CollisionWorks

A mixed bag of things to post:

After getting back home Sunday night from seeing Ten West at The Brick (great show, unfortunately only in town for the weekend and closed), I finally got to see Todd Haynes' movie (or "Suppositions on a Film Concerning Dylan") I'm Not There for the first time and was completely blown away and then spent yesterday morning with the bonus material from the 2-disk set on and going in the background on the computer as I started writing this -- as I was rewatching the film with the director's commentary on, I wound up stopping my writing; couldn't concentrate on both.

The film completely knocked me out and I recommend it highly, though I have no idea how it'll play anyone other than a Dylan-obsessive who can also sit there and tick off with glee all the 60s movie references as they go by (8 1/2, Petulia, Performance, lots o' Godard, Blowup, etc. etc.). Berit digs Dylan, but not to the same degree, and wouldn't get most of the film refs, but seemed to like it (she had the same reaction to much of it she had when seeing some of the real footage of Dylan in No Direction Home, re: the fans who turned on the man when he went electric and the press - especially the British press - who were always trying to figure out what his hustle was - "What a bunch of assholes!").

In any case, the movie = amazing.

I wound up glad about one thing I didn't think I would, as well. The movie is named for a great GREAT Dylan song from the Basement Tapes sessions which has been known from bootlegs for 40 years but never officially released until the soundtrack album. The song is actually named ("mysteriously" as Haynes says of its subtitle in one of his comments on the DVD), "I'm Not There (1956)". It's a beautiful, fragile song - simple, hypnotic, heartbreaking, and - crucially - mostly unintelligible. You catch bits of words and thoughts but they just fade in and out of understanding as the "whirlpool" of a song (as Haynes puts it, I think quoting Greil Marcus) goes by. Dylan was probably making up the words right as he sang them, so who knows how much sense they were making anyway.

Here's the song, behind a cut, with video accompaniment:

( I'm Not There (1956) )

So a great deal of the beauty and mystery of the song - how ultimately unknowable it is - derives from its abstractness, never really comprehending what the words are, just kinda vaguely making them out. I figured then, that with a final official release - and a cover version by Sonic Youth on the same album - the words would be "settled" - Dylan or someone who could make them out from the master tape would give us the "correct" words.

Nope.

There are two sets of subtitles on the DVD, one of English for the hard-of-hearing, and one for just the song lyrics. Wonderfully, when the song finally comes up in the film itself, the two different sets of titles have almost completely different interpretations of Dylan's words. Then the Sonic Youth version plays over the end credits, and it's a third version of the words! Obviously, everyone's just been left on their own still to decide for themselves what the lyrics are (and I've found many versions online, no two the same, with some overlap here and there, all of which sound plausible if you listen to them next to the song).

For example, in this cut, here's three versions of a chorus-verse-verse-chorus sequence from the song, as subtitled three different ways on the DVD:

( But it's not too fast for Slim . . . )

Perfect.

Images seen recently to be shared - here's one I grabbed from Bryan Enk's Facebook page (hope that's okay, Bryan) that brings back fond memories of theatre on Ludlow Street. Yuri Lowenthal and me sitting on the garbage bins outside The Piano Store theatre as I give notes to the cast of my first production of Film Is Evil: Radio Is Good, Summer, 1998:

Meanwhile, ANYTHING is possible with the power of RADIO!

Howabout some videos, inside this cut?

( Recent Videos of Interest )

Enjoy.

Just finished about six solid hours of writing/editing/conceiving work on Spell, with another hour or two spread out earlier in the day. Feels good.

Sent off the 22 pages of material I now have to the cast, to give them something to look at and think about at this point.

Here's the first page of what I sent:

SPELL
Moira Stone - ANN
Fred Backus - Doctor General Jane (aka 2 JANE)
Alyssa Simon - General Doctor Jane (aka 1 JANE)
Jorge Cordova - ANDY
Iracel Rivero - WITCH 1 (Cuba)
Rasha Zamamiri - WITCH 2 (Palestine)
Jeanie Tse - WITCH 3 (China)
Gavin Starr Kendall – The MAN
Olivia Baseman - Fragment 1 (girlfriend aka FRAG 1)
Sammy Tunis - Fragment 2 (woman of business aka FRAG 2)
Liz Toft - Fragment 3 (worker aka FRAG 3)

SEGMENTS currently conceived (not really in any order yet):

I.

Opening – swinging lamp over ANN as she sings “Couldn’t Hear Nobody Pray,” stopped by 2 JANE, then buzzer, siren, explosion and screams.

II.

First Interview – same dialogue done four times between ANN and 1 JANE/2 JANE from different perspectives.

III.

Light Bulb Discussion

IV.

The Bedtime Ritual (with diagnosis speech from 2 JANE) – midshow relaxation/expansion

V.

The Firing Squad Dream Sequence (relates to following sequence listed – “Piggies”)

VI.

The Witches or Fragments Become Manson Girls

VII.

ANN as Patty Hearst as “Tania” (connect to Che Guevara’s “Tania”?)

VIII.

ANDY’s revolutionary speech (with James Brown cape routine)

IX.

The introduction of the FRAGMENTS and their positions

X.

The MAN and FRAG 1

XI.

The MAN and FRAG 2

XII.

The MAN and FRAG 3 (includes stereotyped “chasing the secretary round the desk” sequence, set to “Yakety Sax” – 1 JANE makes ANN back up and tell the story “right”)

XIII.

The Male Gaze lecture – ANN lines up the women downstage – the men gather upstage to be manly and laugh together

XIV.

WITCH 1 spell sequence

XV.

WITCH 2 spell sequence

XVI.

WITCH 3 spell sequence

XVII.

ANN and 1 JANE/2 JANE discussion – Cuba

XVIII.

ANN and 1 JANE/2 JANE discussion – Palestine

XIX.

ANN and 1 JANE/2 JANE discussion – China

XX.

ANN and ANDY on trains, travel, and getting to know the country

XXI.

Finale – ANN accepts her actions – exit – “Just Another Day”

When I have some that excerpts well, I'll put it up.

So, a couple of good ass-kicking images that brightened my day . . . first, from LP Cover Lover, a man who kicks arse for the LORD!

And from Photo Basement, Batman kicks ass because he's full of PAIN!

And in video land, this young man's "Pyro System" could kick someone's ass, maybe his own . . .

( Darwin Award waiting to happen . . . )

Gary Cooper kicks cyborg ass!

( High Tech Noon )

And the Mean Kitty is just ass-kicking mean . . .

( Hey, Little Sparta )

Enjoy.

Berit really liked the album-cover-creating meme I participated in BELOW, HERE, where you create a fake band's album cover from images/words found in random web searches.

So, she had to do one herself. As she says, she could do this for fun all day. Well, it would take a while, since she goes through 19,000 fonts or so looking for the "right one" (I just keep hitting the interestingly-named ones until I find a really good one that works).

When we were doing the random generating that went into this, we first thought it was for a Laibach-type band, then Berit decided it was more like Electric Six. Now I don't know.

What kind of band is Frederick Gent School?

B's just said she thinks they wound up more Pixies-ish, but she isn't so sure either.

I needed some production photos quick for publicity purposes, so I asked some of the actors who live near The Brick to come by last night and get into costume and get some photos after the shows were over. Gyda Arber and Bryan Enk were able to make it - and thanks for the loan of the camera and for uploading the shots to Gyda.


So here's some of what the show pretty much looks like. Here I am as Hamlet with Enk as Polonius (". . . conception is a blessing, but not as your daughter may conceive . . ."):





With Gyda as the Norwegian Captain, talking of futile war:





And the two of us again, looking out on the Norwegian troops being sent to their deaths in Poland:





And finally, the shot you have to get, Hamlet with Yorick:





Now, a rush. Shower and shave, off to Staples for new programs, off to Big Apple Lights to exchange a loaner piece of equipment with our repaired one (the "brain" for our practical dimmers), off to The Brick to put the piece in and then practice for a few hours. I'm feeling good, though Berit and I were at The Brick fixing tech things until 5.00 am again last night (this morning). Now to keep this up through the show.