Sooo Good!

Many things are good, notably 20oz of Caramel Apple Cider from Starbucks. To those of you who haven't had one, imagine the perfect apple pie, turn it into liquid form and then take $3 to Starbucks. Soo good on a cold day.

Anyway, shockingly, I've heard back from 4/6 (yes, 2/3) of the places's I've sent resumes to: Whiting-Turner shot me down ('Impressive resume' and 'unique work experience') but Wollaston Alloys asked me to come in for an interview (more on that below), Dynamet called and asked me to come in and Bose e-mailed saying that I should talk to them on the phone. All that're left are Raytheon and Maxtor (I'm not holding my breath though).

Wollaston Alloys was soooo cool! I went over to their facilty in Braintree (~15 min away) and filled out an application then met with the plant supervisor (Jack something) about materials and steel foundries and engineering. Then we went for a tour. Wow. I had never been in a foundry before, or even any big modern factory (I have been to a Wonder Bread factory years ago, but Wonder Bread != high-tech alloy casting) and it was completely amazing. They go all the way from alloying everything themselves to making up the sand-molds from the forms to the pouring and then the finishing of the parts all there in the facilty. They can produce some amazingly complex things by using sand-forms (this isn't plain beach sand, it's been coated with a resin that holds it all together in a cinderblock-like consistancy after it's cured). THere were entire outer pump casings, complete with finished plumbing all cast in one piece. Very cool. If I work there (and they aren't sure yet they'll have something for me) I would likely be working with the plant engineer on modeling the filling and solidification of various castings. This means I would be doing computer modeling and gathering data from the foundry floor. Jack pointed out that working in a specialty foundry like WA is one field where a computer and a sledgehammer can help you get your job done equally well.

Another good thing is Festival Prelims!
Here's the moment you've all (undoubtedly) been waiting for: Sound Master B's Festival Review!

1. Sganarelle - presented by St Johns HS of Shrewsbury
Though it got off to a shaky start, due tot he relatively weak acting of Celie and Lisette, it was saved by the fantastic work of the title character. He was very audible, made his intentions clear though his verbal and phyiscal expressions and was entirely hilarious throughout.
The play was a fairly typical Moliere; the conflict is centered around a young lady being engaged or about to be engaged to someone by her father but she is in love with some handsome but less affluent gentleman and then there are misunderstandings caused by characters entering or leaving a scene a moment too early or too late.
The cast did make the text very understandable. SHS did Two Precious Maindens Ridiculed my freshman year and I remember being fairly lost throughout, though, admittingly I was having trouble paying attention because all the people around me couldn't give a crap about 'theatre.' Overall, I enjoyed it, but I wasn't surprised when it didn't advance.

2. The Flow - Braintree High School
First of all, let me point out that this play carried the following warning label in the program: "The production contains some language, mild sexual situations, vague drug references and violence that may be disturbing or objectionable to younger children." Uh, vague drug referencs? I think they implied the thermos was filled with alcohol, 'punch' or something else. The 'mild sexual situations' were the implications that "The Flow" was a bunch of HSers having sex in a cabin in the woods and like 1 on-stage kiss. The play might have been objectionable if you find The Musicman objectionable due to sex and violence.
Regardless of that, it was an....interesting play. I felt the acting was a bit wooden in some places, but it was more the text that was weird. The two narrators, Emma and Dilemma, were excellent, however. I feel like a US Marine would be more capable of surviving in the wilderness, or at least would exhibit better judgement while rushing off to the wilds of Vermont (New Hampshire?) in search of her brother. The last couple of scenes were especially confusing, though I think the one where the sister was no longer in uniform but there was a body double in uniform on the table was intentionally confusing. An interesting, but not great show, in my opinion.

3. Tontodonato - Algonquin Regional High School
Wow, a hilarious script put on in a polished and very well done cast and crew! I compared it favorably to live-action disney movies of 'yore' such as Heavy Weights and Nickolodeon shows such as Hey Dude! and Salute Your Shorts. It was clearly written by people who grew up in the '90s and is most enjoyed by someone who also did, like me. However, the entire cast, especially the Rodney, the man who, his entire life, wanted to be the water-safety instructor at a summer camp, was so strong that anyone should be able to appreciate it.
As far as I was concerned, it was a risky show for them to do. Yes, as far as I'm concerned, it was one of the more enjoyable 40ish minutes of the past few months, but it was also not a 'theatrical' or 'dramatic' piece like a Moliere or Shakespeare or something similar. I was pleasantly surprised when they advanced; the judges must have a particuarly good sense of humor, best of luck to the cast and crew at semifinals.

4. The Infernal Machine - Newton Country Day School
Of the two productions with all-female casts at prelims, this one worked best. This play was excperts of Oedipus in modern enligsh and in a modernized visual setting, though it was still thematically set in the Thebes of ancient Greece. The whole cast was great. The Chorus was particularly impressive, being precisely in time with each other and magnificently adding to the sense that you were watching a 'modernization' of a classic greek play. I also thought Jocasta had an excellent portrayl of a queen. She was bossy and whiny and regal all at the same time.
If I were a betting man I likely would've bet on NCDS moving on. Even though they didn't, the cast and crew put on an excellent and enjoyable performance; congratulations on a show well done.

5. Murder Mysteries - Wellesley High School
Not what I was expecting after hearing the title. I hadn't read the program page before the show, and perhaps that was for the best. I was figuring it'd be some Noir-ish Private Eye show. That it was not, for the better, most likely. The play was the story of a British traveler, temporarly stranded in LA visiting his ex-girlfriend then meeting a stranger in the park. The stranger turns out to be Raguel, the Angel who dispensed Justice. He tells the narrator about the investigation in the Silver City where one of the Angels had been found dead and Raguel must determine the cause of the death. The action jumped back and forth between scenes of Angels in the Silver City and a park bench with Raguel (apparently totally human) and the Narrator. I personally was surprised by the ending, in a good way. Perhaps it was more obvious to other people, but I was enthralled the entire time. It's was another finely polished show put on by an excellent cast. Best of luck to them at Semis.

6. Wiley and the Hairyman - Sharon High School
Amazing, simply amazing. You guys know I think you had the best show at prelims. Everything was awesome: five-on was a show in itself, and an ambitious jump up from last year's minimalist set lacking in all set changes. There was no rational doubt in my head that you guys would move on. It was still nerve-racking when they announced you guys last, but, best for last, shall we say! Wiley cast and crew: Break and leg and knock 'em dead in Duxbury for Semis! You guys rock!

7. Flawless - Willow Hill School
Hate to be hard on a cast, but, it was far from flawless. Much of the acting was nearly robotic and any comedic timing was purely accidental on the part of the actors.
I feel part of the problem was the poor text they were working from; it wasn't clear what actually happened at the end, not that I particularly cared. Morrie was far too awkward and socially inept to have gotten into or attended Harvard Business School. MIT, perhaps, but certainly not Harvard.

8. WASP - The Winsor School
OK, now I might be harder on this play than any other that was at Prelims because, as you may or may not know, SnS just finished putting on WASP (along with Black Idiot Box, of course) and so I knew how it should be done. I also knew all the sound cues and was calling them a moment beforehand to my friend Kevin, sitting next to me. In fairness to Winsor, SnS did not have to contend with a 40-minute limit and so understanably the actors felt a bit rushed. However, I think much of the cleverness of the text was lost in that rush. The cast anticipated each other's lines far too much. The only case where this made sense and even was an 'improvement' over SnS was when the omniscient voice anticipated the mother's lines. If that anticipation had contrasted with the rest of the show it would have been a nice touch; however, it didn't .
I must also point out a questionable casting choice. When a play's title is an acronym, and that acronym specifically refers to a type of person, perhaps you should try and cast that type, especially when the whole play is based off all the characters being that kind of person? Normally I am not opposed to race-blind casting. Hell, almost the entire cast of Crane Wife (a Japanese play) was white, but to cast a black woman as the father in a play about WASPs, I just don't know. The whole 'lawn jockey' conversation just seemed awkward to me.
Now, in the defense of the aforementioned actress, she is a good one. However, I think she didn't 'get' what a WASP is. She was far too expressive and affectionate to the entire family. In another play I likely would be praising her acting, but unfortunately not in this one. The 'too expressive and affectionate' applies to the entire cast, I think. The son was a very '50s young boy, very "golly gee!" and whatnot, and perhaps fit the intention of the part the most out of the entire cast. There were lines cut (no important ones, but it was still disappointing) as well as a sound cue (a travesty, I know!) but that's a result of the 40-minute limit. Unfortunately, I think the show suffered tremendously on account of the limit. It is a show that is perhaps 10 minutes too long to be a festival show. Too long in its original form, and too short to really be cut at all to fit.
A lot of other people seemed to have a better opinion of this performance that I, but perhaps it's just my bias towards everything getting done the way I feel it should; and as a whole, I think this production of WASP was wrong. I do have to commend the cast for at least being enthusiastic about the show; a little too much if anything.

In other news, I'll be visiting Dina at Brandeis on Friday afternoon (yay) and the SHS administration is absolutely worthless.