White Christmas!

IT'S A WHITE CHRISTMAS!!

"I'm dreaming of a White Christmas"... and I got one! Popular culture will tell you that Christmas = Snow. I've known this all my life-- ever since I was in kindergarten and the teacher decorated the bulletin board with white paper snow flakes and a Santa Claus cut out for December. This was confirmed with TV specials like the Rankin Bass Christmas features. Santa, Rudolph, the Grinch and all my favorite characters seem to exist only in snowy Christmas wonderlands. Plus, the only time it snows in Bedrock, Garfield's backyard, or Smurf village is on Christmas. So yes- as I a kid I always associated snow with Christmas. But in East Tennessee it hardly ever snows on Christmas. Each year I would dream of a White Christmas and was always sadly disappointed. UNTIL NOW! I woke up this morning to find that Santa had left something in my stocking and the world outside is a beautiful winter wonderland! The snow is clinging to the trees and glissining in the Christmas morning sun! IT'S AMAZING! Just look at the view from our hotel window:

USS Yorktown

Today my parents and I visited the U.S.S. Yorktown which is docked near Charleston South Carolina as a naval maritime museum. It was great! I'd highly recommend an afternoon exploring this "Fighting Lady" if you ever find yourself in Charleston.

Here's a fun fact-- The USS Yorktown was the name of the central starship in Gene Roddenberry's first Star Trek proposal to NBC in 1964. The ship was named after the USS Yorktown, a World War II American aircraft carrier, which in turn was named after the last major battle of the American Revolution, won in 1781 by a combined Franco-American army commanded by Gen. Ge orge Washington. (Memory Alpha).

I'm not sure if Roddenberry was inspired by this ship or her predecessor-- destroyed at the Battle of Midway in 1942. Nevertheless, touring the Yorktown was a fun peak into a fascinating world. Unfortunately the museum is in peril! Here is some more info:

Carrier Going Down In A Sea Of Red Ink

October 26, 2009: The U.S. Navy has long been willing to donate old ships to groups that were willing to maintain the retired vessels as museum ships. But the navy attaches some very expensive strings. That is, the navy expects the ship to be kept in decent shape. This is a problem with many old metal ships, as they rust. And eventually they rust so much that the hull is breached, and ultimately will collapse. For example, one museum ship, the World War II era, Essex class carrier USS Intrepid, in New York City, recently returned to its display berth after a two year refurbishment, costing $120 million. The entire hull was examined, in dry dock, for decay, and over a hundred square meters of hull had to be replaced. A sister ship of the Intrepid, the Yorktown, requires a similar refurbishment. Since 1975, the Yorktown has been on display in Charleston, South Carolina, with several other museum ships. The Yorktown, which entered service four months before the Intrepid, needs the same kind of work. The navy is insisting on it, with the alternatives being sending the ship to the breakers (to be broken up for scrap) or a lawsuit. The naval museum in South Carolina is in a bad situation, as $120 million is hard to find, even when the economy (and wealthy donors) are doing well. The big donors are much harder to find these days.

But even sending the ship to the scrap yard is not a viable alternative. For a long time, unneeded ships were "sent to the breakers" (a shipyard that broke the ship up for scrap and reusable parts). However, this is now considered environmentally harmful if done the old fashioned way (as it is still done in countries like India), and too expensive if it is done in an environmentally (and politically) acceptable way. In other words, it could cost more scrap the Yorktown than to repair her.

So what's to be done? A popular option these days is to use old ships for target practice. For example, of 31 recently decommissioned Spruance class destroyers, 22 were used for target practice. Some old warships are sunk closer to the shore, to provide reefs for fish and scuba divers.

But the museum would rather not lose the Yorktown, to the breakers, scuba divers or friendly fire. But unless the money can be found, the Yorktown will go down.

source: http://www.strategypage.com/htmw/htmoral/articles/20091026.aspx

Star Trek TNG Episode Reviews

Editor's Note: This entry is copied from my personal blog.

I've been watching a lot of TNG lately. Since Tim got me THE ENTIRE SERIES for Christmas last year (THANK YOU!!!) it's been at my disposal 24/7. This is a dangerous concept-- but I've held off the temptation to completely give over my life to sitting on the couch watching Picard and Company. I tend to marathon a disk or so about once a month and that's it. Since the convention last weekend, however I've been watching it pretty much nonstop. It's really amazing to compare as season 7 episode like "Eye of the Beholder" and a 1st season episode like "Home Soil". I watched these two right after each other last night. You can certainly see the influence of the original series more in "Home Soil". I mean, it's basically a re-telling of "The Devil in the Dark" from 1967. The miners are replaced with tera-formers and the big blob/rock like horta is replaced with a small crystal like glowing intelligence.
But-- leaving the original series aside for a minute and comparing "Home Soil" with the 7th season episode "Eye of the Beholder" again you see how far the series really came by the end. In both the crew must play detective and unravel a mystery. However, "Eye" is by far a better episode. The characters are more fully developed and the story seems more character driven. Even the new characters who are introduced in the episode are fascinating! We immediately want to know more about Lt. Kwan and why he killed himself. The credit goes to writer Brandan Braga. Gene Roddenberry was never interested in Star Trek being a character driven drama. It was always really just his media for telling morality plays about right and wrong, human rights, and other heady stuff. While I love Roddenberry's work, I'm glad that the focus turned to the characters in the movies of the 1980's and then TNG. At its best Star Trek tells a story about character relationships while also teaching us a lesson. I think the show had more potential than Roddenberry ever really intended and was more fully realized by his successors. That being said, the "powers that be" eventually led Star Trek down the wrong path. Enterprise was largely a disaster in my opinion, as was Nemesis. But there was a moment-- in the last few seasons of TNG when Star Trek had the best of both worlds (no pun intended). On those DVD's we have the treat of watching great characters who we love with fully developed relationships and hear a good story with a nice lesson thrown in to boot.

Star Trek in Jersey!

Captain's Log
Stardate: 08152010
Time: 10:30
Commander Adkins and I are on a diplomatic mission visiting the the Star Trek Convention in Parsippany New Jersey. Unfortunately the transport has landed us in Morris Plains and according to the tricorder we're 3.7 kilometers to the Hilton where the convention is held. There doesn't seem to be another transport or shuttle so we're setting out on foot. For some reason the New Jersey transit buses don't seem to run on Sundays. FAIL.

Captain's Log: Supplemental
Time: 10:45
The side walk has ended and we're now venturing the true unknown wilds of New Jersey. According to our instruments we're still on the right track but it's looking like less of a stroll and more of a hike.

Captain's Log: Supplemental
Time: 11:15
Still no sign of the Hilton but we've spotted a Wendy's ahead. A slight course correction is in order! We need diet coke and chicken nuggets STAT!
Captain's Log: Supplemental
Time: 11:30
After braving the walk across the Freeway on-ramp and almost walking into the Hampton Inn (which was cleverly disguised as the Hilton) we've FINALLY found the Hilton. It seriously look us an hour but we got here! The line isn't bad and they haven't opened the doors yet. We made it in plenty of time. It already looks like it will be fun day as the lobby is full of interesting characters. (more photos on facebook)

Captain's Log: Supplemental
Time: Unknown
We've completely lost track of time! It's the end of our day at the convention. There are many federation representatives here and lots of various species from other worlds. We encountered several Klingons (see below), some Borg, a Ferengi, and many Star Fleet personnel. Several celebrities in attendance spoke to the crowd and answered questions including 7 of 9 (Jeri Ryan), Martok (J.G. Hertzier), and Neelix (Ethan Phillips).

It was great! Tommy and I had SUCH a fun time and really got a chance to "nerd out". I even competed in a Star Trek trivia competition and got down to the final 2 questions but sadly lost. It was a DS9 episode title questions that did me in. :( But it was still lots of fun. Oh- and I bought a vintage 1988 Thermos brand Star Trek TNG Lunch Box!!! I'm sure it will be all the rage in the officer's mess. :)

I think we need to go on more of these diplomatic missions in the future. Maybe the Las Vegas convention next year? Comic Con? Maybe we can get a big landing party together! That would be lots of fun!

Until then- this is Capt Mike signing off. llap

My Photography is all over NYC!

I had the privilege of attending graduate school with some pretty tallented people. One of whom is Afton Williamson. She made her Broadway debut a few months after we graduated in August Wilson's play Joe Turner's Come and Gone. Now she's featured in the new cast of David Mamet's Race. I learned of her latest gig when I saw this commercial on TV the other night:


Cool right? They flashed her face across the screen and I thought "Oh my God! That's Afton! I'd recognize those eyes anywhere." Then I thought "Wait a minute. Not only do I recognize her face but I think I know that photograph. Did I take that picture? Is that one of the headshots I took of her back in school??" So I dragged out my external hard drive, searched thru my files and sure enough I found it! You see, I'd offered to take free headshots for all my classmates before we left Alabama. It was sort of an graduation present and several of them took me up on the offer. So now one of my photographs is plastered on subway posters, displayed in front of a Broadway theatre, being aired on TV all over the NYC area and is on the website for a Broadway show! I'm so proud!! :)

I'm hoping to do some more headshot photography this summer while I'm in NYC. If you anyone who needs new photos please feel free to pass on my information. My rates are vary reasonable starting at just $50 (!) and I'm more than happy to create a custom package to suit the client's needs. You can see a small gallery of my work over at my smugmug page here: http://themikejonesphotos.smugmug.com

Only in Florida

Only in Florida (otherwise known as God's waiting room) can you fine 2 dicarded empty tubes of Bengay on the sidewalk. If only I'd snagged a picture of that. Instead look at this: These are everywhere I look down here. It's begining to look a lot like Christmas ALREADY!!





- Posted using BlogPress from my iPhone

Location:Independent Dr,Jacksonville,United States

Hello muddah, hello faddah...

Here I am at.. Camp Granada

HELLO FROM JACKSONVILLE FLORIDA!  Today was the first day of Camp Broadway and my dogs are BARKIN'! It was a crazy day and I learned a lot.  I feel much better prepared for tomorrow and beyond. :)

Working for Camp Broadway and temping at the Fresh Air Fund a few months back has given me food for thought.  Why did I never go to camp when I was a kid?  I never went swimming in a lake full of other campers or  slept in a log cabin full of bunk beds.  Why not?  Ultimately I think it's because 1) I didn't really want to go to camp. I was too shy.  2) We lived in rual Tennessee and we would go "camping" as a family and 3) we didn't go to church so there were not "youth group" organized camping ventures or Christian camps in my life.  If there was ever a camp I did want to go to it was Space Camp!  Of course, I still want to go to Space Camp.  I wonder if there's a program for adults?  Hmm.

In any case, I'm totally in camp now.  It's not Space Camp.  It's not wilderness camp (although I could go swimming in the hotel pool).  I'm totally immersed in theater camp it's pretty amazing.  Watching the kids discover their own talents and have fun singing and dancing is a lot of fun!  Don't get me wrong- it's not a stress free work environment but it is certainly a rewarding one.  

Great weekend!

I had a great weekend! It all started Friday night with a delicious dinner with friends at Yum Yum too. Mmm. Then Saturday we got up and drove into upstate New York to visit Diane. It was beautiful! I learned that a horizon line with the Catskill Mountains looks shockingly like the Smoky Mountains. I felt like I as back home. :) We knew that the Woodstock site is somewhere up there too so we set out to find it. We did! It was VERY cool! There was a museum and everything. :) We ended the day back at Diane's roasting marshmallows over a camp fire. What a wonderful day! Thankfully we didn't see any coyotes. Sunday was much less dramatic-- filled with Puppy Kindergarten & mall shopping. :)

Talky Blog

themikejones's webcam video April 09, 2010, 07:51 PM

Shameless Self Promotion

My first NYC show is closing this weekend!  Make sure you all come check out The Crucible at The Gallery Players before it's too late. :)

Details @ http://galleryplayers.com/plays/crucible

Back To The Ole Blog

I posted a Facebook status yesterday asking my friends if I should start blogging again.  So far the response seems pretty positive.  I've enjoyed blogging in the past and I think I should keep up with it more.  So- I sat down at my computer and opened ScribeFire (the program I use to blog) and I found a blog entry that I'd typed back in January.  I'm not sure why I never posted it.  It's not terrible- just a little random.  Here it is:

                                                                                   
Written in Early January:

"I Love These Spoons"

I'm back in Cincinnati Ohio after 3 months of working out of town.  I'm happy to be back here-- though the apartment seems empty without Tim (who's visiting family and friends in Massachusetts.)  We spent some time at my parents house in Tennessee last week.  I was there for a total of one week- just the right amount of time for me to get cabin fever and want to be in my own apartment again.  It's weird sleeping in your childhood bedroom on an air mattress.  

A few minutes ago I was unpacking some groceries left over from tour and I saw that Mom had packed some homemade chili in with them.  The sight of it made me smile.  I popped it into the microwave to heat it up.  It took me a second to remember which drawer in which to find a spoon but as soon as I picked it up the tactile memory was perfect.  I love these spoons.  They have a great weight to them.  Nice and solid but not too heavy.  These are our spoons.  :) I like being home. 

Of course "home" is relative.  Soon Tim and I are moving to THE city.  I can't wait to call New York my new home!  More on that soon. :)


                                                                                   


"More on that soon"??  Not exactly, right?  I'm not sure why I abandoned my blog.  I guess I got caught up in the move-- which was EPIC by the way.  And then I've spent the last couple of months getting acclimated in our new home.  New York City is amazing.  It's kind of everything at once.  It can be absolutely inspiring to walk thru the theatre district and see how much is happening here.  I love that I can go see shows like The Adamms Family in previews and see something that none of my friends have had the chance to yet-- a new Broadway musical that hasn't even opened yet!  At the same time it can be frustrating as it's a difficult theatre community to really break into.  I'm doing my best, however.  I'm working Off-Off Broadway right now on a production of The Crucible.  It's going quiet well actually.  And I'm sending out my resume constantly for the next gig. 

The other thing about New York City that I love is the food!  It seems like everything I eat here is AMAZING!  From the cheap diners & corner delis to the kitchy burger joints and authentic ethnic places it's all DELICIOUS.  And it's all available at any time-- and for delivery.  Thank god I'm poor-- otherwise I'd be gaining a lot of weight here.

I guess that's all I have to say for now.  I need to go call half hour.