tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-185511392012-03-07T20:21:36.262-05:00Heavens to Mergatroyd blogNancynoreply@blogger.comBlogger20471100tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-18551139.post-2052273481526841712012-03-08T00:30:00.000-05:002012-03-07T20:21:36.270-05:00

Well I finally found a business lady suit but I had to go to Bloomingdales to get it - no Steinway avenue for me. Look, Grand Central Station. Am I the only one who notices how hot Mercury is? I guess it's really part of his job, being a Greek god and all. But seriously... six pack of the gods!

Nancynoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-18551139.post-45183824387682105352012-03-07T08:58:00.002-05:002012-03-07T09:03:43.624-05:00

Is this statue of an angel with a cell phone great or what? And it has numbers you can call: ...shortly after the statue was unveiled last April, a local couple, the parents of two children, set up a number so people could call the angel. Business cards soon appeared in pubs, restaurants and hotels with a picture of the angel and the number. So successful was the line that the couple

Nancynoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-18551139.post-1223179036167292742012-03-06T00:30:00.000-05:002012-03-05T19:31:32.820-05:00

It's a good thing Mr. Fuzz is as cute as he is because otherwise he would really get on my nerves. He has a range of schemes to get me to pay attention to him. I've already blogged about the one scheme, where he goes into a closet or another room and then makes piteous meows that I can't ignore - and when I say something in response he comes trotting into the room, or busts out of the closet.

Nancynoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-18551139.post-46742437392760126362012-03-05T10:51:00.000-05:002012-03-05T10:56:50.675-05:00

Wow, the parity rate drops to 8% this week - two female by-lines out of 23. One of the bylines is my Facebook friend Dahlia Lithwick, the other is a poet, Maxine Kumin. It's almost as bad as a Republican panel on health insurance and birth control. The New Yorker Parity Report A regular report on the gender parity - or lack thereof - of the current issue of The New Yorker based on table of

Nancynoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-18551139.post-70004980264588003602012-03-04T13:01:00.002-05:002012-03-06T11:42:51.717-05:00

I'm very business-like at the supermarket - I have my list of stuff to get and I tool around with my cart like nobody's business and then it's off to the self-checkout (faster than the staffed check-out) and I'm outta there. But my local supermarket sometimes has an excellent selection of music playing and it slows me down a little so I can do a step or two from "The Hustle." Some of the

Nancynoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-18551139.post-71749248043518189102012-03-02T22:11:00.003-05:002012-03-03T07:51:28.651-05:00

Most people know of the writer O. Henry through his short story The Gift of the Magi. But he wrote lots of short stories, and most of them will never catch on in the popular imagination - or at least dear baby Jesus I certainly hope not. Not in the case of his A Harlem Tragedy, which is the delightful tale of a woman, Mrs. Cassidy, who is frequently beaten by her husband: Mrs. Cassidy laughed

Nancynoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-18551139.post-20940598693613452322012-03-01T13:42:00.000-05:002012-03-01T13:56:51.664-05:00

So I'm running up and down Steinway Street in Astoria in a frustrating and futile attempt to find a store with a decent selection of ladies business suit jackets when some guy blocks my way. He was Asian, maybe late 20s, fairly normal-looking and... THE GUY Excuse me, would you like some company right now? ME (???????!!!!) Not right now. Thanks. And I quickly walk past him. And it occurs

Nancynoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-18551139.post-59356427708087677982012-02-29T17:56:00.001-05:002012-02-29T17:56:21.870-05:00

MISTRESS ILSA will be part of a line-up of one-acts for Double-Down Productions at the end of March. More details to come - and more Wall Street fat cats to punish!

Nancynoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-18551139.post-87735864035498498152012-02-28T09:10:00.000-05:002012-02-28T09:12:36.526-05:00

Does that ACLU know how to work the liberal guilt or what? They sent me a pledge for money mailer but my finances have been tight lately so I was going to throw it away - but they sent me a tiny bound copy of the US Constitution - and you can see it right through the mailer window envelope. And so I COULDN'T THROW THEIR MAILER AWAY! Could you? Look at it! And now of course I have to send

Nancynoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-18551139.post-62177987134385102012012-02-27T18:28:00.000-05:002012-02-29T17:51:38.048-05:00

Exact same parity score as last week. They're really settling into the 16:6 male-female ratio. The New Yorker Parity Report A regular report on the gender parity - or lack thereof - of the current issue of The New Yorker based on table of contents by-lines Includes fiction, non-fiction, poems. Does not include illustrations. A score of 50% means that half of all writers in the issue are

Nancynoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-18551139.post-65674873633992496722012-02-26T21:30:00.000-05:002012-02-27T04:50:05.290-05:00

I spent my Sunday morning riding back and forth between Ditmars and Queensboro Plaza on the N training making a 10-minute video out of the NYCPlaywrights February Play of the Month. That's Valerie David playing Mike Ideglio's mother - although Mike's character doesn't know it. I thought that the trains would be empty because we did this at 9AM and who the hell is awake at 9AM on a Sunday

Nancynoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-18551139.post-53938656340838794812012-02-25T19:11:00.001-05:002012-02-25T19:11:09.550-05:00

I was taken out for tea for my birthday today. But first I had to take a picture of Mr. Fuzz lounging on the Queens phone book. F And I also took a walk around Gramercy Park while waiting for reservation time. I took this photo through the fence bars. Here's what it looks like with bars. Near the park I noticed this adorable little house. Finally... tea! We were too posh to

Nancynoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-18551139.post-19337005424292296342012-02-24T04:15:00.002-05:002012-02-24T04:15:13.909-05:00

Nancynoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-18551139.post-45396056474598187352012-02-23T03:19:00.000-05:002012-02-23T05:45:44.612-05:00

Since I've been perusing back issues of the New Yorker, I'm really taken by the cover work of illustrator Heidi Goennel, and I really don't know why they don't use her work now - they don't seem to have used her for covers since the early 1990s. She's still around - here is her web site. I just love her flat color arrangements that are both beautifully abstract  yet completely figurative. 

Nancynoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-18551139.post-13810722595649219022012-02-22T07:07:00.003-05:002012-02-22T07:09:00.231-05:00

I've been researching the American Revolution as part of my work on THE RIMSKY-KORSAKOV AFFAIR - the connection is that the British Ambassador to Russia, James Harris, tried and failed to convince Catherine the Great to hire out Russian soldiers to the British to fight against the American colonists, much like the Hessian troops. And the info-trail being what it is, eventually I was reading up

Nancynoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-18551139.post-56907307050359100612012-02-21T00:30:00.000-05:002012-02-20T23:47:52.097-05:00

Nancynoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-18551139.post-75152894772800469672012-02-20T22:31:00.000-05:002012-02-27T18:30:55.816-05:00

The parity level is down one percent. So the parity rate holds steady at just a little better than 50% - that is, the current rate is 25+% and parity would be 50% so the parity rate is half of where it should be. And that's looking at single issues. If you wanted to achieve parity over the New Yorker's entire run, you'd have to publish 2 - 3 female writers for every male writer in every issue for

Nancynoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-18551139.post-48342011800085058142012-02-19T21:45:00.002-05:002012-02-19T21:45:30.898-05:00

They are known as bronies (bro + pony) My Little Pony originally started out as a plastic toy figure for girls almost 30 years ago, in 1983. But the MLP that bronies like best is the animated series, especially "Friendship is Magic." Here is a sample: I find this entire concept confounding, but I do like that there are men who are able to break the strongest taboo in our culture - liking

Nancynoreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-18551139.post-2989968728909908402012-02-18T00:30:00.000-05:002012-02-17T17:10:54.435-05:00

How is it that I have never heard of this god of all studmuffins before? David freakin' Garrett: I discovered who he is because I was researching the music of Rimsky-Korsakov and Garrett broke a world-record for violin speed by playing R-K's Flight of the Bumblebee. He attended Julliard, helping to pay for it by working as a model! And looking at him, you can see why. If Catherine the

Nancynoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-18551139.post-72914383126898666972012-02-17T00:30:00.000-05:002012-02-16T21:51:16.677-05:00

Well after half a year of research I've finally begun my Catherine the Great play, titled "The Rimsky-Korsakov Affair." The titular character, Ivan Rimsky-Korsakov was one of Catherine the Great's lovers (i.e. "favorites") but cheated on Catherine with her best friend Countess Praeskoja Bruce. I keep reading that Ivan, an accomplished violinist, was an ancestor of the composer, Nikolai

Nancynoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-18551139.post-81698978501570343312012-02-16T12:21:00.001-05:002012-02-16T12:25:50.766-05:00

I got to see Ionescopade this week thanks to the free tickets through an NYCPlaywrights web site promotion deal. I didn't have high expectations though so it wasn't a huge disappointment. This review at Back Stage pretty much covers the problems with the show. And also Time Out New York. The New York Times finishes it off. Although I find it objectionable that all the reviews give a shout-out to

Nancynoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-18551139.post-28445763389298800762012-02-15T16:27:00.002-05:002012-02-15T16:28:32.946-05:00

My actor pal Amanda Thickpenny was performing in my THE SLASH this time last year. So what's she up to these days while attending the Royal Academy of the Dramatic Arts? Well for one thing performing in the best-titled show ever You Me Bum Bum Train - she writes about it on her blog. But apparently it's like Fight Club and nobody's allowed to talk about what goes on during this show. Although

Nancynoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-18551139.post-86382883629359124932012-02-14T00:30:00.000-05:002012-02-13T23:04:59.924-05:00

Jean Auguste Dominique Ingres is one of my favorite artists - or at least his drawings are among my favorite works of art. I don't care too much for his paintings - they are overly-slick and have a ceramic sheen that shellacks the life out of them. His drawings, because they are not fussed over nearly so much, retain a feeling of aliveness and spontenaity. You can see the difference between his

Nancynoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-18551139.post-23952022929698509042012-02-13T00:00:00.000-05:002012-02-13T23:05:13.122-05:00

The sweet irony of Christopher Hitchens writing a stupid pointless article like Women Aren't Funny in Vanity Fair in in 2007 is that we are living in a time when there are more women making a living as comedians than at any time in the history of the world. And no, I'm still not sorry he's dead. Katha Pollitt had quite a few interesting things to say about the late Hitchens - she worked with

Nancynoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-18551139.post-6016978657751184272012-02-12T00:00:00.000-05:002012-02-12T00:11:54.085-05:00

I had heard of Louis C. K. but never saw his work, or knew anything about him, other then he is supposed to be very funny. I happened to be looking at some clips of him on Youtube and I was absolutely amazed by this clip, where he confesses his desire for Ewan McGregor, although Louis is straight: Normally I would think he was not serious - he's a stand-up comedian and they're supposed to say

Nancynoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-18551139.post-52742169000958731382012-02-11T00:00:00.000-05:002012-02-10T22:11:14.041-05:00

This must be new - on the steps in front of Lincoln Center they have LCD display texts. It was hard to get a good picture but you can make out "of Lincoln Center" in the image above. Speaking of Lincoln Center, here is the David H. Koch Theatre for ballet. Yes, that David Koch. I'd heard of the Wollman skating rink of course, but I've never actually seen it full of ice and skaters until now.

Nancynoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-18551139.post-75926047219379294732012-02-10T03:45:00.001-05:002012-02-10T03:55:08.336-05:00

Not only does she get to write about things like the Massachusetts Bay Colony, but she gets invited to talk to Jon Stewart and Rachel Maddow about it on television. That is what you call a goddam awesome career. As if that isn't enough, she's a friend of They Might Be Giants. Ooh They Might Be Giants videos... They really pioneered do-it-yourself videos.

Nancynoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-18551139.post-12633498988359833912012-02-09T01:31:00.004-05:002012-02-09T03:06:46.829-05:00

The most popular person I've ever known, my dear departed Earl Rich, used to always warn me against the "groupmind." This amused me because if there was ever anybody who was in a position to benefit from like-thinking and conformity, it was Earl. Although maybe I shouldn't say benefit - he used to complain that he never had any time to himself for all the people competing for his attention - his

Nancynoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-18551139.post-77097680434634461342012-02-08T00:33:00.005-05:002012-02-08T00:34:38.898-05:00

There's all kinds of classic stuff available online for free, including the immortal Plan 9 From Outer Space. There's an excellent web site, The Public Domain Review, which has gathered the best of all the free stuff together. Some other fascinating stuff: Biography and images of Phillis Wheatley a black female slave genius. An article on, and links to the unique Flatland. I read this when I

Nancynoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-18551139.post-29089757962800308172012-02-07T03:33:00.000-05:002012-02-07T03:34:25.119-05:00

The parity level doubles from last week to 28% - which is near the average New Yorker parity rate. I do the count according to by-lines so Andrea K. Scott was counted twice. The New Yorker Parity Report A regular report on the gender parity - or lack thereof - of the current issue of The New Yorker based on table of contents by-lines Includes fiction, non-fiction, poems. Does not include

Nancynoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-18551139.post-46730547146547368832012-02-06T17:12:00.001-05:002012-02-06T17:27:29.042-05:00

Lorenzo Scott and Keona Welch are just awesome actors and this is probably the best play of the month we've done. It took me hours and hours to edit this together, and clearly I could have done better if I had alot more takes. Also I have no control over my damn radiator and so some of the sound is crap because I had to do some major audio work to get rid of that awful loud steam-heat hiss.

Nancynoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-18551139.post-18434143189093527252012-02-05T14:27:00.002-05:002012-02-05T14:27:22.128-05:00

Bill Maher - Irritable Bowl Syndrome from Fraser Davidson on Vimeo. Extremely well-done animation sequence (the guy is a pro) for an extremely astute Bill Maher commentary. This almost makes me care about football. But then I read this article from the New Yorker: Does Football Have a Future? Throughout most of the Super Bowl era, football was understood to be an orthopedic, an arthroscopic,

Nancynoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-18551139.post-7708595554081320802012-02-05T00:30:00.000-05:002012-02-04T13:27:04.672-05:00

My actor/dancer pal Carolyn Paine makes love to the camera - and a dirty cheatin' no-good two-timin' other-woman's man - in the Oprah Network's show "Unfaithful" - she gave us many of the background details about doing this show - apparently getting paid to lie around in bed with a cute guy all day isn't what it's cracked up to be.

Nancynoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-18551139.post-418341947867371932012-02-04T18:35:00.000-05:002012-02-03T18:36:09.413-05:00

Well I guess I should have seen this coming. I put out a call for plays to take place on the subway for the NYCPlaywrights play of the month - to be videotaped in an actual subway car - and in addition to the usual crassness, monologues and plays that were way over 10 pages I had to deal with people who expected us to go through quite a bit of hassle - or break the law - for their 10-minute play.

Nancynoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-18551139.post-61448202452865710882012-02-03T00:30:00.000-05:002012-02-02T19:39:05.860-05:00

I can't believe I have never read the Letter from a Freedman to His Old Master before. Dictated to someone by the presumably illiterate Jourdan Anderson, it appears to be genuine and was published in a couple of contemporary newspapers - just months after the end of the Civil War and as such is an extremely important primary-source historical document. I was especially interested, although

Nancynoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-18551139.post-39691279325528327332012-02-02T23:18:00.000-05:002012-02-01T23:37:10.630-05:00

If you can watch this interview Stewart did with Yale's Jonathan Macey without the deepest respect for Stewart, you are a fool. This is maybe the most amazing thing I've seen yet on television. I'm a long-time fan of Stewart and I think this is the best thing he's ever done. Paul Krugman himself could have done no better.                         The Daily Show With Jon StewartMon - Thurs 11p /

Nancynoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-18551139.post-37989808787467384642012-02-01T00:00:00.000-05:002012-01-31T23:33:05.088-05:00

I've been researching various "recreational" drugs (via the Internet, not physically) for my developing play PALMYRA, NJ and found this amusing article by Carl Sagan about his own drug use. I wasn't at all surprised he had spent some time as a psychonaut - I remember a certain section of Carl Sagan's "Dragons of Eden": In dreams we are sometimes aware that a small portion of us is placidly

Nancynoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-18551139.post-50572422027186463552012-01-31T01:24:00.000-05:002012-01-31T01:25:21.127-05:00

Abysmal gender-parity score this week - 14%, the lowest it's been since I started keeping track. A mere three female bylines out of 21. What century is this, again? The New Yorker Parity Report A regular report on the gender parity - or lack thereof - of the current issue of The New Yorker based on table of contents by-lines Includes fiction, non-fiction, poems. Does not include illustrations

Nancynoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-18551139.post-27280870444000010962012-01-30T06:02:00.001-05:002012-01-30T06:09:34.707-05:00

This is the year of the Water Dragon, to be exact. What is a Water Dragon??? Find your Chinese zodiac sign. Chinese astrology calculator to Find the Secret of Your Life.

Nancynoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-18551139.post-53857815982398054872012-01-29T02:33:00.001-05:002012-01-30T00:50:43.005-05:00

I was amused to suddenly think of a connection between the genius cult movie "Idiocracy" and the theatre of Mac Wellman - and others in the "Neo-dramatic Writing" school. For theatre to work - for it to make contact with the audience, it has to have emotion embedded in some sort of narrative. The narrative can be absurdist, like WAITING FOR GODOT, or in bursts, like OUR TOWN, or across

Nancynoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-18551139.post-11011422017577029892012-01-28T14:54:00.000-05:002012-01-28T16:30:28.442-05:00

I received a response to my second post about the work of Mac Wellman. The commenter seems to think I'm wrong about something, but they don't say what exactly. One of the points I made about Wellman's work is that because it elevates word-play over dramatic narrative, it is anti-emotional. To continue along those lines - human emotions are not progressive. Unlike human intellectual endeavors,

Nancynoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-18551139.post-87622221240253671212012-01-27T00:00:00.000-05:002012-01-26T22:59:42.611-05:00

I knew Lennon liked cats, although I won't go so far as to call him a "crazy cat lady" as this article does. The image above is a drawing by Lennon.

Nancynoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-18551139.post-90446472121472560212012-01-26T02:27:00.000-05:002012-01-26T02:29:43.128-05:00

The literary style of the New Yorker's Adam Gopnik gets on my nerves, but some of his articles are very good and the one in this week's New Yorker, The Caging of America, is one of the best ever. This is the most important New Yorker article since Elizabeth Kolbert's profile of the Koch brothers. This is some seriously important stuff: The accelerating rate of incarceration over the past few

Nancynoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-18551139.post-26832892527819170002012-01-25T00:30:00.000-05:002012-01-24T23:09:30.847-05:00

Gender parity status is up three points to 25% - one quarter of all the New Yorker by-lines are female in this issue, which is pretty much the New Yorker standard - I've been keeping track since November 14 and the average gender parity score so far is 26%. The New Yorker Parity Report A regular report on the gender parity - or lack thereof - of the current issue of The New Yorker based on

Nancynoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-18551139.post-25847169932474900422012-01-24T10:33:00.003-05:002012-01-28T12:50:21.573-05:00

Someone commented on my recent post "poor Mac Wellman" asking "who are you, again?" I suspect it's Wellman himself. After I wrote the post, someone doing a search for "Mac Wellman" visited my web site several times. And nine times out of ten the person Googling a name is the person themselves. But no worries - as the commenter, with the use of "again", is pointedly saying, I am nobody. My

Nancynoreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-18551139.post-9424104023506914872012-01-23T04:13:00.000-05:002012-01-26T13:18:17.559-05:00

Well you could have knocked me over with a feather when I saw that Paul Krugman expressed "modest optimism" in his Monday column. I might actually believe the economy is recovering now. Krugman: But there are reasons to think that we’re finally on the (slow) road to better times. And we wouldn’t be on that road if Mr. Obama had given in to Republican demands that he slash spending, or the

Nancynoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-18551139.post-25253989430970359392012-01-22T00:11:00.003-05:002012-01-22T00:12:56.350-05:00

The crazy nastyass honey badger. Why has it taken me until now to find out about this video??? Honey badger T-shirts! Know your memes.

Nancynoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-18551139.post-15532650659406177182012-01-20T01:28:00.000-05:002012-01-20T01:31:02.836-05:00

Although the line that made me LOL was "Do you smell maple syrup?" Possibly not everybody remembers the Manhattan maple syrup mystery. It was finally solved in 2009: The city revealed on Thursday that the culprit was the seeds of fenugreek, a cloverlike plant, which are used to produce fragrances at a factory across the Hudson River in North Bergen, N.J. It turned out that the city had never

Nancynoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-18551139.post-80337590497809779082012-01-20T00:30:00.000-05:002012-01-26T13:18:54.217-05:00

If Mr. Romney is telling the truth about his taxes, he’s actually more or less typical of the very wealthy. Since 1992, the I.R.S. has been releasing income and tax data for the 400 highest-income filers. In 2008, the most recent year available, these filers paid only 18.1 percent of their income in federal income taxes; in 2007, they paid only 16.6 percent. When you bear in mind that the

Nancynoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-18551139.post-36279191581135067082012-01-19T00:00:00.000-05:002012-01-18T23:10:15.047-05:00

That's what Akiva Fox, writing in an academic organ The Thread calls him. "Poor Mac Wellman." It seems to me that Mac Wellman is doing pretty damn well for himself. Not alot of people get paid to masturbate. You think that's harsh? Check this out and try to tell me that isn't the most egregious example of wankerage you've ever read. Wellman doesn't just get paid to wank it, he gets awards, he

Nancynoreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-18551139.post-61306241726548252812012-01-18T00:30:00.000-05:002012-01-17T20:52:54.170-05:00

Like many American children, I'll wager, the first classical composer I was aware of was Beethoven, and thanks entirely to Schroeder, the musical prodigy character in Charles M. Schulz's Peanuts ensemble. I don't think I knew who Mozart was until a teenager, at least. Thanks to Schroeder I had heard the name Beethoven by the time I was in first grade. And according to Wiki it could have been

Nancynoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-18551139.post-29591466202743921982012-01-17T00:30:00.000-05:002012-01-16T19:58:02.915-05:00

Exact same gender parity status as last this week - or if you want to get technical, down by 1 female writer because Ariel Levy gets two separate pieces this week. I counted her once for each . The New Yorker Parity Report A regular report on the gender parity - or lack thereof - of the current issue of The New Yorker based on table of contents by-lines Includes fiction, non-fiction, poems.

Nancynoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-18551139.post-28445304890858264322012-01-16T17:08:00.000-05:002012-01-16T17:08:03.305-05:00

16 April 1963 My Dear Fellow Clergymen: While confined here in the Birmingham city jail, I came across your recent statement calling my present activities "unwise and untimely." Seldom do I pause to answer criticism of my work and ideas. If I sought to answer all the criticisms that cross my desk, my secretaries would have little time for anything other than such correspondence in the course of

Nancynoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-18551139.post-73079725540536018692012-01-15T16:49:00.002-05:002012-01-15T19:48:57.032-05:00

Via Facebook today I saw two examples of some really cool things being done with technology that existed for at least fifty years: Five people on an accoustic guitar: "Inflatable street art": Acoustic guitars have been around for centuries and video cameras for decades, but for some reason with all the years of entertainment on television, nobody has done anything like five people on a

Nancynoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-18551139.post-4546043118334880072012-01-14T12:38:00.001-05:002012-01-14T12:39:26.287-05:00

I had no idea the Girl Scouts were this cool. Things have certainly come a long way since I was a Brownie. Time to carb out for a good cause.

Nancynoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-18551139.post-74654944443686708292012-01-13T14:03:00.000-05:002012-01-13T19:06:01.983-05:00

The original hierarchy here.

Nancynoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-18551139.post-41631165186770193942012-01-12T13:27:00.002-05:002012-01-12T13:27:16.755-05:00

Well unlike "Larkrise to Candleford," the currently showing "Downton Abbey" is also being shown in the US, not just the UK, and according to today's New York Times is a phenomenon: If You’re Mad for ‘Downton,’ Publishers Have Reading List: The British melodrama “Downton Abbey” is already the darling of American public television. Now it has become a marketing tool for booksellers and

Nancynoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-18551139.post-44355708779231186082012-01-11T19:41:00.001-05:002012-01-12T13:17:11.318-05:00

I discovered Downton Abbey via the New Yorker's Emily Nussbaum complaining about Laura Linney's 10-second talking head. It seems to be a sort of counterpart to the late, lamented Larkrise to Candleford. In fact one of the leading actors of Larkrise, Brendan Coyle who played the main character's stone mason dad left that show to be one of the leading actors on Downton - according to Wiki the part

Nancynoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-18551139.post-71800087600162118182012-01-10T20:31:00.003-05:002012-01-16T19:44:45.119-05:00

The New Yorker's gender parity status is a smidge down this week - same number of female writers as last week, but one more male writer for a total of 22 writers. The New Yorker Parity Report A regular report on the gender parity - or lack thereof - of the current issue of The New Yorker based on table of contents by-lines Includes fiction, non-fiction, poems. Does not include illustrations.

Nancynoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-18551139.post-61700862349177934692012-01-09T21:13:00.001-05:002012-01-09T21:51:17.753-05:00

I always had a prejudice against the Beatles' HELP! album. For a few of reasons - first because it was the soundtrack for the movie HELP! which isn't a very good movie, especially compared to A HARD DAY'S NIGHT. And second because the American version has a line-up that is not as good as the British version. Luckily the version you get now via download, etc, is the British version. Here is the

Nancynoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-18551139.post-8647299535932292642012-01-08T18:29:00.003-05:002012-01-08T22:16:32.528-05:00

I just perused the Doollee.com database and on a quick spot check noted that the following play titles were given to more than one unique play: 10 plays entitled HAUNTED 11 plays entitled STUCK  12 plays entitled UNDERGROUND 14 plays entitled AFTER THE FLOOD 15 plays entitled MOTHER’S DAY 16 plays entitled LOVE 16 plays entitled BAGGAGE 36 plays entitled HOME I kid you not - thirty-six plays,

Nancynoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-18551139.post-88878751874911829352012-01-07T13:55:00.000-05:002012-01-07T14:06:29.961-05:00

So the next NYCPlaywrights play of the month call for submissions is "subway plays" - the plays are to be set in a subway and then we're going to do the recording in the subway. This isn't original, others have done things along these lines in the subway, but not so many as you might expect. There's the Darth Vader Subway Ride: And this one, which seems way excessive for a subway situation:

Nancynoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-18551139.post-63000305700472942372012-01-06T00:30:00.000-05:002012-01-06T03:29:57.876-05:00

David Lamberton and Lorenzo Scott do a nice job in this reading of the December play of the month, especially considering that they only read through it once together before I recorded this and because I had them doing a bunch of stuff, like lying on the floor, in David's case, and considering it's a long "10 minute" play. I normally would have rejected this play, the submitted script was just

Nancynoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-18551139.post-44526771249134949942012-01-05T01:48:00.002-05:002012-01-05T01:49:15.458-05:00

Thanks to Stieg Larsson I've been thinking about IKEA lately. Some intriguing IKEA facts via Wikipedia. Founded in 1943 by 17-year-old Ingvar Kamprad in Sweden, the company is named as an acronym comprising the initials of the founder's name (Ingvar Kamprad), the farm where he grew up (Elmtaryd), and his home parish (Agunnaryd, in Småland, South Sweden). IKEA products are identified by single

Nancynoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-18551139.post-64360704779657970982012-01-03T00:07:00.000-05:002012-01-02T21:47:39.298-05:00

My daughter's domestic partner is an amazing chef. The last rose of summer - with rose hips. Adorable kittehs Downtown Hartford Connecticut on a Saturday afternoon. Bizarre fog formation in the middle of the Hudson. Another view from the giant sundial.

Nancynoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-18551139.post-81177773995888793362012-01-02T12:54:00.001-05:002012-01-02T13:48:10.319-05:00

The New Yorker's parity nudges up 3 percent this week. The New Yorker Parity Report A regular report on the gender parity - or lack thereof - of the current issue of The New Yorker based on table of contents by-lines Includes fiction, non-fiction, poems. Does not include illustrations. A score of 50% means that half of all writers in the issue are female. A score of greater than 50% would

Nancynoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-18551139.post-50992866046950078952012-01-01T15:32:00.002-05:002012-01-03T09:41:55.441-05:00

I finally finished all three "Millenium" books by Stieg Larsson, and now I can see the American movie version of Dragon Tattoo. I saw the Swedish version and while I thought it was pretty good, I hear the American version is closer to the book and that's a good thing - I didn't like some of the changes in the Swedish movie. One funny thing about the Swedish movie is that they often use English

Nancynoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-18551139.post-48447033859888994862011-12-30T11:35:00.003-05:002011-12-31T13:01:03.926-05:00

2011 was notable for some theatre-related accomplishments: JULIA & BUDDY - finally complete as a full-length play and ready to go - although I didn't produce it, which was one of my 2011 goals. But that's a goal for this year now. PALMYRA, NJ - I almost have a completed first draft (after three years!) of my semi-auto-biographical play. I have an upcoming reading this January for the

Nancynoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-18551139.post-52754920675706023492011-12-29T00:18:00.002-05:002011-12-29T00:23:50.068-05:00

Wow that was the best $5 I ever spent at a thrift store. I bought this "kinky Jesus" robe about two years ago and I've found many uses for it:worn by Mike Giorgio in SODOM & GOMORRAH: THE ONE MAN SHOWworn by Doug Rossi as kinky Jesus in MISTRESS ILSAworn by Abe Lebovic in THE SLASH - no pix available, alas...and now Lorenzo Scott wears it while performing as Moses for the December Play of the

Nancynoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-18551139.post-73071011664470380072011-12-27T00:09:00.000-05:002011-12-26T13:20:48.507-05:00

The New Yorker's parity rate dips down 10% this week with only 4 female writers with a byline out of 20 total writers. Unusual feature - the rare great woman of the arts profile of Carrie Brownstein. The New Yorker generally reserves such profiles for men. And it is arguably about her relationship with a man, Fred Armisen, more than anything, albeit a non-romantic relationship.The New Yorker

Nancynoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-18551139.post-87220557218856696482011-12-26T12:05:00.002-05:002011-12-26T12:07:19.164-05:00

This is a smart kid.

Nancynoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-18551139.post-23767317462488719212011-12-25T00:03:00.000-05:002011-12-25T00:03:04.083-05:00

Am I the only one who thinks the Ghost of Christmas Present is kind of hot?Click the image above to see a larger version of the first-edition image.

Nancynoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-18551139.post-34485659367181877122011-12-24T00:07:00.000-05:002011-12-23T23:36:52.472-05:00

This photo gets my vote for photo of the year 2011.An interesting aspect of this photo is that Obama is the shortest figure in the image. If you didn't know who the people in the room were, you might expect the bald blueshirt in the center with the folded arms was in charge, or the guy in the military uniform.But the reason it really works is because Obama is isolated - his head has the most

Nancynoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-18551139.post-68513463548606855652011-12-23T20:37:00.013-05:002011-12-30T11:50:32.643-05:00

THIS POST CONTAINS SPOILERS ABOUT THE BOOK "The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo"I decided to acclimate myself to the violence of the movie The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo by reading the book first. It was a pretty fast read and not as gruesome as I feared, although there were a few bits that were pretty horrible and I quickly skimmed over descriptions of nastiness.I expected to find the book in the

Nancynoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-18551139.post-45953029261028948172011-12-21T23:15:00.003-05:002011-12-21T23:33:39.487-05:00

I have no problem with wearing something because it might help you get laid. So I have no problem with high-heeled shoes as a sexual aid. But why would you wear them to work - unless your job is a prostitute?I assume that much like traditional Chinese foot-binding, high heeled shoes are meant to indicate a woman's lack of utility - her job is to be decorative. Obviously there are degrees - in

Nancynoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-18551139.post-47185732493725705882011-12-20T23:56:00.004-05:002011-12-21T00:16:10.190-05:00

I was reviewing the Daily Show archives which go all the way back to 1999.Who could forget this classic episode from September 18, 2002? The Daily Show With Jon StewartMon - Thurs 11p / 10cFool Me Oncewww.thedailyshow.comDaily Show Full EpisodesPolitical Humor & Satire BlogThe Daily Show on FacebookBut it was the following segment with the pillows and Mo Rocca (I miss Mo Rocca) that really

Nancynoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-18551139.post-80832170667941098042011-12-19T20:44:00.001-05:002011-12-19T20:45:44.177-05:00

Tomas Tranströmer is having a good two weeks: On ­December 10, the 80-year-old Swedish poet was officially given the 2011 Nobel Prize in Literature in Oslo, and on December 19, Farrar, Straus and Giroux will publish a new edition of his verse. To get to this moment, he triumphed o’er what are perhaps the longest economic odds in the arts.THE WASTELANDEstimated poetry M.F.A.’s awarded, according

Nancynoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-18551139.post-42084162058852836952011-12-18T23:10:00.005-05:002011-12-19T00:39:42.822-05:00

What the hell is wrong with people? I saw "The Artist" today and it was incredibly mediocre. There were some nice moments but mostly it was a complete snooze - or as one of the very very few accurate reviews said: THE ARTIST Is So Minor It Barely Exists:Shockingly empty, mostly bland and often kind of boring, The Artist is a fine technical exercise but offers little else beyond the gimmick of a

Nancynoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-18551139.post-88446958500214693532011-12-17T21:49:00.003-05:002011-12-17T21:55:23.693-05:00

Carolyn Paine's Nutcracker Suite and Spicy was very good today, and apparently they're going to have some press.Meanwhile, directly after the 2PM performance I got some video clips of Carolyn for her monologue, which is all about her exasperation with doing the Nutcracker every year - apparently all ballet dancers become fed up. It is clear from this brief unedited clip alone that this will be a

Nancynoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-18551139.post-35479559216804925082011-12-16T21:36:00.004-05:002011-12-16T21:48:51.389-05:00

Wow what a busy weekend this is. First I'm off to Hartford CT to video my friend Carolyn perform in her ballet troupe's Sweet and Spicy Nutcracker - I'm creating a video of the monologue about the Nutcracker that I nagged and nagged Carolyn to write (first described here on this blog) and which she finally wrote.They perform at the Wadsworth Atheneum, and with any luck I'll also have time to drop

Nancynoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-18551139.post-31217515509056339002011-12-16T02:02:00.002-05:002011-12-16T02:59:06.459-05:00

LYSISTRATA is based on denial of the actual status of women in ancient Greece.The premise of Lysistrata, written in 411 BC by Aristophanes, is that Lysistrata convinces Greek women to go on a sex strike to pressure their men to end the Peloponnesian war.This is based on the entirely wrong notion that women in ancient Greece could refuse their husbands sex. The play briefly touches on the issue:

Nancynoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-18551139.post-68331377011098975032011-12-15T00:07:00.001-05:002011-12-15T00:09:05.565-05:00

Christmas has been promoted as a holiday of goodwill and kindness and magic and so of course there are people who think it's cutting edge to do plays about Christmas that are ugly and crass.My friend Bruce is performing in THE EIGHT: Reindeer Monologues which I haven't gone to see yet, and really don't want to, although I guess I will have to, in order to support Bruce. According to its author's

Nancynoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-18551139.post-9365087708264717722011-12-14T00:07:00.003-05:002011-12-13T19:48:58.730-05:00

The New Yorker's parity rate jumps to 30% this week. It's a double issue, which they often do at the end of the year.The New Yorker Parity ReportA regular report on the gender parity - or lack thereof - of the current issue of The New Yorker based on table of contents by-linesIncludes fiction, non-fiction, poems. Does not include illustrations.A score of 50% means that half of all writers in the

Nancynoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-18551139.post-19103074073600372012011-12-13T00:02:00.003-05:002011-12-13T00:05:58.622-05:00

This is without a doubt the most well-liked thing I've ever said on Facebook.But then Dahlia Lithwick has lots of friends.

Nancynoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-18551139.post-78573648008684432302011-12-12T00:07:00.004-05:002011-12-12T06:11:51.022-05:00

This post contains spoilers about Tina Howe's PAINTING CHURCHESI didn't think I was going to like PAINTING CHURCHES any more than I liked LEMON SKY. Certainly I'm more from the social class that Wilson writes about than the one Howe writes about. I took a master class with Howe last year (thanks to NYCPlaywrights getting free tickets) and she reminded me of my aunt the nun - tall, thin, fussy,

Nancynoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-18551139.post-24989853479153716532011-12-11T00:05:00.006-05:002011-12-10T20:45:47.085-05:00

This blog post contains spoilers about Landford Wilson's LEMON SKYI just read LEMON SKY and very much dislike it. I don't despise it the way I despise TALLEY'S FOLLY, but I like it less than BURN THIS, which I didn't like very much, but at least you watch people do things onstage. LEMON SKY is characters talking at the audience half the time. You know how people in theatre are always banging on

Nancynoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-18551139.post-68685721647564269252011-12-10T18:41:00.001-05:002011-12-10T18:52:08.546-05:00

Ironically the angel's hair is frizzed out in a way that I call "the hair of evil" and always do my best to keep my hair from doing that. *sigh*

Nancynoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-18551139.post-88150572352624633902011-12-10T00:09:00.003-05:002011-12-09T20:46:42.630-05:00

I adore classical music flash mobs.So many great moments here but my favorites are clarinet dude and the two blond violinist dudes rocking out.Also, there appears to be a store in this train station called "OK, sa far I en burger" which Google cannot find, but Google Translate says it means "OK, said the father of the burger."WTF?

Nancynoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-18551139.post-56194593460740692522011-12-09T00:17:00.001-05:002012-01-26T13:19:49.325-05:00

Watch live streaming video from nytimesopinion at livestream.com

Nancynoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-18551139.post-70063207687714496192011-12-08T00:06:00.001-05:002011-12-07T22:39:14.692-05:00

The New Yorker slides down to a 19.05% parity rate, with the same number of writers, 21, but with two fewer women for a total of four women writers. They made up for two poems by women last week with three poems by men this week. The New Yorker Parity ReportA regular report on the gender parity - or lack thereof - of the current issue of The New Yorker based on table of contents by-linesIncludes

Nancynoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-18551139.post-1755657328836847522011-12-07T00:03:00.004-05:002011-12-06T20:11:22.922-05:00

I'm so torn about seeing/reading "Girl with the Dragon Tattoo"! On the one hand it seems really cool with a left-wing spin. On the other hand there's all the violence. I was both intrigued and repelled by the novels/films thanks to the New Yorker article about Steig Larsson from early this year.This in particular made me want to read the books:A final drawing card of the trilogy may be its

Nancynoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-18551139.post-9660318866045695962011-12-06T00:08:00.005-05:002011-12-06T05:03:00.961-05:00

Free at last, free at last, TAM LIN is free at last!Click the image to see a larger, legible version.After five and a half years, the orders of Judge Lewis Kaplan have been honored: the Copyright Office has cancelled the fraudulent, insubstantial and litigation-based "blocking and choreography" script registration that Edward Einhorn filed, based on my play TAM LIN.You can read all about it here:

Nancynoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-18551139.post-6103499444439519322011-12-05T00:46:00.002-05:002012-01-26T13:20:40.256-05:00

His regular column editorial is superb: Send in the Clueless But he takes names on his blog: All indications are, however, that Campaign 2012 will make Campaign 2000 look like a model of truthfulness. And all indications are that the press won’t know what to do — or, worse, that they will know what to do, which is act as stenographers and refuse to tell readers and listeners when candidates

Nancynoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-18551139.post-30157319964268997242011-12-04T00:06:00.000-05:002011-12-03T21:33:03.555-05:00

As I blogged a few days ago, there's lots of content on Youtube. Much of it is crap of course, but some is very good.Straddling the line is this seven-part series on theatre:Its production values are crap, but the content is pretty good, including clips of performances of ancient Greek plays. I find the narrator's indeterminate accent strangely compelling. Her name is Minke van den Berg so I

Nancynoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-18551139.post-90312315151557025972011-12-03T00:02:00.001-05:002012-01-26T13:21:25.816-05:00

David Brooks is a raving ninny. There's virtually nothing that he believes that isn't decisively refuted by Paul Krugman. Brooks: Over the past few decades, several European nations, like Germany and the Netherlands, have played by the rules and practiced good governance. They have lived within their means, undertaken painful reforms, enhanced their competitiveness and reinforced good values.

Nancynoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-18551139.post-88740303084895080552011-12-02T00:02:00.000-05:002011-12-01T23:58:28.051-05:00

It's time to start air-lifting women out of Afghanistan. It is an evil place. If this kind of thing happened to men, it would be called what it is - slavery.When the Afghan government announced Thursday that it would pardon a woman who had been imprisoned for adultery after she reported that she had been raped, the decision seemed a clear victory for the many women here whose lives have been

Nancynoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-18551139.post-70293253703193977022011-12-01T00:07:00.001-05:002011-11-30T23:42:42.030-05:00

Well the parity score is exactly the same this week as it was last week, although two of the bylines are poems, but poems count. And Elizabeth Kolbert the focus of Steven Pinker's annoyance which I blogged about yesterday, has the first article in the line-up.The New Yorker Parity ReportA regular report on the gender parity - or lack thereof - of the current issue of The New Yorker based on table

Nancynoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-18551139.post-72368586759563598312011-11-30T00:05:00.005-05:002011-11-29T22:24:22.386-05:00

Since the earliest days of this blog I've had my eye on Razib Khan, the bigwig at Gene Expression the web site devoted to the "science" of evolutionary psychology. The very first time I mentioned Khan was to point out that he is a blatant racist and a big admirer of Steven Pinker - and it was obvious to me even then that Pinker returned the admiration. Here's Khan talking about aptitude:I

Nancynoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-18551139.post-62052014540357132872011-11-29T00:05:00.002-05:002011-11-28T21:52:41.309-05:00

There is so much content on Youtube now, it's a wonder anybody watches TV at all, except for topical stuff like The Daily Show. Just the Beatles stuff alone! Above is a documentary "The making of Sgt. Peppers" and here is "Making of the White Album."The funny thing about this White album documentary is that it's almost all still photos... except for some footage from the Beatles big trip to India

Nancynoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-18551139.post-39207131409267140512011-11-28T00:04:00.002-05:002011-11-28T00:43:46.330-05:00

The NYCPlaywrights November Play of the Month theme was "native Americans" and we got a tiny percentage of submissions that we got for October (the supernatural) or December (winter holidays) - this is due to the specificity of the subject and the fact that the vast majority of plays submitted for the Play of the Month are 10-minute plays that the playwright happened to have lying around. There

Nancynoreply@blogger.com0