RockTheBoroughs - I recorded a public performance for Rock-The-Boroughs, a group of 30 to 40 Senior Citizens mostly living in the towns in MA that end in 'borough', such as Marl- North-, West-, etc. They are pretty good, and they have a lot of fun. Editing tonight!

#CdAHistory - The UK group went through Acts 1&2 of the play "The Hermaphrodite". It was a fun play. We found a few places that needed clarification, but no major surprises yet. We'll finish the play in three weeks, with a couple other plays in between.

#CdAHistory In "All's Well the Ends Well" the character Parolles seems to be an unusually self-aware commedia dell'arte Capitano. Thoughts?

Talking to grandkid this morning. Decided to calculate something odd. Kid asked: what would happen if the microwave were suddenly filled with some of the Sun's photosphere. We worked it out. Spoiler: not much: a microwave oven volume of the photosphere has a mass of about 4.4 milligrams.

Watching "Only Murders in the Building" S5E4. Christopher Walz appears and says something entertaining about Dorothy Parker.

Aside from asserting that the USA should not have a king, my big mission for today is to work through a Commedia scenario to be used by the group I'm teaching in Carlisle. They have some special skillsets that I want to employ in great ways. I think I found the right play to start with.

#CdAHistory The UK group got through a play that involves two nearly identical man-sized boxes (chests), and it is difficult to track the stage directions for where the boxes go. Ultimately they are used to transport people into bedrooms.

#CdATroupes Last night was my first night working with the folks from Carlisle MA. This will be an interesting and different adventure. It isn't what I was expecting, but it promises to give me a great new way of applying my teaching strategies. - more -

#CdAHistory The UK Group did our first look at an historic play with slave-girls. We had some good discussion about what it meant in terms of the dramas that we present. It was a good play.

#CdAHistory Monday we worked on a play that is unusually complicated by people being confused for each other. So confusing, in fact, that the manuscript clearly made mistakes about the names and relationships. It has some great bits, so it's worth fixing.

This afternoon, I plan to try installing Windows 11 on my 5+ year old desktop machine. Hopefully it goes smoothly.

APOD (Astronomy Picture of the Day) is run by NASA, and is a victim of the current government shutdown.

Lately, there has been a type of Science clue in Jeopardy that I should get, but have not been getting. That is: clues about the names of chemical elements with more protons than Lawrencium (103). Should I learn these fifteen (soon to be seventeen) names? Jeopardy is the only place they come up.

#CdAHistory We had a great session this afternoon taking a second look at a play, and wow! There are several scenes in the play involving a burial chamber and matters of life, death, love, family, and magic. Later there is a scene of sacrilege. I see now how the former HAVE to be be foreshadowing.

#CdATroupes After five years of not having regular in-person practices and rehearsals (aside from four or five leading up to each of about 7 shows) we are now a few weeks in to having them every Tuesday. We need to reach out and get more of us to show up again.

#CdAHistory Our EET Timezone group just had our best session yet. We did a pastoral play, and it was a lot of fun!

#CdAHistory 2nd translation pass on a play. There are three pairs of people who look like each other. In one situation, Pantalone (the old miser) thinks he's had fun with a young woman, but the wording is ambiguous as to whether the fun was with her mother, or her grandmother (neither appear).

#CdAHistory the UK group has increased in size, thanks mostly to the recruiting efforts Cheryl Stapleton! Thanks Cheryl! Most of the new people can't make it this week, but we'll see them soon. - The group acts through the play outlines looking for dramatic insights.

Decades ago Mike and I made leather Commedia dell'Arte masks, and had some success. We had used methods given in a mask-making book by Thurston James. Last night it occurred to me that in the most Commedia dell'Arte-like show ever, the Pantalone character was Thurston Howell played by James Backus.

#CdAHistory The US East group just went through an odd comic scenario that is high on slapstick and low on romantic drama. The play requires five actors, making it a good one for small casts.

#CdAHistory The folks from Finland (etc.) and I finished going through a Commedia version of Plautus' "The Twins", and it was a lot of fun. Next week, we do a pastoral.

Large insect on the sidewalk

In the Beatles song "Lovely Rita" what instrument plays the four note 'laugh' after the lyrics '... and the bag across her shoulder made her look a little like a military man.' ?

Thursday, I'll be at a gathering in Carlisle MA where I will make a presentation inviting people to be taught and directed by me to create and perform a play from an old outline. The first session will probably be October 17th. The performances will be in March 2026.

We've been using Hulu for streaming. Hulu is owned by Disney, which canceled Kimmel. So, we will shortly switch to another service. I will message few shows, but it is worth it.

#CdAHistory We had our first working session with the UK group, and it was terrific! We got through one act of an unusual play that is a comedy, but includes magic that in the story context is real.

It's been six days since the hip replacement. I can currently walk and move my leg with pretty close to full strength, and a full range of motion. There are a few issues with unhappy nerves, but generally the recovery has gone extremely quickly. Tomorrow the bandage comes off. Back to work!

I have a lot to do, but no real deadlines today. Perhaps I will break with my usual MO and get some things done today anyway. Thinking about it. Motivation hasn't bubbled to the top, but at least I'm not stuck binge-watching stuff (New season of Futurama awaits on HULU).

Today's date (using 2-digit year) is the squares of a Pythagorean triple (9-16-25). This only happens twice per century, the other being (9-25-16). Today's is nicer.

I don't wear short very often, but I thought I would put on a pair for PT this morning. I only had one pair, and the elastic cracked as I stretched them, and then was nonexistent. It's been longer than I thought!

In a far away place there are six new leather commedia masks that will be shipped to me soon. Two of these are devil masks for the scenarios in which enchanters get supernatural helpers to do their work.

On September 25th I will have an opportunity to get a group of retired people to learn Commedia dell'Arte and perform one of the plays I am working on. This is a big breakthrough in my business.

This morning and early afternoon were mostly about getting a new left hip ball&socket installed. Later I joined in my usual biweekly Shakespeare workshop. We talked about "All's Well..." and virginity.

I had a great session with Olly and Aidan (from the play we did in Finland). We didn't work through a play, but I think our chances of getting at least five for next week is good. I have a busy day tomorrow with some activities I don't normally do.

"One Rich Guy Called Larry Ellison" - is what ORACLE is an acronym for, except we need a word that starts with 'A' instead of 'Guy'. He just passed Musk to become the wealthiest man in the world. Is he a better human being? Could be, but I don't have data on that.

A lucky confluence: The translation team worked through a play this afternoon that the US Eastern Timezone group will act through tonight. It should be a lot of fun! The Central Europe and Finland group also had a fun meeting this morning.

This feels old, but still relevant: www.facebook.com/share/p/1CNF...

Busy Commedia dell'Arte week coming up. Lots of translation with Chiara, and scenario workshops on three plays. All that has to be done by Wednesday, since Thursday through the weekend will be surgery and recovery.

Family in the basement. Center of rotation went a bit North of us, but we definitely had an exciting storm. Later, I'll check about downed trees and limbs.

#CdAHistory In a play there is a line "Pantalone per non amazar la figliola và per strada". Why? Why would Pantalone kill his daughter by going into the house? Just realized this is a monologue about how angry he is at her. Thanks Chiara!

I got a bunch of blood tests today. Most of them came back right in the middle of the normal range. One of them came back outside the normal range. My blood clots about 2% faster than it is supposed to. I'm not sure why that's bad.

I've been going a little slow because of my hip wearing out. I've been listening to Craig Alanson's "Expeditionary Force" books. I'm currently listening to "Homefront" which has some actors from Star Trek doing the voices, including Kate Mulgrew as the computer named Nagatha.

#CdATroupes I'm working through a second run-through of a play, this time with the folks from Finland. It is so warm and fulfilling to see them again! They are awesome.

Translating again! One act of the current play ends with 'the lazzo of the Flemish Candelabra'. We think this is a Cirque du Sole-like bit of acrobatics.

Here's a live version of John Lennon's first hit with Plastic Ono Band. www.youtube.com/watch?v=JkVu...

Finally, busy! Deadlines appear to be an important part of getting things done. Today's tasks: updating commedia dell'arte scenarios, and repairing some old heavy plastic masks recently given to me.

Non-stop questions about Trump's health are a distraction. Release the Epstein files! Impeach Roberts, Alito, and Thomas.

How can you tell if what you have is malaise or ennui?

I've been pretty active on BlueSky for ten months now, and the total amount of interaction I'm having with people has gotten pretty small (Thanks Will, CV, and Dd'A). I'm looking for ways to make it fill my need a little better. I may also be looking for an alternative.

I finished watching "Resident Alien" season 4. It was good. The final episode made it seem like a Season 5 is unlikely and unneeded.