Director's Note: She Loves Me

The genesis of The Valley Theatre can be traced back to years of us coming up with great ideas, planning out how to accomplish them and promptly forgetting about them as soon as the commercial break ended.  Then one seemingly ordinary day, in a car ride to Corning, Amanda turned to me and said, “We should start a theater and our first production should be She Loves Me.”  Maybe it was the lack of a TV distraction or just an attempt to avoid listening to Alison’s music, but for whatever reason this one stuck.

            So here we are, The Valley Theatre’s first production. Welcome.  She Loves Me has always been one of my favorite shows, so when it was suggested that I take the reigns for my directorial debut I eagerly accepted.  From the very beginning this production has had a very grassroots feel to it.  We basically had to start from scratch by gathering costumes and props; making sets and furniture and drafting my mom to be our cook.  I am very proud of what we have accomplished and am eager to find out what the future holds for The Valley Theatre.  I hope you enjoy our premier production as much as I do.

Thanks for coming.

Nic Gunning

The Valley Theatre

Book Review: Diagnosis Murder: The Past Tense

*****

Diagnosis Murder: The Past Tense

By Lee Goldberg

I enjoy this series because the mystery is always well thought out and it keeps you guessing and second-guessing right up until the big reveal. They aren't overly violent or filled with gory details. They are just clever, fun reads.

This book in particular is a departure for the series in that the bulk of it is a flashback to Mark Sloan's early medical career and his first dabble in the detective world, told in first person. It mainly deals with new characters. With the exception of Dr. Sloan, the other regular characters from this series basically just bookend the story. Lee Goldberg really has the characters down, especially Dr. Sloan. You can't help but picture Dick van Dyke when reading this book. Overall, I would say that The Past Tense is my favorite in this entertaining series.

Book Review: Brothers: The Hidden History of the Kennedy Years

*****

Brothers: The Hidden History of the Kennedy Years

By David Talbot

This book wasn't what I expected it to be... and it took me a long time to figure that out. From what I read of this title before buying it, I assumed it was an account of the JFK assassination through the eyes of Bobby Kennedy. Instead it was basically just a retelling of the Kennedy years. It was well-written and enjoyable, it just wasn't what I was looking for. One of the big questions the book asked was, "Why didn't RFK uses his position and power to solve the JFK assassination?" Instead of an answer, all it gave us was, "Seriously, why didn't he?" There was a little speculation as to why, but no real insight into the possibilities. I think the fatal flaw of this book was that it was just too broad, but despite that it is still an interesting read. I'm sure I would have enjoyed it more if I hadn't gone in expecting something that it wasn't.

SNL gets politically correct!

Can someone please tell my why the folks at Saturday Night Live seem to be the only ones willing to call Barack Obama on his empty statements and courtship of the media? Honestly, I just don't get it. I don't understand Barack Obama as a candidate. I don't think it's a matter of disagreeing with his political views, but more that I don't feel like I know any of them. From what I can gather he's a strong advocate for change, but unless he's saying he wants to abolish all paper money I have no idea what that means. My biggest problem with him is that he lacks the experience that a Presidential candidate will typically have and so far he hasn't given us much to fill in the blanks. He rarely gives a direct answer to the questions he is given, nor will he clarify his vague policies. Don't get me wrong, I think war in general is bad and I would love to see changes in the U.S., but simply wishing things were different isn't going to make them so. To me his platform lacks substance. It would be one thing if he was just another easily dismissed, empty candidate (See Bill Richardson). Unfortunately that's not the case at all. People are going for him in a big way. (Thanks, Oprah.) I can't make sense of it. 

There have been candidates in the past that I didn't like but could at least understand the appeal they had to others. Not so in this case. I don't get it at all. I don't find him to be charismatic or a particularly good public speaker. I hear no discernible message and I'm at a loss. 

Throughout this whole process I kept thinking that sooner or later the fad surrounding Barack Obama would lose steam as most fads inevitably do.  Sadly it shows no signs of stopping and that leaves me a.) very confused and b.) seriously concerned for the future of our country. It seems to me that people take his well researched applause lines for thoughtfulness and leadership capability. Clearly he is resonating with a large portion of Democrats, but being likeable doesn't necessarily translate into running a country. 

SNL's return from the writer's strike has given me much needed hope that there are others out there who see through the empty mantras and soft-ball questions. That is at least changing the conversation on some level. Will it be enough to snatch the nomination away from him? Probably not, but hopefully it will make people think twice. The stakes for the American people are huge. We are talking about the highest office in the land. I just hope the country isn't heading towards a dangerous nosedive.

SNL and I will be watching.

Book Review: String Theory Book 3: Evolution

***** (1 out of 5 stars)

String Theory Book 3: Evolution

By Heather Jarman

Right off the bat, let me just say I hate it when they switch writers within a trilogy. The style changes, the characterization changes and the focus shifts. It's a bad idea. The most disappointing part of this book was that I actually enjoyed the first two in the series. By the time I got to this turd I was already two books into the story, so I had to suffer through the rest of this book. It couldn't be helped. Anyway, there were too many seperate storylines; too much focus on bland, original characters... just too much. The author tried to throw so many different things in this book that even the interesting plotlines were trimmed down to fit everything in. 

The main problem here is that if feels like a mismatch of ideas thrown onto the ceiling to see what would stick: Q... Kes... The Caretaker... sick Janeway ...missing Doctor ...Harry Kim/Alien romance ...Seven's stuggles to feel human ...original characters galore... and so on. It resulted in a crowded, uneven Voyager novel and an unsatisfying, "Well I'm glad everything's okay, guys" conclusion to an otherwise decent series. My Nugget: Skip this series. The first two are fun, but not worth the anticlimactic climax.

To hear about some Star Trek books I do like, tune in to this special episode of the All the Books Show podcast: