I'm Contributing...Sort of....

Well, I guess the big question will be, "Do we really have the energy to challenge ourselves this evening?" I only found this "activity" on Monday, so we don't have tickets and will have to get them at the door...that will require a good deal of motivation...

I really don't particularly enjoy poetry, unless it's Dr. Seuss or Shel Silverstein...I can appreciate poetry...but, I wouldn't go out of my way for it...but, Tall One and I are unashamed UK/Irish whores and we're traveling to Scotland at the end of October and I saw this ad for a lecture by Scottish poet laureate, Robin Robertson (even his name sounds poetic), sponsored by the Lancaster Literary Guild (la-dee-da), and well, I haven't come up with anything before now...

I don't think there is anything more romantic than a tragic Irish poet (although I wouldn't want to live with one)...and while Scotchman aren't purported to be tragic, they are stoic (second best) and they speak with a wonderful accent...so....

It's not exactly the Peace Corps

What could be more fun than the Roller Derby.
Chicks beating up on each other.
No alcohol, oh well, later
ron

At the Hole-in-the-Wall...

Barb's reaction:

It probably began with a childhood fascination with and love for Pinocchio. I can remember playing the soundtrack album from the Disney Movie over and over and singing and dancing to "I've Got No Strings"...I used to practice talking without moving my lips (I still do)...Then there were the puppets in Mister Rogers' "Neighborhood of Make Believe", and the Muppets...but, after seeing "Being John Malkovich", I resigned myself to a closet fascination with puppeteering and marionettes. I don't believe I EVER shared this with ANYONE (I've openly admitted my enchantment with ventriloquists! That seems an acceptable "first step")...so I was pretty darn excited to learn that Ron and I were attending The Hole in the Wall Puppet Theatre's ADULT show! But, I pretended to be HORRIFIED!
I really had no idea what to expect....Bawdy, suggestive humor? Marionettes whacking each other with fake penises? You just NEVER KNOW....But, sweetening the deal was an included beverage! Everything's better with wine involved!

I ended up being completely DELIGHTED by the entire evening. First, "The Hole in the Wall" is just that. A tiny, adorable row home on Water Street in Lancaster. I sweet little sign, an attractive welcoming door...just like the witch's gingerbread house in Hansel and Gretal?...

We walked into a little foyer hallway that opens on the left into a intimate theatre area with a lighted stage and about 25 seats. Immediately to our right was the "ticket window". We were greeted by a sweet little lady in a floor length caftan holding a black poodle...think Magda without the smokers' voice in "There's Something About Mary". She encouraged us to look at the marionettes from the current children's show, "The Wizard of Oz" that were displayed on the stage, before joining the other guests for a drink. We did. We then moved through the gift shop into the "museum" where we were greeted from the bar/counter by the Puppeteer/host Robert Brock, a Nathan Lane in "The Birdcage" clone! We got our wine - quickly - and looked around at the museum displays, then took seats at one of the cabaret tables that had been set up and decorated for the event with candles and streamers, rolled and ready to throw. We socialized for a couple of minutes, and then Robert sang a couple of Beatles songs accompanied by Larry Huslin on the upright piano. Those songs segued into an original script starring the life and times of Texas Guinan, a charming flapper marionette portrayal of a prohibitionist icon. We were given "clappers" and encouraged to throw our streamers!

I couldn't stop smiling...Robert was a joy, so exuberantly sharing his talent in a venue created and maintained to fulfill his dream. The place was SPOTLESS! This was not a sad, musty, moldy, creepy puppet cave, but a vital, loved, excited, exciting, entertaining venue! But, not only was I entertained, but also educated in a way that particularly appeals to me...fictionalized non-fiction with music! I knew the name Texas Guinan, vaguely...I wouldn't have been able to place her in the 20's...or even correctly guess her sex...before Robert's presentation. I found myself responding to her marionette with the same attention and facial expressions I would have used with a "real" person!

Marionettes at rest are pretty friken creepy! They look a lot like wasted old people in stage makeup! But, put a spotlight on them in the hands of a gifted puppetmaster.....WOW!

I'd like to go back.....

This will be creepy

It's been a few months, busy times, but now is the time to once again venture out and
explore the side of Lancaster that most do not see.....

Marionettes

The Hole In The Wall Theater usually does childrens shows, but also does adult shows
on Friday nights. "Looks a little gay" would be an understatement, should be fun.

They serve drinks, hopefully the adult kind.

warmonger

I always liked war. Probably because I have never been anywhere near one. When I was 10, I would sneak downstairs to watch "Combat" or "The Rat Patrol" The good guys never got killed except for an occasional new guy who would join the squad, you could see it coming. So, we are going to a lecture at E-Town College put on by the Ware Colloquium on Peacemaking and Global Citizenship. I'll try not to snicker and mock their naivete. It's not that I want war, it's the last thing I want to experience. It's just that war has been around in a big way ever since the 1st caveman figured he could get your stuff if his stick was bigger than yours. Doesn't seem that things are going to change anytime soon. My thought is that we should have the biggest stick and be willing to use it. Then peace will come, temporarily. We are going to hear a lecture by Shirin Ebadi, a Iranian human rights activist who won the Nobel Peace Prize. Sort of lost some of it's sheen since Al Gore and Obama "won" it. Kill them all and let God sort them out.

report from cowboyland

There was only one cowboy hat. The ages ranged from teenagers to 80. About 80% women.
The music wasn't even all country, probally more other styles than country.
It wasn't all that bad. It cost $5. Their idea of food was chips and candy, so don't go there
for supper. I found out that I have 2 left feet and no chance of ever getting better.
The people were nice and easy to talk to. Besides the guy in the cowboy hat and a young guy
that looked like an elf, we had nobody to make fun of!
Overall it was fun and I would probally do it again.
ron

This Should Be......

....fun?....interesting?...recorded and posted to YouTube!

I'm - strangely - not opposed to going line dancing. I think they let you drink. Ron and I took swing dancing lessons a number of years (decades) ago and it was really fun. We even bought a CD by "The Cherry Poppin' Daddies" (if you overlook the band's name) that we thought we'd practice with...but, we didn't and promptly forgot every thing we ever learned. I hear tell they give some instruction beforehand.

So, while I won't be wearing a flannel shirt...we'll go and check this out and report back. Yee, ah, Ha?