Sunday roundup and ramble

Meat processors treat their workers like more meat.

Why the sun isn't rising any sooner (yet), even as the days get longer.

What is time? See also the conservation of energy.

There's plenty wrong with me, but that's not the point.

***
Yesterday I googled Theater J to figure out the closest Metro stop--I've mostly gone there on weeknights, when I've walked from work--to find out that Ari Roth had been fired for daring to discuss Israeli policies openly and not with blind acceptance (although, according to the Times, the DC JCC denies it). After the show--Tony Kushner's “The Intelligent Homosexual’s Guide to Capitalism and Socialism With a Key to the Scriptures”--the cast read a letter, cowritten by Mr. Kushner, denouncing the apparent censorship. The audience overwhelmingly applauded.

The show ("iHo" for short) was mostly watchable but less than compelling. I tweeted that it was "Rock and Roll" (Tom Stoppard) meets "Major Barbara" (George Bernard Shaw) meets "Torch Song Trilogy" (Harvey Fierstein), with a tinge of "Osage County" (Tracy Letts). Torch Song was even longer than "iHo" but didn't feel like it; it flew by. "iHo" dragged... and dragged... and dragged. Without adding any value. It was over three hours of people--family--arguing. Which gets really, really old, even if it's the point. It's like pauses: use them very sparingly in theatre. A few seconds' pause on stage can feel like an eternity. Three hours of bickering is too much bickering. By the way, tonight I'm heading out to watch more theatrical family bickering... and later this week, I'm heading out for some IRL family bickering of my own, but more on that in a minute. As for "iHo," I don't regret having seen it, but I wouldn't have missed much if I hadn't seen it. There were some great lines and some very entertaining moments, but not enough--absent a compelling plot--to carry the play.

[I'm going to sneak in another playwriting tip here: don't start with stuttering and interruption too soon unless your actors can really pull it off; until the audience has a sense of the characters, the interrupting will come off as artificial.]

***
Now then, my IRL family bickering. I'm already having bouts of anxiety about it. I'm already getting flashbacks of Mom being difficult, mean, manipulative, and insufferable. It's going to be a long week.