code remains untouched.
Allerca has essentially bred Fel d 1, the protein that causes cat allergies, out of these fine felines through simple, old-fashioned selective breeding.
Now keep in mind that “hypoallergenic” isn’t something that has to be proved. The FDA has no requirements on the use of the word.
And, if you’re feeling especially extravagant feel free to splurge on an Ashera™(yes, that’s a trademark symbol), a leopard spotted house cat – the hypoallergenic version retails for $37,000 (USD)
Who Knew? – CPDRC
January 27, 2009
The CPDRC is the Cebu Provincial Detention and Rehabilitation Center, which is located in the Cebu Province in the Philippines.
So, why would I write a post about a prison in the Philippines?
Because they have the ass-kickenest choreographer of any prison, that’s why!
Take a look at their rendition of Michael Jackson’s famed “Thriller,” and tell me that you don’t want to get caught transporting heroin in the Philippines.
Here’s a longer list of some of their routines: CPDRC Dance Videos.
These guys are known as much for their dancing as for their criminal background.
It all started with the head of the prison, Byron Garcia, looking for an accessible exercise program for the inmates in the yard.
He was initially inspired by “The Shawshank Redemption.” He mentioned the scene where Mozart’s Figaro is piped into the prison yard.
I don’t know how he got from there to marching to a drumbeat in unison, but luckily he soon moved from drumbeats and marching to pop music and dancing.
The prisoners have gotten so good that the prison has hired choreographers to put together routines.
Secondarily, I learned about these guys while reading about Thriller the musical, which is being created as we speak – Brilliant!!
Bag art in New York
January 16, 2009
Here’s a pretty great art “exhibit” in New York by Joshua Allen Harris. These guys create and install trash bag sculptures of monsters and animals and install them over air vents on the sidewalks.
When the wind blows the monsters inflate. (I think we need a song)
Click the “read more” link for the video.
Telico Band at the Curtain Club
January 14, 2009
The Sunday before last, I drove to Dallas to watch my Dad’s band’s first and only live performance at the Curtain Club. It was a lot of fun, and maybe a little strange to be hanging out with my family in a club. But, all in all, I had a blast.
I took my little video camera along with me only because Dana wanted to be able to watch some of the show later.
A couple of days later I heard that the singer had died of a heart attack in his kitchen, and suddenly the few rough shots I had taken at the concert were the only footage that existed of the lead singer, Wayne’s, last ever stage performance.
So, I thought I’d cut something together for the band – and to show the last performance of Telico Band.
And, because it was so rough, I had to use liberties with the audio track (to keep it all together). Add in the fact that I then had to try to match it to video that it definitely didn’t match, and, well, I hope it turned out okay. Let me know what you think.
This Week in the Arts back on the Air!
January 14, 2009
I’ve, once again, taken up the mantle of the Arts podcast I created last year, This Week in the Arts. The show is a weekly, short interview with a local or locally-featured artist or arts professional.
Dana Schultes is producing for me, which really means that she does most of the work, and I have to say that it has already become a wonderful experience.
The Dallas Fort Worth arts community has opened up its arms and welcomed us in.
If you haven’t had the opportunity to listen to an episode, you should check it out as soon as you get the chance – And subscribe while you’re there, we’re a couple of weeks ahead on recording – and you’re not going to want to miss the next couple of shows!
Also, while you’re there, if you have anything you’d like to hear us feature, you can email me a note or leave a comment on one of the existing shows (You can now sign in to comment with your Facebook ID – both here and at This Week in the Arts!)
So, drop by the podcast, subscribe if you like it, and get out and support the arts.
The Composer is Dead
January 13, 2009
Tomorrow I’m narrating two performances of The Composer is Dead at Bass Hall with the Fort Worth Symphony Orchestra for students from Fort Worth ISD.
I gotta say I’m pretty excited.
The show is similar to Peter and the Wolf in that it is an educational piece about the different sections of the orchestra, but it’s presented as a murder-mystery/comedy.
The composer is found dead and an inspector is called in to question all of the instruments in the orchestra, and to get to the bottom of the crime.
An excerpt:
“Well, I guess that takes care of the strings.” The Inspector said, “Oh – The violas, I forgot all about you!”
“Everyone forgets about us,” said the violas bitterly. “We play the notes in the chords that nobody cares about. We play crucial counter-melodies nobody hears. We often have to stay late after performances and stack up all of the chairs.”
Last night I did an interview with Thomas Hong, the conductor, for This Week in the Arts – that’ll go up on the website next Wednesday.
I only wish it was possible for more people I know to come see the performance (like I said, it’s for the Fort Worth ISD), but I am going to be able to squeeze in Dana and my sister, Heather.
If you find a production of this open to the public you should try to find a way to see it – it’s short, and a lot of fun.
First Time Director
December 18, 2008
This weekend – Sunday the 21st to be exact – will be the opening of the first project I’ve ever directed. It’s a play reading that will take place at Stage West Theatre.
The play is the winner of Stage West’s Annual Texas Playwriting Competition, and as a result it’s going to be read in front of an audience in a professional theatre.
It has been the best possible first experience with directing. It’s lighter than a staged play because there’s no movement, no lighting, and no sound – and, I’ve enjoyed this opportunity to walk before I run.
Also, not only is the play great – It’s well written, and very intelligent, not to mention funny – but, the cast is superb.
A director talking about directing once said, “Find the right cast and you can’t help but succeed,” and he was absolutely right.
In the right hands, the characters of a play can run seamlessly into the story and completely immerse the audience; and I was extremely lucky to have gotten such a talented and committed cast of actors.
I hope you’ll find the opportunity to come by Stage West on Sunday to see the reading. Tickets are free – although, of course, Stage West always welcomes donations, and there will be snacks and refreshments as well as an open bar.
If you come by, be sure to say hello and let me know you read this post – who knows, maybe I’ll buy you a drink. 
The Hippopotamus Premium
December 18, 2008
I work as a waiter at Stage West on the weekends. It’s a good side-gig and a fun way to pick up a little cash, plus the people who come there, for the most part, are a pleasure to serve.
A glass of wine at Stage West is $5 – it’s a fair price, I think, and nobody I can think of has ever had a problem with it. The only people ever to mention the price was a couple that I see at the theatre all the time.
Let me preface this by saying that they’re great people, and not cheapskates at all – but, one day I was waiting on their table and she said, “Five dollars? Do you realize that I can get three bottles of wine at King’s Liquor for five dollars?”
I said, “No way.”
Be careful how you respond to people.
The next time I saw them she was carrying a paper bag. She handed me the bag and said, “Three bottles of wine that only cost five dollars.”
We had a good laugh about it and I took the wine home with me and put it into the wine rack, not knowing when, if ever, I might drink it.
Fast forward to last night. I got home and decided I wanted a drink. We were all out of beer and the only thing in the house was a bottle of chardonnay in the wine rack with a price sticker on it that said $1.62.
Even though Dana gave me that look, I decided to have a glass.
The headache kicked in after five minutes and this morning the hangover made it feel like I drank two bottles of Mad Dog. I felt like a hippopotamus had been wiping its butt with my face all night, and all of this after a 1/3 glass of cheap wine.
There’s a reason you pay five dollars for a glass of wine, and there’s a reason you pay five dollars for three bottles of the other stuff. It’s the same reason homeless winos buy bottles of original flavored Listerine: the Hippopotamus Premium.
Your Extra Second
December 17, 2008
Here’s something you may not have known. There are these things called leap seconds. Every so often, because the earth – as it turns out – is an inaccurate clock, we have to add one second to our atomic clocks.
Since 1967, atomic clocks have based their seconds on the following definition: “the duration of 9,192,631,770 periods/oscillations of radiation from a Cesium-133 atom at the ground state.” And, since the earth is a rickety old brick at the end of a pendulum in comparison to the 9 billion oscillations of radiation, we can’t use it for extremely accurate time measurement.
There’s a leap second coming up at the end of the year. At 23:59:60 on December 31st of 2008, all atomic clocks will add one second to their count.
Everyone on the face of the earth will be handed one extra second in their lives to do with whatever they want.
So, what will you do with your extra second? Will you use it for a moment more of contemplation about times past and times to come? Will you use your second to consider your significance in an ever expanding universe? Will you use it to contemplate time and what it really is?
Or will you use your one second to do what I’m going to do: shout “Happy New Year” one second after everyone else?
Door Closes, Window Opens
November 6, 2008
So, it all started in July. I was still working for my last employer, a small IT company in Arlington.
The company seemed to be doing really well – the owner, my boss, had recently hired a secretary. And, over the summer she went from being a temp hire – who was just riding out the last few months before she and her family moved to another state – to being permanent with the condition that the owner hire her under-qualified husband and give her a pay raise.
But, it turned out that the company, in spite of having doubled the number of employees, was not doing so well. In fact, it seemed that the company wasn’t making enough money to make ends meet.
Throw on top of that the fact that, on the advice of the secretary, the owner had rushed out one morning in a huff to file a divorce with his wife, and you can imagine that things were probably looking a bit grim for my boss.
And, just like that, I went from being the only Microsoft Certified System Administrator working at an IT firm, to being the only person who couldn’t be under paid – and things became hostile quickly.
The owner couldn’t summon the grit and courage to tell me that he couldn’t afford me, and probably was concerned about having to pay an unemployment claim, and instead began a multi-week attempt at forcing me to quit.
He used every tactic – he insulted and belittled me, he made fun of me, he lied to me over and over again, and finally pulled the same tactics on my pregnant wife.
But, I refused to quit. The economy was going south and I was expecting a baby. I told him he should either fire me or the charade should end – but, he refused to do either. I was waiting for a straw to break the camel’s back.
Finally it happened. I went home from work on a Monday in early August, and received an email from the boss. He told me that I had left a tool cart somewhere other than where it was "supposed" to be and he was terminating me as a result.
Relief.
I had finally gotten away from the constant abuse. Filing for unemployment proved eventful. He lied to the workforce commission about the circumstances of my termination – but, in the end, they sided with me.
It was painful and a terrible experience to live through because the boss had been a friend before he was a boss.
But, there’s great news: I found out that Dana and I could survive just fine.
Things were tight at first, but – with the help of friends, I found work. I worked temporarily on the Barney and Friends set, and did some stuff for Bob the Builder.
I got to do a lot of auditioning, narrated Peter and the Wolf twice in front of the Fort Worth Symphony Orchestra, and stage managed (and did a tiny role in) Stage West’s production of The Crucible.
Finally, at the end of all of this great piece-meal work, I was offered a full time position with the Arts Council of Fort Worth.
The Arts Council is a nonprofit organization that raises money for arts groups in Fort Worth. Its sole purpose is, to a certain extent, to help arts organizations stay afloat financially, and able to keep creating great work in Fort Worth.
Brilliant. Working in the arts is what I should have been doing all along. And the Arts Council was perfect. The people here are like-minded folks who all believe that "The Arts" are one of the most important parts of any society – and worth fighting for.
It’s a tough time to be saying this, with the economy the way it has been – and the massive lay-offs, but here’s what I’ve learned: Don’t work for a company whose goal you don’t agree with.
It sounds simple, but it’s really not. It’s one of those things that is really easy to overlook – I worked for Halliburton once. And, I actually considered it a possible long-term career.
Not everyone can work for a nonprofit, or even wants to, but it’s what’s right for me. And, that’s really what’s important – finding what’s right.
Where ever I am, from now on, the first question I’m going to ask is why I’m there – and if the only answer is "to make enough money to pay the rent," I’m going to have to find a different place to be.
About
Justin Flowers
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