Proletariat Mule

Are you there employment? It's me, Putz.*

2005-12-19T15:39:00.000-08:00

I think I might be invisible, and I'm not even a minority or a woman. So I've been waiting around for over a week now for several prospective employers to get back to me regarding work. There is something going on here besides the polite blowoff, flake out, I think. It's not like my resume doesn't carry some weight. I have had several interviews with a couple of theses organizations, and despite their assurances that I would have an answer last week, here I am going stir crazy still waiting. I want to start my effing Xmas vacay, but I don't feel I can leave town until I hear from someone in the event they might want to meet again. I'm even being ignored by the temp agency I went to, and the corporate toy company that has an instore stage musical to sell their product, ugh. Oh, and it's not just employers that have forgotten about me, it's the postal service too. No, not the band, we are as close as ever. The U.S. postal service, my christmas present from Alley should have arrived last week as well, and I'm totally paranoid it got lost in the mail and I'll have to go without the totally sassy vintage ski mask she bought me. Without it I'll freeze my poor wee face in the wilds of Appalachia or along the colonnade streets of Georgetown during my holiday from unemployment. Maybe the holidays are a bad time to be job hunting, perhaps I should be stalking these employers. Any suggestions?

*Do I even need to mention the reference?

Friday Random Ten Fifteen

2005-12-16T10:09:00.000-08:00

Everyone else does it, obviously the perfect reason for me to do it. Also it will show all 3 of you how 'cool' I am. Seeing as how I'm destined for perpetual unemployment I might as well start filling my day with blogging. I really feel like I should be accomplishing amazing things with all this spare time. It only takes so much of the day to clean the house, do dishes, and send out a few resumes. The only reason I have for leaving the house is to go to the postoffice to mail some trinket I've sold on Ebay or to the grocers for Alley's dinner. But back to the point of being unproductive; I have found one decent excuse for my unproductive state, poverty. It costs money to accomplish stuff. However, photoshop and google are free. It's like an adult coloring book where you get carpal tunnel from repetive key strokes.

1. Led Zeppelin - Black Mountain Side
2. Beck - Nobody's Fault But My Own
3. Ratatat - Spanish Armada
4. The Cure - Birdmad Girl
5. The Ramones - Judy is a Punk
6. Pearl Jam & Cypress Hill - Real Thing (from the Judgment Night Soundtrack)
7. Guns N' Roses - My Michelle
8. Massive Attack - Any Love
9. Faith No More & Boo-Yaa T.R.I.B.E. - Another Body Murdered (Judgment Night Soundtrack)
10. Hank Williams - Baby, We're Really in Love
11. Marilyn Manson - The Dope Show
12. Elliot Smith - Tomorrow Tomorrow
13. Pete Townshend - Greyhound Girl
14. Tones on Tail - Movement of Fear
15. Pixies - Letter to Memphis

*bonus. Seventeen - The Sex Pistols (because I am a LAZY SOD)

Holidays, The Internet, and Poverty

2005-12-15T13:52:00.000-08:00

*photo by Alley Rat

In an attempt at something the capitalists call synergy I'm going to try and make this blog benneficial to my wallet, your sense of genneroisty, and the overall good of the economy. I've added buttons for donations to my pay pal account and, incase you don't like giving cash to bums cuz you know they spend it on hookers and blow, my Amazon wishlist. It'll make all of us feel a little bit better.

Do it for the children that I will never have.

I long pause heart long pause Pinter

2005-12-09T15:17:00.000-08:00

If you haven't read Pinter's Nobel acceptance speech, I highly recomend that you do. Here is a small sample of his critique of US foreign policy, which was the focus of the speech.

Everyone knows what happened in the Soviet Union and throughout Eastern Europe during the post-war period: the systematic brutality, the widespread atrocities, the ruthless suppression of independent thought. All this has been fully documented and verified.

But my contention here is that the US crimes in the same period have only been superficially recorded, let alone documented, let alone acknowledged, let alone recognised as crimes at all. I believe this must be addressed and that the truth has considerable bearing on where the world stands now. Although constrained, to a certain extent, by the existence of the Soviet Union, the United States' actions throughout the world made it clear that it had concluded it had carte blanche to do what it liked.

He continues later, and perhaps most accurately and damning.

It never happened. Nothing ever happened. Even while it was happening it wasn't happening. It didn't matter. It was of no interest. The crimes of the United States have been systematic, constant, vicious, remorseless, but very few people have actually talked about them. You have to hand it to America. It has exercised a quite clinical manipulation of power worldwide while masquerading as a force for universal good. It's a brilliant, even witty, highly successful act of hypnosis.

As an American you wish it wasn't true, but it is, and W. is doing his part to continue this long standing American tradition.

I put to you that the United States is without doubt the greatest show on the road. Brutal, indifferent, scornful and ruthless it may be but it is also very clever. As a salesman it is out on its own and its most saleable commodity is self love. It's a winner. Listen to all American presidents on television say the words, 'the American people', as in the sentence, 'I say to the American people it is time to pray and to defend the rights of the American people and I ask the American people to trust their president in the action he is about to take on behalf of the American people.'

Spoken like a true man of the theatre.

*sigh*

I hope someone reads this.

THIS IS HOT, RIGHT?

2005-10-23T19:31:00.000-07:00

If you haven't heard about about Prussian Blue over at Alley's blog let me be the first to show how parents can warp the little minds of their children. Check out this article about the girls and their parents. Sadly the article does little to tell us were they got those cute matching t-shirts.

GET ME THE FUCK OUT OF THIS CITY

2005-10-22T14:17:00.000-07:00

How I long for public trans... It's fucking Saturday afternoon, and I just spent an hour in traffic like it was five o'clock rush hour on friday. UGH.

Its' not stipping if they don't take their clothes off, right?

2005-10-22T10:43:00.000-07:00

So one of my roommates is an 'exotic dancer', you can't really call her a stripper since there is a law in Hollywood, yes Hollywood of all places, that the dancers in strip clubs can't take their tops offf. Now how silly is that? I have more to say, and there is a reason for this post but I have to run.. I've got a meeting darling.

Word verification is a bitch when you're drunk

2005-10-21T00:58:00.000-07:00

There I said it. It's all squiggly and there are q's next to p's... ugh.. I just want to be a witty smartass and be on my way.

PORNLAND DIARIES day 2

2005-10-18T10:58:00.000-07:00

Ladies and Gentlemen at long last the cock is out.... stay tuned for updates

Today's lessons:
1. Making porn is just as monotonous as the making of anyother kind of movie.

2. No matter how simple the line "Trevor grab your balls, now squeeze them like they were in a vice, squeeze them harder, now we are turning the screw on the vice, squeeze them harder". It will have to be fed to the actor by the director.

3. Yes Virginia they do use Viagra

4. It' s really boring after awhile to sit around and watch two guys TRY to screw because one guy can't get hard enough to do the scene. Why he doesn't take the viagra, i'll never know.

Well kids It's 12 hours later and I can't tel you how truly dull it all was. I'm not trying to come off as Mr. I've seen everything and I'm so above this, it truly is awful to have sit still and be quiet on and off all day while these guys alternate between screwing up simple dialogue, trying to get hard enough to fuck, and then the loud grunting slapping noises of orchestrated sex. There were a few moments of thats hot, or wow his dick is truly huge, but the repetiveness of it all outweighs the novelty. Sorry about the blurry sex pic, but I wasn't supposed to be taking pics, and well most of you probably didn't want to see anything to graphic. Hope y'all enjoyed my return to the blog world. Now I can go back to freaking out about trying to move to Chicago, but that is another post.

ps.. freaking out about what and how to pack to move...not the fact that I am moving.

good luck, and piss off.

Because my day wasn't gay enough

2005-10-18T02:14:00.000-07:00

So after a long hard day (pun intended) of waiting for orgasams and watching gym bodies the only natural thing to do was go get sushi. mmmmmmmm. now of all the things about L.A. I'm going to miss, the kick ass sushi we get in Little Tokyo is probably going to be high on the list. I'm sure they have great sushi in Chicago, but this is L.A. the ocean is right there and the chef is sooo Japanese, like actually from Japan. So after some beer, spicy scallops, and fried shrimp heads I headed over to my friend Scott's place for another beer and perhaps a movie. While we were sitting around b.s.ing and I was scrolling through his iTunes it got me to thinking about something he once said about his place being wher Madonna's video for Borderline was filmed. Long story short I badgered him into breaking out with the Madonna video DVD and show me. Sure enough the exterior and interior shots are his place, but just in case I was doubtful he tells me about how the owner of the building told him about renting the space to the material girl when she was still nobody. Anyway, its been a long time since I've seen those early Madonna videos, and boy did she rock.. I really had forgotten how awsome she was. Now what was my point.. oh yes Madonna = gay and my day=gay..

stay tuned for tomorrows installment of gay for pay.

PORNTOPIA day 1 updated

2005-10-17T17:30:00.000-07:00

Well the boys are all here. Setting up their "set", a psychiatryst's office, bringing in the lights, and rearranging our sparseness to suit their needs. Personally all I want is for the the P.A. to get back with my cappuccino.

There isn't any sex today, just "acting". So the entertainment value of watching the acting should be priceless. I was talking with the director cuz I thought I recognized one of the actors from his other film, but it turns out that the young lad in question is actually making his film debut. More potential for priceless humor.

hmmmm... I hope these lights don't trip our breakers, such janky wiring in these old spaces.

I'll keep y'all updated as the plot thickens, so to speak..

For all you gay porn aficionados out there this movie is for JET SET.

Ok time for some of the memorable lines of the day:

The Hypnotist to his patient:
"You will be an insatiable pig bottom, whose only satisfaction is being plowed hard in the ass".
or the classic
"Show me your asshole".

So the saga continues. There is another aspect to this shoot that I hadn't mentioned before, this film is being done totally guerilla. Guerilla in the sense that the film makers don't have the permits (and we don't have permission) to film in our space, let alone in this building. You see this being L.A. there is a business and proper channels for filming on private propery, and the landlords don't want anyone making money off them. This complex has been used in films like Vanilla Sky so the landlords don't suffer freeloaders lightly, the want their movie money. My point, and reason for anxiety is that no sooner does the crew decide to do a quick little shot in the hallway outside our door then the building manager walks by. He didn't say anything, but he could make our lives very painfull. Fines, evection, etc. If we get in trouble for this the best we can hope to do is pass it off as a student film, and not a commercial venture.

more updates as they happen.

"hypnosis" is proving to be a difficult word to articulate.

more quotes from the silver screen that you can use to amaze your friends.
"Derek, when you awake you will no longer be addicted to sucking cock, and Travis when you awake you will no longer exclusively be a bottom".

lessons learned:
1. Male porn stars can be entertained with LEGOS

2. It takes absolute quiet, privacy, some porn, and over a half hour and counting for one guy to masturbate to orgasam.

yes.. i saw hot man ass complete with hairless bronzed adonis like body and a rather large cock, thank god he's gay..... otherwise it would be a total waste.

SPUNKTACULAR LIVING

2005-10-14T21:11:00.000-07:00

Well I guess I'll get one quickie in before leaving Los Angeles. There is going to be another gay porn shoot at the house this week. I will keep all you perverts updated on the details.

Can you believe I'm leaving all this behind? Don't worry it's not as fabulous as AlleyRat.

iTunes

2005-10-07T18:09:00.000-07:00

I think my iTunes is psychic. You see I just switced over to Mac (Yay) cuz my PC was dying a slow painfull death. So I'm sitting in the main theatre at La Jolla Playhouse on my dinner break and I decide I need some music to accompany my terribly unhealthy dinner, so I kick up iTunes and throw it on shuffle for the very first time. Here's the creepy/cool part, the very first song it spits out is Pete Townshend's Greyhound Girl, not just any version but the live version from the show he preformed in the very room I'm sitting in, a concert I was not only at but lit. Very wonderful memories and hopefully a good omen of wonderful times ahead for me and my mac.

Tim Hawkinson Bear

2005-09-26T16:17:00.000-07:00

I really love this artist, Tim Hawkinson. He just had this sculpture installed at UCSD where I had been working for the past couple of weeks. You can read more about the Stuart Collection and the bear's details here

there are some fun facts about the teddy bear, like that it is over 23' tall and weighs 180 tons.

BIRTHDAY

2005-08-27T13:00:00.000-07:00

It's my birthday... I be 29 years old.. woo hooo....... it's just a number right? whatever...

homage ala collage

2005-07-30T17:00:00.000-07:00

Germans Have Always Been Sex Perverts

2005-07-25T21:39:00.000-07:00

I'm going to leave it up to Alley to post about this ancient dildo , cuz she'll do it with far more wit and grace where as I'll just resort to juvenille comments about aryan sexual perversion, see post title. I love how they put "tool" in quotes, those british.. such a dry humor... They say the "tool" is life size, well at 20cm (7.87 inches) long and 3cm (1.18 inches) of girth our prehistoric forefathers may have been over compensating for underdeveloped flint knapping abilities. Um was that funny?... Well ancient German phalluses don't need professionals.. this stuff just writes itself.

Scratch That

2005-07-25T11:13:00.000-07:00

Forget the unfinished posts of the past... I'll just not finish this post and call it good.. What do you want from me? I haven't had any coffee and I was out till 3am!!

The coming apocalypse

2005-07-24T12:20:00.000-07:00

Well since I"m to busy to really write anything new I thought I'd entertain y'all with all of my drafts that I never got around to finishing because I have attention span of a goldfish. "Look a castle".

I Rock, thank you.

2005-07-22T10:20:00.000-07:00

From the L.A. times

As they sow, so shall they reapElliptical yet overwrought, John O'Keefe's "Reapers," a world-premiere production at the Odyssey, starts as an austere meditation on primitivism and the nature of evil but ultimately segues into mind-boggling excess.Veteran playwright O'Keefe was rightfully heralded for "Times Like These," a factually based drama about the star-crossed marriage of a Jewish actress and her Aryan husband forced into deadly measures by Hitler's Reich. Beautifully well realized, "Times" showed a domestic microcosm imploding under the forces of external evil. More sweeping in scale, "Reapers" also examines a domestic microcosm — that of the Foxes, a hardscrabble Iowa farm family. But this time, the pressures that destroy the Foxes are not generated by malevolent outsiders but by the Foxes' own endemic corruption — ancestral cruelty that prompts a cleansing purge from Mother Nature herself.It couldn't happen to a nicer family. The Foxes are steeped in generational violence, with nagging hints of incest. From the opening monologue (and the author's own program notes), we understand that the family is already dead, wiped out by unprecedented tornadoes. Whether the play transpires in existential flashback or whether we see the Foxes in a hellish afterlife is unclear. What is clear is that these characters are overdue for a righteous comeuppance.Mike Durst's virtuosic lighting, foreboding blues with flashes of lightning, aptly suggests the coming holocaust. The play's scale is somewhat self-consciously Greek, but these characters are so barbarous and unsympathetic that their eventual downfall is more relief than catharsis. O'Keefe directs his own work in a hyper-histrionic style that makes Tennessee Williams seem tame by comparison. The able cast fully commits to O'Keefe's intriguing vision, but the play's effectively cryptic themes are swept away in the vortex of overstatement.--F. Kathleen Foley"Reapers," Odyssey Theatre Ensemble, 2055 S. Sepulveda Blvd., West Los Angeles. 8 p.m. Wednesdays through Saturdays, call for Sunday times. $20.50-$25. (310) 477-2055. www.odysseytheatre.com. Running time: 2 hours.

Saturn drivers, strip mall bars and the smell of the ocean and urinal cakes

2005-07-22T10:08:00.000-07:00

That pretty much describes my evening out last night. Living in Southern California you tend to spend way too much of your time on the freeway and thanks to so many hours on our fine roadways I've developed profiles for drivers of certain kinds of cars the way the FBI develops profiles for serial killers, serial killers being better people than some of the drivers I encounter daily. Now let me just say before I continue that there is no doubt in my mind that I am a driver that someone else hates. Amongst my profiles of hated drivers there are two that constantly compete for top spot and they are the BMW and Saturn driver. The reason I hate the Saturn driver is that they tend to think that there bland little commuter pod is actually a race car and they feel the need to prove it. Last night I got to do a little field research into why I hate the Saturn driver.

Soylent Green & Womb Slaves

2005-07-20T20:16:00.000-07:00

I have nothing to say about either other than that is what Alley fears her/womens' future will be under Bush's new Supreme Court nominee. It is sort of an either or scenario. As a woman you will either be a womb slave to some old fat white guy, think Handmaiden's Tale, or if you are to old or somehow unfit to be a womb slave you will be turned into soylent green or new diet soylent green.

As for me I'm not worried at all. As a white heterosexual(most of the time) male betweeen the ages of 18 and 55 I have nothing to worry about, except where my next paycheck is coming from, the world capitulates to my every whim and need especially when it comes to providing me with a womb slave and an ice cold can of the new EXTREME Soylent Green.

At any rate I'm back working at my home away from home, La Jolla Playhouse where I spent many a year working with the industries most talented actors, directors, and designers. La Jolla was sort of my hands on graduate school. A place where I could work alongside these incredibly talented artisans and pick their brains about our craft while watching how they worked.

it's hot I wish I had a fan.

2005-07-19T21:56:00.000-07:00

it's hot, i'm sweattng, it sucks. my place is to big to even and try and cool.

I have to be in San Diego for work at 8am and it is now 10pm and I'm in L.A., I figure I have one hell of a commute tomorrow.

On the upside the toothache that was plaguing me all Sunday and Monday seems to have mysteriously disappeared. I guess the nerve just rotted into oblivion. I'm not so opptomisitc though, I figure I'll be hunting down a free dental clinic for a root canal while I'm in S.D. during the next two weeks. Maybe I can visit my old dentist in S.D. and tell him this current problem is due to his shody work on my teeth because the last time I saw him he was to distracted by the news broadcast in the office on the morning I last saw him...9-11-01. What a sureal way to start that day. I miss insurance.

I spent the weekend in Oakland/San Fran/Berkley with Alley Rat (do I really need a link) which was super cool it's soooo pretty there. I think some of you saw what happens when two bloggers use the same computer without logging off of blogger before making comments...

well whatever..

oh... yeah... ladies your wombs and their subsequent freedom are now on high alert.

My posterior for posterity

2005-07-11T00:43:00.000-07:00

THIS POST IS A WEEK OVERDUE AND UNFINISHED, SHOULD REMIND YOU ALL OF YOUR STUDENTS PAPERS

As I mentioned in my previous post, fuck the link just look back, we played host Sat. night to a photo shoot for Spencer Tunick who is doing a new series on friends and friends of friends. If the name doesn't ring a bell his work certainly should. Spencer is the fellow who has done all the landscape photos of naked bodies in cities around the world. The series he is doing currently is devoted to friends and friends of friends in the casual atmosphere of a host's home. So how did we, and by we I mean my roommate B, come to host this event? Well it's quite simple.. My roommate B, a newly minted suicide girl (they don't deserve a link), is friends with Spencer from New York and has posed for him before both solo and in other photos from this series.

The whole affair was rather intimate and low key. There were less than 20 people present/naked for the shoot. Everyone arrived around 10 and began socializing and drinking, key to getting naked even with friends for most people. Eventually B started getting people in the mood by disrobeing herself and encourging others to join in. By the time Spencer arrived around midnight most people were naked. He spent some time hanging out and getting to know some of us, just trying to make everyone more comfortable especially the few people who were a little bit hesitant. I think what was the most surprising thing to me was the very raw way in which he shot the whole thing. No big fancy Hasselblad or 4x5, no lights, not even a super nice SLR, just two high quality point and shoot cameras with 400 speed film and a tri-pod.

I'm probably forgetting something really juicy.

2005-07-09T11:14:00.000-07:00

10 years ago: Freshman year of college, Texas. Lots of LSD and not enough schoolwork, expanding one's consciousness is very time consuming.

5 years ago: Not doing LSD anymore. Living in San Diego, working at large regional theatre, breaking up with girlfriend/fiance from college who I had moved to California with*. Looking for new place to live in San Diego and starting "professional" design career. Began habit of dating graduate students.

1 year ago: Living in Los Angeles. Officially a starving artist. Designing constantly, trying to get into grad-school, lots of trips to San Diego to see new grad student girl friend and work.

Yesterday: Had coffee with boyfriend at cafe, spent elven hours at the theatre working on my most recent show, came home, drank beer, watched Garden State, felt sad, went to bed.

Today: Back to the theatre for another ten hours, hopefully make it home in time for the Spencer Tunick shoot being done at my place tonight...YAY nudity.. and try to make it to two birthday parties on opposite sides of town..

Tomorrow: Hungover and at the theatre for ten plus hours.

5 snacks: whatever is around... but in general.. chocolate, salty, ice cream,

5 bands that I know the lyrics of MOST of their songs: Metallica, Postal Service, Guns 'N Roses, Beastie Boys, Led Zepplin.

5 things I would do with $100,000,000: Pay off mine and my friends debt, travel a lot, charity, have a world leader killed, buy a place we could all call home.

5 locations I’d like to run away to: NYC, Italy, Prague, Amsterdam, to see my parents in rural MD.

5 bad habits I have: procrastinating, not being able to say no, working to hard for too little, being passive, eating the last of something that isn't mine.

5 things I like doing: Sleeping, drinking, sex, theatre, traveling.

5 things I would never wear: camoflauge pants, anything from wal-mart, and that about covers it.

5 TV shows I like: The Simpsons, Futurama, Bugs Bunny, Six Feet Under, stuff about science and history.

5 Movies I like: Reservoir Dogs, Citizen Kane, Chicago, anything by John Hughes, Fight Club

5 famous people I’d like to meet: George W., Karl Rove, Rick Santorum, Clarence Thomas, Janice Rodgers Brown.

5 biggest joys at the moment: i'm healthy, my car is running, i'm not broke this week, i get to be naked tonight, the show looks good.

5 favorite toys: penis, camera, someone elses laptop, boobs, cell phone.

I'm givin my tag shout out to Momentary

*ex gf/fiance and I are now great friends.

"Can't talk coming down"

2005-07-08T10:18:00.000-07:00

You really know your place when you're sitting at your computer with a hangover watching one of your roommates do yoga in the cool California morning light, we have a wonderful Northern exposure, and you really wouldn't change places. I'm not sure why I prefer wrecking myself instead of improving myself. I mean I keep my brain healthy but I guess when a good portion of your day is physical labor the last thing you want to do is more of that.

The new show is going well, it's pretty out there. The American familhy gone off the deep end, sort of Faulkner meets Jerry Springer on acid. I like the playwright/director, I saw one of his productions in college and it has been one of my favorite theatrical experiences ever since. So I was pretty pscyhed when I found he was the writer/director of this piece. Though I do think that playwrights should never direct their own work, but that's a seperate discussion. Meg.. MA.. you guys have any thoughts on that subject? Anyway, regardless of how it turns out it's going to look pretty. I'll see if I can't get some photos up.

Well time to go meet my boyfriend at the cafe... He's working this morning so that means free coffee for me..YAY. I'll tell James you said hi Alley.

The 5th

2005-07-05T07:47:00.000-07:00

Don't you just love it when all the alcohol from the night before metabolizes into sugar, and an in an instant you're awake groping for your glasses and glass of water. It was hot too, Alley I want my fan back!!!

ha ha ha I just found a pictionary cube on my roommate's desk.... far from the action of the attempted game last night. WARNING!!! never try to play board games with rowdy, drunken, attention craving, misfits, especially when that describes half the group attempting said game, myself included. Besides 10 drunks is 10 drunks to many for that game.

Last night was fun.. I had a good time despite working at the theatre, I'm designing another show, until 9pm. I missed all the really yummy excellent food that my roommate had cooked for the god knows how many people who had shown up for her not so little bbq on the roof. I arrived home, after a Baghdad esque drive home with explosions and rockets hurling skyward from all sides of the freeway like every little neighborhood was battling insurgents with roman candles and candy colored mortar shells as I crossed town, to a crowd out on the roof overlooking downtown LA watching the battle in full panorama. I'd have taken pictures if I wasn't so focused on getting a beer, some food, and unwinding.

It was an excellent way to celebrate our country's journey from ousting an imperialist nation to our role as the new dominant force for imperialism in the world.

The 4th

2005-07-05T01:19:00.000-07:00

DRUNK BLOGGING

I love my life... when a game of Pictionary can turn into a screaming mad crazy insane orgy of spilt wine, broken glass, and blood... oh and fried chicken...

HAPPY FOURTH..

First reviews and my hopes for a New World Order

2005-06-30T12:04:00.000-07:00

A review from Backstage West

and the following review didn't have a direct link so here is the full text.

PLACEMENT

In her new play, Blair Singer employs a very literary device Â— a trio of isolated monologues Â— to convey the cultural and psychological displacement of desperate people trying to buy infants. Jane AndersonÂ’s The Baby Dance comes to mind, as does a much earlier play on the theme of infertility, David RudkinÂ’s Ashes. Those, however, employed dramas among characters. The tensions here unfold between each character, and us Â— the placement agency thatÂ’s invited to judge the merits of the charactersÂ’ appeals, and their souls, like insects on glass. The structure is very much like Brian FrielÂ’s Faith Healer, which justifies its form by being a literary play about literature, about the transference of experiences into stories. However, the sagas behind FrielÂ’s monologues eventually converge. Not so here: These are recitatives on a theme, and the event feels like something between a play and an etude Â— improvisations on the theme of isolation. Matt Shakman directs a perfect production of these beautifully written and performed arias. Lee Garlington possesses a hypnotically droll undercurrent of sarcasm as her wealthy matron tries to fathom the rage of her estranged teen daughter. Blake RobbinsÂ’ Ronnie struggles to contain his mania in a story about his sexually perverse exploits, undertaken to please his wife Â— if thatÂ’s really his motive. And Katie FirthÂ’s Tess tells a comedy-tinged saga of sacrificing her future for an alcoholic, with whom she managed an apartment complex near Magic Mountain. As theater and literature, this is topflight. As drama, the question remains open. Black Dahlia Theater, 5453 W. Pico Blvd.; Thurs.-Sat., 8 p.m.; Sun., 7 p.m. (no perfs July 1-3); thru July 31. (866) 468-3399. Written 07/01/2005 (Steven Leigh Morris)

enjoy? you know what's funny? the playwright is a guy. No mention of moi in either review, which is fine, it is said that a lighting designers best work is the work that is unonotcied and unobtrusive, helping to tell the story without drawing attention to itself. We'll see what else gets written, I'm really curious about what the LA times says.

oh this review is from the LA weeky, the LA eqvialent of the Washington City Paper.

AND NOW FOR SOMETHING COMPLETELY DIFFERENT

My thoughts on a New World Order are in no way related to my show or the review, they are instead inspired by a review of the freedom tower in the International Herald Tribune. I think I could respect Bush if he could really embrace a true socialist neo-fascist policy at home. He has done such a half ass job at it, it's kind of sad. He has given us The Department of Homeland Security and The Patriot Act, one a wonderfully Orwellian named Byzantine bureaucracy and the other a tool for the state to enforce its crackdown on dissent and blind obedience to the all seeing big brother, John Poindexter we thank you for trying. My point is this, Bush has yet to initiate the socialist national building spree to unite the populace while simultaneously alienating them against the world. I think the Freedom Tower is a wonderful first step in this direction. I'm not saying he needs to be erecting statues to Terri Schivao, the American public isn't so credulous as to accept that level of ideological hamfistedness. It's time to start reshaping our physical world to represent the psychological space we are living in. Our nation's capital with it's open monuments and sprawling mall have been rendered a lie, and are now nothing but a painful nagging reminder of what our life was like pre-911. It's time to start eroding the memory of life before 911 and make sure that future generations don't have any concept of another reality where you could walk amongst the national treasures and monuments without having to skirt amongst concrete barriers while being stared down by jack booted government thugs with assault weapons. The time has come for oppressive monoliths that stand for "Freedom and Democracy" we have the war now we want the monument.

Next: the emperor needs new clothes.

I would just like to say that spell check fucked up this entire post somehow.

Insomniac (sort of) Blogging

2005-06-29T04:50:00.000-07:00

courtesy of my camera phone..

I'm not really an insomniac, like Alley, just tonight. I thought I'd swallowed enough beer and hydrocodone to knock me out so I could get back on schedule. I was asleep until my roommate slammed the front door coming home at 4am, thanks K, usually I fall right back to sleep after this sort of thing. Our place has very heavy front doors that don't shut well, but it can be done quietly if you're conscientious. But tonight that slam popped me right awake and now that it's 5am I'm not quite sure what to do with myself. You see my schedule is all out of whack because the last two nights I spent working from sundown until sunup outside, so that kind of fucks with your internal clock a little. Though there is nothing like seeing the sun come up over Hollywood Blvd. as you're standing on the red carpet in the street in front of the kodak theatre, even if it is for the BET Awards. Ok, actually it's pretty lame cuz you're tired, sore, and you just want to go home. Because if you're going to be on the red carpet this is not the way to get there.

Well god damnit now for the third day in a row i've watched the sun come up... I hope i have some Ambien left somewhere.

ALLEY RAT

2005-06-29T04:34:00.000-07:00

I MISS YOU TOO!

it hurts.. and other reasons work sucks.

2005-06-27T17:19:00.000-07:00

Howdy all, all two of you that is. Sorry it has been a while. There have been a myriad of reasons for neglecting this blog; first off I was busy designing a show that has now finally opened, I'll post reviews when they come out. Second, my computer imploded. The cooling fan on my laptop failed and in the process fried the video card and god knows what else. It was already barely a laptop as the screen and failed a couple of months ago and i've had it hooked up to a honkin huge CRT monitor, not very portable anymore. Well now the computer isn't sending any signal to the CRT, but at least it still turns on so maybe one day when I have some cash I can rescue my life from the hardrive, until then i'm making use of the plethora of mac laptops in my house. Why am I the only one without a mac laptop and an ipod? *Le Sigh*

So today I'm nursing my wounds and killing some time inbetween jobs. Do you know what it is like to work out for 12 hours straight only taking a 30min lunch in the process.. I do. Not that I was at the gym mind you... I'm not a gym person at all. I prefer to get my exercise by carrying, lifting, and pushing things of extreme weight in the most unergonomic fashion. This way when you wake up after getting home at 3am you feel like you've been beat up severely, and moan cuz you realize you have to be back at 10:30 tonight and do it all again until sometime the next morning. Last night was for the BET awards, tonight I'll have the pleasure of removing all the dreck they'll have set up for the War of the Worlds premiere. This kind of work really feels like forced labor, the compensation isn't bad, but i'm just not physically cut out for this stuff. I'm always the smallest guy on the crew and have to keep with guys sometimes twice my weight, girth, and strength. Which is why I try and stay away from these gigs as much as possible, but I need the cash right now so I'm selling out my body and future physical health.

God i'm sore... need more ibuprofen..

I'll let you know how the aftermath of War of the Worlds turns out... if you're still wanting some good insight into the Tom Cruise scientology thing check out the top story at Salon.com.

The funny thing about being on the bottom of the entertainment food chain is that even at this level there is still a hierarchy and stratification of labor pools. The very bottom level consists of the folks who do the party rentals and just above them are the guys who do the decking and building of stages. These two groups are made up of mostly Hispanics of unkown origin and legal status. There jobs are the most physically grueling and brutal dealing with the heaviest and most grueling of materials and tasks. Ever been to a concert in a park or a dinner reception in some novel location? Ever wonder how it all magically appeared so your/or the person on tv's lilly white rich ass could have a good time? At the expense of some workers back.. Anyway, I digress, above these folks comes the crew i work for which is the lighting dept. Our crews run the gamut of racial, ethnic, and social backgrounds. I've worked with former rock and roll roadies, guys with MFAs from prestigious film schools, high school drop outs, you name it.

ok guys i'm to tired to finish this post/rant... i'll do it later... let me know if this is something you want to hear more about.

I had a real good weekend though... Saturday night my show opened.. went and had drinks with the cast, playwright, director, and some friends of the theatre. From the bar I went by another theatre's fundraiser for their new space just down the street from where my show just opened. After that wound down, and I wound up, I went to go catch my friend's band www.captain-ahab.com at a very underground perormance space in a sketchy part of downtown that I love. This is a place where the only way you know something is going on is because there was a spray painted sign propped against the door and if the people weren't homeless you know they were just visting the 'hood. I missed ths show sadly but had arrived just in time to run into some friends from San Diego that I didn't expect to see, it's a small world after all, and my friends band,we all decided to come back to my place after the seedy strip club next door to sketchy performance space wanted to charge us a $10 cover each.. we (about 9 people 4guys 5girls) decided the kitch value wasn't worth it if there wasn't any alcohol inside. This was one of those all nude, no booze joints. So we all headed back to my house. And in a moment straight out of Swingers there was a line of four or five cars following me down the street on to the freeway and snaking back to my house in the most circuitous route due to a closed exit ramp and detour. fun was had by all..

ok now i'm really signing off.

Stupid Fucking Media

2005-06-20T16:44:00.000-07:00

I can't believe this story. http://www.fox21.com/Global/story.asp?S=3456745

The fact that they start by saying this kid rapes 2 girls and a dog, and then spends the whole story talking about the damn dog. Like whatever about these two little girls, no story there, but this guy fucks a dog and it may have died as a result, boo hoo. Don't get me wrong it's a real shame about the dog, but lets keep things in perspective.

The other insufferable thing is that by the end of the article the girls go from being raped to being molested. I just can't stand the inibillity of the media to really deal with the problem of rape in a responsible manner.

ugh..

sleep?

2005-06-18T01:21:00.000-07:00

sleep or coke, whats it going to be? more to follow.

you think writing about theatre is hard, try producing it.

mmmmmmmm beer

2005-06-17T02:47:00.000-07:00

to drunk/tired to post, but check back later for a post entitled "what commencement means to me, and the socioeconomic ramifications of purchasing alcohol".

The water is rising the water is rising

2005-06-15T01:48:00.000-07:00

As I'm sure you have all heard by now, there was a tsunami warning issued for the west coast tonight. (I'd put a link to the story but the damn mac dosen't have the quickie html button) So anyway... This news came as a surprise to me this evening as I was in the process of hanging some lights for my next show. It should be fabulous, I'll tell you all (all two of you) about it later. I got a phone call from my roommate "R" who informed me that he was in the process of evacuating Venice with a couple of friends. My first thought was "R, are you drunk again, and why wasn't I invited"? Our conversaton didn't last long as it was cut off by the rapidly rising water, or bad reception i'm not sure which. I wandered back into the theatre to inform the director and scene designer of this odd bit of news, they thought I was full of shit. I tried to warn everyone of our impending doom (15 miles from the coast) why wouldn't they listen to me, I had compelling evidence of seismic activity from top notch gay alcoholics. Is this how Jake Gyllenhal felt in the Day After Tomorrow, not being as cute I guess I'll never know.

Doing my part for Rock 'n Roll

2005-06-13T23:51:00.000-07:00

Hello gentle reader. If you are here it is probably due to a search error or you figured Alley Rat had posted another fabulous link. Well, not so this time. I would like you to take a moment and view the following link to the new video by the The Faint. If you are not familiar with this band, you should be and soon will be i'm sure. Unless of course you are a no taste hack who should crawl away and die with your 3 Doors Down, or whatever it is that you people listen to, CD ringing in your ears. But I digress, The Faint is currently opening for Bright Eyes, and I know how much you ladies love Connor, so please take a moment to rock out before you swoon out.

This video, which I am assuming you have watched by this point, stars my humble abode. I was out of town during the filming of the video, thank god because they totally took over the entire loft. My poor roommates had to endure a week of this crew spread out over the entire place, and they couldn't touch any of the setups because it was all stop animation. I didn't realize the extent of the chaos until I saw the video and realized the reason my books were all out of order (note the dancing figurines in the bookshelves and the books moving about rapidly). I mean "hello, scene design and costume design do not go back on the same shelf", I was finding books weeks later on the wrong bookshelves on the other side of the loft. We have lots, and I mean thousands (yes I'm showing off, but it's true), of books between the three of us but come on put the stuff back on the set of shelves it came off of. Anyway, lucky me away out of town in beautiful northern cali while this went down. I would have been bummed had the band been there to film, but they didn't so it wasn't so painful.

I have still yet to see the gay porn filmed in our place, but that's another story for another day. I'll say this though, they didn't leave any stains on my pool table.

Who says there is no Gay marriage.

2005-06-10T12:03:00.000-07:00

Ok, here we go two days later, another installment

I'll pick up where I left off with my roommates and their sham marriages.

"R" : 31, gay, formerly an architect and intellectual who chucked it all (not that you stop being so wickedly smart) to go into art direction and production design. He does mainly fashion, which is how we ended up with Dita Von Teese naked in our place for a photo shoot,#2,#3,#4. But I digress, R's wife is a German national who needed her green card to stay in the U.S., and R wanted EU/German citizenship, gay with a German fetish who would have guessed. The irony of course is that R is gay and his wife is a lesbian.

"K" : 28, lesbian, tatoo artist. Has been a friend since we were in high school in the 22nd Congressional district of Texas , go on see who our congressman was/is. K's sham marriage is to a member of the Armed forces. It was actually his idea, no he's not gay. Soldier boy is another good friend from high school who knew that if he got married the government would up his pay and provide full benies for his spouse. Lord knows that as a tattoo artist there isn't exactly a great benefits package. The thing that is so unusal about this situation isn't the marriage but the fact that soldier boy is in the service at all. This is someone who broke out of the Marine military high school his parents sent him to because of the subverisve, unchristian literature and music he was reading and listening to. He certainly hasn't changed in that regard, but wanted some stability/structure in his life. Of course I'm sure the only thing you all are asking yourselves is "you still have friends from highschool"? I must say though that I highly recommend a vegas wedding/party with 20 of your closest friends from the past 10years crammed into one massive suite at the Hard Rock.

The fabulous lives of everyone but me.

2005-06-09T13:31:00.000-07:00

I'm feeling a little morose these days as I look around and see how wonderful and exciting everyone elses life is. I was at "work" last night, final dress rehersal for a production of Measure for Measure in an itty bitty theater in Hollywood, when my roommate "K" calls me frantically wanting to know when I'll be home. "Not till after 11" I say. "What's up"? She proceeds to tell me she got a courrier gig to Japan and has to catch a flight that evening. Apparently our other roommate, "R", his German lesbian wife (I only mention the German Lesbian thing because R is gay, American born, and his marriage is one of convience)* had called asking "R" if he could do this courrier gig because she couldn't or wouldn't do. Well R couldn't because he had a photoshoot today with Owen Wilson for LIFE magazine. So K volunteered to go, she loves Japan and has never been. I guess she found someone to take her, cuz she was gone when I got home.

I arrived to find the house looking like a pool party had exploded across the pool table and floor of our space. R had purchased $2000 worth of inflatables in the shape of stealth bombers, spy planes, vulvas, sea creatures, as well as everyother imaginable toy or swimming pool related acessory for merriement and enjoyment. He left early this morning for the swimming pool of the gods located somewhere in our fair metropolis. I'll let you know how it turns out.

Anyway, more with other people's fabuslousness... A former roommate just returned to spend the weekend with her girlfriend, our third roommate "B". This former roommate has just returned from Vancouer where she is working on the L Word for Showtime. She had been living with us here in LA LA land working on the show during preproduction, but for production they all head up to Vancouver for filming. It's cheaper there don't ya know.

Then there is the case of my "friend" Alleyrat who you all know and love. She is moving on to the greater glory of Northern California where her bright though unclear future awaits her. She is fabulous for so many reasons, but in this case for taking on monumental life altering change.

So all this has me wondering when the hell am I going to take things to the next level. Gradschool was supposed to do that, but that plan didn't quite work out, so I'm getting to old and to poor to continue doing this small scale shit. Who the hell is going to come see Measure for Measure in some back alley theatre in Hollywood? Where do I sign up for some movie $$$$? I don't mind small scale stuff when it's quality, but the quality of this production of Measure does not justify the crappy pay and long hours.

I just wish my life was as interesting as the people's around me.

I'm done brooding.

more again soon, I promise.

*Remind me to do another post on my roommates (yes thats plural, not singular possesive) and their sham/marriages of convience.

'Cuz I'm narcissistic and goofy.

2005-05-23T20:05:00.000-07:00

the price is wrong bitch

my friend Ernie from Austin who is a phenom musician did some screen captures from our misadventures on the Price is Right.

Hey Alley.... puncuate this.....!!!!

I know I know I'm aware of my failure to use punctuation and when I do use it, it's worng. But hey what do you want I went to public school in Texas.. Besides, did you ever read Kerouac?

High Fidelity Challenge

2005-05-22T15:33:00.000-07:00

Ok here goes...

Instead of top 5 lyrics, I've decided to go with another list from High Fidelity.

all of these lists are in no particular order, hence the lack of #s.

Top 5 Side 1 Track 1
-The Who, Who's Next, Baba O'Riley

-The Pistols, Never Mind The Bollocks, Holiday in the Sun

-Guns 'N Roses, Appetite for Destruction, Welcome to the Jungle

-Nirvana, Nevermind, Smells Like Teen Spirit

-The White Stripes, Elephant, Seven Nation Army

Top 5 Insturmentals
-Mogwai... any ablum, but I really like Come On Die Young.

-Led Zepplin, Bron-Yr-Aur (found on Box Set Vol.II Disc. 2 track 9)

-Beethoven's 9th.... 'nuff said

-Rat A Tat, will blow your mind... use headphones or turn up very loud...

-Pink Floyd, Wish You Were Here or Meddle... I think my acid is kicking in.

Top 5 Live Musical Experiences

-Pink Floyd. Rice Coloseum, Houston TX. Lasers+torrential
rain+Pink FLoyd=WOW

-Pete Townshend. La Jolla Playhouse, San Diego CA. I've blogged about this before. Being close enoug to see his Fender flex as it is bent over his knee is like being close enough to touch God.

-The Postal Service. The Casbah, San Diego CA. It was thier first show ever and you just knew this was going to be something special.

-Stravinsky's Rites of Spring. University of North Texas, Denton TX. Going to a school with a world renowned music program had its advantages.

-Floyd Collins. The Old Globe, San Diego CA. Musical Theatre isn't something that most folks are going to include in their list but the power of live theatre is not to be dismissed, especially a piece of musical theatre that incorporated such powerful storytelling, music, and visual grace.

Top 5 Albums Start to Finish.

-The Wall, Pink Floyd

-Live at Royal Albert Hall, Spiritualized

-O.K. Computer, Radiohead

-Rumors, Fleetwood Mac

-Rat-A-Tat, Rat-A-Tat

More people should listen to:

-Midnight Movies. I can't recomend this band enough. The lead singer/drummer Gina sounds like a mix between Nico and Stereolab.

-The Faint. An Amazing group post-something synth rock... did i mention their forthcoming video was filmed in my loft?

-Musicals

-Old Country

-Classical

Dr. Barker, or how I learned to love the Gameshow.

2005-05-19T16:52:00.000-07:00

O.K. kids.... If you want to see my secret identity revealed on national T.V. just tune in to your local CBS station tomorrow (Friday the 20th) at I believe 10am to catch yours truly in the audience of The Price is Right. No, I did not get to "come on down" and be the next contestent. However I was seated, along with a friend, in the first row dead center behind contests' row. So, if you tune in look, for the weirdo wearing a black blazer and a psuedo mohawk sitting next to the girl with the pink hair.

The whole Price is Right day o' fun was going to be a blog entry, but as usual I got distracted by a shiny object and just never got to it.

Enjoy...

“Christ is not speaking to the press at this time,”

2005-05-11T21:40:00.000-07:00

what more can i say...

the quote is better than the story, but here it is..

Christ can't drive 55

Me and the City

2005-05-04T13:50:00.000-07:00

Well here is my blogger generated list of cities that would suit me... I think it's a little off though. NYC should be first, and D.C. isn't even on the list.. oh well

>

American Cities That Best Fit You:

70% Chicago

65% New York City

65% Philadelphia

45% Las Vegas

45% Los Angeles

Which American Cities Best Fit You?

putzdate

2005-04-04T20:20:00.000-07:00

ok... i'm out of town on a design gig. beautiful place.. up in the piney mountains of Northern Cali, but the house i'm staying in doesn't have a high speed connection, so in case any of you were wondering where i've been. so much to say and no way to say it quickly.

I would like to make one point. No one has commented about how shit happy the media must be to have the Pope kick the bucket just days after Schiavo did. They didn't even have to go back to Iraq or Whitehouse talking points. Just 'bam' Popeathon. 24 hours of more junk food news. Don't get me wrong as a 'theatre' person I love the pomp and pagentry of the Catholic church, and they pull out all the stops for a Papal funeral and subsequent selection. However, as always there are a lot more important things going on.

ok.. more later.. i swear.

tripping on the right fantastic

2005-03-30T13:33:00.000-08:00

I realized that if I have something to say I better do it rightaway otherwise the little goldfish swimming around in my head lets it go as soon as something else bright and shiny pops up. look a castle....

I had a dose of right wing radio last night as I was driving home from work. I've been hauling my ass an hour each way into the desert above L.A. to work on a show and after a certain point you pass out of the reach of civilization and your radio selection becomes very limited. Anyway as I'm careening down windy desert mountain roads at 85mph I'm scanning through the am dial hoping for a good hellfire and brimstone sermon, cuz hey who doesn't want to go to hell, when I come across the the Lars Larsen show

What was my point, oh yeah, what an ass. Saying that because the Portland mayor may pull his cops from the FBI's joint terroism taskforce that the city shouldn't receive any federal homeland security monies. What I can't stand is that this guy only puts forward one half of the story. The only reason Lars gives for the mayor wanting to pull out is that the feds won't give him the top secret clearance he would need to look at case files. This is the typical right wing tactic of presenting only a misrepresented portion of the opposition's argument, if any at all. The real reason the mayor wants to pull out is here http://www.denverpost.com/Stories/0,1413,36~53~2788545,00.html

i think i may keep listening.. must stay mad... must stay mad..

oh look a castle....

Who Am I?

2005-03-28T14:54:00.000-08:00

Since I've started commenting on what the rest of you are writing you should at least know who it is that is leaving those little quips, it's only fair. I'm someone who trades his labor for sub par wages in order to provide technical support for the entertainment of the elite and monnied. This is only a cursory introduction, but it will do for now.

It is somewhat contrary to my nature to add my voice to the din about what is going on in the world, after all what do I know and who cares what I think about things that I have no direct influence over ie. someone's feeding tube. That is not say that I don't have an opnion, I do and I voice it to those I can have a sensible and informed discussion with, but my point is (I think) that I'll probably stick to topics which ...... oh hell.. who knows... I have no clue... you'll be lucky if I post anything on a regular basis. I'll probably spend more time commenting on what you all say.

Ps. please be patient with me as I am not a writer or an academic as many of the bloggers that I read are and my writing may not be quite up to par.

why would you care?

2005-03-20T02:32:00.000-08:00

why would you care?

??????