All posts by cemego

Spam on the Road: Will’s Touring Blog

Spam Poster

So as all of you know. I’m going on the road with the National Tour of Spamalot, by Eric Idle. “Spam” is the musical staging of Monty Python and the Holy Grail. The show is 2 hours of non stop Python-esqe silliness. All the cows, coconuts, and catapults that you know and love bookended with musical numbers in every conceivable broadway style.

We will tour for 10 months, in 113 cities, doing around 200 shows. The bus will take us everywhere from Florida to Canada, and Maine to L.A. The creation of CTRLZ STUDIO makes it impossible not to blog about it. So……..

We started rehearsals last week at Chelsea Studios in New York, on 26th between 6th and 7th ave. I’m living with a good friend, Ashley Wallace, who I know from a previous tour. Everyone in the cast is very nice and talented.

The show itself is very challenging. It is the hardest thing I’ve ever had to do in my life. I am having fun, but there have been some rough days this past week. I sometimes feel, ( as I’m sure everyone in the cast does ) like the weakest link.

I just can’t wait till I know the show and it is nothing but fun.

And it will be.

Waterbury, Connecticut is first on the Schedule. That is where we will tech and open the show.

Till then,

Will

AUUGH! Todd is comin back to Philly!

As most of you know I am one of the world’s biggest Todd Rundgren fans.   I think I’ve seen him live and met him in person more than any other of my favorite musical artists.  He’s coming to Philadelphia to the Keswick Theater in Glenside Pennsylvania just outside of Philly.

What makes this so special for me and other Todd fans is that he will be playing 2 classic albums in their entirety.  I went to see him do his album A Wizard/A True Star with JohnnyD last year and it was SPECTACULAR!  This year, I’m going with Bitchin Bob for this one. Here’s a crazy bit from last year’s show.  He goes through some 10 crazy costume changes for this stuff.

For what it’s worth, I just thought I’d share a little of my excitement over this. In this day and age, one must make an effort to report on good things. Keeps ya from losing it!

Cheers and poop!

Space Weather Alert

Space has been quiet, well for space, but the I-Sun did let out a little fart in the form of a flare from it’s rear end yesterday. Click on the pic to see the fart in action.

Lucky for us, most of the I-Sun’s nasty radioactive gas didn’t reach us because it was on the far side. However, the cause of this fart may be a big stinky burrito sunspot, which is turning its delicious bean and cheese laden face our way within the next 8 days. Via Sun Viacondias! Suck Dick Earths.

Same Old Song and Dance (but with better hats)

I have looked at some pictures from the depression unemployment lines and current unemployment lines.  Keep in mind another name for an unemployment line these days is a job fair.

Compare these pictures!

Depression unemployment had better hats
Current unemployment (or job fairs) have better hair do's and more women

Well at least we can say we are a bit more stylish as the nation crumbles.  Now I need to go out and get a “say something” hat.

I've got the perfect hat for this!!!

A Job Interview Is a Bullshit Fest!

I have spent 15-20 years of my life going to stupid job interviews that make you get excited and falsely hopeful. I think if most people have had the amount of interviews I have had, they would probably jump off a bridge or cower in the corner of their bed and never see the light of day. One must realize, it is the most demoralizing, motivation stealing, SOUL STEALING, and heartless experience you could ever have. I’ve been to so many of these things, I realize that I am completely unemployable. The experiences are nightmarish.

Comments like (and these are real folks):

  1. You’re overqualified
  2. You’re underqualified
  3. You’re not the right fit (like i’m a piece of clothes or a condom or something)
  4. You’re too casual (guess I need to wear a tuxedo and pull up in a limo)
  5. You don’t have that special something

I’m not kidding folks.  This kind of bullshit has been following me MY WHOLE CAREER LIFE and at the age of 40, I cant take it anymore!

CNN always puts these stupid “helpful” articles up about things NOT TO SAY in an interview.   They are always obvious like:

  1. What does your company do?  (research the company before the interview you idiot)
  2. How much does the job pay?  (just understand they are going to give you a barely survivable wage.  they want to rip you off right out of the gate.  leave your high hopes at home).
  3. What are the hours of the position?  (realize that you will be their slave and will work when they want you to, and however long they desire.  welcome to slavery, fool)
  4. How many sick days do I get?  (YOU GET ONE and if you take more than one they will gossip about you and talk behind your back and set you up to fail).
  5. How much time do you get off?  (None.  Don’t expect any for the first 5-10 years of employment if you last that long!  God forbid you ask for a vacation, because that’s when they will search for your replacement).
  6. Do you do background checks?  (Only if they don’t want to hire you or are so intimidated by your looks and skills they want to make sure you don’t get in the company at all).

Of course we or I would never ask these stupid questions in an interview because, as you can see above, I already know the answer from years of experience.  Once again, the media (in this case CNN) isn’t helping anyone with this stupid article.

HOWEVER…

Because the employment CRISIS IN AMERICA (yes that’s right I said crisis) is so bad, the respondents to the article were quite eloquent and profound.  One person responded in this fashion and it’s so true.  These questions will definitely offend an interviewer but I have moist dreams about saying them because they are legitimate questions that are more attuned to employment in “Amurka” and the treatment/plight of the working class being subjugated by people who don’t do ANYTHING and make all the money:

  1. Why are you filling this position from the outside? Is it because you’ve made poor hiring choices so you have no one to choose from or because you have a bad training program?
  2. What percentage of workers would quit today if they had a chance?
  3. How much does the CEO & execs earn for every person they lay off?
  4. How much does this company pay for their government lobbyists to push through bad public legislation in Washington DC?
  5. How is management evaluated? Quality or quantity of work done?
  6. What’s the most important thing I should focus on to be successful in this company: good appearance, network connections, ability to BS, taking claim for other’s work, or being in the same golf league as the boss?
  7. What religious affiliation will solidify my employment at this company?
  8. Which social networking tool should I be on so you can track my every move and invade my privacy and hold me accountable in the workplace, Facebook, Twitter, or Myspace?
  9. Is there anything else I should change in my personal NON WORK related time that would qualify me for this position?  Political affiliation (republican democrat liberal conservative)? Quit smoking?  Turn gay or straight?  Drink more?  Less?  Watch more television?  Choose the right sports team?

Let’s face it folks, interviewing for a job these days is about as much of a crap shoot as playing your last retirement cent on a green felt table in Atlantic City.  There’s no right way to go to an interview.  All I can say is EXPECT NOTHING and if you get ANYTHING or even a job, expect to be treated like shit and thrown out the moment you get hired for some contrived reason even God himself couldn’t explain.  It is important to remember, you don’t work for a company or yourself… YOU WORK FOR A PERSON(S) WHO’S GREED IS SO MASSIVE YOU WOULD NEVER UNDERSTAND IT UNLESS YOU WON THE LOTTERY AND HATED EVERYONE YOU KNOW.

Remember, we are all here and suffering so the few who have lived large wont have to change their standard of living.

Space Weather Alert

This is not really space “weather” but more like a close visual encounter.  Tonight’s full moon and the planet Jupiter will be only 6 degrees apart.

I am going to try and snatch a peek at this event. I need to be reminded that all the bullshit crap I am going right now really means nothing to the universe. So if you are feeling that way too…go out and snatch a peek for yourself.

Space Weather Alert

Ever wonder what our planet and its moon look like from 114 million miles away?

NASA’s Messenger space craft snapped this photo of our hood on its way to Mercury. Messenger is actually flying around searching for small rocky asteroids flying around the I-Sun known as “vulcanoids”. It is very humbling to see our planet from so far away, but it is comforting to see that their are no toll booths hovering in space on the highway back. Imagine the fee on that take ticket…