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Monday, July 6, 2009

Scientists Amused and Disturbed by Creation Museum

Filed under: Religion — Dr. Christopher Blackwell @ 16:08

Creation Museum by ViperWD.

Associated Press writers accompanied a group of paleontologists and other biological scientists into the “Creation Museum” in Petersburg, Kentucky this weekend to witness their reactions to the museum’s displays which provide a literal interpretation of “creationism” and a damning view of historical science, paleontology, and evolution. Staunch interpretation of creationism is actually not a view held by most mainstream Christian religions. Displays at the museum depict cave-dwelling children playing with dinosaurs, scientists contributing to the “moral destruction” of American society because of their support of evidence which strongly disputes creationist viewpoints, and non-factual information about the age of fossils and other artifacts which indicate the true age of the Earth.

Lisa Park of the University of Akron cried at one point as she walked a hallway full of flashing images of war, famine and natural disasters which the museum blames on belief in evolution. “I think it’s very bad science and even worse theology — and the theology is far more offensive to me,” said Park, a professor of paleontology who is an elder in the Presbyterian Church. “I think there’s a lot of focus on fear, and I don’t think that’s a very Christian message… I find it a malicious manipulation of the public.” I am always completely amazed by the ridiculous and frivilous beliefs of religious zealots, whether they be followers of Christianity, Islam, Scientology, or any other belief system. How is it that fear of death and the overwhelming weakness of a person’s character that requires him or her of the need to rely on a spiritual being or beings can allow any ounce of rationale thought to be discarded? The Creation Museum is perhaps the greatest display of ignorant dependency on the supernatural and irrationalism at its zenith. Perhaps even more sad is the thought of just how helpful the $20 million spent on this garbage “museum” could’ve gone to help people truly in need…What would Jesus do?

Pictured above: A cave-dwelling child plays near a dinosaur in one of the displays at the Creation Museum.

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Saturday, July 4, 2009

Casting News for Phantom Sequel Reveals More Plot

Filed under: Performing Arts — Dr. Christopher Blackwell @ 22:49

Playbill announced today that Broadway stars Ramin Karimloo and Sierra Boggess will star as The Phantom and Christine (respectively) in both the West End and Broadway productions of the sequel to The Phantom of the Opera (The Phantom: Love Never Dies). Andrew Lloyd Webber seems to be excited in the casting of The Phantom and Christine: “I personally feel that what will now happen is that Sierra and Ramin will open in London early next year and then go to New York in the autumn of 2010. I think once the album comes out, hopefully before Christmas, a lot of singers will come out of the woodwork and we’ll find new Christines and Phantoms for the other productions.”Perhaps even more interesting, however, is a little more revealing information on the plot, which may have changed slightly as Webber has meticulously worked on the sequel. According to Playbill, “In 1907 New York, the mysterious ‘Maestro’ who runs the theatre at Coney Island announces a one-off concert by legendary Parisian soprano Christine Daaé. Her arrival in New York with husband Raoul, Victome de Chagny and son Gustave, and their subsequent meeting with the ‘Maestro,’ bring the cataclysmic events of 10 years earlier at the Paris Opera crashing back into all their lives.” The Phantom: Love Never Dies should be making its way to a Broadway debut in about a year. Exciting news, indeed.

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Some Sweet Sticky & Sweet Clips

Filed under: Popular Music — Dr. Christopher Blackwell @ 22:29

As the Material Girl sets sail on the second leg of her Sticky and Sweet Tour, an awesome trailer of the concerts upcoming DVD release has been posted to madonna.com (see the video by clicking on the link below). Already grossing more money than any tour by an individual artist, Madonna announced several months ago that she would be taking her show to multiple foreign territories this Summer. Of the 4 concerts I have seen by Madonna, the Sticky and Sweet Tour was definitely my favorite! Madonna performed a handful of songs from her Hard Candy album in addition to a ton of her classic songs and selections from 1996s Best Picture (Golden Globes) Evita (Madonna also received the Best Actress Award for her portrayal of Eva Peron in the film). A release date for the DVD has not been set. But hopefully very soon after the tour finally ends, well be able to enjoy it from the comfort of our living rooms time and time again! Check out this trailer–This show is absolutely incredible!

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Friday, July 3, 2009

Senate Health Plan Could Save Taxpayers Billions

Filed under: Politics — Dr. Christopher Blackwell @ 14:03

The United States Senate is working hard to pass a comprehensive healthcare reform bill which will provide greater healthcare access for the uninsured by allowing them the option to purchase an insurance plan subsidized by the government. The plan would actually be more of a mandate. Like government regulations mandating car insurance, the plan would require individuals to purchase either private insurance or the government subsidized plan. Those who do not purchase health insurance will be fined through the income tax system, which will then generate funds that will help pay for hospital expenditures incurred by uninsured individuals.

The government subsidized plan will be priced on a sliding scale, which will vary depending on the individual’s income. This plan has some amazingly positive implications. First, it will require Americans to take responsibility for their healthcare and make sure their health is a personal priority. Too many Americans don’t believe health insurance is an essential necessity which costs millions upon millions of dollars to our healthcare system when these individuals become sick and have to enter hospitals for care. Second, this plan will expand accessibility to the healthcare system, which will allow a greater number of people to access primary and preventative care, which will reduce the number of costly hospitalizations which are currently being subsidized by taxpayers through tax and charity write-offs. While tax dollars will be used to subsidize the government insurance plan, individuals who opt for it will have to pay for it out-of-pocket as well. In the long-term, the millions or perhaps billions of dollars saved by allowing greater access to primary and preventative care will offset the massive expenditures currently being allocated for healthcare for the uninsured.

While the details are still in-development, it is likely the government-subsidized plan will actually end-up being administered by a private insurance company. Currently, Medicare, the largest funding source for the United States healthcare system, contracts with multiple private companies like Blue Cross and Blue Shield to administer many aspects of their insurance plan. I applaud the Senate for working on this with President Obama and the Democratic leadership. As Democratic Senator Christopher Dodd said yesterday, it’s time to put the healthcare needs of individuals and families ahead of profits for health insurance companies which rates are too high for many to afford and which restrict care access to grow their bottom line.

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Thursday, July 2, 2009

Ragtime Opens on Broadway November 15th!

Filed under: Performing Arts — Dr. Christopher Blackwell @ 02:59

The cast of the Kennedy Center production of Ragtime.

It’s official! The Kennedy Center’s Washington DC Production of Ragtime is making its way to Broadway! Here is the story, right from the front page of Playbill:

Ragtime, the Tony Award-winning musical that fans say got a too-short Broadway run after its 1998 launch in the same season as The Lion King is coming back to the Great White Way. The news has been buzzed about for weeks, and on July 1 producers made it official: The John F. Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts’ recent all-new and critically acclaimed production of Terrence McNally, Lynn Ahrens and Stephen Flaherty’s Ragtime, based on the E.L. Doctorow novel, featuring direction and choreography by Marcia Milgrom Dodge, will begin Broadway previews Oct. 23 at the Neil Simon Theatre. Opening is Nov. 15.

Casting and ticketing information will be announced soon. Members of the Kennedy Center company will likely be offered their roles again. Ragtime will be produced on Broadway by Kevin McCollum, Roy Furman, Roger Berlind, Max Cooper, Tom Kirdahy/Devlin Elliott, Jeffrey Sine, Scott Delman, Roy Miller, LAMS Productions, Inc., Wendy Federman, Emanuel Azenberg in association with The John F. Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts.

Milgrom Dodge’s production debuted at the Kennedy Center’s Eisenhower Theater on April 18 and played a popular limited engagement through May 17, 2009. The award winning production team includes scenic design by Derek McLane, original costume design by Santo Loquasto, lighting design by Donald Holder, musical direction by James Moore and original orchestrations by William David Brohn.

After a test run in Toronto, Ragtime originally opened on Broadway on Jan. 18, 1998 at the Ford Center for the Performing Arts. The musical won four Tony Awards including Best Book (Terrence McNally), Original Score (lyricist Lynn Ahrens and composer Stephen Flaherty) and Best Orchestrations (Williams David Brohn). Audra McDonald won a Tony as Best Featured Actress in a Musical for playing Sarah.

The lavish, big-cast project was initiated and guided by producer Garth Drabinsky, whose production company Livent would collapse within several years of the Broadway bow. Frank Galati directed the original; Graciela Daniele choreographed. Both were Tony-nominated for their work. A scaled-down London production and a national tour followed the Broadway run, and the title has since been seen in regional, stock and amateur theatre. Flaherty told the Washington Post earlier this year that the 2009 production, physically, falls somewhere between the opulent 1998 production and the “minimalist” London production.

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More Ridiculous Conservative Comments

Filed under: Politics — Dr. Christopher Blackwell @ 02:51

As if the laughably absurd comments made by drug-addicted Rush Limbaugh weren’t bad enough (or how about the comments made by the Chair of the Republican Party Michael Steele that affording gay people equal rights would be just too expensive), the new conservative poster child Glenn Beck made a terribly offensive remark Wednesday on Faux News actually encouraging a terrorist attack to “wake up” Americans! Here’s the transcript:

“The only chance we have as a country right now is for Osama bin Laden to deploy and detonate a major weapon in the United States. Because it’s going to take a grass-roots, bottom-up pressure, because these politicians prize their office, prize the praise of the media and the Europeans. It’s an absurd situation again. Only Osama can execute an attack which will force Americans to demand that their government protect them effectively, consistently, and with as much violence as necessary.”

Absolutely disgusting.

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