Sunday Post

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The Sunday Post is a blog news meme hosted here @ Caffeinated Reviewer. It’s a chance to share news~ A post to recap the past week on your blog and showcase books and things we have received. Share news about what is coming up on your blog for the week ahead. Join in weekly, bi-weekly or for a monthly wrap up. See rules here: Sunday Post Meme

 

LOOKING FORWARD to JULY

Fire In The Meth Lab at Minnesota Fringe Festival 2022

On Friday, I went to Wild Mountain in Taylor Falls; sun bathed on the lazy river. It was the most relaxed I felt in a while. My son tried his best to stay on his inner tube while also discovering new ways to fall off of it.  He seemed to enjoy the water slides and shooting water at his mom.

Wild Mountain, Taylor Falls

On Tuesday, I did an improv workshop at Gutty's comedy and met a new improv teacher who loved to help actors find unique characters. At one point, I was a valley girl named Ashley who loved to shop and loved asking people if they were tall. or stilleto high.  

On Saturday, I was super chill and spent time indoors watching movies and eating fried shrimp.

Saw this Tube Man outside a favorite Indian restaurant near Woodbury

Sparky the Seal statues are popping up all around the Twin Cities since June 2022

Upcoming Fringe Festival Shows

August 4 at 7:00 PM, Fire in the Meth Lab--Rarig Center Arena
August 4 at 8:30 PM , Karaoke After Dark--Rarig Center Arena
August 8 at 5:30 PM, Dark Pony Radio --Rarig Center Xperimental

August 14 at 2:30 PM,Shoe Night-- Theater in the Round

Readers please comment below

 

ON THE BLOG

Watching

Super cute Korean Drama about two characters who work @ a cosmetic line and the woman is training the guy on make-up.

Book of Eli was great. It helped me inspire an improv seen about the apocalypse.

Sunday Post

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The Sunday Post is a blog news meme hosted here @ Caffeinated Reviewer. It’s a chance to share news~ A post to recap the past week on your blog and showcase books and things we have received. Share news about what is coming up on your blog for the week ahead. Join in weekly, bi-weekly or for a monthly wrap up. See rules here: Sunday Post Meme

 

LOOKING FORWARD to MAY

This week I put in a new AC.   Warners' Stellian does not have a return policy in case your AC does not fit in the wall so I ended up buying mine at Menards. 

I have also been kicking my $6 coffee habit (Iced Brown Sugar Shaken Espresso from Starbucks)by bringing my own ice and oatmilk and pouring espresso on top. It works! I watched another car show going through St. Paul and went back to Gutty's for Comedy last night.  My son has also been going to this Neighborhood house which hosts a summer program and he has learned to play ping-pong and loves it! So overall, a fun week for sure.

Gutty's Comedy Club

We are planning to have another improv Workshop here on July 12th.

Readers please comment below

 

ON THE BLOG

I'm liking this book a lot.  One of the things that makes it so great is that the character Daniel, the mayor, lives in a small town and a lot of the novel is about the intricacies of that, including how the town makes it a group effort to take care of one of the elders and how everyone has numerous jobs. I should have realized this would be city/country book from the cover, lol.

Sunday Post and fun nights of Comedy

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  The Sunday Post is a blog news meme hosted here @ Caffeinated Reviewer. It’s a chance to share news~ A post to recap the past week on your blog and showcase books and things we have received. Share news about what is coming up on your blog for the week ahead. Join in weekly, bi-weekly or for a monthly wrap up. See rules here: Sunday Post Meme

 

LOOKING FORWARD to MAY

This week I had met with some other actors at Gutty's comedy club to take part in an improv workshop for people with disabilities.  It was two nights of fun with games like "One word story" , "Newscaster" and "What are you doing?"

A picture of my son and classmates on a field trip in St. Paul

Next week I'll be taking part in a charity fundraiser called the Mission Network held at Gutty's Comedy Club. This fundraiser is to help Veterans.

The Mission project send cards, notes and care packages to our military to let them know they’re not alone and we care. The project sends care packages year round, but offer special missions to send extra love and encouragement over the holidays (Valentine’s Day, Easter, Thanksgiving and Christmas). More info at https://www.facebook.com/themissionproject05

Earlier in the week, I took part in a marketing event at HUGE theater to get artists to learn about resources.  

Later in the week, I checked out the Frontline webpage for essential workers and I pumped up my son's bike tires (he still has training wheels)

A car show in St. Paul this weekend

Readers please comment below

 

ON THE BLOG

"Summer Love" book by Nancy Thayer is great. I have enjoyed the intertwining story lines and find these types of storytelling structures often work for me as a reader.

Sunday Post

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LOOKING FORWARD to JUNE

I ended up looking at a few more cars this week. I'm still undecided about what car to buy. I did improv in-person and that was fun. And I took my son to Lake Nokomis to swim.  Mostly he sat in the inner tube while I pulled him around the shallow end of the beach.

And now another ride-share story

“This big guy is dog-aggressive,” said my ride-share client (whose dog is a Burmese-poodle mix).

“How do you mean?” I asked.

“He only barks when he’s around other dogs 😠 and that’s why he’s got a muzzle. I’m taking him to the groomer.”

“He’s a Covid dog he wasn’t trained during the pandemic, and I was given to him by two past owners who were police officers.”

“They really need to do background checks on dogs because it’s like handing the owner a loaded gun.”

A picture of a dog similar to the one in story

“Do you ever get complaints from muzzle naysayers?” I asked.

“Well, if I do, I just tell them that they should hold the leash.”

“Yeah, he dragged me 30 feet on my stomach, but if I gave him back they’d just tell me to put him in the shelter 😨 and I’m not going to do that.

(an idea about this week’s celebrity ride-share flashed through my mind)

“Have you ever met anyone famous or have your friends ever gone out with anyone famous)

“Funny you should ask, because I was at First Avenue (Minneapolis) one time and the our friends went out to eat afterwards and this group of guys came over to our table and had a few drinks with us and then offered their limo for us to get home safely.

“Later in the week, I was at the Best Buy watching TV( back when they used to have their TV’s stacked together in the 90's), and I recognized the guys in the music video from the bar. They were the Jetts!”

“That’s so awesome,” I said.

My son graduated kindergarten

 Fun comedy sketches my Oozebear troupe put together (link below)

https://www.oozebear.com/listen-to-recording.php?id=720923d379c2e1969218e69ff56d9d98

Readers please comment below

 

ON THE BLOG

I started reading this book from Ari Meisel and love it! It gives a lot of strategies on how to manage your time, and take care of simple errands in a more simplistic way that can build in your routines.

Sunday Post

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via GIPHY

The Sunday Post is a blog news meme hosted here @ Caffeinated Reviewer. It’s a chance to share news~ A post to recap the past week on your blog and showcase books and things we have received. Share news about what is coming up on your blog for the week ahead. Join in weekly, bi-weekly or for a monthly wrap up. See rules here: Sunday Post Meme

 

LOOKING FORWARD to JULY

The week seemed to fly by. I did some improv online and did a fantastic scene with a woman who came on with a baby doll prop, absolutely hilarious! 

I watched some Korean drama and it was work as usual.  

On Saturday, I took a ton of people to the airport (including a pilot) I asked the pilot his plans for the weekend and just laughed.

One of my clients told me a funny story about how a seventy year old man got  up to use the bathroom on the plane and a bag of crack fell into the aisle. He denied it was his, and he got away with it because there are no cameras on flights (at least in some areas).

I also took a group of friends to Hudson, Wisconsin. Its been hot in St. Paul. It got up to the 90's this weekend, so I make sure to wear my lightest pants (not a fan of shorts) in the the car.

Pics from Cambodian Rock Band by Theatre Mu

Cambodian Rock Band

When?Jun 8 - Jul 31, 2022
Where?Jungle Theater

by Lauren Yee
directed by Lily Tung Crystal

Statue of liberty sited in St Paul

Wagon spotting in Minnesota

Readers please comment below

 

ON THE BLOG

I'm reading "Hail Mary".  I read the reviews and I'm kinda in agreement with most in that Andy's first book was a bit more dynamic.

A fellow book blogger recommended this book to me. It's real angsty and it has all of the makings of novel about two characters pining over one another for a very long time.  If you love steamy romances this one is definitely for you.

Nix (Elementary Romantic Calculus) launches her King Family series with a love story just as tempting, decadent, and sweet as the ice cream sold by the title family’s nationwide brand. Charming, flirty Wyatt King wants nothing to do with his family’s ice cream empire. Instead, he works as an occasional handyman around Crowder, Tex., setting his own hours and playing in a cover band. His handyman skills come in handy when his best friend’s younger sister, biologist Andie Lockhart, is threatened by her homeowners’ association, who hope to facilitate a shady real estate deal involving her run-down property. Luckily, Wyatt’s on hand to fix things up until the HOA has nothing left to complain about

Sunday Post #amwriting #amjoy

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Minnesota Wild Hockey

 

LOOKING FORWARD to JUNE

This week's fun ride-share story

Not returning the favor and its implications

“That must be the farthest I’ve seen the seat pull forward,” said my ride-share client.

(I smile)

(a picture from improv this week. I loved this scene because the characters are high school students trying to get students to vote for them with incentives like pizza and beer.

Minnehaha falls in Minnesota

“Yes, I’m a short statured person,” I say.

(Out with the obvious)

“Well is that due to malnutrition or some genetic thing?”

“Yes, its genetic. My grandma was short and so is my mother and brother. But I think the gene has reached its end, because I’m the tallest of my kind. And my son is not short.

(I always declare that last tidbit almost as if I’m putting the person at ease)

“Oh,” she says.

A chair I bought for my son at Costco

(Som of the older buildings in St Paul, Minnesota)

As we edge closer to her home she says:

“You can drop me off at the end of the driveway. The last driver pulled into the driveway during a snowstorm and got stuck in the ditch. He then came to our door and knocked, and asked if anyone could help push him out. My husband wasn’t about to go out there and help him so he told the guy to use his roadside assistance.”

(So you didn’t help the guy who provided you a safe ride home?)

Try Improv Night(s) at Gutty's Comedy club for individuals with disabilities and NO experience necessary. Just show up and give it a try.

Tuesday June 14th or Wednesday June 15th 7:00 - 8:30 at Gutty’s Comedy Club in Southdale Center.

Signup deadline Wednesday June 8th!!

Message me or email markknute@gmail.com for questions or to signup.

Do one or both nights!

If you’re not sure about trying improv at least come and watch.

I started reading books by Mark Manson. He writes about relationships as well, and what emotional needs people are seeking to be met.

Play Review: Fearless 5 Music

photo courtesy of Fearless Comedy

I compared Fearless 5 Music to The Play that Goes Wrong (Mischief Theatre Company) when Fearless presented its show at the Historic Mounds Theater in St. Paul.

Fearless 5 Music is a fabulous medley of short plays meant to poke fun at theater, actors and musicians.This annual show is in its sixth year and includes five short plays directed by Duck Washington, Cara White, Dave McKay, Aiden Milligan and Jason Kruger. The music varied from play to play, sometimes 'traditional' musical, other times a straight forward play about music and musicians, or some place in between. The cast of seven actors carried the unique challenges of the play with the help of musical director, Chad Dutton, on keyboard.

The first play The Barb, written Kayla Sotebeer is Shakespeare-themed. Each of the characters dressed to resemble those in the Elizabethan era, a few in hooded robes with millstone collars. Even a wizard made an appearance along with a cleric and several others. The main character droned on about his perceived failures as an artist in his acting troupe, when another tells him he can escape and go rogue. The Barb makes an effort to include verses written four centuries apart but it's the constant bickering that delights as characters chase one another with swords. And brings in millennial concepts like twerking and comedic lines like:

You can't be an artist unless you're sad.  Not one artist has had a good childhood.

The next play, The Second Annual Upper Midwestern Vegan Ribfest written by Kelvin Hatie, featured actors Emma Tiede, Caleb Cabiness, Michael Bloom, and Joy Ford who show up to Not-Ribfest with the intention to play alternative music for vegans. Unfortunately, the characters are undecided after realizing their opening song is called The Meat." Vegans are not into irony, if they were they'd eat meat," Booker said. The play made me wonder whether they'd go for it, or if  their resistance to veganism would change their mind.

Macbeth: The Musical centered around the remake of Macbeth, written by Tim Wick.  This fun play within a play had great energy and allowed the characters to sing jingles and mock a playwright's intention. It was hilarious to see the actors upstage one another and play multiple roles.

The play after intermission called Westbrook Middle School is Proud to Present Its Fall Musical Which Opens Tomorrow for General Audiences was my favorite. It was written by Denzel Belin and centered around middle school students who work on and off stage and fall in love. Each of the couples are keen on keeping their romance hidden. This play is perfect for Valentine’s Day. The comedy is too cute, and the audience is led to understand the inner workings of theater, as characters practice the art of speedy costume changes and embrace authenticity. It reminded me of theater initiation and Do's and Don'ts.

The finale play, No Small Parts written by Angela Fox gave the actors one last opportunity to show their playfulness by rehearsing for a musical within the musical.  There's always that one singer who upstages the rest and Adrienne Reich did a great job of showing everyone her skills.

Each of the plays pokes fun at what it means to be an artist and the self deprecation and comedy is out of this world.

The Mounds Theatre requires proof of a full course of COVID-19 vaccination. Patrons must have a completed COVID-19 vaccination card, with their final dose at least fourteen days prior to the event. Attendees must wear masks inside the venue while not eating or drinking. At intermission, popcorn, coffee and cocktails are served.

Performances will be held February 11th, 12th, 18th, 19th, 25th and 26th/ All shows at 7:30pm. Tickets at the door or in advance at https://moundstheatre.org