Wednesday, February 29, 2012

Hollywood Reporter Fires Creative Directory (Updated) | The Wrap Media

Hollywood Reporter Fires Creative Directory (Updated) | The Wrap Media:

"Prometheus Global Media, the parent company of The Hollywood Reporter, has sold the Hollywood Creative Directory."

This was the industry bible, something I sent my students to often, and now it's unavailable online. Corporate bad behavior, removing this. Apparently a replacement coming. We'll see.

Stop Starving Public Universities and Shrinking the Middle Class | Common Dreams

Stop Starving Public Universities and Shrinking the Middle Class | Common Dreams:

"Last week Rick Santorum called the President “a snob” for wanting everyone to get a college education (in fact, Obama never actually called for universal college education but only for a year or more of training after high school).

Santorum needn’t worry. America is already making it harder for young people of modest means to attend college. Public higher education is being starved, and the middle class will shrink even more as a result."


Best manual ever written


In the sixties, I was one of thousands who relied on this to keep the wheels rolling. Written with clarity and wit. Chapter one, how to find the front of the car.

Stephen Hawking Frequents Sex Club In California: Report

Stephen Hawking Frequents Sex Club In California: Report:

Wednesday amusement #2.

One Out Of Every Ten Wall Street Employees Is A Psychopath, Say Researchers

One Out Of Every Ten Wall Street Employees Is A Psychopath, Say Researchers:

Wednesday amusement #1.

Why the Global Warming Skeptics Are Wrong by William D. Nordhaus | The New York Review of Books

Why the Global Warming Skeptics Are Wrong by William D. Nordhaus | The New York Review of Books:

1 in 8 Chance of Catastrophic Solar Megastorm by 2020 | Wired Science | Wired.com

1 in 8 Chance of Catastrophic Solar Megastorm by 2020 | Wired Science | Wired.com:

Comfort food for breakfast

Sometimes you have a meal that is so good, so perfect for your mood, that you wonder if it's the best meal you ever had in your life. Such was my breakfast this morning. A spin off of the comfort food my mother used to give me when I was sick as a kid, which was a poached egg on milk and toast.

This morning I made two slices of toast. On a plate. Soaked with half and half. A slice of fried scrapple on each. A sunny-side up egg on each slice. Comfort food heaven.

Maybe the mood is defined by the snow-rain mix outside and the desire to stay out of it, though I have to go in this afternoon to sit in on a Masters degree exam. Maybe it's the end of the term relaxation before the tsunami of final projects comes in. Whatever the reason, a perfect breakfast at a perfect time. Now I wish I could go back to bed. But I can't.

Partying, players disrespecting program led to problems at UCLA - SI.com - Magazine

UCLA basketball: Partying, players disrespecting program led to problems at UCLA - SI.com - Magazine:

"Fighting, drinking, drug use and lack of control ultimately led to UCLA's downfall."

John Wooden days long gone.

Tuesday, February 28, 2012

Americans Listening to Politicians, Not Climate Scientists | Wired Science | Wired.com

Americans Listening to Politicians, Not Climate Scientists | Wired Science | Wired.com:

American exceptionalism. Or is that acceptionalism? Or both?

Men Think Sex After Seeing Red Dress | Wired Science | Wired.com

Men Think Sex After Seeing Red Dress | Wired Science | Wired.com:

Awards

The country has gone awards crazy. Contest crazy.

Awards can be important to an artist early on because they give much needed strokes and validation.

However, once I reached the age where I was asked to judge awards, pick winners, I understood that the process had more to do with me than with artists or work. It was about my personal tastes.

The best awards, by far, are the ones you don't and can't apply for. These are few and far between. That's why my three-time "Roll of Honor" selection in Best American Short Stories was so important to me at the time and still feels good now: it just happened without my knowing about it. The vast of majority of awards I've received over the years I had to apply for or enter a competition for.

In other words, you have to market yourself. I always thought, still think, that if art really mattered, if it had an essential function in society, the work would matter more than the artist, artists would not be marketers and in fact might even be anonymous by cultural tradition (Glass thinks this should be so, I'm coming to agree), but this would require removing art as a commodity in a commercial market. Never happen in a capitalist society.

So what we need is a non-capitalist society. Ooooo, did I say that?

Meryl Streep upset Viola Davis: Exactly how did that happen? - latimes.com

Meryl Streep upset Viola Davis: Exactly how did that happen? - latimes.com:

Here's a radical idea: by a superior performance.

Monday, February 27, 2012

Round Bend Press: William Saroyan

Round Bend Press: William Saroyan:

'I am a writer who is a writer, as I have been for twenty years, and expect to be for twenty more. I am here to stay, and so is everybody else. No explosive is going to be employed by anybody on anybody. Knowing this, believing this, the writer who is a writer makes plans to watch his health casually, and to write his writing with more and more purposeful intelligence, humor, and love. I am proud of my twenty years, undecorated as they may be. I am proud to be a writer, the writer I am, and I don't care what anybody else is proud of."

Anthony Horowitz: Do we still need publishers? | Books | guardian.co.uk

Anthony Horowitz: Do we still need publishers? | Books | guardian.co.uk:

East coast from space

Greed Isn't Good: Wealth Could Make People Unethical | Wired Science | Wired.com

Greed Isn't Good: Wealth Could Make People Unethical | Wired Science | Wired.com:

Duh.

OSCARS: Indie Films Score 17 Wins - Deadline.com

OSCARS: Indie Films Score 17 Wins - Deadline.com:

What planet is this?

3 Oscar contenders I was rooting for won in what H and I thought was one of the better Oscar shows in recent years. I woke this morning to read it was the most boring Oscar show ever, that Meryl Streep didn't deserve to win, that it was a show for old fogies, nostalgia, and the power structure. Ah, generations!

What publishers really mean in their rejection letters | Books | The Guardian

What publishers really mean in their rejection letters | Books | The Guardian:

Starwatch: The March night sky | Science | The Guardian

Starwatch: The March night sky | Science | The Guardian:

Some spectacular planetary viewing coming up!

Sunday, February 26, 2012

New UO arena revenues fall short of expectations

New UO arena revenues fall short of expectations | Local & Regional | KATU.com - Portland News, Sports, Traffic Weather and Breaking News - Portland, Oregon:

You mean Nike was wrong? Ha ha.

HBO: Breaking the Huddle: Home

HBO: Breaking the Huddle: Home:

Fine documentary on the integration of college football.

Aunt Sather's Cinnamon Rolls

Pride of Chicago. Never had one. Just saw a mouth-watering documentary about them.

Washington could be first state to require health insurance plans to cover abortion | OregonLive.com

Washington could be first state to require health insurance plans to cover abortion | OregonLive.com:

Washington, from the territorial days onward, has been so much more progressive than Oregon. Yet I bet a poll would say the opposite.

Toward theocracy

Santorum: Separation Of Church And State 'Makes Me Want To Throw Up':

And this kind of historical ignorance makes me want to throw up.

Not looking forward to Oscars

I'll watch the Oscars from morbid curiosity but am not looking forward to it. I fear a runaway by The Artist, an okay and charming film that is getting too much mileage for its gimmick. In fact, as stated here before, my main criticism of this "silent" movie was -- no silence! The sound track drove me bonkers.

So whenever The Artist does not win, I'll be cheering. I want Descendants and Midnight In Paris to get best screenplays, adapted and original, and Streep best actress, otherwise anything not The Artist. I don't expect to have a happy night.



Caught up on my student scripts. Need to type out comments. Then need to start reviewing portfolio of grad student defending her thesis Wed, I'm on the committee.

A mellow Sunday, all in all. Maybe an even more mellow Monday.

The Last Interview and Other Conversations by Kurt Vonnegut, edited by Tom McCartan – review | Books | The Observer

The Last Interview and Other Conversations by Kurt Vonnegut, edited by Tom McCartan – review | Books | The Observer:

Philip French's classic DVD: Thelma & Louise | Film | The Observer

Philip French's classic DVD: Thelma & Louise | Film | The Observer:

Mad Men special: my years as a true-life Peggy Olson | Television & radio | The Observer

Mad Men special: my years as a true-life Peggy Olson | Television & radio | The Observer:

Avant garde theatre: has Britain lost its nerve? | Stage | The Observer

Avant garde theatre: has Britain lost its nerve? | Stage | The Observer:

"The West End's endless diet of tried and trusted theatrical fare comes at the expense of experimental plays, say critics and playwrights. But in the 21st century is it still desirable – or possible – to shock?"

I don't read this discussion about American theater -- no doubt because avant garde theater is so invisible.

'Human safaris' pose threat to uncontacted Amazon tribe | World news | The Observer

'Human safaris' pose threat to uncontacted Amazon tribe | World news | The Observer:

Olympic outrage at Saudi ban on women athletes | Sport | The Observer

Olympic outrage at Saudi ban on women athletes | Sport | The Observer:

Drama under threat at BBC4 as cuts bite | Media | The Observer

Drama under threat at BBC4 as cuts bite | Media | The Observer:

"Original drama is expected to be biggest casualty of a cost-saving drive at the acclaimed arts, culture and science channel"

The trend continues.

Saturday, February 25, 2012

It won something!

My favorite movie of the year won something, in today's Film Independent Spirit Awards:
BEST FIRST FEATURE (given to the director and producer)
Margin Call – Director: J.C. Chandor; Producers: Robert Ogden Barnum, Michael Benaroya, Neal Dodson, Joe Jenckes, Corey Moosa, Zachary Quinto
I thought I was alone in digging this. Glad I'm not.

Great American Songbook

Started reading a biography of Cole Porter that was recommended to me years ago by my late dear friend Ger Moran. King of the Great American Songbook, I would call Porter. Man, the guy wrote some classic songs.
Cole Porter ("Night and Day", "I've Got You Under My Skin", "Begin the Beguine", "Let's Do It, Let's Fall in Love", "What Is This Thing Called Love?", "Too Darn Hot", "Love for Sale", "You're the Top", "Just One of Those Things", "All of You", "I Get a Kick Out of You", "Ev'ry Time We Say Goodbye", "In the Still of the Night", "It's De-Lovely", "My Heart Belongs to Daddy", "I Concentrate on You", "You'd Be So Nice to Come Home To", "So in Love", "Anything Goes", "You Do Something to Me")

An interesting day

Woke up this morning to find it snowing. An hour later, the sun was out, Another hour, rain. Off and on like that all day, and now it feels like snow again.

Read student scripts, one to go, a tough one, hopefully taken care of tonight. Also find occasional typos in the latest proof, I swear it never ends. But it's looking better all the time. I even cut two paragraphs today.

I hope we get an early spring rather than a late winter.

As Linsanity Rages, This Is Harvard? - Businessweek

As Linsanity Rages, This Is Harvard? - Businessweek:

"Jeremy Lin's alma mater is experiencing a strange new feeling: pride in its long-suffering basketball team"

The last hurdle

OK, the country elected a black President. It's only a matter of time, I would hope, before we elect a woman President, a Latino President, and so on. But will we ever, ever elect ... an atheist President?

If I were the campaign manager for an atheist running for President, I think I'd want to emphasize:
  • humanist ethics and values
  • use selected Founding Fathers as models -- Jefferson, Madison, Franklin, discuss religion, free thinking, tolerance in our founding concepts
  • emphasize what the Constitution actually says, and doesn't say, about religion
  • emphasize Nature and Nature's laws (and Russell's argument about First Causes, if it comes to that)
  • put the Bible in historic perspective


Wait for the returns. Get 20% if you're lucky. In other words, never happen, the myth of our origins is too strong. American culture's distrust of "thinking" is too strong.

Friday, February 24, 2012

NCAA March Madness 2012 - Updated Brackets - Championship - Schedules - Final Four Winners

NCAA March Madness 2012 - Updated Brackets - Championship - Schedules - Final Four Winners:

"2012 NCAA March Madness begins with the highly anticipated Selection Sunday, scheduled for Sunday, March 11 when college basketball team match-ups are officially announced at 6PM ET on CBS."


March Madness 2012 - NCAA.com

March Madness 2012 - NCAA.com:

Getting close!

Watch a Live Feed of This Weekend's Spectacular Planetary Alignment | Wired Science | Wired.com

Watch a Live Feed of This Weekend's Spectacular Planetary Alignment | Wired Science | Wired.com:

"Get ready for some awesome planetary alignment action this weekend.

The moon, Venus, and Jupiter — the three brightest objects in the night sky — will be putting on a dazzling celestial show shortly after sunset both Feb. 25 and 26, coming together in a tight triangle. With any luck, you might also spot tiny Mercury down near the horizon just as the sun goes down."

This should be great -- not sure if weather will cooperate here.

Muvipix rocks!

As part of my recent downsizing as I head toward a state of greater retirement, I'm leaving a video forum I've belonged to for a number of years. Called Muvipix, this has to be the most helpful and useful video community out there. Subscription-based for best use (and very reasonable), the forum offers expert advice from many of its members, including co-founders Chuck Engels and Steve Grisetti (author of many video software how-to books), as well as a wide variety of free (to members) backgrounds, music tracks, tutorials, and so much more. I have never asked a question there and not received quick and perfect advice on the issue at hand. Just a first rate video forum, which I'm only leaving because I no longer have the energy to do all the things I used to do, and so have to make some difficult downsizing decisions.

If you shoot video, check out Muvipix! "Because there are stories to tell ..."

Oscar predictions

This morning I was reading the film section in The Guardian, where a variety of their critics made their Oscar predictions. Every single one predicted The Artist as best film. Well, I very much disagree. The Artist was clever and enjoyable but much of its attraction was a gimmick. My favorite film, Margin Call, wasn't even nominated but among the nominees I'll root for The Descendants. The only race I'm excited about is Streep as Best Actress, a total robbery if she loses.

Thursday, February 23, 2012

Clinton . American Experience . WGBH | PBS

Clinton . American Experience . WGBH | PBS:

A 4-hr bio and first rate documentary. Beautifully done.

Alas, the 30-min Oregon Experience docu of Wayne Morse, a recent repeat, is mediocre at best. I don't know how they managed to make a boring story of Morse, but they did!

Daily Kos: "Won't Somebody Please Think Of The Children?"

Daily Kos: "Won't Somebody Please Think Of The Children?":

"The Motion Picture Association of America (MPAA), in their continuing effort to protect people from reality, has slapped an R-rating on Lee Hirsch’s new documentary 'Bully,' which followed the lives of middle-school & high-school students. The Weinstein Company had planned to offer the film to various school systems in an effort to start a discussion about bullying. However, since the documentary does what documentaries usually do (which is offer an uncensored look at a subject), there are kids swearing with dirty, dirty language that I'm sure no one's virginal ears have ever heard before. So an R-rating puts up considerable barriers to showing the film in schools, since the subjects can't even watch the damn thing in a theater without an adult. And then there's the irony that footage shot in public schools will be deemed inappropriate to be shown in those very same schools."


The best three bucks or less you can spend today

If you have a Kindle, go here and get yourself a copy of Genesis Angels: The Saga of Lew Welch and the Beat Generation by Aram Saroyan, which hands down is the best thing ever written about this literary movement and its major figures.

If you don't have a Kindle, no problem, go here and pick yourself up a good used print copy for less than a buck!

If you already have read it, buy one and give it to a friend. This is one of those brilliant books that somehow slipped through the cracks. Your friend will thank you, believe me.

This is a rare, first rate book. Read it. Own it. Give it to your friends.





In my novel, my protagonist reads this book and is profoundly influenced by it:

THERE WAS A book on the Kindle that was so engaging CJ couldn't stop reading, a book short enough to read in a few hours, Genesis Angels: the Saga of Lew Welch and the Beat Generation by Aram Saroyan.
       CJ had not read, or even heard of, Lew Welch before but in Saroyan's hands, writing a kind of prose poetry himself, the Beat poet came alive and wrestled with the world very much as CJ himself had been wrestling with it for most of his adult years. Welch's poem about Chicago brought CJ to tears:

          I lived here nearly 5 years before I could/meet the middle  western day with anything approaching/Dignity.

Here was a man striving to live in the world with dignity! Moreover, Welch had figured out how to do it:

       You can't fix it. You can't make it go away. I don't know      what you're going to do about it, But I know what I'm         going to do about it. I'm just going to walk away from it.            Maybe A small part of it will die if I'm not around       feeding it anymore.

Thoreau had come into the world not to change it but to live in it, whether the world was good or bad. The charge was to make sure you acted morally. Welch had concluded that the only moral action left to him, the only way to live with dignity, was to leave Chicago, to walk away from it.
       Maybe a small part of it would die if he were not around feeding it anymore.

Barney Rosset obituary: Publisher who challenged censorship while championing writers was 89 - latimes.com

Barney Rosset obituary: Publisher who challenged censorship while championing writers was 89 - latimes.com:

"Rosset founded Grove Press, which took on American censorship laws in the '50s and '60s and championed the work of William S. Burroughs, Tom Stoppard and Malcolm X."

For adventurous readers coming of age in the 1950s and 1960s, no publisher was more important than Grove Press.

Wednesday, February 22, 2012

National Rankings | The Track & Field Superfan Blog

National Rankings | The Track & Field Superfan Blog: "Women

Rank Team Last week’s rank
1. Oregon (1)
2. Clemson (2)
3. LSU (3)
4. Arkansas (4)
5. Texas A&M (5)"

Distance runners Mo Farah and Galen Rupp - SI Vault

Distance runners Mo Farah and Galen Rupp  - SI Vault:

"The other of the two distance runners, the one who was born in Oregon and lives there still, will race the Olympics far from home. Galen Rupp will circle the track in relative anonymity except to the track fanatics who understand his quest and follow it in corners of the Internet, alternately praising his performances and criticizing the training regimen that produced them. He will be a tall, blond American surrounded mostly by tiny East Africans, and he will be trying—along with Bernard Lagat—to break a U.S. men's Olympic medal drought in the long track events that approaches five decades."


The World Is Getting Better, Argues New Book, ‘Abundance’ - The Daily Beast

The World Is Getting Better, Argues New Book, ‘Abundance’ - The Daily Beast:

The Inside Story on Climate Scientists Under Siege | Wired Science | Wired.com

The Inside Story on Climate Scientists Under Siege | Wired Science | Wired.com:

QUIZ: Poor Writers Who Struck It Rich

QUIZ: Poor Writers Who Struck It Rich:

Next: rich writers who wrote a good book.

A different summer

Summer, when I'm not teaching, has been my major time to write or make digital films. My project time. Consequently "home chores" have been fitted in as I could but always 2nd in line to my work. Now, with what I am calling "retirement" from serious work, my summer is free and home chores can come to front burner. And the gods know, there's a ton of work to do around here! So this summer I can begin doing it, which promises to define a very different summer rhythm than summers past. I rather look forward to it.



I spent a pleasant morning preparing scenes to workshop tomorrow, playing director, turning wordy 5 page scenes into terrific 1 or 2 page scenes. I love this kind of work. And I'll have fun tomorrow.

Journalist deaths in Syria underscore risks faced by reporters - latimes.com

Journalist deaths in Syria underscore risks faced by reporters - latimes.com:

Are there braver writers than those in combat?

Tuesday, February 21, 2012

Beauty

Riding the bus home at 3 this afternoon, a dark afternoon waiting for a storm, I was struck by how much beauty there is in the world and how sad it is that organizations of power, from governments to corporations, do so much to violate beauty for short term profits and who in the long run seem to cause more problems than they solve. How often in recent years I return to the old woman who quit voting at a very old age and who had a perfect explanation for her decision: "I don't want to encourage them."

Which also brings to mind the brilliant ending of Lew Welch's "Chicago Poem": I don't know what you're going to do about it but I know what I'm going to do about it. I'm going to walk away from it. Maybe a small part of it will die if I'm not around feeding it any more.

Thoreau's very definition of moral action and the "majority of one."

Round Bend Press: Patchen & Berryman

Round Bend Press: Patchen & Berryman:

NYT reporter defends Forbes writer accused of 'stealing' his work | JIMROMENESKO.COM

NYT reporter defends Forbes writer accused of 'stealing' his work | JIMROMENESKO.COM:

Bernard-Henri Lévy: Angelina Jolie, Bosnia in Her Heart

Bernard-Henri Lévy: Angelina Jolie, Bosnia in Her Heart:

"The result is a rare and very moving case of a successful transmission. Angelina Jolie was an adolescent at the time of the events she relates. She was only aware of them through vague hearsay, no doubt well after the fact. At the time when a mere handful of her elders (Peter Schneider and Hans Christoph Buch in Germany; Salman Rushdie in England; Christopher Hitchens or Susan Sontag in the United States; the author of these lines, and a few others, in France) feared that Sarajevo marked the tolling of the bell for a Europe had just offered the 21st century its new and no less nightmarish Spanish Civil War, she was still dreaming about her roles in Glass Shadow  and Hackers. But she has taken over, picked up the torch, continued in a sense the struggle and, not content to relive what we lived through, accomplished the miracle, always overwhelming when it happens, of turning our memory into history."


The Writing Life (Charles Deemer) - Recommended screenwriting books

The Writing Life (Charles Deemer) - Recommended screenwriting books:

15 Colleges Where Geek Is Chic

15 Colleges Where Geek Is Chic:

Edward Luttwak reviews ‘The Iliad by Homer’ translated by Stephen Mitchell · LRB 23 February 2012

Edward Luttwak reviews ‘The Iliad by Homer’ translated by Stephen Mitchell · LRB 23 February 2012:

"At the beginning of January, in the bookshop of Terminal 2 at San Francisco airport, I looked for a translation of the Iliad – not that I really expected to find one. But there were ten"


Sarah Palin's hometown in debate over public sculpture - latimes.com

Sarah Palin's hometown in debate over public sculpture - latimes.com:

"The artwork in question is an outdoor sculpture created in conjunction with the state's Percent For Art program, a public initiative to promote arts and culture. As reported in the local newspaper, the Frontiersman, some people believe that the work resembles a large vagina, while others dispute the resemblance."

And let's ban raindrops while we're at it!

'Midnight in Paris,' The Descendants' win Writers Guild awards - latimes.com

'Midnight in Paris,' The Descendants' win Writers Guild awards - latimes.com:

Oscars: Cinematography nominees discuss film versus digital - latimes.com

Oscars: Cinematography nominees discuss film versus digital - latimes.com:

History's irony

So here we are in the year 2012, we humans on the planet Earth, except if you look around it doesn't seem like the 21st century at all, not with severed heads left on school ground doorsteps, not with jilted upset dicks pouring acid on pretty female faces, not with widespread ignorance and, worse, celebration of it as some kind of populist badge. But there are clusters of cultural progress, to be sure. Then there are disguises, hallucinations of progress. Is it less violent to exchange beheading an enemy for dropping a bomb on him from huge distances above?

There's an irony in progress. As we progress, as we get more humane, as we get more peaceful, we also become less skilled as warriors -- which makes us easy pickings for the next ignorant tough guy who chooses to beat the shit out of us. At least this was true in the days of hand-to-hand combat. Now we have technology and can take them, and everything surrounding them, down unless, of course, they nuke us first.

The best case scenario goes this way: this is all an illusion. Actually we're a theme park for the amusement of humane alien civilizations. I think it was Arthur Clarke who first came up with that.

No wonder CJ, my protagonist, hit the road.

Round Bend Press: A Close Play at Home

Round Bend Press: A Close Play at Home:

A sports memory from Terry Simons.

Busy week

Thursday is one of my busier class activities, Scene Workshop, in which we do staged readings of long dialogue scenes and edit them. I collect scenes today, prep for this tomorrow.



Reading a book about the role of the mob in the American Revolution, which was significant. This actually strikes me as the historical antecedent to the Occupy movement, which its more anarchistic and violent participants no doubt realize. One prefers change within the system, of course, but there are times in history when this becomes impossible. We may be there again.

Man, I'm glad I'm an old fart! When you live, like who your parents are, is luck of the draw. I've been damn lucky in so many accidental ways.

Monday, February 20, 2012

Recent reading

The Hockey Stick and the Climate Wars: Dispatches from the Front Lines by Michael Mann


Excerpts:

It is fair to say, though, that even by the mid-1990s there was no longer reason for real scientific debate over the proposition that humans had warmed the planet and changed the climate. That conclusion was now supported by the efforts of thousands of scientists around the world whose work contributed to the various pillars of evidence detailed above.Read more at location 485
Given the wealth of scientific evidence amassed by the mid-1990s, one might rightly wonder how there could be a viable opposing position on controlling our carbon emissions. It was already difficult for any scientist to credibly argue that Earth wasn’t warming, or that there was no impact on our climate by human activity (though a few still did, nonetheless, and still do).Read more at location 562
The strategy was simple: While presenting a seemingly forward-thinking, pro-environmental public face, oil companies and allied economic and political interests would, behind the scenes, use various means to sow doubt about the validity of the underlying science on climate change. It was a finely tuned balancing act intended to forestall any governmental policy action to regulate greenhouse gas emissions while seeking to maintain a positive corporate image.Read more at location 1250



 Will human civilization have the will to confront this challenge before it’s too late? Prominent commentators such as Jared Diamond have pondered the question. In Collapse, Diamond points to past examples of both success and failure when societies and cultures have been similarly challenged, whether by nature or by the consequences of their own behavior.3 The demise of Easter Island’s society, in Diamond’s view, is a cautionary tale of how environmental exploitation can bring upon the downfall of an entire civilization.Read more at location 5037

Yes, the public discourse has been polluted now for decades by corporate-funded disinformation—not just with climate change, but with a host of health, environmental, and societal threats.

The 'Undue Weight' of Truth on Wikipedia - The Chronicle Review - The Chronicle of Higher Education

The 'Undue Weight' of Truth on Wikipedia - The Chronicle Review - The Chronicle of Higher Education:

"For the past 10 years I've immersed myself in the details of one of the most famous events in American labor history, the Haymarket riot and trial of 1886. Along the way I've written two books and a couple of articles about the episode. In some circles that affords me a presumption of expertise on the subject. Not, however, on Wikipedia."

Spin off on the attack on science, on knowledge as "elitist," and the glorification of ignorance.

Theatres taking fewer risks as funding dries up, warn playwrights | Stage | The Guardian

Theatres taking fewer risks as funding dries up, warn playwrights | Stage | The Guardian:

""When I started working in the theatre in 1987, artistic directors used to programme plays knowing they wouldn't find an audience because they believed in them heart and soul," he said."

I was very fortunate in my playwriting career in the 1980s to be in the right place at the right time with the right support system eager to help me. My new collection Eight Oregon Plays makes note of this: it is dedicated to Steve Smith, Gary O'Brien and Peter Fornara, the three artistic directors who supported my work; and to Bob Hicks, The Oregonian's drama critic, who told audiences the plays were worth seeing.

Sunday, February 19, 2012

The Writing Life II: Around the clubhouse turn

The Writing Life II: Around the clubhouse turn:

This blog post from January 24th probably says what I have to say about the new novel better than I can say it now or later.

Looking ahead

Hopefully the novel will be released in early March. I just need one more look to make sure some format fine-tuning got done on the last proof, and minor cover changes as well. I'm eager to have it "out there."

Definitely on the downhill side of the term as well. Before I know it, I'll be tweaking the syllabus for Spring term. We're giving ourselves a short anniversary trip during the break. Should be great fun.

Jessica Ahlquist, Atheist Student In Prayer Banner Fight, Gets $40,000 Scholarship Fund

Jessica Ahlquist, Atheist Student In Prayer Banner Fight, Gets $40,000 Scholarship Fund:

One brave young woman.

BARNES & NOBLE | Jalan, Jalan! (the Road, the Road!): Pen and Ink Sketches from travels around the Pacific Rim by Rick Rubin, Dancing Moon Press

BARNES & NOBLE | Jalan, Jalan! (the Road, the Road!): Pen and Ink Sketches from travels around the Pacific Rim by Rick Rubin, Dancing Moon Press:

Bud gave me a copy of this book last night. It's delightful.

Attacks paid for by big business are 'driving science into a dark era' | Science | The Observer

Attacks paid for by big business are 'driving science into a dark era' | Science | The Observer:

"Researchers attending one of the world's major academic conferences 'are scared to death of the anti-science lobby'"

Frightening but hardly new, though getting worse all the time.

Regional theater's art moving off center stage - latimes.com

Regional theater's art moving off center stage - latimes.com:

"Critic's Notebook: Fiscal concerns are stealing the spotlight at regional theaters, resulting in facile productions and less risk."

Happening in all the arts.

Perspective: Hollywood doesn't like itself — just look at Oscars - latimes.com

Perspective: Hollywood doesn't like itself — just look at Oscars - latimes.com:

"What does the celebration of old times and old values in movies such as 'The Artist,' 'Hugo,' 'Midnight in Paris' and 'War Horse' say about today's Hollywood?"


Young adult continues to be the literary world's fastest-growing genre - latimes.com

Young adult continues to be the literary world's fastest-growing genre - latimes.com:

Movie academy: Oscar voters overwhelmingly white, male - latimes.com

Movie academy: Oscar voters overwhelmingly white, male - latimes.com:

Dinner

Our dinner guest
Really nice evening with our dinner guests. I enjoy their company.

Saturday, February 18, 2012

New proof ordered

I think we're there but I'm ordering another proof just to be sure.

The new proof arrives!

One glance and I'm making a minor change on the cover. So it goes.

Money machine

Half a century ago, if you'd told someone you were going into business to sell specialty coffees at the price of a hard drink (in those days), you'd've been judged delusional. I stood in a very long line with my "free drink" card at Starbucks this morning, marveling at how much business they were doing on a Saturday morning. The place was rocking. It usually is, with only a few dead spots during the day -- and this is one Starbucks out of a large number of them here, and indeed everywhere. What I marvel at is their continued good taste -- the jazz they pipe in, for example. The happy baristas (because they have health insurance, as my students explain to me).

I prefer Starbuckst to the New Agey joint up the street, which I find pretentious in its holier-than-thou sense of superiority. I once had a coffee date with an actress about a project, only she refused to step inside a Starbucks. Two can play this game. I refused to step inside her preferred New Agey coffee shop. Great fun! Where did we end up meeting? I can't remember. Maybe we bagged it ha ha.

Man, I am getting impatient to see my new proof. Maybe today. Maybe not.

Only one more student script to go ... probably do it tomorrow morning.

muvipix Community • View topic - Customer Service at Amazon: A+++

muvipix Community • View topic - Customer Service at Amazon: A+++:

This is what the whining competitors don't get.

Friday, February 17, 2012

The Inside Story on Climate Scientists Under Siege | Wired Science | Wired.com

The Inside Story on Climate Scientists Under Siege | Wired Science | Wired.com:

"It is almost possible to dismiss Michael Mann’s account of a vast conspiracy by the fossil fuel industry to harrass scientists and befuddle the public. His story of that campaign, and his own journey from naive computer geek to battle-hardened climate ninja, seems overwrought, maybe even paranoid.

But now comes the unauthorized release of documents showing how a libertarian thinktank, the Heartland Institute, which has in the past been supported by Exxon, spent millions on lavish conferences attacking scientists and concocting projects to counter science teaching for kindergarteners."


Patience

Getting impatient for my (hopefully final) proof to arrive. Eager to get the novel published, put the period down at The End. Find a new rhythm in a new journey, presumably much less obsessive than the old one. Disappear into the woodwork. Now you see him, now you don't.

Meanwhile, half way through project drafts, some good work. No one with hugely serious problems yet. Hope to finish them off this afternoon, freeing up with weekend.

Our former mayor and his lady friend coming to dinner Saturday night. I enjoy his company much. Hers, too.

Eagle Cam Returns: New Chicks Coming Soon | Wired Science | Wired.com

Eagle Cam Returns: New Chicks Coming Soon | Wired Science | Wired.com:

Nothing like acting like an expectant father.




Live Video app for Facebook by Ustream

Round Bend Press: Publication Day--Aphorisms by K.C. Bacon

Round Bend Press: Publication Day--Aphorisms by K.C. Bacon:
K. C. Bacon among friends
An aphorism is an original thought, spoken or written in a laconic (concise) and memorable form.[1] Aphorism literally means a "distinction" or "definition", from Greek ἀφορισμός (aphorismós), which is from ἀπό (apo) and ὁρίζειν (horizein), meaning "from/to bound". The term was first used in the Aphorisms of Hippocrates. The oft-cited first sentence of this work (see Ars longa, vita brevis) is:
"Life is short, art long, opportunity fleeting, experience deceptive, judgment difficult."

The term was later applied to maxims of physical science, then statements of all kinds of philosophical, moral, or literary principles. In modern usage an aphorism is generally understood to be a concise statement containing a subjective truth or observation cleverly and pithily written.
--Wikipedia

Amazon Achieves High Consumer Ratings, Ranks First In Emotional Appeal

Amazon Achieves High Consumer Ratings, Ranks First In Emotional Appeal:

"It seems that the anti-Amazon movement has a long way to go for its message to gain traction with the majority of American consumers."


The Oscars: Hope amid tragedy in short-documentary nominees - theenvelope.latimes.com

The Oscars: Hope amid tragedy in short-documentary nominees - theenvelope.latimes.com:

"Four of the films hit theaters this weekend, covering a U.S. raid on Iraq, Pakistani victims of acid attacks, a civil-rights veteran and tsunami survivors."


Traffic Jam from Hell

Massive 10 Freeway traffic jam evolves into Caltrans scandal - latimes.com:

"A routine road project west of Palm Springs went awry Sunday, backing up traffic about 25 miles and forcing drivers to endure delays of five hours or longer. Caltrans says that a series of errors were to blame."

Thursday, February 16, 2012

Amazon.com: Extreme Prejudice: The Terrifying Story of the Patriot Act and the Cover Ups of 9/11 and Iraq (9781453642757): Susan Lindauer: Books

Amazon.com: Extreme Prejudice: The Terrifying Story of the Patriot Act and the Cover Ups of 9/11 and Iraq (9781453642757): Susan Lindauer: Books:

This is not an easy read for several reasons. It is poorly structured, repetitive and would be more effective in half the size. The author's tone is this memoir is often shrill to the extent of having a nervous breakdown on the page. This, too, gets tiring.

But this story is so terrifying and so obscene with regard to how this country is supposed to work, the wonder is not that the voice is shrill but that it's even audible after all the government put this woman through. Maybe, in the end, this woman's victory is reason for hope but I found the book depressing nonetheless. So we've come to this.

The gist of the story is this: Lindauer was part of an intelligence team that warned the government about 9/11. She even told friends to avoid NYC because "something big" was coming that probably would involve airplanes, the World Trade Center, and even nuclear weapons. Maybe the latter addition was too extreme to digest the rest. At any rate, obviously the warnings were ignored. The story begins with the extreme measures taken by the government to shut Lindauer up about revealing her warnings: imprisonment, claims of mental illness, an attempt to prescribe involuntary psycho-drugs. Friends and non-mainstream journalists, including a powerful attorney in her family (an uncle), and a judge who stuck to the law, all banded together to save her. But it was a close call.

Lindauer in prison
This story is aching for reasoned, quiet treatment by a skilled journalist because it's too easy to dismiss Lindauer for her justifiable loud anger. She sometimes seems a little crazy here but who can blame her? She won't be shut up. For this, more power to her, but for our sake this story needs a more reasoned and quiet dissemination to reach a wider audience. She can document her case. People need to hear her and reflect on what her story really means. Not a pretty conclusion.

Happy Savages: What We Did to the Marshall Islanders | Common Dreams

Happy Savages: What We Did to the Marshall Islanders | Common Dreams:

"Nuclear Savage is the story of what we did to the Marshall Islanders throughout the Cold War with our nuclear testing program. Not only did we expose many thousands of them to ghastly — often lethal — levels of radiation with 67 nuclear blasts, with glaring evidence that at least some of the exposure was intentional, done for the purpose of studying the effects of radiation on human guinea pigs; not only did we wreck the Marshall Islanders’ way of life and pristine paradise, creating a nation of internal refugees confined to a Western-style slum on the island of Ebeye; not only did we cower, as a nation, from any real responsibility for what our fallout did to these people, settling our genocidal debt to them with $150 million “for all claims, past, present and future”; but also, throughout our dealing with them as nuclear conquistadors, we displayed a racism so profound, so cold-blooded, its exposure must forever shatter the myth of American exceptionalism."


Instead of Being Disgusted by Poverty, We are Disgusted by Poor People Themselves | Common Dreams

Instead of Being Disgusted by Poverty, We are Disgusted by Poor People Themselves | Common Dreams:

Round Bend Press: Weldon Kees

Round Bend Press: Weldon Kees:

Terry Simons on a little known poet.

Nanosecond Trading Could Make Markets Go Haywire | Wired Science | Wired.com

Nanosecond Trading Could Make Markets Go Haywire | Wired Science | Wired.com:

"The afternoon of May 6, 2010 was among the strangest in economic history. Starting at 2:42 p.m. EDT, the Dow Jones stock index fell 600 points in just 6 minutes. Its nadir represented the deepest single-day decline in that market’s 114-year history. By 3:07 p.m., the index had rebounded. The “flash crash,” as it came to be known, was big, unexpected and scary — and a new study says flash events actually happen routinely, at speeds so fast they don’t register on regular market records, with potentially troubling consequences for market stability."

Is this any way to run a country?

Show a film, pick up projects

That's about it for today at the university.

Wednesday, February 15, 2012

Download scripts of award contenders - Celebrity Circuit - CBS News

Download scripts of award contenders - Celebrity Circuit - CBS News:

Screenplays of Oscar nominees for free download (most of them).

New Quantum Record: Physicists Entangle 8 Photons | Wired Science | Wired.com

New Quantum Record: Physicists Entangle 8 Photons | Wired Science | Wired.com:

"One of the most mind-blowing areas of quantum mechanics is entanglement: two or more particles separated in space can have physical properties that are correlated. A measurement performed on one particle will tell us the result of the same measurement taken on an entangled particle. "


Tuesday, February 14, 2012

Charles Deemer's Books and Publications Spotlight

Charles Deemer's Books and Publications Spotlight:

Books published before my relationship with Round Bend Press. Does not include several "commercial publishers."

More complete list here.

OPERA America - Schedule of Performances

OPERA America - Schedule of Performances:

Looking for an opera? This database of past and future performances is impressive.

J and M Cafe

J and M Cafe:

Scrapple and eggs on the breakfast menu! Have to check this place out.

Form

Did a little work on the outside-in project this morning. One thing that seems to be happening, in formal terms, is that I'm testing some theories I've developed about how the reading parameters on electronic devices may change the way stories are told. The new story is finding itself in such a non-traditional form, and this makes the project more interesting to me than content alone would make it. I'm very curious how this will turn out. I suppose I'm several months away from finding out. No rush, no stress, which is part of the very purpose of this very different writing exercise.

Meanwhile the new proof has shipped, so I should get it next week, maybe even the end of this week. I hope this is the last draft. We'll see.

The Browning Letters

The Browning Letters:

"This is an unparalleled collection of correspondence written and received by the Victorian poets Robert Browning and Elizabeth Barrett Browning. Featuring materials from the collection of the Armstrong Browning Library at Baylor University and the holdings of Wellesley College in Wellesley, Massachusetts, the letters in this collection are browsable and searchable by date, author, and first line of text."

I love seeing things like this go online. How is the project to get the Library of Congress online going?


Sunday, February 12, 2012

'Phantom of the Opera' marking 10,000 shows in NYC - WSJ.com

'Phantom of the Opera' marking 10,000 shows in NYC - WSJ.com

Interestingly enough, I have a very oblique memory-connection to this mega-hit.

Hal Prince
In the mid-80s, when I was playwright-in-residence at the New Rose Theatre, my play about Moliere, The Comedian In Spite of Himself (which later became Sad Laughter), premiered. In the audience one night was a NY actress (whose name escapes me now). She was so impressed with the play that she talked it up to her producer-friend Hal Prince. She wanted him to bring it to NY and she wanted to play in it.

So he asked to see a script. She got a script from the theater and sent it to Prince.

Some time later I received a note from him. He liked the play, called it "first rate work," but passed because one, he didn't respond obsessively enough to it, and two, he was already obsessed with a big new show he was getting ready. Yep. Phantom of the Opera.

Obviously he made the right choice ha ha. At the same time, it's satisfying to receive a compliment from such a major theatrical producer. Compliments and a buck will get you a cup of coffee (if you know where to go).

Streep as Thatcher

I've come to expect great performances from Meryl Streep. Her track record is so extraordinary. However, I was not prepared for her performance as Margaret Thatcher in The Iron Lady, an interpretation -- an inhabiting -- so nuanced and deep and credible that I can't imagine any other actress in the running for the Oscar. Streep, a studious and particular actor if ever there was one, outdoes herself here, and aided by an extraordinary team including makeup artists, is not even recognizable as Meryl Streep when first we meet her character on screen. Just an amazing performance!

Galen Rupp's American 2 Mile Record Is Highlight Among 5 World Leaders at 2012 USATF Track Classic

Galen Rupp's American 2 Mile Record Is Highlight Among 5 World Leaders at 2012 USATF Track Classic:

I love watching this kid run. He's like a "nice guy" Prefontaine.

Saturday, February 11, 2012

Is 'Prescription for Disaster' Our 'Most Optimistic' Climate Future? | Common Dreams

Is 'Prescription for Disaster' Our 'Most Optimistic' Climate Future? | Common Dreams:

"New climate information from French scientists indicate that global warming of 2 C is the "most optimistic" scenario. Yet this is the amount of warming James Hansen has referred to as a "prescription for disaster.""


Why did the app for my local movie showtimes change? It no longer lists my local theaters and showtimes.? - Yahoo! Answers

Why did the app for my local movie showtimes change? It no longer lists my local theaters and showtimes.? - Yahoo! Answers: "

Yahoo! is going downhill so fast with incredibly stupid changes in My Yahoo! and other things, it is astounding. Who are these folks making such terrible decisions?

Mellow

What a relief to have the midterms behind me as early as Saturday! Makes for a relaxing weekend. I actually did a little work on my new outside-in project, which must remain a mystery for a while. It's so different from anything I've done. Makes it fun and interesting. And that it's fluff makes it without stress.



In a comment below by Eric, an actor/journalist friend from Portland's Golden Age, I've been "outed" as "Charley Bob." Here's the origin of that.

I'm a Jr. and grew up on my middle name, Bob. I've always written under my first name, Charles. I went by Bob until I came to Portland after a divorce in the late 70s, when I introduced myself as Charles, my writing name. I've been Charles ever since. Now only a very few people still call me Bob, my brother among them.

Decades ago my brother had come to an opening of a play of mine. At the reception afterwards, the director took me aside and pointed out my brother across the way. You know this guy? he asked. Why? I said, curious. Well, said the director, he keeps coming up to people and saying, Hi, I'm Bob's brother. What a weirdo!

Once this story got out, some in the theater community began to call me Charley Bob, which I rather like.

Updated

The stage plays area of my archive has been updated.

Friday, February 10, 2012

Amazing Videos of Earth at Night from Space | Wired Science | Wired.com

Amazing Videos of Earth at Night from Space | Wired Science | Wired.com:

On Location: Louisiana's pull on Hollywood strengthens - latimes.com

On Location: Louisiana's pull on Hollywood strengthens - latimes.com:

It never fails

Can't mention enjoying drinking, even if it was 20 yrs ago, without some do-gooder sending me reprimands. Amazing.

Another cup of coffee

I didn't really intend to read all the midterms today but I'm down to two, so I might as well. Really frees up the weekend. Over half the class did a commendable job and three so far wrote first rate, professional scripts. Not bad at all. Yet a few still don't "get it" and I worry what their mental block is and how I can surmount it.

Blog visitors

Gorbachev: Putin has exhausted himself as Russian leader | World news | guardian.co.uk

Gorbachev: Putin has exhausted himself as Russian leader | World news | guardian.co.uk:

Always liked G.

Errands on a gray afternoon

We're out of headcheese, which is as good an excuse as any to get out of here and run some errands. Might be able to stretch it into an hour or so ha ha.

Taking a break

Good start on the midterms. A good batch so far.

One of those gray damp Portland days my protagonist in the novel likes to bitch about. In my younger drinking days, these were perfect times for hiding out in a bar, particularly if any of several writer friends were around to bar hop with, from the Gypsy to Seafood Mama's to Nobby's to Tavern & Pool to Joe's Cellar and back again.

Daytime drinking was always a lot more fun than nighttime drinking. The gainfully employed were at work, and the gainfully employed tended to be more boring than all the unemployed writer misfit artist musician drunk types, who were far better storytellers than accountants and salesmen.

Best of all I liked bar hopping with my soul brother Richard when he was in town, we had so much history together and could communicate something that broke us up into hysterics without a word, just with a look. And when we were on a roll, that's mostly what we did, laugh for what observers would think was no apparent reason. Of course it was life's very absurdity that we were laughing at -- and with.

The great mistake of treatment programs is to try and get the drunken participants to deny such past pleasures. They throw the baby out with the bath water.

Richard ended up being the most miserable sober person on the face of the earth. He died so soon anyway, maybe he should have kept drinking, except he had reached the wino stage, so that wasn't cool either. He just couldn't find happiness once he quit. Interesting what very different responses we had when we quit.

Fond memories today of mellow gray drinking afternoons. Happiness is too hard to find to deny it where it exists. Especially when you survive the experience.