The Daily News

1   What.

2   That's a picture of me grading papers.

3    

4   I graded all the papers I wish to grade this year.

5   I'll finish off a few, I imagine, later today.

6   Then I'll enjoy relaxing. 

7   

8   Nail biter last night in Oaktown. 

9   Yup.

10  I was worried sick.

11  

12   I was.

13   I slammed two veggie shakes in red Solo cups.

14   I bit my nails and pulled out my hair. Great game, great team. 

15   Moving On, Part 1: I brought a box of DN's from 2000 home last night.

16   I have 5/18/00 to 5/22-00. All hard copies.

17   They were short. I posted them in the Theatre building hallway. They weren't online, but this was how I communicated with the students, especially with musicals, and it dates back to 1996. It evolved into a series of ponderings and light humor in modern times. It became the DN. 

Here is the Daily News from 5/18/00. The font was Comic Sans, which isn't featured on Blogger. Here go: 

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The Daily News

5/18/00

1   Here's one for you. If you have tix to tonight's performance of Phantom, it is time to make alternate plans. Tonight's student preview has been postponed, and the new date is probably on Tuesday, May 30, at 7:30 p.m.

2   This is unprecedented in AMTSJ history, as far as I know. But the last time that they did this show, they weren't quite ready and did the student preview night instead. On performance night, the leading lady broke her leg when it got caught on the trap door unit, and the show was halted after the first act. 

3   AMTSJ (CLO at the time) sent out an emergency audition opening for the lead part, but could find nobody competent enough, and with the right schedule, to fill the part. 

4   A girl from the chorus line stepped forward and said that she knew the part. At first they thought, "Yeah, right!" But she persisted, was given a chance, and eventually she did the part; the show went on, and a miracle occurred.

5   Because this story is late-arriving news, I haven't the details of all that went down. But I was a part of this history, and it is truly a great story of the Theatre. I saw the show where she went down, and it was eerie. But that's show biz; that's Theatre.

6   Speaking of Theatre, Piedmont has How to Succeed...going up this Friday and Saturday nights. The showtimes are somewhat of a mystery at this writing, but I would get tickets early, say, 7 p.m. This remains one of the greatest shows ever written, so you might seriously think about getting a performance in.

7   So I am again in the position of saying, "Peaceout."

8   Peaceout.

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18   The Phantom I referred to was I believe the one written not by Andrew Lloyd Webber but by Arthur Kopit, with music and lyrics by Maury Yeston. 

19   Kopit and Yeston had already begun this Phantom when word of Lloyd Webber reached them. They shelved the project and only after Lloyd Webber's success did they put it up. 

20  Kopit is famous for several shows, the most popular being Oh Dad, Poor Dad, Mama's Hung You in the Closet and I'm Feelin' So Sad, a play made popular by the Burns Mantle Best Plays people. 

21  His other plays included Wings, a play about a stroke victim who was a World War 1 wingwalker on planes. The show was seen through the mind of the wingwalker. Surrealistic and eerie, the show was a mild success.

22  He also tackled a show called Nine, a musical version of Federico Fellini's offbeat film masterpiece 81/2. 

23  While 81/2 was never a musical, it had background music.

24  The music was by Nino Rota, who did the music for Franco Zeffirelli's Romeo and Juliet and...

25  The Taming of the Shrew...

26   Which I am in the middle of teaching right now. 

27   Ah, coincidences.

28   You gotta believe.

29   I was thinking of posting all of these old DN's but I will probably have to do it after I retire. Right now it is impossible. I have almost a full ream of these. 

30  I couldn't possibly comment on all of  them, but it sure was fun to see this coincidence materialize. 

31   Okay, that's about it. 

32   I gottago. I wrote this one twice last night because I tried to turn the background a sort of tan color, and change the top font to its original Comic Sans. 

33  Both missions failed, turning everything invisible, painted over by tan and white highlighted lines. 

34   I think I'll quit while I'm ahead. I still have miles to go before I sleep. We have a meeting today where the retirees and teachers not returning will be briefly on display in front of the staff. I have to paint my face. My job is to stand there and look pretty. 

35   I think I could stand there, but I might lean a little. I didn't sleep at all last night. I have that insomnia that seems to be everywhere, so I'm listing a little. 

37   The lookin' pretty part, not so sure. I'll do what I can, shake some hands and sneak back up to my room to finish working.

38   Meanwhile, you have a GREAT day.

39   See you again.

37   Peace. 

~H~