EXTRA CRITICUM

On re-entry into the "real" world

Today is my first day back in New York City after four wonderful weeks in the shadow of Mt. Monadnock. Around the mid-point of my time at MacDowell, I started telling anyone who'd listen that I was hoping to find a way to carry some of the balance and inner calm with me as I venture back into this urban setting. I continue to think about that. I'm curious and eager to discover new ways of finding that core, that calm center.

(like the caramel center of a Rolo?)

Performer Profile: Rev. Roger Anthony "Yolanda" Mapes

Living in the big city, one happens across a wide variety of performers and for the past 9 years or so, I've had the pleasure to get to know a lot of them. One of my favorites is the Rev. Roger Anthony "Yolanda" Mapes. He was a drag queen, then started singing country music as a 'boy' and in his current incarnation, he's been singing gospel/country music in drag at shows across the city - but in particular at the Duplex where he'll be this Sunday December 16th for another edition of his "Rev. Yolanda's Old Time Gospel Hour".

It's less Jerry Falwell and more like a big up with people party that you (yes you!) are invited to (and without the sneering contempt that you see out there and are as tired of as I am).

There is a pianist (Kenneth!) and backup singers and lots of great music. Crowds are enthusiastic and Yolanda attracts an eclectic crowd from people that simpy love his music to people like Lucie Arnaz who are devoted friends who have become, like me, a friend.

You can check out the video below of my favorite Yolanda song, "We Are Angels" (yes Yolanda writes his songs too!) and you can check out his latest CD "Country Gospel Kirtan" available Monday December 17th online at Yolanda.net! And you can still reserve tickets to his Sunday December 16th Duplex show by clicking here.

(I apologize for the formatting above, been trying to get spaces in between paragraphs but everytime I hit 'save' it reverts.. aacckk technology!)

Is your commitment to a favorite TV series a mellow longterm relationship or an intense hot love affair?

So I’m riding the Bolt bus from Boston back to NYC and the young gentleman next to me opens up his laptop and dons his noise-reducing over-the-ear headphones and proceeds to watch what I can tell is an episode from Breaking Bad. I, of course, am also wearing my noise-reducing over-the-ear headphones, but I have ditched the laptop for this quickie overnight trip and am resolved to write – by pen! - a little blog entry on the difference between watching an episodic dramatic TV show in its weekly format and watching it in a marathon viewing.

Naturally, a pen is nowhere to be found on my person. So I make the universal signal for “Would you mind taking off your headphones so I can ask you if you have a pen, please?” and the young gentleman next to me does so. And what a pen! It’s beautiful. And I seize upon this momentary gateway into human communication to let him know that I love Breaking Bad, and I ask him what season is he on and he says that he is on Season 3 and he has been powering through all the episodes since last week. He travels a lot as a sound designer for musicians on tour and he uses the time on planes in hotel rooms (and apparently on buses) to catch up on the TV series that his buddies have long since watched and have been talking about.

Panic! Is It a Valuable Part of the Process?

Some of you may know that I'm making a documentary, A Life's Work. Currently, I'm editing. On the film's blog I've written quite a bit about the editing process, but I thought this post might be something some performing artist's could relate to. Am I right on this? Let me know.

Like it or not, it seeps in.

Spoiler alert: Nothing contained in this post will be new to those of you who have had the pleasure of a MacDowell Colony residency. Still, I am moved to write, so...

Day 11 at MacDowell. I think the most profound thing about this place can be encapsulated in the way lunch is delivered. Quietly, almost silently, a basket of fresh food is left outside the door to each artist's studio. No knock, no fanfare. An almost imperceptible affirmation of the value of the work that may or may not be going full throttle on the other side of each door.

The meaning of this for me is huge. As most creative people in America, I spend most of my days at a day job.

2nd Look: Five Underrated Movies

A certain consensus seems to get agreed upon about movies before they recede into the past. A combination of popularity and critical response are the primary ingredients, and it’s usually more-or-less right. Movies like The Last Emperor or Crash may capture the zeitgeist enough to walk off with a Best Picture Oscar, but they tend to disappear as time goes on. Whether this is because they are beautiful but somewhat ephemeral (The Last Emperor) or thuggishly manipulative and self-important (Crash), time takes care of what we could not see in the moment.

The opposite, however, happens as well. Really wonderful films get disregarded and slip away largely unseen. It’s a shame, so I’ve decided to do my small part to undo the process and pick out five films that I think have been unfairly maligned. I’m sure everybody has some version of this list in their mind (I could probably get to 20 without breaking a sweat), but here’s mine: