... and that is troubling.
But what about this?
Yikes.
Tuesday, November 29, 2005
Randy "Duke" Cunningham
Three cheers for Randy "Duke" Cunningham, who admitted today "I broke the law, concealed my conduct and disgraced my office!"
I give Randy credit here for being truthful. This has nothing to do with any subversive consolation that he sponsored the 2004 attempt to amend the Constitution to ban same-sex marriage and a co-sponsored the 2005 attempt along with Marilyn Musgrave. That there is now one less person out there deciding my partner and I don't deserve the same benefits as a straight couple is not at issue here. I am pleased because a politician told the truth. When was the last time that happened? Randy gets extra jewels in his crown. Finally! A politician who is willing to be responsible for their own conduct. Isn't that one of the signs of the Apocolypse? Or, did Randy just cop out and not even try to find a scapegoat?
Maybe Randy has started a positive trend. Perhaps we're headed toward The Tipping Point, what with Tom Delay, Lewis Libby, Cheney and Rove in the spotlight as well, maybe ol' Randy is helping the further truth to be revealed about our political system. Maybe.
I wonder what the "Randy 'Duke' Cunningham Fighter Ace Kalinga Style Buck Knife," will now go for on eBay?
I give Randy credit here for being truthful. This has nothing to do with any subversive consolation that he sponsored the 2004 attempt to amend the Constitution to ban same-sex marriage and a co-sponsored the 2005 attempt along with Marilyn Musgrave. That there is now one less person out there deciding my partner and I don't deserve the same benefits as a straight couple is not at issue here. I am pleased because a politician told the truth. When was the last time that happened? Randy gets extra jewels in his crown. Finally! A politician who is willing to be responsible for their own conduct. Isn't that one of the signs of the Apocolypse? Or, did Randy just cop out and not even try to find a scapegoat?
Maybe Randy has started a positive trend. Perhaps we're headed toward The Tipping Point, what with Tom Delay, Lewis Libby, Cheney and Rove in the spotlight as well, maybe ol' Randy is helping the further truth to be revealed about our political system. Maybe.
I wonder what the "Randy 'Duke' Cunningham Fighter Ace Kalinga Style Buck Knife," will now go for on eBay?
Monday, November 28, 2005
Theatre Geek
I live in a little bedroom community outside of my hometown of Austin TX... Austin is home to the SXSW Music Festival, and the SXSW Film Festival. It is also home to The Austin City Limits Music Festival.
Each year, we also do FronteraFest, -- five weeks of off the wall, new, and just plain weird fringe theatre. Austin also participates yearly in an experimental "free night of theatre" -- along with three other cities in the nation. This is cool too.
I heard some time ago that statistically, Austin boasts more theatres per capita than New York, but I don't know if that's true. I am a theatre geek in a theatre town, that is overshadowed by being the "Live Music Capitol of The World."
It's not a problem to live in a music city, though. Theatre flourishes as well. This season, there are no less than 106 productions to choose from if you wish to attend a play in the 2005-2006 season. And the even greater news is, the average age of the theatre patron in Austin is around 30... so given that kind of patronage, much of the work is fresh and up to the minute.
On the outskirts of town, we've got another 10-12 theatres as well. In January I will direct a production for one of them. I 'm looking forward to blogging away about the aspects of directing. In the meantime, I await with bated breath the arrival of our scripts, so that I might pre-block in my usual fashion. Many might debate the pre-blocking process as too controlling -- but frankly, it helps me to feel safer and more in charge during the rehearsal process, and I change quite a lot of it once I have a cast anyway.
Who among us really prefers a director who doesn't provide blocking, assistance with character development, and a safe demeanor in which the creative process can unfold while committing to directing the production toward a cohesive interpretation? Isn't the alternative chaos?
Pre-blocking, I find, supports the production by providing effective relationships among the characters and attractive "pictures." This could be my enthusiasm for photography kicking in. Composition counts!
I see a lot of theatre -- really, really, good theatre, and not enough of it is supported by good blocking or effective staging -- which is disappointing.
For this production, I have eight weeks of rehearsal and I'm accustomed to four to six. Should I scrap the safety of pre-blocking? NO -- but I'm tempted.
Stay tuned.
Each year, we also do FronteraFest, -- five weeks of off the wall, new, and just plain weird fringe theatre. Austin also participates yearly in an experimental "free night of theatre" -- along with three other cities in the nation. This is cool too.
I heard some time ago that statistically, Austin boasts more theatres per capita than New York, but I don't know if that's true. I am a theatre geek in a theatre town, that is overshadowed by being the "Live Music Capitol of The World."
It's not a problem to live in a music city, though. Theatre flourishes as well. This season, there are no less than 106 productions to choose from if you wish to attend a play in the 2005-2006 season. And the even greater news is, the average age of the theatre patron in Austin is around 30... so given that kind of patronage, much of the work is fresh and up to the minute.
On the outskirts of town, we've got another 10-12 theatres as well. In January I will direct a production for one of them. I 'm looking forward to blogging away about the aspects of directing. In the meantime, I await with bated breath the arrival of our scripts, so that I might pre-block in my usual fashion. Many might debate the pre-blocking process as too controlling -- but frankly, it helps me to feel safer and more in charge during the rehearsal process, and I change quite a lot of it once I have a cast anyway.
Who among us really prefers a director who doesn't provide blocking, assistance with character development, and a safe demeanor in which the creative process can unfold while committing to directing the production toward a cohesive interpretation? Isn't the alternative chaos?
Pre-blocking, I find, supports the production by providing effective relationships among the characters and attractive "pictures." This could be my enthusiasm for photography kicking in. Composition counts!
I see a lot of theatre -- really, really, good theatre, and not enough of it is supported by good blocking or effective staging -- which is disappointing.
For this production, I have eight weeks of rehearsal and I'm accustomed to four to six. Should I scrap the safety of pre-blocking? NO -- but I'm tempted.
Stay tuned.
Friday, November 25, 2005
Brokeback Mountain
Wow. Brokeback Mountain. This is a good one. Ang Lee directs. This is a screeplay adapted by Larry McMurtry from a short story written by E. Annie Proulx starring Heath Ledger and Jake Gyllenhaal. I suspect these two will soon be poster boys for the Texas Gay Rodeo Association.
Currently, on Yahoo, there's a message board thread that should get those known as The Tolerant as riled as the current Intolerant posters. The first message I read was, well ... wellllllll.... I can't decide if it was hysterically funny or pathetically feckless. Then there was the "DAMN GAY RECRUITMENT MOVIE." Puhleeze! And then there are the posters who think the film looks "sick."
I guess it's still a shock to some that the gay and lesbian population is as diverse as the straight one and just as reflective of America's melting pot as it's own community.Gay cowboys?!?!?!
We're everywhere.
Currently, on Yahoo, there's a message board thread that should get those known as The Tolerant as riled as the current Intolerant posters. The first message I read was, well ... wellllllll.... I can't decide if it was hysterically funny or pathetically feckless. Then there was the "DAMN GAY RECRUITMENT MOVIE." Puhleeze! And then there are the posters who think the film looks "sick."
I guess it's still a shock to some that the gay and lesbian population is as diverse as the straight one and just as reflective of America's melting pot as it's own community.Gay cowboys?!?!?!
We're everywhere.
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