2017
So, my weekend in a nutshell is in the title line.
LHS' Legally Blonde was in fact nominated for ten Bobby G Awards.
We went home with two.
There is little I can say that won't sound like sour grapes. The whole thing was well produced, the kids had fabulous time and high school theatre represented.
HOWEVER, as a high school awards event, I have to say that IF you hired a pro to do your design or choreography, you should not allow that pro---who is a trained adult---to accept the award.
First, the pro should not have been nominated unless everyone else in the category was also an adult. Nominating a kid's light design alongside a professional's is just ludicrous. There's that.
BUT, since that is being allowed to happen, I would say secondly that said adult should not schlep up onto the stage and accept the award. I am hopeful that the adult designer had a student designer, student assistant, Student Something whom they taught as they went, and said student oversaw the set build or light hang and focus. And that is who should be on stage accepting an award with their name on it. The student.
That is all I have to say about that.
This weekend in Denver there was a chalk festival, Comic Con and the People's Fair. I taught on Saturday after dosing Genoa who was battling a nasty influenza, and we went to a funeral in Colorado Springs on Sunday. I attended none of the listed events in Denver.
My dad and my Uncle Bob came to the funeral together. It occurred to me, as I watched them walk into the massive church, that they have quite a bromance going on in their elder years.
Dad and Bob have always been friends. Back when Bob and Virginia had the restaurant my dad was there pretty regularly, and he and Bob seem to attend family functions together.
First, I should remind you (if you're new) who Uncle Bob is.
Bob Jaramillo, married to my dad's sister Virginia, is Mexican. He is The Mexican I grew up with. His wedding is one of family lore that (allegedly) an alzheimer's addled Aunt stood up in the middle of and said loudly "Who let in all these Mexicans?" He used to threaten to cut off my ears and make tacos out of them and grab knives out of the silverware drawer and say "Mexican Credit Cards". He regularly referred to other Mexicans as "Beaners" and I got myself into much trouble on more than one occasion because I had been raised around him and I thought it was perfectly okay to call Mexicans "Beaners" and white people "Honkey".
That's Uncle Bob.
Unlike most people who soften with age, the opposite has happened with Bob, and if given the opportunity he will gleefully add the role of "Dirty Old Man" to his repertoire, and once scared the crap out of a colleague of mine when he realized she was Mexican, and a teacher. This was during intermission of one of the shows, and he asked me "Who's that honey?" I explained that she's a teacher with a master's degree, not a "honey", but before I finished he was hopping down the hallway trying to track her down. I heard later that he did frighten her at first, but she perservered and returned for the remainder of the show unscathed. Bob, on the other hand, wouldn't stop grinning and could not have been more proud of himself for leching on my friend.
So, we are at the quiet reception following the funeral on Sunday. Bob and my dad are sitting at the table with us. Bob joined us only after he took a tour of the church's cafeteria and upstairs kitchen. You can take the owner out of the restaurant, but you'll never take the restaurant out of the owner. He sat down and declared that it was one great kitchen and we could throw a heck of a party with it.
The talk turned to other family. This is where a description of my dad is needed. He always thinks that everyone knows what he is thinking, so when he starts a sentence mid-thought you are expected to know what the hell he's talking about. He will also realize that it's possible more than one person could know what the topic is, but from a different perspective or time period, so he will not actually finish a sentance. It goes like this "Krys did you get the email about Raymond...Karie you know Joyce... Tracy, Ray's wife..he's going to Florida, Ray's wife, Bob did Virginia tell you about Ray?"
To which Bob responds incredulously "Ray's dead?"
My dad: "No, his wife died."
Me: " I didn't get the email." I check my new iPhone for the email. OH, there it is, I ignored it becuase my father likes to forward every forward forward forward joke, photo, joke, joke, Did You Know Captain Kangaroo Earned A Purple Heart, joke, joke, photo, Did You Know Mr. Rogers Was A Marine? joke joke joke...so I tend to delete his emails. Even this one titled "Raymond...Important" got skipped becuase it has seven forward tags on it and I don't know anyone named Raymond.
But I digress.
Bob: "Ray's wife died?"
Dad: "Ya, didn't you get the email?"
Bob shrugs, the shrug that says "old fart doesn't do technology."
Dad: "Didn't Virginia tell you? Doesn't your wife talk to you?"
Bob: "Are you kidding? I could walk in the door next Sunday and she'd look at me and go 'How was the funeral?'"
Then he got up to find a restroom, while he was passig my dad he pulled his phone out of his pocket and said "I have this. Don't leave without me."
I looked at my dad and asked if he'd ever left Bob behind, and he just laughed and said "no".
I have no idea what that exchange was all about. Inside joke I'm guessing, but illogically I laughed at the moment, even though I did not understand it.
And the final Bob Quote of the day came when my dad asked if Bob or anyone had gone to a graduation ceremony. Bob just looked confused when my dad said the last name Martinez. Then dad said "he graduated from the police academy."
Bob rolled his eyes and said "That's great, that's all we need, another Beaner with a gun.
Ladies and Gentlemen, Bob Jaramillo!
Thank You!
No comments:
Post a Comment