Dinner: Pepper Steak Stir Fry

 

Lunch: Leftover Meatloaf

 

Meatloaf open-faced sandwich on Toasted Sourdough bread with Alfalfa sprouts and homemade Green Goddess Dressing.

My Little Garden Zoo Additions to the Asian Trail

 These additions, along with the others from the Aviary and Herpetarium bring the total to 27 species.

ASIAN WATER MONITOR

Varanus salvator

RANGE

India, Bangladesh, Myanmar, Thailand, Cambodia, Vietnam, Laos, Singapore, Malayasia, Brunei, and Indonesia

CONSERVATION STATUS

NILGAI

Boselapphus tragocamelus

RANGE

India and Nepal

CONSERVATION STATUS

My Little Garden Zoo Another Addition to Australia, Land of Wonders

 This addition brings that total of species in this section of the zoo to 15.

LUMHOLTZ'S TREE-KANGAROO

Dendrolagus lumholtzi

RANGE

Australia (northeastern)

CONSERVATION STATUS

Theatre J: One Jewish Boy

"One Jewish Boy" is a U.S. Premiere of a play written by Stephen Laughton and originally produced in London at the Red Lion Theatre in 2018, it eventually moved to the  West End and played to great acclaim at the Trafalgar Studios.  The story is told with two actors, the first is Danny Gavigan whose greater DMV career I've been following since 2016 and his performance of Stanley Kowalski at Everyman Theater up in Baltimore.  The other role was played by Alanna Saunders who among other credits played Tiger Lily in NBC production of "Peter Pan Live!".  Great theatre, great background, great actors, what more could you ask for?  And it was indeed a great production.  I loved a lot about it.

I know, you're already sensing the "BUT" in the room... I'm not going to go there just yet.

Let me talk about all of the great stuff first!   The play is well written.  It's dialogue is often so natural that the humor catches you off guard and the pathos cuts like paper, sharp and unexpected.  The sequence of scenes flows back and forth in time with the two characters Jesse the well raised, player wannabe Jewish boy and Alex, the bi-racial devil may care with a righteous indignation against social injustice.  Their interactions twist and turn like a dervish between passion and love and passion and discord.  There was never a moment when the actors left me thinking the were Danny and Alanna.  From the moment the dialogue began, they were Jesse and Alex.  And as they moved forward and backward in time they were younger and older versions of themselves.  These were brilliant performances.  

The set was deceptively simple.  Indistinct cubes that could become various things.  A background of blank canvases ready to become whatever the scene required through the use of projected images.  The hallmark was a simple shelf running along the back wall of the room.  With every scene some article was left there, building of a sense of clutter, of history, of the progression of the life they were living together.  

Ok...first, a minor annoyance.  The actors were beautifully coached in a British accent--not posh, Jesse's was a mellow Northwest Highgate and Alex's more Southeast Greenwich immigrant.  I was impressed by the care taken in this aspect of the production; however, it didn't suite the audience.  Many lines were lost in the unfamiliarity during moments where the dialogue ran smartly over top each other.  Practically the discernible word was "fuck".  Leaving the theatre I was listen for commentary, and more than one comment alluded to not being able to understand what was going on all the time.  Again, midday matinee at the Edlavitch Jewish Center?  Median age 73.  But this is really nitpicking, compared my main complaint.

When a playwright goes to all of the trouble of pouring their genius, their art into a work, you want them to have something to say.  You hope that what they are going to tell you is going to give you something worth discovering.  Here you have two intelligent, curious, passionate people who's chance meeting leads them into a relationship.  The story starts with their divorce and then reveals all of the things that came before.  Poignantly, the final vignette is of their first "date".  

From that moment to the divorce they move in together, support one another in moments of indecision and career moves, and have a son.  There's a lot of love there.  Strangling it is the trauma.  Jesse's trauma erupts after a Jew bashing incident in which he is randomly beaten by a gang of black youths who specifically taunt him with Jewish slurs and Nazi references.  It is an experience he cannot move on from.  For Alex, it is the endemic misogyny and racism that has dogged her and beat her down for her entire life--even up to almost dying in childbirth because her description of her own pain was ignored by the white doctor and nurses.  In the end, the trauma wins the day. In spite of their passion, in spite of their son, they cannot break the toxic power of the trauma.  

Well, sigh...  Perhaps profoundly true, I found it also pathetically cynical.  I don't need sunshine and roses.  I know life can suck the fucking hope out of a rainbow.  I already know that.  I also know, that out of the darkest abyss, even the slightest spark of light, can refract the most dismal deluge to create a little rainbow again.  I wish Stephen Laughton with all of his brilliant talent also knew that.  I wish he had found a way to teach it to Jesse and Alex.

Confirmed to the Federal Bench: Natasha C. Merle

 

Dinner: Peach & Molasses BBQ Chicken Thigh with Onion, Tomato, Peach and Jalapeno Pepper over Rice!

 

Confirmed to the Federal Bench: Julie Rikelman

 

Dinner: Breaded Chicken Breast Cutlet and a Creamy Speghetti alla Puttanesca

 

Confirmed to the Federal Bench: Nusrat Jahan Choudhary

 

MLGZoo Saturday Afternoon Visit

From: The Asian Trail

BORNEAN ORANGUTAN

HIMALAYAN TARH

From: Australia, Land of Wonders

DINGO

KOALA

PARMA WALLABY

From: Icons of the Americas

SOUTHERN TAMANDUA

From: African Adventure

AFRICAN ELEPHANT

COMMON HIPPOPOTAMUS

RETICULATED GIRAFFE

AFRICAN WILD DOG

Two Nominees Confirmed

 

Confirmed to the Federal Bench: Hernan D. Vera

 After 530 days waiting from nomination to confirmation, Judge Vera was finally confirmed today...

My Little Garden Zoo: Aviary

 Usually, I set up a series of little planters and stones around the center of the table on the deck and create there an "aviary" for MLGZoo.  Of course, some species of birds end up elsewhere along the way.  This year I have habitats out and about for Common Ostriches, Greater Flamingos in the "African Adventure" area, Gentoo Penguins in "Icons of the Americas," and Southern Cassowary in "Australia, Land of Wonders."  Additionally, I have a mini aviary of birds from South America in the "Icons of the Americas" hosting 3 species of Macaw (Scarlet, Hyacinth, and Blue & Yellow), and 2 species of Toucan (Keel-billed, and Toco).  The table aviary is a mix and with the 9 aforementioned species beings the total avian offerings at the MLGZoo in 2023 to 22 with it's 13 unique bird species.  

ICONS OF THE AMERICAS

GREAT HORNED OWL

Bubo virginianus

RANGE

Canada, United States, Mexico, Guatemala, El Salvador, Honduras, Colombia, Venezuela, Guyana, Suriname, French Guiana, Ecuador, Peru, Brazil, Bolivia, Paraguay, Uruguay, and Argentina

CONSERVATION STATUS

 BARN OWL

Tyto alba

RANGE

Widely across multiple continents

CONSERVATION STATUS

 PILEATED WOODPECKER

Dryocopus pileatus

RANGE

Canada and United States

CONSERVATION STATUS

RING-NECKED PHEASANT

Phasianus colchicus

RANGE

Native to Asia, introduced and iconic in Europe and North America

CONSERVATION STATUS

PEREGRINE FALCON

Falco peregrinus

RANGE

Yellow - Summer Breeding Visitor

Light Blue - Travel Visitor

Blue - Winter Visitor

Green - Resident Breeder

Worldwide

CONSERVATION STATUS

ANHINGHA

Anhinga anhinga

RANGE

United States, Mexico, Belize, El Salvador, Guatemala, Honduras, Cuba, Grand Cayman Islands, Jamaica, Nicaragua, Costa Rica, Panama, Columbia, Ecuador, Peru, Brazil, Venezuela, Guyana, Suriname, French Guiana, Bolivia, Paraguay, Uruguay, and Argentina.

CONSERVATION STATUS

AUSTRALIA, LAND OF WONDER

EMU

Dromaius novaehallandiae

RANGE

Australia

CONSERVATION STATUS

SULFUR-CRESTED COCKATOO

Cacatua galerita

RANGE

Australia, Papua New Guinea, American Samoa, and Indonesia

CONSERVATION STATUS

AFRICAN ADVENTURE

SHOEBILL STORK

Balaeniceps rex

RANGE

Botswana, Zambia, Zaire, Tanzania, Burundi, Rwanda, Kenya, Uganda, South Sudan, Ethiopia, Sudan, Central African Republic, and Nigeria

CONSERVATION STATUS

WHITE STORK

Ciconia ciconia

RANGE

Green - Summer

Blue - Winter

Europe, Asia, and Africa to Asia and Africa

CONSERVATION STATUS

MARABOU STORK

Leptoptilos crumenifer

RANGE

All of Sub-Saharan Africa save Equatorial Guinea, Sao Tome e Principe, Lesotho and Madagascar

CONSERVATION STATUS

GREAT WHITE PELICAN

Pelecanus Onocrotalus

RANGE

Light Green - Breeding 

Dark Green - Resident colonies

Blue - Non-breeding visiting regions

Africa, Europe, and Asia

CONSERVATION STATUS

THE ASIAN TRAIL

GRIFFON VULTURE

Gyps fulvus

RANGE

Portugal, Spain, France, Italy, Croatia, Serbia, Albania, Greece, Macedonia, Turkey, Ukraine, Russia, Georgia, Armenia, Azerbaijan, Cypress, Syria, Lebanon, Jordan, Israel, Iraq, Iran, Turkmenistan, Afghanistan, Tajikistan, Kirghizia, Uzbekistan, Kazakhstan, Pakistan, India, Nepal, Sikkim, Morocco, Algeria, Erutrea, Ethiopia, Saudi Arabia. and Yemen 

CONSERVATION STATUS

EURASIAN SPOONBILL

Platalea leucorodia

RANGE

United Kingdom, Denmark, Netherlands, France, Portugal, Spain, Italy, Czech Republic, Slovakia, Slovenia, Serbia, Hungary, Romania, Bulgaria, Ukraine, Albania, Greece, and Turkey

CONSERVATION STATUS