I have had enough of The Real World. The Real World is suffused with Ugliness.

I want beauty. I want magic.

So I wish that Prague, the capital of the Czech Republic, weren’t so far away from where I’m sitting right now.  I saw genuine, beautiful magic there.

It was in October 2005 at a place called the Image Theatre.

The Image Theatre is a “Black Light Theatre.” Black Light Theatre combines illusion, dance, pantomime, comedy, and eroticism in a mixture found only in Prague. Some have compared it to Cirque du Soleil — but I found both shows (”Black Box” and “Cabinet“) that Barb and I saw at the Image to be far more earthy and intimate than the Cirque shows I’ve seen.

Cirque du Soleil seems to say, “These are things beyond your experience that you could never do.” But Black Light Theatre says, “This experience is yours. This magic depends on you.”

Besides, the Czech Republic has other things to attract me as well. After four centuries of religious oppression under the Hapsburgs and four decades of secular oppression under the Communists (not to mention the horrors of the Nazi occupation), the Czechs have pretty much had it with authoritarian jerks of all stripes. They clearly disapprove of any people who shoot, blow up, torture, or otherwise hassle any other people.

After all, such bullying behavior stymies not only life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness, but also art, literature, science, sex, food, and beer – all areas in which the citizens of the Czech Republic strive for excellence.

I mean, damn. Let’s go.

And I’m telling you:  That girl in the white leotard at the Image Theatre really was flying.

I’m feeling all hermitish and uncommunicative this week, so haven’t posted or commented much. Sorry about that.

And I went to the doc today and he told me I had to stay off my leg for another two to three weeks, which really bummed me out.

But I couldn’t let this one go by:

The Spinal Tap Reunion

Click the pic above to check out the 15-minute reunion film that details what the Tap have been doing since last we saw them.

They’ll be playing in support of the worldwide Live Earth concerts to raise awareness of global warming issues.

Quote from Director Rob Reiner: “They’re not that environmentally conscious, but they’ve heard of global warming. Nigel thought it was just because he was wearing too much clothing — that if he just took his jacket off it would be cooler.”

This made my day a lot better than it has been. There’s a video link on the page.

No word yet on who the new drummer might be…..

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And you can visit LiveEarth to learn more about the concerts and get environmental info.

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