At work, we had a lovely discussion during Water Cooler Time in which we complained about how Giant Org is supposedly super prestigious and highfalutin and all that jazz and whatnot, but if you work here, we have technology straight out of 1990 that can never get fixed and will never be fixed.

Right before this they had had some kind of "tell us what you want in a new BigBigBoss" meeting, which some had gone to and some (such as myself) had skipped. Someone asked Teresa what she said and she said, "same thing I always do, we need more people and money." And she noted that management is kind of a revolving door and they show up here, they start with enthusiasm that things are going to change and then, well.... They start all these new things and then leave after three years and then never mind!

Teresa pointed out that we still have to use a program that was supposed to be discontinued YEARS AGO because the new one "with all the bells and whistles" cannot and will not let anyone change their address. So we still have to use this old program for that. "And the new one isn't even ADA compliant," said Grandboss. Teresa says she recommends the place and the benefits are the best around, but warns anyone wanting to work here that they will be frustrated as hell. She noted that a lot of people quit out of sheer frustration. I was all "I second all of this" and someone else was all "1000 percent." Even Grandboss admitted that the tech team won't fix anything because "it might break something else" but they won't check on this if this would actually happen or actually break anything. John was all, nobody wants to make a decision about anything here and they just talk about it forever and never get anywhere.

So basically, this place is calcified on a management and technological level. It helps to get your gripe on a bit.

After work, one last rehearsal, just kind of bits and pieces with who we had. (Shanna, as usual, kept intending to go and then never made it....at one point she wanted to see the kiss scene and well, too late, guess you wait until tomorrow!)

Carlos: "Mustache or no mustache?" Kelly: "I don't think Sam would have a mustache. He's not manly enough." Carlos: "And you based it on me!" (laughs)

On the kissing in the show: Kelly: "It looked like you were making out with the screen." Me: "That's what I was doing." (Upon discussion, we end up negotiating that I turn my camera off during the big clinch and make kissy noises. After turning the camera back on...) Kelly: "You look drunk." Me: "I'm drunk at the coffee bar. I spiked the coffee." (Later, Claire likens coming in after being beaten by police as "I got drunk at the coffee shop.")

I applaud as Grace is now able to use noir setting.to hide her bright red hair. "You need to look frazzled, is what she's saying." -me translating Marge telling Grace that it's okay that the top layers of her haircut would be falling out of the bun.

On Maggie being a 1918 butch in hat and suspenders: "The first time we see Maggie, she's walking out with a baby and a cigarette, which I love." -Kelly "Grace will be all, don't forget my mask, and I'll be all" (pantomimes bird flippage)." -Claire "This is very 1918 gangster style." -me "I love a good game of dress-up." -Claire

On what people are doing before the show: "I'm doing MacBeth at one and I was all NO." -Jackie on getting times confused as to what she's doing tomorrow. "You're really going to choose painting over all of us, Claire?" -Jackie on Claire's morning activities.'

Kelly said that Marc and his wife Fran ah...want to flake out on seeing the play to go to LA and would Kelly be mad at this? Uh....Claire wrote "Murder Francine" on a piece of paper to this. I eventually pointed out that they are mentioned in the credits, so they might want to see THAT. I suspect Fran is still snitty about Marc quitting and it sounds like that. Meanwhile Jackie is all "I have zero shame about guilt tripping" and reminding people to go to her shows. "Thank you, Sister Mary Jacqueline." -Marge

Jackie mentioned doing Clubhouse and talking with "Millionaire Matchmaker" Patti Stanger, which got Claire all excited. "I am in a show with somebody who talked to Patti Stanger!" Jackie was less impressed, saying she was making up stuff and "I know that she's again full of shit." "I haven't heard of her." -Marge "That makes you more respectable." -Claire.

Claire recounted the birth of her "spawn of Satan" brother: he kicked her mother in the appendix and burst it, forcing her to have surgery at 6 months pregnant on Christmas, and the anaesthesia didnt' work. Then the dog jumped on her when she got home.

She also mentioned running out of the house in nothing but a towel when her landlord was screaming about something and it turned out to be that someone hit her car. I mentioned what happened to Hope's car and Claire suggested a curse: "I hope he gets diarrhea with no bathroom around. And that they stub their toe on every piece of furniture." Claire: "I want to know why we got away from putting curses on people." (discussion of ancient curses ensues) "There's something comforting to know that our ancestors were just as mad at men as we are." -Claire "I get mad at a man every time I get a mammogram. I want to know if they do the same for testicular cancer." -Marge "You know if men had to put their thing in there it'd be lined and cushiony." -Kelly "I will be hexing the heck out of he who shall not be named." -Claire "I just Googled who invented the mammogram. It was a guy." -Kelly "Put a hex on his family." -Jackie. "If it didn't actually work, I would." -Marge

"I really did like the man bashing, though." -Claire "That did help." -Marge

"I just like to take pictures of people having a worse day than me." -Claire, who then showed a picture of someone with handprints on her butt. "You shouldn't have taught me how to share screen."

And I finally asked Jackie how many online shows she's been in and she said "Literally hundreds." She was originally doing a weekly reading group, then started her own and joined other groups. She is doing 3 shows this weekend.

Kelly is having one more rehearsal with Shanna and Claire tomorrow "just to rub thru the ending." LOL.

After that, I watched "Shrek Jr" to support Morgan/Fiona and all that, since it turned out I actually had the time to.

Differences/foreshadowing for our show: (a) They have three talking head storytellers that narrate stuff like the opening scene in which Shrek is kicked out at age seven. (b) I love their pigs. Pig #1 (note, they still have 3) is attutde-y as hell just saying "Helloooooooooooo." (I admit I have more 'tude than their Pig #2 though.) (c) The Big Bad Wolf does not use the word "tranny" and is played by a girl. (d) The stepping back and forth dance number is...rather chaotic. It gets better when they don't move around as much. (e) Oh my, the directions on the Duloc dancers...same, starts out off and gets better. (f) "Sounds like a cue for a flashback." "Who are you talking to?" "No one." Cut to the Fiona "princess in a tower' number. (g) Fiona ripping up paper out of a book looks and sounds very realistic. (h) When does Fiona ever get to bowl?! (i) "This ass of mine is asinine." And that line's in a kid's show. (j) Oh, there's the helmet that Matthew/Shrek and Adam/Shrek will share! It doesn't look....that drastically big on the kid? (k) The knights have long hair and beards and whatnot. Are ours doing that? The dragon is just wearing a red dress and some kind of headgear. Not that very dragon-y? I thought they were doing...special effects or something? (l) Fiona Jr.'s version of dancing around alone is shaking her tambourine. (m) Did you just wipe your ass with that hanky?! (n) I'm curious as to how Shrek doesn't have a Scottish accent EXCEPT when he has the helmet on. (o) We had the whole Pied Piper thing cut out of our show, but it's totally going on in this one. Hmmmm. (p) Instead of having three blind mice, you have three random storytellers doing that number. I really wonder at the logic of some of the changes? (q) HAHAHAHAHA THEY JUST HAD SOMEONE ON MUTED AND STARTED TALKING ABOUT IT AND HAD TO START OVER AGAIN. I thought they had totally recorded everything the kids did? I guess not! (r) The second fairytale creatures scene is a bunch of random creatures talking about Shrek's love life, which they haven't known about? (s) Gingy is a dangling puppet. I really wonder what we are actually doing with our Gingy/ (t) They cut the boring part out of Freak Flag Flag, so good for them. I wish we did that. Also ends on "I'm mean, I'm green, get used to it," instead of on Pinocchio. I wonder why? (u) Farquaad's dad has quite the Brooklyn accent somehow. (v) LOL THE DRAGON FIRE DEATH IS ANIMATED A LA MONTY PYTHON AND I LAUGH AND LAUGH. (w) Donkey is all "watch THIS!" the kiss is gonna turn her human. Then the animation shows her turning around in the church...not transforming. (x) It seems a little distracting to have the fairytale creatures dancing around to a slow song? (y) Shrek farts in his bow.

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