Ms. Thing is workin it in those heels!
And then Grace Jones busted all over the scene in 1980 with "Leatherette":
9.30.2008
First one then the other....
Singing the disco hit "Knock on Wood" in 1979.
Ms. Thing is workin it in those heels!
And then Grace Jones busted all over the scene in 1980 with "Leatherette":
Ms. Thing is workin it in those heels!
And then Grace Jones busted all over the scene in 1980 with "Leatherette":
9.28.2008
EbonyJet YouTube channel
There are lots of wonderful interviews from the 80s & early 90s with Black entertainers such as Phylis Hyman, LL Cool J and this extremely sad interview between a young looking Tom Jorner and a 24 year-old Michael Jackson.
Many Moons
Alright Janelle Monae's video for Many Moons has dropped.
She's a great performer. There's a lot going on in this video. The crowd and the fashion show are bit distracting, but I think parts of the video captures Monae's energy & skill.
She's a great performer. There's a lot going on in this video. The crowd and the fashion show are bit distracting, but I think parts of the video captures Monae's energy & skill.
9.26.2008
William Kamkwamba builds a windmill
Amazing story about William Kamkwamba from Malawi who, at the age of 14, designed and built a windmill to supply his community with electricity and running water. With only a picture book he checked out of the library to guide him, Kamkwamba made it happen after only a few attempts. He's 19 now and harnessing solar and wind power for his people.
One of my favorite web filmmakers m ss ng p e ces made a lovely short film about him here..
Check out his appearance at the TED conference in 2007:
One of my favorite web filmmakers m ss ng p e ces made a lovely short film about him here..
Check out his appearance at the TED conference in 2007:
9.22.2008
9.18.2008
Slam Dance
So, in the theater of my mind I often see the characters in my plays engaging and moving around each other in a variety of ways: a pedestrian style, or highly choreographed movements, or in a staged cheat-out-so-the-back-row-can-see-your-face style.
I don't know much about dance, but I like to see the bodies crash against each other. I like the moments when physical contact looks out of control and wild, but the performers have complete control. That's cool to me. It's something I strive for in the presentation of my work.
Through a series of google and youtube clicks I stumble across a German choreographer named Pina Bausch:
And DV8 Physical Theatre:
I don't know much about dance, but I like to see the bodies crash against each other. I like the moments when physical contact looks out of control and wild, but the performers have complete control. That's cool to me. It's something I strive for in the presentation of my work.
Through a series of google and youtube clicks I stumble across a German choreographer named Pina Bausch:
And DV8 Physical Theatre:
9.17.2008
9.16.2008
9.15.2008
Assumptions
A quick google search proves that Jose Rivera's 36 Assumptions About Writing Plays has landed in the posts of several theater blogs. It popped up in American Theatre magazine back in 2003.
I'm late to the game, having finished it a few minutes ago. I had to write a post about it because I like it. I'm adding this post to the others in the blogsphere.
Why did I like it?
Because the list captures the magic of writing plays...and also the realities of it. The shit of it and the joy of it.
I also just love lists. Especially lists of things related to playwriting because it makes me feel like it's a manageable task--writing a play. A list functions as a sign of productivity, goals, ambition. It gives me solace that this crazy thing I do has the potential of organization.
And it's also great to hear how other playwrights do it, how they write these damn things. It's great to know what playwrights strive for in the process of creating the work. What they've learned. What they believe. The philosophy of it.
I think playwrights create personal and collective manifestos (Ã la Artaud). I think it's important to exchange those manifestos with fellow travelers, peers, and collaborators. It doesn't necessarily have to exist as an essay or list. I think the manifesto can live in the play itself, but like I said before...
I like lists.
A few of my favorite Rivera Assumptions:
Check out the complete list here.
Pick your favorites.
Write your own.
I'm late to the game, having finished it a few minutes ago. I had to write a post about it because I like it. I'm adding this post to the others in the blogsphere.
Why did I like it?
Because the list captures the magic of writing plays...and also the realities of it. The shit of it and the joy of it.
I also just love lists. Especially lists of things related to playwriting because it makes me feel like it's a manageable task--writing a play. A list functions as a sign of productivity, goals, ambition. It gives me solace that this crazy thing I do has the potential of organization.
And it's also great to hear how other playwrights do it, how they write these damn things. It's great to know what playwrights strive for in the process of creating the work. What they've learned. What they believe. The philosophy of it.
I think playwrights create personal and collective manifestos (Ã la Artaud). I think it's important to exchange those manifestos with fellow travelers, peers, and collaborators. It doesn't necessarily have to exist as an essay or list. I think the manifesto can live in the play itself, but like I said before...
I like lists.
A few of my favorite Rivera Assumptions:
# 3: There's no time limit to writing plays. Think of playwriting as a life-long apprenticeship. Imagine you may have your best ideas on your deathbed.
# 15: Write from your organs. Write from your eyes, your heart, your liver, your ass -- write from your brain last of all.
# 16: Write from all of your senses. Be prepared to design on the page: tell yourself exactly what you see, feel, hear, touch and taste in this world. Never leave design to chance, that includes the design of the cast.
# 32. Keep your chops up with constant questioning of your own work. React against your work. Be hypercritical. Do in the next work what you aimed for but failed to do in the last one.
Check out the complete list here.
Pick your favorites.
Write your own.
9.12.2008
The Grey Dudes
This may be old news to some, but I just found out about this great video for "Encore" a song from the infamous and legendary Grey Album--a smash up of the Beatles White Album and Jay-Z's Black album made possible by Dangermouse:
9.11.2008
1. 2. 3.
1. I can't figure out the code to stop the Vodacom commercial from automatically playing, so my apologies for that. You can now click the pic to see the commercial directly from the site. Yay.
2. I'm peeved that dictionary.com has stripped its resources so that most of the entries come from Random House references. Ummm, that's whack. Dictionary.com, to me, implies that you are a junk yard of dictionaries, not a pseudonym for one publishing company.
3. I'm reading Aeschylus' Oresteia (a Greek tragedy in three parts) as translated by two wonderful scholars and poets: Alan Shapiro and Peter Burian.
They raise the notion that translating the Greek tragedy requires the collaboration between poet and scholar:
We believe...that the skills of both are required for the difficult and delicate task of transplanting these magnificent specimens of another culture into the soil of our own place and time, to do justice both to their deep differences from our patterns of thought and expression and to their palpable closeness to our most intimate concerns.
Hot damn.
Well, alright.
So, I read this paragraph and instantly knew I was in good hands.
I also felt inspired to take a closer look at the collaboration between playwright and scholar. It's a thought that I've tiptoed around, but after spending these few days in this scholarly environment, I'm starting to think about "the thinking" aspect of creating theater, the cerebral qualities that go into writing a play. Deciding when it's appropriate to call upon the brain and when it's important to let the gut do its thing.
Some would say (including myself) the gut, or the inspiration, or the passion writes the first draft, then the brain or the reason saunters in to write the second.
But I like Shapiro & Burian's approach. I realize they're coming from a translation perspective, but I think it can be applied to writing a play. Maybe...
2. I'm peeved that dictionary.com has stripped its resources so that most of the entries come from Random House references. Ummm, that's whack. Dictionary.com, to me, implies that you are a junk yard of dictionaries, not a pseudonym for one publishing company.
3. I'm reading Aeschylus' Oresteia (a Greek tragedy in three parts) as translated by two wonderful scholars and poets: Alan Shapiro and Peter Burian.
They raise the notion that translating the Greek tragedy requires the collaboration between poet and scholar:
We believe...that the skills of both are required for the difficult and delicate task of transplanting these magnificent specimens of another culture into the soil of our own place and time, to do justice both to their deep differences from our patterns of thought and expression and to their palpable closeness to our most intimate concerns.
Hot damn.
Well, alright.
So, I read this paragraph and instantly knew I was in good hands.
I also felt inspired to take a closer look at the collaboration between playwright and scholar. It's a thought that I've tiptoed around, but after spending these few days in this scholarly environment, I'm starting to think about "the thinking" aspect of creating theater, the cerebral qualities that go into writing a play. Deciding when it's appropriate to call upon the brain and when it's important to let the gut do its thing.
Some would say (including myself) the gut, or the inspiration, or the passion writes the first draft, then the brain or the reason saunters in to write the second.
But I like Shapiro & Burian's approach. I realize they're coming from a translation perspective, but I think it can be applied to writing a play. Maybe...
9.10.2008
Vodacom: We've Been Having It
A commercial for a celluar company from Cape Town. Click the pic to view the clip:
via adsoftheworld.com
via adsoftheworld.com
It's a whack, whack, whack world....
The nytimes theater critic Charles Isherwood penned an odd celebration of this season's collection of male-centric plays.
This is a direct quote, folks:
Is it a reaction against last season, when the New York stage seemed to be overtaken by domineering women? The play of the year, of course, was “August: Osage County,” Tracy Letts’s hair-raising family saga focused on a mother-daughter smackdown. And the most hotly debated and attention-getting performance came from Patti LuPone as Momma Rose in “Gypsy,” a musical that also focuses on a mother-daughter conflict, this one somewhat less savage and partly conducted in song. Whatever the reason, wives and mothers are taking a definite back seat to their husbands, fathers and sons this fall on Broadway stages.
Really?
Wait.
Really?
"Domineering women"... alright.
Female playwrights are few and far between on New York stages this season. One would think we're beyond the point where theaters have to be reminded that they should function as a platform from which all kinds of scribes can speak, but that doesn't seem to be the case.
Lame.
Playwright David Mamet also contributed to the nytimes male stew.
Playwright Theresa Rebeck wrote a response to Isherwood's piece. She writes, among other things, that "every year is the Year of the Man" on Broadway.
If you wish to send your thoughts to the folks over at the paper you can send them to letters@nytimes.com. There's a 150 word limit so make every bit count.
This is a direct quote, folks:
Is it a reaction against last season, when the New York stage seemed to be overtaken by domineering women? The play of the year, of course, was “August: Osage County,” Tracy Letts’s hair-raising family saga focused on a mother-daughter smackdown. And the most hotly debated and attention-getting performance came from Patti LuPone as Momma Rose in “Gypsy,” a musical that also focuses on a mother-daughter conflict, this one somewhat less savage and partly conducted in song. Whatever the reason, wives and mothers are taking a definite back seat to their husbands, fathers and sons this fall on Broadway stages.
Really?
Wait.
Really?
"Domineering women"... alright.
Female playwrights are few and far between on New York stages this season. One would think we're beyond the point where theaters have to be reminded that they should function as a platform from which all kinds of scribes can speak, but that doesn't seem to be the case.
Lame.
Playwright David Mamet also contributed to the nytimes male stew.
Playwright Theresa Rebeck wrote a response to Isherwood's piece. She writes, among other things, that "every year is the Year of the Man" on Broadway.
If you wish to send your thoughts to the folks over at the paper you can send them to letters@nytimes.com. There's a 150 word limit so make every bit count.
9.09.2008
Dr. Katz
I recently rekindled my love for the animated series Dr. Katz Professional Therapist. It aired on Comedy Central from 1995-1999. Comedians such as Ray Romano and The View's Joy Behar made appearances as patients of Dr. Katz, but their bits were often full of misses. The banter between Dr. Katz and the regular cast members still makes me chuckle:
I CANNOT believe it's been 10+ years since the first episode aired...
I CANNOT believe it's been 10+ years since the first episode aired...
9.05.2008
9.04.2008
Andrew W.K.
I have to admit I like this song:
I think the video does a wonderful job showing his pure, greased-up energy. The simplicity of it is pretty damn cool.
Then I read his wikipedia page. And he has a very simple website.
What do I mean by simple? Well, there's no flash, no pull quotes, no glitzy excess, no fat. It's all muscle. The site answers the who, what, when, where, and how of Andrew W.K.
It's so funny to me that the dude who does this:
Is the same dude who does this:
I'd like to think that this is all performance art. Andrew W.K. is a character that has somehow infiltrated college campuses across the country to give four-hour lectures on....well, I don't know what he talks about, but I think he's funny.
I think the video does a wonderful job showing his pure, greased-up energy. The simplicity of it is pretty damn cool.
Then I read his wikipedia page. And he has a very simple website.
What do I mean by simple? Well, there's no flash, no pull quotes, no glitzy excess, no fat. It's all muscle. The site answers the who, what, when, where, and how of Andrew W.K.
It's so funny to me that the dude who does this:
Is the same dude who does this:
I'd like to think that this is all performance art. Andrew W.K. is a character that has somehow infiltrated college campuses across the country to give four-hour lectures on....well, I don't know what he talks about, but I think he's funny.
9.03.2008
Back 2 Skool
Ummm...so it's September. Already.
I'm back in school. Things are moving swiftly whether I'm ready for it or not, but I'm having a good time. There are SO many people to meet and part of me feels like I'm in the movie FAME (were there playwrights in that movie?). I'm half-expecting to bust out in soulful dance numbers about lunch food:
I'm ready to dive in and keep writing, keep pushing, keep questioning, keep growing, thinking, listening, breathing, waiting, moving, etc.
Another clip from a movie about student life in higher education, School Daze:
and a trip back to "the golden age" of teen angst with The Breakfast Club
Here's to another year of doin the damn thang!
I'm back in school. Things are moving swiftly whether I'm ready for it or not, but I'm having a good time. There are SO many people to meet and part of me feels like I'm in the movie FAME (were there playwrights in that movie?). I'm half-expecting to bust out in soulful dance numbers about lunch food:
I'm ready to dive in and keep writing, keep pushing, keep questioning, keep growing, thinking, listening, breathing, waiting, moving, etc.
Another clip from a movie about student life in higher education, School Daze:
and a trip back to "the golden age" of teen angst with The Breakfast Club
Here's to another year of doin the damn thang!
9.01.2008
Maine attraction...
First, a stop in Portsmouth, NH:
Beautiful blue sky:
A muscle car:
A big ol' boot at the L.L. Bean store in Maine. I was way more excited than I should've been:
White folks lookin for wool socks:
The Abercrombe & Fitch sits in an old library:
Cape Elizabeth:
And a ol' skool truck:
Beautiful blue sky:
A muscle car:
A big ol' boot at the L.L. Bean store in Maine. I was way more excited than I should've been:
White folks lookin for wool socks:
The Abercrombe & Fitch sits in an old library:
Cape Elizabeth:
And a ol' skool truck:
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)