EXTRA CRITICUM

Quotables: Edward Albee

From time to time, Extra Criticum authors post a quote from someone we admire, something that has stuck with us over the years and is, as they say, quotable.

Today, we hear from playwright Edward Albee, from a March 2011 NPR interview:

The Fine Line Between Memoir and Fiction

Late one night, I'd invited a guy I'd liked for a long time up to my apartment for a nightcap.

"Am I OK parked there?" he asked.

"You're good til 8 a.m. when you have to feed the meter."

"If I'm here til 8 a.m., then I'll really have a story to tell..." he laughed.

Goldfrapp Tarkovsky

I like to listen to music when I go to the gym. I should be listening to my Italian lessons, but they only seem to bog me down. No, what gets me moving and keeps me moving is Goldfrapp. I love the early, moody, John Barry meets Ennio Morricone electronic music produced by the duo, but when I’m on the elliptical or working that abductor, I want the later disco Goldfrapp.

Traveling Woes: Why no grapefruit juice?

OK. So I travel a fair amount for work. I find myself in hotels or quaint B&Bs at least half a dozen times each year and I've noticed something that is really starting to make me wonder. And it may sound totally idiotic and silly but, well... See, it's like this. I'm a grapefruit juice lover. In fact, I drink a glass every morning with my coffee ever since I learned (thanks, Dad!) that one glass of grapefruit juice along with your coffee extends the effects of the caffeine twofold.

That's right. Drink a glass of grapefruit juice with your coffee and you'll be alert for 4 hours if a solo cup would normally give you 2. That's not a bad deal. Also, I just like the taste.

Why These Walls Can Talk: "Cave of Forgotten Dreams, 3-D"

I saw Werner Herzog's documentary "Cave of Forgotten Dreams" last night in Burbank.  In short: GO!  And see it in 3-D.

3-D, you say?  Yes, 3-D.  Who knew Herzog would thrive in a medium that gave us "Creature of the Black Lagoon" and "JAW 3-D"?  (Though I am grateful that he didn't make "Grizzly Man" in more than two dimensions.)

Big shots who don't need social media don't understand why us nobodies use it

My guess is that New York Times executive editor Bill Keller gets all his phone calls returned. I'll bet that he has party invitations for every night of the week and has strangers trying to get his attention at every conference room and cocktail bar he steps into. I don't think he means to brag about this, but that what he's doing when he wonders aloud why we need stuff like Twitter and Facebook:

The most obvious drawback of social media is that they are aggressive distractions. Unlike the virtual fireplace or that nesting pair of red-tailed hawks we have been live-streaming on nytimes.com, Twitter is not just an ambient presence. It demands attention and response. It is the enemy of contemplation. Every time my TweetDeck shoots a new tweet to my desktop, I experience a little dopamine spritz that takes me away from . . . from . . . wait, what was I saying?

Cartoon: Survival of the Fittest

Glee Gets Smashed

Check out the trailer for “Smash,” a new NBC television show premiering this fall.  The show looks like a hoot (of course that’s the job of trailers, but nevertheless . . .).  Recent Times coverage is here.

Live theatre, especially that of the musical variety, has received a big-time status boost in recent years from the television show “Glee.”  Particularly for all those impressionable adolescents out there, whose views about life and professions are still unformed, singing and acting on stage has migrated from dork darkness to the footlights of the cool.  Football players and cheerleaders, please stand aside while our performers make their way to the stage. 

Learn Filmmaking!

So I’m waiting for a crosstown bus and I’m staring at this poster:

Archaeological Digest Features the Art Room

(cross-posted on Duane’s Lapis Loquens blog)

Two weeks ago David Licata filed an enthusiastic EC post about Werner Herzog’s new documentary, Cave of Forgotten Dreams.  See trailer here.  I had planned to see this and David’s post only whetted my appetite.  As soon as it opened in Seattle, I jumped on it.  Even if you consider your residence some sort of safe cave that you rarely leave, I urge you to get out of there for at least a few hours and go see the cave that Herzog devotes this film to.  Prepare to be amazed. 

Point Counterpoint: Kelly & Teco on Trapnell

E.C.author Duane Kelly recently hosted a public conversation for the Dramatists Guild with arts consultant Susan Trapnell and members of the Seattle theatre community. Rolando Teco posed a few follow-up questions. Here's their cyber conversation:

Interview on Fast, Cheap Movie Thoughts

John Gaspard interviews Roland on his first feature film, All the Rage, today on the popular site, Fast, Cheap Movie Thoughts. Check it out.

For your viewing pleasure: Sandi Carroll in Gratuitous Nudity

This video is from the downtown hit Gratuitous Nudity, co-written by John Yearley and Yours Truly. This video of Sandi Carroll always makes me smile. I think this must have been from the Summer of 2001, when people were still allowed to smoke in bars in NYC. Enjoy!

Doric Wilson: The Perpetual Outsider

Playwright Doric Wilson died on Saturday. He is perhaps most well-known as a principal member of the Caffe Cino and he later went on to co-found TOSOS (The Other Side of Silence), which, as far as I know, was the first openly Lesbian & Gay theatre company anywhere ever. If I'm wrong about that, someone please set me straight. (pun intended)

Doric and I had an interesting relationship. We were both fond of each other's work. And yet, there was always a bit of distance between us. When I founded Extra Criticum in 2008, Doric was one of the first artists I contacted to invite to become a contributor. What ensued was, in retrospect, emblematic of one of the essential traits of this man. He only knew how to be one thing: an outsider, looking in.

A GREAT theater-going experience...

(I was going to write this LAST week, but, Osama seemed to be everywhere...)

I had a GREAT theater going experience last week.  Absolutely fantastic.  And it had NOTHING to do with the play.  Which was a real eye opener for me...

My wife and I went down to San Diego, just for the day, and I thought, hey, let's go to the Old Globe, let's see a show.  It had awhile since we saw a show, so why not?