So important I feel compelled to xpost it!

Sundance Channel Alert!

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"Slings & Arrows," second-season premiere 8 p.m. Feb. 19, first- season encore marathon 3 p.m. Feb. 18, Sundance Channel.

This Canadian import is searingly spot-on and seems effortlessly great, probably helped by having only six episodes per season.

Revolving around a group of actors at the New Burbage Theatre Festival (purveyors of all things Shakespeare), the series attempts to mix art with commerce, real life with drama. It focuses on Geoffrey (the superb Paul Gross), an actor turned director who ran a theater that stood on its values but never attracted an audience.

He was once as thick as thieves with his mentor, Oliver (Stephen Ouimette), and with the love of his life, fellow thespian (and aging star) Ellen (Martha Burns).

But the bitterly mean Oliver was killed while drunk (he now reappears in death) and Geoffrey had to put away thoughts of selling out and instead become artistic director of the New Burbage Festival, where he manages to pull off "Hamlet" despite myriad woes (Mark McKinney of "Kids in the Hall" and indie film guru Don McKellar also star).

In the second season, all hell continues to break loose while Geoffrey must stage "the most jinxed play in theatrical history" -- "Macbeth."

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Highly recommend this show to all Buffistas.

Wow, Aimee! Whatever~ma to you!

And hang on a sec - I'm guessing getting your LA salary in Philadelphia will work out to a defacto raise. So yay again.

Yes and no. It will once we actually get rid of some debt.

All the Best ~ma, Aimée.

Will the company pay to move you, too?

I can't help but think that moving to Philly from LA is some reverse (perhaps perverse) migratory pattern.

I'm not sure why it would be more attractive to do that if you weren't getting substantially more money or a much better job.

It costs a lot of money and emotional energy to uproot. It'll take six months to a year just to get settled and get your financial footing and longer than that to get your social structure in place.

So, granted I'm Cali-centric, what exactly are the big pluses of moving? Maybe I wasn't paying attention.

You would be, after all, moving to a place with lots of winter and way too many Eagles and Phillies fans (the meanest fans in all of sports).

I'm not trying to be a wet blanket so much as a devil's advocate here, Aims. This strikes me as a little impulsive, but that's not to say it can't be a good thing.

Bucketloads of ~ma to you, Aimée.

Mine, probably not. Joe's, maybe. If not, we pass all the write-off tests (I've checked) so there's that for next year.

This story was noted on Slashdot, and I think many Buffistas will be interested:

FBI Agents Back Down When Librarian Refuses to Let Them Seize 30 Computers Without a Warrant

Federal Bureau of Investigation agents tried to seize 30 of the library's computers without a warrant, saying someone had used the library's Internet connection to send the threat to Brandeis. But the library director, Kathy Glick-Weil, told the agents they could not take the machines unless they got a warrant first. Newton's mayor, David Cohen, backed Ms. Glick-Weil up. After a brief standoff, FBI officials relented and sought a warrant from a judge.

[link]

It is impulsive.

The Pros (in no particular order):

• Job environment that I think I will like a lot more than my current one.

• Closer to our familes in Michigan, but far enough that my MiL isn't going to jump in her car and show up.

• We have been tired of California, and in particular LA, for a long time and Philly is, well, why not? I love my company and this is a good way to keep everything job wise intact.

Neither Joe or I had ever been to California when we moved here. We're not afraid of a new city or a new place and we'll have each other and Em. It's a lot of upheaval, but at this point, it's still in the thinking about it phase. I mean, who knows? Might as well see if we can and want to, that doesn't cost us anything.

I mean, who knows? Might as well see if we can and want to, that doesn't cost us anything.

Absolutely. And you're obviously energized thinking about it.