EXTRA CRITICUM

When memory fails us, what can we learn?

On a recent trip, I found myself sharing a drink with Andrew in a room whose walls were lined with chalk boards. It didn't take long before I was trying to write out my favorite Robert Frost poem from memory. In spite of the fact that this is a poem I'd actually once set to music, I had the nagging fear I'd left something out. A quick Google search the next day revealed my error. But what struck me as odd was how absolutely essential to the poem's overall meaning were the two lines I'd accidentally omitted.

See if you can spot my omission. And, if so, offer a compelling psychoanalytical explanation for it. Here's a picture of me and my incomplete version of the poem in chalk.

From a Pile of 45s to the Digital Playlist: My History of Music Curation

I miss playing music for other people. Sure, my love of listening to music was a major driving force in seeking a career in the music industry, but for me, music is not only to be received, but also to be shared.

And since I have no great musical talents of my own - despite a year of French horn, the praise of my grandmother during piano lessons, and chorus roles in several high school and college musical theater productions - I can only share other people's music.

Hospitality Among Presenters: Extinct? or Dying? You Decide

Whenever an artist is invited to present work at a venue, there's an opportunity on the part of the presenter for making someone feel special with very little effort. To some presenters this comes naturally. To others, not so much. Here, in random order, are some of the things I feel every presenter, curator, producer or host ought to think about before they invite us to screen, perform, talk or appear.

Really Good Theatre, Relaxed Atmosphere, and Booze

Shameless plug:

A short play of mine, My Father's Heart, is going up tomorrow night for one night only as part of a series called Soho Shorts. Two shows, 7:15 and 9:30.

A lot of talented people, a really relaxed atmosphere, and alcohol. What else could you possibly want?

The Info Is:

Do students mind being used as a billboard for their school?

I'm in Pittsburgh, moderating a bunch of events for the Dramatists Guild and I've tried to squeeze in as much walking around time as I possibly can. On first blush, Pittsburgh gives the impression of a really vibrant and welcoming city for art and artists. Within walking distance of our hotel (in what used to be Pittsburgh's red-light district) are more than half a dozen theatres, ranging in size from tiny to huge. It's pretty amazing.

This morning as I made my up Liberty Avenue in search of coffee, I passed the Pittsburgh branch of Le Cordon Bleu. Huge curved windows open onto street level, providing passersby with a birdseye view of the students learning to be master chefs.

Challenges to Facebook's primacy

This just in courtesy of Thomas Cott (of You've Cott Mail). An interesting piece by Garrick Schmitt on the Advertising Age blog:

Until recently there has been no real alternative to Facebook as a social platform, but now a small band of upstarts and open source social technologies are beginning to challenge Facebook in the same manner that Firefox began to test Internet Explorer nearly six years ago.

To read the entire piece, click here. To check out Diaspora (The privacy aware, personally controlled, do-it-all, open source social network), click here.

The Dark Days

If you've read a few posts on my blog about the documentary I'm making, A Life's Work, you've probably noticed that they are upbeat and positive. "I was thrilled...,"  "I am forever grateful...," "The shoot went well..." It seems the film and my life are skipping hand in hand down a carefree path where only good things happen. In bringing this to your attention you might wonder, "Is David on happy pills or is he lying?" Neither.

The Minimal Inflection Approach (M.I.A.) to Acting - I don't get it

There's a style of acting that sprang up about 20 years ago as far as I can tell and I just don't get it. I call it the "Minimal Inflection Approach," or M.I.A. for short because often when watching one of these actors, one has the sense that a part of their soul is just that: M.I.A.

You all know what I'm talking about. They speak their lines in a virtual monotone (i.e.with minimal inflection) and I suppose we are expected to project whatever we like onto them but as far as I can tell, there ain't a lot going on up there. Here are three examples of actors who seem to appear this way in every role they play. Care to expand the list?

You can lead a town to culture but you can't make it drink

Last weekend I spent at a friend's house in Ghent, New York. Ghent is one town over from Hudson. Hudson is a charming little town about 2 hours north of the city along the east side of the Hudson river. In the past couple decades, it's been a magnet for a lot of antique dealers, art collectors (and dealers) and gay and lesbian ex-Manhattanites.

My friend who lives in Ghent has long been lobbying for me to consider joining the throngs of ex-New Yorkers who have relocated out of harm's way of Ground Zero. And I've actually considered it. The town is picturesque, as is the surrounding countryside. But each time I visit, one thing keeps slapping me in the face. Hudson feels like a town that's being dragged to the edge of the culture creek, its head being pushed down toward the water, its citizenry being told "Drink! Drink! It's good for you." And as far as I can tell, the town is not yet entirely convinced.

My Love Affair with Katy Perry

I'm not sure when it happened.

Somehow, sometime, somewhere along the way...

...I've fallen in love with Katy Perry.

It's a strange thing because I was totally unimpressed with her when she made her big pop music debut, strikingly untitillated by her kissing a girl and liking it, completely apathetic to who or what was hot or cold. I mean, she's not a very good singer. And although those might be good pop songs - they certainly were pop hits - I just don't like them very much.

So to what do I attribute my current love affair, my affection that borders on obsession?

I have two theories: context and intoxication.

To Bob With Love

Yesterday the BF and I went to see the documentary WAITING FOR SUPERMAN and, after being reminded just how good my small town education was compared to the dizzying statistics the movie puts forth about just how illiterate the vast majority of up and coming students are, I received a text from my best childhood friend Kristen that our music/drama/band teacher from our days at Mosinee High School had passed away that morning.

Now the man, Bob Hansen, was not a saint. There will be no statue erected in his honor. No marching band. But there should be.

Back to Back to the Future, a Fourth Installment?

It might have been the Benedryl I’m taking (I have a massive poison ivy problem – the weed not the super villain),  but I was watching the tube and caught Entertainment Tonight's segment on the 25th anniversary of the original BACK TO THE FUTURE auction to raise funds for Parkinson's. And yes I was so hoping they were going to hype an announcement of a fourth movie in the franchise (although in retrospect I suppose that news would trump the Courtney Cox/David Arquette split and wouldn't have been on 2/3rds the way into the show).

The new collection includes a neat segment featuring Eric Stolz who was originally cast in the Michael J. Fox role of Marty McFly. BTTF was a pivotal moment in Fox’s career, it’s hard to imagine him not in the role – it’s definitely a very BTTF twist, right?

Banksy and the not-so-subversive Simpsons sequence

By now, you may have heard about slave-labor opening sequence created by graffiti artist Banksy for Sunday's episode of The Simpsons, but since few of us in the coastal elites actually watch the show anymore, here it is:

Morality and The Shield

The setting is an empty house. A man, Shane Vendrell, is bathing his two-year old son, Jackson. His wife, Mara, calls to him from the other room. She needs to go to the bathroom, but cannot get up. Her collar bone is broken, her arm in a sling. He helps her to the toilet. He sits on the floor while she pees, and they talk while their son plays in the bathtub next to them. When she is done, he wipes between her legs and flushes the toilet. It is one of the most intimate moments I have ever seen onscreen, all the more so for being so casually done.

What Would Shakespeare Say? And What Would Oscar Wilde Say?

Have you seen the trailer for The Tempest?