IMPEACHMENT!!
Over at Think Progress we have a compelling argument to nail Bushie to the fucking wall:
How many Americans would say that it is a greater dereliction of duty as President of the United States to have a consensual sexual affair or to take the country to war under manipulated, fabricated, and largely untruthful representations which the President knew or should have known. I think the answer to that question is clear.
-- Former Senate Intel Chairman Bob Graham
Based on the polls, the answer to that question is roughly 70% of the country.
I understand that it feels insane to impeach another President so soon. I understand that the country went through an awful period only vindicated by the failure to impeach Clinton. I also understand that if one kid gets suspended for kissing a girl in the hallway, you don't decide to let the kid who starts a gang riot and trashes the other school because he felt like it off the hook. That's idiocy.
Time to put this lying sack of shit in the pokey.
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Lots of Awards
The Tony Awards in New York. The Jeff Awards in Chicago. I don't consider a show making wads of cash as a validation of the quality of the work so getting arbitrary awards doesn't excite me much.
I do, however, understand the appeal. Getting a citation or wall plaque or neat-o statue as recognition for your work is like a much bigger compliment from your blue collar dad - everyone likes a little pat on the back, so hats off to the artists that received awards - just remember...Whoopie Goldberg and Cuba Gooding, Jr. both received Oscars before Jumping Jack Flash and Snow Dogs.
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George Punched Me In The Gut
From Master Hunka's Superfluities:
44. The attempt to market and sell theatre is as useful a concept as an attempt to market and sell air.
...maybe he meant water...uh...oops!! Dasani, anyone?
* * *
Thank God - No Apology, No Rehab
Denis Leary is a producer, a writer and the star of FX's Rescue Me. I may start watching this now. It seems that his character raped his own wife in an episode and, in spite of the fact that this was a fictional character doing it, groups were outraged (of course they were - we're a country of whiney, thin-skinned pussies)."Anybody that called it rape wasn't paying attention to the scene," Leary said last week, in preparation for Wednesday's Season 4 opener. "But that's this country for you. People would prefer to watch 'According to Jim.' They want to watch something and not be engaged, like eating Cheese Nips."
Not that he's bothered by the dust-up, mind you. "I didn't really notice it," he said. "I didn't really care. I wish they were as angry at Bush as at me."
Amen, brother.
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SKALDtopia
The Forum on Wednesday was great - while there was virtually NO ONE there (coupla WNEPeeps and two non-panelists) the discussion was super and Marc Smith proves himself once again to be one of my five favorite people on the planet; the KidSkald last night was a freaking hoot! The kids impressed everybody - they were poised, funny (both intentionally and unintentionally) and rocked the place; Leslie Hunt (from this season's American Idol) was a judge and was just awesome and signed autographs after. Sixth grader David Ortiz won with his "I Hate Sundays" story and then he macked on Leslie in the lobby after.
Tonight we have the MAELSTROM. Tomorrow, the SKALD. Nicely done, WNEP.
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Development Hell
There's been lots of back and forth about the woeful playwright stuck in "development hell" and it occurred to me that, maybe, JUST MAYBE, you're stuck in development hell because your play stinks.
Chew on that and get back to me.
* * *
Ah...Yes. Naked is Funny
And here is the winner of Vidiocy:
Hat tip to Joe. Joe Janes am a GOOD teecher!
Stumble It!
11 comments:
Actually Whoopi won her Oscar for Ghost four years after she was in Jumping Jack Flash. However, she won it *before* Theodore Rex. I can't tell you how much it frightens me that I know this.
I've never heard of Theodore Rex. I'm feeling pretty good about that fact.
Now I have to see this T. Rex thing... curse you all.
About the development hell: There's a ton of crap written each year and not all of it is immediately stageworthy; some folks, self included, need that initial guidance from a workshop or two. On th'other hand, there's a metric ton of not-at-all stageworthy crap put up each year -- and if quality isn't the true barrier to entry as proven by the output, then perhaps it's a supply-demand thing that isn't going to get resolved by another round of editing.
Regardless of that situation, at some point as a writer, you've got to say, "I can't please everyone, this pleases me, and this is as finished as it's going to get." I think that we as writers tend to treat our initial works too preciously, we slam any criticism that doesn't come packaged the way we like, and we spend a lot of time getting our One Pet Idea Right. I think that's just as big of a problem: not wanting to let go and move on to the next project.
I'm not necessarily disagreeing with you. But I do see the "development hell" situation as a situation with more than one correct answer.
Hunka should stay away from using the word "marketing".
I don't think he has any idea that he's actually engaged in marketing just by having a blog.
Truth be told, I think people in theatre really just don't get how to talk to people in broad yet still interesting ways to entice them to go see a show.
Or anything really.
Is it any wonder audiences get smaller?
I'm concurring with Malachy's assessment on the failures of theater folk to learn how to talk about their work coherently. I have half-jokingly talked about doing a seminar on how to write press releases that won't put people to sleep or thoroughly annoy/mystify them.
As a former listings monkey, when I'm trying to boil down what your show is about to a digestible short blurb-size bite, I don't want to read cant about how it's about "the universal struggle against psychological cruelty" or some such shit. Performance artists are (and I hate to stereotype) generally the worst at talking about their work in an articulate and accessible way. I'm NOT saying the work itself has to be easily digestible and accessible, but damn, if you want coverage, know how to sell the sizzle, okay? Even a nice short anecdote about "I wrote this because . . . " can be interesting, if you make it concise and concrete.
I also love reading mission statements from theater companies that promise vague things like "we explore and celebrate our common humanity." Whew! Thank god, cuz that's a marked improvement over all those companies with mission statements promising to insult and subjugate our common humanity.
Kerry
Ditto what Kerry said. My partner has served as Marketing Director at several large businesses, organizations, etc., for many, many years, and he continually pulls his hair out and screams at how terribly most theatres and companies market themselves.
It's not a money issue. It's not selling your soul or writing/producing for the lowest-common denominator. Not one bit.
It's smarts and originality and getting out of your bubble and knowing your current and target audiences -- and, in reality, it's all pretty simple and obvious. (Which, as a writer, I know is often the very stuff that trips me up -- it's so "in front of my face" that I can't see it. Thus, the good part of "development.")
But his offers of volunteer advice have been consistely rebuffed (so don't bother asking for it now), because the "theatah" folk have consistently said, "Well, you're not in the theatre. You don't understand."
Whatever. Seems like "outside advice" is just what we need.
Rescue me is one of the best shows on TV.
You would love it.
I concur, I can't fathom how anyone in the performing arts doesn't want people to see their work--which is what the ultimate goal of marketing the arts.
David, there's a lot of what you say out there. Andit's not just theatre people, one of the downsides to trying to run a theatre like a business is most businesses are horribly run. Most of the successful ones make money in spite of themselves. A lot of decision makers don't like to listen to other peoples ideas, usually to their detriment.
And as far as missions, many (if not most) think that missions are blah blah funders want to hear something--as opposed to being the reason the company exists. So if you think your mission is bullshit, you tend to turn out vague bs nonsense. I guess the thought is no funder can smell bs?
Tony, your point about mission statements is excellent. Many years ago I saw Elizabeth LeCompte of the Wooster Group give a talk at the School of the Art Institute. This was way back during the NEA 4 dustup, and someone asked LeCompte what she thought about it. Her response was surprising.
Basically, she said the good thing about writing grants was that it forced artists to answer questions about their work that they should be asking themselves -- who is this work for, how do I intend to reach them, what are the goals for this project? However, the downside comes when organizations know, or think they know, what the funders want to hear and start tailoring their grant proposals that way, even if it's not exactly what they want the work to be. And then they feel like they have to fulfill the grant proposal, rather than the original instinct that led them to do a piece in the first place.
Which I think argues for increasing general operating support and trusting artists to do good work with the money, rather than forcing them into boxes of "we're going to do this one for the kids" or "we're going to collaborate with these people who may not actually have that much in common with our process and aesthetics but they're sexy right now so let's bring 'em on."
Nothing wrong with youth outreach or collaborating across the creative spectrum, of course -- as long as that's what you want to do and you actually know how to do it well. But doing it for the sake of a grant doesn't really grow the company, help the community, or expand the art form, in my opinion.
Kerry
P.S. The surprising thing that LeCompte said was that she often thought that theater would be better off without the NEA around. (Talk about burying the lede! -- cobbler's child has no shoes, etc.)
Of course, she had the Willem Dafoe bank account to dip into back then.
Kerry
Have you heard about H Res 333? I urge you and your readers to take a few minutes to look at:
http://www.usalone.com/cgi-bin/transparency.cgi?paper=1&qnum=pet45
It's a list of the 25 most recent comments made by real Americans participating in an online poll/letter-writing campaign concerning the impeachment charges recently filed against Vice President Cheney, which are now being evaluated by the House Judiciary Committee. Comments can be sent to elected representatives and local newspapers at your option. The participation page is at:
http://www.usalone.com/cheney_impeachment.php
Since this campaign began, several members of Congress have signed on as co-sponsors, in part due to hearing from their constituents. Has yours? Make your voice heard, and let others know!
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