Today has been a day of frustrations, as I deal with major corporations on the phone.
Mayu is not able to join me on my trip to the islands, due to the epidemic passport problems that have been making headlines lately. As a result, I have been trying to work with Travelocity and Air Tahiti Nui to salvage some bit of the coast of her ticket. They're non-transferable, non-refundable, non-changable tickets, it seems. I'm trying, at the very least, to use the credit to bump up my flight to Business or First class as a solution that will at least make me feel like I'm getting something for the cost of the extra ticket. Travelocity, after several go arounds with support individuals who spoke in rapid, Hindi-accented English, promised to get back to me in 45 minutes with their final negotiation with Air Tahiti Nui. That was over four hours ago. I will try again tomorrow, as I don't want to spend 30 minutes on hold to start the process all over again with a new Travelocity rep.
To add to that, my XBox 360 went kerblooey several weeks back. I would put in a game, and it would tell me to insert the disc into an XBox 360.
Strange behavior, but an online search determined it was not a unique problem. Microsoft sent me a returns box (UPS 3 day service, each way) and there has been silence since then. I don't want the XBox to return to me a few days after I leave, then get shipped back to Microsoft, so I call them up and ask them to adjust the shipping information so it will rest here at work where someone can sign for it. Microsoft won't do it. They tell me to have UPS hold it. This is for a box that hasn't been shipped, mind you, so they can't give me a tracking number. UPS is polite, but finds the request rather absurd. They'd have to triple the size of their warehouse if they did this kind of thing for people. I call Microsoft back, and they are adamant that they can't change the shipping address on this box. After all, maybe it's already being shipped!
I ask them if they checked with service to see if the repairs had been completed. They hadn't. But call back tomorrow, they tell me.
Lovely.
The only people who have been truly helpful are the folks at Air Tahiti (not Air Tahiti Nui, which is a different airline) who happily cancelled Mayu's ticket from Tahiti to Rangoria with no penalty.
I like them.
So, I spent a lot of time on the phone while answering email at work, and am really no closer to a solution on either problem than I was when I began. The tickets, I am coming to accept may just be a $1400 loss. This hurts, but I console myself that at worst, I'll have two seats to myself on the plane and will be able to stretch out a little ways. Besides, I've lost far more than that on shows that I've produced. That doesn't make it feel much better, but it lowers my blood pressure a little bit.
I'm going to call my bank now and let them know that I'll be traveling, so that they don't freeze my debit card (again). Let's hope that this is relatively painless.
UPDATE: I couldn't reach a person at the Bank, so I sent an email that will hopefully find its way properly. But the good news is that Travelocity worked it out with the airline and they cancelled the extra ticket for the standard fee. I had hoped for a number of solutions, but this wasn't one I dared hope for. So, no first class for me, and no re-booking to go to New Zealand next year. But instead, an almost complete refund!
Monday, July 02, 2007
Thursday, June 28, 2007
Down in San Diego
I'm sitting in a conference room in the Sheraton in San Diego. It's ELC time again, and all the Superintendents are deeply embroiled in small group discussions. This is the largest ELC since I began doing the conferences ten years ago, and it's really exciting to see so many school leaders packed into one space.
I'm always a little nervous going into these, as I offer lateral thinking that usually makes sense to them, but sometimes goes completely out to left field for them. They don't mind that so much, as it presents a cognitive challenge for them. So far, though, everything seems spot on. The theme, memory and how to make your message "stick" is a theme that is more directly touched on in film than some of the others in the past. (for those not familiar, I make a video montage of the conference theme, and provide metaphor illustrations from movies at break points to reinforce whatever they are currently talking about)
It's been a very encouraging week, with songs coming in for Sweetie Tanya from Arwen Anderson and Steve Kahn, and the peace that comes from having The Chinese Angle finally cast. I got photos from a shoot on Sunday for The Chinese Angle, and they look fabulous. I think we'll have a final postcard image by tonight. I'll post a link to it here!
I had the great pleasure of running into Oliver Crow last night. I was walking back from my meeting with Antero for The Invisible Forest and realized I was walking only a few blocks from the Crow/Shaferman residence. I got voicemail though, and headed back to Oakland. I needed to swing by the office, as I had left a crucial piece of cabling there that I would need here in San Diego. Oliver called as I was walking into the building, and he was only two blocks away at the Lake Merritt Dance Center. I haven't hung out with Ollie in at least six months, so we went for a lake walk and chilled out for the rest of the evening.
Needless to say, I was *very* glad that I had finished my ELC montage the night before.
Tomorrow I'll head back home, and then it's off to Rangoria next week.
I'm always a little nervous going into these, as I offer lateral thinking that usually makes sense to them, but sometimes goes completely out to left field for them. They don't mind that so much, as it presents a cognitive challenge for them. So far, though, everything seems spot on. The theme, memory and how to make your message "stick" is a theme that is more directly touched on in film than some of the others in the past. (for those not familiar, I make a video montage of the conference theme, and provide metaphor illustrations from movies at break points to reinforce whatever they are currently talking about)
It's been a very encouraging week, with songs coming in for Sweetie Tanya from Arwen Anderson and Steve Kahn, and the peace that comes from having The Chinese Angle finally cast. I got photos from a shoot on Sunday for The Chinese Angle, and they look fabulous. I think we'll have a final postcard image by tonight. I'll post a link to it here!
I had the great pleasure of running into Oliver Crow last night. I was walking back from my meeting with Antero for The Invisible Forest and realized I was walking only a few blocks from the Crow/Shaferman residence. I got voicemail though, and headed back to Oakland. I needed to swing by the office, as I had left a crucial piece of cabling there that I would need here in San Diego. Oliver called as I was walking into the building, and he was only two blocks away at the Lake Merritt Dance Center. I haven't hung out with Ollie in at least six months, so we went for a lake walk and chilled out for the rest of the evening.
Needless to say, I was *very* glad that I had finished my ELC montage the night before.
Tomorrow I'll head back home, and then it's off to Rangoria next week.
Wednesday, June 20, 2007
Just updates.
not a lot of time, so just a few quick updates.
Life is good, thank you very much.
Work continues to challenge with new Flash development projects, and now I've started doing video subtitling as well. Of course, I'm still acting as Oakland's primary tech, so the distraction/frustration factor can get high at times, but it all balances out at the end of the day.
No movement on Sweetie Tanya right now, as I wait for songs to come back to me.
I'm working with Chris Hayes on a series of events that will take place at the Eureka Theatre in September. Among these events is "Submergency: Damp Summer" and a Playwright's Development workshop that Radiostar will be involved with. We've just confirmed that El Gato Diablo Children's Theatre will be joining us for Saturday matinees, which further rounds out our program.
Casting for Savage Eye Production's "The Chinese Angle" should be complete by tomorrow. I am very glad for this and will post a full cast list once I have it.
Radiostar downloads continue to skyrocket. I'm super pleased with the growth in this area!
Vacation is drawing very close, and I am watching the days tick by with glee. The only blot to all this is that there may be some passport issues. This is going to be down to the wire in some ways, and I'm trying not to dwell on it overmuch, as it's something that is completely out of my control.
Part of this new collaboration with Chris Hayes is re-looking at the space in Fruitvale. I've mentioned this before, and I hope to send a proposal to the school. I sat in at the Theatre Services Committee meeting today, on behalf of Bay Area Professional Small Theatres, and there was some significant talk about the need of theatre spaces in Oakland, so the timing on this may be perfect after all.
ok, that's it. I'll post something with a bit more wit and color later.
Life is good, thank you very much.
Work continues to challenge with new Flash development projects, and now I've started doing video subtitling as well. Of course, I'm still acting as Oakland's primary tech, so the distraction/frustration factor can get high at times, but it all balances out at the end of the day.
No movement on Sweetie Tanya right now, as I wait for songs to come back to me.
I'm working with Chris Hayes on a series of events that will take place at the Eureka Theatre in September. Among these events is "Submergency: Damp Summer" and a Playwright's Development workshop that Radiostar will be involved with. We've just confirmed that El Gato Diablo Children's Theatre will be joining us for Saturday matinees, which further rounds out our program.
Casting for Savage Eye Production's "The Chinese Angle" should be complete by tomorrow. I am very glad for this and will post a full cast list once I have it.
Radiostar downloads continue to skyrocket. I'm super pleased with the growth in this area!
Vacation is drawing very close, and I am watching the days tick by with glee. The only blot to all this is that there may be some passport issues. This is going to be down to the wire in some ways, and I'm trying not to dwell on it overmuch, as it's something that is completely out of my control.
Part of this new collaboration with Chris Hayes is re-looking at the space in Fruitvale. I've mentioned this before, and I hope to send a proposal to the school. I sat in at the Theatre Services Committee meeting today, on behalf of Bay Area Professional Small Theatres, and there was some significant talk about the need of theatre spaces in Oakland, so the timing on this may be perfect after all.
ok, that's it. I'll post something with a bit more wit and color later.
Monday, June 04, 2007
almost, but not quite
Strange weekend.
We were able to catch Zack Stern's show, The Great Puppet Musical, on Friday. It was an absolute treat, and even more so since it had a full and happy house. Audience energy is such a huge part of live performance, and everyone who was there was amped up and ready for a good time. But then again, who would go to an improvised musical puppet show and not be amped up?
I found out, however, that we would not be able to get in to see First Person Shooter at the SF Playhouse the next night as they were sold out. Shows were available for the matinee, but I already knew that I'd be engaged in a rare instance of doing my day job on a Saturday afternoon due to a Monday morning project deadline.
While I worked away on WestEd work, Mayu went off to watch 28 Weeks Later, which I had deemed to scary for my tastes. Sadly, Fandango.com had given us the wrong show time, so she didn't get her zombie fix and went for pirates instead. I was a bit annoyed that she saw the Pirates without me, but by all accounts I didn't miss much.
Unable to see First Person Shooter, we decided to try and catch Diana Brown in Eavesdropped at the Off Market Theatre, but arrived to a sold out show, which was startling for an opening weekend. Denied for both of our 8pm shows, it was too late to consider a third show option. We pondered our non-theatrical options and decided to get something for the X-Box that would allow us to shoot things for the evening. Off to EB Games, which was closed. Not to be deterred, it was off to CompUSA, which was closed. Finally we ended up browsing around the Virgin Superstore (since we weren't doing anything else) and I found a copy of Gears of War, which Mayu had been talking about for the last month or so. Electronic mayhem in hand, we headed home and engaged in gratituous virtual violence.
Despite getting to bed at a fairly early hour, we managed to *not* make it to class/workout in the morning.
We did, however, make it out to Kurt and Michelle Larson's for their son's 1st birthday gathering. This mostly involved techies standing around a playground talking shop and trading war stories. Techies have the *best* war stories.
Radiostar went exceptionally well, with one of the most enjoyable and solid improv sets we've had in weeks. It would have been the perfect end to the evening if I hadn't left my bag (and my laptop) at the restaurant/bar after the recording session. I didn't realize it until we got back to Oakland. Mayu, bless her, didn't miss a beat and we were back on the road in seconds. I called the restaurant and they hadn't seen the bag, which sent me into a sweating panic. By the time we arrived, however, they had located it and placed it behind the bar.
I am going to advocate for going back there after every Radiostar and buying lots of food and drinks out of gratitude for not having to commit ritual suicide over the loss of that bag (and laptop!)
We were able to catch Zack Stern's show, The Great Puppet Musical, on Friday. It was an absolute treat, and even more so since it had a full and happy house. Audience energy is such a huge part of live performance, and everyone who was there was amped up and ready for a good time. But then again, who would go to an improvised musical puppet show and not be amped up?
I found out, however, that we would not be able to get in to see First Person Shooter at the SF Playhouse the next night as they were sold out. Shows were available for the matinee, but I already knew that I'd be engaged in a rare instance of doing my day job on a Saturday afternoon due to a Monday morning project deadline.
While I worked away on WestEd work, Mayu went off to watch 28 Weeks Later, which I had deemed to scary for my tastes. Sadly, Fandango.com had given us the wrong show time, so she didn't get her zombie fix and went for pirates instead. I was a bit annoyed that she saw the Pirates without me, but by all accounts I didn't miss much.
Unable to see First Person Shooter, we decided to try and catch Diana Brown in Eavesdropped at the Off Market Theatre, but arrived to a sold out show, which was startling for an opening weekend. Denied for both of our 8pm shows, it was too late to consider a third show option. We pondered our non-theatrical options and decided to get something for the X-Box that would allow us to shoot things for the evening. Off to EB Games, which was closed. Not to be deterred, it was off to CompUSA, which was closed. Finally we ended up browsing around the Virgin Superstore (since we weren't doing anything else) and I found a copy of Gears of War, which Mayu had been talking about for the last month or so. Electronic mayhem in hand, we headed home and engaged in gratituous virtual violence.
Despite getting to bed at a fairly early hour, we managed to *not* make it to class/workout in the morning.
We did, however, make it out to Kurt and Michelle Larson's for their son's 1st birthday gathering. This mostly involved techies standing around a playground talking shop and trading war stories. Techies have the *best* war stories.
Radiostar went exceptionally well, with one of the most enjoyable and solid improv sets we've had in weeks. It would have been the perfect end to the evening if I hadn't left my bag (and my laptop) at the restaurant/bar after the recording session. I didn't realize it until we got back to Oakland. Mayu, bless her, didn't miss a beat and we were back on the road in seconds. I called the restaurant and they hadn't seen the bag, which sent me into a sweating panic. By the time we arrived, however, they had located it and placed it behind the bar.
I am going to advocate for going back there after every Radiostar and buying lots of food and drinks out of gratitude for not having to commit ritual suicide over the loss of that bag (and laptop!)
Thursday, May 31, 2007
rumor mongering
Well, it looks like the whole "cell phones are killing the bees" thing is a bit of shoddy journalism and mass hysteria.
I've been spreading the bad word myself to anyone who will listen and now have my share of egg on my face.
"Those searching for answers for the recent disappearance of millions of bees in the United States - what researchers are calling colony collapse disorder - jumped on the possible explanation though there was one particular, cellphones and cordless phones emit different types of radiation and what you learn studying one type is not necessarily significant to the other, according to the researchers."
"It's not my fault if people misinterpret our data," said Kimmel. "Ever since The Independent wrote their article, for which they never called or wrote to us, none of us have been able to do any of our work because all our time has been spent in phone calls and e-mails trying to set things straight. This is a horror story for every researcher to have your study reduced to this. Now we are trying to force things back to normal."
I've been spreading the bad word myself to anyone who will listen and now have my share of egg on my face.
"Those searching for answers for the recent disappearance of millions of bees in the United States - what researchers are calling colony collapse disorder - jumped on the possible explanation though there was one particular, cellphones and cordless phones emit different types of radiation and what you learn studying one type is not necessarily significant to the other, according to the researchers."
"It's not my fault if people misinterpret our data," said Kimmel. "Ever since The Independent wrote their article, for which they never called or wrote to us, none of us have been able to do any of our work because all our time has been spent in phone calls and e-mails trying to set things straight. This is a horror story for every researcher to have your study reduced to this. Now we are trying to force things back to normal."
LOL
am I the only person who found the internet meme of LOLCats funny for about five seconds and is now sick of it?
(for those who have not yet encountered this meme, it basically involves pictures of cats with internet haxx0r speech overlayed on it.)
(for those who have not yet encountered this meme, it basically involves pictures of cats with internet haxx0r speech overlayed on it.)
Wednesday, May 30, 2007
Too Gay for Freedom
Apart from any individual feelings about the legitimacy of our war in Iraq, there are certain behaviors exhibited by our Military that are beyond cruel, beyond stupid and go right into the realms of the inane.
Take this story for example.
Now, let's place this particular bit of news in its context. From the beginning, we have had a serious lack in personnel properly trained (or trained at all) in arabic languages and culture. It's been a huge problem from day one. It's recently come out that the U.S. owned and operated television network in Iraq gave air time to terrorists because the executive staff didn't understand the language. That's right, we've got a 68 million dollar program set up to broacast pro-democracy messages to Iraq and it's broadcasting exhortations to committ acts of violence on Jews. There's also no assignment desk, essentially meaning that the reporting and broadcasting is being done by contractors... who the executives can't understand.
Now, this isn't a military operation, but as a governent based propganda program that works hand in hand with the military, I think it servest to illustrate the point.
So, given that things are not going well over there, and that at every turn we find ourselves sinking deeper and deeper into chaos with a culture that (no matter what Bush wants to believe) is fundamentally opposed to our presence and a population that for most part wants us out and dead (in no particular order), how is it that we're so concerned that our soldiers are emailing their boyfriends? How is the homophobia of our military of greater importance than having people who actually SPEAK THE LANGUAGE of the people that we're dealing with in a desparate situation?
That, of course, continues to make the assumption that we have any concern at all about working WITH the Iraqi people. If, indeed, we are only concerned with occupation and subjegation, then it makes perfect sense that we would fire 58 people who are vital to our operations because they happen to like the meeting of glans to sphincter.
So, what's the priority here? And the Pentagon saying that gay people can serve their countries as contractors doesn't address the issue even remotely.
Take this story for example.
Now, let's place this particular bit of news in its context. From the beginning, we have had a serious lack in personnel properly trained (or trained at all) in arabic languages and culture. It's been a huge problem from day one. It's recently come out that the U.S. owned and operated television network in Iraq gave air time to terrorists because the executive staff didn't understand the language. That's right, we've got a 68 million dollar program set up to broacast pro-democracy messages to Iraq and it's broadcasting exhortations to committ acts of violence on Jews. There's also no assignment desk, essentially meaning that the reporting and broadcasting is being done by contractors... who the executives can't understand.
Now, this isn't a military operation, but as a governent based propganda program that works hand in hand with the military, I think it servest to illustrate the point.
So, given that things are not going well over there, and that at every turn we find ourselves sinking deeper and deeper into chaos with a culture that (no matter what Bush wants to believe) is fundamentally opposed to our presence and a population that for most part wants us out and dead (in no particular order), how is it that we're so concerned that our soldiers are emailing their boyfriends? How is the homophobia of our military of greater importance than having people who actually SPEAK THE LANGUAGE of the people that we're dealing with in a desparate situation?
That, of course, continues to make the assumption that we have any concern at all about working WITH the Iraqi people. If, indeed, we are only concerned with occupation and subjegation, then it makes perfect sense that we would fire 58 people who are vital to our operations because they happen to like the meeting of glans to sphincter.
So, what's the priority here? And the Pentagon saying that gay people can serve their countries as contractors doesn't address the issue even remotely.
Thursday, May 24, 2007
bit of fun
My friend Brian mentioned the Star Wars Photoshopping Project on his blog recently, so I checked it out. It's a series of takes on a single, iconic photo from the original Star Wars film and I felt inspired to do one myself.
Tuesday, May 22, 2007
The sound of things falling into place
The first draft of "'Sweetie' Tanya" is done and sent off to the musicians and those performers who have already been cast. I am by no means finished with the script, but having something with a beginning, middle and end is vastly satisfying. Now I just need for songs to come back so I can see what needs to happen before and after them and adjust the non-singing parts appropriately.
Aggressively casting 'The Chinese Angle' while keeping an eye out for people for 'Tanya' is rather peculiar. The cast requirements for the two shows are quite different, and the shows are months apart, so it isn't like I'm poaching from one project for the other one. There's no stealing from Peter to pay Paul. Still, it feels like I have this secret agenda all the time.
Of course the real secret agenda involves fleeing the country. I bought tickets today for myself and Mayu to fly to Tahiti in early July. I'm waiting to hear back from the small local airline down there for our secondary flights to Rangiora and Bora Bora. I'm not going to be bringing much with me... just a suitcase of SPF 99 lotion and a speedo. I'll be the viscous pillar walking along the beach.
Aggressively casting 'The Chinese Angle' while keeping an eye out for people for 'Tanya' is rather peculiar. The cast requirements for the two shows are quite different, and the shows are months apart, so it isn't like I'm poaching from one project for the other one. There's no stealing from Peter to pay Paul. Still, it feels like I have this secret agenda all the time.
Of course the real secret agenda involves fleeing the country. I bought tickets today for myself and Mayu to fly to Tahiti in early July. I'm waiting to hear back from the small local airline down there for our secondary flights to Rangiora and Bora Bora. I'm not going to be bringing much with me... just a suitcase of SPF 99 lotion and a speedo. I'll be the viscous pillar walking along the beach.
Friday, May 18, 2007
by one's own mouth
I have never been a Jerry Falwell fan, not even when I was a preacher man.
Mark Morford has assembled a list of Falwell's public statements as his sendoff to the highly influential public figure, and I think it's worth perusing.
And the even more frightening thing is that he, and many others like him, would be proud of that legacy.
Mark Morford has assembled a list of Falwell's public statements as his sendoff to the highly influential public figure, and I think it's worth perusing.
And the even more frightening thing is that he, and many others like him, would be proud of that legacy.
Thursday, May 17, 2007
ancient history
This is not new information, but I just came across it. I'm in talks with my friend Kurt about "'Sweetie' Tanya" and realized how very little I know about his musical past. I knew he was much happier doing what he's doing now, and I've always been interested in his new musical projects, but I made a rather conscious choice not to go from friend to fan-boy and went the other extreme of not checking *anything* out. Well, I finally decided to check out some of his older work, and found this fascinating account of what went down with him and VH-1 back in the 90's.
I'm no lover of "Reality shows", and have a general distrust of the news media in general and of entertainment news in particular. Kurt's experience is not terribly surprising, but revealing look at Behind "Behind the Music".
I'm no lover of "Reality shows", and have a general distrust of the news media in general and of entertainment news in particular. Kurt's experience is not terribly surprising, but revealing look at Behind "Behind the Music".
Monday, May 14, 2007
in other news
Aside from me being a whiney boy, congratulations to Nina, i.e. the Slackmistress on her wedding this weekend!
Also, kudos to Rick and Megan Prelinger for their article in Harper's this month! (you currently need to be a subscriber to Harper's to read it, but I think it'll be available to the general public soon....)
Also, kudos to Rick and Megan Prelinger for their article in Harper's this month! (you currently need to be a subscriber to Harper's to read it, but I think it'll be available to the general public soon....)
head under the pillow
At some point I crossed the threshhold into "too much to do" land. I'm not exactly sure when it was, but I think that once I've finished the first draft of Sweetie Tanya and cast The Chinese Angle, I'll be a much less stressed monkey.
This weekend was one in which very little "work" got done. I was able to get the essential edit of Radiostar done before Mayu made it over on Friday, and Saturday was spent with my Mom. She's in town for the week, and for Mother's Day wanted to spend the day with meon Saturday and wanted to meet Mayu. Mother and Girlfriend got along famously, so all is good and right with the world.
We had considered either going to see Paul Jennings and Stephanie DeMott in Macbeth out in Berkeley when we got back home in the evening, but we got back too late to make the curtain time (again). We also considered going to the fireworks/live music spectacle KaBoom, but it was startlingly chilly out and that became a less attractive option. So we went home and Mayu was out like a light, victim to sun and mexican food. Sunday brought us Volleyball in the park, leaving us both with impressive sunburns (mine more impressive than hers... but then she has melanin). Radiostar that night was a good reunion, with Jennifer Jajeh rejoining us after a long absence.
Still, this morning I awoke with a deep awareness of how much is not yet done. There is a Bay Area Professional Small Theatres meeting tonight, I need to get people into the rehearsal space, I have auditions for the Chinese Angle on Thursday and Friday, and I'm getting the last few musicians lined up for Sweetie Tanya and I haven't finished the script yet. I awoke in the midst of a dream of magic, class warfare, crime sprees, and crushing responsibilities and wanted to pull the covers over my head. An apt response to a Monday if ever there was one.
This weekend was one in which very little "work" got done. I was able to get the essential edit of Radiostar done before Mayu made it over on Friday, and Saturday was spent with my Mom. She's in town for the week, and for Mother's Day wanted to spend the day with meon Saturday and wanted to meet Mayu. Mother and Girlfriend got along famously, so all is good and right with the world.
We had considered either going to see Paul Jennings and Stephanie DeMott in Macbeth out in Berkeley when we got back home in the evening, but we got back too late to make the curtain time (again). We also considered going to the fireworks/live music spectacle KaBoom, but it was startlingly chilly out and that became a less attractive option. So we went home and Mayu was out like a light, victim to sun and mexican food. Sunday brought us Volleyball in the park, leaving us both with impressive sunburns (mine more impressive than hers... but then she has melanin). Radiostar that night was a good reunion, with Jennifer Jajeh rejoining us after a long absence.
Still, this morning I awoke with a deep awareness of how much is not yet done. There is a Bay Area Professional Small Theatres meeting tonight, I need to get people into the rehearsal space, I have auditions for the Chinese Angle on Thursday and Friday, and I'm getting the last few musicians lined up for Sweetie Tanya and I haven't finished the script yet. I awoke in the midst of a dream of magic, class warfare, crime sprees, and crushing responsibilities and wanted to pull the covers over my head. An apt response to a Monday if ever there was one.
Thursday, May 10, 2007
for what it's worth
This is my new favorite online clip. Colbairt with Steinem and Fonda... pure brilliance.
sorting the headshots
I packed my bag full of headshots yesterday morning, thinking that I'd polish off yesterday's Radiostar show and sort through them after work, before my tango class. About halfway through the morning I checked my calendar to realize that I didn't have class tonight, but a BAPST leadership meeting over at the Theatre Bay Area offices. Whoops! I was able to get the show up thanks to lunch and breaks, but I lugged all the headshots to the meeting and was able to do a preliminary sort while we met.
The first pass of headshots is an amazingly superficial part of the casting process. I have hundreds of headshots in my files (or in this case, in my backpack) and I simply sorted them into two stacks. One stack had asian men and women, young white men and white women in their twenties to early forties. Everyone else went into the other stack. That split my headshots into two, fairly equal stacks. It was literally as basic as putting a headshot into a pile every time my eyes rested downwards for a second.
Once I got home, I did a second sort. Asian males in one stack, asian females in another. White men in one, white eomen in another. Sort through the Asian males into stacks of "Wilson Woo" and "Johnny Tanaka". Sort the asian women. Anyone too young looking goes into the reject pile. If they don't sing, they go in the reject pile. What is left is in the "Lily" pile. Tackle the white men. Anyone who looks over 30 at a second glance goes in the reject pile. Anyone with an area code that looks like they are more than an hour drive to rehearsals goes in the reject pile. Anyone without an email address on their resume goes in the reject pile. Yep. I'm not making two dozen phone calls to get people into auditions. Still too many people. I only want to see about 15 people for the role. I think more and more about the character. Wealthy, a bit naive, but a noir character. Not too soft. More go into the reject pile. I finally get it down to 15. Now the white women. I'd like to look at latinas and black women, but the script has as a plot point that these are white women. I make two stacks, older women for "Sydney" and young women for "Ruby" and "Ellen". I go through the Sydney's first. Same process. Distance and ease of contact are the first items. Then a more considered pass. Ex-cop, private investigator assistant, tough... but intimidated by authority figures. I get the stack down to about 12 people. On to the young women. Another stack into two piles. "Ruby" is tough, rude, ambitious and mean. All the femme fatales go in a pile. "Ellen" is by all appearances wholesome, if not completely innocent. They go into the other pile. If a "Ruby" doesn't sing, she goes in the reject pile. Otherwise, it's the same routine, although I have to go through the "Ellen" stack several times. She has to look like she could be in a noir film. Difficult at times with headshots, especially as I've written on more than a few, "looks nothing like headshot" from when I saw them at the Theatre Bay Area General Auditions. If I've written otherwise good things, I keep them in the pile anyway.
By this point I've got the stack down to about 50 headshots, maximum, for six roles. I've already sent out audition notices for people I've worked with before.
It should be enough. I've already gotten back some emails with requests for particular slots in the schedule, and more with people who have moved to LA or NYC since I got the headshots in the first place. I'd like to have this cast in the next two weeks though. This is the least fun part of the process, after all.
The first pass of headshots is an amazingly superficial part of the casting process. I have hundreds of headshots in my files (or in this case, in my backpack) and I simply sorted them into two stacks. One stack had asian men and women, young white men and white women in their twenties to early forties. Everyone else went into the other stack. That split my headshots into two, fairly equal stacks. It was literally as basic as putting a headshot into a pile every time my eyes rested downwards for a second.
Once I got home, I did a second sort. Asian males in one stack, asian females in another. White men in one, white eomen in another. Sort through the Asian males into stacks of "Wilson Woo" and "Johnny Tanaka". Sort the asian women. Anyone too young looking goes into the reject pile. If they don't sing, they go in the reject pile. What is left is in the "Lily" pile. Tackle the white men. Anyone who looks over 30 at a second glance goes in the reject pile. Anyone with an area code that looks like they are more than an hour drive to rehearsals goes in the reject pile. Anyone without an email address on their resume goes in the reject pile. Yep. I'm not making two dozen phone calls to get people into auditions. Still too many people. I only want to see about 15 people for the role. I think more and more about the character. Wealthy, a bit naive, but a noir character. Not too soft. More go into the reject pile. I finally get it down to 15. Now the white women. I'd like to look at latinas and black women, but the script has as a plot point that these are white women. I make two stacks, older women for "Sydney" and young women for "Ruby" and "Ellen". I go through the Sydney's first. Same process. Distance and ease of contact are the first items. Then a more considered pass. Ex-cop, private investigator assistant, tough... but intimidated by authority figures. I get the stack down to about 12 people. On to the young women. Another stack into two piles. "Ruby" is tough, rude, ambitious and mean. All the femme fatales go in a pile. "Ellen" is by all appearances wholesome, if not completely innocent. They go into the other pile. If a "Ruby" doesn't sing, she goes in the reject pile. Otherwise, it's the same routine, although I have to go through the "Ellen" stack several times. She has to look like she could be in a noir film. Difficult at times with headshots, especially as I've written on more than a few, "looks nothing like headshot" from when I saw them at the Theatre Bay Area General Auditions. If I've written otherwise good things, I keep them in the pile anyway.
By this point I've got the stack down to about 50 headshots, maximum, for six roles. I've already sent out audition notices for people I've worked with before.
It should be enough. I've already gotten back some emails with requests for particular slots in the schedule, and more with people who have moved to LA or NYC since I got the headshots in the first place. I'd like to have this cast in the next two weeks though. This is the least fun part of the process, after all.
Tuesday, May 08, 2007
Everyone's sweet on Sweeny
I was proufoundly amused today to get the brochure for the 2007-2008 season for American Conservatory Theatre (A.C.T.), which is the biggest, baddest theatre in downtown San Francisco. It seems that they are bringing the production of Sweeny Todd that I saw in London to San Francisco in August and September. It's been huge on Broadway, as it was impressive in London. So, A.C.T. does Sweeny Todd in August/September, Tim Burton's Sweeny Todd comes out in December, and Sweetie Tanya comes out in January. People will either be primed for this show or they'll be sick of it before it comes out.
As it is, it's already diverged so much from the inspiration that I'm half tempted to change the name. Tempted, but not that much. While the final play's connection to Sweeny Todd will be tenuous, I may well be able to toss enough parody elements into the mix to make it worthwhile. One thing is certain: this is a much darker and more serious work in its own right than I originally intended. This is perhaps not so surprising since the subject matter is not something that is easily treated both lightly and respectfully.
Another composer is tentatively on board and I've approached yet another. I hope to have confirmations available here soon. The script is moving along slowly but nicely. It will probably be the shortest script I've written, although I believe it will still run 90 minutes. This shouldn't surprise me too much, as it's all in how a play is written. "Nothing in the Dark" transcribed to less than six full pages, but ran for 25 minutes and didn't lag for a split second. It didn't even have musical numbers, and Tanya looks like it wil have up to fourteen!
In other news, I swung by the SF Playhouse, Stage 2 to look it over in preparation for "The Chinese Angle", the show I'm directing for Savage Eye Productions in the fall. It's another small house, but it has a decent sized stage, and we should be able to use the space well. I hope that I don't terrify the producer too much with my ideas for how to stage this show. But it's not my fault that they came to me with a script that was set entirely in a Chinatown nightclub in the 40's...
As it is, it's already diverged so much from the inspiration that I'm half tempted to change the name. Tempted, but not that much. While the final play's connection to Sweeny Todd will be tenuous, I may well be able to toss enough parody elements into the mix to make it worthwhile. One thing is certain: this is a much darker and more serious work in its own right than I originally intended. This is perhaps not so surprising since the subject matter is not something that is easily treated both lightly and respectfully.
Another composer is tentatively on board and I've approached yet another. I hope to have confirmations available here soon. The script is moving along slowly but nicely. It will probably be the shortest script I've written, although I believe it will still run 90 minutes. This shouldn't surprise me too much, as it's all in how a play is written. "Nothing in the Dark" transcribed to less than six full pages, but ran for 25 minutes and didn't lag for a split second. It didn't even have musical numbers, and Tanya looks like it wil have up to fourteen!
In other news, I swung by the SF Playhouse, Stage 2 to look it over in preparation for "The Chinese Angle", the show I'm directing for Savage Eye Productions in the fall. It's another small house, but it has a decent sized stage, and we should be able to use the space well. I hope that I don't terrify the producer too much with my ideas for how to stage this show. But it's not my fault that they came to me with a script that was set entirely in a Chinatown nightclub in the 40's...
Monday, April 30, 2007
changes
Lots of evolutions and changes, large and small, going on around here lately.
I got a bit more of Sweetie Tanya written this weekend, and sent off the script thus far to Rachel Efron, along with a song farther down the storyline called "Cat and Mouse", but she actually wanted to "I'm So Much Younger Than You" instead. I had originally intended for the role of the other barista to be one of a series of roles played by a single actor, but the more I write the more pivotal she has become to the plot. I don't write small casts, it seems. At this point, this is going to be a cast of seven, although that might grow a bit. I hope not, however, as the larger a cast grows the less likely it is to be produced by small companies.
Indeed, as cool as the model is that I'm developing for this piece, I am beginning to see how it's going to complicate the future life of this show. Having multiple composers is going to make it very exciting, but should any other company seek to do it, negotiating fair payment for all the writers is going to be a challenge. Very soon I am going to need to write out contracts for the composers, and I will not only need to specify copyright ownership and rights of use (the composers retain copyright but I retain distribution rights in as far as they are attached to the project, and they get distribution rights in any other format) but also how they are to be recompensed for this and any future production. To do that I am going to need to do some "pie in the sky" wish making, in the event that his show is as successful as I could possibly dream of it being.
Jeffrey Bihr has received his song, "I Know I Shouldn't", and will be working on it over the next few weeks. Steve Kahn will be composing the theme. I'll be announcing more composers as I get confirmations.
Some of my earlier assumptions about the script are already beginning to fall away. The one-off joke about the lovers subplot in Sweeny is out the window, I think. There's just too much going on in Tanya's story to waste time on it. I may change my mind again, but I doubt it. The plot is getting more and more simplified, as the strength of the songs becomes mroe apparant. I'm used to relying heavily on dialogue and surprise plot twists, but that isn't really what this piece is about. It's a comedy, but a black comedy, blacker than I originally thought. Some horrible things happen, and sometimes to people who don't deserve it.
Sweetie Tanya changes aren't the only ones in the works. I had hoped to produce a show for Cassandra's Call Productions, with Dylan Russell directing, this fall. We haven't found the right script, however. Actually, we have found the right script but can't get the rights released to us yet. Maybe in 2008. In the meanwhile, we've relaxed our timeline to "when we find what we want, plus six months". This actually works out well for me, as I've just been tapped to direct "The Chinese Angle" by Hal Savage at the SF Playhouse, Stage 2. Hal played Gino the priest in "Get it? Got it. Good!" and I'm very excited to dig into the script. It's a noir musical and promises to be a good deal of fun.
I don't think I've mentioned that I'll be performing in Antero Alli's new film project, The Forest War, filming in late July and early August. I'm playing an actor playing Prospero in a series of exercises in the forests of California. Check out the website for full details, but here's the synopsis: "An obsessed theatre director brings his troupe out to a forest to ritualize his version of French Surrealist Antonin Artaud's vision of a mythic theatre of gods, ghosts and spirits. They stay at a privately owned campground that includes its own cook, a deaf
mute woman whose secret spirituality engages the hallucinagenic mushrooms that grow wild in the woods. Unbeknownst to the group are her good intentions of spiking their final night's meal with these mushrooms so they may enter and engage the spirit realm, that she believes, they are truly looking for."
Due to this project, I'm growing my hair and beard out, which is a bit of change in and of itself. I've had my hair long before, longer than it will be for this project, but my beard has already reached the longest it's ever been. I can only imagine how it will look by the end of July. Mayu, thank goodness, has no complaints about it.
Still, I am a shaggy mountain man.
I got a bit more of Sweetie Tanya written this weekend, and sent off the script thus far to Rachel Efron, along with a song farther down the storyline called "Cat and Mouse", but she actually wanted to "I'm So Much Younger Than You" instead. I had originally intended for the role of the other barista to be one of a series of roles played by a single actor, but the more I write the more pivotal she has become to the plot. I don't write small casts, it seems. At this point, this is going to be a cast of seven, although that might grow a bit. I hope not, however, as the larger a cast grows the less likely it is to be produced by small companies.
Indeed, as cool as the model is that I'm developing for this piece, I am beginning to see how it's going to complicate the future life of this show. Having multiple composers is going to make it very exciting, but should any other company seek to do it, negotiating fair payment for all the writers is going to be a challenge. Very soon I am going to need to write out contracts for the composers, and I will not only need to specify copyright ownership and rights of use (the composers retain copyright but I retain distribution rights in as far as they are attached to the project, and they get distribution rights in any other format) but also how they are to be recompensed for this and any future production. To do that I am going to need to do some "pie in the sky" wish making, in the event that his show is as successful as I could possibly dream of it being.
Jeffrey Bihr has received his song, "I Know I Shouldn't", and will be working on it over the next few weeks. Steve Kahn will be composing the theme. I'll be announcing more composers as I get confirmations.
Some of my earlier assumptions about the script are already beginning to fall away. The one-off joke about the lovers subplot in Sweeny is out the window, I think. There's just too much going on in Tanya's story to waste time on it. I may change my mind again, but I doubt it. The plot is getting more and more simplified, as the strength of the songs becomes mroe apparant. I'm used to relying heavily on dialogue and surprise plot twists, but that isn't really what this piece is about. It's a comedy, but a black comedy, blacker than I originally thought. Some horrible things happen, and sometimes to people who don't deserve it.
Sweetie Tanya changes aren't the only ones in the works. I had hoped to produce a show for Cassandra's Call Productions, with Dylan Russell directing, this fall. We haven't found the right script, however. Actually, we have found the right script but can't get the rights released to us yet. Maybe in 2008. In the meanwhile, we've relaxed our timeline to "when we find what we want, plus six months". This actually works out well for me, as I've just been tapped to direct "The Chinese Angle" by Hal Savage at the SF Playhouse, Stage 2. Hal played Gino the priest in "Get it? Got it. Good!" and I'm very excited to dig into the script. It's a noir musical and promises to be a good deal of fun.
I don't think I've mentioned that I'll be performing in Antero Alli's new film project, The Forest War, filming in late July and early August. I'm playing an actor playing Prospero in a series of exercises in the forests of California. Check out the website for full details, but here's the synopsis: "An obsessed theatre director brings his troupe out to a forest to ritualize his version of French Surrealist Antonin Artaud's vision of a mythic theatre of gods, ghosts and spirits. They stay at a privately owned campground that includes its own cook, a deaf
mute woman whose secret spirituality engages the hallucinagenic mushrooms that grow wild in the woods. Unbeknownst to the group are her good intentions of spiking their final night's meal with these mushrooms so they may enter and engage the spirit realm, that she believes, they are truly looking for."
Due to this project, I'm growing my hair and beard out, which is a bit of change in and of itself. I've had my hair long before, longer than it will be for this project, but my beard has already reached the longest it's ever been. I can only imagine how it will look by the end of July. Mayu, thank goodness, has no complaints about it.
Still, I am a shaggy mountain man.
Friday, April 27, 2007
DRM, RIAA, WTF?
the East Bay Express has an article about Gracenote that functions as a kind of "state of the union" on issues of digital rights management.
I'm of a mixed mindset on this. I think that it's important for things to be available, but I also think that artists and content creators should be recompensed for their efforts. Granted, Radiostar is free, but it would be nice if we got something other than satisfaction out of the deal. We're actually looking at putting out some "Best Of" CDs which would have some extra content that you can't get online.
One thing that I think helps is streaming technology. Having a song or a video stream through a flash environment or other system that makes it technically inconvenient to do more than listen to it once or twice as a kind of demo, seems fair. I want to listen to the new Tori Amos CD before I buy it, so I can stream it off of her site and if I like it, or just like parts of it, I can then buy the mp3s. That's workable. I'm not buying a whole CD based on a single I heard, or off of reputation, but I get to know what I'm getting. I can find new bands in the same way. Go to the site, see what I like, and then I have the option to buy. Can these things be hacked? Sure. Everything can be hacked, but 95% of users wouldn't know how to get an MP3 file out of a flash player so that they could store it permanently on their machine and then play it on their iPods.
I'm not happy about the "sue anything that moves" methodology, but sadly that seems to be how Americans do business.
As for me, I'm all about Creative Commons, which allows content creators to determine how much or little their work can be appropriated, reused, and reshaped.
I'm of a mixed mindset on this. I think that it's important for things to be available, but I also think that artists and content creators should be recompensed for their efforts. Granted, Radiostar is free, but it would be nice if we got something other than satisfaction out of the deal. We're actually looking at putting out some "Best Of" CDs which would have some extra content that you can't get online.
One thing that I think helps is streaming technology. Having a song or a video stream through a flash environment or other system that makes it technically inconvenient to do more than listen to it once or twice as a kind of demo, seems fair. I want to listen to the new Tori Amos CD before I buy it, so I can stream it off of her site and if I like it, or just like parts of it, I can then buy the mp3s. That's workable. I'm not buying a whole CD based on a single I heard, or off of reputation, but I get to know what I'm getting. I can find new bands in the same way. Go to the site, see what I like, and then I have the option to buy. Can these things be hacked? Sure. Everything can be hacked, but 95% of users wouldn't know how to get an MP3 file out of a flash player so that they could store it permanently on their machine and then play it on their iPods.
I'm not happy about the "sue anything that moves" methodology, but sadly that seems to be how Americans do business.
As for me, I'm all about Creative Commons, which allows content creators to determine how much or little their work can be appropriated, reused, and reshaped.
Wednesday, April 25, 2007
Sweetie Tanya
I'm writing a play that will go up at the Darkroom Theatre in January. It's a musical serial killer comedy about sexual harrassment in the workplace called "'Sweetie' Tanya, the Demon Barista of Valencia Street". As the title indicates it's a loose riff on the fantastic Sondheim musical, "Sweeny Todd", although in the end I expect that the show will actually bear only a superficial relationship to the source material. If anything, Sweeny Todd will serve as a substrata of the play, offering a variety of in-jokes for those who enjoy such things.
I was hesitant to approach a single musician to score the play, as the last musical I wrote has been indefinitely derailed due to life happening. (It took me three years to write the first draft, and the composer has had a variety of life altering events happen since then)
So I had the idea of contacting a variety of musicians and asking them each to contribute a song. Top of my list was Rachel Efron, who has played before a couple of my other shows. The opening song is a direct riff on Sondheim's score, but the second song was one that I immediately knew I wanted Rachel to write. I hadn't heard a word from her in about six months, but I fired off my proposal and the lyrics for the first piece I had written, letting her know that I was in no way committed to those particular words.
She got the email after returning from a trip and immediately went for a walk. When she returned from her walk, she had "A Fearful Thing to Dream" completed in her head. I went over to listen to it last night.
If every song is this good, this show is going to go very, very far. She had taken the mood of what I had written and a few of the images and core phrases and created something infinately more haunting and beautiful than anything I could have conceived of. And to make it even better, she asked if I wanted a second song and played me a melody that she has in her head that needs some words. It was light and fun and playful and I am going to use it for the middle of Tanya's killing spree.
I have the lyric outline ready for the next song "I Know I Shouldn't" and will be passing it on to the next composer in the next day or two.
I was hesitant to approach a single musician to score the play, as the last musical I wrote has been indefinitely derailed due to life happening. (It took me three years to write the first draft, and the composer has had a variety of life altering events happen since then)
So I had the idea of contacting a variety of musicians and asking them each to contribute a song. Top of my list was Rachel Efron, who has played before a couple of my other shows. The opening song is a direct riff on Sondheim's score, but the second song was one that I immediately knew I wanted Rachel to write. I hadn't heard a word from her in about six months, but I fired off my proposal and the lyrics for the first piece I had written, letting her know that I was in no way committed to those particular words.
She got the email after returning from a trip and immediately went for a walk. When she returned from her walk, she had "A Fearful Thing to Dream" completed in her head. I went over to listen to it last night.
If every song is this good, this show is going to go very, very far. She had taken the mood of what I had written and a few of the images and core phrases and created something infinately more haunting and beautiful than anything I could have conceived of. And to make it even better, she asked if I wanted a second song and played me a melody that she has in her head that needs some words. It was light and fun and playful and I am going to use it for the middle of Tanya's killing spree.
I have the lyric outline ready for the next song "I Know I Shouldn't" and will be passing it on to the next composer in the next day or two.
Friday, April 20, 2007
Casting Director
Diana Brown once forcefully reminded me that in my own small way, I hold people's hopes and dreams in my hands. I have a hard time seeing that, as my productions are small theatre and my company is still finding its feet, but nevertheless it's true. Every show you do is a stepping stone to the next one, and every connection you make pushes you farther in your career. As much as I tend to underplay my role in the theatre community, I am a provider of work for local actors and artists.
So, I shouldn't be surprised when I get unsolicited headshots and cover letters in the mail. I got one about a week ago, as I was heading out to look at a potential venue out in Fruitvale (a rather rough district in Oakland). I ended up using the large envelope to take copious notes on, but didn't look at the headshot until later.
A few notes, for those of you who are doing headshots and resumes. Firstly, ask yourself what it is that you want to communciate about yourself? This particular headshot went from the bottom of the bust to the top of the head, and she was wearing an outfit that was sleeveless and completely open all the way to cleavage. About 25% of the area of the photo is exposed skin from cleavage to chin and shoulder to shoulder (thin straps) and a large necklace that could be a sunburst or could be a paint splatter... like a pattern you might get from a paintball gun. On the back of the resume, under Skills, at the very end but spaced so as to give it emphasis are the following factioids: "I speak fluent Ob", "Former Girl Scout" and "My tongue is long".
Granted, her resume makes it clear that she does musicals, stand up comedy, improv and more. Still, it is not terribly wise to submit a headshot and resume that draws focus primarly to your upper torso, with a large metal symbol that looks like a liquid struck you at high impact right above your breasts, and point out that you have a very long tongue.
Well, depending on what kind of work you're looking for, maybe that is what you want to send out.
So, I shouldn't be surprised when I get unsolicited headshots and cover letters in the mail. I got one about a week ago, as I was heading out to look at a potential venue out in Fruitvale (a rather rough district in Oakland). I ended up using the large envelope to take copious notes on, but didn't look at the headshot until later.
A few notes, for those of you who are doing headshots and resumes. Firstly, ask yourself what it is that you want to communciate about yourself? This particular headshot went from the bottom of the bust to the top of the head, and she was wearing an outfit that was sleeveless and completely open all the way to cleavage. About 25% of the area of the photo is exposed skin from cleavage to chin and shoulder to shoulder (thin straps) and a large necklace that could be a sunburst or could be a paint splatter... like a pattern you might get from a paintball gun. On the back of the resume, under Skills, at the very end but spaced so as to give it emphasis are the following factioids: "I speak fluent Ob", "Former Girl Scout" and "My tongue is long".
Granted, her resume makes it clear that she does musicals, stand up comedy, improv and more. Still, it is not terribly wise to submit a headshot and resume that draws focus primarly to your upper torso, with a large metal symbol that looks like a liquid struck you at high impact right above your breasts, and point out that you have a very long tongue.
Well, depending on what kind of work you're looking for, maybe that is what you want to send out.
Thursday, April 19, 2007
self destruction
I have long been of the opinion that the human race is not getting any worse, but that we are simply more aware of the horrible things we do to each other on a global basis. Atrocity in your local community is one thing to take in, atrocity across the globe... made as immediate as if it happened in the next city, is something else.
The planet, however, I think is getting sicker and sicker, and we're at the core of the problem. Jeffrey Rowland has been referencing the Bee issue quite a bit, and linked to this article about the potential link between cell phone usage and the vanishing of bees... and I wonder exactly which of the many ways we are killing ourselves will be the one that does us in. I don't use my land line anymore. I rely completely and totally on my cell phone. Hell, I have two. One for work and one for home. I'm not worried about low sperm count, and I don't text enough for RSI injuries, but I'm not too fond of the whole brain tumor thing. If the bees keep dying, though, it won't really matter since we'll all die of starvation long before my little tumorous buddy shows up.
So, what's it going to be? War? Famine? Disease? Global Flooding? I saw a film online called "End Day" that appears to have been pulled from Google video, but that gave a rather chilling look at some of the more likely scenarios to destroy us all. The Strangelet theory is the least likely option, but still rather terrifying because it could theoretically destroy the known universe eventually... and who knows if it hasn't already happened somewhere else and that the void approaches us at this very moment? But a new plague, a meteorite collision, a tsunami, a super volcano... these things are extremely likely, if not inevitable. We will be hit by meteorites again eventually. We will experience another super volcano eruption, like the one that obliterated Krakatoa and that is rapidly building again... and it might happen in other locations that are more densely populated. In a world of rapid international air travel, the idea of a virulent airborne virus that kills rapidly spreading across the entire globe is not too far fetched.
But again, will we even be here if such a thing happens?
I don't worry about it a lot. One cannot live in a state of constant fear. But this cell phone thing, and learning how biofuels are actually increasing global warming is leading me to the desire to never leave my apartment.
The planet, however, I think is getting sicker and sicker, and we're at the core of the problem. Jeffrey Rowland has been referencing the Bee issue quite a bit, and linked to this article about the potential link between cell phone usage and the vanishing of bees... and I wonder exactly which of the many ways we are killing ourselves will be the one that does us in. I don't use my land line anymore. I rely completely and totally on my cell phone. Hell, I have two. One for work and one for home. I'm not worried about low sperm count, and I don't text enough for RSI injuries, but I'm not too fond of the whole brain tumor thing. If the bees keep dying, though, it won't really matter since we'll all die of starvation long before my little tumorous buddy shows up.
So, what's it going to be? War? Famine? Disease? Global Flooding? I saw a film online called "End Day" that appears to have been pulled from Google video, but that gave a rather chilling look at some of the more likely scenarios to destroy us all. The Strangelet theory is the least likely option, but still rather terrifying because it could theoretically destroy the known universe eventually... and who knows if it hasn't already happened somewhere else and that the void approaches us at this very moment? But a new plague, a meteorite collision, a tsunami, a super volcano... these things are extremely likely, if not inevitable. We will be hit by meteorites again eventually. We will experience another super volcano eruption, like the one that obliterated Krakatoa and that is rapidly building again... and it might happen in other locations that are more densely populated. In a world of rapid international air travel, the idea of a virulent airborne virus that kills rapidly spreading across the entire globe is not too far fetched.
But again, will we even be here if such a thing happens?
I don't worry about it a lot. One cannot live in a state of constant fear. But this cell phone thing, and learning how biofuels are actually increasing global warming is leading me to the desire to never leave my apartment.
Wednesday, April 18, 2007
Transitions
Just a quick note as I'm sitting in the Phoenix pub in the Mission, preparing to go and see excerpts from the one-woman show that Suraya is working on.
As of last Thursday, I am officially "off" the Help Desk at WestEd. I can now focus on project work and on training. This was promised to me back in December and I had officially given up hope of it happening. I moved into the smaller office next door on Monday morning, although I still have a lot of rearranging to do. I'm extremely happy about this. Although I am still fielding help desk requests from time to time, my phone barely rings anymore and I've been able to make some serious progress on some projects and am re-learning how to do ActionScript in Flash.
The BAPST meeting on Monday went well enough. We're still trying to figure out what we are and how to meet our dual mandates, but I think that it gets clearer and clearer each time we meet. The trick at this point will be to connect and communicate with certain parties that are forming opinions about us without having actually talked to us about what we're trying to do. Gotta love that. Theatre Bay Area asked me and two others to lead a group designed to improve services and communication among the small theatre community (a good third of their membership) and some of those theatres are immediately taking affront to it. All miscommunications and misunderstandings, but nothing worthwhile came without struggle.
I'm very excited to announce that Rachel Efron and Jeffrey Bihr have both agreed to compose songs for "'Sweetie' Tanya". I'm extremely excited about this project and am hoping to get more of the script written down by the end of this week.
That being said, I'm off to a show.
As of last Thursday, I am officially "off" the Help Desk at WestEd. I can now focus on project work and on training. This was promised to me back in December and I had officially given up hope of it happening. I moved into the smaller office next door on Monday morning, although I still have a lot of rearranging to do. I'm extremely happy about this. Although I am still fielding help desk requests from time to time, my phone barely rings anymore and I've been able to make some serious progress on some projects and am re-learning how to do ActionScript in Flash.
The BAPST meeting on Monday went well enough. We're still trying to figure out what we are and how to meet our dual mandates, but I think that it gets clearer and clearer each time we meet. The trick at this point will be to connect and communicate with certain parties that are forming opinions about us without having actually talked to us about what we're trying to do. Gotta love that. Theatre Bay Area asked me and two others to lead a group designed to improve services and communication among the small theatre community (a good third of their membership) and some of those theatres are immediately taking affront to it. All miscommunications and misunderstandings, but nothing worthwhile came without struggle.
I'm very excited to announce that Rachel Efron and Jeffrey Bihr have both agreed to compose songs for "'Sweetie' Tanya". I'm extremely excited about this project and am hoping to get more of the script written down by the end of this week.
That being said, I'm off to a show.
Tuesday, April 10, 2007
Expo
Last night was the Theatre Bay Area Expo. I got a booth for Cassandra's Call Productions, marketing the rehearsal room, Radiostar, and our improv groups for corporate events. I hadn't been to a TBA Expo before, so I wasn't sure what to expect but it seemed like a pretty good sized crowd given what it was. We had a decent amount of traffic and sat next to Custom Made Theatre, which was appropriate since our rehearsal room is next door to their theatre space. I think I was able to raise awareness and hopefully I'll see some new renters for the space and new listeners for Radiostar. A lot of the folks there were actors, though, and they would have probably been happier if we were advertising general auditions.
Still, I saw Dylan Russell, and had a good chat about getting me information on scripts she wants to do this fall, so that seems to still be a viable option. I was also able to chat a bit with Michael Rice over at Cool As Hell Theatre podcast, who has interviewed me a few times.
In any event, it's one more thing off my list of things to worry about.
I got chapter seven of the novel finished, finally, thanks to the gracious support of Mayuko. Who knew that having a girlfriend might actually *help* my productivity? Tonight I hope to edit another couple of episodes of Submergency and do some work for my outside clients. Tomorrow's Radiostar show is done, fortunately, so there's no need to sweat that at all.
I've taken on another project as well. I'm working with a principal in the Fruitvale district of Oakland about getting their old auditorium up to snuff to be used by the community as a performance and cultural center. I did a lot of assessing last week and need to write up a proposal for what needs to be done to make it all happen. I don't think that I'll be able to be the primary person on this, with everything else that is going on, but hopefully I can get it jump started and connect the school with the artists who can make things happen. It's all very exciting, but also very intimidating as the building hasn't really been touched in decades.
In further news, I've accepted a role in Antero Alli's next film, "The Invisible Forest." I'll be playing myself playing Prospero. It looks like it will be an interesting project, although it is requiring me to grow my hair and beard long for the role. We start shooting in late July, so I'll be very, very shaggy by that point. Mayu is being exceedingly accepting of my big bristly face.
On the social front, this weekend was full of goodies. Tristan Goldstein had a birthday party, we had lunch in Japantown with Mayu's friends, and volleyball in Lake Merritt park with coworkers. People keep asking me how I fit it all in, and I'm honestly not sure.
Still, I saw Dylan Russell, and had a good chat about getting me information on scripts she wants to do this fall, so that seems to still be a viable option. I was also able to chat a bit with Michael Rice over at Cool As Hell Theatre podcast, who has interviewed me a few times.
In any event, it's one more thing off my list of things to worry about.
I got chapter seven of the novel finished, finally, thanks to the gracious support of Mayuko. Who knew that having a girlfriend might actually *help* my productivity? Tonight I hope to edit another couple of episodes of Submergency and do some work for my outside clients. Tomorrow's Radiostar show is done, fortunately, so there's no need to sweat that at all.
I've taken on another project as well. I'm working with a principal in the Fruitvale district of Oakland about getting their old auditorium up to snuff to be used by the community as a performance and cultural center. I did a lot of assessing last week and need to write up a proposal for what needs to be done to make it all happen. I don't think that I'll be able to be the primary person on this, with everything else that is going on, but hopefully I can get it jump started and connect the school with the artists who can make things happen. It's all very exciting, but also very intimidating as the building hasn't really been touched in decades.
In further news, I've accepted a role in Antero Alli's next film, "The Invisible Forest." I'll be playing myself playing Prospero. It looks like it will be an interesting project, although it is requiring me to grow my hair and beard long for the role. We start shooting in late July, so I'll be very, very shaggy by that point. Mayu is being exceedingly accepting of my big bristly face.
On the social front, this weekend was full of goodies. Tristan Goldstein had a birthday party, we had lunch in Japantown with Mayu's friends, and volleyball in Lake Merritt park with coworkers. People keep asking me how I fit it all in, and I'm honestly not sure.
Friday, March 30, 2007
All gas is deadly, not just mine
First off, thanks to Christopher DeJong for alerting me to this article about Biodiesel fraud.
Here's an excerpt: "Already we know that biofuel is worse for the planet than petroleum. The UN has just published a report suggesting that 98% of the natural rainforest in Indonesia will be degraded or gone by 2022. Just five years ago, the same agencies predicted that this wouldn't happen until 2032. But they reckoned without the planting of palm oil to turn into biodiesel for the European market. This is now the main cause of deforestation there and it is likely soon to become responsible for the extinction of the orang-utan in the wild.
But it gets worse. As the forests are burned, both the trees and the peat they sit on are turned into carbon dioxide. A report by the Dutch consultancy Delft Hydraulics shows that every tonne of palm oil results in 33 tonnes of carbon dioxide emissions, or 10 times as much as petroleum produces. I feel I need to say that again. Biodiesel from palm oil causes 10 times as much climate change as ordinary diesel."
Welcome to the road of good intentions, folks.
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My XBox 360 came in the mail and I hooked it up last night. Say goodbye to productivity, although I have a few things that will force me away from the controller for a bit. Still, I got it all set up and will activate my XBox Live account this weekend. Drop me a line if you want my ID. I'm currently playing Oblivion, which I'd seen on Kurt Larsen's PC a year ago, and it looks even better on my wall.
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While I still don't know what we're doing for a Fall show, I have confirmed a project for Cassandra's Call Productions for the Darkroom Theatre in January. I am currently writing "'Sweetie' Tanya, the Demon Barista of Valencia Street", an exploration of sexual harassment in the service industry masquerading as a musical horror comedy. I'm pleased to announce that Bryce Byerley has already agreed to play the narrator, "Mad Biscuit". More details as they develop.
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Finally. for those interested in seeing Julie Kurtz completely "face" me during our last Submergency show in December...
Here's an excerpt: "Already we know that biofuel is worse for the planet than petroleum. The UN has just published a report suggesting that 98% of the natural rainforest in Indonesia will be degraded or gone by 2022. Just five years ago, the same agencies predicted that this wouldn't happen until 2032. But they reckoned without the planting of palm oil to turn into biodiesel for the European market. This is now the main cause of deforestation there and it is likely soon to become responsible for the extinction of the orang-utan in the wild.
But it gets worse. As the forests are burned, both the trees and the peat they sit on are turned into carbon dioxide. A report by the Dutch consultancy Delft Hydraulics shows that every tonne of palm oil results in 33 tonnes of carbon dioxide emissions, or 10 times as much as petroleum produces. I feel I need to say that again. Biodiesel from palm oil causes 10 times as much climate change as ordinary diesel."
Welcome to the road of good intentions, folks.
-----------
My XBox 360 came in the mail and I hooked it up last night. Say goodbye to productivity, although I have a few things that will force me away from the controller for a bit. Still, I got it all set up and will activate my XBox Live account this weekend. Drop me a line if you want my ID. I'm currently playing Oblivion, which I'd seen on Kurt Larsen's PC a year ago, and it looks even better on my wall.
-----------
While I still don't know what we're doing for a Fall show, I have confirmed a project for Cassandra's Call Productions for the Darkroom Theatre in January. I am currently writing "'Sweetie' Tanya, the Demon Barista of Valencia Street", an exploration of sexual harassment in the service industry masquerading as a musical horror comedy. I'm pleased to announce that Bryce Byerley has already agreed to play the narrator, "Mad Biscuit". More details as they develop.
-----------
Finally. for those interested in seeing Julie Kurtz completely "face" me during our last Submergency show in December...
Monday, March 26, 2007
crisis of faith
It can be frustrating to put a lot of effort and talent into a project and have it received well... by a very small number of people. This weekend was the brief run of "Nothing in the Dark" for the Twilight Zone festival. Friday night was respectably full, but Saturday brought inclement weather and only ten to fifteen audience members. Sunday afternoon brought a similarly small crowd.
The show was good, but fewer than 60 people saw it. This is the danger of small theatre, but it really hit me this time out. Why do I keep investing so much into endeavors that bear so little fruit? Am I still paying dues, or just choosing the wrong projects?
Granted, within a few hours I was contemplating future projects, so I suppose that the addiction won't be shaken so easily.
The show was good, but fewer than 60 people saw it. This is the danger of small theatre, but it really hit me this time out. Why do I keep investing so much into endeavors that bear so little fruit? Am I still paying dues, or just choosing the wrong projects?
Granted, within a few hours I was contemplating future projects, so I suppose that the addiction won't be shaken so easily.
Monday, March 19, 2007
Nothing in the Dark
When setting up a rehearsal schedule, the primary question in my mind is usually "is this enough time to get this show ready?" In the case of "Nothing in the Dark", the 22 minute Twilight Zone adaptation I'm doing for the Darkroom Theatre, the answer has been "yes, and then some." It's a strange thing to be able to cancel rehearsals and know that it's not going to hurt the project at all. Once again, my actors have brought it to the table with a speed and skill that causes me to marvel. Granted, it's not a long piece, but 5 to 6 weeks for a two hour show is standard, so 2 weeks (and only 4 days a week) for a half hour piece seems about right. As it is, I cancelled one night of rehearsal, and let them go home early on Saturday.
Mayuko watched rehearsal on Saturday and was especially impressed with Marilyn Kamelgarn, our lead. She's taken the character into a more frightening and eerie place than the original episode suggested. This has been the joy of this project. The original episode was brilliant, but working with these performers and Hal Hughes' deeply disturbing fiddle score has really allowed us to explore the script in a way that I'm sure the original cast and crew were unable to. The original "Wanda" was sad and fragile and sweet, and the meditative aspect of the script dominated the episode. In ours, the fiddle leads us to reflection, to be sure, but also to the madness and despair that fills the dilapidated and condemned little basement apartment where this woman has barricaded herself for years. Shades of "Misery" have creeped in, and I hope that the audience has as much fear and concern for the well being of "Harold Beldin", the injured police officer who lies incapacitated and bleeding on her bed, as for the old woman with fits of paranoia and terror who is keeping him essentially prisoner.
We tech Wed, and open Friday. It's only three shows, which is a shame, but I think that the fortunate few who make it will be in for a lot of fun.
There's a lot of good stuff out right now, actually. Mayu and I caught "Nathan the Wise" with TheatreFirst and Ripe Theatre's "Hardly Breathing" and really enjoyed both shows. What really grabbed me, though, was SF Playhouse's production of "Jesus Hopped the A Train", which was mind bogglingly powerful.
In totally unrelated news, I saw on the controller for my PS2 last week. This resulted in my ass pulling on the cable that leads up to the PS2 itself, up on the shelf above my couch. This resulted in the PS2 being yanked off the shelf and making a 2 point landing on my head. Fortunately, the flat part of the unit made contact, so I got off with a sizable lump on my head and a bruise on my knee where it finally landed after bouncing off my head. Amazingly the unit wasn't damaged, although the game inside was pretty badly scuffed.
I've been considering getting an XBox 360 for a while, since my crew are all on that platform anyway, and this pretty much decided me. I need wireless controllers at the very least!
Mayuko watched rehearsal on Saturday and was especially impressed with Marilyn Kamelgarn, our lead. She's taken the character into a more frightening and eerie place than the original episode suggested. This has been the joy of this project. The original episode was brilliant, but working with these performers and Hal Hughes' deeply disturbing fiddle score has really allowed us to explore the script in a way that I'm sure the original cast and crew were unable to. The original "Wanda" was sad and fragile and sweet, and the meditative aspect of the script dominated the episode. In ours, the fiddle leads us to reflection, to be sure, but also to the madness and despair that fills the dilapidated and condemned little basement apartment where this woman has barricaded herself for years. Shades of "Misery" have creeped in, and I hope that the audience has as much fear and concern for the well being of "Harold Beldin", the injured police officer who lies incapacitated and bleeding on her bed, as for the old woman with fits of paranoia and terror who is keeping him essentially prisoner.
We tech Wed, and open Friday. It's only three shows, which is a shame, but I think that the fortunate few who make it will be in for a lot of fun.
There's a lot of good stuff out right now, actually. Mayu and I caught "Nathan the Wise" with TheatreFirst and Ripe Theatre's "Hardly Breathing" and really enjoyed both shows. What really grabbed me, though, was SF Playhouse's production of "Jesus Hopped the A Train", which was mind bogglingly powerful.
In totally unrelated news, I saw on the controller for my PS2 last week. This resulted in my ass pulling on the cable that leads up to the PS2 itself, up on the shelf above my couch. This resulted in the PS2 being yanked off the shelf and making a 2 point landing on my head. Fortunately, the flat part of the unit made contact, so I got off with a sizable lump on my head and a bruise on my knee where it finally landed after bouncing off my head. Amazingly the unit wasn't damaged, although the game inside was pretty badly scuffed.
I've been considering getting an XBox 360 for a while, since my crew are all on that platform anyway, and this pretty much decided me. I need wireless controllers at the very least!
Monday, March 05, 2007
Transitions
The show went well! We had odd little glitches here and there; light cues that were a bit off at points, drinks that didn't always end up in the faces they were intended for, interesting circumlocutions of lines; but people seem to have really enjoyed the show and that's what counts. I'll certainly do it again next year if they ask me back.
Radiostar was a bit odd last night, though. I'll write about that on the RadioStar blog.
Tonight was a meeting of the Bay Area Professional Small Theatres. Our second larger meeting, and the first chance those of us on the steering committee (or whatever the hell we are) were able to present some of our thoughts and work to the group. It was extremely informative, to say the least, and I think we have a clearer idea of how to proceed and which things are important for those of us building the organization and which things are important for the group that we represent. We've all got a lot of learning to do. The most frustrating thing for me right now is waiting for Theatre Bay Area to provide us with some of the communication tools that I could whip up myself in a flash, but we want everything to be integrated with the website. Realistically, between Radiostar, Vial, and Nothing in the Dark, I should be glad for the reprieve. Still, I wish we could start being a little more action oriented, but without a proper communication channel that's just not practical.
Tomorrow is the first rehearsal of "Nothing in the Dark". Unlike Vial, I don't have any concerns regarding set or props for this one, but I do have a costume quandry to resolve. Most of the challenge with this piece will be in how to work the development process. I've never worked like this before, which is a little scary. Still, I think we can make something truly neat with this.
Radiostar was a bit odd last night, though. I'll write about that on the RadioStar blog.
Tonight was a meeting of the Bay Area Professional Small Theatres. Our second larger meeting, and the first chance those of us on the steering committee (or whatever the hell we are) were able to present some of our thoughts and work to the group. It was extremely informative, to say the least, and I think we have a clearer idea of how to proceed and which things are important for those of us building the organization and which things are important for the group that we represent. We've all got a lot of learning to do. The most frustrating thing for me right now is waiting for Theatre Bay Area to provide us with some of the communication tools that I could whip up myself in a flash, but we want everything to be integrated with the website. Realistically, between Radiostar, Vial, and Nothing in the Dark, I should be glad for the reprieve. Still, I wish we could start being a little more action oriented, but without a proper communication channel that's just not practical.
Tomorrow is the first rehearsal of "Nothing in the Dark". Unlike Vial, I don't have any concerns regarding set or props for this one, but I do have a costume quandry to resolve. Most of the challenge with this piece will be in how to work the development process. I've never worked like this before, which is a little scary. Still, I think we can make something truly neat with this.
Friday, March 02, 2007
opening and healings
I am feeling considerably better today, although I would not refer to myself as "healthy". Still, I am functioning as well without drugs today as I was with them yesterday. Nyquil is unspeakably nasty, but terribly effective in shutting me down so hard that my body can go into hard core repair mode.
The show opened last night, and it had remarkably few glitches in it! Two slightly-off light cues. A couple of flubbed lines, nicely covered. The laughter was subdued, but present, which is appropriate for the piece. It's ostensibly a thriller, but we found a good amount of humor in it. Still, it's complex enough that I could almost hear the audience leaning forward, paying attention to each detail as it was revealed. I'm pleased with it, and look forward to the comparative ease of the next three shows.
I'll actually get to watch the first two pieces tonight, which will be nice, although I'll never see the one that immediately precedes us. That's a shame, but what I get for taking on the role of the butler.
Three more days of Vial, and then it's done. On Tuesday we begin rehearsals for "Nothing in the Dark" and three more weeks of discovery.
The show opened last night, and it had remarkably few glitches in it! Two slightly-off light cues. A couple of flubbed lines, nicely covered. The laughter was subdued, but present, which is appropriate for the piece. It's ostensibly a thriller, but we found a good amount of humor in it. Still, it's complex enough that I could almost hear the audience leaning forward, paying attention to each detail as it was revealed. I'm pleased with it, and look forward to the comparative ease of the next three shows.
I'll actually get to watch the first two pieces tonight, which will be nice, although I'll never see the one that immediately precedes us. That's a shame, but what I get for taking on the role of the butler.
Three more days of Vial, and then it's done. On Tuesday we begin rehearsals for "Nothing in the Dark" and three more weeks of discovery.
Thursday, March 01, 2007
opening
I'm at home again, still sick as a dog. I was going to try and do help desk this morning, but the first person I talked to on the phone said that I sounded absolutely horrible.
Dress last night was really our tech, so tonight should be interesting. The general rule is "bad dress, good opening" and last night was the worst Dress I've had in some time. I could hear the light designer cursing in the booth at various points. I felt the same way, believe me.
Still, I think we worked out all the confusions.
Mayu picked me up after watching Hedda Gabler, and made sure I got some Nyquil before taking me home. As a result, I slept beautifully last night. Best sleep I've had all week. I still woke up sounding like Gollum, but phlegm is phlegm. I'm about to go shower, snort some heart-racing, nasal passage clearing medication and head to the theatre. I need to get a bottle of gin, empty it into a thermous and fill it full of water. One of the actors took the prop bottle, after I had told him to only pantomime pouring from it, and poured real rum into everyone's glasses last night. This wouldn't have been that big an issue, except that someone gets a drink in the face at one point and they got a FULL glass of rum all over themselves. Fortunately there is no smoking on stage in this show.
Theatre, gotta love it.
Dress last night was really our tech, so tonight should be interesting. The general rule is "bad dress, good opening" and last night was the worst Dress I've had in some time. I could hear the light designer cursing in the booth at various points. I felt the same way, believe me.
Still, I think we worked out all the confusions.
Mayu picked me up after watching Hedda Gabler, and made sure I got some Nyquil before taking me home. As a result, I slept beautifully last night. Best sleep I've had all week. I still woke up sounding like Gollum, but phlegm is phlegm. I'm about to go shower, snort some heart-racing, nasal passage clearing medication and head to the theatre. I need to get a bottle of gin, empty it into a thermous and fill it full of water. One of the actors took the prop bottle, after I had told him to only pantomime pouring from it, and poured real rum into everyone's glasses last night. This wouldn't have been that big an issue, except that someone gets a drink in the face at one point and they got a FULL glass of rum all over themselves. Fortunately there is no smoking on stage in this show.
Theatre, gotta love it.
Wednesday, February 28, 2007
Sick and Dress
I was sooo pleased that I'd gotten past the current cold season without illness. So much for that. I tried going into work today, and it was a big mistake. I got through my first help desk shift, but then had to come home. I was light headed, headachey, and barely able to function.
Tonight should be fun.
I'll be hopped up on Afrin, getting through dress rehearsal. We're the last ones up, and tech was kind of a challenge last night. Our poor light designer was stressed to a tragic level and it made things a bit tense. I had written out all the cues, which she had originally understood, but then missed a crucial detail on the script and that kind of threw everything into confusion. It only takes one thing, folks. Still, in the end we got it all taken care of and tonight should go smoothly... I hope.
My goal is to be out of there by 10:30, get a ride home with Mayuko, who is seeing Hedda Gabler without me *sniffle*, and actually get a full night's sleep. I afrin'ed myself last night so I could breathe, but between the heart racing of the afrin and the mild fever I was dealing with, it took me forever to sleep. I'd like to make it back into the office tomorrow, but I had a few of the staff comment on how awful I looked, so I may at least take tomorrow off and do Help Desk from home again. I think that if i can take naps throughout the day, and keep all the windows shut (blessed dark), I'll be able to get through this week.
Tonight should be fun.
I'll be hopped up on Afrin, getting through dress rehearsal. We're the last ones up, and tech was kind of a challenge last night. Our poor light designer was stressed to a tragic level and it made things a bit tense. I had written out all the cues, which she had originally understood, but then missed a crucial detail on the script and that kind of threw everything into confusion. It only takes one thing, folks. Still, in the end we got it all taken care of and tonight should go smoothly... I hope.
My goal is to be out of there by 10:30, get a ride home with Mayuko, who is seeing Hedda Gabler without me *sniffle*, and actually get a full night's sleep. I afrin'ed myself last night so I could breathe, but between the heart racing of the afrin and the mild fever I was dealing with, it took me forever to sleep. I'd like to make it back into the office tomorrow, but I had a few of the staff comment on how awful I looked, so I may at least take tomorrow off and do Help Desk from home again. I think that if i can take naps throughout the day, and keep all the windows shut (blessed dark), I'll be able to get through this week.
Tuesday, February 27, 2007
Monday, February 26, 2007
Advancements
I just spoke with a "fiddle player" who is happy to provide the live music I've needed for "Nothing in the Dark". I'm terribly pleased, as he's worked with other theatre companies, so even though I'm going into this fairly blind, I believe that we can put something appropriate together. We go into rehearsals a week from tomorrow, so I'm not in a position to pick and choose. This is the benefit, as well as the frustration of directing for tiny, no budget shows. On the down side, if I could pay a musician, I'd have had someone long before now. But since I'm not, and since it's only three performances in a 45 seat house, I can take the risk without it costing me several thousand dollars. If this works out well, I'm sure there will be more collaborations down the line as well.
RadioStar has launched a blog, allowing the performers to reflect on the improv and podcasting process. It's available at the new RadioStar Network web site. It's not technically "live" yet (the site, not the blog) as the only content we currently have is the improv stream and now the blog. But we should have the first of our staged reading up shortly, and hopefully we can get the first interview up there shortly afterwards.
Vial opens on Thursday. Come check it out if you can, it's looking like a great show.
RadioStar has launched a blog, allowing the performers to reflect on the improv and podcasting process. It's available at the new RadioStar Network web site. It's not technically "live" yet (the site, not the blog) as the only content we currently have is the improv stream and now the blog. But we should have the first of our staged reading up shortly, and hopefully we can get the first interview up there shortly afterwards.
Vial opens on Thursday. Come check it out if you can, it's looking like a great show.
Wednesday, February 21, 2007
Random notes
A neat trick was pointed out to me from T.M. Camp about Firefox. If you use Firefox (and if you don't... why not?) type "wiki" and then a search term in your address bar, then hit return. Firefox will bring up the closest relevant wikipedia entry. Very, very cool.
The second Submergency video is up on YouTube. Check it out!
Adrienne Miller and Tom Neely have had their second child! Congratulations guys!
there's an insightful analysis of our failure in Iraq and suggested directions at the Washington Post that is worth checking out. Thanks to Jon Brooks for that.
Matthew Rossi is an actor I met at the 2005 Fringe Festival in San Francisco, and he's got a sad and fascinating tale of innocence lost and warnings about trust and identity that is worth a read.
The second Submergency video is up on YouTube. Check it out!
Adrienne Miller and Tom Neely have had their second child! Congratulations guys!
there's an insightful analysis of our failure in Iraq and suggested directions at the Washington Post that is worth checking out. Thanks to Jon Brooks for that.
Matthew Rossi is an actor I met at the 2005 Fringe Festival in San Francisco, and he's got a sad and fascinating tale of innocence lost and warnings about trust and identity that is worth a read.
stage and film
Last night we moved rehearsal from the Off Market Theatre back to my apartment. I had rented out the space in advance, and we were short an actor anyway, so I decided it would be a good opportunity to work some of the key 2 and 3 person moments. We got a LOT of stuff cleaned up and polished, which will really allow us to leap forward tonight and tomorrow as we shape the rest of the play around these pivotal points.
As a director, I don't know that I'm the most brilliant visual artist in the world. Perhaps that's partly because I'm so used to working on a shoestring budget. I'm not accustomed to making visual extravaganzas ("Pinch" being the obvious exception). I do have a good sense of how to put a scene together though. I actually surprise myself, watching the actors and suddenly seeing how to communicate what is going on to the audience clearly, and being able to explain exactly why an actor should angle themselves in this way, or what they need to convey emotionally to the audience, or why some choices obscure the intent and some clarify them. After decades of acting, directing, and observing, I've built a very clear vocabulary of movement and performance in my mind and I'm having a great deal of fun bringing all of that to this process.
Vial will be a nifty bit of theatre.
I'm starting to get nervous about my lack of musician for "Nothing in the Dark" however. We've still got time, but I am getting edgy. I found a bed headboard with a "free" sign on it in my apartment building lobby and quickly grabbed it for the show, but soon realized that it was entirely too wide for my needs and had to return it where I found it. As low budget as "Vial" is, "Nothing in the Dark" is even more extreme. The stage is literally the size of my living room, and I need to have three actors and a "bed" in that space. I'm sharing the space with another "Twilight Zone" episode that night, so whatever set I have needs to be able to go up and come down within moments. Interesting challenges. For now though, most of my attention is on "Vial", and I hope that my musician presents him or herself soon.
On totally unrelated notes, I caught "Pan's Labrynth" with Mayu on Monday and was both compelled and repulsed by it. It's a fantastically done film, but one that I found deeply and profoundly disturbing. It's strange to have such a high quality film be one that I can't recommend universally, but this is a "Fantasy" film that children should not be taken to. I couldn't bear to watch some parts of it, because there are certain images I just don't want in my head ... and they had nothing to do with fauns, fairies, or inhuman monsters. As scary as these images are in the film, they are nothing to the human monster that dominates the narrative.
One thing that movie did, aside from give me the screaming meemies, was take my mind off the abomination that the Ghost Rider film has turned out to be. This is a character that I have a lot of emotional investment in, and from the second I heard that Nick Cage was cast as Johnny Blaze I began to worry. Then I heard that there were two scripts being considered. One of them was a dark, gritty horror script and the other was a "superhero" script. They went with the latter and I worried a bit more. Then the trailer came out, and I thought that some of the visuals looked great, but everything else about the film took me from worry to a sense of forboding doom. Well, now it's out. The reviews are in, and it's craptastically bad. Bad script, bad acting, unfinished special effects, and all the sensibilities of a bad video game.
Everything thinks "I could have done it better", but the truth is... most of us could have done it better. I wanted a film with a young Johnny Blaze. I wanted to see him obsess over his black magic books, obvilivious that he was toying with the real deal. I want to see his anguish over the impending loss of the man who is like a father to him. I want to see his girlfriend save his ass at the last minute. But most of all, I want to see him turn into a demon from hell... and to struggle with his own desires for vengeance. I want to see Johnny Blaze let the Ghost Rider exact the vengeance that Johnny's own anger and frustration and pain demand... and then see what happens when the demon goes too far. A film where the "hero" who is no hero without a human conscience goes out of control and then see how Johnny confronts his own heart, and desperately tries to regain the control he has sacrificed.
That would have been an amazing movie. But instead we get Nick Cage, the plastic Eva Mendez (who didn't even look like she could act in the trailer... which is always a bad sign), and some bullshit about water, air, and earth monsters and a protaganist who is about as conflicted as a man choosing paper versus plastic. I would have preferred that the film had died in pre-production, or gone straight to video because now it will be 20 years before anyone even considers trying to make a good Ghost Rider movie... at best.
As a director, I don't know that I'm the most brilliant visual artist in the world. Perhaps that's partly because I'm so used to working on a shoestring budget. I'm not accustomed to making visual extravaganzas ("Pinch" being the obvious exception). I do have a good sense of how to put a scene together though. I actually surprise myself, watching the actors and suddenly seeing how to communicate what is going on to the audience clearly, and being able to explain exactly why an actor should angle themselves in this way, or what they need to convey emotionally to the audience, or why some choices obscure the intent and some clarify them. After decades of acting, directing, and observing, I've built a very clear vocabulary of movement and performance in my mind and I'm having a great deal of fun bringing all of that to this process.
Vial will be a nifty bit of theatre.
I'm starting to get nervous about my lack of musician for "Nothing in the Dark" however. We've still got time, but I am getting edgy. I found a bed headboard with a "free" sign on it in my apartment building lobby and quickly grabbed it for the show, but soon realized that it was entirely too wide for my needs and had to return it where I found it. As low budget as "Vial" is, "Nothing in the Dark" is even more extreme. The stage is literally the size of my living room, and I need to have three actors and a "bed" in that space. I'm sharing the space with another "Twilight Zone" episode that night, so whatever set I have needs to be able to go up and come down within moments. Interesting challenges. For now though, most of my attention is on "Vial", and I hope that my musician presents him or herself soon.
On totally unrelated notes, I caught "Pan's Labrynth" with Mayu on Monday and was both compelled and repulsed by it. It's a fantastically done film, but one that I found deeply and profoundly disturbing. It's strange to have such a high quality film be one that I can't recommend universally, but this is a "Fantasy" film that children should not be taken to. I couldn't bear to watch some parts of it, because there are certain images I just don't want in my head ... and they had nothing to do with fauns, fairies, or inhuman monsters. As scary as these images are in the film, they are nothing to the human monster that dominates the narrative.
One thing that movie did, aside from give me the screaming meemies, was take my mind off the abomination that the Ghost Rider film has turned out to be. This is a character that I have a lot of emotional investment in, and from the second I heard that Nick Cage was cast as Johnny Blaze I began to worry. Then I heard that there were two scripts being considered. One of them was a dark, gritty horror script and the other was a "superhero" script. They went with the latter and I worried a bit more. Then the trailer came out, and I thought that some of the visuals looked great, but everything else about the film took me from worry to a sense of forboding doom. Well, now it's out. The reviews are in, and it's craptastically bad. Bad script, bad acting, unfinished special effects, and all the sensibilities of a bad video game.
Everything thinks "I could have done it better", but the truth is... most of us could have done it better. I wanted a film with a young Johnny Blaze. I wanted to see him obsess over his black magic books, obvilivious that he was toying with the real deal. I want to see his anguish over the impending loss of the man who is like a father to him. I want to see his girlfriend save his ass at the last minute. But most of all, I want to see him turn into a demon from hell... and to struggle with his own desires for vengeance. I want to see Johnny Blaze let the Ghost Rider exact the vengeance that Johnny's own anger and frustration and pain demand... and then see what happens when the demon goes too far. A film where the "hero" who is no hero without a human conscience goes out of control and then see how Johnny confronts his own heart, and desperately tries to regain the control he has sacrificed.
That would have been an amazing movie. But instead we get Nick Cage, the plastic Eva Mendez (who didn't even look like she could act in the trailer... which is always a bad sign), and some bullshit about water, air, and earth monsters and a protaganist who is about as conflicted as a man choosing paper versus plastic. I would have preferred that the film had died in pre-production, or gone straight to video because now it will be 20 years before anyone even considers trying to make a good Ghost Rider movie... at best.
Wednesday, February 14, 2007
ass kicking
The last 24 hours have pretty firmly kicked my ass, but it's going to get better from this point forward, I think.
The first of the Submergency videos has been posted on YouTube. We'll be posting the entire show in chunks over the next few months. Some of these are fantastically funny, and others are just cute, but I'm pleased with the general quality of all of them and am looking forward to further improving the video quality for future shows.
Vial had its first rehearsal last night, and it went ... ok. We were missing an actor and another was an hour late, and two others were about a half hour late. Not an auspicious beginning, to say the very least. On the plus side, everyone had given good consideration to their characters, histories, secrets and relationships and people were largely off book for the read through. We only have two weeks, so I needed people as ready as possible for this start. With one of our actors gone for a third of the rehearsals, keeping things tight and working on the characters (instead of just learning the lines) is crucial.
I'm a bit freaked about still needing set pieces, but Mayu has already promised to help me get some stuff on Saturday. I just need to breathe. People will show up on time. We'll have time to do this script justice, and we'll get through it.
really, we will.
The first of the Submergency videos has been posted on YouTube. We'll be posting the entire show in chunks over the next few months. Some of these are fantastically funny, and others are just cute, but I'm pleased with the general quality of all of them and am looking forward to further improving the video quality for future shows.
Vial had its first rehearsal last night, and it went ... ok. We were missing an actor and another was an hour late, and two others were about a half hour late. Not an auspicious beginning, to say the very least. On the plus side, everyone had given good consideration to their characters, histories, secrets and relationships and people were largely off book for the read through. We only have two weeks, so I needed people as ready as possible for this start. With one of our actors gone for a third of the rehearsals, keeping things tight and working on the characters (instead of just learning the lines) is crucial.
I'm a bit freaked about still needing set pieces, but Mayu has already promised to help me get some stuff on Saturday. I just need to breathe. People will show up on time. We'll have time to do this script justice, and we'll get through it.
really, we will.
Monday, February 12, 2007
On the edge of the rehearsal abyss.
A couple of links first off.
Kim Richards made me aware of this speech by Ross Anderson, Mayor of Salt Lake City, which I thought was worthy of note.
One of our employees here sent me a link to this case of early tech support that is probably one of the best takes on the HelpDesk experience I've ever seen.
Another good RadioStar recording session last night. We were able to record several short plays by local writer/performer Deborah Wade, and we should be able to begin podcasting them shortly.
Mayu and I were able to catch Eleanor Reinholdt and Candice Milan in "Come back to the five and dime, Jimmy Dean, Jimmy Dean" at the California Conservatory Theatre this weekend. Eleanor and Candice were some of the standouts of the cast, and the show as a whole was fairly good. Definitely worth your time if you're in the area, and they have one weekend left.
Rehearsals start tomorrow for "Vial", and I'm still in need of some chairs. I have two weeks, so it isn't dire yet, but it would be nice to not have to worry about it. I'm still trying to nail down a musician for "Nothing in the Dark" as well. Feel free to refer people to me!
I got confirmation that we do NOT have the rights for the hoped for July show at the Exit, but I'm not too discouraged as that may open up time and energy and resources to convert "Pinch" into a short film. I've been getting a ton of ideas of how to film it, and floating it by people seems to be getting a positive reaction. Granted, I've also had people express a desire to shake me and yell "slow down! For god's sake, just slow down!'.
I'm not sure what they mean by that, though.
Kim Richards made me aware of this speech by Ross Anderson, Mayor of Salt Lake City, which I thought was worthy of note.
One of our employees here sent me a link to this case of early tech support that is probably one of the best takes on the HelpDesk experience I've ever seen.
Another good RadioStar recording session last night. We were able to record several short plays by local writer/performer Deborah Wade, and we should be able to begin podcasting them shortly.
Mayu and I were able to catch Eleanor Reinholdt and Candice Milan in "Come back to the five and dime, Jimmy Dean, Jimmy Dean" at the California Conservatory Theatre this weekend. Eleanor and Candice were some of the standouts of the cast, and the show as a whole was fairly good. Definitely worth your time if you're in the area, and they have one weekend left.
Rehearsals start tomorrow for "Vial", and I'm still in need of some chairs. I have two weeks, so it isn't dire yet, but it would be nice to not have to worry about it. I'm still trying to nail down a musician for "Nothing in the Dark" as well. Feel free to refer people to me!
I got confirmation that we do NOT have the rights for the hoped for July show at the Exit, but I'm not too discouraged as that may open up time and energy and resources to convert "Pinch" into a short film. I've been getting a ton of ideas of how to film it, and floating it by people seems to be getting a positive reaction. Granted, I've also had people express a desire to shake me and yell "slow down! For god's sake, just slow down!'.
I'm not sure what they mean by that, though.
Thursday, February 08, 2007
bleh
Well, last night was kind of a wash. I got the current RadioStar show up in the afternoon, but I had hoped to get a jump start on next week's show and get some writing done. I just couldn't pull it together, though. I played with Second Life a bit, creating an account and avatar. I wanted to see what this thing was like and if it was worth creating a space there that could be a virtual RadioStar Listening Room. After an hour and a half of tooling around and only seeing three other users outside the welcome kiosk, I'm not sure it would be worth the time or effort. I'll play around a little more and see if I can find if ANYWHERE is better populated, but I'm not terribly hopeful right now.
I went to my last tango class for the next several weeks, but didn't do much dancing. In an odd turn of events, there were 9 men and only 7 women, so I opted out of most of the practice time since I don't actually pay for lessons. (I've done web work for the instructors for over 7 years, most of it unpaid, so I get free lessons). It was a bit frustrating, especially as I had to walk home in the rain afterwards.
I got home and finished dorking around on Second Life for a bit, and generally completely failed to get any writing or significant editing done. Everything I tried to work on turned to dust and I found myself drifting off energetically. I hate nights like this, when I just can't focus to save my life and there are too many bright and sparkley things around to distract me.
I went to my last tango class for the next several weeks, but didn't do much dancing. In an odd turn of events, there were 9 men and only 7 women, so I opted out of most of the practice time since I don't actually pay for lessons. (I've done web work for the instructors for over 7 years, most of it unpaid, so I get free lessons). It was a bit frustrating, especially as I had to walk home in the rain afterwards.
I got home and finished dorking around on Second Life for a bit, and generally completely failed to get any writing or significant editing done. Everything I tried to work on turned to dust and I found myself drifting off energetically. I hate nights like this, when I just can't focus to save my life and there are too many bright and sparkley things around to distract me.
Tuesday, February 06, 2007
Stuff and Nonsense
Not a lot new on the personal front. I'm a week out from beginning rehearsals for "Vial", with a full cast and most of the tech stuff all lined up. Angela, Mayuko and I went and saw Kodo Taiko at U.C. Berkeley on Saturday, which was awesome and reminded me that I really need to keep abreast of what is going on at Berkeley. Much thanks to Eric Katz for sacrificing his ticket so that Mayu could attend. Also, Jeffrey Bihr has fired up Suzuki classes again, which I drug Mayu (willingly) to. I'm thrilled to be resuming this work, even if it is on Sunday mornings.
A few random thoughts on the news:
A man wanted internationally for bombings, espionage, attempted murder, and hijacking was elected to Iraq's parliament fourteen months ago. We just realized it. I wonder if his career of violent opposition to Kuwait and America was part of his election campaign process. If not, obviously his opponents didn't do their job in exposing his past very well. What ever happened to modeling their election process on ours?
The big news today is about the astronaut who went all Jerry Springer on a perceived romantic rival. It's about time that the sciences began to compete with professional sports in the area of scandal and lame ass behavior. I'm just glad that astronauts have to go through all that psychological testing before they get sent into space so that they don't go bug fuck crazy up there . ... wait a minute....
Tony Blair accused Iran of "a strategy to create maximum trouble" in the Middle East. Interesting comments from the largest supporter of America's violent invasion of an Arabic nation. Seriously, what grounds do America or England have in claiming that Middle East nations are trying to create maximum trouble in the Middle East while we're invading, stationing military bases in foreign lands (whether they want us there or not), detaining foreign citizens in countries that don't belong to us, and generally poking the hornet's nest with a big stick while chuckling imbecilely? What amazes me even more is that this kind of comment after one of Iran's diplomats was kidnapped by what appear to be US backed Iraqi special forces. Is Blair suggesting that Iran kidnapped it's own people in an attempt to justify a war with the U.S.?
I have to wonder, in the case of the friendly fire incident, where American pilots opened file on a British convoy, if Iraqi families whose families are killed "accidentally" get the same rights of inquest as British families. Or are the Iraqi people not our allies? This is not to say that it's not horrible that we killed our own allies, because it is. But I suspect that we kill a lot of people who are not trying to kill us and I'm asking more and more what makes "news" newsworthy, and why this death is more sensitive than the deaths of the people that we are supposedly there to protect.
and now, an atrocious picture of a young Neil Gaiman. I hope I never get so famous that people take pleasure in pointing out how bad my hair used to be
.Finally, it looks like you'll be able to download movies and television to your car in the next few years. I remember as a kid, we had a van for trips that had a little television in the back. The reception was absolutely terrible, but we watched it. It had shag carpeting, and two fancy seats with cup holders, a little kitchen sink and a fridge. The back seats folded down into a bed. Ahhh, the 70's.
A few random thoughts on the news:
A man wanted internationally for bombings, espionage, attempted murder, and hijacking was elected to Iraq's parliament fourteen months ago. We just realized it. I wonder if his career of violent opposition to Kuwait and America was part of his election campaign process. If not, obviously his opponents didn't do their job in exposing his past very well. What ever happened to modeling their election process on ours?
The big news today is about the astronaut who went all Jerry Springer on a perceived romantic rival. It's about time that the sciences began to compete with professional sports in the area of scandal and lame ass behavior. I'm just glad that astronauts have to go through all that psychological testing before they get sent into space so that they don't go bug fuck crazy up there . ... wait a minute....
Tony Blair accused Iran of "a strategy to create maximum trouble" in the Middle East. Interesting comments from the largest supporter of America's violent invasion of an Arabic nation. Seriously, what grounds do America or England have in claiming that Middle East nations are trying to create maximum trouble in the Middle East while we're invading, stationing military bases in foreign lands (whether they want us there or not), detaining foreign citizens in countries that don't belong to us, and generally poking the hornet's nest with a big stick while chuckling imbecilely? What amazes me even more is that this kind of comment after one of Iran's diplomats was kidnapped by what appear to be US backed Iraqi special forces. Is Blair suggesting that Iran kidnapped it's own people in an attempt to justify a war with the U.S.?
I have to wonder, in the case of the friendly fire incident, where American pilots opened file on a British convoy, if Iraqi families whose families are killed "accidentally" get the same rights of inquest as British families. Or are the Iraqi people not our allies? This is not to say that it's not horrible that we killed our own allies, because it is. But I suspect that we kill a lot of people who are not trying to kill us and I'm asking more and more what makes "news" newsworthy, and why this death is more sensitive than the deaths of the people that we are supposedly there to protect.
and now, an atrocious picture of a young Neil Gaiman. I hope I never get so famous that people take pleasure in pointing out how bad my hair used to be
.Finally, it looks like you'll be able to download movies and television to your car in the next few years. I remember as a kid, we had a van for trips that had a little television in the back. The reception was absolutely terrible, but we watched it. It had shag carpeting, and two fancy seats with cup holders, a little kitchen sink and a fridge. The back seats folded down into a bed. Ahhh, the 70's.
Thursday, February 01, 2007
something random
Don't mind this. It's for a practical joke that Neil Gaiman is playing on Penn Teller.
New Year Dawning
I meant to write earlier, but Blogger was down. So it's not my fault.
A few quick updates on things:
"Vial" for the Bay Area One Acts is two weeks out from rehearsals. I've met with the set, light, and sound designers and things are looking good. I was short an actor for a while, but I think I've got the role recast finally. This one aspect of the production has generated the most stress for me, as I had several actors who would have worked well in the role and would have loved to do it, but were already cast elsewhere. This is the problem with these tiny unpaid festivals. Since you can't pay the actors (casts for 10 distinct one-acts, plus directors, playwrights, crew, etc. etc. etc. would cause the budget to skyrocket, and the venue is expensive enough as it is), it's not unexpected to lose high quality people to paying gigs. Unfortunate, but understandable. Still, we've got a great cast and I think it's going to be a really good piece.
"Nothing in the Dark" is cast, and I'm waiting for confirmation on my violinist. There's not a whole lot I can do about this late March show just yet, so I'm just trying not to fret about the music side of things.
RadioStar continues to go well. We had over 600 downloads of shows last month, and I'm hoping that our audience will just keep growing. Our most popular show has had over 150 downloads since it was first created (we have over 55 shows online now), so I don't know that our actual audience is more than 200 people or so. If you listen to us, please feel free to leave a review on iTunes, or send us an email.
The first meeting of the League of Professional Small Theatre Companies was last night, and while it's way too early to make any predictions as to it's effectiveness, the potential there is impressive. I set up a discussion board for us to use, so hopefully the hundreds of small theatre professionals in the area will be able to more effectively share resources and solutions.
I edited the first of the Submergency videos last night as well. Once I have a few more of them done I'll start posting them online. At this point I think I'll post them on the CCP server as a podcast for iTunes and also on YouTube. That will be 15 videos when all is said and done, and by that point we'll hopefully have another show lined up, so it might behoove us to make Submergency a semi-regular video podcast.
I've started seeing someone, which is a big change over the last two years. I'm taking things week by week, but it's very nice and I'm certainly feeling grounded. She lives in Sacramento, which is actually working out well. She's out here most weekends anyway, so my guilt at the dating commute isn't as great as it might be, and since she's heavily interested in the arts we've got lots to keep ourselves occupied (like that's ever been a problem for me).
Speaking of keeping occupied, I've been taking tango lessons from Gigi and Warren Jensen again and greatly enjoying it, and will begin taking Suzuki acting lessons from Jeffrey Bihr again starting this Sunday. Tango is going by the sideboard for a month or two while I'm in rehearsal for "Vial" and "Nothing in the Dark", but the Suzuki class is on Sunday mornings so it doesn't conflict with anything other than my laziness. A class I will not be taking, but that is of interest, is Paul Jenning's Shakespeare classes. Paul is gearing up to teach Elizabethan theatre technique and is looking for students. If you're interested in this, let me know and I'll forward your information to Paul.
Other good, if somewhat surprising news, is that novelist, playwright, and scholar Mandy Keifetz got married a couple of weeks ago! After a brief and whirlwind romance, Mandy got married while on a visit here in San Francisco. She's staying in New York but will be out here frequently until her new hubby can complete his own move out to the Big Apple. Cheers Keif!
On the dark side, my Aunt has been fighting a mystery infection that is so bad that she's been put into a controlled coma. She's been under for a few weeks now, and they still can't seem to find where the infection is concentrated. It's extremely scary, but every time I talk to my mom there has been no news. It all happened so fast, and now weeks of nothing. No change, no progress, no new information. It's a strange kind of limbo. And stuff like this goes beyond the inevitabilities of old age. It's something darker and stranger and unpredictable and all I know to do is to hope for recovery.
I want to end on something a bit more hopeful, so I'll mention that I've made bit more progress on the novel. Chapter six is finished and I have the outline for what I think will happen in chapter seven all worked out. With everything else going on, though, I'm not sure when I'll be able to announce the next chapter's completion.
A few quick updates on things:
"Vial" for the Bay Area One Acts is two weeks out from rehearsals. I've met with the set, light, and sound designers and things are looking good. I was short an actor for a while, but I think I've got the role recast finally. This one aspect of the production has generated the most stress for me, as I had several actors who would have worked well in the role and would have loved to do it, but were already cast elsewhere. This is the problem with these tiny unpaid festivals. Since you can't pay the actors (casts for 10 distinct one-acts, plus directors, playwrights, crew, etc. etc. etc. would cause the budget to skyrocket, and the venue is expensive enough as it is), it's not unexpected to lose high quality people to paying gigs. Unfortunate, but understandable. Still, we've got a great cast and I think it's going to be a really good piece.
"Nothing in the Dark" is cast, and I'm waiting for confirmation on my violinist. There's not a whole lot I can do about this late March show just yet, so I'm just trying not to fret about the music side of things.
RadioStar continues to go well. We had over 600 downloads of shows last month, and I'm hoping that our audience will just keep growing. Our most popular show has had over 150 downloads since it was first created (we have over 55 shows online now), so I don't know that our actual audience is more than 200 people or so. If you listen to us, please feel free to leave a review on iTunes, or send us an email.
The first meeting of the League of Professional Small Theatre Companies was last night, and while it's way too early to make any predictions as to it's effectiveness, the potential there is impressive. I set up a discussion board for us to use, so hopefully the hundreds of small theatre professionals in the area will be able to more effectively share resources and solutions.
I edited the first of the Submergency videos last night as well. Once I have a few more of them done I'll start posting them online. At this point I think I'll post them on the CCP server as a podcast for iTunes and also on YouTube. That will be 15 videos when all is said and done, and by that point we'll hopefully have another show lined up, so it might behoove us to make Submergency a semi-regular video podcast.
I've started seeing someone, which is a big change over the last two years. I'm taking things week by week, but it's very nice and I'm certainly feeling grounded. She lives in Sacramento, which is actually working out well. She's out here most weekends anyway, so my guilt at the dating commute isn't as great as it might be, and since she's heavily interested in the arts we've got lots to keep ourselves occupied (like that's ever been a problem for me).
Speaking of keeping occupied, I've been taking tango lessons from Gigi and Warren Jensen again and greatly enjoying it, and will begin taking Suzuki acting lessons from Jeffrey Bihr again starting this Sunday. Tango is going by the sideboard for a month or two while I'm in rehearsal for "Vial" and "Nothing in the Dark", but the Suzuki class is on Sunday mornings so it doesn't conflict with anything other than my laziness. A class I will not be taking, but that is of interest, is Paul Jenning's Shakespeare classes. Paul is gearing up to teach Elizabethan theatre technique and is looking for students. If you're interested in this, let me know and I'll forward your information to Paul.
Other good, if somewhat surprising news, is that novelist, playwright, and scholar Mandy Keifetz got married a couple of weeks ago! After a brief and whirlwind romance, Mandy got married while on a visit here in San Francisco. She's staying in New York but will be out here frequently until her new hubby can complete his own move out to the Big Apple. Cheers Keif!
On the dark side, my Aunt has been fighting a mystery infection that is so bad that she's been put into a controlled coma. She's been under for a few weeks now, and they still can't seem to find where the infection is concentrated. It's extremely scary, but every time I talk to my mom there has been no news. It all happened so fast, and now weeks of nothing. No change, no progress, no new information. It's a strange kind of limbo. And stuff like this goes beyond the inevitabilities of old age. It's something darker and stranger and unpredictable and all I know to do is to hope for recovery.
I want to end on something a bit more hopeful, so I'll mention that I've made bit more progress on the novel. Chapter six is finished and I have the outline for what I think will happen in chapter seven all worked out. With everything else going on, though, I'm not sure when I'll be able to announce the next chapter's completion.
New Year Dawning
I meant to write earlier, but Blogger was down. So it's not my fault.
A few quick updates on things:
"Vial" for the Bay Area One Acts is two weeks out from rehearsals. I've met with the set, light, and sound designers and things are looking good. I was short an actor for a while, but I think I've got the role recast finally. This one aspect of the production has generated the most stress for me, as I had several actors who would have worked well in the role and would have loved to do it, but were already cast elsewhere. This is the problem with these tiny unpaid festivals. Since you can't pay the actors (casts for 10 distinct one-acts, plus directors, playwrights, crew, etc. etc. etc. would cause the budget to skyrocket, and the venue is expensive enough as it is), it's not unexpected to lose high quality people to paying gigs. Unfortunate, but understandable. Still, we've got a great cast and I think it's going to be a really good piece.
"Nothing in the Dark" is cast, and I'm waiting for confirmation on my violinist. There's not a whole lot I can do about this late March show just yet, so I'm just trying not to fret about the music side of things.
RadioStar continues to go well. We had over 600 downloads of shows last month, and I'm hoping that our audience will just keep growing. Our most popular show has had over 150 downloads since it was first created (we have over 55 shows online now), so I don't know that our actual audience is more than 200 people or so. If you listen to us, please feel free to leave a review on iTunes, or send us an email.
The first meeting of the League of Professional Small Theatre Companies was last night, and while it's way too early to make any predictions as to it's effectiveness, the potential there is impressive. I set up a discussion board for us to use, so hopefully the hundreds of small theatre professionals in the area will be able to more effectively share resources and solutions.
I edited the first of the Submergency videos last night as well. Once I have a few more of them done I'll start posting them online. At this point I think I'll post them on the CCP server as a podcast for iTunes and also on YouTube. That will be 15 videos when all is said and done, and by that point we'll hopefully have another show lined up, so it might behoove us to make Submergency a semi-regular video podcast.
I've started seeing someone, which is a big change over the last two years. I'm taking things week by week, but it's very nice and I'm certainly feeling grounded. She lives in Sacramento, which is actually working out well. She's out here most weekends anyway, so my guilt at the dating commute isn't as great as it might be, and since she's heavily interested in the arts we've got lots to keep ourselves occupied (like that's ever been a problem for me).
Speaking of keeping occupied, I've been taking tango lessons from Gigi and Warren Jensen again and greatly enjoying it, and will begin taking Suzuki acting lessons from Jeffrey Bihr again starting this Sunday. Tango is going by the sideboard for a month or two while I'm in rehearsal for "Vial" and "Nothing in the Dark", but the Suzuki class is on Sunday mornings so it doesn't conflict with anything other than my laziness. A class I will not be taking, but that is of interest, is Paul Jenning's Shakespeare classes. Paul is gearing up to teach Elizabethan theatre technique and is looking for students. If you're interested in this, let me know and I'll forward your information to Paul.
Other good, if somewhat surprising news, is that novelist, playwright, and scholar Mandy Keifetz got married a couple of weeks ago! After a brief and whirlwind romance, Mandy got married while on a visit here in San Francisco. She's staying in New York but will be out here frequently until her new hubby can complete his own move out to the Big Apple. Cheers Keif!
On the dark side, my Aunt has been fighting a mystery infection that is so bad that she's been put into a controlled coma. She's been under for a few weeks now, and they still can't seem to find where the infection is concentrated. It's extremely scary, but every time I talk to my mom there has been no news. It all happened so fast, and now weeks of nothing. No change, no progress, no new information. It's a strange kind of limbo. And stuff like this goes beyond the inevitabilities of old age. It's something darker and stranger and unpredictable and all I know to do is to hope for recovery.
I want to end on something a bit more hopeful, so I'll mention that I've made bit more progress on the novel. Chapter six is finished and I have the outline for what I think will happen in chapter seven all worked out. With everything else going on, though, I'm not sure when I'll be able to announce the next chapter's completion.
A few quick updates on things:
"Vial" for the Bay Area One Acts is two weeks out from rehearsals. I've met with the set, light, and sound designers and things are looking good. I was short an actor for a while, but I think I've got the role recast finally. This one aspect of the production has generated the most stress for me, as I had several actors who would have worked well in the role and would have loved to do it, but were already cast elsewhere. This is the problem with these tiny unpaid festivals. Since you can't pay the actors (casts for 10 distinct one-acts, plus directors, playwrights, crew, etc. etc. etc. would cause the budget to skyrocket, and the venue is expensive enough as it is), it's not unexpected to lose high quality people to paying gigs. Unfortunate, but understandable. Still, we've got a great cast and I think it's going to be a really good piece.
"Nothing in the Dark" is cast, and I'm waiting for confirmation on my violinist. There's not a whole lot I can do about this late March show just yet, so I'm just trying not to fret about the music side of things.
RadioStar continues to go well. We had over 600 downloads of shows last month, and I'm hoping that our audience will just keep growing. Our most popular show has had over 150 downloads since it was first created (we have over 55 shows online now), so I don't know that our actual audience is more than 200 people or so. If you listen to us, please feel free to leave a review on iTunes, or send us an email.
The first meeting of the League of Professional Small Theatre Companies was last night, and while it's way too early to make any predictions as to it's effectiveness, the potential there is impressive. I set up a discussion board for us to use, so hopefully the hundreds of small theatre professionals in the area will be able to more effectively share resources and solutions.
I edited the first of the Submergency videos last night as well. Once I have a few more of them done I'll start posting them online. At this point I think I'll post them on the CCP server as a podcast for iTunes and also on YouTube. That will be 15 videos when all is said and done, and by that point we'll hopefully have another show lined up, so it might behoove us to make Submergency a semi-regular video podcast.
I've started seeing someone, which is a big change over the last two years. I'm taking things week by week, but it's very nice and I'm certainly feeling grounded. She lives in Sacramento, which is actually working out well. She's out here most weekends anyway, so my guilt at the dating commute isn't as great as it might be, and since she's heavily interested in the arts we've got lots to keep ourselves occupied (like that's ever been a problem for me).
Speaking of keeping occupied, I've been taking tango lessons from Gigi and Warren Jensen again and greatly enjoying it, and will begin taking Suzuki acting lessons from Jeffrey Bihr again starting this Sunday. Tango is going by the sideboard for a month or two while I'm in rehearsal for "Vial" and "Nothing in the Dark", but the Suzuki class is on Sunday mornings so it doesn't conflict with anything other than my laziness. A class I will not be taking, but that is of interest, is Paul Jenning's Shakespeare classes. Paul is gearing up to teach Elizabethan theatre technique and is looking for students. If you're interested in this, let me know and I'll forward your information to Paul.
Other good, if somewhat surprising news, is that novelist, playwright, and scholar Mandy Keifetz got married a couple of weeks ago! After a brief and whirlwind romance, Mandy got married while on a visit here in San Francisco. She's staying in New York but will be out here frequently until her new hubby can complete his own move out to the Big Apple. Cheers Keif!
On the dark side, my Aunt has been fighting a mystery infection that is so bad that she's been put into a controlled coma. She's been under for a few weeks now, and they still can't seem to find where the infection is concentrated. It's extremely scary, but every time I talk to my mom there has been no news. It all happened so fast, and now weeks of nothing. No change, no progress, no new information. It's a strange kind of limbo. And stuff like this goes beyond the inevitabilities of old age. It's something darker and stranger and unpredictable and all I know to do is to hope for recovery.
I want to end on something a bit more hopeful, so I'll mention that I've made bit more progress on the novel. Chapter six is finished and I have the outline for what I think will happen in chapter seven all worked out. With everything else going on, though, I'm not sure when I'll be able to announce the next chapter's completion.
Thursday, January 04, 2007
News, and not news
A few announcements!
First off, I've been doing some end of year tallies, and I was startled to find that RadioStar Improv had over 4,500 shows downloaded in 2006. Go team!
I'd also like to give congratulations to Tom Neely and Adrienne Miller on the birth of their son William Miller Neely! I especially offer my congratulations to Adrienne for passing something that weighs 9 lbs and 14 oz through her tender bits.
In unrelated, but interesting news, I came across this article by Sarah Weaton about the big controversy about Keith Ellison being sworn with a copy of the Koran.
"Mr. Ellison is not swearing in on the Koran. And no incoming members of Congress swear in on the Bible. Everyone is sworn in together during a private ceremony without any religious text. It'’s only during a ceremonial photo-op that a book may be brought out."
full article here
We've also got two Buddhists being sworn in it seems, and no one is raising a fuss about them. Of course, they're using Bibles for their photo ops in order to maintain tradition. And yet, no one seems to mind that the use of a Bible in swearing in ceremonies is not actually any indication of reverence and respect for the Bible per se, but rather a desire to maintain traditions of the popular culture. I.e., it's not remotely an act of faith.
So, what's the big deal? Well, there really isn't one, except for the one that the pundits, the press, and the radicals want to make. Ultimately all that is at stake here is maintaining the fiction that America is an Evangelical Christian nation, and doing one's best to plug one's ears to the reality of the separation of Church and State.
What amuses me most of all, though is that Mr. Ellis claims that he isn't a symbol, but has chosen to use the english language copy of the Koran that belonged to the Diest founding father, Thomas Jefferson. Right. No conscious symbolism there. No politicing to make a statement in that choice.
This is why, by and large, I avoid the newspapers.
First off, I've been doing some end of year tallies, and I was startled to find that RadioStar Improv had over 4,500 shows downloaded in 2006. Go team!
I'd also like to give congratulations to Tom Neely and Adrienne Miller on the birth of their son William Miller Neely! I especially offer my congratulations to Adrienne for passing something that weighs 9 lbs and 14 oz through her tender bits.
In unrelated, but interesting news, I came across this article by Sarah Weaton about the big controversy about Keith Ellison being sworn with a copy of the Koran.
"Mr. Ellison is not swearing in on the Koran. And no incoming members of Congress swear in on the Bible. Everyone is sworn in together during a private ceremony without any religious text. It'’s only during a ceremonial photo-op that a book may be brought out."
full article here
We've also got two Buddhists being sworn in it seems, and no one is raising a fuss about them. Of course, they're using Bibles for their photo ops in order to maintain tradition. And yet, no one seems to mind that the use of a Bible in swearing in ceremonies is not actually any indication of reverence and respect for the Bible per se, but rather a desire to maintain traditions of the popular culture. I.e., it's not remotely an act of faith.
So, what's the big deal? Well, there really isn't one, except for the one that the pundits, the press, and the radicals want to make. Ultimately all that is at stake here is maintaining the fiction that America is an Evangelical Christian nation, and doing one's best to plug one's ears to the reality of the separation of Church and State.
What amuses me most of all, though is that Mr. Ellis claims that he isn't a symbol, but has chosen to use the english language copy of the Koran that belonged to the Diest founding father, Thomas Jefferson. Right. No conscious symbolism there. No politicing to make a statement in that choice.
This is why, by and large, I avoid the newspapers.
Saturday, December 30, 2006
End of year
I'm about to jump in the shower before spending a day with Mayuko, cruising museums, getting the last of my items for the apartment from Ikea, and seeing Mindy Lym's show tonight.
Mayuko and I met on Ryze years ago and have had an on again, off again email correspondance. She came to the closing of Submergency two weeks ago and we've been spending a lot of time together since then. It's always a treat when people re-emerge from the shadows, and this is no exception!
I've continued being a complete homebody over the last week, enjoying this rare opportunity to nest. I'll be out all day today, and tomorrow night is New Year's, and 2007 promises to be a crazy year indeed. I'm happy to announce that Bryce Byerley will be appearing in my Twilight Zone adaptation in late March. I'm still in negotiations for the other two roles. I'm also going to be looking for a violinist to compose a score for the 20 minute piece and play it live. So if that's you, drop me a line, ok?
RadioStar is expanding. Starting in January, we'll be recording original one-acts by local playwrights as a second podcast stream. Beginning in February, there will be RadioStar: Improv and RadioStar: Off the Page. This means some capital outlay as we're getting a new mixer and some more microphones, but we're all very excited about the possibilities of this.
Cassandra's Call itself is going to be making some big changes in 2007. The big goal over the next several months will be to restructure CCP into a non-profit. I've actually got volunteers to help me in this endeavor and I'm very excited about expanding the CCP family into something coherent as well as prolific.
At this point, we've got the two podcast streams, the Bay Area One Acts, the Twilight Zone festival, the as yet unnamed festival that I'm co-producing with Chris Hayes and that will feature the remount of Vagina Dentata, and hopefully something for the SF Fringe Festival in September.
I sat down to write a rough draft of the Fringe Show, but it became clear around page 9 that I was just writing Vagina Dentata again. I started out wanting to tell a story about love and dating in an era of disillusionment and bitterness (i.e. someone's 30's) and ended up with Kelli from "411", Clara from "Vagina Dentata" and Tammy from the unfinished play "Wings to Fly" in a bar together being witty, raunchy and clever... just like the many sequences in Dentata. I'll put it aside and let that idea simmer for a bit. Instead, I may take a short story idea I've had about a news reporter, homelessness, fungus and alien abduction that I've had tossing in my head for the last couple of years and turn it into a one-act. With both Monday and Tuesday off work, I should be able to whip out an outline and figure out what it would take to mount it. I'm thinking of doing mask work, which is always delightful but super-expensive.
A larger priority, however, will be getting the video from the last Submergency show into the computer and edited so we can start posting it on YouTube.
And speaking of online video, I'd like to end this little update with something I saw posted over on Bex Schwartz' blog.
It's tasteless, but that's ok because it was made 10 years ago. In memory of Gerald Ford
Mayuko and I met on Ryze years ago and have had an on again, off again email correspondance. She came to the closing of Submergency two weeks ago and we've been spending a lot of time together since then. It's always a treat when people re-emerge from the shadows, and this is no exception!
I've continued being a complete homebody over the last week, enjoying this rare opportunity to nest. I'll be out all day today, and tomorrow night is New Year's, and 2007 promises to be a crazy year indeed. I'm happy to announce that Bryce Byerley will be appearing in my Twilight Zone adaptation in late March. I'm still in negotiations for the other two roles. I'm also going to be looking for a violinist to compose a score for the 20 minute piece and play it live. So if that's you, drop me a line, ok?
RadioStar is expanding. Starting in January, we'll be recording original one-acts by local playwrights as a second podcast stream. Beginning in February, there will be RadioStar: Improv and RadioStar: Off the Page. This means some capital outlay as we're getting a new mixer and some more microphones, but we're all very excited about the possibilities of this.
Cassandra's Call itself is going to be making some big changes in 2007. The big goal over the next several months will be to restructure CCP into a non-profit. I've actually got volunteers to help me in this endeavor and I'm very excited about expanding the CCP family into something coherent as well as prolific.
At this point, we've got the two podcast streams, the Bay Area One Acts, the Twilight Zone festival, the as yet unnamed festival that I'm co-producing with Chris Hayes and that will feature the remount of Vagina Dentata, and hopefully something for the SF Fringe Festival in September.
I sat down to write a rough draft of the Fringe Show, but it became clear around page 9 that I was just writing Vagina Dentata again. I started out wanting to tell a story about love and dating in an era of disillusionment and bitterness (i.e. someone's 30's) and ended up with Kelli from "411", Clara from "Vagina Dentata" and Tammy from the unfinished play "Wings to Fly" in a bar together being witty, raunchy and clever... just like the many sequences in Dentata. I'll put it aside and let that idea simmer for a bit. Instead, I may take a short story idea I've had about a news reporter, homelessness, fungus and alien abduction that I've had tossing in my head for the last couple of years and turn it into a one-act. With both Monday and Tuesday off work, I should be able to whip out an outline and figure out what it would take to mount it. I'm thinking of doing mask work, which is always delightful but super-expensive.
A larger priority, however, will be getting the video from the last Submergency show into the computer and edited so we can start posting it on YouTube.
And speaking of online video, I'd like to end this little update with something I saw posted over on Bex Schwartz' blog.
It's tasteless, but that's ok because it was made 10 years ago. In memory of Gerald Ford
Tuesday, December 19, 2006
Putting out the search
It's been an interesting mix of busy and slacking off this December.
Submergency had a great closing, which was remarkable since we actually caught it on videotape. Over the next few weeks I'll be editing together excerpts and putting them on YouTube. Stay tuned!
I just finished casting Vial, which I will be directing for the Bay Area One Act Festival. I needed to use actors who had made the audition process for the whole festival, but my choice for one role had to bow out. As sorry as I am to lose that person, I'm thrilled to have Stefanie Goldstien ("Vagina Dentata", "Get it? Got it. Good!") on board.
I found the Twilight Zone episode I'll be adapting for the TW Festival a few short weeks after the BOAs. Well, I say I'll be doing this one, but it will depend on finding an actor to play Wanda. I want to do "Nothing in the Dark", which was an episode from 1961 with Robert Redford that explored our fear of death. It'll work perfectly on the Darkroom stage. Finding a sharp, 65+ actor to play the lead role will be the challenge. I know some people, but they're equity, which could make things messy. Still, time for next steps.
RadioStar is going well, and we've got some big plans for 2007 that I can't really go into right now. I will say that RadioStar has the potential to become a network of shows.
This actually gets to something I want to put out into the universe. If you're interested in becoming part of Cassandra's Call Productions, let me know. With our great variety of offerings, all manner of skills are needed. Video editing, sound editing, lights, costuming, set design, set construction, box office, equipment operators, camera people, actors, directors, foley designers, musicians, INVESTORS, grant writers, accounts people, PR people, event coordinators, legal experts, etc, etc, etc. I need to begin to turn the company into a legitimate non-profit and I'm so busy on the creative side of things that there's no way I can handle all the business side of things. So, if you're interested in helping in any capacity... let me know.
Submergency had a great closing, which was remarkable since we actually caught it on videotape. Over the next few weeks I'll be editing together excerpts and putting them on YouTube. Stay tuned!
I just finished casting Vial, which I will be directing for the Bay Area One Act Festival. I needed to use actors who had made the audition process for the whole festival, but my choice for one role had to bow out. As sorry as I am to lose that person, I'm thrilled to have Stefanie Goldstien ("Vagina Dentata", "Get it? Got it. Good!") on board.
I found the Twilight Zone episode I'll be adapting for the TW Festival a few short weeks after the BOAs. Well, I say I'll be doing this one, but it will depend on finding an actor to play Wanda. I want to do "Nothing in the Dark", which was an episode from 1961 with Robert Redford that explored our fear of death. It'll work perfectly on the Darkroom stage. Finding a sharp, 65+ actor to play the lead role will be the challenge. I know some people, but they're equity, which could make things messy. Still, time for next steps.
RadioStar is going well, and we've got some big plans for 2007 that I can't really go into right now. I will say that RadioStar has the potential to become a network of shows.
This actually gets to something I want to put out into the universe. If you're interested in becoming part of Cassandra's Call Productions, let me know. With our great variety of offerings, all manner of skills are needed. Video editing, sound editing, lights, costuming, set design, set construction, box office, equipment operators, camera people, actors, directors, foley designers, musicians, INVESTORS, grant writers, accounts people, PR people, event coordinators, legal experts, etc, etc, etc. I need to begin to turn the company into a legitimate non-profit and I'm so busy on the creative side of things that there's no way I can handle all the business side of things. So, if you're interested in helping in any capacity... let me know.
Thursday, December 07, 2006
Whee, Wii
Damn Zack Stern. It has been a few weeks since we had a game night. Everyone's been busy, and between Dave and Kate Austin-Groen's new baby, Submergency and all the other madness, Game Night was the first to go. So a few of us gathered at Zack's tonight to play with his Wii (because that joke never gets old). I've certainly been aware of the device and heard good things about it. Graphics aren't "next gen, but it's a lot of fun, but really more for gatherings than solo play" seem to be the concensus.
Well, I'm friggin hooked on the thing now. I love the idea that playing a video game can actually get your heart rate up, and boxing against Dave certainly did that. I got my ass handed to me, but it definitely wasn't a sedentary experience. The accursed thing isn't even that expensive by console standards. My one concern was the infrared transmitter, due to the way I'm set up with my LCD projector. Zack informed me that putting some candles in front of my screen surface will work as well.
I love the fact that I can make a super groovy new high tech gadget work with candlelight.
So, guess what I'll be getting myself for Christmas?
-------
On the way home, I was sitting on BART, working on the novel. I finally began to figure out what this chapter was about and all the twists and turns these characters make. I'm working with the Queen of Thune and the head of her espionage team, so nobody can afford to make dumb choices. The question is simply how many lies and deceptions get piled up on one another before truth is achieved. But that's neither here nor there. As I'm writing, the woman next to me interrupts me to point out that when I type, my right pinkey sticks out and that could cause me ergonomic trouble over time. I had, of course, never noticed that before. Now I'm paranoid about it. I can barely type now without it feeling weird and stress inducing. I was fine, before and now I'm freaked. The even stranger this is that she's an actor. We did readings together for the Actors Reading Writers event a few months ago in Berkeley and she's working with the SF Playhouse on their current show.
I've been meaning to catch the show, and now I really want to (she's quite good)... but I don't know what I'm going to do about this damn pinky.
Well, I'm friggin hooked on the thing now. I love the idea that playing a video game can actually get your heart rate up, and boxing against Dave certainly did that. I got my ass handed to me, but it definitely wasn't a sedentary experience. The accursed thing isn't even that expensive by console standards. My one concern was the infrared transmitter, due to the way I'm set up with my LCD projector. Zack informed me that putting some candles in front of my screen surface will work as well.
I love the fact that I can make a super groovy new high tech gadget work with candlelight.
So, guess what I'll be getting myself for Christmas?
-------
On the way home, I was sitting on BART, working on the novel. I finally began to figure out what this chapter was about and all the twists and turns these characters make. I'm working with the Queen of Thune and the head of her espionage team, so nobody can afford to make dumb choices. The question is simply how many lies and deceptions get piled up on one another before truth is achieved. But that's neither here nor there. As I'm writing, the woman next to me interrupts me to point out that when I type, my right pinkey sticks out and that could cause me ergonomic trouble over time. I had, of course, never noticed that before. Now I'm paranoid about it. I can barely type now without it feeling weird and stress inducing. I was fine, before and now I'm freaked. The even stranger this is that she's an actor. We did readings together for the Actors Reading Writers event a few months ago in Berkeley and she's working with the SF Playhouse on their current show.
I've been meaning to catch the show, and now I really want to (she's quite good)... but I don't know what I'm going to do about this damn pinky.
Wednesday, December 06, 2006
Entering December
first off, some updates:
New York was great. Many thanks and kudos to Megan Kilian, Mandy Kiefetz, Renee Racan, and Neil and Lex Howard for their couches, company, and general grooviness. If you're in NYC, I highly recommend Evil Dead: the Musical, Avenue Q, and Putnam County Spelling Bee. Avoid the Producers. Just rent the original movie and consider yourself $70 richer and better off.
I am madly in love with my new apartment and am finally no longer sleeping on the couch. Thanks to Joseph Maurer I was able to get mattress and bookshelves from IKEA and transport a glass bar table and some lumber from the CCP rehearsal room. The murphy bed in the apartment offered absolutely no back support and my first time attempting to sleep in it resulted in constant sleep interruption and back pain. By cannibalizing some of the Manumission set, I was able to give the mattress the firmness it needed and now I'm in heaven. I'm not sure what the neighbors made of me operating a circular saw in my living room, though.
I had a bit of a health scare, but all ended up ok in the end, although I now have another kidney stone to add to my collection. I keep them in a little plastic coffin, because I'm just weird that way.
I didn't get the multimedia producer job at WestEd, but I'm still doing some of that kind of work since there's more work than can be done by one person. I'm also being pulled off of Help Desk and placed into a more full time training position. This is almost as good as the job I was angling for as it will allow me to explore multiple avenues of training, including flash presentations, videos, and live trainings.
Submergency is having its challenges due to trying to compete with holiday parties and some PR missteps. In short, people who see the show are having a great time. Sadly, very few people are seeing it. We had to cancel a show last week since we only had to very nervous people in the audience. I went with Kalina Wilson to a comedy show once and we were the only people in the audience and it is debatable who had a worse time of it, us or the comedians. We set them free, and I hope that we don't have a repeat of that situation this weekend.
I spent most of last weekend in auditions. No, I wasn't going to auditions, I was holding them. I'm directing "Vial", a new play by Nicholas Turner for the Bay Area One Act Festival. As I write this, I'm on my way back from the callbacks. It's a curious process, since there are ten directors angling for actors from the same auditions. It isn't as simple as just picking the people best suited for the roles (as if that's ever simple). I need to select first, second, and third choices and then await the decision of the Festival directors, who take all the directors' and actors' listed preferences and then assign final casting. It's not an ideal process, but given the structure of the event, it's the best way to go about an awkward situation. On the plus side, I've seen many actors I wouldn't normally have known to call in for auditions and I'll be adding their headshots and resumes to my stack for future reference.
I also just agreed to direct for the Darkroom Theatre's Twilight Zone festival, which will take place mere weeks after the BOA's. I just got recruited this weekend, so I only have a vague idea of which episode I'll adapt for the stage. Netflix, here I come.
Radiostar continues to go well, with downloads steadily increasing. I'm particularly pleased with this week's episode, which was one of our first "La Rondes" and one of our first recording sessions with Julie Kurtz and Jennifer Jajeh.
In what amounts to my free time, I've re-taken up Argentine Tango lessons with Warren and Gigi Jensen over at the Lake Merritt Dance Studio. Remington Stone has been joining me, and Suraya Keating will be coming too which makes it all extra fun. I haven't danced tango for a good five years, so it's interesting getting my skills back up to speed.
Other than that, not much is going on.
New York was great. Many thanks and kudos to Megan Kilian, Mandy Kiefetz, Renee Racan, and Neil and Lex Howard for their couches, company, and general grooviness. If you're in NYC, I highly recommend Evil Dead: the Musical, Avenue Q, and Putnam County Spelling Bee. Avoid the Producers. Just rent the original movie and consider yourself $70 richer and better off.
I am madly in love with my new apartment and am finally no longer sleeping on the couch. Thanks to Joseph Maurer I was able to get mattress and bookshelves from IKEA and transport a glass bar table and some lumber from the CCP rehearsal room. The murphy bed in the apartment offered absolutely no back support and my first time attempting to sleep in it resulted in constant sleep interruption and back pain. By cannibalizing some of the Manumission set, I was able to give the mattress the firmness it needed and now I'm in heaven. I'm not sure what the neighbors made of me operating a circular saw in my living room, though.
I had a bit of a health scare, but all ended up ok in the end, although I now have another kidney stone to add to my collection. I keep them in a little plastic coffin, because I'm just weird that way.
I didn't get the multimedia producer job at WestEd, but I'm still doing some of that kind of work since there's more work than can be done by one person. I'm also being pulled off of Help Desk and placed into a more full time training position. This is almost as good as the job I was angling for as it will allow me to explore multiple avenues of training, including flash presentations, videos, and live trainings.
Submergency is having its challenges due to trying to compete with holiday parties and some PR missteps. In short, people who see the show are having a great time. Sadly, very few people are seeing it. We had to cancel a show last week since we only had to very nervous people in the audience. I went with Kalina Wilson to a comedy show once and we were the only people in the audience and it is debatable who had a worse time of it, us or the comedians. We set them free, and I hope that we don't have a repeat of that situation this weekend.
I spent most of last weekend in auditions. No, I wasn't going to auditions, I was holding them. I'm directing "Vial", a new play by Nicholas Turner for the Bay Area One Act Festival. As I write this, I'm on my way back from the callbacks. It's a curious process, since there are ten directors angling for actors from the same auditions. It isn't as simple as just picking the people best suited for the roles (as if that's ever simple). I need to select first, second, and third choices and then await the decision of the Festival directors, who take all the directors' and actors' listed preferences and then assign final casting. It's not an ideal process, but given the structure of the event, it's the best way to go about an awkward situation. On the plus side, I've seen many actors I wouldn't normally have known to call in for auditions and I'll be adding their headshots and resumes to my stack for future reference.
I also just agreed to direct for the Darkroom Theatre's Twilight Zone festival, which will take place mere weeks after the BOA's. I just got recruited this weekend, so I only have a vague idea of which episode I'll adapt for the stage. Netflix, here I come.
Radiostar continues to go well, with downloads steadily increasing. I'm particularly pleased with this week's episode, which was one of our first "La Rondes" and one of our first recording sessions with Julie Kurtz and Jennifer Jajeh.
In what amounts to my free time, I've re-taken up Argentine Tango lessons with Warren and Gigi Jensen over at the Lake Merritt Dance Studio. Remington Stone has been joining me, and Suraya Keating will be coming too which makes it all extra fun. I haven't danced tango for a good five years, so it's interesting getting my skills back up to speed.
Other than that, not much is going on.
Sunday, November 05, 2006
new york
It's been quite a while, but a lot has been going on. I've moved into my new apartment, which I have fallen completely in love with, although I'm not yet completely moved out of my old place. I'm still trying to get rid of some old furniture and that's weighing on me as I'd hate to just take it to the dumps as it's really quite good furniture... I just can't store it anywhere until I find a buyer.
I'm in New York right now, currently crashing at Megan Kilian's apartment in the Lower East Side. Tomorrow I stay with an online friend who I've never met face to face, and then it's Renee Racan's and then Neil Howard's place. It's a whirlwind visit, but I'm having a blast.
Submergency is coming along, with the postcards arriving just before I left, and rehearsals starting shortly after I return from my trip. Radiostar continues its evolution, although I missed doing our update this last Wednesday due to the move and work being unusually jam packed. I have no DSL at home yet, and have barely had time to think while in the office, so no update. I should have my DSL by the time I return, though, so it shouldn't happen again.
Speaking of the office, I had my interview for the multimedia producer position this last week, so we'll see what happens. I may hear something as early as this week, so everyone keep your fingers crossed.
as for now, I just saw a sparsely attended comedy show in the lower east side and am a bit buzzed from the two drink minimum. so, I'm signing off and will talk to you all soon.
I'm in New York right now, currently crashing at Megan Kilian's apartment in the Lower East Side. Tomorrow I stay with an online friend who I've never met face to face, and then it's Renee Racan's and then Neil Howard's place. It's a whirlwind visit, but I'm having a blast.
Submergency is coming along, with the postcards arriving just before I left, and rehearsals starting shortly after I return from my trip. Radiostar continues its evolution, although I missed doing our update this last Wednesday due to the move and work being unusually jam packed. I have no DSL at home yet, and have barely had time to think while in the office, so no update. I should have my DSL by the time I return, though, so it shouldn't happen again.
Speaking of the office, I had my interview for the multimedia producer position this last week, so we'll see what happens. I may hear something as early as this week, so everyone keep your fingers crossed.
as for now, I just saw a sparsely attended comedy show in the lower east side and am a bit buzzed from the two drink minimum. so, I'm signing off and will talk to you all soon.
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