Category: Travel

Book Review: The Names of the Dead by Kevin Wignall

~ Metacrone

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The Names of the Dead, by Kevin Wignall, is a road trip spy thriller in which everyone is hunting everyone else, everyone is a soldier or a spy, and the goals are revenge and silence. The point of view character, James Wesley, an ex-CIA agent known as Wes, begins the book in a French prison, where his government abandoned him after he took the fall for a deadly mission gone wrong several years earlier.

Wes has 2 years left on his sentence when he gets word that his ex-wife, Rachel, who was also a CIA agent, has died in a suicide bombing at a small cafe in Spain. This saddens him, but the shocking part of the message is that their son, Ethan, is missing. Rachel didn’t tell Wes that she was pregnant when he went to prison and has never contacted him since. Now he learns that he’ll be released early because of his bereavement, since he is his son’s next of kin.

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CNN Commentator Receives Trump-Style Pat Down by TSA

~ Metamaiden

She’s Not the First, She Won’t Be the Last.

Metamaiden:

I wouldn’t be surprised if this happens to me at some point. TSA sometimes decides it’s “policy” to pat me down and search all my stuff because I ask them to hand check my external electronic medical devices, so they don’t get ruined by the x-rays. I still walk through the metal detector, and the rest of my stuff goes through the x-rays. They don’t consistently pat me down, it depends on the airport and who’s working that day. Sometimes they argue with me about whether the devices need to be hand checked at all, instead, which is my right according to their own policies.* They’ve spent 10-15 minutes trying to force me out of an inspection that takes them 2 minutes. TSA basically likes to go on power trips, as far as I can tell. This is a perfect example of that. This poor woman.

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Metamaiden’s Denver Hedwig Reviews: Alone Again in Some New Wicked Little Town (AUDIO)

~ Metamaiden ~ 1 Comment

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Hedwig 12-10-16 Mat Review – EUAN AND HANNAH TIME

These were my initial thoughts after seeing Euan and Hannah the first time, with some minor edits to make it a little more coherent. (I was very excited and fangirling all over the place.) My main impression was: HANNAH. My review of the evening show is below my review of the matinee.

As soon as she came out on stage I was taken with her. She looks a LOT like Lena, more than Shannon does, and she has a catlike quality that I haven’t seen in a Yitzhak before. The way she carries herself is captivating. When she made her announcement just before the show, I loved the way she spoke. She sounded a little like she was singing even then, particularly in one little part where she almost did a little trill, of sorts. Then she started SINGING. Her voice is beautiful. It’s very clear and pleasantly high-pitched but full and husky, and the way she uses it is effortlessly smooth. The little riffs and trills she does are amazing. She tends to slide down at the ends of notes (called a glissando, I’m a huge fan). Her voice reminds me of a stream, the smooth transitions she makes from note to note.

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I Do Love a Warm Hand on My Entrance: Metacrone’s Review of Hedwig in Denver 12/10/16 (AUDIO)

~ Metacrone ~ 3 Comments

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First Off, Euan Morton’s Legs Go on Forever

No other Hedwig can pull off a high kick like this man. I mean, WOW. Y’all probably know I’m a Darren Criss fan, and I find it hard to resist anything Andrew Rannells or John Cameron Mitchell turn up in. But Euan has the best legs. (I’ll concede to JCM fans if anyone wants to argue with me.) Hedwig also has tattoos in this incarnation, a partial sleeve on her left arm that runs up over her pec, and several smaller ones on her right arm. (Including a zia, the sun symbol of the Zia people and New Mexico, the metawitches home state.)

But, on to more important things. Euan’s Hedwig is closer to a combination of NPH and John Cameron Mitchell in manner than any of the others. Great with the physical comedy. She’s more sad than angry, and both graceful and clumsy at the same time. She’s loose and flexible, rolling around on the stage more than any other Hedwig, I think. She rolls down the car windshield and right onto the floor at the beginning of Angy Inch. Euan’s Hedwig puts on a good face and keeps soldiering on until she. just. can’t. do. it. any. more. Then, SHE’S DONE. And she breaks down completely during Long Grift/Exquisite Corpse. She’s broken, and can’t even hold her head up.

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Darren Criss Ends His Tour Run as Hedwig Today

~ Metacrone ~ 1 Comment

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The Road Is No Longer His Home

Here are a few songs from Darren and Lena’s last performance in San Francisco, 10/30/16, in honor of their last day on tour. After the cut, our reviews of one of Darren’s Hedwig shows we saw in San Francisco, the 10/15/16 matinee.

Origin of Love

Angry Inch

The Long Grift

Midnight Radio

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Lena Hall Appears as Hedwig on Tour for the Last Time Tonight

~ Metacrone ~ 2 Comments

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She Was Just a Slip of a Girly Boy, But We Could Never Ignore Her

Lena Hall performs as Hedwig for her final time in LA tonight, with Shannon Conley as her Yitzhak. We were lucky enough to see them in San Francisco for their second performance. Lena’s a hardcore, exuberant, down and dirty Hedwig who takes no prisoners. Her voice was made to sing Hedwig’s rock arrangements the way few of the Broadway Hedwigs’ were. (Not that they all weren’t amazing, but only Lena and Darren have gone for truly ROCK arrangements. Tits of Clay turn into a kickass rock band when they play for those two. Okay, I need to stop now. I’m getting sad that I can’t go see Darren for a 9th time.)

Wicked Little Town (Lena Hall, San Francisco)

Euan Morton and Hannah  Corneau take over starting with the San Diego tour stop 11/29-12/4/16. The Hedwig National Tour continues through July.

After the cut, a longer review of the show, and more songs.

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