Tea with McNair

• mcnair in person

 

This Sunday, 30 March 2008

My one-man play (one of three), FROM UP HERE, will have two, live performances this Sunday, 30 March '8 at Monte Vista Chapel in Turlock, (in California's verdant central valley.) Turlock is near beautiful downtown Ceres! 

These will be  full, one hour performances in both Sunday morning services at 9:15 and 10:45 am. Admission is absolutely free and Monte Vista Chapel is a lively and casual place.

If you live in Northern California, can skip the "church of your choice" for a week, or are willing to Tivo your favorite Sunday morning political gab fest, come on down. And if you do, please do say, "Hi." (I'll be the guy in the sweaty shirt, standing just outside the front door, and slugging back cold water.)

This is a one hour romp through the Older and Newer Testaments through the first-person accounts of a dozen of history and the Bible's greatest hits: Adam & Eve, Noah, Abraham & Isaac, Moses, Nimrod (who?), King David, some guys on camels,  some other guys on crosses, and  a very old guy in Heaven who's considering a visit to the garden planet for "a few minutes, days, weeks...what do they have down there?"

We meet each character in elevated place: a tree,  balcony, tower,  mountain top, or the deck of the largest back-yard-do-it-yourself project in history. You've heard these stories before...you think, but not told by those who were there, in their own words.

From comedy to tragedy, I break open the old theatrical trunkful of tricks for this show. It is all performed in street clothes and matching socks, using only a ladder, cup of water,  scrap of paper, and your imagination.

I imagine you'll love it.

If you are unable to attend,  because you live in  Spain, or some other weak excuse, tell a friend!

McNair

P.S. Happy Birthday! (today, 27 March) to my baby brother, Todd. If you're going through Sheldon, Iowa, TP his house for me. And that address is...

"How many siblings do you have, McNair?"

Well...I am the next-to-the-youngest of two.

• dog lover alert

  (Get it on DVD if you missed it.)

IF YOU ARE DOG LOVER you will want to tune in, tape, or TIVO a favorite little film this weekend, EIGHT BELOW - (23-25 March, Sun -Tues.) on USA cable network. (CAUTION: USA website has plot spoiler.) I did not know anything about this film when I first watched it on the airplane. With this film I recommend ignorance on the part of all viewers.

I first posted on this after seeing EIGHT BELOW as an in-flight movie. On my way home from the airport I rented the DVD and watched it again, twice. This amazing story is based on a true incident. It is, at first, the warm-hearted story of day-to-day life in an arctic  research outpost with a small group of scientists. One has a dog team used to negotiate the challenging terrain and climate of the great frozen continent.

What happens next would be unbelievable, were it not true. Several of my most ardent dog loving friends told me they could not see this film when they first heard about it, but my review encouraged them to tough it out and they were glad they did.

This past week I was coaching a new enterprise (which you will all know about soon, and want to be a part of.) As the team gathered, in Southern California, for a two day brainstorming session we were constantly engaged by three grand dogs: a gentle, blue-eyed Husky; an eager black Lab; and a 110 lb., enthusiastically affectionate, and engaging Akita. I was in heaven: doing the work I love, with brilliant people, lots of hearty food and snacks, and a bountiful brood of bounding of dogs.

So, this Sunday, Monday, or Tuesday, curl up with your pet (dog, cat, human...) and watch EIGHT BELOW...then come back here, to Tea World, and post a comment. You will find pictures of the remarkable canine cast on my original post - HERE.

McNair

After you watch the movie, Google the title for the background and use the link in my last paragraph above to read about the production and real dogs used in the film.