Jai guru deva om.

Words are flowing out like endless rain into a paper cup,
They slither wildly as they slip away across the universe.
Pools of sorrow, waves of joy are drifting through my open mind,
Possessing and caressing me.

I sang the Fiona Apple version of "Across The Universe" at karaoke last night, and now I fear that I'll never be able to get it out of my head. Despite liking the song ever since I'd heard it as a wee thing, I never quite understood the mantra "jai guru deva om", and I assumed Lennon was singing "start a new day". As I'm not one for analysis or even looking up the lyrics (unless I'll be singing the song), I was under that misapprehension until yesterday. Whoops.

Karaoke was fine - lots of people showing up after Fringe shows, some conventioneers, and the usual mix. I stayed out too late. Again. Very tired today. However, we will have ice cream and cupcakes later on in the day, so it all works out.

Well, fuck.

California Supreme Court Annuls San Francisco Gay Marriages.

In its decision, the court focused on whether the mayor had the authority to marry gays rather than the broader arguments of whether equal protection under the Constitution must include gay marriage. Briefs in a lawsuit raising the broader issue are expected before a lower court next month.

Dammit.

Finally

MacBlank reviews are in!

Star Tribune

MACBLANK

Sean Margaret Wagner's comedy spoof "MacBlank" imagines a contemporary couple in psychic contact with characters from Shakespeare's "Macbeth." It seems tailor-made for the 50 Foot Penguin troupe, whose actors capture the spirit of medieval Scotland and sitcoms. After all, some are veterans of Shakespeare productions, and this gives them a chance to let their hair down. In facilitating this, director J.E. wisely has allowed them freedom to create an irreverently boisterous production, with delicious performances by Lynn Musgrave, Sally Ann Wright and Linda Sue Anderson as the witches. (5:30 p.m. Sat., 8:30 p.m. Sun., Hennepin Stages.)

John Townsend


City Pages

MacBlank
Fifty Foot Penguin

All these years later and Macbeth is still pissed. Of course, he's a ghost now, with a torn kilt and ratty Converse All Stars. Yet his T-shirt decrees: "Macbeth Lives." He enlists the help of his old cohorts the witches (now middle-aged women who read The National Enquirer while waiting for evil diversion) to knock off the last in the lineage of his nemesis Macduff. What follows is a rare thing: a masterful Shakespearean spin-off--smart, fast moving, and littered with knee-slapping references to the original. The cast gives spirited, frisky performances with Terry Lynn Carlson stealing the show as the impish dead Macbeth. Thu 8:30 p.m., Sat 5:30 p.m., Sun 8:30 p.m. Hennepin Stages, upstairs. --Christy DeSmith


( And finally, the audience reviews )

Not too shabby.....