It's Only Thursday?

Your Sister wrapped up the official school year yesterday, but she still hs work to do. Grades are due tomorrow at noon, but since the majority of teachers never meet that deadline, she probably has until Tuesday to finish. There is remediation today and tomorrow for kids who failed their state exams. Remediation is hell. Teachers review the class for five hours and then give the test for another two. No matter how many kids are there. She's done this before for one kid. One. Seven hours of the same subject is enough to befuddle a genius, but a kid taking a make-up exam when everyone else is out of school? That's pressure I will gladly live without.

I made din-din last night: lemon-garlic-pepper chicken alfredo with sauteed red pepper. It's easy to make with a gas broiler.

I received word this week that a comic anthology I submitted a short story to will publish this Halloween. Given that I turned it in last August (on two week's notice) for last Halloween, I'll believe it when I see it. I rushed the art and wish I had known I had a full year to improve it.

Picture of the Day
My proposed cover for the next Pan Pipes. It's a desktop statue of the Three Graces we have on the second floor.



In the news
We got al-Zarqawi last night. But immediately we heard that this will not drastically reduce the insurgency in Iraq.

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Despite virtually no country radio airplay, the Dixie Chicks have the top CD in the country for the second consecutive week. Country radio is apprently run my ferrets, because this happens a lot. Johnny Cash and Loretta Lynn had recent No. 1 CDs with nary a tune played on a country station. They did, however, play on rock stations because of producers Rick Rubin and Jack White, respectively. I'm no fan of country music in general. I like some folks (Alan Jackson, George Strait) but I grew up listening to '70s AM radio county, tunes that were designed to get you laid or depressed. The modern country stuff, by and large, is audio wallpaper for a daily commute. The Chicks also worked with Rubin, which allows some stations and anti-Chicker to claim the CD is bought by rock fans and Bush-haters, not real country fans. But it should be noted that it's killing the latest Toby Keith CD in sales.

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A note about why I love theatre: This if from today's New York Times.

"The Pajama Game" became a waiting game last night when a minor accident injured a cast member and caused a 27-minute interruption in the performance.

To calm the restless audience in the American Airlines Theater, Harry Connick Jr., who plays the lead character, Sid, conducted a question-and-answer session, sang "Happy Birthday" to someone in the audience and talked about the future of his native New Orleans and his high school career.

The interruption came during an office scene, right before the song "I'll Never Be Jealous Again," when two desks moving onto the stage collided. Roz Ryan, who plays Mabel, was sitting in a chair behind one of them and was slightly injured.

According to a spokesman for the show, one of the chains that moves the scenery broke. As the curtain came down and the staff worked to patch it, Mr. Connick stepped onto the stage, shedding the flat Midwestern accent of his character for his native New Orleans lilt.

Finally, the conductor signaled him. "Harry, it's time." The show started back up, with Ms. Ryan continuing in her role, right where it had left off.