Last night my family and I (and some of the wonderful folks from APWBWGTTD) enjoyed a great night in Piedmont Park - watching Willy Wonka and the Chocolate Factory at Screen on the Green, seeing Baton Bob, and drinking free (and tasty) wine from the fine folks at Stormhoek.

What started many months ago as me being an opportunist after my first APWBWGTTD event finally came to fruition last night in the form of one of the “100 Geek Dinners in 100 Days“. With the help of the ever-chipper and always ready to help Lori Sheridan we were able to organize an informal get-together on an awesome Summer evening. Thanks, Lori!

If you’re curious, here are my thoughts on the wine we drank:

Pinotage (2005):
I’m more of a fan of heavier, woodier reds like Merlots or Cabernet Sauvignons, but my wife and I really enjoy Shiraz/Syrah.

To me the South African Pinotage has that same kind of character. One of the more refreshing red wines I’ve had.

Fruity and fresh, the two qualities Stormhoek prides themselves on.

Pinot Grigio (2005):
I didn’t take notes last night, but I wish I had. Served chilled the Pinot Grigio was crips and refreshing in the Atlanta heat. I like it but I really enjoyed the final wine.

Sauvignon blanc (2005):
Here was the best wine of the night. I was certainly hamstrung by my head cold, but even then the warmth in the front of my mouth and the taste of pears were very evident.

Seriously.

I’m a beer snob by trade and the complexities of beer are more evident to my tongue than those of wine, but here, Stormhoek has made straight-forward, fresh, fruity wines that everyone enjoyed.

Overall, I’d say they were unpretentious wines that just enjoyed being drunk. In that way - the unpretentiousness and the drunkenness - they are much like our group. :-)

Big thanks to Hugh at Gaping Void and Jason at Stormhoek for helping us start off the July 4th holiday with good friends and good wine. Once it’s available in the States, I’ll be buying a bottle or two. It may even unseat Fat Bastard as the hip, funny and drinkable wine I bring with me to impress folks.

Flickr photoset here.

Cheers!

My apologies to those of you who have to see me in person today - I’m getting it out of the way ahead of time.

I have a monster of a head cold and it’s July 4th weekend! Go figure.

I’ve taken enough Sudafed that my stomach is like some kind of gastronomic meth lab, which has it’s benefits.

I feel loopy.

My vision is slightly blurry.

My ears and nose fluctuate from being stopped up like I was underwater to being wide open after that first yawn on the airplane.

All in all, I think the medication is a boon and the cold is a bust, so I’m calling it a draw.

Still, if you see me out, pity my pain, beware my contagion and celebrate my indomitable spirit.

Or just point and stare.

Either/or.

I’m reviewing my advance reader’s edition of World War Z : An Oral History of the Zombie War for two reasons:

1. I just finished reading it this afternoon and I want to write my review while everything it still fresh.
2. Today is the birthday of Mel Brooks, father of the author, Max Brooks

Also, before I dive into the meat of things, two caveats:

1. I have not read Brooks’ previous Zombie effort, The Zombie Survival Guide: Complete Protection From the Living Dead
2. I have not read Monster Island by David Wellington

Ok, having gotten that out of the way, I have to say I really enjoyed this book. Couldn’t put it down. Read it straight through in about a weeks time.

Ask my wife. She’s been complaining about my absorption into the world war of the undead, but got a little squeamish as I dissected the plot last night in bed.

Definitely worth reading.

I highly reccommend the book for two reasons:

1. The narrative structure.

The whole thing is a collection of “interviews” conducted by a researcher with survivors of World War Z.

The format gives Brooks a lot of opportunities to explore different aspects of the conflict, from many different perspectives and voices.

The whole thing, while it does have a chronological component, feels like a really excellent group of short stories on the same subject.

2. It’s not a gory, slasher book.

If you’re not a fan of horror movies, I think you’ll actually enjoy this book. Most of the “action” centers around the people and their experiences/relationships and not on the tide of the undead overtaking the globe.

That said, I think there’s enough detail and description to keep sci-fi/horror folks happy. I know I dug it.

There’s some other cool stuff, but I don’t want to spoil the book. Mostly, I’m just impressed at the entire world that Brooks has created.

His gravitas and tone give the book a scope outside of just a zombie book.

But then again, horror is never just about the death, it’s more about the humanity, and World War Z is no different.

Buy it for the zombies, stay for the revealing, humanistic prose. (I’m no dust-jacket author, but I play one on this blog.)

Considering the success of Brooks’ first Zombie book and the buzz surrounding Monster Island, I think the fall release of World War Z should be a good one.

Oh, and if I feel bold sometime in the future, I’ll try to finagle an interview, some more swag or something. Stay tuned.

Additional Links:
Max Brooks on WikiPedia
The Zombie Survival Guide on WikiPedia

UPDATE: I should probably note two other pertinent facts, since I’m given to ordered lists today:

1. The new book doesn’t have any of the humor or pseudo-science of the first book.

I’m going on knowledge of The Zombie Survival Guide gleaned online. None of the specifics from that book make it to World War Z.

In fact, the greatest bits of the book are the uncertainty of the “infection” even after the war is over.

And there is humor, just not the same kind, I’m guessing, as The Zombie Survival Guide. This is a serious book.

2. Brad Pitt’s production company already owns the rights to the movie.

Seriously.

I don’t have a lot of exposition to explain this 10-minute clip from an episode of Muppet Babies, which includes an edited dialogue between Miss Piggy and Andrew McCarthy, other than these two facts:

1. How did they get the rights to edit the McCarthy/Piggy conversation?
2. Was there really a crossover audience between Muppet Babies and Pretty in Pink?

I guess if you were a child of the 80’s this makes sense.

Anyone see this episode “live”?

That’s it. Enjoy.

[Via Dayna on MySpace]

As promised last week, this week’s class was structured almost entirely around scene work and actual bits we could use in our “graduation performance”.

Two that stand out as highlights for me were “fake hands” and “interview for the blind”. Both situations revolve around a one-on-one interview setup with a third improviser providing either hands and arms for the interviewee or sign language narrative for the hearing impaired.

The former was made really popular by Ryan Stiles on the American/Drew Carey version of Whose Line Is It Anyway? The latter is familiar to anyone who has watched improv - and it’s all the mime/signer.

We also took a good deal of time to work on helping one another out in scenes. Learning to play off of one another more dramatically/humorously. We practiced things like broader physical motions and voice intonations.

We also discussed body positioning in relation to the audience and the effective use of the space afforded on the stage.

All in all a class that really felt like we could have performed certain parts in front of an actual audience.

Improv is so fleeting, it’s about getting your body and mind in sync with the performance and the other people on stage. I’m hard pressed to remember all the specifics except I laughed more and worked harder than any other night.

I’m hopeful tonight was a good sign. If we were lauhging (and getting laughs) the performance should follow.

Then again, the old saying goes “Dying is easy; comedy is hard.”

I guess we’ll see soon.

One other note: we’re not practicing next Tuesday because of the holiday so the performance is being pushed back by one week to accomodate for our missed practice.

Improv!