This could be an effective tactic against some of the stupider e-mail address spiders that spammers use. (Thanks to Robert Fitman, Editor of IEEE Internet Computing.)

posted: 11:24:13 AM  

I spent the time before rehearsal auditioning toasters. We have about 18 of them on stage, but only sufficient power for 16 slots worth of toast. So I checked each one to make sure that it actually worked and produced something brown on a medium setting. I rejected one with a big crack in its case and a couple old ones that heated too slowly. We have several Betty Crocker branded ones, as well as a Toastmaster designed for pastry, and these finish their cycle with a lusty pop. I made sure that some of them made the cut.

So in the end I picked six toasters to come on stage that will be live, along with Mom's toaster that is already in. I marked them so we can pick them out of the crowd each night. Meanwhile Rob and Bridget were cleaning the sticker goo off a few of them: toasters from the Salvation Army store come with a nasty "Sold As Is" sticker that's almost impossible to remove.

Nearly all of the notes from this rehearsal concerned technical issues, as it should be. (But I've still got some character work that I'm trying to tweak.) The cast is handling nearly all of the scene change work, and Andy and I had simultaneous brain farts during the change from scene 6 into 7.

I snapped a fingernail on the interim power cords that Ryan set up for me. Some of them didn't work, anyway.

Michael was in the building for another meeting, so we got a batch of his cookies. If you direct community theater in this area, you must cast Michael, because he will bring homemade cookies to every rehearsal and every performance. Tonight we had slightly gooey chocolate chip, and I scarfed three of them.

Andy and I left the building at 11:20, and we counted that a win.

posted: 12:57:45 AM