Happy Hookah

As the father of teenagers, I try to stay on top of the temptations and dangers which confront them. As a long-time media professional, a consumer of pop culture and someone who generally tries to pay attention, I figured to be well plugged in.
Of course, I am naive.
My daughter is making final preparations for a Big Adventure this summer, and we have been going over prohibitions. One of the activities the Big Adventure's organizers have placed on the forbidden list is visiting hookah lounges.
Do what, Jed? If you say it out loud, it sounds like something from The Sopranos. When the girls at the Bing need a break, they retire to the Hookah Lounge. Well, that's not it. What the hell is a hookah lounge? I'm glad somebody had the forethought to keep her out of there, whatever it is. Here's a hookah. Who knew? I guess in the big cities and near college campuses, people are going to these places and communally smoking God knows what. In my day, that was called a bong. But, no! This isn't necessarily for the delivering smoke of the Evil Weed. Hookah propagandists will tell you that visiting bars and restaurants where hookahs lurk on the tables is a chic way to embrace multiculturalism. Apparently, Islamic decor and Indian or Asian music are often part of the hookah experience.
In places where smoking tobacco in public places is against the law, the hookah people are using "tobacco-free herbal alternatives." Ah. So, it IS a bong.
Either way, keep my daughter away from it.

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My Daughter the Thespian

One of the disembodied heads in this photo scanned in from the local newspaper belongs to my daughter. She is heavily active in the Academy of Children's Theater, and they're getting a lot of advance publicity for their production of "Thoroughly Modern Mille," which opens this weekend in a downtown Shreveport theater. These kids have been putting in preposterous hours in rehearsal. Last night they were at the theater until well after 10:00pm. They were required to be back at 4:45 this morning to perform live on KTBS's morning show. The kids, high school and middle school age, have been working their little tails off and it's really paying off.
I have seen a lot of high school productions in my day. In fact, I was a drama club officer in high school. I've been around some amateur and community theater and I'm here to say this is the best I've ever seen. They've put in so much time as they prepare for final exams in school that some of them are feeling ill. If they can get past that, this will be one of the finest musical productions our little city has seen.
It's that good. My daughter played "Pepper" in the fall production of "Annie" and is "Ruth" in the current production. Both are speaking parts, but not starring roles. So, I can maintain a reasonable level of observational objectivity.
In the fall, ACT's "Annie" played to critical and popular acclaim. "Millie" blows Annie away.
People are noticing. This news broke on opening night:
Due to strong ticket sales, the Academy of Children’s Theatre has added a matinee performance to its production of “Thoroughly Modern Millie.” The new show is at 2 p.m. Sunday.

Other scheduled performances are 7 p.m. tonight, Friday and Saturday and 7 p.m. May 10-12.

Tickets are $20 and $15. For reservations, call (318) 429-6885.

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Breathing Easy

This is the conversation I had with my daughter while driving to school this morning:

Me: "Huh. This is kinda weird."
Her: "What?"
Me: "I'm breathing through both nostrils. Usually, I only breathe on the right side. It's a strange feeling."
Her: "Did you sleep on your back?"
Me: "What?"
Her: "Did you sleep on your back? Don't you usually sleep on your left side?"
Me: "I don't know. What are you talking about?"
Her: "Well, that's probably why you're breathing through both sides of your nose. If you sleep on your left side, all your snot shifts to the left during the night."

I laughed all the way there and haven't recovered yet.

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