FIRE IN A CROWDED THEATER! Audience and cast flees smoke-engulfed building during fifth performance of OLIVER TWIST

LEGAL NOTICE - I reserve the right to enforce copyright for the photographs and text in this article per the following terms: Star News Corporation, WGSR Star 39, News Channel 18, Charles Roark, and any and all agents and clients thereof, are explicitly prohibited from using any of the photographs and text in this article for broadcast purposes without express written permission from me. Which is not going to happen anyway. Any violation will be prosecuted to the fullest extent of the law. Any LEGITIMATE news reporting operations however may contact me at theknightshift@gmail.com, as I will be more than happy to provide such agencies with high quality versions of the photographs free of charge as a courtesy.

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UPDATE 11:50 p.m. EST: Well, this was certainly a night to remember...

Tonight's performance of the Theatre Guild of Rockingham County's production of Oliver Twist came to an abrupt end when shortly before 9 p.m. and in the midst of Act 2, the audience, cast and crew had to be evacuated from the Advanced Technologies Building following a large amount of smoke which engulfed the ground level of the building. As of this writing the cause of the smoke had not been determined.

And since I'm playing Mr. Sowerberry in this production, I wound up right in the thick of the action.

Shortly before 9 p.m., Tamara Boles - mother of cast member Aaron Boles - rushed into the men's dressing area to tell us that "There's a fire in the building... I'M SERIOUS!" I was getting ready to take position for my last scene in the show so I was in full costume. We got all the kids out of the room and I grabbed my bag since it was right at the door. Kathy Morrison (who plays Old Sally and Mrs. Bedwin) and I held the outside doors open for the audience members as they were leaving, then we went back in to check to make sure that all the children had made it out and that there was nobody in the restrooms.

When we were outside, I broke out the camera, went back in and started taking some pictures. Here are some pics from the atrium in the Advanced Technologies Building, where the smoke was concentrated most...

Outside, stage manager Jessica Reed directed the audience members to take shelter in the nearby gymnasium. Meanwhile, we began to hear sirens from the Wentworth Fire Department...

A few moments later the first of the fire trucks arrived on the scene...

We counted six vehicles from the Wentworth Fire Department that came within the first several minutes. By this time most of the audience, cast and crew were in and around the gymnasium.

And here are the heroes of the hour: Michaela Mays and Faith Jones, the two girls who were the first to spot the smoke and sound the alarm. Ladies, my hat's off to you! :-)

Here is Jon Young, the director of Oliver Twist. It can most certainly be said that his was, literally, the hottest show in town on Saturday night...

And here's a pic of Thresa Brown (who has been giving absolutely splendid performances in her role as Mrs. Sowerberry) and Yours Truly as we oggled the mayhem...

A few minutes later, I was back inside the Advance Technologies Building. By this time it was around 9:20 p.m. Firefighters and a number of the adult cast and crew and other Theatre Guild reps were discussing the situation and considering what to do with the rest of the evening. Here is Mark Pegram, Clerk of Superior Court for Rockingham County (in his policeman costume) and a member of the Wentworth Fire Department...

Here is a ladder used by the Wentworth Fire Department as firefighters checked the space above the ceiling in the atrium, which seemed to have been where much of the smoke was coming from...

The stage, showing the London street toward the end of Oliver Twist, just as it was when the building had to be evacuated...

Theatre Guild board members Jeff Mericle, Rose Cutuli Wray, and Tony Hummel (in his Mr. Brownlow costume) confer with each other about how to handle the rest of the performance. It was ultimately decided that in the event that the next day's performance would go on, that tickets from tonight would be honored and that audience members who had come from out of state would be given free tickets to a future performance...

Cast members Tim Wray (Fagin) and Mike Morrison (Bill Sikes) held position at the exit...

Here's another shot of the fire trucks on the scene...

Back in the gymnasium, the crowd was calm... but it couldn't be helped that there was considerable excitement in the air. Especially among the kids in the cast: no doubt they were going to have quite a tale to tell their friends the next day! Here are Tish Owens (Nancy) and Tyler Alverson (Noah Claypole)...

Nell Rose, one of the members of the Rockingham County Board of Education. She and her husband had already enjoyed one performance of Oliver Twist last week, and came back for another show. 'Cept this time, the cast members were just as surprised as the audience about the ending (credit goes to Pete Barr for coming up with that great line :-)...

The star of the show: Nathan Tolodziecki as Oliver...

Logan Brown (who plays one of the orphans) and Tamara Boles...

And here is Jake Chandler, who thrilled audiences as Dr. Roy in last season's Ghostchasers!, and who has been playing another orphan in Oliver Twist...

By this time it was getting close to 10 p.m. Most of the audience had left, but the cast and crew was still around. We were waiting to hear when we could go back inside 'cuz most of the cast still had things like clothes and car keys in the dressing rooms. What exactly had caused all that smoke still had not been determined, but firefighters allowed the cast and crew to quickly return to the building and retrieve their personal belongings...

Jasper Thomas III (in his fine attire as the Artful Dodger) scopes out the scene...

Cast members Tish Owens and Donna Owens head to the parking lot as the cast and crew retreated from the building...

Another shot of the emergency vehicles, just before I left a little after 10...

And here's the last shot, taken from the driveway entrance and looking toward the Advance Technologies Building...

So far at this hour, we still haven't heard what might have caused all that smoke (believe you me, the pics can't possibly convey how much of the stuff there was). We didn't see any actual flames but you know, "Where there's smoke..." Without knowing about what the source of the smoke might have been, there has been no word so far as to whether tomorrow's final performance of Oliver Twist will be taking place. As soon as I hear anything, I will post it as an update.

It was a wild night, to be sure. But I think for the most part, especially for the kids in the cast, it's just gonna make their time and effort in this production that much more memorable :-)

Bigtime kudos to the Wentworth Fire Department, the maintenance and security staff at Rockingham Community College, the leadership of the Theatre Guild of Rockingham County, and anyone else that I have not already mentioned who were involved in evacuating the building and making sure that everyone was safe, for the very prompt and professional action that they took tonight.

EDIT 1:06 a.m. EST 12/14/2008: I have just received word that the Wentworth Fire Department found the cause of the smoke (what that was exactly still hasn't been reported). They have given the signal that we can proceed with the final performance of Oliver Twist on Sunday afternoon (now later today) at 2:30. So the show will go on! :-)

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5 days left to enter GEARS OF WAR 2: THE SOUNDTRACK signed CD contest

Just a friendly reminder that there are now five days remaining to enter the contest to win one of three copies of Gears of War 2: The Soundtrack, signed by composer Steve Jablonsky (who has also composed the scores for Transformers, The Texas Chainsaw Massacre remake and ABC's Desperate Housewives in addition to a ton of other good stuff).

By the way, these copies will be personally signed by Steve Jablonsky to the winners! So if you're name is "Barney Spepple" and you win one of 'em, your copy will be signed something like "To Barney..." etc.

How do you enter again? Well, here are the rules once more...

1. E-mail your entry to theknightshift@gmail.com with GEARS OF WAR 2 SOUNDTRACK CONTEST in the subject line. GEARS OF WAR 2 SOUNDTRACK CONTEST has to be in the subject line.

2. Include the following information in your entry:

- First and last name

- Mailing address

- Phone number

- The name of the Gears of War character you are impersonating

3. And then, attach a photo of yourself doing your best impersonation of a Gears of War character. It can be anyone from established Gears of War canon (the games, the comic book, the novel Gears of War: Aspho Fields but you'll have to be especially imaginative, anything that's been authorized by Epic Games as being legit part of the Gears of War mythology). Keep in mind that this is not a costume contest! If you're the kind of person who likes to parade around Comic-Con and Dragon-Con wearing a full set of COG Gear armor, you're more than welcome to pose wearing that. But this is all about character. This is a contest focusing on raw persona. In short: do you "get" what Gears of War is all about? Can you make that come across with nothing more than your own countenance? If so, pick a Gears of War character and show us what you got! Doesn't matter if you're male or female: plop on a do-rag and show us your best Marcus Fenix mug. Or give us Dom or Anya or Baird or Cole or Dizzy or Tai (ooh-boy I'm eager to see if anyone attempts Tai) or heck, even a Locust grub or the Locust Queen herself! Extra points will be given toward creativity and originality, but as I said this is about channeling character more than it is about costume ingenuity. Also, please try to keep your image size to 1 megabyte or less.

4. No age limit but this contest will enforce a "one entry per person" limit. So like shootin' a gun in a Gears of War game, make it count!

5. You'll have between now and until 12:01 a.m. Pacific Standard Time on December 18th, 2008 to e-mail in your entry, so that gives you a bit more than two weeks to come up with something.

6. Judging for the contest will be conducted by a three-member panel that has already been pre-selected. Their decisions are final.

7. By entering you are giving consent to have your photo published on The Knight Shift blog (the one you're looking at right now). So make sure your photos are "family-friendly", folks :-)

8. In addition to the three final winners, this blog reserves the right to also publish "honorable mentions" if there are any.

9. Insofar as real life will cooperate, the winners will be announced sometime on December 19th 2008 and the signed CDs will be rushed to each of the winners as soon as possible.

Remember: this is not a costume contest! Don't let your lack of real Coalition of Ordered Governments armor deter you from entering! If you have a face (let's hope you do :-) and you think you can channel and project the spirit of Marcus, Dom, Anya, or any other Gears of War character with it, then get your entry sent in today!

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Butt-Numb-A-Thon 10 starts today

For those who don't know what that is, it's an annual 24-hour long film festival hosted by Harry Knowles of Ain't It Cool News, at the Alamo Drafthouse in Austin, Texas. Some consider it to be the most sought-after cinematic event in the country. I got to attend Butt-Numb-A-Thon 9 last year and twelve months later there's not a day that goes by that I don't think about the whole crazy experience.

Well, for those of us who won't be able to go to this year's Butt-Numb-A-Thon, here's something to assuage our pain. It's the trailer for Stunt Rock, which is shown every year at Butt-Numb-A-Thon to get the party started...

Is that not the most outrageously cool trailer ever made? :-)

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So last night was Performance #4 of OLIVER TWIST

I think having all this past week off from rehearsals might have been a good thing, 'cuz everything seemed to have really clicked well during last night's show. We all got into it totally refreshed and ready to knock it out of the ballpark. Also, there was a substantially good audience, despite what apparently was pro wrestling at the National Guard Armory next door which had also drawn a large crowd.

Theatre Guild of Rockingham County's production of Oliver Twist plays again tonight at 7:30 and then the final show tomorrow afternoon at 2:30, in the Advanced Technologies Building Auditorium at Rockingham Community College. Click here for more information.

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Study: Older people are VERY active video game players! But...

...they tend to hide that fact from their contemporaries, according to the story at Financial Post.

Personally, I don't see anything wrong, at all, with anyone enjoying a good video game. The story cites Nicholas Muehlen, a fifty-year old dude - and a chef, by the way - who likes to indulge in the Gears of War, Halo and Call of Duty series of games. He and his wife get into the play as much as their grown children.

This can't possibly be a bad thing. Or an activity to be embarrassed about.

Video games are a form of entertainment, just like television and movies. But they have the advantage of being an interactive experience that involves not just hand-eye coordination but more often than not some serious thinking, too. And consider immersive-style games like Gears of War 2 and BioShock: why just watch the story when you can be in the story?

Heck, the way the economy is right now, video games are a downright sound investment for your entertainment budget. Certainly they deliver more per dollar than DVDs or movie tickets.

So, Nicholas Muehlen and every other "seasoned" video game player out there: rock on! You are at the forefront of a trend that only looks to continue. Hey, if my own father can do pretty well at Gears of War 2, then this is something that anybody should stand up and feel proud about enjoying! :-)

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Federal Reserve won't say who's getting TWO TRILLION DOLLARS of taxpayer money

Either way you cut this, it screams out "biggest heist of all time".

The Federal Reserve is refusing to disclose the recipients of $2 TRILLION of emergency loans financed by American taxpayers.

On a related note, President Bush is considering tapping into the same funds since the "bailout" failed in the Senate last night.

Time to revisit "Hell Époque" post that I made all the way back in January. That was the term that future historians, I'm sure of it, would give our current era.

The era of United States history that stretched from the early 1990s until the end of the first decade of the 21st century, that has come to be regarded as the final years of America's long-time domination of the world's culture and economy.

Although noted for considerable achievements in computers and telecommunications that led to apparent empowerment of the individual, the Hell Époque was also a time of cultural and political stagnation in America that coincided with tremendous loss of individual liberty as the American government began to seize unprecedented power. Most authorities agree that although this had already been a long-time trend in America, the election of Bill Clinton as U.S. President in 1992 saw the start of the final phase of escalation toward an all-powerful American state. This would climax during the presidency of George W. Bush, whose disastrous domestic and foreign policies catapulted the country toward utter ruin.

Most historians agree that it became widely accepted among the American people during the Hell Époque that their government had finally become too corrupt and that the life they had come to believe in had drawn to a close, and that the "rule of law" under the Constitution no longer existed. This was especially apparent following the collapse of the traditional "two party system" and the failure of the American economy in...

Seems more and more like that's all happening these days.

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Two essays for those of us who are paying attention

The first one is by Matt Towery at Townhall.com, who ruminates on "Why More and More Politicians are Rotten to the Core". Towery echoes a lot of things that have been on my mind during the past year, which have led me to tell many people more times than I care to remember that "There is no faith to be had in politics".

And on the somewhat more ornery side of things, Fred Reed - the Internet's greatest curmudgeon - waxes eloquent in his piece "What Have the Bastards Done to My Country?".

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Ron Paul tells it like it is about auto bailout (twice!)

You would think that common sense might be prevailing enough. I mean, c'mon... would you buy a car from a company owned by the same federal government that has so brilliantly managed Social Security and Amtrak?

So yesterday before the House of Representatives came the Honorable (so rarely do I get to use that term and the person I'm speaking of actually merit it) Ron Paul, and he laid down the smack bigtime on how positively wrong the notion of this "bailout" is. Paul has the brass ones to call this what it really is: socialism, and nationalizing an entire domestic industry. Dr. Paul references not just the Constitution, but a lot of good history.

Here it is: a lone voice of sanity in Washington D.C.

Listening to this, I have no doubt: if the Republican Party leadership (a bunch that I have absolutely no respect for at all) had given this man the support that they gave McCain and the other phonies this past election season, Barack Obama would not tonight be a "President-Elect".

(By the way, I made the embedded video a bit bigger, courtesy of YouTube's new options. How's it look? :-)

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For good old games, GOG.com delivers

About a month ago I heard about GOG.com. The site - its URL is an acronym for "Good Old Games" - is dedicated to promoting classic computer games from years gone by. So with a lot of folks raving about how good Fallout 3 is since it came out last month and because I never played the original, I purchased Fallout (shown at left) from GOG.com for $5.99 earlier this week. For that amount came not only the game as a 500 megabyte download, but also the manual and a lot of other Fallout-related goodies (like the soundtrack).

And after the last few days of traipsing around the blasted wasteland of Fallout, I now forsee giving GOG.com plenty more of my coin in the future. In addition to Fallout and Fallout 2 (also for six bucks) the site's catalogue features Descent and its sequel, MDK, Earthworm Jim 3D, Unreal Gold, and many others. All of the games sold through GOG.com are free of digital rights management (for which a lot of people will be happy) and they are guaranteed to work on Windows XP and Vista (I've been playing Fallout on a Vista machine and trust me: it plays perfectly!). The site is still in beta, but if GOG.com is as consistent with its word as it has been so far, I will certainly recommend checking them out on a regular basis.

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Bible probably not true, Bush says

So, all of you who have held up George W. Bush as a paragon of Christian virtue: how do you 'splain this?

George W. Bush, outgoing President of the United States, now says that the Bible is "probably not" literally true.

Bush also says that evolution is not incompatible with the Bible.

Adding to his statement that he is "not a literalist", Bush also hedged immensely when he said that the most important lesson in the Bible is that "God sent a son". Ummmm... Georgie baby, if you studied the Bible at all, you would know that God sent His only Son.

I saw firsthand eight years ago that the Cult of Bush was anything but Christ-like. Bush and his faithful do not worship God: they worship raw, naked power. Bush just happened to say the right words and the "evangelical conservatives" - who are by far the dumbest bunch of fools that I have ever seen in my life and yeah I called 'em "fools" - fell right in line and sung his praises.

And now, just a few weeks before leaving the White House, he finally shows them, in no uncertain terms, that he is not like them at all.

I would say that I hope the "evangelicals" would learn their lesson from this, that they would finally engage the minds that God gave 'em... but I'm expecting them to just find another smooth-talking politician to latch onto.

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NOT AGAIN! Scantily-clad girls bathe in KFC restaurant sink

What the hell is it with employees bathing in restaurant sinks lately? A few months ago it was "Mr. Unstable" who boneheadedly decided to post a video of himself cleansing in the sink at Burger King in Xenia, Ohio: a stunt that got not only himself but a bunch of others fired.

Now it's the KFC in Anderson, California, where three female employees also took a bath in the sink normally used to clean utensils.

Two of the girls have been fired, and the other has already left on her own. They took several photos of themselves wearing swimsuits while carousing in the steaming-hot water (click here for more 'cuz many of y'all will no doubt be interested anyway) and then posted them on Myspace in a gallery called "KFC Moments".

I don't know which is the more dumb: that they did this to begin with, or that they opted to publicize it.

Hey kids, listen: I've been known to do some outrageous stunts too (heck I still do, even). But don't do it if it could possibly lead to drastic consequences like losing your employment. If you wanna take some pics and stash them away for years later, when you're safe and you want to show off how much of an idiot you were back in the day, fine... but to show off how much of an idiot you are today is only asking for trouble.

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Carrie Fisher now sez: STAR WARS wasn't worth it

Carrie Fisher (depicted at right in the "Slave Leia Metal Bikini" from Return of the Jedi) was on The Today Show this morning shilling her new book Wishful Drinking. And she let loose what will no doubt be a shocking revelation to millions of fanboys: that she now regrets having anything to do with the Star Wars movies. That if she had known it would become so popular, Fisher would have "never" signed up to be Princess Leia at all. Fisher now blames the instant celebrity that Star Wars Episode IV: A New Hope and the ensuing sequels brought her for her bipolar disorder, her drug addiction (Cary Grant was brought in by her parents to counsel her to "don't eat acid"), and the failure of her relationships such as her onetime marriage to Paul Simon.

I'm inclined to suggest that adolescent celebrities read what Carrie Fisher is saying here, and that they would do well to heed the wisdom she's offering.

It's safe to say that childhood stars do not go through the most well-adjusted periods compared to "common" kids. And it makes sense that there's a hideous cost to the spotlight at that stage in life. Kids at that age are just then figuring out their own sense of identity. They're going through confusion enough as it is, without being called upon to be a public icon all the time. No wonder so many of them turn to substance abuse: they practically need that to feel numb to themselves.

Thanks to my good friend Eric Wilson for passing the story along :-)

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Bush Doctrine = Epic Fail

Is there anything more pathetic than a person scrambling against time in a vain effort to ensure that history will be kind to him or her?

Perhaps only if that person happens to be a current President of the United States.

George W. Bush was at West Point yesterday, trying to spin his eight years in office as a blazing success. The most foolish man to ever occupy the Oval Office actually defended his policy of pre-emptive war (something that had never been done before in American history) and declared to the assembled cadets that "With all the actions we've taken these past eight years, we've laid a solid foundation on which future presidents and future military leaders can build."

The Decider also boasted that the present condition of the United States military is ""stronger, more agile and better prepared" than how he found it when he first took office. I am somewhat reminded of how Adolf Hitler furiously insisted that entire divisions of the German army were still awaiting his orders in the waning days of World War II. If Bush seriously believes that the American armed forces are better today than they were in 2000, then either somebody should have been fired a long time ago for giving him faulty information, or there is a severe disconnect in his gray matter from reality. I suspect the latter.

So what is the result of the Bush Doctrine? The Middle East is today more destabilized than it has been since perhaps before World War I... and there is no "order from chaos" that is apparently arising. It is the legitimate opinion of many that Al Quaeda is getting stronger because Bush let its members have a safe haven in Pakistan, which as the past few weeks have witnessed has become a far greater base for terrorism than most were ready to acknowledge. Iraq is still a much worse mess than it would have been had we just left it alone, and it will be yet decades before the final cost of that fiasco is known.

I could go into his horrible domestic policies, but I've said enough of those lately already. But I will dare say that more than any other elected official, it will have been George W. Bush who most destroyed the America that we had come to know.

(And now I'm wondering how long before the loons from "that church" in Winston-Salem arrive to proclaim Bush as the "greatest President ever" like they have done recently...)

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DOOM: Fifteen years of Hell on Earth

Fifteen years ago this morning, on December 10th, 1993, id Software uploaded a zipped-up file to a bulletin board system and an FTP archive on the Internet. The file contained the setup, executable and WAD for the shareware version of the first official release of a new computer game called Doom.

And video games haven't been the same since.

Yeah, Wolfenstein 3D (also an id Software product) is generally considered to have been the original first-person shooter. But Doom was the one that really made everybody stand up and take notice. Being thrown into the part of a Space Marine on a Martian moonbase who must fend off hordes of demons from Hell itself was wildly addictive fun. Some estimate that the original free shareware episode of Doom, "Knee Deep in the Dead", is the most installed piece of entertainment software in history. That the game was so easily modifiable (I still laugh whenever I think of the "Barney the Dinosaur" mod) is no doubt the biggest reason why Doom, a decade and a half later, is still being vigorously played. Doom became its own industry, just as at the same time it changed the video game industry forever.

I'll never forget the first time I played it. My good friend Johnny Yow came over one evening so we could carpool to an evening history class. He told me to "give this a try" and handed me a box containing the disks for the Doom shareware game. When I got back that evening I installed it, started playing... and it was like 2 in the morning before I quit for the night. The next evening I showed Dad how I had found the chainsaw and was using it to slice up the bad guys. Hee-hee-hee... I won't forget how he shook his head at seeing that, either :-)

Think I'll celebrate the occasion in style this morning by playing a few rounds of Doom on my Xbox 360.

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Redundancy is... (Blagojevich did business as usual, the wrong way)

Today's edition of the News & Record (the big newspaper in Greensboro) has a front-page story - like most other papers across the country this morning - about Illinois Governor Rod Blagojevich getting arrested for corruption regarding the Senate seat vacated by Barack Obama.

The headline in the News & Record reads: "Senate seat alleged for sale"

So when was the last time a Senate seat wasn't for sale in this country?

If he did this, then Blagojevich should be thrown in, no... under the jailhouse and left to rot. But let's get real folks: politics in the United States has become a high-stakes poker game with a buy-in that drastically exceeds the means of the average citizen. Unless you are filthy rich or otherwise have socially astute connections, you have no chance of running for high office.

Hell, it takes a fortune just to hire enough lawyers who will be able to go through all the legalities that are now on the books for a candidate to adhere to.

And it is precisely the mechanisms of modern American politics that not only allow, but even encourage the sort of corruption that we are seeing (again) happen around Chicago.

When the common man and his virtues are shut out of the process, then where will those virtues be found at all?

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Baldwin: Conservatives are practicing "Selective Constitutionalism"

I figured this was going to happen if Barack Obama won the presidential election: self-professed "conservatives" would be quick to blast Obama and the Democrats for violating the Constitution... when in fact those same conservatives have turned a blind eye at every opportunity during the past eight years when "their guy" George W. Bush did the same.

That's the kind of hypocrisy that I cannot forgive. And so far as the "Christian" ones go, it tells me that they are not interested in the truth at all.

Chuck Baldwin agrees, writing in his latest essay. The "Constitutional crisis" that many conservatives claim is there because of the dubious nature of Obama's birthplace is diminished, because these conservatives refused to condemn their own just as equally...

Many conservatives seem to be obsessed with this controversy, calling it a "constitutional crisis." The fact is, however, we have been in a "constitutional crisis" for years! The problem is, most conservatives only get worked up over a potential abridgement of constitutional government when it serves their partisan political purposes. In other words, when a Democrat appears guilty of constitutional conflict, conservatives "go ballistic," but when Republicans are equally culpable of constitutional conflict, they yawn with utter indifference.

(snip)

But, again, most conservatives care little about the Constitution's requirement that a President be a "natural born Citizen." Like liberals, most conservatives are afflicted with a very debilitating disease that I call Selective Constitutionalism. They only want to apply constitutional government when it helps Republicans or hurts Democrats. Most of them really could not care less about adherence to the Constitution. If they did, they would have been up in arms for the last eight years as President George W. Bush repeatedly ignored--and even trampled--the U.S. Constitution.

Where were these "constitutional" conservatives when George W. Bush was assuming dictatorial-style powers and contravening Fourth Amendment prohibitions against warrantless searches and seizures? Where were they when Bush was ordering our emails, letters, and phone calls to be intercepted by federal police agencies without court oversight? Where were they when Bush was obliterating the Fifth and Eighth Amendments? Where were they when Bush overturned Posse Comitatus by Executive Order? Where were they when Bush dismantled the constitutional right of Habeas Corpus? Where were they when Bush lied to the American people about the invasion of Iraq and took the United States to war without a Declaration of War from Congress? Where were conservatives when Bush turned nine U.S. military installations over to the United Arab Emirates? Where were they when Bush ordered his Department of Transportation to open up America's airlines to foreign ownership? Where were they when President Bush nullified (using "signing statements") over 1,100 statutes he did not like? Where were they as President Bush and his fellow Republicans reauthorized one of the most egregiously unconstitutional pieces of legislation in modern memory: the USA Patriot Act? Where were they when Bush signed the blatantly unconstitutional McCain/Feingold Act? I could go on and on...

Baldwin is correct, again. But to those who are looking more for rationale supporting their ideology than daring to question whether that ideology is even right, it won't matter.

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Another classic GARFIELD AND FRIENDS: "Invasion of the Big Robots"

Garfield and Friends rates with The Tick as having some of the most twisted humor done for a Saturday morning cartoon. Like this episode, where Garfield wakes up one morning and finds that he's in the wrong cartoon! I love how the regular kind of Garfield and Friends animation gets mixed up with the futuristic Eighties-style for the Starwolf sequences. And then the Disney-ish look toward the end.

First airing on December 2nd 1989, here is "Invasion of the Big Robots"...

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"With sport-utility vehicles at the altar..."

You know, Jesus beat and chased the money changers out of the temple because they had turned His father's house into a den of robbers.

So what would His reaction be if he saw His father's house turned into an automobile showroom?

A single photo demonstrates how screwed-up America has become...

Three vehicles - one from each of the major domestic auto makers - were brought to the altar of Greater Grace Temple, one of Detroit's largest churches. They were there to help with an appeal to Heaven: that God might do a work in the souls of the President and members of Congress and move them to give Ford, General Motors and Chrysler a fat juicy bailout package.

Sayeth the Reverend Charles Ellis...

At one point, Ellis summoned up hundreds of auto workers and retirees in the congregation to come forward toward the vehicles on the altar to be anointed with oil.

"It's all about hope. You can't dictate how people will think, how they will respond, how they will vote," Ellis said after the service. "But you can look to God. We believe he can change the minds and hearts of men and women in power, and that's what we tried to do today."

I barely know where to begin.

Okay, first of all, using the cars in this way reeks of idolatry.

But so too does this attempt to get God to "change the hearts and minds of men and women in power". These people do not understand - as well as too many other Americans - that God did not grant power and authority over America to the government. He let "We the People" be the authority. It's up to us to make do with the free will that He graced us with. This church is in effect making this a prayer to man and the institutions of man, rather than to God for wisdom and guidance.

And so far as the Big Three auto makers go: they don't deserve a bailout. And neither do the members of the auto unions deserve any more sympathy than is absolutely necessary. Both of them are at fault for what is happening right now to the auto industry. They had decades to clean up their act. Why the Hell should the American taxpayers be called upon to "help" them when they refused to help themselves?

Let economic Darwinism runs its course for once. And if the government dares give them a "bailout", then I'm gonna petition Congress for a ten million dollar "stimulus" package for KWerky Productions to help with the economy here in North Carolina.

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The first weekend of OLIVER TWIST has wrapped-up

Last night's show played to a fairly strong crowd and this afternoon we had a larger than expected audience that thrilled and laughed at the adventures of Oliver Twist, Fagin, the Artful Dodger, Nancy and the rest. My parents and aunt came to today's performance, and the word from them was that they really enjoyed it.

So now we have the rest of the week off until this coming Friday night, when we do it all over again. Which, y'all are most certainly invited! The Theatre Guild of Rockingham County's production of Oliver Twist runs for three more shows. Visit the Theatre Guild website for more information.

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Forrest J Ackerman, greatest fanboy ever and coiner of "sci-fi" term, has passed away

My good friend Bmovies was the first to pass along the sad word that Forrest J Ackerman, the self-styled renaissance man who was without a doubt the biggest enthusiast of science-fiction ever, who founded the magazine Famous Monsters of Filmland, the man who discovered Ray Bradbury and helped launched not only his but the successful careers of countless other writers and filmmakers, and also the man who created the word "sci-fi", has died at the age of 92.

Ackerman was also an actor, and possessed what is widely considered to be the most legendary collection of science-fiction and horror memorabilia ever accumulated. At one time he even owned the cape that Bela Lugosi wore in the classic film Dracula. His "Ackermansion" was always open, and he reveled in sharing his passion with others... just as much as he enjoyed others sharing their passion with him.

And once again, there's that feeling: that we as a culture are losing more of our unique characters. There is no doubt: Forrest J Ackerman was one of the foremost.

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After-action report from Opening Night of OLIVER TWIST

The first performance went very well! So far as I can tell we got through the whole thing without a single problem. 'Course, I'm knocking on wood as I say that 'cuz we've got five more performances to get through. Afterward the entire cast and crew congregated at Thom Thom's Pizza on Freeway Drive in Reidsville for an opening night party.

Oliver Twist plays again tonight at 7:30 at Rockingham Community College in Wentworth, North Carolina. Visit the Theatre Guild of Rockingham County website for more information.

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He was just as God made him, sir! Paul Benedict has passed away

Sad news out of Martha's Vineyard, Massachusetts: veteran character actor Paul Benedict, who was perhaps best known as British neighbor Harry Bentley on the classic sitcom The Jeffersons, has died at the age of 70.

If you grew up in the late Seventies and into the Eighties, Benedict was just about everywhere. His portrayal of Mr. Bentley was the biggest reason why a lot of people tuned in to The Jeffersons every week... 'cuz Bentley was probably one of the funniest characters in television history.

Benedict also did quite a bit of film work. One of the earliest roles that I remember him from was Jeremiah Johnson, which was a drastic - and dramatic - departure from much of the rest of his resume. A lot of people will note that he was in This is Spinal Tap, where he uttered the immortal line "I am just as God made me, sir!" And he was also seen as a bizarre film professor in The Freshman.

But child of the Eighties that I am, I would be remiss if I did not mention what to many of my generation was Paul Benedict's greatest role: that of "The Mad Painter", the strange man who went all over New York City painting numbers - for reasons which were only clear to him - in a serious of classic short films that ran on Sesame Street. So in toasting the memory of a fine actor, let's see him paint "9" one more time...

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Behold... Darth Mystra

Okay, I'd better explain how this started...

All this week we've been doing dress and technical rehearsals for Theatre Guild of Rockingham County's production of Oliver Twist, which opens tonight. One of my fellow cast members, Sarah Al-Jouni, plays Miss Monks. And a few nights ago when I saw her in her full costume, well... she looked way too amazing to pass up the opportunity. I told her my idea on Wednesday evening and she thought it would be fun.

So during the intermission of last night's rehearsal I went out to my car and came back with my Star Wars Force FX Lightsaber (the one that's the Lightsaber Construction Set, which I did wind up buying :-). Before I left home I made the handle look like anything but a Jedi hilt, and switched the blade color to red. And then we took some pictures. And when I got home I started playing around in Photoshop.

And now, here she is: Darth Mystra.

Most of the cast was working to come up with a proper title for our very own Dark Lady of the Sith. "Darth Monks" and "Darth Emma" were suggested but in the end Sarah noted that Monks is mysterious and I "Star Wars"-fied it and gave her a bit of a background.

Looks positively Sith-ly, doesn't she? :-)

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ONE. MILLION. PAGE VIEWS!

So I got back home tonight from our final rehearsal for Theatre Guild of Rockingham County's production of Oliver Twist ('cuz opening night is tomorrow) and I'm goofing off online while I have a late dinner, and I check the stats on this blog...

...and sometime in the past few hours, this blog achieved its one millionth page view!

It's a bit ways from having its one millionth visitor (which is what the meter displays publicly) but still, to have served up a million pages is quite an achievement. Lately I've noticed that more people who visit this blog seem to be looking around, instead of just coming to one page and then leaving. So it seems to be attracting a regular audience.

Thank you everyone, who has visited this blog over the past five years (except for those with nefarious purpose... and you know who you are) who contributed to this place reaching such a landmark!

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Want to see a REAL Lancer from GEARS OF WAR?

I found this at the Kotaku website. Its creators have dubbed it the "Firearm Mounted Anti-Zombie Device". But fans of Gears of War will readily recognize it as a primitive version of the Lancer assault rifle, complete with chainsaw bayonet.

As you can see from this video, both the gun and the chainsaw work fine.

Click here for more pictures and videos of this thing in action.

This blog occasionally gets visitors from the United States House of Representatives and the Senate (I know 'cuz of the meter logs). Wonder how soon it'll be before some elected official with too much time on his/her hands sees this photo, and introduces legislation banning chainsaw modifications...

(And I wonder how soon it'll be before my Dad sees this and begins conjuring one up in his workshop.)

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A bunch of pics from OLIVER TWIST

Wanna see what the Theatre Guild of Rockingham County's production of Oliver Twist is looking like? The show opens tomorrow night, so here are some photos to whet yer appetite...

Oliver (Nathan Tolodziecki) makes good on his plans to run away as a furious Mr. Bumble (Rob Compton) and Mrs. Corney (Donna Compton) chase after him, while Mr. and Mrs. Sowerberry (Chris Knight and Thresa Brown) and Charlotte (Jessica Wray) gawk in stunned disbelief at a traumatized Noah Claypole (Tyler Alverson)

The Artful Dodger (Jasper Thomas III) and Bet (Megan Watkins) demonstrate to Oliver how to play "the game" on a group of unwary window shoppers

Mr. Brownlow (Tony Hummel) persuades a London "bobby" (Mark Pegram) that there is no need to arrest Oliver

The sinister Miss Monks (Sarah Al-Jouni) seethes with rage as she watches Mr. Brownlow take Oliver into his care

Mr. Brownlow entertains dear friend Mrs. Grimwig (Lynne Chilton) in the parlor of his house, as Mrs. Bedwin (Kathy Morrison) serves tea with assistance from Rose (Jessica Gray)

Fagin (Tim Wray, right) plots mischief with his "business partner" Bill Sikes (Mike Morrison)

Nancy (Tish Owens) consoles Oliver in Fagin's den

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Chicken a'la Chris

No, this ain't burnt! Just an abundance of all the herbs and spices that I cover and marinade the chicken with (for about three hours), along with plenty of flour, before frying for 20 minutes...

It's my Mom's birthday tonight so I'm cooking her dinner. In addition to the fried chicken I'm making homemade biscuits and green beans. Since I didn't get to deep-fry a turkey last week for Thanksgiving, at least I get to compensate in some small measure here :-)

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THE KNIGHT SHIFT CONTEST: Win a copy of GEARS OF WAR 2: THE SOUNDTRACK signed by Steve Jablonsky!

There's been resounding agreement across the board that Gears of War 2 is the must-play video game of 2008. The sequel to Epic Games' 2006 smash hit original is impressing people all over the place with its groundbreaking combo of technical achievement, poignant storytelling, and the hope and heroism and humor that's come to be expected from the Gears of War franchise.

And just as the game is being hailed as a mighty accomplishment, so too is the amazing orchestral score by Steve Jablonsky getting raves for being a profound work of art in and of itself! I've talked to several people who've bought Gears of War 2: The Soundtrack since it came out last week and without fail, each of 'em have told me that they have felt seriously moved by Jablonsky's music. And if you're a longtime reader of this blog then y'all know how I went a bit nuts for Transformers: The Score. Well like I wrote in my review last week, his work on Gears of War 2 might be even better (and that's sayin' something). My own iPod has been playing it like crazy, especially "Hope Runs Deep": a great track for driving on I-40 between Greensboro and Burlington to :-)

Soooooo last week I had a crazy idea, and I asked the man himself and he's happy to oblige...

And now The Knight Shift blog is pleased to announce that we are going to give away THREE COPIES of the Gears of War 2: The Soundtrack CD... signed by composer Steve Jablonsky!

So, you want one? Groovy! But like everything else with Gears of War, you’re gonna have to earn this. But don't worry: you won't have to chainsaw your way to goryglory this time.

Here's what you must do to offer yourself for consideration toward winning a copy (in legalese, these are the "Official Contest Rules")...

1. E-mail your entry to theknightshift@gmail.com with GEARS OF WAR 2 SOUNDTRACK CONTEST in the subject line. GEARS OF WAR 2 SOUNDTRACK has to be in the subject line.

2. Include the following information in your entry:

- First and last name

- Mailing address

- Phone number

- The name of the Gears of War character you are impersonating

3. And then, attach a photo of yourself doing your best impersonation of a Gears of War character. It can be anyone from established Gears of War canon (the games, the comic book, the novel Gears of War: Aspho Fields but you'll have to be especially imaginative, anything that's been authorized by Epic Games as being legit part of the Gears of War mythology). Keep in mind that this is not a costume contest! If you're the kind of person who likes to parade around Comic-Con and Dragon-Con wearing a full set of COG Gear armor, you're more than welcome to pose wearing that. But this is all about character. This is a contest focusing on raw persona. In short: do you "get" what Gears of War is all about? Can you make that come across with nothing more than your own countenance? If so, pick a Gears of War character and show us what you got! Doesn't matter if you're male or female: plop on a do-rag and show us your best Marcus Fenix mug. Or give us Dom or Anya or Baird or Cole or Dizzy or Tai (ooh-boy I'm eager to see if anyone attempts Tai) or heck, even a Locust grub or the Locust Queen herself! Extra points will be given toward creativity and originality, but as I said this is about channeling character more than it is about costume ingenuity. Also, please try to keep your image size to 1 megabyte or less.

4. No age limit but this contest will enforce a "one entry per person" limit. So like shootin' a gun in a Gears of War game, make it count!

5. You'll have between now and until 12:01 a.m. Pacific Standard Time on December 18th, 2008 to e-mail in your entry, so that gives you a bit more than two weeks to come up with something.

6. Judging for the contest will be conducted by a three-member panel that has already been pre-selected. Their decisions are final.

7. By entering you are giving consent to have your photo published on The Knight Shift blog (the one you're looking at right now). So make sure your photos are "family-friendly", folks :-)

8. In addition to the three final winners, this blog reserves the right to also publish "honorable mentions" if there are any.

9. Insofar as real life will cooperate, the winners will be announced sometime on December 19th 2008 and the signed CDs will be rushed to each of the winners as soon as possible.

Also, please bear in mind that this isn't a contest run by Epic Games or Sumthing Else Music Works or Microsoft or any other corporate entity. Neither am I personally profiting from it as the guy who runs the blog. This is just something that we thought would be way fun to do, for everyone who chooses to get involved.

Okay well, what are ya waiting for?! Get to work on your entry! :-)

(And thanks Steve!)

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Two minutes from the LOST Season 5 premiere

Uh-ohhhh... this doesn't look good for Kate, no matter which way you slice it:

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Stolen: The Empire State Building

William Sherman (shown at right), a reporter for the New York Daily News, engineered what must be one of the grandest thefts ever: the entire Empire State Building.

And it took him just ninety minutes to do it.

Sherman and the Daily News forged documents and even faked a notary stamp, then presented it all to the clerks in charge of New York City's deeds and mortgages. Among the witnesses for the fraudulent transfer was Fay Wray, the starlet of 1933's King Kong. An hour and a half after beginning the paperwork in the city's offices, Sherman walked out with the Empire State Building in his pocket (figuratively 'course).

The whole plot was hatched by the New York Daily News to focus attention on the shoddy attention that the city's personnel pays to property transfers and the like. There have been some real problems with con artists taking advantage of the lack of oversight. One man skipped town with over a half-million dollars gained through mortgage fraud, and another wound up heisting seven city-owned buildings in Queens.

I wonder how far someone could get away with doing this trick on the Jefferson Pilot Building in Greensboro... :-P

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First full dress rehearsal for OLIVER TWIST was tonight

And it went pretty good! It's downright amazing how quickly this show has come together. This evening, we got a first real glimpse at how all the hard work and effort is meshing together to convey Charles Dickens' timeless tale of the orphan Oliver Twist and his quest for his own identity. And just like what happened with Children of Eden a few months ago, there's quite a sense of not just friendship, but family among the cast and crew.

I should have some photos to tease y'all with come late tomorrow night. In the meantime, the show opens this coming Friday, December 5th at Rockingham Community College's Advanced Technologies Building Auditorium. Visit the Theatre Guild of Rockingham County's website for more information.

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Live long and prosper?

A few weeks ago it occurred to me why this country is presently so screwed-up financially:

From top to bottom, we have been trying to hack it on a Star Trek economy... without the requisite Star Trek technology needed to make it work.

Gene Roddenberry had funny ideas about money in his Star Trek universe. Namely, that the United Federation of Planets, including Earth, didn't use it. It was an ideal socialist state that based its economy on the pursuit of excellence, for the betterment of self and society. Remember how Kirk and Spock had to sell the spectacles in Star Trek IV: The Voyage Home 'cuz they were cash-strapped in San Francisco circa 1986? And then later in the same movie, Kirk admitted to Gillian that they didn't have money in his own time.

The concept got fleshed-out a bit more (interestingly after Roddenberry's passing in 1991): the Federation did possess currency... but it was mostly confined to fiscal dealings with other governments (like the Ferengi) and within the Federation's own borders, it was completely worthless.

But think about it: if the Federation has the means to provide food, clothing and shelter for everyone - and it does - then the idea of money quickly becomes a very boring thing. I like to think that Roddenberry was plenty enough realist to understand that money by itself isn't an evil thing, and the pursuit of it isn't necessarily bad either (something that Ayn Rand beautifully expressed in Francisco's "money speech" from Atlas Shrugged). As best we can understand our world, money is a necessary thing to earn for the procurement of basic needs. That's the most fundamental thing regarding money's existence. But take away that rationale for it, and the seeking of money loses its allure. Suddenly people become free to chase after real meaning in their lives, instead of the mere acquisition of "things". And all that "money" that the Federation is still producing? Heck, the average citizen can have a truckload of gold replicated before the day's out... so why waste time chasing after it?

Now consider what the United States of America is doing lately in 2008. This year alone we have had one "stimulus" package courtesy of President Bush and Congress, which accomplished absolutely no good. There is going to be a $700 billion bailout and many authorities on the subject have seriously contended that the final bill for the bailouts - to assist all those corporations "too big to fail" - is going to come in at seven trillion dollars. We have seen numerous banks collapse, the "big three" domestic automakers are begging for money on Capitol Hill, and now the politicians in Washington are considering another "stimulus".

And it's not crossing the minds of these people at all that the money, is not really there! But Federal Reserve chairman Ben Bernanke keeps printing out more "money", with no value backing it at all, in a desperate bid to prop everything up. And lately he's not even printing it: it's become just numbers entered into a computer, dont'cha know?

Hell, they could decide to digitally forward $1 million to the bank account of every person in America, and there would be nothing stopping them.

We have, at last, achieved Gene Roddenberry's next biggest dream after faster-than-light warp drive: a lifestyle void of money with value.

Except that we still need money that's worth something to survive, considering the means available to us. Matter replicators and transporters won't be coming online for a way long time, and it's nothing short of madness to believe that the technology to make socialism a viable reality is going to magically appear in time to save our skins.

In short: the President of the United States, the vast majority of the members of Congress, the Federal Reserve, and too many banks and major corporations in America, have been living in a fantasy world.

And unfortunately, the rest of us are going to have to deal with the reality they have made.

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WATCHMEN Movie Merchandise: Rorschach's mask and gun

Yet another entry for the "Things We Don't Really Need But Are Lusting For Badly" file...

For $295, you can pre-order the Rorschach Grappling Gun and Mask Prop Replica Set from the movie version of Watchmen. This thing is scheduled to be released on February 25th, 2009: just in time to have the mask ready to wear for Watchmen's release on March 6th! Unfortunately (or maybe fortunately) the grappling gun is permanently attached to the base (and notice that both are adorned with Rorschach's symbol). Also unfortunately, the "ink blot" on the mask does not seem capable of changing shape... but as soon as real fabric can be made with heat and pressure-sensitive viscous fluids sandwiched between layers of latex, that lil' feature will no doubt come to market :-P

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