Sunday, August 04, 2019

Off-Broadway Summer Stock: 3rd National Tour For Hit Musical "Book of Mormon" Opens in Tempe For 6 Days Then Off To Salt Lake City

That's right! The award-winning show with 9 Tonys and 1 Grammy that opened on Broadway in 2011 is now going on its third national tour on-the-road - the surprises might not be quite as fresh, but the fans won’t stop coming. 
According to one review, 'The Book of Mormon’ reads like a guidebook on everything you shouldn’t do in a commercial production. A story steeped in religion, set in a disease-stricken African village and littered with anti-God refrains doesn’t exactly scream mass-market appeal — and yet somehow it all works, and after eight years, it’s still packing in audiences with an entertaining story about two clueless missionaries sent to Africa.
SIX DAYS ONLY!

Starting on Tuesday, August 6th for evening performances running through Sunday, August 11th, with afternoon matinee performances on both Sat Aug 10 and Sun August 11.
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Here's a slew of reviews and snippets from https://bookofmormonbroadway.com/press
> It all started in Salt Lake City. Utah's capital is ‘where we started our journey,’ says Trey Parker, the show's co-creator. He and longtime artistic partner Matt Stone, both bred in Colorado (and co-creators of the animated sitcom "South Park"), visited the city frequently as young men. Years ago, they took Mormon collaborator Robert Lopez on his first trip there, hoping to gather inspiration for a ‘full-on history piece about Joseph Smith,’ the founder of Mormonism — albeit in a musical-comedy format.”
‘The Book of Mormon’ is an irreverent look at religion and faith through the misadventures of two mismatched missionaries.”
‘The Book of Mormon’ is back with its profane, sometimes profound look at clueless Americans abroad"
". . . this satirical, quick-witted production is sure to give you a night full of laughs and new take on The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints.”
“Vulgar, blasphemous, juvenile and unrelenting, ‘The Book of Mormon’ may be the most influential piece of musical theatre Broadway has seen all century. Since the show hit the road six years ago, it’s traveled into the Heartland, the Bible Belt and even Utah, aka New Zion, to almost entirely positive acclaim.”

". . . Musically it is written in such a way that it isn’t even subtle that it is trying to reference and evoke different styles of musical theater in every song. It’s really fun. There are a lot of toe-tappers and hopefully you’ll be humming some tunes as you go out.’”
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ONE QUICK SHORT REVIEW posted in http://www.eastvalleytribune.com/get_out
‘Book of Mormon’ returning here a third time
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4 days ago there was this record-setting announcement:
(Word-for-word as published online from Tumblr)
Fuck Yeah! The Book of Mormon
fuckyeahthebookofmormon.tumblr.com
VIDEO: THE BOOK OF MORMON
Surpasses 42ND STREET as Broadway's 14th Longest Running Show!

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According to this press release from Andy Lefkowitz | Broadway Buzz
‘The Book of Mormon’ Surpasses ‘Grease’ as
15th-Longest-Running Show in Broadway History!
May 2, 2019
 
“‘The Book of Mormon” made history this week. Reaching its 3,389th performance at the Eugene O’Neill Theatre, the Tony-winning smash hit surpassed the 1972 original Broadway production of ‘Grease’ as the 15th-longest-running Broadway show.”
Read More  > https://bookofmormonbroadway.com/press
 
Credit for the smash-hit that opened on Broadway in 2011 also goes to Robert Lopez who also wrote another Broadway hit
"Avenue Q"
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Image result for national tour "book of mormon" 2019ON TOUR SCHEDULE >
Tour Schedule - The Book of Mormon on Broadway | Official Site
https://bookofmormonbroadway.com/tour
 
https://bookofmormonbroadway.com/tour
Date City Venue
> 8/06/19 - 8/11/19
Tempe
ASU Gammage
Buy Tickets
Company
            
> 8/13/19 - 8/25/19
Salt Lake City
Eccles Theater
 
Buy Tickets
Company  
            
8/28/19 - 9/01/19
Dayton
Schuster Performing Arts Center
Buy Tickets
Company
9/06/19 - 9/15/19
Cleveland
Connor Palace
Buy Tickets
Company
9/17/19 - 9/22/19
Madison
Overture Center
Buy Tickets
Company
9/25/19 - 9/29/19
Regina
Conexus Arts Centre
Buy Tickets
Company
10/08/19 - 10/13/19
University Park
Eisenhower Auditorium
Buy Tickets
Company
10/15/19 - 10/20/19
Hartford
The Bushnell Performing Arts Center
Buy Tickets
Company
10/22/19 - 10/27/19
Rochester
Auditorium Theatre
On Sale TBD
Company
10/29/19 - 11/03/19
Bloomington
IU Auditorium
On Sale TBD
Company
11/05/19 - 11/10/19
Memphis
Orpheum Theatre
On Sale TBD
Company
11/14/19 - 11/17/19
Monterrey
Showcenter
Buy Tickets
Company
11/20/19 - 12/08/19
Mexico City
Centro Cultural Teatro
Buy Tickets
Company
 
 
 
 
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Controversial 132-acre "Auction Land-Deal" Gets A Name: It's Been Dubbed "Reserve at Red Rock"

According to this article  yesterday by Jim Walsh East Valley Tribune Staff Writer, Sean Lake (the zoning attorney for Blandford Homes) has filed plans that describe how an essentially untouched swath of pristine desert land in northeast Mesa - long-promised as a public park that was auctioned off by the City of Mesa with a winning bid of $21.1M - would eventually turn into an upscale community - “a high-level gated, resort lifestyle residential community,’’ - with big lots for close to 300 homes.
However, at this point-in-time nothing is finalized - it is only the first filing made to the Planning & Zoning Board months after the controversial high bid at an auction that was a surprising $5,000,000 more than the estimated sale price - it essentially gave city coffers a windfall of five million if the sale is a done deal. The developer still needs to complete a site plan, a minor general plan amendment and all other necessary zoning approvals before it can complete the sale."
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Factoid1: Blandford looked at the smallest lots in Red Mountain Ranch and made sure their lots were larger.
Factoid 2: The northern border of the 132-acre "Reserve at Red Rock" abuts the 600-acre Nammo Talley Industries, a defense contractor that has requested a buffer zone of 27 acres between its ammunitions manufacturing facility and any residential housing.
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“Special attention was taken during the design process to create as many premium home sites as possible, taking advantage of the natural desert setting and mountain views,’’ the conceptual plan says.
Staff writer Walsh takes the time to note that Christine Zielonka, Mesa’s development services manager, clearly states: “We are absolutely at the very beginning stage, . . None of it is finalized yet. . . We are a long way from figuring out what this is going to look like.’’ 
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When complaints were made over the history and narrative initially provided by the city's 6-member Planning & Zoning Board (all nominated and appointed by Mayor John Giles) for the unspoiled 132-acre parcel, Zielonka also states in the article ". . .  that officials also will update a page on the city’s website that lists documents describing the site’s history going back to the ’80s."
When news of the city's proposed Auction Land-Deal became public, it was controversial from the very beginning.
Residents of the adjacent Red Mountain Ranch opposed it.
So did Verl Farnsworth, speaking up in public in front of the Mesa City Council:
BLOGGER NOTE: readers of this blog can use the Searchbox on this blog to more at least three or even more earlier posts featured about the auction land-deal topic of interest
1
2
3
Nevertheless, "the $21.1M auction land-deal" somehow managed to get approved by the Mesa City Council. In the face of that opposition. Staff Writer Jim Walsh takes pains to publish yesterday that "Zielonka estimates that the Reserve at Red Mountain probably won’t come before the city’s Planning and Zoning Board for about nine months and before the City Council for about a year. . . "
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The filing by zoning attorney Sean Lake for the upscale high-level resort-style gated community — dubbed Reserve at Red Rock by developer Blandford Homes — is only a first draft for a 132-acre site once set aside with a promise made by the city for development of a public park in 1998.
"Blandford has put a substantial down payment on the property, but needs to complete a site plan, a minor general plan amendment and all other necessary zoning approvals before it can complete the sale."
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The first post on this blog for Nammo Talley was this from October 2015
https://mesazona.blogspot.com/2015/10/nammo-talley-back-in-news.html
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Friday, August 02, 2019

PLANE-SPOTTING Question: How did the First 4 Apaches get to India? ANSWER: The Guppy

< Here is "The Guppy", The Antonov An-124 Ruslan (Ukrainian: Антонов Ан-124 "Руслан") (NATO reporting name: Condor) is a "heavy-lifter" strategic airlift quadjet - a Ukrainian cargo plane and the world's largest military transport aircraft with a payload capacity of up to 150 tons.The Cargo from Phoenix-Mesa Gateway Airport to Hindon Air Force Station: the first four Boeing AH-64E(I) Apache Guardian attack helicopters for the Indian Air Force.
> A second batch of four is expected in early August.
> According to Boeing, the deliveries are being made ahead of schedule. .
According to Aviation International News 30 July 2019 , "The Indian Air Force’s first AH-64E(I) flew at Boeing’s Mesa, Arizona plant in July 2018 and Indian pilots and technicians began training in the U.S. that year. The first helicopter was formally handed over to the IAF in a ceremony at Mesa on May 10, 2019.
In March 2018 Tata Boeing Aerospace—a joint venture between the two industrial giants—opened a new facility in Hyderabad to build Apache fuselages, which are shipped to the final assembly line at Mesa. The first fuselage was delivered in June the same year. TBA is now the sole source for AH-64 fuselages, and also supplies other components for the program." 
"Following reassembly and air test, the eight AH-64s are due to move to Pathankot AFS in Punjab, where the Indian Air Force expects to formally induct the type into service in September. The operating unit is expected to be No. 125 “Gladiators” Squadron, which previously operated Mil Mi-35 “Hind” gunships. The remaining 14 AH-64s from the initial Indian order will be delivered in 2020. A second squadron is expected to form at Jorhat AFS in Assam, which currently hosts An-32 transports and Mi-17 helicopters.
India became the 14th customer for the Apache when it signed for 22 AH-64E(I)s in September 2015, also buying 15 CH-47F(I) Chinooks at the same time. The first of the CH-47s arrived in India by sea in February. The Defence Ministry approved the procurement of six more Apaches in 2017, with these aircraft intended for service with the Indian Army."
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RELATED CONTENT:

First Four AH-64E Apache Attack Helicopters Arrive in India
The first four AH-64Es helicopters were airlifted into an Indian Air Force base on the outskirts of New Delhi on July 27.
By        for The Diplomat
"The Indian Air Force’s (IAF) first batch of four Boeing AH-64E Apache Guardian attack helicopters arrived at the Hindon Air Force Station (AFS) in Ghaziabad outside New Delhi on 27 July, a few weeks ahead of the delivery schedule, according to the IAF.
The four helicopter gunships arrived in an Antonov An-124 ‘Condor’ strategic airlifter.
Four more AH-64Es are expected to be delivered before August 3.
All eight helicopters will be assembled at Hindon AFS after which they will be sent to Pathankot air base, near the India-Pakistan border, for final induction into service with the IAF.
Previous reports said that first four helicopters would arrive on a U.S. Air Force C-17 Globemaster III transport aircraft at Pathankot. According to Boeing officials who spoke to IHS Jane’s, the delivery plans were slightly revised.
> The first IAF unit to receive the new AH-64E will be the 125 Helicopter Squadron (125 H SQUADRON) deployed at Pathankot.
> The second AH-64E-equipped IAF squadron will reportedly be stationed at Jorhat air base in Assam in northeastern India near the Indo-Chinese border.
> Each squadron will consist of ten Ah-64E helicopter gunships.
> Two AH-64Es will be held in reserve by the IAF.
India inked a $2.2 billion contract with the U.S. government and Boeing for 22 AH-64Es and 15 CH-47F Chinook heavy-lift helicopters destined for service in the IAF in September 2015. 
The contract combines a direct commercial sale with Boeing and a Foreign Military Sales (FMS) agreement with the U.S. Department of Defense.
  • The 2015 contract stipulates that India can place a follow-on order for 11 additional AH-64Es and seven Chinooks at a fixed price that was agreed upon in 2013. 
  • The first four Chinook heavy-lift helicopters entered service with the IAF in March 2019.
> The Indian Army’s Aviation Corps (AAC) is also in the process of procuring AH-64Es and intends to stand up three separate AH-64E squadrons with a total of up to 39 helicopters.
The AAC and the IAF have been locked in an inter-service rivalry over the new platforms for a number of years, as I reported previously:
 [T]he prolonged negotiations over the initial batch of 22 Apache helicopters are partially to blame for the interservice rivalry. In 2012, then Indian National Security Advisor Shankar Menon decided that any new attack helicopters procured would go the Army. The Air Force, however, countered that it had already begun the acquisition process in 2012.  Following extensive field trials, the Indian Air Force selected the Apache gunship and the Chinook helicopter in 2009.
The first AH-64E was officially handed over to the IAF during a ceremony at Boeing’s production center in Mesa, Arizona, on May 10.
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RELATED CONTENT:
Touring the Antonov AN-124-100M: Climb Onboard one of the Largest Cargo Planes in the World
"It was a beautiful winter day on the ramp of the Portsmouth International Airport at Pease (PSM) in Portsmouth, NH.  A handful of us were watching FlightAware and listening to air traffic control on the radio.  Just over the buildings to our left, descending on short final, we caught our first glimpse… the 120-foot-long by 21-foot-wide by 14-foot-high cargo area.  In case you’re wondering how big this is, imagine 42 Ford Explorer SUVs parked inside, three-abreast, 21-deep, and stacked two-high.  You would still have room to walk around.
. . . This is not a Boeing, and it is far from an Airbus.  There are six stations, not counting relief pilots.  This is old school stuff.  Navigator, radio operator, weight and balance, load, pilot, copilot etc…  Taking a closer look at the flight deck, I felt lost.  . .
The airplane can hold 26,486 cubic feet in volume of cargo. It can fly 2,889 miles and requires 9,843 feet of runway holding nearly 132 tons of cargo.  It was an amazing opportunity to see this aircraft up close and I want to thank my friend Kate who made this happen.  I also want to thank the cargo team who gave us the tour and were so friendly and accommodating.  I was able to take my son along (he is the one climbing the latter in the photo above).  They gave him a model of the AN-124, and yes I was jealous. 
This airplane is as impressive up close as it is from the spotter’s field of any local airport you may see it at.  Keep an eye out for it.  Who knows when it may be summoned to your local field to transport a new engine for some airline!
LINK > https://www.airlinereporter.com/2019/04
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Thursday, August 01, 2019

MPC: Build-It + Retring Boomers Might Buy It > A Seller's Market

Where To Retire Magazine has published what they call "The Short List" for Retirement Re-Location.
The selected master-planned communities included in the list were chosen based on first-person testimonials.
If you can believe that "first-person testimonials" are in any way reliable and objective and unbiased, then the list is exactly what you need. Here's the source:
https://www.wheretoretire.com/50Best.cfm 
The East Coast states of North Carolina, Florida, South Carolina and Georgia
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Wednesday, July 31, 2019

Straight Out of Central Casting: Trump's New Apprentice John Ratcliffe

The stakes are getting higher in Trump's 'House of Cards' current gambling concession in the back rooms inside the White House. There's a new hand-selected nominee named to fill the post for the Director of National Intelligence. The choice of a congressman from Texas is no doubt the most dangerous choice the president could make - it insults the intelligence of the American people.
WHAT'S IN A NAME: Ratcliffe
"On Sunday, just hours before Trump announced his nomination, Ratcliffe declared a political victory for the president, and defeat for the Democrats, who he said “overplayed their hand.”
Who is John Ratcliffe?
Washington Post
Who is John Ratcliffe?
New DNI pick made his name as a Trump loyalist.
FACTOID: "Ratcliffe has not denied that Russians interfered in the 2016 U.S. presidential campaign. And before Trump came along, he, too, was allied with more classic Republican conservatives, serving as an aide to former presidential candidate and current Senator Mitt Romney (Utah) during his presidential campaign, helping scout potential Cabinet picks."
SHUFFLING THE DECK: ". . . Last year, Ratcliffe’s name was floated as a possible replacement for former attorney general Jeff Sessions, whom Trump replaced with William P. Barr.
Ratcliffe, who briefly served as U.S. attorney for the Eastern District of Texas under President George W. Bush and worked as the office’s chief of anti-terrorism and national security, was at the time involved in the GOP-led congressional investigations of the FBI’s Trump and Clinton inquiries as a member of the Judiciary Committee.
He joined the House Intelligence Committee earlier this year, where he has been considered the GOP’s replacement for former congressman Trey Gowdy (R-S.C.), an accomplished prosecutor skilled in executing detailed, stinging examinations of witnesses in closed-door interviews and from the dais. . . "
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The Danger of John Ratcliffe WIRED OPINION
by Garrett M. Graff (@vermontgmg) is a contributing editor for WIRED who covers national security.
His next book, The Only Plane in the Sky: An Oral History of 9/11, will be published in September. He can be reached at garrett.graff@gmail.com.
"The president’s intent to nominate Robert Mueller’s chief Capitol Hill inquisitor to head the nation’s intelligence community might just be the Trump administration’s most alarming personnel decision yet—even in an administration whose list of departed, disgraced, and indicted former top officials reads like a casualty list from Game of Thrones.
The news Sunday that Trump planned to tap representative John Ratcliffe (R-Texas) as director of national intelligence, replacing former senator Dan Coats, left many even on Capitol Hill scratching their heads: Who?
. . . Indeed, very few Americans had ever heard of the congressman from Texas’s fourth district until last Wednesday’s House Judiciary Committee hearing, when Ratcliffe lambasted former special counsel Robert Mueller about “not exonerating” Donald Trump. Watching the hearing on TV with a group of journalists, I turned to my colleagues and said, “He’s auditioning to be DNI.”
Days later, Axios scooped the news of Ratcliffe’s impending nomination, saying Trump was “thrilled” by the congressman’s performance at the Mueller hearing.
That the administration is so predictable in its terrible choices should not make those terrible choices any less troubling. . . "
MORE QUESTIONS THAT NEED TO GET ASKED:
Did John Ratcliffe Misrepresent Role in Anti-Terrorism Case?
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Trump Terminates Intermediate-Range Nuclear Forces (INF) Treaty > New Arms Race

"We are fast approaching the date of official termination of the Intermediate-range Nuclear Force (INF) Treaty on Friday 02 August. The loss of INF, which for more than 30 years served as a core element of European security, throws the precarious state of nuclear arms control into sharp relief.
There will be significant international attention paid to the demise of this landmark treaty, . . and the future of international arms control writ large. . . "
That's the warning just two hours ago from the European Leadership Network
“We should all be aware that if the INF treaty collapses and the US and Russia allow the current political tension to undermine the possibility of extending new START—which must be agreed before February 2021— the US and Russia will return to an unregulated nuclear arms competition that has not been seen since the early days of the Cold War”
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Thanks to Trump the INF Treaty terminates in two days - 02 August.
Billions have been approved for a new war planned by The Pentagon.
It's time for everyone to "Re-Nuclearize".
North Korea's Little Rocket Man has been testing and launching intermediate-range ballistic missiles in response to threats posed by Trump and the positioning of THAAD American-made missiles in South Korea.
American armed forces are planning $58,000,000,000 in new contracts for an Ground-Based Deterrent System.
Both China and Russia have developed new hypersonic weapons for defense. . . it's a mad, mad, mad, mad, mad world.
Here's a flash-back to 1964 and The Cold War:
16 January 2018
Dr. Strangelove: Psychotic Thriller By Stanley Kubrick
https://mesazona.blogspot.com
Visions of future past flash back to haunt us from this comedy produced in 1964.
At that point-in-time your MesaZona blogger's past life part-time job while in high school was as an usher at a college movie theater, earning $1.25 per hour. 
One of the benefits in that position was the opportunity to watch every movie appearing in the big screen - at a tender young age this was an eye-opening introduction to the genius of Stanley Kubrick . . .  and now some 50+ years on it serves as a visual reminder of some current "news" in the first year of fear and chaos here in the United States circa 2017-2018
Vera Lynn - We'll Meet Again (Dr. Strangelove Ending Updated)
Published on Apr 14, 2017
Here's an updated version of the ending to Stanley Kubrick's Dr. Strangelove (1964) to the song "We'll Meet Again" by Vera Lynn. It features declassified HD film footage of some of the 331 atmospheric nuclear tests conducted by the United States between 1945 and 1962. Vera Lynn is still alive and turned 100 last month


 
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BEA News: Gross Domestic Product by State and Personal Income by State, 3rd Quarter 2025

  BEA News: Gross Domestic Product by State and Personal Income by S...