Here’s the November video.

I’m going to go back and look a little more closely than I did at the time at specific persons and offices who bore responsibility for the mess in the NJ brownfields program (the quote above refers to the Superfund program, designed for the more contaminated sites). If anything, I might get some clues about a post-Bush EPA. My gut instinct, based on other appointments (Solis, Chu, Holdren, Lubchenco, etc.), is that the transition team is so focused on reversing eight years of climate change policy that other priorities may have been crowded out. I also think that Carol Browner had a lot to do with this nomination; Jackson worked in her EPA.

PEER argues that even in the area of climate change, New Jersey is not a shining beacon on the hill. As I told my Law of Global Warming class, and as PEER rightly observes, NJ missed out on the first RGGI greenhouse gas auction because it could not get its regulatory act together.

Maybe Mary Nichols of the California Air Resources Board would have been a better choice. I hope I am proven wrong.

But this jumped out at me. Don’t get me wrong: I am no more thrilled than my LGBT friends at the choice of Rick Warren, but let’s not trap Obama from day one with the political noose others have used on Democrats for my entire lifetime.

Characters raised and lowered the stands, crouched under them, and moved among them to create comedic effect. And hearty laughs were easy to come by. Scott Wichmann was the best ass in town as a hee-hawing Bottom, and his wildly over-emoting Pyramus stole the show of the play within the play. The ever sparkling, sexy, and saucy Liz Blake got every ounce of outrage from the play’s jokes at Hermia’s small stature. Frank Creasy and Daryl Clark Phillips, two RS vets who simply define “presence” on stage, lent heaps of gravitas, sometimes faked, sometimes real, to their dukely and lordly roles. Joe Carlson was a whirling dervish of a Puck — the character who moved about perhaps the most — drawn somewhere between rake and imp. Joe’s new to RS this year but won a deserved RTCC nomination for his Pistol in Henry IV, and he was sterling in Hamlet. Another fine graduate of the excellent VCU program! And I think it was local critic and player Harry Kollatz in his trademark hat as the full of himself leader of the hilarious band of players. I didn’t catch who played Helena (there was no program) but she was undoubtedly the best at conveying the full range of a lover, from come hither seduction to showing displeasure at being spurned.

In the festive spirit, a few flubbed lines, crashes into music stands, and hiccups in timing were smoothed over and laughed off brilliantly. (After the show, Frank told us there had been only two rehearsals.) Grant Mudge’s ad lib, “It’s hard to get good help around here,” was memorable. And Cynde Liffick’s Titania swooning over Bottom, . . . well let’s just say words won’t do it justice.

Here’s hoping that this “Midsummer” becomes an annual enchanting midwinter diversion!

Looks like the EPA has abandoned that plan. As it was past Nov. 20, the incoming Administration could have rescinded any rules before they took effect (60 days’ notice was required for major rules of this sort), so anything dirty parting gift on the EPA’s part could have been returned to sender. But it is nice to know they aren’t trying the midnight rule approach on this one to begin with.