Finster Finds

This week was far more productive than last week. First of all I am feeling better so that helped. I still am a little froggy, but nothing like what was hitting my head last week so that's all good. Oliver's birthday meant that I had to get moving Monday to be ready for Tuesday. I also had to get some of my work done for Fringe ( Pieces ) since I had neglected to get it done the week before. I did Toys R Us and picked up the Dairy Queen Ice Cream cake and made up loot bags for Oliver's Drama Camp. That handled the birthday. I offered to have a party earlier in the month but Oliver said all his friends are away on holidays so I just took the two boys to Chuckie Cheese for game playing and pizza. They were fine with that. I know that Oliver might think about the fact he doesn't get the boat-load of toys that other kids do because his summer birthday has meant very few birthday parties, but I know my kids have a lot of stuff. They don't need much more and he seemed qu...

Ten Years ago today, right now, I was in labour but not progressing. With each contraction the heart rate of my unborn child was dropping. In a couple of hours, if things didn't progress, they were going to give me a c-section. I didn't so they did. It was fine. I made jokes once they did the spinal (and I could feel nothing below my arms - ahhhhhh). Mark argued about having to sit during the procedure as 'he had seen a c-section before' ... the nurse insisted - 'that was not your wife ' and 'they didn't want to have to pick him up off the floor if he fainted' . So he sat and watched. Oliver Lester Finlay arrived ten years ago tomorrow morning about 1:30 a.m. Mark did all the preliminary stuff with him as I was down in the recovery room waiting for my toes to move. 10 Years a Mother - hard to believe. The manners were better when he was 5. I see the teenager to come though and I think he will be an interesting, if challenging, kid. Right now he sti...

So I put the kids in camp last week so that I could have a bit of time to get some stuff done, however, illness struck and I spent a lot of time actually medicating and sleeping to try and kick whatever foul bug infected my system. I realized that I had not gotten much on my To Do List done, so on Thursday I registered them for camp this week as well. I am still sick, but I only have a limited amount of time to get these things done for Fringe ( Finally Sauces presents Pieces ) so I worked on the media release, painting my set piece and some other general Fringe housekeeping today. I also painted the Romeo and Juliet signs for Walterdale's bathrooms. They actually turned out quite well, so I will not be embarrassed for people to know I painted them. Whew! I wish the sickness would leave. The cashier at Safeway pretty much described what I have and said it hung around for 3 weeks for her. I hope I am luckier and can be better sooner than that!! I need to get better so I don't i...

Young Joan (Lindsey Walker) and Ben (Justin Deveau) plan for the future. Photo by Janine Hodder.

We took photos for media purposes at our Pieces rehearsal the other night. I am blessed to have Janine in the cast, in that she is not only a great actress who always gives 110% to her work, but she is also a phenomenal photographer. Here is a sample... In the above photo, Diane (Anne Marie Szucs) calms and comforts her mother Joan (Francie-Goodwin-Davies) who suffers from dementia. Photo by Janine Hodder.

We have a wee 2 weeks off from rehearsing Pieces (Fringe 2011) while 2 of our actors are away and I am not accumulating an unanticipated To-Do List. I should have anticipated it, but sometimes I have to put my brain into the 'let's just get the next thing done' mode or I would get overwhelmed. Anyhow, the next two weeks will be about media materials, photos, posters, media releases, programs, etc... and I think I will be able to handle it. The once relatively free calendar is filling up (ugh), but the boys scoot off to camp next week so I should have much more time in the daytime to do any running around required. I am really thinking hard about a camp the following week, but in August they go three weeks straight in various camps so I am hesitant to do that. Somewhere in there I want to get a haircut... The show itself is in good shape. The arc defined and present, but the big thing now is lines. It's tricky because of the overlapping dialogue so I do not pity the a...

The Vue Review... my Whimsical Set! http://vueweekly.com/arts/story/village_of_idiots_review/ I have gotten a lot of positive feedback on the set and the show as a whole. It's very funny and appropriate for children (my boys loved it). I haven't met anyone who hasn't liked the show. A fine finish to a 2 year term!

The Gateway had a nice review of Village of Idiots and they even mentioned my set: http://thegatewayonline.ca/articles/arts-entertainment/2011/07/10/absurdity-rules-walterdale-s-wacky-world-idiots Thought I would share. There was a pretty good review in the Sun as well, but they didn't say anything about the set, so I didn't post the link. This Blog is about me, after all... Well, really this review is better so why not just read it? I got back from my San Francisco/Berkeley trip for my cousin's wedding on Sunday evening. I had left Thursday morning and enjoyed the 3 1/2 vacation slash family reunion slash wedding. It would have been the perfect trip to take the boys on since there were dinosaurs at the wedding and a whole bunch of kid cousins, but I did my best to enjoy it without them. I did a lot of visiting, but it always feels like you don't get to do enough. I was wishing I had made my return on Monday instead of Sunday so I would have had that one last day... but...

In the Summer of 2005, I relocated to Edmonton from Fort McMurray. It was a tough move for me. I was very happy in Fort McMurray and found it to be a rich life, filled with opportunity to act and direct and even write (I had written my first play and had it produced in 2003-4). I knew Edmonton as a theatre city from my University days, but primarily as a spectator/audience member. I knew there would be a lot of things for me to see, but I was not sure about what I would be able to do. This worried me. I had no plans to teach as I had two young children, one of whom had a speech delay, and the constraints of Mark's new work-schedule would make child care challenging. In any case, we made the move. The first few months were hard - for those of you who know me, I like to be very, very busy - I was not busy at all. Then a friend recommended ELOPE and I auditioned for and got in Fiddler on the Roof . While in that cast, one of the other cast members recommended Walterdale. I auditioned...

Tomorrow (Wed, July 6th) is Opening Night of Village of Idiots . I am excited and sad about this. It marks the last Opening Night of my tenure as Artistic Director, so there is a sadness about seeing this journey end. I have learned a lot and met a lot of friends over the last few years. I have made mistakes, and learned from them. I hope that I am passing on what is needed to the incoming AD. I have been trying to do so, but I also don't want to be overbearing or come across like I am trying to still do the job. I will miss it. I know that this job and what I learned from it will serve me in the future, but like anything 'unknown' it is scary to move on. I am also excited about the Opening. Openings are always fun and because I got the opportunity to design the set I am anxious to see the reception of that. I also have to pack tomorrow. I am going on a wee holiday to San Francisco for my cousin's wedding. I am so looking forward to seeing my cousins and siblings and au...