Our first review

On a blog, as it turns out.  Read it.

On the contrary "The Farewell Wake" is satisfyingly full of content that held my interest all the way through. In fact, I barely met this guy Charles Deemer in his blog. I could not believe that I would sit for 96 minutes and watch the movie he and his friends just made and enjoy it, so as I see it, they have accomplished their purpose. They have proved that you can make a movie that could compete with Hollywood versions (Robert Duval's Wake movie) for the small screen without big stars or well known names. What is the world coming to? 

The 79 y/o blogger doesn't know how to make a link so gave interesting verbal directions to find the movie. But we inspired him to make his own digital film! Cool.

Long range plan

I'm going to take the rest of the year off as far as "the next project" is concerned. Enjoy the holidays. Play banjo and piano. Teach, of course. Read.

Come the new year I'll kick into gear with the first item of business, research, finding the right source material for lyrics to an art song. Next, write the music. Next, find a singer. Next, plan the music video. Not sure I can do all that before summer but I'll try.

Opera & scrapple

Yes, Live at the Met in HD is the best arts bargain in the country, $20 for an on stage seat and interviews and behind the scenes peeks at tech stuff. Don Pasquale is a silly trifle of a story but the music is great, the ensemble singing wonderful, and in this production the technically complex set changes fascinating. A great morning.

We went to lunch at a cafe/deli we hadn't tried and were disappointed -- "trendy" rather than authentic sandwiches, as H put it. You shouldn't mess with pastrami or meatloaf sandwiches! But at the counter they had fresh scrapple for sale! At TEN DOLLARS a pound! Why, you can even get scrapple mail order for 1/3 of that.  But it's nice to know you can buy it in Portland. I didn't think you could. I'll still make my own, thank you very much. Probably better anyway. Later the radio played a jazz song with the lyric, I was hangin' out in Philly, Eatin' scrapple till I'm silly.

Exchanged a couple emails about the film with Bob Hicks, who had very insightful comments, not only about my film but about films watched on electronic devices in general. I hope he explores this topic on his arts blog.

Micro-movies have a great future

The more I think about it, the more I think movies made specifically for electronic devices will become a cottage industry. The audience is there already. The ability to make a movie for zero budget has been demonstrated. The economic model to survive doing this is in place at the iTunes store and elsewhere. At a dollar a download, you don't need many to make this a viable business. This can happen: serious filmmakers can make serious films and survive doing it, once everything falls into place. The momentum has started.

Additional access to the film

Actress Kim Bissett has set up a FAREWELL WAKE page with a variety of ways to access the film.

(One error on her film notes: the home movie is not of me and my brother.)

Here is the link.

Here is The Farewell Wake on YouTube! Good work, Kim!

Micro-movies and the novel

Micro-movies share something important with novels. Consider how movies get seen. On a large screen in an auditorium, a social viewing, then to a smaller TV screen in a home, often seen again with others around, to a smaller screen on a computer, to an even smaller screen on a Blackberry or other electronic device. These last two viewings, certainly the latter, are solitary events. Watching a movie on a Blackberry, say, the viewer controls the rate of perception, which never happens at a theater. Think about that. Need a break? Press pause and come back to the movie later. Something is confusing? Go back and watch it again. Moreover, the viewer is physically attached to the device, or should be, by earphones, a cable, the only reasonable way to listen to audio on a micro-movie. The viewer has the same power as the reader of a book to control how the work is perceived.

Moreover, the smaller the screen, the more intense the image. Not less. More. The more concentrated, the more vibrant. By the Blackberry, you cannot tell the difference between a megamillion Hollywood movie and a zero budget micro-movie. Think about that!

The intimacy, the solitary act, of watching a micro-movie on a Blackberry encourages stories that are more serious, more difficult, than the usual Hollywood fare. Watching a micro-movie is like reading a good book: measured, focused, deliberate, reflective.

Movies can be made to take advantage of this environment. Movies can be made just for the Blackberry and other devices You could call the company Small Screen Video.

Wait, wait! I'm already doing that.

Micro-movies as theater-in-the-round

Watching, proofing, the DVD for the boxed edition, a quiet viewing on my TV, and it occurred to me that this has the intimacy of theater-in-the-round. Even moreso watching it on a smaller screen on the computer. Requires quiet attention. And this is one of the strengths of the form, this new form, zero budget micro movies. Imagine what talented young people are going to do, no doubt have been doing, with this form.

I converted several of my films so they can be shown on Blackberries -- and with an even smaller screen, they look even better, they look like a Hollywood movie looks on a Blackberry. Put them on a Blackberry and micro movies hold their own. This is the level playing field for this art form.

And if you go through the itunes store and others, there's even a bit of change to be made. I'm giving mine away free, of course. Pointless not to at this stage of my life.

And what better way to celebrate the project's final end than with a Saturday morning opera!

I really like the Director's Cut, I think it is so much better than the longer version. I was dreading having to watch it again, to proof the DVD, but came to enjoy it immensely This is a project to be proud of, a collaborative film in the best sense of the term.

And I'm approving the DVD and ordering my boxed editions.

Live at the Met in HD

Off to the opera tomorrow morning, about as fine a Saturday morn as one can have! This series gets my vote for the best use of technology in the arts. A phenomenal series!

Check out the season.

Oysters in Champagne jelly with cucumber and caviar - Recipes, Food & Drink - The Independent

Oysters in Champagne jelly with cucumber and caviar - Recipes, Food & Drink - The Independent

Scallops with chorizo and hedgerow garlic - Recipes, Food & Drink - The Independent

Scallops with chorizo and hedgerow garlic - Recipes, Food & Drink - The Independent

Good timing

A fine accident to have the day off from school on the day after the showing of the film. I have time to mellow out. I'm ever so slowly getting excited about the challenge of the next project, making an Art Song Music Video. This can't possible work without a great singer but I trust the gods here, and the fact that we have a good opera company with many talented younger singers and interns, and this would be such a showcase, I think I'll have several talented singers to choose from. We'll see. I'll be disappointed if I'm wrong.

I have no deadline for this but I hope I am ready to shoot in summer, 2011. That gives me a lot of time to find the source material for lyrics, to compose and refine the music, and to find and audition singers. As near as I can tell, there aren't a hell of a lot of Art Song Music Videos out there. Maybe I can start a craze ha ha.

TS on the film

Check it out.

Regarding sound, if you have earphones, use them! The sound improves by quantum leaps if you do.

Free movies for Blackberries

Check it out.

Daily Kos: AFL-CIO calls for up-or-down vote on middle class tax cut

Daily Kos: AFL-CIO calls for up-or-down vote on middle class tax cut

This is a great idea, too bad the White House didn't think of it.

The bottom line

In the final analysis, the most significant thing about my film is that I actually did it, that technology today lets you go out and make a zero budget feature movie that, in fact, plays like a movie. Yes, it takes a variety of talent in many folks to do this -- but the talent has always been there. Now the technology lets financially low end folks do it along with the big and even small budget folks. No budget filmmaking has arrived.

And I confess, one of the motivations for this project was simply to show that it could be done.

The loneliness of the long-distance writer

It's a cliche to say that writing is a solitary and often lonely occupation. It's not a cliche to point out that success is as lonely as invisibility. In the 80s, when I was visible everywhere, at least in the Northwest, and now and again beyond, I felt no more connected than later when I became more invisible. Isolation is part of the writing life.

The trouble with fame, even relative fame, is that it's tempting to believe that the praise written about you is true. It's not that it might not be true. It's that fame, press, visibility, the rest, is irrelevant, a distraction from what the writer's task really is. J. D. Salinger said it best: "An artist's only concern is to shoot for some kind of perfection, and on his own terms, not anyone else's."

You can't state it more clearly than that. All the rest is a social distraction from the task at hand. There is nothing, it seems to me, in the social dance of the arts that actually helps the artist at this task. This is why the suggestion, by Glass and others, that all art should be presented anonymously makes perfect sense. It puts the focus on the work, not on the person.

Of course, many artists enjoy playing the social role of artist. I don't happen to. For me, the bang is the process of creation itself ... and the whimper is everything that happens after the work is done. The former activity is solitary, the latter social. Unlike Dorothy Parker, I like writing but I don't like having written.y concern is to shoot for some kind of perfection, and on his own terms, not anyone else's."

Where is Wayne Morse when we need him?

Deceased. But one thing about Sen. Morse, he never hid his moral outrage. That's what we need today, politicians capable of showing moral outrage at the greed that's ruling our affairs. Obama is such a wimp. Will he stand up to the Republicans on anything? Hillary Clinton would. She has balls. Obama is too goddamn nice to be a president and should retire and return to being a law professor. Let Clinton run in 2012. Fat chance. Why in hell did I vote for Obama over Clinton? Major regret.

My 1989 teleplay about Wayne Morse. This was commissioned by Oregon Pubic Broadcasting after the success of Christmas at the Juniper Tavern. Paid me well. However, in the year plus I worked on it, the administration at the station changed and the new guys were not enthralled with feisty Morse at all. Later I converted the script to a one-man stage play, which took years to find a home but finally did and toured a few years back. Interesting how much money I've made on projects that never happened in the end. I still prefer the teleplay to the stage play,

Misreading Gulliver's Travels by P. N. Furbank - TLS

Misreading Gulliver's Travels by P. N. Furbank - TLS

The start, the finish (a one-minute summary)

Showing THE FAREWELL WAKE at Blackbird Wine Shop, Nov. 10, 2010.

S.O.S.

What's gotten into me? I have a sudden desire for that old military staple, "shit on a shingle," and since I know not a single cafe where I could get it (well, without flying to L.A.!), I may have to make it myself. Maybe for lunch. Hmm.

Aha! This must be because it's Veterans Day!

Boys lag behind girls after two school years - Education News, Education - The Independent

Boys lag behind girls after two school years - Education News, Education - The Independent

More response about last night

"...moments of humor, absurdity, and family bonding. I love how the ending really played out between the two brothers. That was key."

"The concept of your film was completely solid, and that definitely came through in the finished project. ...Some bits were highly hilarious, while other parts were deep and profound. " 

"A great event in all respects." 

I feel a certain relief this morning after. I still have to watch the director's cut one more time, proofing the DVD in the boxed edition, which I suppose I'll do today, but then I can order boxes, the last gesture of the entire process, start to finish. I feel good about the film. As I've said before, it's not as great as I hoped it might be but it isn't as bad as it could have been. I also suspect this is a film that will wear on me well because, in fact, most of its subtext is autobiographical.

Next up is a documentary about General Strike, the labor song group. And brooding about the new direction, Art Song Music Videos. A very big challenge ... composing, finding a singer, shooting it. I likely won't get serious about this until Christmas break.

Half a dozen actors didn't show who said they were coming. Not sure why.

Plus and minus

Well, it was a good night in sum but the sound at the showing was atrocious. I've watched the film on 5 computers and 2 TVs and never had sound a fraction as bad. I think something in the host computer settings was askew because the balance was very weird, the background was actually magnified in comparison to the voice track. But the audience was gracious etc etc and the night is over. Alas, it didn't feel like a retirement party as I hoped it might.

But my spirits rose as soon as I came home and found a response in email from an actor friend on the east coast, who was in it:

"Bravo, maestro! A thousand laughs, a hundred ideas, a dozen twists of direction, amazing collection of actors."

A day for praise

Yet another in the email today.

"Sr. Deemer

Your novel "Kerouac's Scroll" knocked me out. Ripping yarn, as would the Brits would say, but more significant, a story that is as honest as the day is long. You understand life (and the story form to express it).Your writing is elegant in its direct simplicity, not a false or unnecessary word, and I can't say how much I admire that. (Succinct to say it's not Hemingway crap.)  "

Nice to write something that someone digs like this.

V for Vendetta Hacker Strikes at Washington State University | Threat Level | Wired.com

V for Vendetta Hacker Strikes at Washington State University | Threat Level | Wired.com

Round Bend Press: The Plan and a Warning

Round Bend Press: The Plan and a Warning

TS plans to have fun tonight!

On a roll

An amazing day of glad tidings, Mail brought my proof of the boxed edition, perfect timing, now I can show it to the actors tonight.

Jeff, the director of praise below, directed me and Tom, who plays my college roommate in the film, in Albee's Zoo Story some 20+ years ago on Maryland's Eastern Shore (the Pemberton Free Theatre, which I had founded). We did it outside in a park-like setting, and I played Peter to Tom's first rate Jerry. It was quite an event.

So much good coming down today, I can hardly keep track. Hope the zero-sum universe stuff doesn't kick in until AFTER the showing of the film tonight ha ha.

Overstated praise

This today from a director/actor friend, "Fantastic !! Film is your medium.  Totally unique." Probably not true ha ha but feels good.

May the gods bless Serena

Serena is the librarian at the University of North Carolina, who some years ago found my essay What Is Hypertext? online and was so impressed by it she wrote to offer to host my work at the university's new electronic library, Ibiblio. She had read I might be making films, which are huge files, and she offered all the bandwidth I would need to put them online. What an incredible opportunity! My life would not have been the same without this generous support. May the gods bless you royally, Serena.

The Internet has been very good to me.

An unusual high

I feel far better than I usually do on an "opening day." Not nervous. Not stressed. The best thing in the world I could have done this morning is exactly what I did, sit back and watch, uninterrupted, the director's cut of the movie. I like it. That puts all the rest in the closet, and tonight I can show the weaker full version knowing full well it's better than this but, at the same time, here is ALL the fine work by the actors, and after all tonight will be their celebration more than mine. I love their work. And tonight I can tell them and show them so.

This will really be fun. What a concept -- fun at an opening! I'm not sure I've ever experienced it before ha ha.

And the winner is ...!

I'm doing email when a new one pops into my box pitching PSU sporting events this week. I look at it and at the bottom it says the first five to respond get a $10 gift certificate at the Spaghetti Factory. What the hell, I hit reply ... and I win! Spaghetti Factory here we come.

Celebration

My film celebration was this morning, a private celebration. I watched the director's cut to make sure it was okay before uploading it (corrected credits) and I really do like the director's cut so much better than the longer version. Just tighter and more focused, without losing a thing in the cuts that I see. Yes, this is a project to "own up to." Have no idea what others will think. Not that it really matters.

Ah, I am glad I did this! Now I can be a host tonight, celebrate the actors, and more or less forget about the film.

Got regrets from Martha, one of my favs in the film, really sorry she won't be there but I gave her the link to the director's cut online, maybe she can watch it in her sick bed.

Daily Kos: Afghanistan, Iraq troop withdrawals may be delayed

Daily Kos: Afghanistan, Iraq troop withdrawals may be delayed

What a shocker. Maybe we'll still be there in 2012, Palin can split the Republican party and someone like Clinton can run as a peace candidate and split the Dems and we have an historic 4-way race.

Daily Kos: House energy chair hopeful Shimkus cites God's promise to Noah to debunk global warming

Daily Kos: House energy chair hopeful Shimkus cites God's promise to Noah to debunk global warming

What's worse, is lots of folks would agree with him! We are becoming the stupidest country on the planet if we already aren't.

It doesn't take much to get deleted from the world of Sarah Palin. - By John Dickerson - Slate Magazine

It doesn't take much to get deleted from the world of Sarah Palin. - By John Dickerson - Slate Magazine

Shocking compliment

My film got a compliment from a very unexpected source, a sound man in town, who said, wow! actual intelligible audio! And this is shocking because, of course, sound is ALWAYS the issue when I shoot since I use the minicam's built-in mic and nothing else, and the sound always sucks, mostly, but yes it is intelligible and I guess he's heard a lot of audio much worse than mine.

It will be a very long day, waiting for tonight.

8 years of blogging

Come January, I'll have been blogging here for eight years. Pretty damn amazing.

Today's the day

Crashed earlier than usual, consequently awake earlier than usual so I got up to burn a DVD on an old project for a friend. Back to bed soon, of course.

Tonight we show the film. I'll enjoy myself to the degree that I forget the film and remember the actors. They did a great job, and this is what I need to focus on. I do like the film but I definitely prefer the shorter version, not shown tonight. I'll be curious how the actors respond. Often they are a sympathetic, "easy" audience.

I'm already eager for Christmas break and time for major regrouping, refocusing.

One foot after the other.

Amazon Increases Kindle Royalties to Publishers - NYTimes.com

Amazon Increases Kindle Royalties to Publishers - NYTimes.com

Is this the end? Morrison may be cleared of obscenity after 40 years - Americas, World - The Independent

Is this the end? Morrison may be cleared of obscenity after 40 years - Americas, World - The Independent

Judith Johnson: Death & Dying QUOTES: Reframing the Conversation (PHOTOS)

Judith Johnson: Death & Dying QUOTES: Reframing the Conversation (PHOTOS)

The Most Beautiful College Libraries (PHOTOS)

The Most Beautiful College Libraries (PHOTOS)

Nearly 1 in 5 Americans Struggle To Put Food On The Table, Survey Finds

Nearly 1 in 5 Americans Struggle To Put Food On The Table, Survey Finds

Lucky lunch

A wet miserable day. I jumped at the chance to get out of the house and go with H on errands, later to Kaiser to get our flu shots, and later out to lunch, just randomly selecting a place we've never been. Ended up at the Club House Bar & Grill and it is outstanding, though surely a zoo at game time since it's a sports bar, but the food was fantastic as sports bar food often is, and we also hit Hot Dog Tuesday, a great dog for a buck, a place I'll return to during quiet afternoon weekday hours.

Now a couple hours to kill before the scene workshop begins, for which I'm already prepared.

Luck of the draw

I've said here many times before how lucky I am to belong to my generation, as perfectly dropped into history as any generation I know. Consider ...

• I was born before Pearl Harbor and have childhood memories of WWII.
  
• I was not raised on TV.
  
• I lived in So Cal when orange groves were everywhere.
  
• I was too young to go to Korea.
  
• I was a teenager at the birth of rock and roll, 1954, and the rise of west coast "cool" jazz.
  
• I did my service during the Cold War, a Russian Linguist, consequently spared the upcoming Vietnam.
  
• I became a writer when "literary novel" was not a pejorative term as it is today.
  
• I was in grad school when the predominant pastime was arguing about ideas.
  
• I'm old enough now to be spared the future, The future is going to suck. By the grace of the gods, I won't be here.
  

Luck of the draw. No other explanation. Luck of the draw, and I'll damn well take it.

Alaskan Bird Deformities Are Puzzling, Creepy | Wired Science | Wired.com

Alaskan Bird Deformities Are Puzzling, Creepy | Wired Science | Wired.com:

"In a possible symptom of environmental decline, Alaska’s birds have experienced a sudden and inexplicable rash of beak deformities."

Sitting with a laptop will fry your sperm - Yahoo! News

Sitting with a laptop will fry your sperm - Yahoo! News

I wonder if it matters what you are watching ha ha.

Bob Dylan After the Fall by Giles Harvey | The New York Review of Books

Bob Dylan After the Fall by Giles Harvey | The New York Review of Books:

"As the Sixties wore on, however, Dylan grew increasingly frustrated with what he came to regard as the pious sloganeering and doctrinaire leftist politics of the folk milieu. (Such politicized folk music, Dylan said in one of the notorious semicoherent interviews he gave mid-decade, “is a bunch of fat people.”5) As a result, his songs became stranger, more complex, less overtly concerned with the political happenings of the day. They no longer partitioned the country into moral factions, with arms dealers, corrupt politicians, Southern racists, and conventional bourgeois society on one side and the young, the poor, the downtrodden, and the guitar-and- harmonica-wielding troubadours on the other. They no longer asked—as Florence Reece’s pro-union protest song of the 1930s had done—”Which Side Are You On?” Instead, Dylan began writing a kind of visionary nonsense verse, in which the rough, ribald, lawless America of the country’s traditional folk music collided with a surreal ensemble of characters from history, literature, legend, the Bible, and many other places besides."

Desert fantasy

I'd love to retire to a small desert town in the southwest. All I'd need is net access and actually I might not even need that. My netbook is filled with classic lit from Project Gutenberg, more than I have time to read in my years left, surely. Just read and hang out. Maybe dabble in something or other, music, video, even writing of an unambitious sort. But the main thing would be to hang out. Coffee somewhere, breakfast somewhere. Just hang out and people watch and babble to myself.

Never happen but I think about it.

Quotation of the day

"Imagine if the Democrats had minimal political talent (I know, but bear with me). Instead of buying into Palin's bullshit, they'd reveal who she actually is: a delusional former socialist who was content to have a third of her state's citizens on the federal payroll. Layer after layer of the Palin onion contain fantasy, lies, and fraud. She is a phony."


--Andrew Sullivan

OK, OK ...

Over the next few days I'll fix that typo in the online director's cut video, it has been bugging me so much. It's a five second correction followed by several hours of rendering and uploading files. A bitch, in other words. Dumb dumb dumb.

I'll be glad when tomorrow night is over, frankly. Maybe it'll get the film off my back.

I started reading a wonderful book, Zero: the history of a dangerous idea, reminded me how much I love to read popular math and science, must do more. Haven't for a while.

Not an easy day but a fun day, scene workshop in class.

I need more sleep. Rendering a video file but it can render itself.

Paradise

When my dad, a New Jersey boy, retired from the Navy in 1948 and bought a house in Pasadena, he must have thought he had found Paradise. Southern California looked like paradise in those days, a land of orange groves, great weather year-round, and a house on a lot filled with apricot, lemon and avacado trees. Indeed, dad talked all of his siblings into moving to Southern California but after a large earthquake in the nearby desert only a year after their arrival, all but one high-tailed it back to New Jersey where they'd feel safe. But we stayed, and slowly paradise grew into something else. While I was in the Army, my parents and brother moved to Medford, Oregon, and the northwest would become our home for most of the subsequent years. Yet when I visit Pasadena, I feel nostalgic and feel a little bit homesick. Good memories of childhood.

t r u t h o u t | Bill Moyers: "Welcome to the Plutocracy!"

t r u t h o u t | Bill Moyers: "Welcome to the Plutocracy!":

"Time to close the circle: Everyone knows millions of Americans are in trouble. As Robert Reich recently summed it the state of working people: They’ve lost their jobs, their homes, and their savings. Their grown children have moved back in with them. Their state and local taxes are rising. Teachers and firefighters are being laid off. The roads and bridges they count on are crumbling, pipelines are leaking, schools are dilapidated, and public libraries are being shut.

Why isn’t government working for them? Because it’s been bought off. It’s as simple as that. And until we get clean money we’re not going to get clean elections, and until we get clean elections, you can kiss goodbye government of, by, and for the people. Welcome to the plutocracy."

The inevitable typo

I don't believe it.. At this late date I caught a typo in the closing credits of the film. How do these things sneak by so many viewings by so many eyes? At any rate, it's small and will be missed by many because the credits go by quickly but it still irritates me. However, I doubt if I'll fix it, certainly not on the DVDs, because I'd have to pay to do them all over again but not even online, I think, a couple hours work, and it's not like it's going to matter much except to me. I'll likely let it pass. A signature of the inevitable.

‘Sex Education’ Tops Hot British Script List – Deadline.com

‘Sex Education’ Tops Hot British Script List – Deadline.com:

"The Brit List of most admired unproduced screenplays began 4 years ago, inspired by the Hollywood version known as the Black List."

Michael Brenner: Shut-Up Wednesdays: A Plea

Michael Brenner: Shut-Up Wednesdays: A Plea:

"Never before have we had so many means to communicate. Never before has there been more clatter and clamor. Never before have we communicated less. Especially in our political life. The shrillness of this year's overwrought electoral campaign is a powerful reminder of the difference. It's all about feeling rather than thought -- either emoting to stimulate the feelings of sympathizers or emoting to grate upon the feelings of enemies. That certainly is true of most Republicans and their Tea Party hit men. Thought and ideas be damned. It's the primal scream -- twisted by fear, anger and confusion."

A short special week

Today I put on my director's cap and spend the day with student scenes that we'll workshop in class tomorrow. Wednesday we show the film. Thursday is Veterans' Day, no class. A short week. But a special one, showing the film.

I've been asked to contribute a recipe to an authors' cookbook. Naturally I am choosing my easy scrapple recipe! Duh.

Climate science: Climate scientists plan campaign against global warming skeptics - latimes.com

Climate science: Climate scientists plan campaign against global warming skeptics - latimes.com:

"The American Geophysical Union plans to announce that 700 researchers have agreed to speak out on the issue. The effort is a pushback against congressional conservatives who have vowed to kill regulations on greenhouse gas emissions."

It's about time. For science to win, science must be heard.

Letter To A Christian Nation

Letter To A Christian Nation

Sam Harris' thin book to inspire thick controversy. I agree with most of what he has to say and agree with his assessment of the profound dangers of great power combined with great stupidity, which has been the American trajectory of late. But I have no hope whatever that this or any other book will change minds or lead to greater understanding or help times become more peaceful. Although written "to a Christian nation," this strikes me more as singing to the secular choir.

Farewell Wake reminder

What is likely to be the only public showing of my film THE FAREWELL WAKE happens this Wednesday, Nov. 10, at 7 p.m. at Blackbird Wineshop, 4323 NE Fremont. This is primarily a celebration for the cast but all are welcome.

Why Philosophy? - Interactive Feature - NYTimes.com

Why Philosophy? - Interactive Feature - NYTimes.com

"Shock of Gray": How old people will remake the world - Our Picks: Books - Salon.com

"Shock of Gray": How old people will remake the world - Our Picks: Books - Salon.com:

"According to journalist Ted C. Fishman's new book 'Shock of Gray,' those changes are already being felt in parts of the world. By reporting from cities that are ahead of the overall aging curve, Fishman deftly forecasts the larger problems that will soon consume the globe. Professionals and skilled laborers will be pushed out of their jobs before they can afford to retire, forcing many into service industries that pay a small fraction of their former salaries. Rural communities will struggle with acute aging as young people leave for the cities. That in turn will create opportunities for immigrants, thus accelerating globalization. Builders will need to accommodate more people with greater mobility issues, which will drive up costs for infrastructure. At the same time, scientists will continue to tweak the human life span to the point, perhaps one day, of near immortality."

Lucky us - Portland ranks No. 3 in political ad saturation | OregonLive.com

Lucky us - Portland ranks No. 3 in political ad saturation | OregonLive.com:

"WASHINGTON -- If you still have a pounding headache from all the noise and drama of Campaign 2010, here's one possible reason -- Portland was the third most saturated TV market in the nation with political ads."

UCLA beats Oregon State 17-14 as time expires - College Football - Rivals.com

UCLA beats Oregon State 17-14 as time expires - College Football - Rivals.com:

"PASADENA, Calif. (AP)—Kai Forbath, making the most of a second opportunity and a favorable instant replay call, kicked a 51-yard field goal on the game’s final play, giving UCLA a 17-14 victory over Oregon State on Saturday."

Perfect ending to a good day.

Norman Lear: Enough Already With "The American People"

Norman Lear: Enough Already With "The American People":

"Our experiment in democracy depends, the founders told us at the beginning, on an informed citizenry. Fat chance, American people!"

The Grizzly Manifesto - NYTimes.com

The Grizzly Manifesto - NYTimes.com:

 "I think it is time to take back the mama grizzly.

“In real life, they are famous for their reproductive freedom,” said Gloria Steinem over the phone."

Zenyatta falls short in quest for perfection - Yahoo! News

Zenyatta falls short in quest for perfection - Yahoo! News:

"LOUISVILLE, Ky. – Perfection eluded Zenyatta in the Breeders' Cup Classic on Saturday night when horse racing's superstar lost for the first time after 19 consecutive wins.
Blame won by a head in a thrilling finish with the mare, who made her way through traffic from last place while the crowd of 72,739 urged her on down the stretch under the lights at Churchill Downs.
Hall of Fame jockey Mike Smith blamed himself for the loss.
'It was my fault,' he said, sobbing. 'She should've won.'"

Blake's Tyger

From my novella BAUMHOLDER 1961:

Sullivan disliked sentiment and sloppy thinking and

sometimes performed a routine that demonstrated as

much. With a few drinks in him, he was known to recite a

portion of a poem by William Blake to much delight and

hoopla from his inebriated colleagues: “Tiger, tiger,

burning bright,” Sullivan would begin, his blonde hair

short but long enough to comb, which really meant long

enough to look uncombed because Sullivan always had the

shaggy look of an absent-minded professor, and as he

began the poem, his hand would sweep the hair from his

forehead in a theatrical gesture, “in the forests of the night,

what immortal hand or eye, could frame thy fearful

symmetry?” Here Sullivan would look positively baffled by

the question, as if it had cosmic significance. “What the

hammer?” he asked next. “What the chain? In what

furnace was thy brain? What the anvil?” – and at this

precise moment Sullivan would scrunch his ruddy face into

an expression of speechless horror and bewilderment, as if

the questions were too great for the contemplation of mere

mortals, hanging in the air like painful reminders of

human ignorance and insignificance – and after holding

the moment for all it was worth, and perhaps making yet

another theatrical sweep of his hand to brush hair from his

forehead, Sullivan would shout with an exuberance that

never failed to set the first-time listener aback, “What the

fuck!? WHAT THE FUCK!?”

Delivery

Took the trip across town to deliver a DVD to Andy at Blackbird for Wed. night. Man, he sure has done wonders with his wine and cheese shop, just an inviting place to hang, what with the art on the walls, the jazz playing, all the wines, all the cheeses, just a cool place to be. And he's an inventive guy and was telling me about his latest project, a series of guest chef appearances, which he'll video ... I'm really glad he found me when he was new in town and gave us at Oregon Literary Review the opportunity to connect readings with him. It's a great space and a good gig for all involved. And a great place to show the film next week.

Quote For The Day II - The Daily Dish | By Andrew Sullivan

Quote For The Day II - The Daily Dish | By Andrew Sullivan:

"“If you look at the U.S., you look at who we’re electing to Congress, to the Senate—they can’t read. I’ll bet you a bunch of these people don’t have passports. We’re about to start a trade war with China if we’re not careful here, only because nobody knows where China is. Nobody knows what China is,' - New York Mayor, Michael Bloomberg."

New at Oregon Literary Review

Oregon's Poets Laureate

Boxed edition

A proof of the boxed special edition of my film is being processed and will ship shortly. I anticipate no problems, which means I should have boxed editions before the end of the month. Getting the boxed edition is a high, moreso than getting the disks. It always looks so nice.

A fall afternoon

A nice fall day before the rain comes. Raked some leaves. Enjoyed a cup of coffee on the deck. A mellow afternoon.

I won't get back to student work until Sunday. So I hope for another mellow day tomorrow.

Early bird

Scrapple made, breakfast made with leftovers from makings, ready to run errands in the world. Sketch now having breakfast. An hour yet before H is up. Friday is in gear.

Going to look at Walden after years away from it. Have a hunch now is an important time for me to read it. I took a seminar on it in grad school, loved the class, Prof Griffith, a fav in grad school. When I made a presentation, he said I sounded like a 19th century circuit rider. He beamed, which made me think it was a compliment, but I never was sure.

Scrapple and sanity

First chore of the day is making a new batch of scrapple, sure to set off Friday in its best light. Expect to do lots of music practice, banjo and piano, today.

Uncovering Why ‘Undercovers’ Went Wrong – Deadline.com

Uncovering Why ‘Undercovers’ Went Wrong – Deadline.com:

"An insider gave me this guidance about what went wrong with Undercovers, a show that NBC massively promoted and yet was still rejected by audiences: 'Many things. Mostly, what was meant to be a throwback lark of a show felt trivial to people. It felt flimsy and not compelling, partially because it was designed as a stand alone, non serialized show. Perhaps the stories lacked deeper interest and urgency."

Or maybe it's all just a crapshoot. There's no accounting for taste.

Voting Quotes: 17 Of The Funniest, Smartest, Wildest Statements About Voting (PHOTOS)

Voting Quotes: 17 Of The Funniest, Smartest, Wildest Statements About Voting (PHOTOS)

95 Candidates Who Pledged Support For Net Neutrality Lost On Tuesday | TPMDC

95 Candidates Who Pledged Support For Net Neutrality Lost On Tuesday | TPMDC

Early in the office

Came to the office early to do prep work for class, finished early and now have time to do a few cleanup chores.

H watched the film start to finish, said she likes it, and said something insightful: I am both brothers. More than a bit of truth there.

Daily Kos: Rejecting liberalism

Daily Kos: Rejecting liberalism:

"The voters didn't reject a liberal agenda because they didn't see a liberal agenda. Many wouldn't know what a liberal agenda looks like, because no one has bothered to show them one."

Hear, hear!

How nice to live in the west!

Tea Party Patriots Lay Claim to the Political Center in Debates to Come The Washington Independent

Tea Party Patriots Lay Claim to the Political Center in Debates to Come The Washington Independent:

"“All civilizations and empires have fallen because their cultures became decadent,” Meckler said. “We need to lift up conservative culture, family values and wholesome things by supporting conservative musicians, writers, artists and producers.”"

Oh, boy.

DVD test

Picked up the DVDs and tested one on my TV, plays fine start to finish, we should be okay. Sometimes these things play here but not there. At any rate, nice to have the DVDs for the actors, which is the long version. I look forward to getting my proof of the boxed edition with the preferred shorter version.

Behind on scripts. Reading to do.

Holographic Telecommuting May Soon Be Possible | Wired Science | Wired.com

Holographic Telecommuting May Soon Be Possible | Wired Science | Wired.com

3D TV? That's so 2010 - it's time for holographic video | KATU.com -

3D TV? That's so 2010 - it's time for holographic video | KATU.com -

First Sound Press: POEM by Mark Marchus: Invisible Man Chases Ghosts

First Sound Press: POEM by Mark Marchus: Invisible Man Chases Ghosts:

"A brain I do not know informs me -Breathes me and directs an organismWhose true nature remains a formidable mystery.I’ve poured golden conte..."

Scripts, DVDs

Student scripts to read this morning, DVDs to pick up this afternoon, banjo and piano practice to fit in there somewhere. Supposed to be a rare warm day, 70, so I might try and get outside as well. And benefiting from a little Funk Reduction this morning. Overdue and welcome.

Sarah Stalin answers a blogger

Statesmen

Will this country ever have one again? A damn good question, the answer to which is pretty depressing.

I think a not-so-hidden de facto racism drives much of American politics today. The world is changing and in the near future, America will be predominantly non-white. There are those who can't compute the reality.

An honorable man

In close races today, politicians bring out their lawyers for recounts and lawsuits and countersuits. It's easy to forget that once men like Wayne Morse took defeat more graciously than this. His aides urged him to demand a recount when Packwood narrowly defeated him in 1968 but Morse would have none of it. From my play American Gadfly:

            MORSE

            I'm not going to be remembered as

            someone who doesn't know how to take

            defeat.  I'm not asking for a recount

            and I'm not drumming up charges of

            election misconduct.  If they want to

            remember me, let them remember my

            record on constitutional law and the

            fifteen-odd years I've argued against

            our immoral policies in Asia.  We lost

            and, frankly, it doesn't surprise me. 

            It was closer than I thought it would

            be.

Election 2010 Winners And Losers

Election 2010 Winners And Losers

I disagree with Palin as "winner." Fortunately her two craziest endorsements lost.

Boise State Broncos can't buck this trend - ESPN

Boise State Broncos can't buck this trend - ESPN:

"Yes, we're talking about Auburn. The team that has 13 fewer wins over the past five seasons than Boise State.

Yes, we're talking about Oregon. The same team Boise State punched out last season 19-8.

It's the biggest rip-off since the Nigerian prince scam. It makes you wonder why you watch college football at all. What Boise State is being asked to do isn't doable. It's like trying to win a Cuban election. Or break into the Genovese family."

Hear, hear!

Slow transition

As I wait for Nov. 10th, I already am making a slow transition to my new direction, music front burner. Practicing banjo, and my chops are coming back quickly. Not so quickly on piano, however, and my left hand is sore from unused muscles for boogie woogie baselines. But it's fun to be back at each.

I may not get in the "art song" mode until the term is over, however.

The post-film funk has been greater than the usual funk at the end of a project. Maybe because I have a sense of more than a project ending. Maybe because my defenses are spent from fighting off the recent virus. Maybe because I'm an older fart than the last time. Maybe all of the above. Maybe none of the above.

Sketch, bless his doggy heart, keeps me laughing, and as long as Sketch keeps me laughing -- a true Zen clown, that animal! -- I'll get through whatever the gods throw at me.

Oregon Shakespeare Festival has record season | OregonLive.com

Oregon Shakespeare Festival has record season | OregonLive.com

DVD update

Should get my DVDs of the film on Wednesday.

Got done today what I needed to get done. Can't say more about the day, however.

Quotation of the day

"Life is beautiful but the world is hell."

--Harold Pinter

I like being a pod person

According to the morning International Herald Tribune, the only paper I read any more (it's the NY Times, really, in an internatonal edition), it's not cool to make coffee with the new pods. Robs the experience of ritual and romance. Wrong. Bull, bull, bull, I saw with a fresh "pod cup" at hand. I have added ritual to my morning and save money besides by skipping an early trip to Starbucks. I love my hand pump, which brings as much ritual to me as my netbook, which goes on as I head for the kitchen for the pump. The IHT writer doesn't know what he is talking about.

I like rituals. Rituals are important. Sketch has a morning ritual. I let him out and he runs around the yard and does his business. Normally I watch from the deck. Today I came in to make coffee -- and in no time Sketch was at the door, where are you?, and the ritual didn't continue until I was out there watching him do his business, after which he could sprint around in celebration before coming back in.