How You Gonna Keep 'Em Down

Ten Word Reviews Of The Movies I Saw Today Yes I Saw All Of These Movies In This Order Today...

Thu, 03 Jul 2008 23:17:00 -0400

Ten Word Reviews Of The Movies I Saw Today Yes I Saw All Of These Movies In This Order Today Don’t Worry I Economized Wink-Wink You Know How We Do

1. Hancock: Kinda funny, kinda dark, completely clumsy. Bateman does heavy lifting.

2. WALL-E: Soft targets, heteronomative ‘bots, CG space, huh? Still, I smiled.

3. Wanted: Typical fight club whiny ass bullshit. McAvoy’s no Jason Bourne.

polite! (via eatsdirt)

Thu, 03 Jul 2008 22:59:39 -0400

polite! (via eatsdirt)

osmium:christopher hitchens is waterboarded for his article in...

Wed, 02 Jul 2008 15:06:00 -0400

osmium:

christopher hitchens is waterboarded for his article in vanity fair, believe me, it’s torture. link to the video is here. (photo by gasper tringale.)

Way to rip off Andy Breckman, Hitchens. The least you could have done was take pledges.

duh, via www.toothpastefordinner.comwith thanks to my...

Wed, 02 Jul 2008 11:48:34 -0400

duh, via www.toothpastefordinner.com

with thanks to my apartmentmate Eileen, who can’t get a blog because then she’ll stop sending me awesome and true stuff.

"…there is a lot of enhancement [commercial money in nonprofit productions] that happens and is..."

Tue, 01 Jul 2008 12:18:00 -0400

“…there is a lot of enhancement [commercial money in nonprofit productions] that happens and is unreported. It doesn’t go in programs. It doesn’t go in press. It doesn’t appear anywhere. Both Source 1 and Source 2 stated that there’s a lot more enhancement out there than anyone is going to admit. Surprisingly, much of this happens at Off Broadway and even on the Off-Off Broadway level. There are two major and one minor issue with this. The first is that, to quote Source 2, “if equity knew what the real budget was they would demand different pay scales and every thing”. What this means is that much of the enhancement money on this level is going into production values and marketing and not artist salaries. If the unions knew, they’d probably flip their lids. Second, theaters that pride themselves or project themselves as somehow edgy, producing work that other won’t etc. would have that brand seriously undercut by having their purse augmented by for profit producers. On a more minor level, it makes the theaters appear more generally supported by audience and donors than they actually are.”

- Parabasis: Enhancement?
Another fun example of budgetary gamesmanship amongst nonprofit theaters. I mean, look. A lot of the theaters whose ADs are quoted in this related NYT article are great theaters who do a great job supporting really great artists. And the thing is that the whole deal is broken, not just these little parts I’m flagging today. It’s just kind of, like, theater! It’s such a delicious sandwich. Why’s it gotta fall all over my lap and the bread now has a hole in it plus the whole thing has this red onion I didn’t even order, you know, METAPHORS, right? oh there’s just so much to be frustrated about.

'Prayer' ruckus stirs up discontent - Entertainment News, Gordon Cox, Media - Variety

Tue, 01 Jul 2008 10:47:00 -0400

'Prayer' ruckus stirs up discontent - Entertainment News, Gordon Cox, Media - Variety:

This is a few months old, but if the Google chatter is any indication, it landed under the radar. Craig Lucas had a new play yanked from the Roundabout schedule because he objected to the fact that Roundabout wanted a 40% cut of subsidary rights over the next ten years. Gordon Cox notes that that percentage is comparable to what a commercial producer will take—but also points out that as far as commercial nonprofits go, Roundabout’s take on this is the highest.

It’s hard to take Roundabout’s side in this. That percentage largely amounts to a finder’s fee, one that you probably wouldn’t begrudge if the number weren’t so high. In producting a new play, Roundabout is taking a risk (albeit a small one, because Craig Lucas is a completely well-established playwright and Roundabout totally staged a revival of “Prelude to a Kiss” a couple years back, come on!), so, fine. So then the playwright’s hands are half-tied because this is that great opportunity! That we’re all looking for! (And you know participatory media slash web 2.0 slash whatever don’t do bupkis for a playwright because how often do you see a fully staged play on MySpace oh right never.) Get good via Roundabout and you’ll have regional productions that will at least give you a shot at feeding yourself (two meals a day, but!). So Roundabout’s your broker and yes! Oh my god! This is the state of American Theater that you give a cut to everyone including the gigantic (unendowed, fine) NFP that produces you, you know, the same one that will be selling tickets and asking for donations at the play that you wrote.

I mean, imagine this is your first rodeo. Hell, imagine it’s your fifteenth, imagine you’ve been an Emerging Playwright for twenty years and Mr. Haimes finally dials and these are the terms of it. Probably you swallow it, you know? Roundabout’s gonna get you eyeballs and they do classy work. It’s really great that Craig Lucas was able to pull a Wilco here, but look, theater ain’t that bloggable. Peeps is getting left behind daily and the industry isn’t forced to evolve because who’s even reading articles like this? Or this?

PRODUCER’S PERSPECTIVE: Update on the TKTS booth: Does hanging up on someone give you a good "rep"?

Mon, 30 Jun 2008 12:08:44 -0400

PRODUCER’S PERSPECTIVE: Update on the TKTS booth: Does hanging up on someone give you a good "rep"?:

via Gothamist. You know what, whether or not the TKTS booth is on schedule is really not a big concern of mine, although Duffy Square SUCKS SO HARD TO LOOK AT right now and it’s total muder to cross that intersection, but blah blah blah first world problems. What I really like about this story is just how it so perfectly encapsulates what it takes to get a normal, straight answer from someone in a New York City bureaucracy. First you talk to someone who cuts you off and angrily refers you to someone else, then you call that someone else and he or she abruptly hangs up on you. So you try and try until someone transfers you to The Boss. And the Boss knows. And probably calls you sweetheart, but you take it, because thank god for an answer already.

I am reading Netherland, by Joseph O’Neill. Early in the book, the protaganist attempts to negotiate with the New York City DMV. Surprise, he fails. God willing I will never ever ever ever ever have to set foot in a metro-area DMV, I mean, just reading that scene made me edgy and flushed. I consider myself blessed to have moved here with a New York State license so that barring calamity, I can transact my license business via mail via Albany. Should I ever need to go to an actual DMV you bet your sweet ass I’ll be taking a day off and getting on the MetroNorth as far out of the city as I can go. We make it harder than it needs to be, here.

A Fearful Day in Zimbabwe - The New York Times > World > Slide Show > Slide 1 of 10

Sat, 28 Jun 2008 09:55:00 -0400

A Fearful Day in Zimbabwe - The New York Times > World > Slide Show > Slide 1 of 10: See also. I mean, come on, C.R.

fourfour: It's been a great week for homophobia

Sat, 28 Jun 2008 09:50:36 -0400

fourfour: It's been a great week for homophobia

kfan:Fever Dream Ghost BookMy new book will be done in a...

Fri, 27 Jun 2008 14:47:54 -0400

kfan:

Fever Dream Ghost Book
My new book will be done in a couple of weeks, so won’t you help me clear a few more of these off the shelves?
Fever Dream Ghost Book is a collection of 15 stories about ghosts.
Here are the some of the sentences it includes:
You won’t be the last person to die in this house.
She is speaking Japanese in reverse, and has flames tearing at the insides of her eyes.
I put my lips to your ear and whispered every secret I’ve ever kept.
All night I kept getting emails from people I thought were dead.
“You’re not dying,” Diego said. “You just ate too much ice cream.”
Read reviews on Goodreads! Purchase at whygodwhy.com!

You’re a fool if you don’t get yourself a copy. IT’S PORTABLE FOR HEAVEN’S SAKE.

I've Had Enough

Thu, 26 Jun 2008 14:38:39 -0400

I've Had Enough:

maura:

Wow, this reads exactly like every “wahhh, I quit the Internet because you’re all being so mean” rant that I read back in the heyday of the “teen domain” scene. 20whatever-year-old dudes: the new 15-year-old girls of the Internet?

Yes. A thousand times yes. Which makes sense, right? Don’t girls develop faster or something about science. Anyway in case anyone’s wondering, the next step for a person who quits the Internet is that he or she will wait it out a month and then return with a password-protected journal, but you’ll have to be on the mailing list to find out about that. Eventually that journal will collapse under its own ponderous weight, or under people passing the password around too often. The Quittee will disappear again. A few months later he or she will re-emerge on a new domain with a new pseudonym and a hyper-minimalist design that still manages to incorporate faeries somehow. Am I right, George Santayana?

The Zombies - This Will Be Our Year (Mono Mix) (via Kamper66)

Wed, 25 Jun 2008 11:54:48 -0400

The Zombies - This Will Be Our Year (Mono Mix) (via Kamper66)

kfan:I love this meme.You are in a mall when the zombies attack. You have:1. One weapon.2. One...

Mon, 23 Jun 2008 20:38:37 -0400

kfan:

I love this meme.
You are in a mall when the zombies attack. You have:
1. One weapon.
2. One song blasting on the speakers.
3. One famous person to fight alongside you.

Weapon can be real or fictional; you may assume endless ammo if applicable. Person can be real or fictional.

1. Acrobatic slayeresque fighting powers
2. “The Rat,” by The Walkmen
3. Jason Bourne (movie version)

Second choice for #3 would be River Tam, but I can’t guarantee she’d focus on the task at hand. Also second choice for #1 is magic, but I don’t have time to define the parameters right now okay. At least with this set-up I am confident we would at least be able to escape via rooftop if necessary.

MySpace.com - Miles Kurosky - Los Angeles, CA - Indie - www.myspace.com/mileskurosky

Sun, 22 Jun 2008 20:51:59 -0400

MySpace.com - Miles Kurosky - Los Angeles, CA - Indie - www.myspace.com/mileskurosky: Hey did we all know about how Miles Kurosky posted one of his solo numbers on his MySpace? Well, I didn’t. It’s like 10% less busy than a Beulah song, which is to say it’s still pretty effing busy. I mean there’s a lot going on there. A LOT, MILES. Aw, you know I like it.

This is a low quality recording of me doing a low quality...

Sun, 22 Jun 2008 00:20:00 -0400

This is a low quality recording of me doing a low quality reading of “Talk Pidgin,” a story that I wrote back in March. I ruin it towards the end, and then I do some cursing, but there’s a good run in the middle. It’s like eight and a half minutes, which is about how long it takes to make some mac and cheese from a box. I did do that on purpose.

If maybe you just want to download it or something, you can do that here. For my groupies. I feel kind of apologetic about this whole thing!

sayyes:really nobody needs “lists 2.0” and people have been making lists since Martin fucking...

Sat, 21 Jun 2008 10:39:06 -0400

sayyes:

really nobody needs “lists 2.0” and people have been making lists since Martin fucking Luther so let’s just stop it

"The first new show of the 2008-09 Broadway season, [title of show] - an original musical about the..."

Thu, 19 Jun 2008 10:18:52 -0400

“The first new show of the 2008-09 Broadway season, [title of show] - an original musical about the making of an original musical - will introduce the new $2,501.50 “Extrava[tos] VIP Luxury” premium priced ticket, it has been announced by the show’s producers. The $2,501.50 “Extrava[tos] VIP Luxury” premium ticket will include a tiara and scepter, opera glasses, and the unprecedented option to have an NYU student attend [title of show] in your place and then describe the experience to the ticket-buyer.”

- [title of show] announces ‘Extrava[tos] VIP Luxury’ Ticket (BroadwayWorld.com)

The thing I always think about when I think about Cyd Charisse is how in the gangster section (she...

Wed, 18 Jun 2008 14:28:45 -0400

The thing I always think about when I think about Cyd Charisse is how in the gangster section (she arrives at 4:19) of the ballet in Singin’ in the Rain, the entire thing is choreographed so she looks shorter than Gene Kelly. She is clearly naturally taller than him + she is costumed in these heels AND YET. So you watch this thing, right, and the whole time her knees are bent and she’s, like, literally bending over backwards to preserve this guy’s masculinity. Which, probably wearing slightly fewer pairs of loafers would have done as well. GENE KELLY. Anyway she was one of my favorites. Just wanted to say.

Parabasis: Isherwood Vs. Isherwood

Sun, 15 Jun 2008 13:13:00 -0400

Parabasis: Isherwood Vs. Isherwood: Or: After…you get what you want you don’t …want it. If I gave you the moooooon…you’d grow tie’d of it soon! You’re like…a baby. You want what you want when you want it. But after you are presented. With what you want you’re DisConTented.

My Observations of BONNARO 2008 - Day 1 (Friday)

Sat, 14 Jun 2008 11:53:48 -0400

paulscheer:

Instead of playing their hits Metallica plays the full cast recording of Les Miserables.
Shelly Long Sits in with Rilo Kiley, they cover the theme song from “Troop Beverly Hills.”
My Morning Jacket plays a 15 hour show.
I realize that a McGriddle is more complex in design than the pyramids.

Bonnaro is so much cooler than I thought.