I've been out of town so I've been spending my time catching up with friends instead of ingesting culture. And instead of watching movies (I have four sitting untouched at my house right now)I can't stop reading Naomi Wallace. I finished her fourth play tonight. It's called Slaughter City and it is just as shocking, disturbing, emotionally powerful, politically important and poetically composed as The War Boys and One Flea Spare. Nothing has compared to In the Heart of America, but I don't think too many plays will. Wallace has a way about her that reminds me of Tony Kushner: not a resistance to Realism, but rather an acknowledgment of the supernatural. In Wallace's plays, unnatural events occur, but they are commonplace even ordinary. The things I find shocking in the play are even more so because the characters do not find them shocking. In this way they remind me of A Bright Room Called Day when we're in a relatively normal play about the Weimar Republic and Hitler's rise to power and then ...in walks the Devil (with a wheeze, no less). I love this cavalier attitude toward the supernatural. There is no reverence for it in the plays, but there is a sense of power. I dig.
I have nothing else to blog about. Sorry. I had a mild breakdown at work yesterday that I had quelled by the time I got to Justin and Elizabeth's house a half hour later. I don't know what happened. Maybe it was lack of sleep. I am not feeling restless or squelched by my day-job either. I don't know what it was. Probably my man-period. ;)
30 June 2005
29 June 2005
Yesterday, in the News...
President Bush repeats the old song about "terrorism" and "September 11" and "combating hotbeds of terrorism." A hotbed of terrorism, John Kerry pointed out, that didn't exist before we got to Iraq.
Bush is such a fucking liar. He hoped last night's speech would shore up support for the war: support that is dwindling, even among red states. I can't see how last night's speech gave him any headway, or even a slight boost. If he is going to continue to lie to me, I am going to continue to find it difficult to support his policies. And he continues to link the terrorist attacks on this country on September 11th, 2001 to the terrorists in Iraq. He calls them all "the terrorists," as if we're whittling them down. This is all just bullshit. I mean, he's just lying. Period.
Meanwhile, the Canadian House of Commons passes a bill that gives homosexuals the right to marry: the same exact rights that heterosexual couples have. Canada isn't just the country that belched Céline Dion onto our shores, it's also a country that has respect for equality. Hm.
Bush is such a fucking liar. He hoped last night's speech would shore up support for the war: support that is dwindling, even among red states. I can't see how last night's speech gave him any headway, or even a slight boost. If he is going to continue to lie to me, I am going to continue to find it difficult to support his policies. And he continues to link the terrorist attacks on this country on September 11th, 2001 to the terrorists in Iraq. He calls them all "the terrorists," as if we're whittling them down. This is all just bullshit. I mean, he's just lying. Period.
Meanwhile, the Canadian House of Commons passes a bill that gives homosexuals the right to marry: the same exact rights that heterosexual couples have. Canada isn't just the country that belched Céline Dion onto our shores, it's also a country that has respect for equality. Hm.
27 June 2005
Weekend Update
This evening I baked an Angel Cake... a difficult task, I assure you. Hopefully it's good. It's for a co-worker's birthday tomorrow. I also tried to make some sort of lemon glaze to take along with it, but that turned out kind of crap.
On to news of the weekend:
I went to Vegas! So I got home from the Will Dailey/Steel Train/John Brown's Body concert around 1:00a and then I woke up around 7:30a to leave for Vegas. Julie drove Lisa, Anna, Dave and me. We met John and Jaime (who were already there) at the Venetian, where we stayed. The rooms are so very nice. Actually, I guess it's an all-suite hotel: swank.
Of course we left late (Lisa and Dave were late getting to Julie's), so we got to Sin City around 2:30p or so. I wanted to lay by the pool immediately, but that was vetoed. Instead, we walked around a bit and drank $1.50 beers until about 4:00p when happy hour started at Tequila Joe's. We drank heavily there. (I was having kamikazes and Long Islands.) Then it was off to the Luxor for their buffet (not recommended--anything called the "Pharaoh's Pheast" should be avoided anyway, but the hotel is cool) and then the MGM Grand to get a Fat Tuesday. We split up there. Dave, Lisa, Julie, Anna and I went to NYNY to their Big Apple club, a hip-hop joint. Just. Like. Last. Time. After standing around at the Big Apple, Dave looked at me and gave me the let's-ditch-these-girls-and-get-out-of-here-immediately look and in twenty minutes we were at an actual club called Krave.
I love the gays. Seriously. I finally started having some real fun. In truth all I wanted to do was dance... I even danced a little at the Big Apple... and the deejay at Krave knew what he was doing. He had that perfect mix of excellent dance music with just the right amount of breaks for taking small breaths or finding out the name of that guy who is rubbing your ass (or not). It was great. I danced for nearly three hours straight... well. And there was a drag show! And not just any drag: really good drag. It is Las Vegas after all. There were three performances each better than the next. The first one was this queen with a costume worthy of Priscilla, Queen of the Desert dancing to French Affair's "Sexy" and then there was this fabulous little Filipino queen with some awesome dance moves doing some kind of Donna Summer medley (this was a huge hit, of course) and then came Britney Spears. The guy dancing to Britney was so hot. I cannot even describe it because it's so weird, but Dave and I both agreed: he was a really hot guy, like, if you saw him on the street you would turn and look, and he also looked a lot like Britney Spears. He danced and then stripped from that Oxford-shirt look into the "Slave" look and then he gave this guy whose birthday it was a lapdance... it was great fun.
I went to bed around 5:00a and then we came home the next afternoon, hitting loads of traffic, of course. It was so short. I wish I were still there, but ah well. Even a little Vegas is better than no Vegas.
On to news of the weekend:
I went to Vegas! So I got home from the Will Dailey/Steel Train/John Brown's Body concert around 1:00a and then I woke up around 7:30a to leave for Vegas. Julie drove Lisa, Anna, Dave and me. We met John and Jaime (who were already there) at the Venetian, where we stayed. The rooms are so very nice. Actually, I guess it's an all-suite hotel: swank.
Of course we left late (Lisa and Dave were late getting to Julie's), so we got to Sin City around 2:30p or so. I wanted to lay by the pool immediately, but that was vetoed. Instead, we walked around a bit and drank $1.50 beers until about 4:00p when happy hour started at Tequila Joe's. We drank heavily there. (I was having kamikazes and Long Islands.) Then it was off to the Luxor for their buffet (not recommended--anything called the "Pharaoh's Pheast" should be avoided anyway, but the hotel is cool) and then the MGM Grand to get a Fat Tuesday. We split up there. Dave, Lisa, Julie, Anna and I went to NYNY to their Big Apple club, a hip-hop joint. Just. Like. Last. Time. After standing around at the Big Apple, Dave looked at me and gave me the let's-ditch-these-girls-and-get-out-of-here-immediately look and in twenty minutes we were at an actual club called Krave.
I love the gays. Seriously. I finally started having some real fun. In truth all I wanted to do was dance... I even danced a little at the Big Apple... and the deejay at Krave knew what he was doing. He had that perfect mix of excellent dance music with just the right amount of breaks for taking small breaths or finding out the name of that guy who is rubbing your ass (or not). It was great. I danced for nearly three hours straight... well. And there was a drag show! And not just any drag: really good drag. It is Las Vegas after all. There were three performances each better than the next. The first one was this queen with a costume worthy of Priscilla, Queen of the Desert dancing to French Affair's "Sexy" and then there was this fabulous little Filipino queen with some awesome dance moves doing some kind of Donna Summer medley (this was a huge hit, of course) and then came Britney Spears. The guy dancing to Britney was so hot. I cannot even describe it because it's so weird, but Dave and I both agreed: he was a really hot guy, like, if you saw him on the street you would turn and look, and he also looked a lot like Britney Spears. He danced and then stripped from that Oxford-shirt look into the "Slave" look and then he gave this guy whose birthday it was a lapdance... it was great fun.
I went to bed around 5:00a and then we came home the next afternoon, hitting loads of traffic, of course. It was so short. I wish I were still there, but ah well. Even a little Vegas is better than no Vegas.
25 June 2005
Weekend
Hey y'all,
I'm going to Vegas for the weekend.
Last night I went to this reggae concert in Malibu that was pretty sweet. The headliner was John Brown's Body and they are awesome.
My friends and I really went to see Steel Train, who were done playing after, seriously, twenty minutes. My two girlfriends who were there went home disappointed, but I decided I was gonna stay and hear the headliner. So I was at this random bar in Malibu called the Malibu Inn dancing like a fiend to this badass reggae band. Very, very strange times.
OK. Off to Vegas.
Oh yeah, and I must never have driven through Malibu Canyon before, but I did it yesterday and it made a serious impact on me. I feel I need to live in Malibu when I get wealthy. Maybe I can go to Pepperdine for my degree...
Cheers.
I'm going to Vegas for the weekend.
Last night I went to this reggae concert in Malibu that was pretty sweet. The headliner was John Brown's Body and they are awesome.
My friends and I really went to see Steel Train, who were done playing after, seriously, twenty minutes. My two girlfriends who were there went home disappointed, but I decided I was gonna stay and hear the headliner. So I was at this random bar in Malibu called the Malibu Inn dancing like a fiend to this badass reggae band. Very, very strange times.
OK. Off to Vegas.
Oh yeah, and I must never have driven through Malibu Canyon before, but I did it yesterday and it made a serious impact on me. I feel I need to live in Malibu when I get wealthy. Maybe I can go to Pepperdine for my degree...
Cheers.
22 June 2005
Orlando & Kirsten
If you haven't seen the new seven-minute musical teaser for Cameron Crowe's Elizabethtown, be sure you do. This courtesy of Ain't It Cool News.
If that song is an original, composed especially for the movie, and if the movie does well (why shouldn't it: it's Cameron Crowe sans Tom Cruise) Elton John is going to be nominated for an Oscar. It's a catchy little number, and the film looks quirky and great.
If that song is an original, composed especially for the movie, and if the movie does well (why shouldn't it: it's Cameron Crowe sans Tom Cruise) Elton John is going to be nominated for an Oscar. It's a catchy little number, and the film looks quirky and great.
Another Good One
Holy Shit. I thought One Flea Spare was good. I had no idea. I finished Naomi Wallace's In the Heart of America today on my lunch break and I've been a little bit fucked up ever since. Whereas One Flea Spare is intellectually outstanding and beautifully lyrical, it is essentially a play about poverty and sex set during the plague in England. In the Heart of America touched me much deeper. It is a play about war: how Iraq and Panama and Vietnam are connected, what killing does to young American men and the impact of the United States abroad. It is also a play about Arab-Americans and what it means to be Arab and American. Add to this the same devotion to getting rid of poverty that Wallace showed in One Flea Spare and the same understanding of the world's poor. PLUS In the Heart of America is a play about homosexuals, without being a play about homosexuality.
It's masterful. Everyone should go read it right now.
It's masterful. Everyone should go read it right now.
20 June 2005
Like a Pinecone on Fire She'll Dance
My god did I ever just read the most fucked-up (and great) play.
It's called One Flea Spare and it's by Naomi Wallace and it's awesome. It's a lot like Adam Rapp's Faster, actually, which I raved about here.
There are four other Wallace plays in the anthology I have and I can't wait to read the rest. This woman knows what she is talking about and she is not kidding around.
The play starts with the following:
The blood of a fish. Is on my sleeve. Because. The fish. The fish were burning in the channels. Whole schools of them on fire. And the ships sailing and their hulls plowing the dead up out of the water. And the war had begun.
See what I mean?
It's called One Flea Spare and it's by Naomi Wallace and it's awesome. It's a lot like Adam Rapp's Faster, actually, which I raved about here.
There are four other Wallace plays in the anthology I have and I can't wait to read the rest. This woman knows what she is talking about and she is not kidding around.
The play starts with the following:
The blood of a fish. Is on my sleeve. Because. The fish. The fish were burning in the channels. Whole schools of them on fire. And the ships sailing and their hulls plowing the dead up out of the water. And the war had begun.
See what I mean?
Janis
Heard this today on Jack:
I met a girl who sang the Blues
And I asked her for some happy news,
But she just smiled and turned away
I went down to the sacred store
Where I'd heard the music years before,
But the man there said the music wouldn't play
And in the streets the children screamed,
The lovers cried and the poets dreamed,
But not a word was spoken:
The church bells all were broken
And the three men I admire most:
The Father, Son and the Holy Ghost:
They caught the last train for the coast
The day the music died.
They play everything on this station. I swear right before this Don McLean classic was some live Sarah MacLachlan track and last week they played "One Night in Bangkok" from fucking Chess! Unbelievable.
I met a girl who sang the Blues
And I asked her for some happy news,
But she just smiled and turned away
I went down to the sacred store
Where I'd heard the music years before,
But the man there said the music wouldn't play
And in the streets the children screamed,
The lovers cried and the poets dreamed,
But not a word was spoken:
The church bells all were broken
And the three men I admire most:
The Father, Son and the Holy Ghost:
They caught the last train for the coast
The day the music died.
They play everything on this station. I swear right before this Don McLean classic was some live Sarah MacLachlan track and last week they played "One Night in Bangkok" from fucking Chess! Unbelievable.
Colorado
I spent the weekend in Colorado. I left work early on Thursday, came home, changed clothes and, right on time, my parents and brother picked me up and we drove to LAX. Our plane didn't leave until, like, 7:40p, but my mother was adamant that we be early. Also tagging along were Hannah (4) and Mia (2), so there was much to look after as we sat in the terminal and after our arrival at Denver International.
There is a lot to explain here, even if you know me really well. Hannah and Mia are Sheila's kids. Sheila was the assistant to my family's financial advisor for years, and she developed a personal relationship with my brother and sister and father and mother while she was assisting this advisor guy. Then my sister went to work for this guy and she and Sheila worked together for a while. Since then, she has started coming to family parties, etc. you know: big events like barbecues and things. From there, my parents being who they are, it progressed. The job with financial advisor guy was crap, I guess, and Sheila's husband (who was a med student) left her or was cheating on her or something like that, and here she is with these two young girls who are both very cute. And being that she had such a close relationship with my family, they sort of adopted her. So Sheila is now Mike's personal assistant. (He really does need one.) And Sheila comes to something they call "family dinner" every week, something I rarely go to... and to which I wasn't even invited for about three months. They eat at like 5:30p because of the kids and I work far away otherwise I might go, but it's not like they even cook: they order pizza or Chili's-to-Go or something like that.
At any rate, Mia and Hannah are now the de-facto grandchildren (we all assume it will be a while before I have any... and Michael doesn't look like he's settling down anytime soon either.) And--this is the part that makes me a little uncomfortable--Sheila calls my mother and father "Mom" and "Dad." I'm not the jealous type and it's really not that big of a deal, but it's actually started to bug Mike and Debs, who have begun to rethink the whole "adopting Sheila into the family" thing. (It's way too late for second thoughts, by the way: my parents are totally gung ho.)
So we went to Colorado. Deborah and Sheila drove to Monument, where the house is, and Dad, Mom, Mike, Hannah, Mia and I flew out on Thursday night for a brief sojourn at the new family house out there. Mike and Dad went 50/50 and bought this place--which is huge--in this little suburb in the Rockies. It's not really even a suburb. At least, the suburbs aren't the same out there. This town is 20 minutes from anything else and about 60 minutes from Denver. It was, actually, really nice. It was calm and peaceful. The house is nice. I relaxed a lot. We had a lot of games (family time, you know.) I cooked dinner every night, which I thought was a little strange, but they all kind of expected it.
And I took Michael to the Broadmoor where we both got exorbitantly expensive Swedish massages at the spa there. (That, you can probably guess, was the highlight of my trip.)
Weirdest Sheila moment. She met some neighbors or something and because the neighbors out there are all Chatty Cathys and want to know who owns the house and who is moving in and all of that business, they are talking to Sheila. She is telling us the story of meeting them and she says, "So I said to them, 'I'm the oldest and my mom and dad are here and my brother and dad bought the house about six months ago.'" Etc. etc. The story was about how the neighbors had mistakenly thought that "two men from California" had purchased the house ("not that there's anything wrong with that") and Sheila put them straight that it was her dad and brother who had bought the house. Aside from the underlying homophobia in the tale, what stood out to me was the whole "I'm the oldest" part. It was a little like identity theft. I felt like she stole my life for just a second. Mike made a joke about it later and then my dad brought the joke up again a day or two later, so I know the family thinks she's being a little bit presumptuous, but I was still a bit taken aback.
Yeah, long story. So I have returned. I did yoga this morning. I am going to try to do better with my health. I don't know. I always make resolutions when I travel, and I suppose that's always a good thing.
CONGRATULATIONS are in order to my friend Allan. Leave the man a comment if you read this entry.
And call me. I'm here and I have my evenings free, people. We can go to the cinema or grab a beer or something.
There is a lot to explain here, even if you know me really well. Hannah and Mia are Sheila's kids. Sheila was the assistant to my family's financial advisor for years, and she developed a personal relationship with my brother and sister and father and mother while she was assisting this advisor guy. Then my sister went to work for this guy and she and Sheila worked together for a while. Since then, she has started coming to family parties, etc. you know: big events like barbecues and things. From there, my parents being who they are, it progressed. The job with financial advisor guy was crap, I guess, and Sheila's husband (who was a med student) left her or was cheating on her or something like that, and here she is with these two young girls who are both very cute. And being that she had such a close relationship with my family, they sort of adopted her. So Sheila is now Mike's personal assistant. (He really does need one.) And Sheila comes to something they call "family dinner" every week, something I rarely go to... and to which I wasn't even invited for about three months. They eat at like 5:30p because of the kids and I work far away otherwise I might go, but it's not like they even cook: they order pizza or Chili's-to-Go or something like that.
At any rate, Mia and Hannah are now the de-facto grandchildren (we all assume it will be a while before I have any... and Michael doesn't look like he's settling down anytime soon either.) And--this is the part that makes me a little uncomfortable--Sheila calls my mother and father "Mom" and "Dad." I'm not the jealous type and it's really not that big of a deal, but it's actually started to bug Mike and Debs, who have begun to rethink the whole "adopting Sheila into the family" thing. (It's way too late for second thoughts, by the way: my parents are totally gung ho.)
So we went to Colorado. Deborah and Sheila drove to Monument, where the house is, and Dad, Mom, Mike, Hannah, Mia and I flew out on Thursday night for a brief sojourn at the new family house out there. Mike and Dad went 50/50 and bought this place--which is huge--in this little suburb in the Rockies. It's not really even a suburb. At least, the suburbs aren't the same out there. This town is 20 minutes from anything else and about 60 minutes from Denver. It was, actually, really nice. It was calm and peaceful. The house is nice. I relaxed a lot. We had a lot of games (family time, you know.) I cooked dinner every night, which I thought was a little strange, but they all kind of expected it.
And I took Michael to the Broadmoor where we both got exorbitantly expensive Swedish massages at the spa there. (That, you can probably guess, was the highlight of my trip.)
Weirdest Sheila moment. She met some neighbors or something and because the neighbors out there are all Chatty Cathys and want to know who owns the house and who is moving in and all of that business, they are talking to Sheila. She is telling us the story of meeting them and she says, "So I said to them, 'I'm the oldest and my mom and dad are here and my brother and dad bought the house about six months ago.'" Etc. etc. The story was about how the neighbors had mistakenly thought that "two men from California" had purchased the house ("not that there's anything wrong with that") and Sheila put them straight that it was her dad and brother who had bought the house. Aside from the underlying homophobia in the tale, what stood out to me was the whole "I'm the oldest" part. It was a little like identity theft. I felt like she stole my life for just a second. Mike made a joke about it later and then my dad brought the joke up again a day or two later, so I know the family thinks she's being a little bit presumptuous, but I was still a bit taken aback.
Yeah, long story. So I have returned. I did yoga this morning. I am going to try to do better with my health. I don't know. I always make resolutions when I travel, and I suppose that's always a good thing.
CONGRATULATIONS are in order to my friend Allan. Leave the man a comment if you read this entry.
And call me. I'm here and I have my evenings free, people. We can go to the cinema or grab a beer or something.
14 June 2005
Sci Fi?
Taken from
 | I am:Philip K. DickThe brilliant yet trashy master of the reality warp always left you unsure of what was real, but never forgot compassion. |
Pregnancy?
I swear I am eating for two. My caloric intake the last week and a half has been outrageous. I need to take it easy for a month or two or I'll lose my girlish figure.
It's the fault of my co-workers. They are all women and I am not joking when I say that we talk about weight at least ten times in one eight-hour day. It drives me crazy and is, I think, giving me some kind of complex that makes me want to enjoy good, tasty food when I go home. Just watching these girls scarf down celery and Atkins bars makes me want to retch... and go to the Scheduling Department for a Krispy Kreme donut (the GM buys them once a week at minimum.)
I had two kiwifruit when I got home: they were ripe and if you don't eat them when they ripen they will rot in, like, an hour, I swear. Then I made myself a salad.
And then I ate some more macaroni and cheese.
And had a small brownie.
And another small brownie.
And thank you Out magazine for once. Out, I tell you, is ahead of the curve on this one. They have a whole four-page article on denim, wearing it, when to buy it, and the enormous problem of finding jeans that hug the ass but don't come all the way up to the middle of my back. The article also includes (I do not exaggerate) at least six full-page color photographs of men wearing nothing but jeans.
Happy Fag Day... er Flag Day.
It's the fault of my co-workers. They are all women and I am not joking when I say that we talk about weight at least ten times in one eight-hour day. It drives me crazy and is, I think, giving me some kind of complex that makes me want to enjoy good, tasty food when I go home. Just watching these girls scarf down celery and Atkins bars makes me want to retch... and go to the Scheduling Department for a Krispy Kreme donut (the GM buys them once a week at minimum.)
I had two kiwifruit when I got home: they were ripe and if you don't eat them when they ripen they will rot in, like, an hour, I swear. Then I made myself a salad.
And then I ate some more macaroni and cheese.
And had a small brownie.
And another small brownie.
And thank you Out magazine for once. Out, I tell you, is ahead of the curve on this one. They have a whole four-page article on denim, wearing it, when to buy it, and the enormous problem of finding jeans that hug the ass but don't come all the way up to the middle of my back. The article also includes (I do not exaggerate) at least six full-page color photographs of men wearing nothing but jeans.
Happy Fag Day... er Flag Day.
13 June 2005
Monday Bloody Monday
How did Justice Clarence Thomas get to be so nutso? The man is crazy. I think he's damned intelligent and all, I just don't understand how he gets to his conclusions.
I had the most productive, successful evening! I did a load of laundry. Icleaned half-cleaned my kitchen. And then I got a call from Matthew Guerra saying he wasn't going to do The Two Gentlemen. Then he called back like an hour later saying he'd changed his mind. He'd spoken with one of the other cast members and had a change of heart. Cheers! I am excited for this show. It's coming up so soon!
And then... I made the most delicious food ever: macaroni and cheese. The baked kind. The kind where the cheese bubbles up to the top and turns brown and good on the surface. The kind where the cheese and the "cheese sauce" are completely different elements blending together in harmony to create perfection. Plus I put jalapeños in mine. I took it out of the oven about twenty minutes ago and it is SO FUCKING GOOD.
I am feeling sooo tired. I went with Elizabeth and Justin to the late show of Rebel Without a Cause at the NuArt in Westwood last night, which meant getting home around 12:30a, going to bed at 1:00a and still waking up at 6:00a. Rebel is, obviously, a classic 1950's teen angst picture, but I had never seen it before last night and neither had my friends, so that was fun. Plus they took me to eat excellent Indian food before the picture. Such good times. They are my favorite couple (even better than Brad and Angelina) and I hadn't seen them in forever so it was definitely a nice evening, but now I am wiped out.
Mmmm. Macaroni and cheese. Oh yeah, and I made brownies. I am going to get so fat.
I had the most productive, successful evening! I did a load of laundry. I
And then... I made the most delicious food ever: macaroni and cheese. The baked kind. The kind where the cheese bubbles up to the top and turns brown and good on the surface. The kind where the cheese and the "cheese sauce" are completely different elements blending together in harmony to create perfection. Plus I put jalapeños in mine. I took it out of the oven about twenty minutes ago and it is SO FUCKING GOOD.
I am feeling sooo tired. I went with Elizabeth and Justin to the late show of Rebel Without a Cause at the NuArt in Westwood last night, which meant getting home around 12:30a, going to bed at 1:00a and still waking up at 6:00a. Rebel is, obviously, a classic 1950's teen angst picture, but I had never seen it before last night and neither had my friends, so that was fun. Plus they took me to eat excellent Indian food before the picture. Such good times. They are my favorite couple (even better than Brad and Angelina) and I hadn't seen them in forever so it was definitely a nice evening, but now I am wiped out.
Mmmm. Macaroni and cheese. Oh yeah, and I made brownies. I am going to get so fat.
11 June 2005
I Am In a Very Good Mood
Lookin' down you'll never see me
Try the sky 'cause that'll be me
I can make 'em cry
I can make 'em sigh
Some day they'll clamor for my drama
Have you guessed yet
Who's the best yet
If you ain't I'll tell you one more time
You bet your last dime
In all of the world so far
I am the greatest, greatest star!
I have been thinking about this necktie I saw last Saturday at Express that I didn't buy all week long. I went back today to get it and got the very last one... and it was 50% off. $20 for a fucking fabulous tie. So I bought a pair of jeans as well.
I am off to a barbecue soon and then I am headed to a graduation party. Cheers.
Try the sky 'cause that'll be me
I can make 'em cry
I can make 'em sigh
Some day they'll clamor for my drama
Have you guessed yet
Who's the best yet
If you ain't I'll tell you one more time
You bet your last dime
In all of the world so far
I am the greatest, greatest star!
I have been thinking about this necktie I saw last Saturday at Express that I didn't buy all week long. I went back today to get it and got the very last one... and it was 50% off. $20 for a fucking fabulous tie. So I bought a pair of jeans as well.
I am off to a barbecue soon and then I am headed to a graduation party. Cheers.
10 June 2005
Spelling Words of the Day
From http://www.m-w.com/game/
alfresco
juniper
imam
caboodle
gymnasium
bouillon
obsequious
meerschaum
I spelled obsequious wrong about three times, which is so stupid because it's from that line in Hamlet: ...and the survivor bound / In filial obligation for some term / To do obsequious sorrow: but to persever / In obstinate condolement... etc, etc. How many times have I done that play? All I could think of was "obstinate condolement."
The rest of the words I spelled correctly, of course, but that's because I'm a genius. I mean, who, really, can spell "bouillon" correctly on the first try? Yeah. No one.
Genius.
alfresco
juniper
imam
caboodle
gymnasium
bouillon
obsequious
meerschaum
I spelled obsequious wrong about three times, which is so stupid because it's from that line in Hamlet: ...and the survivor bound / In filial obligation for some term / To do obsequious sorrow: but to persever / In obstinate condolement... etc, etc. How many times have I done that play? All I could think of was "obstinate condolement."
The rest of the words I spelled correctly, of course, but that's because I'm a genius. I mean, who, really, can spell "bouillon" correctly on the first try? Yeah. No one.
Genius.
HOA Insanity
Most of the crazy homeowners stayed home last night and did not come to our quarterly HOA meeting. I was so grateful. There were only, like, ten people there including the board.
I really don't care about the Homeowner's Assocation, but I find that being on the board is actually helpful to the other homeowners. You should see how difficult it is for people to decide things. It's stunning, really. I find it unbelievable. They hem and haw and talk about stuff that has no bearing on the decision required and then I'll chime in and put it on the line: I express an opinion and often outline another opinion as though it were the only other option. I'm not saying careful thought isn't required about sensitive matters involving 74 homeowners, but these people get worked up and pissed off and still don't make decisions. It's crazy. ...And then they ask me for financial advice!!! I was like, "Why are you looking at me? I don't know anything about it." Thankfully the meeting was only an hour and forty-five minutes instead of the usual two hours.
This entry is crap. Sorry. I posted about something I don't even care about.
I really don't care about the Homeowner's Assocation, but I find that being on the board is actually helpful to the other homeowners. You should see how difficult it is for people to decide things. It's stunning, really. I find it unbelievable. They hem and haw and talk about stuff that has no bearing on the decision required and then I'll chime in and put it on the line: I express an opinion and often outline another opinion as though it were the only other option. I'm not saying careful thought isn't required about sensitive matters involving 74 homeowners, but these people get worked up and pissed off and still don't make decisions. It's crazy. ...And then they ask me for financial advice!!! I was like, "Why are you looking at me? I don't know anything about it." Thankfully the meeting was only an hour and forty-five minutes instead of the usual two hours.
This entry is crap. Sorry. I posted about something I don't even care about.
08 June 2005
Scenes from the Grocery
"Who are those two fat people on the front of that newspaper?" I thought to myself. As I got closer I read the caption: GARTH AND TRISHA EXPECTING. These two, formerly attractive (I think I remember reading) people both look just horrible. I mean, admittedly it was Star Magazine but still. They both look so... well, large.
I spent the evening with the lovely Ashley. We went to see a one-act thing that our friend Mike was/is in. He was very funny. The rest of it was, for me, kind of iffy. There was this one scene with this British woman and her lesbian daughter that had me in hysterics, though. Serious good times. I have to look this woman up. She was hilarious.
The real fun of the evening, though, was just spending some time with Ashley and visiting. Cheers.
I spent the evening with the lovely Ashley. We went to see a one-act thing that our friend Mike was/is in. He was very funny. The rest of it was, for me, kind of iffy. There was this one scene with this British woman and her lesbian daughter that had me in hysterics, though. Serious good times. I have to look this woman up. She was hilarious.
The real fun of the evening, though, was just spending some time with Ashley and visiting. Cheers.
07 June 2005
Book MEME
Because I am making an effort to post more.
Because I don't want to do whatever I should be doing for my HOA (I really don't even know what I ought to be doing.)
And because it came from here.
1. Total Number of Books I Own
About five hundred, I would guess. I have probably only read about 350 of them. I like to buy, but then I let them sit.
2. Last Book I Bought
Stephen Jeffreys' adaptation of Charles Dickens' Hard Times. It came in the mail this afternoon. I'm directing it in the Fall.
3. Last Book I Read
Heidi Stillman's adaptation of Charles Dickens' Hard Times. It's called Hard Times for These Times. Since then I have re-read Shakespeare's The Two Gentlemen of Verona.
4. Book I Am Currently Reading
Democracy by Michael Frayn
To the Lighthouse by Virginia Woolf
and Towards a Poor Theatre by Jerzy Grotowski.
5. Fiction or Non-Fiction?
Fiction, I suppose. But I read mostly plays and very rarely read novels. If I'm not reading a play, I am generally reading a non-fiction work of some kind.
6. The First Book I Read
I haven't the slightest idea. Probably some book of Bible stories my parents foisted on my unsuspecting mind. (Kidding. Sort of.)
7. Largest Impact
The Bible is probably the truest answer here. I can't think of a book that has had a bigger impact on my life (as long as the International Male catalogue doesn't count.) And it may sound trite but I think my day-to-day life is very much affected by The Four Agreements by Don Miguel Ruíz.
8. Favorite Scholarly Book
Easy: Shakespeare: the Invention of the Human by Harold Bloom. I look at this all the time.
9. Most Read Book
I honestly think this is Little Women by Luisa May Alcott... or maybe Laura Ingalls Wilder's Little House on the Prairie. I read those books over and over again as a child. What's a young impressionable girl to do?
10. Sexiest Book
Flesh & Blood by Michael Cunningham.
11. Biggest Disappointments
J.D. Salinger's Catcher in the Rye. I was too old to get it when I read it (like six months ago) and it just didn't resonate the way it might have if I were still an angry youth.
Bret Easton Ellis's The Informers. What is this book about? I don't get it. And I really liked The Rules of Attraction (the book NOT the film.)
12. Five Books that Mean Something to Me
In no particular order:
1. The Line of Beauty by Allan Hollinghurst. It is very rare to read a book that understands me as well as this one does. Aside from getting me in ways no other book has, this novel is so full of nuance and beauty and can't speak about it without becoming rhapsodic. You should read it no matter who you are. If you are a gay man, you simply must.
2. The Silmarillion by J.R.R. Tolkien. I don't know why I love this book so much. Perhaps it's because I love the idea of mythology and I find creation tales very fascinating. The description in the portion of The Silmarillion called Akallabêth is some of the most beautiful writing I've ever seen.
3. Atlas Shrugged by Ayn Rand. Not for the politics: I only half-agree with those, and I think her views on sex are rather disgusting. But this is the first book that told me it was okay to be intelligent. I remember reading it and crying. It allowed me to finally take ownership of my intelligence as an asset.
4. Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire by J.K. Rowling. Shut up; it's good.
5. Flesh & Blood by Michael Cunningham. So unbelievably awesome.
13. Tag
Play the game:
Elizabeth
Ashley
Kim
Justin
Becca
Tito
Allan
Angie
Danny
And anyone who reads this blog who isn't on my LJ list. Comment and link me to where you added this to your own blog, or post it in the comments.
Because I don't want to do whatever I should be doing for my HOA (I really don't even know what I ought to be doing.)
And because it came from here.
1. Total Number of Books I Own
About five hundred, I would guess. I have probably only read about 350 of them. I like to buy, but then I let them sit.
2. Last Book I Bought
Stephen Jeffreys' adaptation of Charles Dickens' Hard Times. It came in the mail this afternoon. I'm directing it in the Fall.
3. Last Book I Read
Heidi Stillman's adaptation of Charles Dickens' Hard Times. It's called Hard Times for These Times. Since then I have re-read Shakespeare's The Two Gentlemen of Verona.
4. Book I Am Currently Reading
Democracy by Michael Frayn
To the Lighthouse by Virginia Woolf
and Towards a Poor Theatre by Jerzy Grotowski.
5. Fiction or Non-Fiction?
Fiction, I suppose. But I read mostly plays and very rarely read novels. If I'm not reading a play, I am generally reading a non-fiction work of some kind.
6. The First Book I Read
I haven't the slightest idea. Probably some book of Bible stories my parents foisted on my unsuspecting mind. (Kidding. Sort of.)
7. Largest Impact
The Bible is probably the truest answer here. I can't think of a book that has had a bigger impact on my life (as long as the International Male catalogue doesn't count.) And it may sound trite but I think my day-to-day life is very much affected by The Four Agreements by Don Miguel Ruíz.
8. Favorite Scholarly Book
Easy: Shakespeare: the Invention of the Human by Harold Bloom. I look at this all the time.
9. Most Read Book
I honestly think this is Little Women by Luisa May Alcott... or maybe Laura Ingalls Wilder's Little House on the Prairie. I read those books over and over again as a child. What's a young impressionable girl to do?
10. Sexiest Book
Flesh & Blood by Michael Cunningham.
11. Biggest Disappointments
J.D. Salinger's Catcher in the Rye. I was too old to get it when I read it (like six months ago) and it just didn't resonate the way it might have if I were still an angry youth.
Bret Easton Ellis's The Informers. What is this book about? I don't get it. And I really liked The Rules of Attraction (the book NOT the film.)
12. Five Books that Mean Something to Me
In no particular order:
1. The Line of Beauty by Allan Hollinghurst. It is very rare to read a book that understands me as well as this one does. Aside from getting me in ways no other book has, this novel is so full of nuance and beauty and can't speak about it without becoming rhapsodic. You should read it no matter who you are. If you are a gay man, you simply must.
2. The Silmarillion by J.R.R. Tolkien. I don't know why I love this book so much. Perhaps it's because I love the idea of mythology and I find creation tales very fascinating. The description in the portion of The Silmarillion called Akallabêth is some of the most beautiful writing I've ever seen.
3. Atlas Shrugged by Ayn Rand. Not for the politics: I only half-agree with those, and I think her views on sex are rather disgusting. But this is the first book that told me it was okay to be intelligent. I remember reading it and crying. It allowed me to finally take ownership of my intelligence as an asset.
4. Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire by J.K. Rowling. Shut up; it's good.
5. Flesh & Blood by Michael Cunningham. So unbelievably awesome.
13. Tag
Play the game:
Elizabeth
Ashley
Kim
Justin
Becca
Tito
Allan
Angie
Danny
And anyone who reads this blog who isn't on my LJ list. Comment and link me to where you added this to your own blog, or post it in the comments.
06 June 2005
Potpourri
I don't know why my back hurts as much as it does. :-( Boo to that.
Tomorrow I have an interview with the head of something-or-other at Cal Poly to move me into the (cue ominous music) faculty pool. Whatever. I really don't see why he has to meet with me, what we're going to talk about or why I had to tell my work that I'm taking my mother to the doctor's office. (I gave them a week's notice and everybody does it, so I don't feel that bad, but I do have a little lingering guilt.)
I started reading a new play: Michael Frayn's Democracy. The play is about West (and East, I suppose) German politics in the early 1970's. It's good so far... by that I mean well-paced and engaging with proper dramatic tension and some fairly good dialogue and conflict,but I'm fifty pages in (one act) and I'm not sure what the point is yet. I certainly wouldn't leave at intermission, but I don't see where he's going with this. It's actually just nice to have another voice playing in my head. I've been reading The Two Gentlemen on and off for, like, two weeks, so it's nice to hear the sound of another dramatist at least for a bit... still no concept for The Two Gentlemen. I wish I knew what I were going to do. I have a nice concept for the dog and not much else.
Mary Baldwin College sent me a letter. They do not acknowledge that I sent them a letter telling them that I would not be attending their university in the Fall, but they do say that I have received some kind of merit award (read: $$). They want to pay for half of my time at the school. It's very nice of them, I must say. I still will not be attending their school, but it's awfully magnanimous.
Madison says I don't have any gay friends. She sees this as odd (and perhaps deficient in some way?). A friend of hers has joined a theatre company on Robertson south of Pico and Madison and I went in support (Madison's husband was out of town). So I spent some time with Maddie; we haven't been seeing each other much, and I think we needed to reconnect a bit, although I think our relationship will always be one that falls back into normalcy quite quickly. "But I do have gay friends," I said. Perhaps she thinks I ought to have a little clique like the boys in The Broken Hearts Club or the ludicrously unreal amalgam of gay subcultures that is Queer as Folk. But then, maybe she is right on some level about my choice of friends. I don't know. I think more that my friends are really people I have grown to love over a long period of time or, instead, people who are are just fun and fabulous no matter their choice of sexual partner(s). I certainly am not missing out on gay culture in a huge way (I read The Gay and Lesbian Review for chrissakes!), but I am, perhaps missing out on some really fun bitchfests and some serious camaraderie. Hmm. Tito, have you any thoughts on this? James, you have a large circle of gay friends, right? Any thoughts?
Good evening lovelies; I am off to bed. I have to wake up hella early tomorrow so's I can leave Burbank and be in Pomona in a timely manner to take Mom to el doctór.
Tomorrow I have an interview with the head of something-or-other at Cal Poly to move me into the (cue ominous music) faculty pool. Whatever. I really don't see why he has to meet with me, what we're going to talk about or why I had to tell my work that I'm taking my mother to the doctor's office. (I gave them a week's notice and everybody does it, so I don't feel that bad, but I do have a little lingering guilt.)
I started reading a new play: Michael Frayn's Democracy. The play is about West (and East, I suppose) German politics in the early 1970's. It's good so far... by that I mean well-paced and engaging with proper dramatic tension and some fairly good dialogue and conflict,but I'm fifty pages in (one act) and I'm not sure what the point is yet. I certainly wouldn't leave at intermission, but I don't see where he's going with this. It's actually just nice to have another voice playing in my head. I've been reading The Two Gentlemen on and off for, like, two weeks, so it's nice to hear the sound of another dramatist at least for a bit... still no concept for The Two Gentlemen. I wish I knew what I were going to do. I have a nice concept for the dog and not much else.
Mary Baldwin College sent me a letter. They do not acknowledge that I sent them a letter telling them that I would not be attending their university in the Fall, but they do say that I have received some kind of merit award (read: $$). They want to pay for half of my time at the school. It's very nice of them, I must say. I still will not be attending their school, but it's awfully magnanimous.
Madison says I don't have any gay friends. She sees this as odd (and perhaps deficient in some way?). A friend of hers has joined a theatre company on Robertson south of Pico and Madison and I went in support (Madison's husband was out of town). So I spent some time with Maddie; we haven't been seeing each other much, and I think we needed to reconnect a bit, although I think our relationship will always be one that falls back into normalcy quite quickly. "But I do have gay friends," I said. Perhaps she thinks I ought to have a little clique like the boys in The Broken Hearts Club or the ludicrously unreal amalgam of gay subcultures that is Queer as Folk. But then, maybe she is right on some level about my choice of friends. I don't know. I think more that my friends are really people I have grown to love over a long period of time or, instead, people who are are just fun and fabulous no matter their choice of sexual partner(s). I certainly am not missing out on gay culture in a huge way (I read The Gay and Lesbian Review for chrissakes!), but I am, perhaps missing out on some really fun bitchfests and some serious camaraderie. Hmm. Tito, have you any thoughts on this? James, you have a large circle of gay friends, right? Any thoughts?
Good evening lovelies; I am off to bed. I have to wake up hella early tomorrow so's I can leave Burbank and be in Pomona in a timely manner to take Mom to el doctór.
05 June 2005
DVD Drama
This morning I put in the DVD (recently received from Netflix) of the Italian film A Special Day, a film I have been wanting to see for years that was finally released on DVD about three weeks ago.
The DVD release was dubbed in English.
Not only that, it was an old pan-and-scan version of the film.
Worse, yet, the transfer to digital was obviously made from a previous VHS release. The DVD even had tracking problems like those old tapes used to have at the beginning of the movie.
I took that shit out of my DVD player and sent it straight back to Costa Mesa. I can't believe someone even wasted time on a release like this. I mean, why bother? Do your work, find a good print of the film and release it right. I mean, this is a film starring Marcello Mastroianni and Sophia Loren; it's not like it's an obscure picture, and even if it were an obscure picture, it still merits a full release of the film and at least a decent-quality print. I say shame on Jef Films Inc. who released the DVD.
The DVD release was dubbed in English.
Not only that, it was an old pan-and-scan version of the film.
Worse, yet, the transfer to digital was obviously made from a previous VHS release. The DVD even had tracking problems like those old tapes used to have at the beginning of the movie.
I took that shit out of my DVD player and sent it straight back to Costa Mesa. I can't believe someone even wasted time on a release like this. I mean, why bother? Do your work, find a good print of the film and release it right. I mean, this is a film starring Marcello Mastroianni and Sophia Loren; it's not like it's an obscure picture, and even if it were an obscure picture, it still merits a full release of the film and at least a decent-quality print. I say shame on Jef Films Inc. who released the DVD.
04 June 2005
Thank you for signing The ONE Campaign declaration. Your voice DOES make a difference!
But there is still more you can do to help get the word out:
Please help us tell your friends and family about The ONE Campaign and how they too can lend their voice to help beat global AIDS and poverty.
Tell them to sign the declaration now at ONE.org. ONE by ONE, we can make the difference.
Kung Fu
Stephen Chow's Kung Fu Hustle is part Charlie Chaplin, part Akira Kurosawa, part Vincente Minelli and part Zhang Yimou. You might think that this combination would be crap. But oh how wrong you would be. Kung Fu Hustle is hilarious, visually cool, and always inventive.
I've been seeing more Italian cinema than usual, as well. Last night on the recommendation of my boss I saw Luchino Visconti's Death in Venice from 1971. It's very good, but it's not a movie I would go around recommending. It's a very very sad film about death and morality amidst a plague (a symbol, perhaps, for moral weakness) set to the music of Gustav Mahler. Like I said, it's wonderfully made, but I didn't love it. (Sound familiar?)
Friday nights blow... I'm always too tired to really do anything like go out dancing or partying or dating (oh yeah, I don't do that anyway.)
I still don't have a concept for The Two Gentlemen. Why am I suddenly a talentless hack who can't even come up with a concept? Grr. I need to read it again. It will come to me. Maybe it hasn't come because the cast isn't finalized...
Oh... and I got the script that I've been hired to direct in the Fall and the gods must be crazy. Stephen Jeffreys' version of Hard Times clocks in at three hours. What? The Heidi Stillman version you see at right (if you're reading this on my main page) is a totally different animal, evidently, although the characters--and some of the lines--are the same. Hmm. I guess I have my work cut out for me.
I've been seeing more Italian cinema than usual, as well. Last night on the recommendation of my boss I saw Luchino Visconti's Death in Venice from 1971. It's very good, but it's not a movie I would go around recommending. It's a very very sad film about death and morality amidst a plague (a symbol, perhaps, for moral weakness) set to the music of Gustav Mahler. Like I said, it's wonderfully made, but I didn't love it. (Sound familiar?)
Friday nights blow... I'm always too tired to really do anything like go out dancing or partying or dating (oh yeah, I don't do that anyway.)
I still don't have a concept for The Two Gentlemen. Why am I suddenly a talentless hack who can't even come up with a concept? Grr. I need to read it again. It will come to me. Maybe it hasn't come because the cast isn't finalized...
Oh... and I got the script that I've been hired to direct in the Fall and the gods must be crazy. Stephen Jeffreys' version of Hard Times clocks in at three hours. What? The Heidi Stillman version you see at right (if you're reading this on my main page) is a totally different animal, evidently, although the characters--and some of the lines--are the same. Hmm. I guess I have my work cut out for me.
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