"LAHAINA, Hawaii (AP)—Whipping the ball around the court, dropping in 3-pointers from seemingly anywhere and everywhere, the Washington Huskies put on an awe-inspiring offensive show against Virginia."
Hey, a NW team to root for!
Tuesday, November 23, 2010
Huskies move into Maui semifinals with 106-63 win - College Basketball - Rivals.com
Huskies move into Maui semifinals with 106-63 win - College Basketball - Rivals.com:
Breakfast of champions
Have yet to find evidence that anyone else has discovered the tasty marriage of scrapple and oatmeal. Just finished an expression of it:
This breakfast is a real sleeper, one of the best taste combinations I've found, a very special breakfast treat.
- Put a slice of scrapple in a bowl. Nuke for one minute.
- Top with cooked oatmeal.
- Top with a fried egg.
- Add milk and enjoy.
This breakfast is a real sleeper, one of the best taste combinations I've found, a very special breakfast treat.
Winter wonderland
More ice than snow outside, which is worse for walking as far as I'm concerned. The university opens late but my class not cancelled tonight. Be a tricky commute for the old guy.
Daily Kos: Wyden blocks Internet copyright threat
Daily Kos: Wyden blocks Internet copyright threat:
"'Deploying this statute to combat online copyright infringement seems almost like using a bunker-busting cluster bomb, when what you need is a precision-guided missile,' Wyden said during a hearing on digital trade issues. 'If you don't think this thing through carefully, the collateral damage would be American innovation, American jobs, and a secure Internet.'"
Monday, November 22, 2010
Political change
No matter if you prefer red or blue, if you have patience your color will appear! An animation tracking political preferences over time. Fascinating.
Michelle Singletary - Woman who told Obama her financial fears has lost her job
Michelle Singletary - Woman who told Obama her financial fears has lost her job:
"'My husband and I joked for years that we thought we were well beyond the hot-dogs-and-beans era of our lives,' she said during the CNBC town hall broadcast. 'But quite frankly, it's starting to knock on our door and ring true that that might be where we're headed again. And quite frankly, Mr. President, I need you to answer this honestly: Is this my new reality?'"
Internet social sites 'encourage wrong spelling' - Education News, Education - The Independent
Internet social sites 'encourage wrong spelling' - Education News, Education - The Independent:
"Internet chatrooms and social networking sites are encouraging children to spell words incorrectly, new research suggests.
A paper released by the English Spelling Society concludes that the internet has revolutionised the English language, and made misspelling the norm.
As people type at speed online, there is now a 'general attitude' that there is no need to correct mistakes or conform to regular spelling rules, it says."
A paper released by the English Spelling Society concludes that the internet has revolutionised the English language, and made misspelling the norm.
As people type at speed online, there is now a 'general attitude' that there is no need to correct mistakes or conform to regular spelling rules, it says."
All this has such an Orwellian aura to it. Make them dumber, make them buy more, Homo consumerus!
But maybe it's actually not this bad. Maybe. Maybe.
But maybe it's actually not this bad. Maybe. Maybe.
The Library of Our Lives
Some 40 years ago, when I was a grad student working on my MFA in Playwriting at the Univ of Oregon, a theater dept grad student approached me about a project he had in mind that would involve half a dozen university departments, plus the superior television facilities at the nearby community college, and be a credited course out of the university's recent "experimental college": a soap opera satire, done start to finish by students, which would run on the university's cable channel. Would I be interested in heading/teaching the writing department of the project? Indeed I would!
So began an incredible year working with the talented, eccentric Peter Jamison (later of Hollywood, before moving to live in Venice, Italy, and then ...?). Yes, we actually pulled this off, although I ended up writing about 80% of the script myself because the students couldn't perform under the pressure of deadlines. Indeed, this was all much harder than we thought, and often I would be pounding out a scene at the studio while the prior scene was being taped! Actors didn't have time to memorize their lines, really, but they got the gist and improvised.
One writer later credited us with the first soap opera satire, before Mary Hartman, Mary Hartman. We were written up in a magazine story, which you can find here in my literary scrapbook, scrolling down to the Library of Our Lives section. Man, I wish the tapes of these shows still existed! It was an incredible feat that Jamison pulled off.
A few memories:
Jamison drove an old VW with no windshield wipers -- in Oregon! I remember many a rainy night riding with him as he held his left hand out the open window to wipe the windshield with a sponge or rag.
There were some ex-cons from a halfway house taking university courses -- and Jamison cast many of them as narcs in our story of university life! In the grand finale, a pregnant student gives birth to ... cats! I remember this clearly. I have no idea what dramatic journey, if any, got us there.
Our schmaltzy opening included the narration, "In the library of our lives are the books of a world's wisdom. To read them, we come to college."
So began an incredible year working with the talented, eccentric Peter Jamison (later of Hollywood, before moving to live in Venice, Italy, and then ...?). Yes, we actually pulled this off, although I ended up writing about 80% of the script myself because the students couldn't perform under the pressure of deadlines. Indeed, this was all much harder than we thought, and often I would be pounding out a scene at the studio while the prior scene was being taped! Actors didn't have time to memorize their lines, really, but they got the gist and improvised.
One writer later credited us with the first soap opera satire, before Mary Hartman, Mary Hartman. We were written up in a magazine story, which you can find here in my literary scrapbook, scrolling down to the Library of Our Lives section. Man, I wish the tapes of these shows still existed! It was an incredible feat that Jamison pulled off.
A few memories:
Jamison drove an old VW with no windshield wipers -- in Oregon! I remember many a rainy night riding with him as he held his left hand out the open window to wipe the windshield with a sponge or rag.
There were some ex-cons from a halfway house taking university courses -- and Jamison cast many of them as narcs in our story of university life! In the grand finale, a pregnant student gives birth to ... cats! I remember this clearly. I have no idea what dramatic journey, if any, got us there.
Our schmaltzy opening included the narration, "In the library of our lives are the books of a world's wisdom. To read them, we come to college."
Boston.com / News / Boston Globe / Editorial / Opinion / Op-ed / Dumbing down American readers
Boston.com / News / Boston Globe / Editorial / Opinion / Op-ed / Dumbing down American readers:
(From 2003)
"THE DECISION to give the National Book Foundation's annual award for 'distinguished contribution' to Stephen King is extraordinary, another low in the shocking process of dumbing down our cultural life. I've described King in the past as a writer of penny dreadfuls, but perhaps even that is too kind. He shares nothing with Edgar Allan Poe. What he is is an immensely inadequate writer on a sentence-by-sentence, paragraph-by-paragraph, book-by-book basis. The publishing industry has stooped terribly low to bestow on King a lifetime award that has previously gone to the novelists Saul Bellow and Philip Roth and to playwright Arthur Miller. By awarding it to King they recognize nothing but the commercial value of his books, which sell in the millions but do little more for humanity than keep the publishing world afloat. If this is going to be the criterion in the future, then perhaps next year the committee should give its award for distinguished contribution to Danielle Steel, and surely the Nobel Prize for literature should go to J.K. Rowling."
Conservatives4Palin.com: 10 Qualifications Sarah Palin Has Over Five Recent Presidents (Part One)
Conservatives4Palin.com: 10 Qualifications Sarah Palin Has Over Five Recent Presidents (Part One)
This is hilarious! This is at the level of "I can see Russia from my house." Being in the PTA qualifies her to be president! The thing is, these folks are absolutely serious. Un-f*ing-believable. (It even lists two and a half years as governor! Forget quitting.)
Tim Berners-Lee: Facebook could fragment web | Technology | guardian.co.uk
Tim Berners-Lee: Facebook could fragment web | Technology | guardian.co.uk:
"'The web evolved into a powerful, ubiquitous tool because it was built on egalitarian principles,' he said. 'The web as we know it, however, is being threatened in different ways. Some of its most successful inhabitants have begun to chip away at its principles.'"
This is a very old story. It happened in radio, in TV. "Open" media become fragmented and closed by powerful corporate participation and restrictions. There's no reason to be optimistic and think the pattern will be broken online. As long as the real power belongs to corporations, this is what happens.
This is a very old story. It happened in radio, in TV. "Open" media become fragmented and closed by powerful corporate participation and restrictions. There's no reason to be optimistic and think the pattern will be broken online. As long as the real power belongs to corporations, this is what happens.
Chris!
What a delightful accident! Weather folks are telling me to expect snow this afternoon, so I decided to run a necessary errand this morning before it started. The jazz station was playing my favorite vocalist, Chris Connor. And kept playing her. And they were still playing her when I returned, a very long set of greatness indeed! From 1953:
Wall Street, investment bankers, and social good : The New Yorker
Wall Street, investment bankers, and social good : The New Yorker:
"Much of what investment bankers do is socially worthless."
1963
The Ballad of JFK
Sunday, November 21, 2010
Moore scores 30, leads UConn to 81st straight win - College Women's Basketball - Rivals.com
Moore scores 30, leads UConn to 81st straight win - College Women's Basketball - Rivals.com:
"Washington University won 81 in a row from 1998-2001. UConn should break the mark against Howard on Friday, then set off toward the next milestone: UCLA’s 88-game winning streak during the 1970s, the longest by a men’s program."
Wintry
Snow before Thanksgiving is unheard of here but we got some today, though it didn't stick, and more is forecast tomorrow. If Tuesday classes get cancelled, not impossible with a little snow on the ground, we never know what to do in snow, that means no classes at all this week. Might be an interesting end of term.
Bandwidth price remains highest in Asia » LIRNEasia - a regional ICT policy and regulation think tank active across the Asia Pacific
Bandwidth price remains highest in Asia » LIRNEasia - a regional ICT policy and regulation think tank active across the Asia Pacific:
"The bandwidth prices in Asia remain more than 300% expensive than the western hemisphere,"
FDR, Reagan, and Obama - NYTimes.com
FDR, Reagan, and Obama - NYTimes.com:
"More and more, it’s becoming clear that progressives who had their hearts set on Obama were engaged in a huge act of self-delusion. Once you got past the soaring rhetoric you noticed, if you actually paid attention to what he said, that he largely accepted the conservative storyline, a view of the world, including a mythological history, that bears little resemblance to the facts."
In my view, Obama is the most disappointing politician since Humphrey. I don't know how it can happen but I want to see Clinton, not Obama, be the Democratic candidate in 2012. (in today's world I need to add "short of bloodshed"!).
In my view, Obama is the most disappointing politician since Humphrey. I don't know how it can happen but I want to see Clinton, not Obama, be the Democratic candidate in 2012. (in today's world I need to add "short of bloodshed"!).
Downsizing
I maintian five websites, not counting this blog -- and I'm not renewing three of them. I renewed them last summer and probably shouldn't have. They are sites maintained by my business self, which has been mostly shut down anyway and now it's time to complete the job. Total retirement in this sphere of my life. All this will happen in the spring. Spring cleaning, let's say.
Zar Zavala, Harvard Player, Finishes Yale Game A Rhodes Scholar
Zar Zavala, Harvard Player, Finishes Yale Game A Rhodes Scholar:
"CAMBRIDGE, Mass. — Harvard receiver Zar Zavala left the field to celebrate with his family after the Crimson beat Yale on Saturday and found a text message on his cell phone.
It said: 'Congratulations. You're a Rhodes Scholar.'"
Yes, there still are student-athletes in the game. You just don't find many of them in the big farm team schools.
It said: 'Congratulations. You're a Rhodes Scholar.'"
Yes, there still are student-athletes in the game. You just don't find many of them in the big farm team schools.
Saturday, November 20, 2010
13 Days
Harvard v. Yale
I didn't know which team to root for. I have a soft spot for Harvard because in high school I worked for the Harvard Observatory monitoring variable stars, one of the few teens in the country to do so. Yet I fell in love with Yale when I went to a hypertext conference there in the early 90s. Eventually I decided childhood wins and rooted for Harvard, who is leading in the 4th quarter.
Disappointment
I do feel minor disappointment in one area of "having written": I was hoping to hear from two cast members in particular about their reactions. I assume a positive response would have been more forthcoming than something less. Sometimes hearing nothing is not a good thing.
B. Joe Medley as Santa
No. 3 Boise State rolls past Fresno State 51-0 - Yahoo! News
No. 3 Boise State rolls past Fresno State 51-0 - Yahoo! News:
"'They got all the pieces, I mean they really do. I think the truth of the matter is people are scared to play them,' Fresno State coach Pat Hill said. 'They don't want to play them. It's like last year when they put Boise against TCU. They don't want to play against those types of teams. I'll say it. I have no problem saying it. I'll take Boise State against anybody in the country.'"
Boise State beat Oregon last year. How I'd love a rematch. I don't care who wins, actually, my affections for Oregon compromised by Nike's de facto ownership of the team. I've come to love the Oregon coach, however.
Boise State beat Oregon last year. How I'd love a rematch. I don't care who wins, actually, my affections for Oregon compromised by Nike's de facto ownership of the team. I've come to love the Oregon coach, however.
Friday, November 19, 2010
Mark Twain’s Autobiography Is Flying Off the Shelves - NYTimes.com
Mark Twain’s Autobiography Is Flying Off the Shelves - NYTimes.com:
"When editors at the University of California Press pondered the possible demand for “Autobiography of Mark Twain,” a $35, four-pound, 500,000-word doorstopper of a memoir, they kept their expectations modest with a planned print run of 7,500 copies.
Now it is a smash hit across the country, landing on best-seller lists and going back to press six times, for a total print run — so far — of 275,000. The publisher cannot print copies quickly enough, leaving some bookstores and online retailers stranded without copies just as the holiday shopping season begins."
Now it is a smash hit across the country, landing on best-seller lists and going back to press six times, for a total print run — so far — of 275,000. The publisher cannot print copies quickly enough, leaving some bookstores and online retailers stranded without copies just as the holiday shopping season begins."
Global Voices in English » China: First case of Twitter inquisition
Global Voices in English » China: First case of Twitter inquisition:
"On 15 November, a woman in China was sentenced to one year of ‘re-education through labour’ for sending a single tweet."
Quotation of the day
About our film:
"It’s kind of like Borges and Nabokov got together with Linklater to make a Rob Reiner mockumentary." --Steve Patterson
Is art democratic?
The new Amazon Studios, which so aggressively supports young screenwriters and filmmakers in many ways, includes an option that troubles me, no doubt because I am "old school" on an issue that's been emerging in the culture, slowly for some time now. What does it mean to be "an author"? Recent studies have shown that students writing papers "borrow" from material they find on the net without hesitation. Indeed, I've done this myself, taking clips from YouTube for my films, most often with the original source unknown. Students don't understand, or respond to, the traditional notion of "intellectual property" and so don't believe they are doing anything wrong when they cut and paste material on the net into their own papers. At least according to this study I read.
At Amazon Studios, anyone can download anyone else's screenplay and revise it and upload it again. This is a remarkable option! Granted, this in fact mirrors a certain reality in Hollywood. At the same time, the blasts to kingdom come any traditional notion of "authorship" and this is what I'm not prepared to embrace.
In the documentary Dreams On Spec screenwriter Ed Solomon makes the case that most successful films, both financially and critically, are created by "a single vision." Not 3 or 4 writers but one. This appears to be true with a number of my favorite films that come to mind: Harold Pinter's French Lt's Woman, John Guare's Atlantic City. A single author.
Yet there does, in fact, appear to be a trend embracing a kind of "democratic art" in which many authors freely contribute. Note this is not exactly collaboration. If I download a script from Amazon Studios and heavily rewrite it, I am not doing so in collaboration with the author. I am doing so because I think I am "better" than the author and can improve his story. Which happens all the time in Hollywood except that a "single vision," a producer, oversees the activity and chooses (and pays) the participants.
A student who pointed out this option at Amazon also has qualms about it. He is a young filmmaker and doesn't like the idea of throwing his work out there to be revised by just anyone. I don't blame him.
Herein is the plot for a thriller, of course. The original author's revenge and all that. Trouble is, a stranger may revise it so it becomes unrecognizable.
p.s. I grew up in the tradition of the artist as seer, as unique visionary, as special, as singular. I don't buy that any more and haven't for a long time. But I do believe in single authorship, the notion of author, which is the root of authority. I believe there can be, and often are, too many cooks in the kitchen.
At Amazon Studios, anyone can download anyone else's screenplay and revise it and upload it again. This is a remarkable option! Granted, this in fact mirrors a certain reality in Hollywood. At the same time, the blasts to kingdom come any traditional notion of "authorship" and this is what I'm not prepared to embrace.
In the documentary Dreams On Spec screenwriter Ed Solomon makes the case that most successful films, both financially and critically, are created by "a single vision." Not 3 or 4 writers but one. This appears to be true with a number of my favorite films that come to mind: Harold Pinter's French Lt's Woman, John Guare's Atlantic City. A single author.
Yet there does, in fact, appear to be a trend embracing a kind of "democratic art" in which many authors freely contribute. Note this is not exactly collaboration. If I download a script from Amazon Studios and heavily rewrite it, I am not doing so in collaboration with the author. I am doing so because I think I am "better" than the author and can improve his story. Which happens all the time in Hollywood except that a "single vision," a producer, oversees the activity and chooses (and pays) the participants.
A student who pointed out this option at Amazon also has qualms about it. He is a young filmmaker and doesn't like the idea of throwing his work out there to be revised by just anyone. I don't blame him.
Herein is the plot for a thriller, of course. The original author's revenge and all that. Trouble is, a stranger may revise it so it becomes unrecognizable.
p.s. I grew up in the tradition of the artist as seer, as unique visionary, as special, as singular. I don't buy that any more and haven't for a long time. But I do believe in single authorship, the notion of author, which is the root of authority. I believe there can be, and often are, too many cooks in the kitchen.
Fiscal Strength: millionaires who want to be taxed
Fiscal Strength:
"We are writing to urge you to stand firm against those who would put politics ahead of their country.
For the fiscal health of our nation and the well-being of our fellow citizens, we ask that you allow tax cuts on incomes over $1,000,000 to expire at the end of this year as scheduled.
We make this request as loyal citizens who now or in the past earned an income of $1,000,000 per year or more."
For the fiscal health of our nation and the well-being of our fellow citizens, we ask that you allow tax cuts on incomes over $1,000,000 to expire at the end of this year as scheduled.
We make this request as loyal citizens who now or in the past earned an income of $1,000,000 per year or more."
Love it.
Thursday, November 18, 2010
Bob Hicks on our film
Hicks has many interesting things to say about The Farewell Wake and its context. Check out Small World, Big Bang.
OK! Mr. Scatter thinks we just might be seeing the beginning of a trend in low-budget, do-it-yourself, power-to-the-people, new-media-driven movies. And it tickles him no end that a crusty renegade in his 70s is one of the first guys out of the gate to show the kids how it’s done.
Lah de dah
Quiet office hours. One student came by for a brief visit and update.
UCLA-Washington football game tonight, and I should get home early enough to catch the end of it. Will have it on TiVo at any rate.
Not much happening with the film. Not that I expected anything. But it's nice to be surprised. Nice to find out somebody somewhere really digs it.
Yes, "having written" is so much less exciting than "writing." I have no idea why Dorothy Parker felt otherwise.
I recall a scene in the film Mrs. Parker and the Vicious Circle, a great title, in which as an old lady she gets some award or other. She's a bit drunk, as she often was in her life, and staggers on stage to say, "It's about time." Love it!
May the gods bless the ego of the artist, say I. It's often the only thing that keeps her going.
UCLA-Washington football game tonight, and I should get home early enough to catch the end of it. Will have it on TiVo at any rate.
Not much happening with the film. Not that I expected anything. But it's nice to be surprised. Nice to find out somebody somewhere really digs it.
Yes, "having written" is so much less exciting than "writing." I have no idea why Dorothy Parker felt otherwise.
May the gods bless the ego of the artist, say I. It's often the only thing that keeps her going.
Patti Smith Wins National Book Award for Memoir - NYTimes.com
Patti Smith Wins National Book Award for Memoir - NYTimes.com:
"In the fiction category, Jaimy Gordon won for “Lord of Misrule,” a surprise pick for a book published by McPherson & Company, a small literary publisher in Kingston, N.Y. The novel, about the ruthless world of horse racing in West Virginia, was praised by the judges as a “vivid, memorable and linguistically rich novel.”
“I’m totally unprepared, and I’m totally surprised,” a stunned-looking Ms. Gordon said in a brief speech."
“I’m totally unprepared, and I’m totally surprised,” a stunned-looking Ms. Gordon said in a brief speech."
Felix is King of AL pitchers, taking Cy Young | Mariners.com: News
Felix is King of AL pitchers, taking Cy Young | Mariners.com: News:
"'I don't have any words to explain how it feels,' Hernandez said in a conference call with reporters from his home in Venezuela. 'When I first heard, my mind was like, 'Really, really?' I had to ask again, 'Did I win the Cy Young?' And then I started crying and jumping around the house. It was a great, great, great, great, amazing thing.'"
Felix Hernandez Wins AL Cy Young Award With 13-12 Record
"NEW YORK — For once, Felix Hernandez got all the support he needed for a big win.
The Seattle ace earned the AL Cy Young Award on Thursday despite a modest 13-12 record. His major league-leading 2.27 ERA and superior stats put him far ahead of Tampa Bay's David Price and the Yankees' CC Sabathia and their impressive win-loss numbers."
Good news! NW sports fans don't get much ha ha.
The Haitian Blogger: Acts of God and Retribution in Haiti
The Haitian Blogger: Acts of God and Retribution in Haiti
How to many Haitians we become the bad guys.
How to many Haitians we become the bad guys.
Art Scatter » Blog Archive » Home on the range: separated at birth?
Art Scatter » Blog Archive » Home on the range: separated at birth?:
"If a county goes “Red” by a landslide 60 to 40 percent, it still means that four out of ten voters went “Blue,” and you might be surprised at some of the things those other six think, too.)"
Winding down
I only have 4 classes left, what with a short week coming up. Amazing. I have 2 movies yet to show, so there's half of them. Today I plan to give a pep talk to my several students who are still "lost" with regard to screenwriting.
Joseph A. Palermo: D-Day in the Class War
Joseph A. Palermo: D-Day in the Class War:
"And how are working taxpayers repaid for the assistance they've given to their fellow citizens of the investing class? They get 'commissions' and 'foundations' and elite 'study groups' that are orchestrating the next giant rip-off of America's middle class.
Few in the press seem to want to educate the public about how we got into this fiscal crisis in the first place or why projected budget surpluses at the beginning of the Bush years were so needlessly squandered. And remember, those surpluses were turned into deficits through 'bipartisan' agreements, such as the Bush tax cuts, the wars, and the bailouts. There's also precious little mention of the grotesque inequality in American society these days, which is worse than even during the Gilded Age. The establishment press seems determined to avoid the obvious conclusion: The rich, the super-rich, and the super-duper rich (as well as the conglomerates) must pay more in taxes to get the United States through the crisis. Ending the two debilitating wars and rolling back what Eisenhower called the 'military-industrial complex' should be next. And the billions of dollars wasted in corporate welfare each year must be diverted to human needs."
Few in the press seem to want to educate the public about how we got into this fiscal crisis in the first place or why projected budget surpluses at the beginning of the Bush years were so needlessly squandered. And remember, those surpluses were turned into deficits through 'bipartisan' agreements, such as the Bush tax cuts, the wars, and the bailouts. There's also precious little mention of the grotesque inequality in American society these days, which is worse than even during the Gilded Age. The establishment press seems determined to avoid the obvious conclusion: The rich, the super-rich, and the super-duper rich (as well as the conglomerates) must pay more in taxes to get the United States through the crisis. Ending the two debilitating wars and rolling back what Eisenhower called the 'military-industrial complex' should be next. And the billions of dollars wasted in corporate welfare each year must be diverted to human needs."
Outgoing Rep. Inglis Blasts GOP Skepticism on Global Warming - NYTimes.com
Outgoing Rep. Inglis Blasts GOP Skepticism on Global Warming - NYTimes.com:
"'To my free enterprise colleagues, whether you think it's all a bunch of hooey, what we talk about in this committee -- the Chinese don't, and they plan on eating our lunch in the next century, working on these problems,' Inglis said. 'We may press the pause button for a few years, but China is pressing the fast-forward button.'"
Yes, it looks like China is going to eat our anti-science corpses for lunch -- unless we get our act together and deal with the world as it is, not as political myopia would prefer it is.
Yes, it looks like China is going to eat our anti-science corpses for lunch -- unless we get our act together and deal with the world as it is, not as political myopia would prefer it is.
Senator Rockefeller Wants FCC To 'End' Fox News, MSNBC
Senator Rockefeller Wants FCC To 'End' Fox News, MSNBC:
"When it comes to developing content, our entertainment machine is too often in a race to the bottom. In fact, it is in a race to the bottom. Getting close. Even worse, our news media has all but surrendered to the forces of entertainment. And much of our news media is entertainment as opposed to news. Instead of a watchdog that is a check on the excesses of government and business, we have the endless barking of a 24-hour news cycle. We have journalism that is always ravenous for the next rumor, but insufficiently hungry for the facts that can nourish something called our democracy. As citizens, we are paying one heck of a price in the dumbing down of America."
But these are cable channels, out of reach of FCC. But "the dumbing down of America" is right on the mark.
Wednesday, November 17, 2010
Amazon seeks aspiring film-makers' work - News, Films - The Independent
Amazon seeks aspiring film-makers' work - News, Films - The Independent
This looks promising. Best, no entry fees, at least at the moment. Young filmmakers, go for it!
This looks promising. Best, no entry fees, at least at the moment. Young filmmakers, go for it!
Wis. man accused of shooting TV over Palin dance - Yahoo! News
Wis. man accused of shooting TV over Palin dance - Yahoo! News:
"MADISON, Wis. – A rural Wisconsin man apparently enraged by Bristol Palin's 'Dancing with the Stars' routine blasted his television with a shotgun, leading to an all-night standoff with a SWAT team, investigators said."
If he just hadn't threatened his wife ...
First Sound Press: How Do You Make a Feature-Length Movie in Your 70s?
First Sound Press: How Do You Make a Feature-Length Movie in Your 70s?
Mark Marchus sends some generous words our way.
Asian Gypsy - All Things Mongolian: Rumors of Starbucks & McDonalds opening in Mongolia
Asian Gypsy - All Things Mongolian: Rumors of Starbucks & McDonalds opening in Mongolia:
"The modern barometers of globalization and international recognition of a country as one worth its space on the map. Unfortunately. But amidst all the hoohahs, 'god-forbid's, and the apparent inevitability of a cultural apocalypse brought on by the grease and grind of the McBucks invasion, I find myself wondering at their significance. Doomsday prophets may disagree, but the invasion of the greasy burger and the bland overpriced java will not spell the end of nomadism."
Tuesday, November 16, 2010
Global Voices in English
Global Voices in English:
"Global Voices is an international community of bloggers who report on blogs and citizen media from around the world."
DVDs shipped
Office hours
To the office early, primarily for a change of scenery because I was feeling like I was in quite the rut at home. Still a bit of post partem energy lingering after the film, I suspect. The work is such an incredible high! The end of the work is such an incredible letdown! There is no solution. Or at least I haven't found one in over half a century of repeating the same goddamn dance. It's worse when I don't immediately jump to a new project, the serial monogamist. But I still tell myself I am taking a break until the first of the year -- though, in fact, maybe I am one of those folks incapable of taking a break. Maybe I'll have to make up some "place taking" project to fool myself into thinking I have something to do. Or maybe I can become obsessive about banjo and piano practice. Actually this would do me good!
Money and awards are great distractions in the "having written" phase but I don't expect either any more. You have to market something first ha ha and I have retired into the anonymity of my archive. No regrets. Awards are silly for the most part, if necessary at the beginning of a career, or at least useful then, but the only awards worth getting, really, are the ones you don't apply for. I've gotten a couple of those. They come as surprises. The others you apply for don't and if you don't get them, they become disappointments. Yes, the awards you don't apply for can be nice.
The best one I ever received was an award totally made up by a charming old woman who loved my plays. She wanted to give me money -- a true patron! -- but she wanted tax advantages in doing so. So she made up the Oregon Foundation Theatre Award and gave me a five grand check! And I became the one and only recipient of an award that was created so she could give me money with tax advantages. Love it. Even had a public presentation after a performance of one of my plays, a newspaper item, etc, but no investigative reporter caught the whiff and the next year no one remembered that it existed and no one was getting it THIS year. I guess she's really the one and only true patron I've ever had -- and what a rare thing, too, because patrons don't exist much any more.
Money and awards are great distractions in the "having written" phase but I don't expect either any more. You have to market something first ha ha and I have retired into the anonymity of my archive. No regrets. Awards are silly for the most part, if necessary at the beginning of a career, or at least useful then, but the only awards worth getting, really, are the ones you don't apply for. I've gotten a couple of those. They come as surprises. The others you apply for don't and if you don't get them, they become disappointments. Yes, the awards you don't apply for can be nice.
The best one I ever received was an award totally made up by a charming old woman who loved my plays. She wanted to give me money -- a true patron! -- but she wanted tax advantages in doing so. So she made up the Oregon Foundation Theatre Award and gave me a five grand check! And I became the one and only recipient of an award that was created so she could give me money with tax advantages. Love it. Even had a public presentation after a performance of one of my plays, a newspaper item, etc, but no investigative reporter caught the whiff and the next year no one remembered that it existed and no one was getting it THIS year. I guess she's really the one and only true patron I've ever had -- and what a rare thing, too, because patrons don't exist much any more.
Google CEO: Android update "could replace credit cards" - Nov. 15, 2010
Google CEO: Android update "could replace credit cards" - Nov. 15, 2010
I saw a film doc several years ago in which this was already the case in Japan, phones were used to charge items and even get pop from a dispenser. We used to be leaders in high tech. Lately we're followers.
Younger Generation Favoring Energy Drinks Over Coffee - TIME
Younger Generation Favoring Energy Drinks Over Coffee - TIME:
"When 24-year-old Alex Stein is looking for a morning pick-me-up, he doesn't reach for a cup of cappuccino as his parents Len and Berdie did daily while he was growing up in Westchester County, New York — he grabs an energy drink. Coffee just doesn't cut it with him."
SHOCKER: Oscar Publicist Ronni Chasen Shot And Killed – Deadline.com
SHOCKER: Oscar Publicist Ronni Chasen Shot And Killed – Deadline.com
Coincidence? Or are the awards heating up big time?
Leonid Meteor Shower Peaks Wednesday | Wired Science | Wired.com
Leonid Meteor Shower Peaks Wednesday | Wired Science | Wired.com:
"Wake up early and look up tomorrow: The annual Leonid meteor shower is expected to peak in the hours just before dawn Wednesday and Thursday."
My marketing lecture
I do this one day a term and this is the day: my Reality 101 marketing lecture, or how to get a producer with credits to read your script. It's a crap shoot and a numbers game but it can be done, and students have succeeded with the strategy I present. But the odds remain very, very long, and the serious student should seriously consider moving to LA OR making his/her own digital films as showcase pieces.
At any rate, today will be busy and generally full of good student questions.
At any rate, today will be busy and generally full of good student questions.
Tina Fey's Sarah Palin Joke Cut From Mark Twain Prize Speech (VIDEO)
Tina Fey's Sarah Palin Joke Cut From Mark Twain Prize Speech (VIDEO): Here is what got cut:
"'And, you know, politics aside, the success of Sarah Palin and women like her is good for all women - except, of course --those who will end up, you know, like, paying for their own rape 'kit 'n' stuff, But for everybody else, it's a win-win. Unless you're a gay woman who wants to marry your partner of 20 years - whatever. But for most women, the success of conservative women is good for all of us. Unless you believe in evolution. You know - actually, I take it back. The whole thing's a disaster.'"
Boise State sets itself up for promising BCS push | Boise State Football | Idaho Statesman
Boise State sets itself up for promising BCS push | Boise State Football | Idaho Statesman:
"If Boise State can beat Fresno State at Bronco Stadium on Friday, the Nov. 26 game at Nevada becomes, potentially, the biggest game in school history.
If Alabama has already defeated Auburn in Tuscaloosa earlier that day, Boise State could kick off against Nevada with a BCS title-game berth at stake."
If Alabama has already defeated Auburn in Tuscaloosa earlier that day, Boise State could kick off against Nevada with a BCS title-game berth at stake."
I'd love to see Oregon v Boise State.
First Sound Press: Conquest Abroad, Repression at Home: Sound Familiar?
First Sound Press: Conquest Abroad, Repression at Home: Sound Familiar?:
"The demigod being immortalized is the late Sioux leader Crazy Horse sitting on his horse pointing to something off in the distance. 'Retribution. . .justice. . .something to re-instill Indian pride.'"
Jane White: Why Are Academics Among the Few Americans Who Can Afford to Retire?
Jane White: Why Are Academics Among the Few Americans Who Can Afford to Retire?
This is VERY misleading. Most universities depend on adjunct faculty, part-timers without tenure and most benefits, a class to which I belong, and believe me, this article does not pertain to us.
Monday, November 15, 2010
Baz Luhrmann Tells Deadline: Carey Mulligan Is My Daisy Buchanan – Deadline.com
Baz Luhrmann Tells Deadline: Carey Mulligan Is My Daisy Buchanan – Deadline.com:
"EXCLUSIVE: Filmmaker Baz Luhrmann has found his Daisy Buchanan. He has officially given the starring role in The Great Gatsby to Carey Mulligan, the Wall Street: Money Never Sleeps and Never Let Me Go star who'll play the manipulative heroine when Luhrmann starts production on his adaptation of the F. Scott Fitzgerald literary classic."
Maybe LaLaLand can get it better this time around.
Rocky Kistner: BP Oil Disaster Victims Vow Never Forget
Rocky Kistner: BP Oil Disaster Victims Vow Never Forget:
"Now the press is gone and the world has moved on. But fishermen and businesses in the Gulf are struggling. Demand for once-prized Gulf shrimp and crab is as low as a brown pelican skimming the sea searching for its next meal. The American public isn't buying the PR campaigns or government claims that the seafood is safe. Fishermen are having a hard time paying their bills after the most disastrous season since Katrina."
Jimmy Witherspoon
Free applications I endorse
Agent Ransack will search your hard drive for file names, words and phrases in documents, file types, etc. I use it all the time. Powerful! Free!
Alleycode is an HTML editor. I make all the pages for all my sites with this. However, I know html, having taught myself coding when the web was just a kid and there were no editors around. Not sure how friendly this is otherwise.
Audacity, audio editor and recorder.
Erunt, registry backup tool. If you crash, you'll bless it!
Xenu, find broken links as you build a website.
Open Office, just as good as all the spendy Microsoft writing tools. In some ways better.
Kindle for PC, download and read Kindle books on your computer.
Celtx, film pre-production suite including screenplay dedicated program.
Alleycode is an HTML editor. I make all the pages for all my sites with this. However, I know html, having taught myself coding when the web was just a kid and there were no editors around. Not sure how friendly this is otherwise.
Audacity, audio editor and recorder.
Erunt, registry backup tool. If you crash, you'll bless it!
Xenu, find broken links as you build a website.
Open Office, just as good as all the spendy Microsoft writing tools. In some ways better.
Kindle for PC, download and read Kindle books on your computer.
Celtx, film pre-production suite including screenplay dedicated program.
Your Child Left Behind - Magazine - The Atlantic
Your Child Left Behind - Magazine - The Atlantic:
"We’ve known for some time how this story ends nationwide: only 6 percent of U.S. students perform at the advanced-proficiency level in math, a share that lags behind kids in some 30 other countries, from the United Kingdom to Taiwan. But what happens when we break down the results? Do any individual U.S. states wind up near the top?
Incredibly, no. Even if we treat each state as its own country, not a single one makes it into the top dozen contenders on the list. The best performer is Massachusetts, ringing in at No. 17."
Incredibly, no. Even if we treat each state as its own country, not a single one makes it into the top dozen contenders on the list. The best performer is Massachusetts, ringing in at No. 17."
We suck, we've sucked for years, and still no one does anything about it except talk, talk, talk.
Sunday, November 14, 2010
Christine Pelosi: It Is Time to Heal America's Civilian-Military Divide
Christine Pelosi: It Is Time to Heal America's Civilian-Military Divide:
"Yet recent surveys of military families reveal an ongoing civilian-military divide. For example, a Blue Star Families release reported over 90 percent of military families believe that the civilian communities do not understand their needs nor support the values and dignity that come with a military career."
My film trivia -- director's notes
Random trivia about THE FAREWELL WAKE.
- The video diaries are filmed in my basement office. Yes, I went to UCLA -- but I took down a Cal Tech pennant, where I also went.
- The two statuettes -- only one is visible on TV, the screen cropped more -- are 2 of the 3 Willies I won for Best New Play in the 1980s.
- Tom Strah, playing my roommate Michael, actually retired and unexpectedly visited during the filming -- so I cast him. Tom played the lead in my very first produced play (at the Univ of Oregon), a one-act called ABOVE THE FIRE, that went on to place 3rd in a national competition and launch my playwriting career. It later got published in Dramatics Magazine.
- Gerry, the actor playing the IRS agent, has a home and land in Newberg, which we used as a location when he visits Steph, a sequence that gets cut in the shorter preferred version.
- For me, a highlight of the film is the piano music, which I was able to download free from a Piano Society site. I spent a lot of time going through dozens, if not 100s, of pieces, finding the right ones.
- When I cast, I had no idea that Rick, playing CD, rode a motorcycle. We ended up taking advantage of it in several ways.
- I noted during filming that Rick wore his wedding band, so I figured I had to cover this -- hence the scene about his wearing it to keep women away. In the director's cut, I cut his last line, "Get it?", because I think his statement is stronger without it.
- We filmed a great deal more footage between the granddaughter and boyfriend but 90% of it got cut in both versions. In the director's cut, I added one bit as the granddaughter is texting him, I show his response.
- Rick actually did take a motorcycle trip on Rt 66, so I decided to use it. The high school earlier trip was added and covered with MY journal of an actual 1959 cross-country hitchhiking trip that I took. The passage he reads about the old tattooed woman is real and something that blew me away in 1959! The photos from the 2nd trip in the story are Rick's from his actual trip.
- At the premiere showing, there was laughter at the photos of the folks affected by the closing of Rt 66. I have no idea why. This happens. An audience laughs at unexpected places.
- After Rick's monologue about Rt 66 being like him, old, he said, "Where did that come from?" There was only one take with such a sequence, and it's the one I used.
- I only used about 1/3 of the footage of the IRS agent's visit to CD's house and maybe this is still a tad too much.
- I cut two comic cameos by Steve G and Dr. Johnny Wow! for the director's cut, even though they are good and got laughs at the premiere. But they slow down the narrative and there are plenty of cameos to come. I wanted to make the film as tight as possible. Wow's sent video, by the way, actually was an hour long! It was very funny stuff but belonged in its own movie.
- CD's visit to his accountant was cut to the quick. The challenge was to reveal that his daughter died of cancer, which was revealed in this scene, so I finally had to cover it in narration just before the start of the wake.
- There were two Skype cameos but I cut one in both versions and kept the best, which happened to be by Harriet.
- I cut Terry's scene as the poet to the quick, mainly keeping his fine poem.
- I had a lot of footage of Luke and Julie but ended up using only a very short statement from each.
- John, the cuckold, sent his footage from England, answering an invitation I posted on a video forum I belong to. He used a green screen. I kept it as sent.
- The dance by Kate that begins her sequence as the dancer actually was a last minute addition. I decided I wanted something with her wearing a mask, and she suggested dancing. Later I found the piano music to match the dance. After folks bad-mouthing CD, Kate starts making the opposite case. I insisted on this balance.
- Martha as Prof. Snow says her critical commentary was unprepared in advance, completely off the top. She blows me away, she's so convincing. We shot in her home office.
- Robert and Lois as the couple talking at the same time do a wonderful job. My only direction was that she wants to go, he doesn't, and they talk non-stop at the same time. All the content is theirs. The ending, talking in unison, developed after several takes as we figured out how to end the scene.
- The scene with wife #3 is key to my character. I knew I needed such a scene, it was a matter of choosing the other person in the scene. As shot, there was a lot including her son but unfortunately the impression was left that the kid was CD's and I definitely didn't want this distraction, so I cut the kid entirely, although he does appear at the wake.
- Before the breaking news of the hostage, I cut about 6 minutes for the shorter version, the entire sequence of the IRS agent visiting the accountant, then visiting Steph. This entire narrative line was removed from the director's cut. It remains in the full version but I find it totally irrelevant and distracting from the main narrative. At this point, we need to get to the wake as soon as possible.
- I cut a lot from John's monologue as the crazy old retired prof. Again, I think the details get distracting and slow down the narrative.
- The scene with Jayne as almost wife #5 is critical because we learn CD had cancer, which leads to revealing he lost a daughter to cancer, and then directly to the wake event.
- I knew when I shot the wake that I'd use black-and-white still sequences to move from one moment to another. Much more footage was shot than used as a result. The wonderful moment of Amy as Han Soo lighting the cigarette was her idea, not mine. This happened often, actors creatively adding great bits.
- John, CD's son, was supposed to be in the bar scene after the wake but the actor went to the wrong location! Rather than rescheduling (we'd already had to do that once), we just winged it without him, putting John in the john.
- The flashback foaming at the mouth scene happened because John, the actor, suggested really doing this in my film! Completely the wrong tone but I liked the idea of showing this, so figured a way to use it.
- In the director's cut, I add a couple seconds of black screen after the bar scene, which makes the transition to returning to retirement less abrupt, I think. The snow footage was something I had taken a few years ago and stored for possible future use. I do a lot of that. The summer sequence originally included a very artsy montage of clips I got from ArtBeats but I finally decided, as pretty and artsy as it was, this sequence was just artsy jacking off and slowed the narrative. Only the humming bird remains.
- The ghost of the wife idea came very late to me, and adding Earth Angel later still. Both are inspired.
- Originally Robt Projansky was going to be the voice of the radio philosopher but he got lost coming here to tape it. Rather than reschedule I taped the voice myself, then tampered with it to make it unrecognizable (I hope).
- I cut Andrew as the first ex-student for the director's cut, thinking I needed only one -- and Penny's line in her scene gets echoed through the ending, so she was the one to keep. The interruption of the phone call was real -- but Claire, the actor, kept in character, so I was able to use it.
- The flight to Guam sequence includes my footage of flying out of Portland with YouTube stuff I found of flying into Guam.
- The Guam scene between the brothers was the last thing we shot. I was getting over a bad cold and still had a cough but didn't want to postpone finishing up. My dad was stationed in Guam after WWII and he did send home 8mm film showing topless native ladies in grass skirts. I think this scene is very strong, carried by Rick's incredible performance.
- Very early on, I had an image near the end of the film of the brothers talking intimately, each filming the other with a Flip. I'm not sure we set it up right but the image remained and was used.
- I had to fix a problem of clothing continuity when my character returns home, which is handled in the director's cut but left unfixed in the full version.
- A typo in the credits remains in the DVDs of both versions but is fixed in the online director's cut.
Insiders' guide to the northern lights | Travel | The Guardian
"The aurora borealis is about to enter the most spectacular phase of its 11-year cycle. Our experts reveal the best places to see one of the planet's greatest natural shows"
Daily Kos: Surprising American public opinion on wars, past and present
Daily Kos: Surprising American public opinion on wars, past and present:
"Younger Americans were significantly more in favor of the Vietnam War than older Americans."
Daily Kos: In the name of real patriotism the VA must be funded
Daily Kos: In the name of real patriotism the VA must be funded:
"The war for the warrior doesn’t end on a date set by politicians and world leaders. The war will always be with them and me. It will be with us until the day we die. You called us to duty and we answered. Some of us answered the call multiple times and are suffering compounding injuries."
As Glaciers Melt, Scientists Seek New Data on Rising Seas - NYTimes.com
As Glaciers Melt, Scientists Seek New Data on Rising Seas - NYTimes.com:
"As a result of recent calculations that take the changes into account, many scientists now say that sea level is likely to rise perhaps three feet by 2100 — an increase that, should it come to pass, would pose a threat to coastal regions the world over."
A former student does well
The headline reads Saudi trailblazer makes vision come true and what follows is an interview with Aysha AlKusayer, my former graduate student. In the interview is this generous remark:
One of the great joys of teaching is to see former students do well. (And the last thing I said to her was, "You may be in the right place at the right time" back home, which apparently is the case.)Are there any additional comments you’d like to add?I would like to thank my screenwriting teacher and thesis supervisor at Portland State University, Prof. Charles Deemer, a true old-school. I came to his classes curious about screenwriting, and graduated as a committed screenwriter. The day I graduated he helped me send out a bunch of scripts to studios in Hollywood which have responded to my query letters. Up to this day, and despite his many commitments and projects, he takes the time to respond to my emails, and to answer my questions about screenwriting. How could you thank dedicated teachers like that, except by trying your best?
Oregon escapes
Cal's kicker missed a short field goal from a distance he had been perfect at for the past three years -- and this let #1 Oregon escape with a meager 15-13 victory in a game that was a huge victory for Cal's defense. Since #2 Auburn beat a better team more easily, and Oregon held a slim lead in last week's BCS poll, I feel certain that the Ducks will fall to #2 today. I also hope Boise State climbs over TCU to #3, which may be too much to expect. But TCU barely won as well, while Boise once again blew out a weak opponent.
Alex Palmer: Ten Worst Movie Adaptations of Great Books (VIDEO)
Alex Palmer: Ten Worst Movie Adaptations of Great Books (VIDEO)
My vote for the best, Harold Pinter's screenplay adapting John Fowles' brilliant The French Lt's Woman (for which he lost the Oscar to On Golden Pond, a travesty I'll never forget or forgive).
My vote for the best, Harold Pinter's screenplay adapting John Fowles' brilliant The French Lt's Woman (for which he lost the Oscar to On Golden Pond, a travesty I'll never forget or forgive).
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