They're closing down the Philip Morris plant around here (story here). Management cites a decline in smoking as the reason. This is perfect mixed-feelings fodder. Sure, I'd love for the cig industry to close up entirely, but the fiance of a friend works there, operating a cig-rolling machine. What's he gonna do now? And what are about a thousand other folks gonna do now? And by the by, when the economic downturn started to have an effect on working peoples employment, I noticed a substantial uptick in reckless, pushy, aggressive driving around here. I fear there's gonna be another uptick...
* * *
I feel a bit guilty for being so callow about drug addiction a couple posts ago... it was a vivisectionist I had issues with, and I shouldn't have taken it out on the people he's trying to help. Still, taking Angel Dust in this day and age... that's pretty boneheaded, and I know from boneheaded. So help PCP addicts, but not with extreme measures. And tormenting monkeys is pretty extreme.
* * *
Science Fiction: Ruined by Whippersnappers.
About Me
- Aaron White
- Go out with you? Why not... Do I like to dance? Of course! Take a walk along the beach tonight? I'd love to. But don't try to touch me. Don't try to touch me. Because that will never happen again. "Past, Present and Future"-The Shangri-Las
Showing posts with label foot in mouth. Show all posts
Showing posts with label foot in mouth. Show all posts
Thursday, April 30, 2009
Tuesday, December 19, 2006
It's the thought that counts.
My first Christmas present has arrived, and it is a book titled The Case For A Creator, sent by some dear friends from my old stomping grounds in Chattanooga TN. I'll certainly give it a day in court, although at a glance it looks like more of the Intelligent Design stuff that I find utterly uncompelling.
Lately I'm engaging two Christian writers whom I find more persuasive, or at least more relevant... one is Dietrich Bonhoeffer, who tried to help assassinate Hitler, and paid with his life for his efforts. That's a pretty compelling faith-into-action story, but even putting such autobiographical elements aside, his writings are richly resonant, so far. I need to stop looking for online snippets and actually get a book of his; he wrote a few, and they're highly regarded on their own merits.
The other is Charles Williams, the forgotten Inkling. I finally got my hands on a copy of his book Descent Into Hell, and while I haven't started it yet it promises to be a haunting look at Williams' powerfully intense Christ-centered mystical worldview. I can't wait.
Lately I'm engaging two Christian writers whom I find more persuasive, or at least more relevant... one is Dietrich Bonhoeffer, who tried to help assassinate Hitler, and paid with his life for his efforts. That's a pretty compelling faith-into-action story, but even putting such autobiographical elements aside, his writings are richly resonant, so far. I need to stop looking for online snippets and actually get a book of his; he wrote a few, and they're highly regarded on their own merits.
The other is Charles Williams, the forgotten Inkling. I finally got my hands on a copy of his book Descent Into Hell, and while I haven't started it yet it promises to be a haunting look at Williams' powerfully intense Christ-centered mystical worldview. I can't wait.
Monday, March 20, 2006
Inherit My Wind
Notes I would have given the director of the production of Inherit The Wind that I saw this weekend, had the director asked:
Brady, the prosecuting attorney, didn't get where he is simply by being loud and pious. He got there by knowing how to assure roomsful of people that he loves them with a Godly love. He got there by being charming. He got there by knowing how to crack jokes on the fly. Right now it seems like the community loves him because the script says so. Lets see him earn that love; this actor can do that as long as he's aware that that's the task at hand. Right now he just seems loud and pious. Have you ever talked to a good evangelical preacher? When they aren't preaching they're soft-spoken, friendly, earnest, humorous. Let's see that side of Brady; he should only preach when it's time to preach.
The H. L. Mencken character, the snarky reporter, doesn't seem to be aware that there are other people around when he makes his harsh, witty but mean-spirited comments. What does he want from the people around him? My answer would be that he wants to humble them with his witty insight into what's wrong with them; he wants them to know he's the smartest person in the room and that they're mere chimps next to him. That's not The One Right Answer, but it's one way for him to play off of other people, and it makes his humbling final scene that much more powerful. Right now the actor is just declaiming his lines into the air; he needs to be saying them to people around him, and paying close attention to the effect his words have on those people.
The Prayer meeting is one of the most effective scenes in the production. We really see the Flannery O'Connoresque paganism bubbling up under the cover of Christianity here. I'm still not sure that the fragmentation in the town preacher's relationship with his daughter has been established enough for the shocking development here to seem quite real. The actor playing the preacher is excellent, but right now I'm not sure why he makes the awful choice he makes here. (EDIT: "...Awful chioce he makes here." refers to the awful choice the character makes, not any of the performer's acting choices. The actor in question did a splendid job, plus he's a chum and I don't want him body-slamming me if he reads this.)
No one goes to the theatre to see people who know their lines, cues and blocking. People go to the theatre to see people talking to each other and trying to accomplish something with their lives in the face of great difficulty. Some of the performers here, notably the defense attorney, know that; make sure everyone else knows it too.
Brady, the prosecuting attorney, didn't get where he is simply by being loud and pious. He got there by knowing how to assure roomsful of people that he loves them with a Godly love. He got there by being charming. He got there by knowing how to crack jokes on the fly. Right now it seems like the community loves him because the script says so. Lets see him earn that love; this actor can do that as long as he's aware that that's the task at hand. Right now he just seems loud and pious. Have you ever talked to a good evangelical preacher? When they aren't preaching they're soft-spoken, friendly, earnest, humorous. Let's see that side of Brady; he should only preach when it's time to preach.
The H. L. Mencken character, the snarky reporter, doesn't seem to be aware that there are other people around when he makes his harsh, witty but mean-spirited comments. What does he want from the people around him? My answer would be that he wants to humble them with his witty insight into what's wrong with them; he wants them to know he's the smartest person in the room and that they're mere chimps next to him. That's not The One Right Answer, but it's one way for him to play off of other people, and it makes his humbling final scene that much more powerful. Right now the actor is just declaiming his lines into the air; he needs to be saying them to people around him, and paying close attention to the effect his words have on those people.
The Prayer meeting is one of the most effective scenes in the production. We really see the Flannery O'Connoresque paganism bubbling up under the cover of Christianity here. I'm still not sure that the fragmentation in the town preacher's relationship with his daughter has been established enough for the shocking development here to seem quite real. The actor playing the preacher is excellent, but right now I'm not sure why he makes the awful choice he makes here. (EDIT: "...Awful chioce he makes here." refers to the awful choice the character makes, not any of the performer's acting choices. The actor in question did a splendid job, plus he's a chum and I don't want him body-slamming me if he reads this.)
No one goes to the theatre to see people who know their lines, cues and blocking. People go to the theatre to see people talking to each other and trying to accomplish something with their lives in the face of great difficulty. Some of the performers here, notably the defense attorney, know that; make sure everyone else knows it too.
Saturday, October 15, 2005
Later That Day.
I hesitate to post this because it might come back to bite me, but here's a couple of wise lessons I've been taught about acting that came to mind tonight:
Talk to your scene partner. Anytime there's a dialogue onstage, don't "act" at the other performers; talk to them.
Never tell stories. If you've got a big long monologue about how your kitten died, don't play it as if your objective as the character is to explain how your kitten died; telling the story is a means to an end. Figure out what that end is and use the story as a tactic to achieve that end.
Never play an emotion. Your objective isn't to feel an emotion; it's to achieve something. The emotions will rise out of the striving.
Anyway, the show was an unevenly acted broad comedy; drink your wine and wait for the funny bits. My heroine Melissa B. stole the show with a one-scene character. A guy named Capers D. played a preacher, and he rocked out! I've seen him before in a best-left-unmentioned show elsewhere, and he lit up the stage there. There's some inexplicable gonzo element to what I've seen of his work that takes it beyond mere craft, though he has craft as well. There were other performances I enjoyed: Thom S. channeled Divine at her most overwrought in a drag role, and Shanda B. got to wear a big fat suit. Fat suits fill me with joy. They're never not funny. Sadly she didn't get to do much; she did a flawless, splendid monologue in another TNT show that really made me want to see more from her.
The place was packed, it being closing night. Why wasn't BFT packed for closing night of First Lady Suite? It was a good show! I hate to see people work so hard on a good production and get nothing for it.
Talk to your scene partner. Anytime there's a dialogue onstage, don't "act" at the other performers; talk to them.
Never tell stories. If you've got a big long monologue about how your kitten died, don't play it as if your objective as the character is to explain how your kitten died; telling the story is a means to an end. Figure out what that end is and use the story as a tactic to achieve that end.
Never play an emotion. Your objective isn't to feel an emotion; it's to achieve something. The emotions will rise out of the striving.
Anyway, the show was an unevenly acted broad comedy; drink your wine and wait for the funny bits. My heroine Melissa B. stole the show with a one-scene character. A guy named Capers D. played a preacher, and he rocked out! I've seen him before in a best-left-unmentioned show elsewhere, and he lit up the stage there. There's some inexplicable gonzo element to what I've seen of his work that takes it beyond mere craft, though he has craft as well. There were other performances I enjoyed: Thom S. channeled Divine at her most overwrought in a drag role, and Shanda B. got to wear a big fat suit. Fat suits fill me with joy. They're never not funny. Sadly she didn't get to do much; she did a flawless, splendid monologue in another TNT show that really made me want to see more from her.
The place was packed, it being closing night. Why wasn't BFT packed for closing night of First Lady Suite? It was a good show! I hate to see people work so hard on a good production and get nothing for it.
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