Radiate: Tristan’s blog

Sharon and I went downtown today to see the musical Wicked with some friends. A friend from church ended up with a bunch of unused tickets (it’s a rather unfortunate story, though very fortunate for us), and he generously gave two of them to us. You can read the synopsis here if you want. In a nutshell, it’s the prequel to The Wizard of Oz and follows the unlikely friendship of the Wicked Witch of the West (whose title of wicked is essentially the result of a smear campaign by the government of Oz) and Glinda the Good Witch (a self-absorbed, sterotypical blonde). Totally worth seeing, in my opinion. Not the next Les Mis by any stretch, but quite witty and fun. Plus, there are neato-bandito effects for us sound and lighting freaks.

At least, it’s got a temporarily semi-permanent ‘working’ title: radiate. I’m still thinking about the connotations, but for starters, I think it’s a good description of how our influence should effect the culture in which we live. A light radiating in the darkness. Heat radiating in the cold. The header picture displays this in the light that radiates from the structure, the angular architecture that radiates upward from the stage and the metal trellis beams that radiate outward, arcing and intersecting over the crowd. Basically, that’s all a complex way of saying, Wow, that building rocks. :) If you’re wondering, it’s the Jay Pritzker Pavilion at Millennium Park in Chicago. After I took the photo, I noticed that some guy was standing silhouetted right in the middle of the bright stage area… but not anymore. Photoshop is a beautiful thing (and really kind of scary when you think about the way it can be used to blur the lines between reality and fiction).

It’s long past time for me to jump on the blog bandwagon. I was starting to feel like a relic… an outcast… the “Blogless One.” My old site is still available here if you’re interested in seeing it, but it’s being “phased out,” kind of like cassette tapes or Chia pets. [Aside: You can still find both at Walmart. I almost bought a Homer Simpson head chia for my office the other day, but then I got to thinking that he looks odd with a green fro… something’s just not right about that combination.]

In any case, it remains to be seen what this blog will become. Delving the deep mysteries of the universe, probably, but who can say? I’ll keep you posted.