Farewell to the Dungeon Master.

Gone the way of stickling? D&D creator, Gary Gygax, passed away March 4, 2008.

Thanks for the games, Gary.

Sex and the circus.

Okay, this isn't mine...but I chuckle every time I even look at that ... "Dating advice from Circus Performers."

Here are a few of the Q&As:

How can I pick up a circus performer?
You have to understand the personality of a circus performer. They are one part artist, one part jock, one part technician. There's a salt-of-the-earth quality to them. Just talk to them. Buy them food and booze. They like that. I like that.

How can I pick up a circus performer?
Use your knees, not your back.

How can becoming a circus performer make me better in bed?
Just say "TA DA!" after whatever you do!

How can I pick up a circus performer?
In a really tiny car.

You can read all the questions and answers yourself at Nerve.com.

David Groh.

I just read on MSN.com that actor David Groh died.

David was best known as Rhoda's husband, Joe Gerard, on the 1974-1979 television sitcom, Rhoda.

I spent nearly a year working with David on a play that landed on Broadway in 1993 (Twilight of the Golds). David was always the professional. He arrived on time, worked hard, always stayed in character, and was a pleasure to be with. As we toured and found ourselves in new cities, I got to see a little of the personal side of David. He was a wonderful, loving father of his very young son. He took such pleasure in playing with his child, and seeing things through his sons' eyes.

I will always carry with me one particular memory...

We were in Washington, D.C. -- the show was running at the Kennedy Center, our 'star' Jennifer Grey was dating George Stephanopolis, and so we had an invitation to tour the White House. Sadly, our tour took place the same day as a suicide of one of the Clinton staffers, so although we were given the tour, it was quite somber.

We were shown to the Press Room. The room in which the press sit and wait for the President to come to make special announcements. We encouraged David to walk down the long hall and to approach the press room as though he were the president. It didn't take much coaxing, and David came out of a room and walked the hall, nodding to staffers and security personnel as though he was, indeed, the President of the United States. He approached the podium and we bombarded him with questions. He looked the part, and he acted the part. But his eyes gave him away. I could see in his eyes the absolute delight he felt at playing the part of the president, IN the White House. Ah...a wonderful memory.

Thanks, David.

Valentine's Day

Happy Valentine's Day!

#29

I was amused today to log into my Goodreads account and see that I'm "#29 top reviewer."

Cool.

Those fans at it again.

A few years ago I blogged here about fan-made films. I believe that I was referring to a Star Wars film which was a huge hit on the web and even reported on some major news services.

Now I'm writing about a Star Trek fan series.

Star Trek: New Voyages has become a sensation, apparently, even spawning their own fan clubs. This series is set in the Original Series' universe and time, with amateur actors playing the roles of Kirk, Spock, McCoy, Scotty, etc. It's amusing to watch as some of the acting is even worse than Shatner's '60's performances. The attention to detail and the special effects have proven to be pretty incredible.

What has made this group of fans a bit more prominent, however, is their ability to draw interest from seasoned professionals! Bear in mind that to be a true fan film you can't be paying anyone for their work.

In their most recently released episode, George Takei (the actor who played Sulu in the original series) recreates his role of Sulu who has gone through a dimensional time warp and suddenly aged 30 years. And making a cameo is Grace lee Whitney, the woman who played Yeoman Janice Rand on the orginal series. The episode was written my Marc Scott Zicree, a professional author (I'm not sure he ever wrote for any Star Trek episodes, but I believe he was the lead writer for the new Twilight Zone series).

In the previously released episode, Walter Koenig (the original Chekov) recreated his role. Various original series guest stars have appeared, and an up-coming, two-part film was written by David Gerrold, who wrote the original series episodes with the "tribbles."

How do they do it? Talk about geeks with no life!

Still, it's been fun to watch. And based on their popularity, it shows that the fans out there really are more interested in the characters ... that they don't have to be played by Shatner, Nimoy, etc.

You can watch these on-line by clicking here.

Brilliant!

I was reading an article in the Seattle Post-Intelligencer (what an odd name for a paper) and saw an ad for the Seattle Symphony which is having two performances of symphonic recreation of video game music. I think this is absolutely brilliant! What a great way to get youth interested in attending an arts event. I wish someone in this area would do something similar.

YouTube and me.

Occassionally I do a Google search on my name and on the titles of my plays to see what might be being performed (with or without permissions). Today I decided to check YouTube to see if anyone might be posting a video of any of my plays and sure enough, I found my comedy "Burglars, Bunglers, and Neighborhood Thieves" filmed by high school students, as a movie (not staged as a play). It's about what you would expect from high schoolers ... clumsy, uneven, but it was still a bit of fun to see it. It's posted on YouTube in four parts. I'm imbedding them here. My only real complaint ... why don't I get better billing?!

PART ONE:


PART TWO:


PART THREE:


PART FOUR:

Good job, boys.

We finally finished opening our Christmas presents last night. It was the only time we were all together since returning from Christmas and it not being too late at night.

My wife and I gave the family a Wii -- an interactive video game. Very popular, hard to find this Christmas. It is the first video game we've purchased for the kids. Of course they've been complaining that they are the ONLY kids in town without a video game.

In any case, they've been very please and excited and have ejoyed a good many tennis matches, bowling games, and even boxing with this new game.

Last night the boys got their final presents from us. For my ten year old, there was a large set of "Mars Mission" LEGOS ® and for my eight year old there was a creepy crawly maker (you know, you pour goop into a metal mold and cook it until it's rubbery).

Despite the desire for the Wii, I think the boys were MUCH more excited about getting these last gifts. They spent the rest of the night making goopy spiders and bugs and building with Legos.

I'm glad to see them playing with these, hands-on activities!

2008

Another new year. How is it that this one seems to have caught me off guard? No prepared resolutions; no "best of" lists for 2007. I just go with the flow.

I think part of this was the fact that the holidays were spent with the wife's family and our own traditions that we've built up were foregone. Without the traditions, one seems somewhat adrift. I'm still looking for land, and a chance to get back into circulation.

Reinventing the wheel.

I read an article in the Seattle Post-Intelligencer this morning that has me reeling with disbelief. Some dude who works at Microsoft had a brilliant idea. With Netflix, he can get just about any movie he wants within a day or two of requesting it. Why shouldn't, he wondered, he be able to do that with books! Any book you want to read should be available within a day or two of requesting it, and then, once read, you should be able to return and get another. Brilliant!

And so, being smart Microsoft guy that he is, Dustin Hubbard went and created such a place. he calls it Paperspine. Don't take my word for it... read about it here: http://seattlepi.nwsource.com/books/342386_paperspine06.html?source=rss

I'm thinking that this is indicative of Microsoft thinking. (No, this isn't a Microsoft operation, but he is a Microsoft employee.) 'Let's take something that already exists, for free, and do the same thing, but make people pay for it.'

It doesn't matter that more than 200 years ago Benjamin Franklin had the same idea except that Franklin wasn't looking at it as a profit-making scheme. And of course Franklin's idea was a rehash of ideas from other cultures.

What burns me most, though, is that people will pay for this. Pay money to borrow books! Yet most library systems could make vast improvements and offer the additional services people are looking for with just a fraction of the money Mr. Hubbard is likely to make.

Visit your local library, please.

Happy Birthday

Happy Birthday, Theresa!

Broadway in the dark.

The strike affecting some Broadway theatres is still going on.

It's been some time now, though not long enough for either side to panic, I suspect, but negotiations continue.

Although a union man myself, I am firmly on the side of the producers for this one. My feeling is that the union has it "cushy" with this contract, and there are plenty of people who are making a very comfortable living without doing squat!

Anyone who's listened to me tell my experience working a Broadway shows knows that it drove me crazy that our production had to hire two union men to open the curtain for the show. Two men! My 12 year old daughter could do it by herself! But in union tradition, you can't eliminate a job once it's been established, and at one time, MANY years ago, it did take two men to pull the curtain open. The fact that the system was upgraded means nothing. You used to hire two men, you STILL hire two men.

And that's just the tip of the iceburg.

I hope the producers hold out on this one.

#####

update: 11/29/07

I heard today that they reached an agreement and that shows will be back up and running tonight. I hope the producers held tough.

Encounter of the First Kind.

I had a bizarre experience last night, involving lights in the sky on an over-cast, windy night.

Quite frankly, it left me a bit unnerved, but I'm quite certain that there's a logical explanation for what I saw and that the wind and overcast sky made it appear as something out of the ordinary.

Still, a weird feeling.

Justice.

I am amused.

This morning I read an article in the New York Times about some conservative authors who are suing the conservative book publishing company claiming that their company is practicing some illegal sales manipulation. (You can read the article here.)

The authors are people who clearly are supportive of the Republican and/or Bush presidency. They include the authors of Unfit for Command: Swift Boat Veterans Speak Out Against John Kerry (Jerome Corsi) and Dereliction of Duty: The Eyewitness Account of How Bill Clinton Compromised America’s National Security (Lt. Col. Robert Patterson) and Shadow War: The Untold Story of How Bush Is Winning the War on Terror (Richard Miniter).

Basically, their claim is that their conservative books publisher is offering their books to company-owned book clubs at such deeply discounted prices that the result is no royalties are paid to the authors, or that the books are being given away in large numbers as promotional items and rewards, also resulting in no royalties.

Mr. Miniter is quoted as saying, “We’re not looking for a payoff; we’re looking for justice.”

To me, these authors, who have profitted by their endorsement of the cronyism-filled Republican government and who now face a similarly cronyistic publishing practice ... justice has been served.

NCC 1701

I just finished watching the Heroes episode, titled "Distractions" (from the first season), on Netflix, and I was amused at the little inside joke that was included.

One of the main 'heroes' is a Japanese man (named Hiro), and in this particular episode he is surprised by his father, played by George Takei, whom many will recognize as 'Sulu' from the original Star Trek series. As Takei is leaving the scene, he gets into a limousine with a New York license plate which reads "NCC 1701".

"NCC 1701" also happens to be the call letters on the Star Ship Enterprise, from the original Star Trek series.

Sometimes I enjoy these little inside jokes, but this one did seem overtly obvious.

Aha!

I love it when, writing, things begin to fall into place. When you stumble for a bit, trying to figure out how to get over a hurdle and the answer finally dawns on you.

That moment happened this morning for me.

I've been working on a new one act play. I know the story, the plot, the characters, but I kept hitting a brick wall with one particular transition. I knew what was supposed to happen, but I couldn't get the characters there. As usual, the characters had taken on their own life and now it wasn't natural for them to get where they needed to be. And for a week or more I would look at my screen and read through the script and come to the same wall.

And today I broke through the wall. I realized that these characters couldn't do what I needed and the obvious answer was to bring in a new character. A small part of someone who unwittingly brings the conclusion about. It's brilliant and will work incredibly well within the structure of the play as I've written it.

I love the "AHA!" moment.

Quotes much?

Once in awhile I run across a blog that is interesting. For all my writer and teacher friends out there (yeah, both of you), you might find this blog of interest:

http://quotation-marks.blogspot.com/

The trouble with theatre.

I tend to look at theatre from a variety of viewpoints. I tend to see it as an insider, someone who works in the industry and plans for productions. Here my thinking is: "How much will that cost?" "Does it work for what we intend?" "How will that play?" "Are we over-producing--have we lost focus?" etc etc etc. In many cases there is no joy in the actual production other than seeing a final product on the stage and sensing that the audience enjoys what they see.

As a writer myself, I watch the structure of how a play builds. I listen to dialog for a ring of truth and unnecessary lines. Does the play have "forwards" -- something that keeps you wanting to know what comes next? Does the action build properly?

As a board member for a community theatre, I look at plays as possible productions. Would it be appropriate for our audiences? Does it entertain? Does it hold interest? Do we have the actors to play these parts?

And as a theatre-goer I want to be able to put my other identities away and just have a good time.

But as I look at theatre today, and look at the new plays that are out there, hopeful of being produced, I see what I think is a problem. There is a great deal of emphasis on writing about "issues."

Okay, I understand that all of our great plays throughout history tackle issues. Strong, dramatic theatre SHOULD challenge us with the way we look at modern problems. But there's a real abundance of that kind of material out there.

What about...gods forgive me for even asking...but what about laughter?

When was the last time you managed to go to a really good comedy? ...that wasn't a musical? ...that was written in the last ten years?

Is anyone writing comedy anymore? Can we find a new play that actually makes us laugh and enjoy ourselves?

Is the problem with the writers today? I read scripts for a competition for a theatre in Texas. I must have read 30-40 scripts this year and only one of them might be considered a comedy, and that one a dark comedy, along the lines of a Pinter or Beckett play. Are the hopeful writers of today only writing when they get the urge to tackle an issue?

Or does the fault lie with the theatres and producers? Are they producing plays that will make an audience laugh? Or are they looking for new plays that will challenge the audience with its thoughtful insight?

A comedy can do both. A good comedy, anyway.

Neil Simon, in his heyday, could do both. Bernard Slade managed to do it. Larry Shue was able to do both in an extremely short career.

The only funny scripts that I've seen in the last few years have come from David Ives, but I'm not sure that his work fits the "challenging the audience with thoughtful insight" category, and I don't know off-hand if he's done a full-length play.

I don't mind going to a play and having some heady stuff to think about, but I'd really like to go to a play and just relax and have some good chuckles!

I read about the challenges that theatres face, trying to get their audiences away from the television, get the kids off of the X-boxes and Playstations, and into the live theatre, but maybe we need to offer them something they'll enjoy. Maybe the younger crowd is hanging onto those video games because they want to escape the heady stuff. Maybe they'd like to kick back and laugh? They seem to be going out to the comedy clubs! By my observations, stand-up comedy is seeing an increase in business. So why isn't theatre offering a challenge to that.

The trouble with theatre is that it's gotten too dramatic. Yeah, yeah, laugh at the conflict in that sentence, but it's true. It's taken itself too seriously and seems to feel that it has to be socially relevent to be on the stage. I think it's forgotten how to entertain.

Why I love Netflix.

Okay...I really love Netflix. What a great program...pay a monthly fee, have up to three DVDs (or only two, or maybe as many as four) at any one time, and exchange them as often as you want by dropping them in the mail (and you don't pay anything extra for the postage).

Could it be any better?

Well, yes, what if you could watch some of their movies right NOW, while sitting at the computer?

Hey...guess what...?! You can! They have a "Watch Instantly" button and they send the movie right to your computer. The best part of this is that you don't have to watch the whole thing at once...it remembers where you stopped it I've been watching the television series "Heroes" (season one) in this way, and have watched the odd movie over the course of a few days by this method as well. It doesn't cost anything extra and I still have the three movies in rotation as well.

If you like movies, I really encourage checking out Netflix.