*sigh*

Hrm.

I was unimpressed with Kerry. He said a few things that sounded good, but overall, I am afraid this debate will help Bush.

Hrm.

Iowa Pork Forest

You may have heard that they're building a rainforest in Iowa. It made national news a month or two ago. I just want to say for the record that there are a lot of Iowans who are terribly embarrassed by this insane project and wish it would just go away.

I recently came across this blog: Iowa Pork Forest

It tells the story far better than I could. Bottom line is creating this monstrosity in Coralville, Iowa, would be one of the biggest mistakes this town could ever make.

Oh, and if you want to know which politician to blame, look no further than Chuck Grassley. Now I probably wouldn't have voted for him anyway (even though he does mow his own lawn! Wow! Gee! How exciting, Chuck!), but his support for this inane project seals the deal for me.

Okay, just got back from googling to discover that Tom Harkin supports the project! TOM! What are you thinking!?

Riverside scam

Whoops! Captain Kirk pulled a prank on the residents of Riverside, Iowa. So there's no movie but they all get to be on TV. Hmm. I am torn. I think it's kind of mean to screw with those poor Riversidians. But at the same time, this is what reality TV is all about. And I admit, I am a fan of it. Sorry all of you high minded intellectual *coughsnobscough*. Anyway, Riverside did get 100 grand. And everyone who was in it got paid. I think what makes me feel bad about the whole thing is the fact that Riverside has been trying to get Shatner to come to their Trekfest for, what, twenty years? And he's blown them off again and again. (Note to the non-trekkies: Riverside, Iowa is the future birthplace of the fictional Captain Kirk.) So he finally shows up in town and then proceeds to mess with their heads.

Not nice.

I'll still probably watch the program on Spike TV, though.

Survivor news

I have no earth shattering spoilers today. It's all over the internet who is getting booted tonight. Way back when I predicted one of the two (yes, two - didn't you see the previews?) bootees would go far and the other would go pre-merge. Well, I was half right. I am glad crazy hunter guy is out of there.

If you want to know who goes, go here.

Corvis? Who dat?

I've been in online communities for about three and a half years now. All that time, I have gone by the psuedonym Corvis. It started with Survivor spoiling communities. I've belonged to a few different ones. I still do, in fact. So the name Corvis means something in those communities because that's who I was. I used to be very protective of my real identity online. I was worried about crazy cyber stalker people. There was a time early on in the Survivor spoiling game when that wasn't such a strange fear. But these days... enh. If people want to find me or my family, it's not hard at all. I think having a fake name on these boards immediately separates us from each other. After awhile, we share real first names, but why make people work so hard to get there? If we met in the Java House, would we offer fake names? No. I'd say, "Hi, my name is Matt. Nicetameetcha."

Why are there different rules for the internet? Because it's so easy to pretend to be someone other than who you really are, I suppose. We fear that other people are lying to us so we hide behind clever names. Lie first because they're lying too! We keep ourselves hidden because of fear while we wait to see if it's safe to come out and play. Well, screw fear. I want to play.

My name is Matt Falduto.

Nicetameetcha.

Ah... love

Yesterday was my 8th wedding anniversary. Sharon took off work and went to preschool with Rachel. I stayed home and played with Sami. It was great to get some one on one time with her. She's getting so big. She can crawl perfectly now and is faster than lightning. We have the gate up for the top of the stairs. Sami loves to chase the dog, who is very good about just getting out of her way. She also loves Rachel's baby dolls. I think we're going to have to get Sami one of her own soon. Rachel does not like sharing her dolls. Sharing is a difficult concept for a three year old. We're working on it, though. And preschool is helping with that, too.

In the evening, we dropped the kids off at a friend's house so we could go out to dinner. We went downtown where we used to go when we were first dating. Walked around the ped mall, went in a few shops, and had dinner at Bo James. After dinner, we decided to go home for a while and enjoy being in our house with no children around. Then we went out for pie and a chocolate shake. We picked up the kids at 9ish. It was a very satisfying anniversary. I am very lucky to have such a wonderful wife.

Not so satisfying are the problems between my brother and my mother. They are at odds. It happens often, but this time it's really lasting a lot longer than usual. I talked to my brother the other night but didn't really get anywhere. They're both at fault from my point of view, but there's no point in discussing that. Hopefully, they'll just make up and it'll all blow over. Our family is a very tight one and we don't often have big problems, just the little ones that are typical of most families. Hopefully, this will all be over soon.

I've grown bored with bothering to spoiler Survivor when the next boots are out so early each week. There's no fun in it anymore. I am liking this season. I just hope Rory comes around and gets some better editing. They're making our Iowan Survivor out to be a whiny jerk. I don't like that.

I'm baaaaack!

It's been a little while, but I am back now.

Lots has happened, but I don't have time to write about all of it now. So check back soon.

I will say that life is good, good, good. And nothing can change that feeling.

Fresh air

Today we're heading to the park if the weather is nice. Rachel needs some fresh air and so do I for that matter. We have a great park pretty close to our house. There's always lots of kids there for Rachel to play with. Her favorite thing to do is play in the sandbox. I think. Maybe it's slide down the slide. Or the monkey bars (with help).

I watched Jack and Bobby the other night. Really good show. I am looking forward to the next episode. I do wonder if they can keep it interesting.

Sami milestones:

She can now pull herself up to a standing position. She crawled on her knees the other day although she still does the commando crawl most of the time. She turned 8 months old. And she just gets cuter and cuter.

My info is good!

The most recent Survivor press release, which can be found at that excellent site Survivor Fever contains this sentence:

"Over at Yasur (the women's tribe), Eliza's constant chatter is wearing thin on some of the others..."

Which just goes to show my info about the women not be thrilled with Eliza was right.

Badass Corvis

The first weekend of Glengarry is over. And it was great. Here's another picture:



I feel so lucky to be on stage with such good actors. Everyone of them was right on target, just perfect in their roles. I got a great response from the crowd. People I didn't know where telling me afterward that I did a fantastic job. That felt good. It's nice to hear it from your friends, but knowing that people who are totally unbiased liked your performance - that means a lot.

One friend said, "When I think of you, I don't think badass. But damn if you didn't pull it off." I was told by a castmate that his friend hated my character. So yeah, I did a good job. And I feel good.

Okay, enough self congratulation.

Played poker (Texas Hold 'Em) last night. I won two of the six games, came out around $30 ahead. So far, I am $50 up since we started played a few weeks ago. I may check out a local tournament and see if I can really win some big money. Doesn't matter though; I just love the game. When I was playing last night, I felt like my grandma was there smiling at me. She was a great poker player. I grew up playing the game. A rite of passage in my family was finally being allowed to sit at the adults' poker table and lose my money.

Swam across the Cedar River on Saturday. That was not smart. I almost didn't make it. I am not the strongest swimmer in the world. Fortunately, I didn't drown. It sure seemed like a good idea at the time. The day of hiking overall was fun.

Sharon and the kids come back to town today. They've been in Minnesota since Thursday. I miss all of them so much. It's been nice to have a weekend to myself, but I want to see my girls and my wife. Rachel was really missing me, Sharon said. She wanted to come home on Saturday so she could see me. But she recovered and had a great time.

I have to mow the damn lawn.

Tonight is the night

Glengarry Glen Ross opens tonight. If you're in the Iowa City area, check it out. Tickets are only $10 and less for students and seniors. I am feeling good. We had a great rehearsal last night. Here's some pictures from the show:

Know when to fold 'em

I keep getting the worst cards. I am slowly losing all of my cyber cash because I keep getting dealt fours of hearts and sixes of spades. Gimme a couple of face cards and let's do this thing. Partypoker.com in case you are wondering.

Can you direct me?

Now let's make a list of the shows I've directed. It's a much shorter list, although, ironically enough, I think I'm a better director than I am an actor. I get more enjoyment from acting, however. Anyway...

Red Spy at Night (Co-directed with Angela Smith)
The Hobbit
Wait Until Dark
How To Sell a Chair
Intellectual Orgasms
Law Number One

Hrm. I need to direct more plays.

Of those, my favorite directing experience was probably The Hobbit. I'll have to write about that sometime when it's not 1:32 in the freaking morning.

The play's da thing

Rehearsal sucked tonight. At least I did. I had so many other things on my mind - the publicity photos, the box office crap, the annoyingly loud people upstairs... I just wasn't focused on acting. And one of my fellow actors forgot a line and got us into a tough spot in our first scene. Fortunately, I've been in enough shows to know that a bad rehearsal during tech week is mandatory for a good opening night. So I am still feeling good. We're going to be great on Friday and I cannot wait.

Okay, here's an interesting exercise... a list of all the plays I've been in...

Nightwatch - Detective Vanelli
Conference of the Birds - the Owl
"Faces" or something like that - Starbuck
Lysistrata - Kinesias
The Person I Once Was - Blaise
Ten Little Indians - Lombard
Faust - Faust
Shades of Grey - Silas
A Comedy of Errors - Antipholus ... I can't remember which one
Charley's Aunt - Fancourt Babberly
Importance of Being Earnest - Algernon Moncrieff
Act Three, Scene Five - Can't remember character's name
Barefoot in the Park (twice) - Paul Bratter
Intellectual Orgasms - Steve
Corpus Christi - Philip
Lion in Winter - King Philip
Love Letters - Andrew
Someone Who'll Watch Over Me - Edward
Of Mice and Men - George
The Boys Next Door - Arnold Wiggins
Glengarry Glen Ross - Williamson
Hay Fever - Simon Bliss

... there's got to be more than that. I am sure I am forgetting something. Anyway, not a bad list. 22 shows over a period of 16 years.

In the moment

As I've mentioned, I'm playing Williamson in Dreamwell Theatre's production of Glengarry Glen Ross. It's a great part and I am enjoying being the asshole. Last night we had our first dress rehearsal and for the first time, I felt like I was hitting it. The last scene, the climax of the play, is my favorite moment of the play. I show just how much of a bastard I can be.

Favorite lines:

"I don't care. You understand? Where are the leads!?"

"Fuck you."

Fuck is a favorite word of mine. And that fuck you is my last line in the play. I have said it so many different ways in rehearsal - angry, sad, disgusted, perfectly calm. I think I am going with disgusted. We'll see.

It's going to be an excellent show, no doubt about it. We've assembled some of Iowa City's best actors - Matt Brewbaker, Chuck Dufano, Adam Fauser, Gerry Roe, Dan Fairchild. Only Michael Connell is new to the stage and he's got a good handle on the Chicago cop. So yeah, if you're in Iowa City this weekend or next, check it out. All the details are at Dreamwell's website.

Quick Survivor Spoiler...

The women win the first immunity challenge according to the spoilers at Survivor Sucks. I knew that which is why I picked John Kenney to get the boot first.

Preschool

Rachel started preschool yesterday. It's only two days a week for 2 1/2 hours a day. She really liked it. Had lots of fun. Driving away, I was a little sad. No longer are Sharon and I the only major influences on Rachel's life. She'll be exposed to other kids and the teachers. Now, I realize this is a necessity. I do. It's just that... I don't know. I don't get to share in those preschool moments. These are experiences she's having on her own. Which is good, but I still feel a little sadness inside. I am really proud of her. She had no problem jumping right in and playing with the other kids. She told me how each of the kids shared their Teddy Bears with everyone else. She told me that she said, "This is my teddy bear. I always sleep with him at night and play with him during the day." No fear of speaking in front of crowds for my little girl. Not that I am surprised by this.

You want everything to go well for your kids and so you'll do anything you can to make sure that happens. And for me... well, I like to have control of things, but in this case, I need to let go. And this is just a baby step. There are much bigger steps coming down the road, and I have to be able to let go, not control, accept that as not only necessary, but a good thing. I have a lot of faith in my little girl. She's smart; she's tough.

Sometimes Sharon and I just stop for a moment, look at Rachel or Sami, and share this bemused, joyful smile. We're thinking "Can you believe we created her?" And sometimes I just can't. You think about all the things we've accomplished in our lives and it's true that there's nothing bigger or more important than being a good parent. If that's all they put on my gravestone, I'll feel fulfilled.

This is Survivor Spec...

Okay, I am going to be very clear in this blog when I predicting something based on spec and when I actually have a bit of a spoiler. The following is speculation. Now it is informed speculation, of course. I have been paying attention.

So anyway, my spec for the season.

John K. is voted out first. Youth is not working this time around.
Eliza is out second. You can't plot too much right at the start, youngster. At least Eliza and John can, ahem, bond together in Australia.
Twila gets the boot next. She has such a Debb vibe, doesn't she?
Lea, the drill sargeant, will not be able to hide his commanding personality and spells the end of him.

At this point I think the tribes do a switcheroo and who knows who ends up where. That makes it harder to predict what happens, so I'll get a little more general here by just predicting the rest of the pre-jury boots.
Chris, and Brook of the men do not do well.
Dolly and Lisa round out the pre-jury boots.

So who's our jury and F2? Check 'em out:


John Paylok.... Rory Freeman..... Mia Galeotalanza

Scout Cloud Lee... Chad Crittenden... Ami Cusack

Brady Finta....... Leann Slaby..... Julie Berry

Random thoughts... I don't think they'll let Chad get too far along the jury path. They'll figure they can't beat him in the Final 2. Look for him to be the second member of the jury. Mia is going to be really annoying by day 25 or so. She won't get to the Final 2. If she's on the majority alliance, they'll dump her once they have the numbers. Brady and Ami strike me as the best players. Maybe Leann. Rory is a darkhorse. Obviously, being an Iowan myself, I hope he does well. Julie is a lightweight and will end up being the Liz or Colleen of this season. Scout ... I have no idea. The rumor mill is starting to suggest she does well and that's why I put her on the jury group. I can't get a handle on her chances.

My best guess for the final two and winner?

Brady wins it with Ami coming in second.

More Survivor stuff

Here's two badly capped images of the Eliza - Ami - Dolly conversation where they blow off her idea of voting out whomever messes up in the challenge.





Just in case you still don't believe me. Seen these caps anywhere else online? Just wondering.

Survivor update

I received an email asking me if I was sure about my Survivor spoilers. I know that everything I posted was in the first 3 days of filming (with two exceptions, see below). Maybe first 6 days, but I'm guessing just the first 3. I assume we'll see it in the first episode, although I don't claim to have seen that all edited together. Do I have some inside source? Nope. At least 122 other people have this same information. It's out there - you just need to know where to look. I admit I made some assumptions based on what I saw and so I may have made a mistake or two.

Oh, two more things - Rory going far? Well, I hope he does, but I didn't see anything in the footage to indicate that. I have seen it mentioned on other sites that he lost a lot of weight, and so I went with that. And John K not doing well? Well, I think he'll be sent packing early, but that's just speculation on my part based on the other people on his tribe.

Can't wait til the premiere! Now, back to fantasy football. Do you think the Lions RB will generate a lot of points?

Are you ready...

Fantasy football draft tonight! I need to figure out the WR position. Thank God the kids are sleeping...