CollisionWorks

The work goes on.

Last two nights we rehearsed the Richard Foreman play, George Bataille's Bathrobe at The Brick, and it was nice to stage the thing in the actual space. We had only a trio of actors (out of eight total) for most of Wednesday - one showed up later - and five yesterday, with, again, one showing up towards the end, so we did some scene work that we could do with the people we had and got some solid work accomplished.

Everyone says the play becomes clearer and makes more sense as we work it. I know it makes sense of a kind, but it's a kind of dream sense, and I don't always know what it is until we're on our feet and doing it (if then). One longish scene - Scene Nine - received a lot of work on both nights, and by the end of last night had come together enough to make it clear the whole thing was going to work just fine.

But we need to keep hacking away at it bit by bit. What makes Foreman work is getting all the little details and multiple possibilities of all the lines all going at once. We don't touch this show again until June 7, when I should have the entire cast together for a rehearsal, finally.

I rehearse the other two shows already in progress (as opposed to the still-being-scripted BBQ) the next two afternoons, then also don't touch them for a week. In between, I'll be too busy getting The Brick set up for The Antidepressant Festival and doing the light design for four of the shows in that Festival: Nosedive's Infectious Opportunity, Ten Directions' ...and the fear cracked open, Sneaky Snake Productions' Adventure Quest, and Theatre Askew's The Tale of the Good Whistleblower of Chaillot's Caucasian Mother and Her Other Children of a Lesser Marriage Chalk Circle (phew!).

And FIRST, tonight, I go and help babysit a benefit going on at the space, with a break in the middle to join my old friend Sean Rockoff in seeing X at the Bowery Ballroom. I'm really happy to be seeing one of my favorite bands for the first time, but kind of tired and weary and wondering how I can bounce around and enjoy the fine fine superfine rock of Exene, John Doe, Billy, & D.J. in this state.

I'm sure it'll all be fine when the music starts . . .

Meanwhile, back in the iTunes (Berit has the iPod today - she's working the UTC#61 festival from 9 am to midnight or so), here's a Random Ten out of 71,285 tracks (so I've added 228 tracks since last week, huh?) . . .

1. "Juliano the Bull" - Jason Crest - Circus Days Vol. 4 & 5
2. "Read It & Weep (live 1975)" - Rocket From The Tombs - The Day the Earth Met the Rocket from the Tombs
3. "I'll Never Let You Go" - Steff - U-Spaces: Way Out Wonders vol. 1
4. "Love Me Like I Love You" - Me & Dem Guys - Quagmire 3
5. "Longarm" - Wall Of Voodoo - The Index Masters
6. "Yo-Yo" - Pylon - Chomp
7. "Modern Things" - Voice Farm - Sleep / Modern Things 7"
8. "The Bride Stripped Bare By 'Bachelors'" - The Bonzo Dog Band - Keynsham
9. "Country Kisses" - Sheb Wooley - Country Boogies, Wild & Wooley!
10. "Segue 5" - The New Power Generation - GoldNigga

Again, no new cat pictures this week.

But meanwhile, in the Cool News of the World -- as someone who's not the world's biggest Obama fan (he's okay, but I'm still fairly to the left of the man and his policies - and believe that those calling him and those policies "Socialist" are insulting Socialists - but I recognize he may be as good as we're gonna get in that office in my lifetime - may be), I am at least quite pleased by the Obamas' choices for new art to display around the White House, as discussed in a Wall Street Journal article HERE.

The only work of art I was aware of being on display there was Frederic Remington's The Bronco Buster (1903), and I got the impression that the style of art otherwise on display there had not advanced very much from that time and style. I didn't know that Hilary Clinton had been personally passionate about acquiring an O'Keeffe and a Henry Ossawa Tanner (whose work I'm not familiar with) for the permanent collection while there -- every administration displays works on loan from various sources, museums, whatever; some works are acquired, under stricter policies -- usually works older than 25 years, from dead artists, so as to not unduly effect the market rates, though the Bushes accepted a donation from Andrew Wyeth. Also, Jackie Kennedy pulled out some Cezannes from the permanent collection there, and Laura Bush had a Helen Frankenthaler on loan for the private residence. But these have been exceptions to the mainly middle-of-the-road work on display at the White House.

I had heard the Obamas had put out a call for more works by minority and female artists, fine, okay, the Dead White Male club could always use some shaking up (and I speak as a fan, primarily, of Dead White Males), but they've gotten a good share of work for display in the White House, some of which surprised and pleased me. There's a Johns, a Diebenkorn, an Albers, a Ruscha, a Rauschenberg, a Nevelson, a de Staël, two bronzes by Degas, and two pieces by Alma Woodsey Thomas, which fulfill both the "female" and "minority" calls while also being abstracts. Currently being looked at for possible inclusion is a set from the Art Institute of Chicago (where the first couple went on an early date) that includes works by Franz Kline and Beauford Delaney.

It's not a big thing, I guess, but it makes me happy to know that the home of the First Family has in this way finally entered the 20th Century.

As for videos . . .

Just because I dig it, here's a video recently linked to on Facebook by Kim Morgan which she described (accurately) as an "Ike and Tina meet David Lynch meet Guy Maddin clip of brilliance." It's a lip-synced performance of beauty that almost doesn't make me think this song is overrated in Phil Spector's oeuvre (it's muddy and overdriven - a Wall of Sludge rather than a Wall of Sound - and sounds better over computer speakers than on record).

Among the Ikettes on this occasion is Ms. P.P. Arnold, who I'm a fan of (and I didn't know she was an Ikette). Two clips of her being wonderful on England's Beat Club can be found HERE and HERE.

What, not more redubbings of the Hitler/Downfall scene? Yup. Here he has some strong feelings about J.J. Abrams' Star Trek reboot (h/t flyswatter):

And here, a meta-commentary version created by Brad Templeton of the Electronic Frontier Foundation (who describes in detail the efforts he went to in being sure his version of this meme was 100% legal in an interesting post HERE), in which Hitler finds out the limits of copyright protection:

And, hey, courtesy of Tom X. Chao, here's a recent photo of myself and Berit, from Gyda Arber's Memorial Day backyard BBQ (Berit is wearing a spare hat of Gyda's to keep herself from sunburn, a problem that seems to have almost vanished for me entirely - though I have a permanent "trucker's tan" on my left arm).

We actually look pretty relaxed, huh? A combo of mead, champagne, cider, Mike's Hard Lime, and (in my case) a some big hunks o' meat will do that to you . . .

Now to take a nap in prep for a LONG weekend of action . . .

Work proceeds on the four shows. Darius Stone has joined the cast of Harry in Love - waitaminit, Darius has the same name as a character Ice Cube played in some movie? Well, that's a pain for Google searches. I now have lists of the "preferred" casts for each of the four shows - each of which, apart from Harry, with its nice little six characters, has had to expand by two to four actors as I realize I need more performers and different types in the casts.

Emails are out, waiting to hear back for the next step. I have a handful of people to audition as well. Also been working out the calendar for both myself and The Brick for the rest of the year. Looks good. Looks busy, but not crazy.

There are now 22,998 songs in the iPod - let's see what comes up this morning . . .

1. "Besoin de la Lune" - Manu Chao - La Radiolina
2. "Just One Look" - Martha Reeves & The Vandellas - Beat of the Pops 16
3. "Shadows on the Very Last Row" - The Cleftones - For Sentimental Reasons
4. "Die Schlangengrube und das Pendel" - The Peter Thomas Sound Orchestra - Film Musik
5. "There's No Satisfaction" - Manfred Hubler & Siegfried Schwab- Vampyros Lesbos (Sexadelic Dance Party)
6. "Out Out Out" - Ice 9 - Out Out Out 7"
7. "The Third Man Theme" - The Don Baker Trio -Ultra-Lounge 11: Organs in Orbit
8. "Strawberry Letter #23" - Brothers Johnson - Jackie Brown soundtrack
9. "When I See Mommy I Feel Like A Mummy (live 1978)" - Captain Beefheart & The Magic Band - I'm Going To Do What I Want To
10. "Not Yet Remembered" - Brian Eno & Harold Budd - Ambient 2: The Plateaux Of Mirrors

I was thinking it was a pretty boring mix this morning - songs I'm glad to have in the iPod, but none that leapt out at me and made me really glad to hear them this morning - and then the Brothers Johnson track showed, and made me quite happy, though it's also a kind of overcast song for an overcast morning, and then the Beefheart just made all good. And the Budd/Eno matches the rain and light on the window.

What for cat photos today? Well, most of my photos are of the cats being hugged or lying around like meatloaves. Are they active? You bet.

As when Berit discovers that a fake flower lying around from old props has caught Hooker's attention, and she dangles it for him . . .

He goes for it, getting the brief attention of Moni, who has the attention span of a goldfish . . .

Causing her to make a leap at it, to his surprise . . .

Getting it briefly in her paws, she sniffs it and finds it uninteresting . . .

And she immediately moves on, forgetting the toy ever existed, and the more determined Hooker continues the assault . . .

Okay, I have a few things to do around here today (mainly descend to the dank prop storage in the basement and find some costumes I'm going to loan to Henry Akona for Hiroshima - some lab coats and a "radiation suit," which is actually Edward Einhorn's anyway, that I borrowed for the midget spaceman avatar in Symphony of Rats and put on The Brick's effigy of Santa Claus).

Go wake Berit now and get on with the day - amazing that the construction in the apartment next door hasn't woken her, it's unnerving me and scaring the cats. Don't know what they're doing, but it's sounded like they've had the bathroom wall out over there for weeks and weeks now. We can hear the conversations they're having in there as if we're in the same room, which makes it unnerving at times to use the john while they're over there yelling at each other about how best to do something - it sounds like someone who lives in the apartment doing the work with a friend or relative who either is a contractor, or has a lot of experience with remodeling, or at least thinks he does. As Berit says, after trips to the bathroom listening to their profane "discussions," "I've never learned so much about grout in all my life!"