Granddaddy had peanuts in a brown paper sack. A rotating sprinkler watered the lawn, spinning in the morning, Florida sun, making the coarse, Florida grass sparkle. A crate that had once been used to ship an upright piano had been made into a playhouse by cutting a kid-size door in one end and a North-facing window in one wall. The crate had been there for long before I got there. The wood was the color of driftwood from weather. Setting it on cement blocks had protected it from termites and and tar-paper roofing and siding kept it from wet.

Perhaps if the packers of today’s wide-screen T.V.’s and such would print play suggestions on the sides of the boxes then kids could take advantage of the play value of the packing material before it went to recycling or landfill…

Objection! Liability. Granted. Strike that testimony.

Full disclosure, I probably would not have heard about this play if my daughter did not play a part.

A classic play in the sense that it’s form and presentation model a Greek classic play. Or perhaps a modern civil trial.

A number of gods and goddesses from myth and legend are gathered for a Council of Celestial Beings. Eris, goddess of Discord, is accused by Pluto, god of the Underworld, of treason and general mayhem. Testimony proceeds through dialog and deposition. The costumes of the gods and goddess are outstanding from the Polynesian and Hawaiian god and goddess that open the show to the giant planet giants that join in the testimony. The cut paper figures in the shadow puppet deposition video are worth the visit in themselves. Classic shapes. Classic themes. Great action.

As the play unfolds, the interaction of myth and earth reality are explored. In the end, there are choices to be made.

The Vance Elementary School in Asheville Planetorium is the near-perfect performance space for this play. The semi-circular stadium is reminiscent of the Greek and Roman theaters of ancient times. More so because the ceiling of the Planetorium is hung with models of the planets with Earth the size of a basketball and the others to match.

Just one more performance in this round on the March 27, 2010 at 8:00 PM. A great show and worth the trip. A website for more info. Contributions benefit the Vance Elementary NASA program.

The Obama administration seems kind of thick here. They lifted the visa of the Honduran Supreme Court Justice that signed the removal warrant along with the visas of a couple of others. President Obama may be on the wrong side of of the rule of law. Perhaps the President is getting bad advice from a poor lawyer on his staff. Perhaps that someone needs to be in private practice instead of messing up the hemisphere.

About 80 men lived in our barracks, a 2 story wooden building of WWII vintage.  The TV lounge was about 20×12 with a 21-inch black-and-white TV on a shelf near the ceiling in the corner.  The remote was a sturdy chair and a long arm to turn the channel changing dial.  Some chrome-armed chairs with vinyl cushions were filled early and it was standing room only when the Astronauts stepped down onto the surface of the moon.  This was “LIVE FROM THE MOON”. “Un-f-n-believable” as the common expression went (Sanitized for your protection).

It’s still amazing.

The following January, Capt. John G. Wissler, CO of Weapons System Test Division of Naval Air Test Center, Patuxent River, later Rear Admiral and CO of NATC, congratulated me on my being promoted to AMS 3rd Class (E-4). I will never forget that handshake and the blue eyes that look so icy.

Rear Admiral Wissler was listed as a source in James Michener’s Space.