On my son, theater lighting designer Lucas Krech (lucaskrech) from TriCities.com, September 27, 2007:

"Dracula is Back: Fang You Very Much"

Important part:

"Why our boy Dracula doesn’t go after a taste of her jugular is beyond me — maybe necks time?

"Rose directs with his usual bloody precision, Cheri Prough DeVol designed the effective set, Amanda Aldridge outdid herself in shrouding the actors, and Cindi A. Raebel managed the stage, which, I assume, meant keeping the blood supply flowing.

"However, the technical stars of this show were the lighting by Lucas Krech and the sound designed by Bobby Beck. Very, very effective."

"Dracula" is running at at The Barter Theatre, a regional theater in Abington, Virginia, whose Fall 2007 repertoire includes "Dracula" and "Driving Miss Daisy," which also will be lit by Lucas.


On my daughter, Briana Miller, from Oakland Magazine:

Caffeine, Collaboration and Cartoons

Some East Bay coffee shops are serving up more than froth-topped lattes and fresh-brewed regular and decaf. We’re not talking about the flavored concoctions that are more milkshake than Joe. Creativity and community rule at Gaylord’s Caffe Espresso on Piedmont Avenue. It’s a hangout that supports just that: hanging out—with a laptop; with friends; and, in this case, with drawing tools and a fellow artist who, like you, has a passion for the cartoon genre.

Thien Pham thinks he’s 32, but he isn’t sure, as he escaped with his parents on a boat from Vietnam when he was about 5 years old and doesn’t have his birth certificate. His best friend, Briana Miller, is in her 20s. Pham is married. Miller has a boyfriend. Both are art teachers at Oakland’s Bishop O’Dowd High School.

Gaylord’s comes into the picture because it’s where this pair, who met at a comic book convention in San Francisco, have been getting together amidst the aroma of what’s brewing, the occasional screech of the blender and the hubbub of conversation every Wednesday evening for the past three years to create—and brainstorm on ways to promote—comic book art. Together they represent 13 comic book artists, buying their work and then selling it on consignment at stores such as Comic Relief, Dr. Comic & Mr. Games, Issues and Pendragon Books, and on their promotional Web site, www.hobocomics.com.

Pham is best known for his quirky East Bay Express restaurant review cartoon, “I Like Eating.” Miller creates a daily comic blog on her Web site, www.breakcomics.com. Their work regularly features each other as characters and together they’re planning a cartoon cookbook.

“Piedmont Avenue is a hotbed of cartoon creativity,” says Pham, who lives nearby and adds: “I love this street. I get sad when I have to leave it.” And Gaylord’s, they attest, is where they’re inspired to create. “We see a lot of collaboration here,” says Miller. “Knitters, crocheters, jewelry designers—other artists.” A case of a coffee shop brewing up a great deal more than caffeine and beans.

—Wanda Hennig
—Art by Thien Pham and Briana Miller

Briana's daily comics can also be found at BreakComics
Thien Pham's comics are at Thien Pham Fan Club