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Out and About
November 7, 2011
I had a quiet weekend at home the past two days, but before that, I packed in more entertainment than usual. Thursday night Mr. Karen and I went to Ann Arbor to see Michael Ian Black perform. On our way to the comedy club, we happened upon the Occupy Ann Arbor encampment; it’s no Wall Street, but there were tents and signs and even “spirit fingers”. If we’d had more time, I’d probably have stopped to listen (going to Vietnam War and other protests with my mom as an impressionable child formed that groove in my brain). But we didn’t have time (one of the reasons we rarely go out on a school night), so we walked on and found the club and got seated (with plenty of time to spare, as it turned out). I hadn’t been to a comedy club in a long while; it’s much, much nicer now that the smoking ban is in place. The show got started a bit late, but once it did it was fun. The opening act was Moshe Kasher, and he was good (and also made me glad I’d passed on the front row seats, as he picked on some of those people), then it was Michael Ian Black time. I’d never seen him live before, just liked him from podcasts and sketch shows on tv and those VH1 I Love the things thingies. Not surprisingly, I enjoyed his standup act (and so did Mr. Karen, even though he only came along because I asked him to). It was an enjoyable night.
Then Friday I took the day off and went across the border to Canada with some of the quilting ladies from work. We left from the office in two cars, then met up in Stratford for lunch and a matinee of Jesus Christ Superstar. The performances were very good (this production is going to Broadway early next year), and the set was almost a character in its own right, getting reconfigured multiple times and incorporating scrolling words and projections. Despite living only a few hours drive from there, I’d never been to Stratford before; I liked it. I would have loved to have time to explore the town some, but that’ll have to wait until next time.