Sic 'Em Bears

I went to the Dallas unofficial Baylor watching location for tonight's National Invitational Tournament's semi-final game with San Diego State University.

Ran into an old college fraternity brother, and thoroughly enjoyed watching the game with dozens of fellow Baylor Alums.

It's a Wonderful Life

Not just the title of my favorite movie, the heading of this post is pretty much true for me, as well. I have been blessed by God with a loving, supportive wife and four beautiful and smart daughters. My parents did a great job raising me and my brother and sister. My siblings are genuinely nice people who are always willing to listen and lend whatever support they can.

Unlike George Bailey, I wouldn't want to know how the world might have been different had I never been born, but more importantly, I wouldn't want to know how my life would have been different if any of the important people in my life hadn't come along.

Short Update

I'm still out here. Life has been hectic since November. No excuse for not at least posting a little now and then.

Work is work.

Family is fine.

Life is good.

I'll post more later after I get home from rehearsal.

Hope in Waco

My beloved Baylor Bears blew out they-who-must-be-hated, the Texas A&M Aggies. Maybe, this time, the program will be able to turn it around and become competitive in the Big XII. I have no delusions that we will ever be able to fight for a Division and Conference Title on a year-in, year-out basis, but there's no good reason why we can't get to the point of being bowl eligible every year.

2008 Presidential Election Prediction

After I did so well four years ago, I hesitate to put my prognostication skills to the test again, but here goes:

I foresee a win for Senator Obama, but not by nearly the margin that many predict. I have Obama winning 22 states plus the District of Columbia. That means Senator McCain will win more states (28) but they won't be the right ones to get him to 270 Electoral Votes. I have Obama at 273 EVs and McCain at 265. I believe the most EVs Obama will get is 291

If McCain does not win Virginia, I believe it's all over. I have never believed the possibility of flipping Pennsylvania, so McCain must win VA/FL/NC/OH/IN. Then, he has to pull out Colorado because I think New Mexico is a lost cause.

Here are the states I am calling for Obama with their Electoral Votes in parentheses:

California (55)
Colorado (9)
Connecticut (7)
Delaware (3)
District of Columbia (3)
Hawaii (4)
Iowa (7)
Illinois (21)
Maine (4)
Maryland (10)
Massachusetts (12)
Michigan (17)
Minnesota (10)
New Hampshire (4)
New Jersey (15)
New Mexico (5)
New York (31)
Oregon (7)
Pennsylvania (21)
Rhode Island (4)
Vermont (3)
Washington (11)
Wisconsin (10)

The iMac is Back

After going with the family to story time at Borders, we headed over to the Apple Store to pick up my iMac. Hurrah!

Initial Debate Reaction

John McCain needs to talk to the camera and not directly to Jim Lehrer.

His looking off to the right is off-putting.

Barack Obama sure does stammer a lot and uses the verbal filler "uh" too much.

Wonders never cease

Lo, and behold, they restored access to blogger at work. Just discovered this toward the end of my lunch hour.

Computer Woes

The logic board on our iMac has gone bad. Again. We had it replaced last November, but the new one has gone bad, too. It isn't under warranty.

Even with the cost of the repair, it is cheaper to repair than to replace.

Health Update

Went to the Doctor on Friday. I had lost 15 pounds since March. Cholesterol was down to 142. Bad Cholesterol is down to 88.

Doctor was happy. I'm happy.

I still need to lose about 50-60 pounds, but I've made a start.

Well, that went well

After that promise to start being more regular in blogging, I disappeared for a while again. Work has been nuts. We are short an attorney in our Division, so I've basically been doing the work of 2 people for about a month. We get our replacement on the 29th, and then once I get him trained, I can get back to only handling my duties.

Also, the powers that be at the office have once again blocked our access to much of the internet, so blogging on my lunch hour is much more difficult.

What's Going On?

I've been on a blog hiatus for a little while. No more.

We took a vacation to Half Moon Lake in Michigan a couple of weeks ago. Despite having no air conditioning in the lake house and no hot water the first night, it was an enjoyable time. I read 2 1/2 books and did very little else.

At work, there are some issues that have cropped up in the past week and a half, but I don't like to blog about work things, so lets just leave it at: I could use your prayers.

I'm rapidly approaching my 40th Birthday. If you haven't received an invitation to the party (some went out in the mail, some via Evite) and feel like you should, let me know. I tried to think of everybody, but I'm sure I inadvertently omitted some folks.

Another Review of Damn Yankees

Elaine Liner gives a mixed review in The Dallas Observer. The only mention of my performance gets this line, "The men's voices blend nicely on the miles and miles and miles of 'Heart.'"

Damn Yankees Reviews

The first review is online only. The best parts as far as I'm concerned were:

The singing in this version of Damn Yankees exceeds the film and original cast recording. The emphasis on this production was the vocal performances versus the dancing. The tunes are classic staples of musical theatre and have become ingrained in the popular culture. To hear them sung so well is a delight: a big treat!

* * * * *

The cast for Damn Yankees is rather large and the entire company chews up the scenery. There are no weaknesses here.

I'm not entirely sure that "chew[ing] up the scenery" is a good thing, but the reviewer seems to have meant it in a positive way.

A second review came out today on the Dallas Edge website. (A guess a warning should be given that the site is a GLBT site).

Damn Yankees opens in a week

Garland Summer Musicals production of Damn Yankees opens Friday June 20th. I play the Catcher for the Washington Senators baseball team, Smokey. I am featured in two songs, "Heart" and "The Game," and I also dance in "Shoeless Joe" and "Two Lost Souls." Our wonderful cast includes Joshua Doss as Joe Hardy, Morgana Shaw as Lola, and John Garcia as Applegate. The rest of the cast is tremendous, too.

The show should be a blast, so please come check it out.

You can order tickets by calling the Box Office at 972-205-2790. If you use my name (Marty Scott) when ordering, you will receive a $6.00 savings off the regular price of $25.00, so you will pay the cast price of $19.00 plus a $1.00 service charge per ticket.

Performances are June 20, 21, 22, 27, 28, & 29. Fridays & Saturdays at 8pm and Sundays at 2pm.

Fast, Effective Weight Loss Plan

Want to lose 5 pounds overnight? Get a stomach virus like I did yesterday.

I'm feeling better already, but I was miserable from about 9:00 last night until I fell asleep at 11:30 this morning and slept for 5 hours. My stomach still isn't completely right, but I'm pretty sure the worst is over.

Quick Update

I've been busy lately. I bought a bicycle about a month and a half ago. Then, I joined a local gym a few weeks after that. In all, since I bought the bike, I have lost 11 pounds, and my waist has started to shrink already.

I finished The Philadelphia Story at KCCT in April, and yesterday, I had my first rehearsal with Garland Summer Musicals for Damn Yankees. It should be fun, but tiring.

A little sickness is going around the family. First, it was Hannah, then Erin. Tonight, my stomach started feeling not quite right. I hope I can avoid the unpleasantness the girls have had to go through.

A Theatre Milestone

I just looked again at my theatre resume and noticed that my current show is my 30th in my acting "career." That's a few more than I thought. My full resume can be found HERE.

Blind Refs?

I am no fan of Texas A&M, but they got jobbed in their game in the NCAA Men's Basketball Tournament against UCLA. Here's the photographic evidence. That was on A&M's final drive in an effort to tie the game at 51-51. In the second half of the game, A&M went over 10 minutes without a basket from the field. Several times, they took the ball inside and got rejected. I have to wonder how many of those "blocks" were really fouls as well.

Daylight Saving Time

Am I the only one who doesn't like Daylight Saving Time? There is just something wholly unnatural about having to get out of bed before the sun has come up.