Saturday Happenings

A walnut sized frog leaped from the dark of our bedroom into the light of our bathroom as I exited the latter last night a tick or two after four. The little guy just sat there looking at me as I scraped sleep from my consciousness and pondered what to do. I could catch the frog and walk the length of the building where I could unlock a door and effect his release or I could turn out the light, close the bathroom door and deal with the tiny croaker in the morning. I knew if I made the walk, I'd be up, awake and finished with sleep for the night, so I tossed that option aside and returned to bed and dreams of happy hoppers.

It's morning now and there is no frog.

Earlier last night we, RTGFKAR, Woowoo and I, had dinner with friends Lane and Rhode before motoring on to Snoopys to see Neil Simon's play "God's Favorite" performed by our local theatre group. I could review the play as a serious critic of serious art and pan the production, but that would be unfair to the people who worked so hard to put on the show. For what it was, an amatuer offering for live theatre lovers, it was just fine, although not quite dandy.

During intermission I talked with a guy named Mark who had his golden retriever Happy on a leash and was attracting a bit of attention. I mean, most dogs don't attend theatre unless one of their own is featured. Little Orphan Annie comes to mind, arf arf. Mark and I bragged awhile about the intelligence of our respective pets and I noted how Gus will dry himself after a bath if you give him a towel. Mark nodded, unimpressed and then said, "yeah but can he count?" "Huh" I shot back cleverly. Mark then asked Happy how many people were in the group to our left and the dog gave four short barks. Alrighty then. I was one upped and returned to the play.

The thing I have noted about amateur productions is that the actors deliver their lines too rapidly. It is as if they can't wait to get through them correctly and get out of the spotlight. Professionals on the other hand, savor their lines and deliver them with proper timing and careful word emphasis. They love when it is their turn to shine and they don't rush to leave the spotlight. Neil Simon delivers a punch line in almost every sentence of his scripts and last night's cast slid over quite a few of them. Nevertheless, all in all, remember the Alamo and win one for the Gipper, the show was more than worth the seven buck ticket.

Now about that frog. "Yo Gus. Come here. I want you to find something."

We'll show that Happy a thing or two.