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| Sunday, November 22nd, 2009 |
deliasherman
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3:35p |
The New Electric Ballroom
I didn't really know much about this before we went. An out-of-town friend was going with other friends, I find the St. Ann's Warehouse productions stimulating, I like Brooklyn. Had I known, I probably wouldn't have gone, and would have missed a lovely dinner and a play different from the Classic Theatre/Musical/Old-Fashioned well-made plays I usually go to. So now I've had my Becket-meets-Synge-meets-Genet experience, and don't need to have another one for a while. That said, The New Electric Ballroom was a solid and nicely-structured representative of the genre, with three remarkable actresses playing sisters, caught up in the pivotal experience of going to hear a rock star at the eponymous ballroom when the older ones were 16 and 18. The younger one (now in her 40s) is their audience and effectual slave, being the only one who ever leaves the house, but is slowly withering in the desert of a dead-end job in a small canning town, with no emotional life outside her sisters' stories and no prospect of one. The only other character is a middle-aged fishmonger who bursts into the house at intervals, compulsively delivering fish and gossip, for neither of which he is paid or thanked. In short, it's a wee bit on the grim side. In case this kind of thing is absolutely your cup of Barry's, I won't reveal the really rather cool climax and anti-climax (in the classical sense) that shapes the second half, but it doesn't spoil anything, I think, to remark that it doesn't relieve the general aura of "life sucks and then you die" that pervades the narrative. As you may have figured out, there's nobody who likes a good tragedy as well as I. But I do pretty much lack a taste for irony, and this is a deeply ironical play. I'm also not wild about the assumption that a woman can't possibly have a life if she doesn't have a man, but I suppose it could equally well be read as a cautionary tale for women who believe that, and it's written by a woman (Enda Walsh) so I will suspend judgment. In any case,, Rosaleen Linehan, who plays the oldest sister, Breda, has played Beckett (no surprises there) and is a force of nature. The second sister, Ada, is played by Catherine Walsh, who has been in Dancing at Lughnasa--and done Beckett on the radio. She, too, was remarkable. The youngest sister, Ruth Mcabe, was in The Snapper, among other things, but wasn't quite up to the weight of the others (IMHO, anyway). Mikel Murfi, as the lone (and lonely) male Patsy, was wonderful, with a real range and vulnerability. |
yeloson
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12:14p |
Movies and Mystery Peoples pt. 2
Ended up re-watching The Debut, and being the geek that I am, looked up what Wikipedia had to say: Right after Gene finished shooting the first 10 mins of his thesis project, he sent the movie script to potential financial backers and was turned down. Gene and John went around Hollywood, "shopping" the idea of The Debut to all the major Hollywood studios(Disney, Warner Bros., MGM, Paramount, 20th Century Fox, Columbia, Universal). Most of the studio executives didn't know what a Filipino/Filipino American was and told him the film needed a white actor in a lead so the film can be marketable.Um. Living in California (or anywhere on the West Coast) and you don't even know WHAT a filipino IS? Seriously? Also: The most difficult role to cast was finding the love interest of Ben. Most of the females that auditioned were, light skinned Filipinas or Half Filipino/European females or as Gene puts it, "Miss Saigon Girls." Actress Joy Bisco was chosen after she heard at a club they were looking for dark skin Filipino American actresses.Colorism, roles for darker women, etc. Guh. |
littlebutfierce
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8:16p |
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yswilce
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12:06p |
Yes, what she said, exactly
Also from this week's NY Times book review section: "To the Editor: Thank you for not comparing any children’s fantasy novel in the children’s books issue (Nov. 8) to the Harry Potter series. More than three-quarters of the paperbacks I own have quotes on the back cover from The Times or some other respected literary source comparing the book to Harry Potter. None of these books have anything to do with Harry Potter. It seems that the only fantasy novel critics have read is Harry Potter and that they assume that all fantasy will be like Harry Potter. Children’s fantasy should be reviewed by children or adults who actually read fantasy. REBECCA LANDAU Berkeley, Calif. The writer is 13 years old and a student at Martin Luther King Middle School." Yr. obt. svt., Y.S. Wilce Current Mood:  pleased |
delux_vivens
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12:04p |
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yswilce
|
11:59a |
King on Editors
"...a good editor should improve the writer's work by doing a number of useful things: posing questions the writer should have answered and didn't, suggesting places where thematic concerns can be reinforced to make a more pleasing whole and pointing out (gently) infelicities of language. What an editor should never do is superimpose his or her own beliefs about style and story upon the author's work. An editor should be an expert midwife, not a surrogate parent." --Stephen King, latest New York Times book section. One could argue that this also describes a good critique-er, as well. Yr. obt. svt., Y.S. Wilce |
karnythia
|
1:09p |
Woke up this morning to the husbeast's computer acting up. It's fine now, but I'm starting to give all the technology in my house the side eye. In fact I think the side eye is just my new face. You? Current Mood:  cranky |
kristine_smith
|
12:59p |
In desperation (yup, more dog stuff)
I tried again around 10 or so to get Gaby to eat something. I had some duck with vegetables, which she had seemed to like before, and decided to give it another try. I know you're supposed to try proteins that they have never been exposed to before, but her exposure to duck has been transitory at best, a tablespoon here and there over the course of the year as a topper for her dry food. The primary proteins she has been exposed to are lamb (which I don't believe she ever evidenced a reaction to, but that could be fuzzy memory), chicken, and venison. Beef, in the form of jerky treats and soft food, which precipitated an immediate reaction. Anyway, I gave her about a third of a can of the duck w/ veg. She flirted with it for a little bit, then. She ate it. Within an hour or so, she started acting bouncier. Both she and King wanted to go outside, so I raked leaves for an hour or so while she and King patrolled the yard and roughhoused. She didn't seem interested in eating grass. She ran around, chased squirrels, and barked. I just fed her another third of a can. She ate it. She's resting now. I don't want to get my hopes up. This was the case with the venison as well--some previous slight exposure, but the only food she would touch--which may indicate that in a month or so I will be going through this all over again. I could try to nip it at the bud and start introducing the rabbit food after she recovers a bit--it may be easier to introduce her to new food when she isn't sick. No more d-word, that I could see. No squatting or scooting. Hoping that's a sign that the imodium is doing its thing. Now we wait and see what the blood tests reveal... Current Mood:  pins and needles |
jadelennox
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1:57p |
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sparkymonster
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1:18p |
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james_nicoll
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6:15p |
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professornana
|
11:19a |
Friday in Philly
So, after the session with Jennifer, Daria, and Jennifer, I dashed off to the next session. Thankfully, it was just across the hall. There was the panel sponsored by the STANDING COMMITTEE AGAINST CENSORSHIP and chaired by Carol Bedard. Featured speakers were David Levithan, Lauren Myracle and Jay Asher who spoke with passion and humor about banning books. Again, you can search my Twitter tweets (#ncte) for excerpts from the session. Finally on Friday, I had the pleasure of chairing a session with 4 authors: Tanya Lee Stone, Jenny Moss, Loree Griffin Burns, and Kate Messner. They talked about pairing fiction and nonfiction. Information from the session is posted at the web sites of these cool authors. Friday evening was spent at the Board of Directors meeting for the council. Early to bed as the ALAN Breakfast would begin Saturday at 7 AM. Happy B-Day to Henry today, too. Love you. Current Mood: empowered |
james_nicoll
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5:12p |
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james_nicoll
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5:07p |
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professornana
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11:02a |
catching up and catching my breath
LJ seemed to be acting up for the past couple of days, so I am late getting posts about NCTE up here. However, if you search the hashtag ncte you can read my tweets on Twitter (and some on FaceBook as well. So , here in retrospect: Friday: First session this morning is with Daria Plumb, Jennifer Walsh and Jennifer Buehler talking about awards and books that have received multiple awards. Here are some shots. Forgot to bring the camera, so there are from the cell phone. Wifi keeps coming and going in Convention Center. Argh! So nice to sit and listen to others booktalk. Here is Daria Plumb speaking.  and here is an appreciative audience including the Book Whisperer Donalyn Miller:  Current Mood: informed |
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larbalestier
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3:32p |
NaNo Tip No. 22: Read Bad Books
http://justinelarbalestier.com/blog/2009/11/22/nano-tip-no-22-read-bad-books/ http://justinelarbalestier.com/?p=6919 Yesterday Scott talked about the importance of rereading books you love to figure out how the writer made you react the way you did. He advised rereading good books. Today I’m going to recommend reading and examining bad books.
This may sound like strange advice but often you learn more from examining a broken thing than something that’s in perfect working order. It’s actually easier to do this than it is to figure out how a good book achieves its effects. This is because it’s much harder to get sucked into the narrative of a book that’s broken. Every time I reread Pride and Prejudice I have to work crazy hard to look closely at the writing and avoid getting absorbed with Lizzy Bennet’s story all over again.
The next time you’re reading a book that you hate, stop and figure out why. What is it that the book is doing to annoy you? How is it broken? Are the characters thin and unbelievable? What in the writing makes you feel that way about them? Why do you think the plot makes no sense? What would you have to do to fix it? Look carefully at the text and identify what’s not working and then—and this is the important part—figure out how it could be made to work.
Now all you have to do is to avoid doing any of those things in your own writing. And remember all your excellent solutions to those plot snarls and lame characters, because one day you may need them to fix your own broken novel.
Easy peasy! |
lisatuttle
|
4:41p |
Reading and researching
I've been doing research on the internet all afternoon and am now feeling faintly sickish. Why is reading on-screen so different from reading books? Or is it just the way I have to keep wading through stuff searching for one little nugget -- whether it is something listed in a university's special collection, or an item in a newspaper from 1890. And I will have many many books to read this coming year, having agreed to be a judge for the Shirley Jackson Award. Here's a link to the press release, if you're interested: http://shirleyjacksonawards.blogspot.com/2009/11/new-advisors-jurors-added-for-shirley.htmlWould I ever have believed, back in my teens when I was constantly searching for more stuff to read (and occasionally even running out of books I wanted to read) that there would come a time when I would actually OWN more books than I could manage to read in ten years? Not that I am tired of reading, mind you. Just feeling a little overwhelmed. Especially as so much of it looks so GOOD. The rain is lashing down outside and the wind is howling, so taking a break to take the dog for a walk isn't on. Guess it'll have to be a housework break instead... Current Mood:  groggy |
jonquil
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8:35a |
Okay, this is just NOT FAIR
For the last few weeks I've been having pains in the ball joints just below both big toes. I will, of course, be going to a doctor for a diagnosis, but I very much fear that this is the bunions that have plagued my mother. (Another fun possibility is the gout that plagues my husband.) In the course of my life, with the exception of my disastrous six-month telecommute to an investment bank* during the tail of the dot-com boom, I have worn high heels on the average of once every six months. *Hint: Yes, they were absolutely as corrupt as you think they were. I was told in so many words that "The Chinese wall [between research and the investment bankers] is just a myth."
This entry was originally posted at http://jonquil.dreamwidth.org/900581.html.  comment(s) on that entry. |
tltrent
|
11:24a |
The Journey, Mary Oliver
With thanks to ![[info]](http://l-stat.livejournal.com/img/userinfo.gif) ckocher:  The Journey One day you finally knew what you had to do, and began, though the voices around you kept shouting their bad advice— though the whole house began to tremble and you felt the old tug at your ankles. "Mend my life!" each voice cried. But you didn't stop. You knew what you had to do, though the wind pried with its stiff fingers at the very foundations, though their melancholy was terrible. It was already late enough, and a wild night, and the road full of fallen branches and stones. But little by little, as you left their voices behind, the stars began to burn through the sheets of clouds, and there was a new voice which you slowly recognized as your own, that kept you company as you strode deeper and deeper into the world, determined to do the only thing you could do— determined to save the only life you could save. ~ Mary Oliver |
14theditch
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11:20a |
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14theditch
|
10:41a |
Good Night In The Big Apple
I had a good time at the event in NYC @ Columbus circle last night. Got to hang out for a few minutes with some folks I don't see enough -- Paul Witcover, Rick Bowes, Nick Parisi, Liz Gorinsky, Eric Rosenfield, Rajan Khanna, Matt Kressel, etc. Ron Hogan did a terrific job moderating the discussion of Cities: Real and Unreal, and I read with Jeff VanderMeer (Finch) 
and Geoff Manaugh, who maintains the Bldg Blog http://bldgblog.blogspot.com/ , a site dedicated to his essays about Architecture and it's relation to any other topic that takes his fancy. The blog is compelling reading, and although most anyone could find something they'd enjoy there, I think fiction writers of the fantastic in paticular could benefit from it. Manaugh's musings on Architecture are very evocative and achieve the surreal in their hybridization of his main concern with other pursuits -- literary, social, political, creative, etc. The actualities of space and place often give way to a kind of dream logic and he wanders wonderfully into the realm of Kafka. I was interested to find out later that he is also an admirer of W. G. Sebald and literary works that have an errant quality to them like The Rings of Saturn. This was evident in a few of the pieces that he read from his new book last night based on the Bldg Blog posts.
 Also, I got to meet Jenn Brissett, who has for a while now maintained a website chronicling my career @ http://www.thedrownedlife.com/
The site she has created is really excellent, much better than the Well-Built City, which is the one I created myself. I often crib infromation from her site when I need it for my CV or if I need to recall the publishing history of a work or find an interview I'd done. Jenn is an interesting individual -- she had been a book store owner in Brooklyn up until a couple years ago. She has a degree in electrical engineering with an emphasis on visual art from Boston University and is now pursuing her MFA at the Stone Coast Writer's Program of the University of Southern Maine. I noticed from looking at her personal site http://www.jennbrissett.com/ that she has recently published some short stories. Great to finally meet her, and also to see again, her classmate, Matt Switliski.
Special thanks to Witcover, who bought me a shot of Jack Daniels right before I left the bar, which put me in a kind of cheerful haze for the long, crowded and hot train ride back to Jersey.
|
nineweaving
|
10:15a |
From a book of emblems
I dreamed the other night about the sharp stump of an apple tree—not felled but struck and broken—round which grey-brown rabbits were running, widdershins. No dance; and if a ritual, offhanded. Not at all a fairy picture—I have a mug hand-painted with Titania and her rade so mounted, out of which a good child drank her milk—but Novemberish, sad and wild. Nine |
kristine_smith
|
8:27a |
Even more dog stuff
( Behind the cut )And in a bid for attention, King swiped one of my socks and chewed it up. I try to give him a treat every time I try to feed Gaby, but he can still sense a difference in the attention meter. As I was reading blog posts, he lodged himself under my desk and wouldn't budge. He finally gave up and lay down on the rug. Guess I need to give him a hug today. Current Mood:  stressed |
lyda222
|
8:24a |
Apologies and an art review
First of all, I have to apologize. I've been very off-line. Part of it has to do with the fact that Mason is off school right now. We've been spending our days enjoying his vacation by doing nothing together. Plus, the big computer has been occupied, as we're trying to beat the "insane" level of Luxor 3. Important stuff, don't ya know? A lot has happened since last we talked. First of all, my folks came to town and we checked out the Minneapolis Institute of Art's "Louvre" traveling exhibit. My short review: save your money, and start budgeting for a trip to France. The long review goes like this: we went on a Saturday, which was insanely busy, and the show was sold out to non-members, which meant that if we wanted to go to the special exhibit, we had to fork over the $50 for a membership. My folks paid for me (they got a discount ticket for their membership), but even at $2.00, I'm not sure it was worth it. Have you been to MIA? The traveling show room is really only about three rooms big. You COULD pack a lot into those rooms, they certainly did when they brought the "Myth and the Magic of Star Wars" there. But, as I've been describing this, it was like they took all the weird stuff they keep in the basement of the Louvre and brought it to Minneapolis. There were two "oh wow!" names there: Da Vinci and Michaelangelo. But in both cases, what they showed us were studies/sketches of nothing special, which is to say it wasn't even the practice piece for something famous... it was, in the Da Vinci case, a sketch of sunlight over a drape of cloth in pencil. It was clearly GOOD, but nothing that made me catch my breath. I'm not an art historian or even necessarily a good judge of fine art, but I have had the experience of walking through a museum and having my breath taken away by something that just HIT, you know? At the Louvre the first time, it was seeing Nike/winged victory on the stairs (it's since moved). The second time, it was David's "Oath of the Horatii." (sp.) At the Chicago Institute I have "Aries Chastising Cupid" stop me dead and an El Greco rock my world. At the MIA there's a bust of a woman behind a gauze veil done in marble that is stunning as well as a smaller painting by a lesser known artist of a rug merchant bazaar that also gave me that "oh!" moment. At this little exhibit, there wasn't anything like that for me. Some people seemed stopped by some of the bigger paintings, but, well, in the parlance of writers, "they didn't quite grab me, alas." And art *is* subjective, so perhaps, if you go, you can tell me about the amazing stuff I missed, but I'd recommend to most people to save their money and go "masterpiece" hunting through the main museum. The Minneapolis Institute of Art is full of some really crazy cool stuff. And it's free. And I think that's what it comes down to. For fifty bucks, or even whatever the regular cost is to get into the special exhibit hall, you kind of expect.... well, something. If not something that knocks your socks off, at least a sense that you've seen something "important." Maybe that's not a fair expectation, but it's there all the same. And, for those of you locally, be warned: the art the MIA is using in its advertising is NOT in the show. (It's a Renaissance looking-painting, though I think it's more in the style of Waterhouse, of an alchemist/astronomer gazing at a globe. Not there.) Anyway, I'm being bugged to read from the KING'S QUEST COMPANION... so I'll leave things here for now. |
| Monday, November 23rd, 2009 | |
gillpolack
|
12:11a |
Today was the last day of my worldbuilding class, and I now understand why my mind inhabits the past instead of analysing it (remember, a few weeks ago I was mourning the temporary loss of historian-Gillian and her historiographical capacity?)*. I was explaining to my students, you see, about the need to play with their learning and to take it on board. I'm a bit besotted right now with the need to create an environment that feels real. My students were a bit addicted to writing every fact I gave them. I was trying to get them to do exercises that would help them with techniques and they were telling me "This is useful. Let me just write it down." Now, I can hardly deny that I utter great words of wisdom. Even when I say stupid things, I shall claim they're great words of wisdom, largely to see how far astray I can lead everyone. That wasn't the point, though. The point was that, without grand stratagems** for transforming knowledge to understanding, any worlds we built in class would be hollow and will read hollow on the page should they be used in a novel. There are good novels written using hollow worlds, but there are much better ones written with worlds that are alive to the reader. There are so many ways of turning theoretical world building into an understanding that's good for writing. My mind inhabiting the past and investing in key figures is one. Laying out a table with plot trigger points and a character's possessions is another. Maps and timelines, character life histories, role playing games, or even mentally walking down the streets of a created town are others. The exercise we used in class was taking the basic design of a building (a house last week, a castle this week). Last week I had them add the people dynamic to it: we discussed how different parts of the house were used. This week we looked at the time dynamic: we discussed how the functions of a particular castle changed over time in response to changing circumstances. And that was what I did with my afternoon. I discovered why my mind has been so very odd these last two months. I also did my best to make the minds of others just as odd. *The punctuation in that sentence is so evil I decided to make it worse with a footnote. Besides, footnotes are fun. The world needs more footnotes. This world, not the world of my novels. I know one person who will never forgive me if I add footnotes to novels again. **Grand stratagems are obviously big piles of semiprecious stones in many layers. I need more grand stratagems in my life. The world needs footnotes and I need pretty rocks. |
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