tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-27919037637441779372024-03-04T20:20:26.668-08:00Artistic (W)Hole...A place to put my musings on art, community, and life because if I keep it in my head, well it hasn't worked out for me so far...why don't you hold it for a spell?milesboucherhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16783691033073213629noreply@blogger.comBlogger96125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2791903763744177937.post-47587627097357557112017-02-15T05:44:00.001-08:002017-02-15T05:44:39.361-08:00A Year of Seconds - 7 - January<iframe allowfullscreen="" frameborder="0" height="270" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/q8mIHKqnwMk" width="480"></iframe><br /><br />
Obligatory New Year's post, but I loved it because the entire town came alive with car honks instead. It was deafening.<br /><br />
And then the following night was wine and video games. You just can't plan for what you're going to get.<br /><br />
Game nights<br /><br />
Home made burgers (from scratch!)<br /><br />
Home made pasta (FROM SCRATCH!)<br /><br />
Being brought home by a wonderful friend who literally drove me over an embankment; his justification: We're not the first ones.<br /><br />
Middlescott Sketch Battle for days!<br /><br />
Climbing polls in acting lab.<br /><br />
And then road trips to Canada for East Asian cuisine (& it's vegan too)<br /><br />
So it was a full first half of the month.<br /><br />
I don't know what else to say...yes, I do.<br /><br />
Thank you.milesboucherhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16783691033073213629noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2791903763744177937.post-34628916899417212542017-02-14T07:48:00.001-08:002017-02-14T07:48:16.471-08:00A Year of Seconds 6 - DECEMBERToday, let us discuss December.<br /><br />
<iframe allowfullscreen="" frameborder="0" height="270" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/N5jULKp-hdE" width="480"></iframe><br /><br />
There it is.<br /><br />
I finished my Nanowrimo! But, not the project. The project turned into an epic historical fantasy extravaganza, the likes of which I am still reeling from. I am afraid for how long I want this single "novel" to be. Think hundreds and thousands of pages. It has been done, but this is like my second project. Scary tree.<br /><br />
I went to a few more tree lightings.<br /><br />
Got an award for my writing from Nano friends (and a date).<br /><br />
Found my Breakfast Club. Turns out in a room full of theatre kids, I am cool enough to be Bender.<br /><br />
Saw some fantastic student art. Keep making kids, you're better artists than most of us.<br /><br />
Went to a few more game nights.<br /><br />
MADE A FUCKING SOUND STUDIO. That was rad.<br /><br />
Worked on a holiday show. That was amazing. It goes in my credits. I PLAYED THE GRINCH.<br /><br />
I wrote and starred in a short film, which was amazing.<br /><br />
Had some classy meals.<br /><br />
Had some not so classy meals.<br /><br />
And then went and celebrated New Year's on Campus Martius done right.<br /><br />
The End.<br /><br />
of the year.<br />Not me.milesboucherhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16783691033073213629noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2791903763744177937.post-11192079566658912392017-02-12T07:55:00.001-08:002017-02-12T07:55:32.977-08:00A Year of Seconds 5 - NovemberToday, we discuss November,<br /><br />
<iframe allowfullscreen="" frameborder="0" height="270" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/XE17OmBqT40" width="480"></iframe><br /><br />
Nanowrimo, of course, began! Hit my 50,000 wordcount on Anne Shakespeare. But, it has turned into a bear of an historical novel. 50,000 words was barely cutting it. It may be a series or a tome or I just need to edit it waaaaay down.<br /><br />
Write ins galore, I met some really lovely people through them.<br /><br />
Art galleries to boot!<br /><br />
Offbrand pringles are terrible, guys.<br /><br />
Out campaigning for the election: Regional Transit. We need it guys, we need it.<br /><br />
Drinking AFTER the election. For days.<br /><br />
Amanda Fucking Palmer guys. She is just magical.<br /><br />
Tree lighting and dinners at home. Still art.<br /><br />
So many silks classes.<br /><br />
Tree lightings at home.<br /><br />
Games for days.<br /><br />
And the holiday show.<br /><br />
To name just a few.milesboucherhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16783691033073213629noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2791903763744177937.post-33526478359706890102017-02-10T07:55:00.001-08:002017-02-10T07:55:47.679-08:00A Year of Seconds 4 - OctoberToday, we discuss October,<br /><br />
<iframe allowfullscreen="" frameborder="0" height="270" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/wdkLnWw04UY" width="480"></iframe><br /><br />
There...it happened. Now, what?<br /><br />
I went to my first ever Hand Egg game at Wayne State. That was a trial and tribulation, if for no other reason than I was introduced to tailgating culture, which let's be honest, I do pretty well. But, more importantly, I met my personal superhero: a dancing man, dressed as a Viking warrior in a line dance.<br /><br />
I ran over four miles to reach the end of Open Streets Detroit, which if you haven't gone out to support local community programming, you really should; it is free and also the only way that they can show that these programs have value.<br /><br />
I seen the Gilmore Girls craze at Avalon and got me that free coffee.<br /><br />
Also saw my first sunrise in years--GETTING UP EARLY!<br /><br />
First look at AltSpace, which everyone should definitely check out.<br /><br />
Game nights and pumpkin carvings for days.<br /><br />
So many pumpkins!<br /><br />
Writing letters.<br /><br />
Directed for the first time in years.<br /><br />
Was a part of an immersive experience.<br /><br />
Started my aerial silks classes.<br /><br />
Threw something off my balcony, which was amazing--THREE STORIES.<br /><br />
Played pong at the local Target, which immersive advertising is the way of the future.<br /><br />
And finally, finally, finally, hosted a Halloween gaming experience. I AM IN THE MAN IN BLACK.milesboucherhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16783691033073213629noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2791903763744177937.post-2869325148148601432017-02-09T07:25:00.001-08:002017-02-09T07:25:55.672-08:00A Year of Seconds 1 - JulyToday, we discuss July,<br /><br />
<br /><br />
<iframe allowfullscreen="" frameborder="0" height="270" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/2cme6SBJ7ak" width="480"></iframe><br /><br />
<br /><br />
I went walking...a lot!<br /><br />
<br /><br />
The most feral child scream I ever heard. Seriously, this kid volunteered for EVERYTHING during the show.<br /><br />
<br /><br />
The Rosa Parks bus is held at work!<br /><br />
<br /><br />
I found some pretty spectacular sights, including a couple of street festivals (the band playing) that I didn't know Detroit held (Atlanta has a million of them).<br /><br />
<br /><br />
The Underground opened and closed its 3rd season, which I got to see all of, but didn't have to lift a damn finger (it's a pretty amazing thing to see these things come and go).<br /><br />
<br /><br />
Pokemon Go took the world by storm. I captured a Pikachu in Campus Martius!<br /><br />
<br /><br />
We started an artistic fellowship at the house.<br /><br />
<br /><br />
Star Wars came back to the big screen (the grainy bits).<br /><br />
<br /><br />
I saw a puppet theatre perform Ubu Rex.<br /><br />
<br /><br />
It was a pretty full month.milesboucherhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16783691033073213629noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2791903763744177937.post-43441553784004672252017-02-08T14:37:00.001-08:002017-02-08T14:37:10.313-08:00A Year of Seconds 3 - SeptemberToday, we discuss A Year of Seconds p.3,<br /><br />
<br /><br />
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<br /><br />
This was September.<br /><br />
<br /><br />
In it, I was employed by my now, dear, dear friend, Erada Svetlana, who I am sure is a Russian spy novel waiting to happen.<br /><br />
<br /><br />
I worked with my dear, dear sister Sarah Hawkins Moan and her lovely husband David, who is one of my best friends in the world. I read and listened to Little Women in the span of a few days because I was so committed to the show and the idea of being "cool" in art.<br /><br />
<br /><br />
I went "Up North" in Michigan for the first time in four years of being a resident here.<br /><br />
<br /><br />
I went on walking tours of the Eastern Market district, trying to find all of the murals on my own. I found a lot of them.<br /><br />
<br /><br />
I went walking so far that I found some of my old haunts in New Center Park. For those who don't know that is a long ways, about two hours of walking (one direction) from Eastern Market.<br /><br />
<br /><br />
I revisited some places. I had some great planning sessions with the members of YFH and...yeah. It was great.<br /><br />
<br /><br />
It was miserable too, don't let social media fool you, but I have decided to use it as a positive reinforcing tool rather thanremember all of the negative that swells in my mental, mental life.<br /><br />
<br /><br />
Thank you. Good Night. I hope you're happy.milesboucherhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16783691033073213629noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2791903763744177937.post-89626719603380765632017-02-08T12:50:00.001-08:002017-02-08T12:50:51.382-08:00PTSDetroit l I am an unoriginal by Miles BoucherToday, we discuss me.<br /><br />
<br /><br />
<iframe allowfullscreen="" frameborder="0" height="270" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/dM5AlZWspqY" width="480"></iframe><br /><br />
<br /><br />
There I am!<br /><br />
<br /><br />
Hullo, me!<br /><br />
<br /><br />
Anyway, this was an excerpt from our work on PTSDetroit, otherwise known as Plant the Seed, Detroit.<br /><br />
It was hosted on January 20th, 2017 and started at 7:00pm (Eastern).<br /><br />
That day I had watched the Inauguration as had approximately <a href="https://www.theatlantic.com/politics/archive/2017/01/inauguration-crowd-size/514058/" target="_blank">30.6 million according to the Atlantic</a>.<br /><br />
It was hard to see.<br /><br />
For those who couldn't watch, you should watch it.<br /><br />
<a href="https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/the-fix/wp/2017/01/20/donald-trumps-full-inauguration-speech-transcript-annotated/" target="_blank">For those who can't here is the transcript, provided by the Washington Post</a><br /><br />
<br /><br />
It was hard to watch; incredibly divisive for a president.<br /><br />
But, what could you expect?<br /><br />
I had decided weeks in advance, my audition for PTSDetroit, if you will, was to lift out a chunk of text from President Donald Trump's Inaugural Address and see what could possibly be done with it.<br /><br />
I figured, we had chosen the date of the performance anyway, let's make it significant with the day.<br /><br />
It would also prevent me from over planning or overcooking my performance.<br /><br />
<br /><br />
In the end, I had to back away.<br />I couldn't use his actual text.<br /><br />
For performance reasons.<br /><br />
<br /><br />
So I turned to why I wanted to do it in the first place and what I ultimately concluded was this:<br /><br />
I wanted it to be something true.<br /><br />
<br /><br />
Something true.<br /><br />
<br /><br />
On this day of days, I wanted something that was said to be true.<br /><br />
I didn't want it to be half-truths and half-lies.<br /><br />
I didn't want to hear something to appease the fan base or congratulate conservatives or console liberals.<br /><br />
I wanted people to really think and consider just what had happened and our actions in letting it occur.<br /><br />
<br /><br />
So I went with Shakespeare.<br /><br />
Henry VI part 2 as a matter of fact.<br /><br />
<br /><br />
<h3>John Cade's Rebellion: </h3><blockquote class="tr_bq"><span style="font-size: large;">a <u>populist leader</u> who ultimately through his <u>brash </u>and <u>insolent nature</u> almost overthrows the monarchy, but is ultimately <u>executed in a garden</u> by a <u>loyal knight of the crown</u>, all but <u>nameless in his cowardice</u> until <u>he dies</u>. </span></blockquote><blockquote class="tr_bq">And is beheaded.</blockquote>I don't know why I thought it would make a good substitute, but the bravado and the appeal to almost dream-like promises seemed accurate.<br /><br />
So I ran with it.<br /><br />
I copied it down verbatim into my journal and then wrote bookends for it that would be absolutely true.<br /><br />
What came out was a critique on truth.<br /><br />
A critique on the hashtag culture that we are living in and the horror of the reality of Aaron Sorkin's <u>The Newsroom</u>, which foretold:<br /><br />
<blockquote class="tr_bq"><span style="font-size: large;">"People choose their facts nowadays."</span></blockquote>Anyway, I hope you enjoyed it.<br /><br />
I hope it made you think; it certainly has made me think about what it is we are all doing here.<br /><br />
Please, please, please, love one another and love yourselves.<br /><br />
Ultimately, the demagogues perish because they are alone.<br /><br />
They cannot help but be alone because they drive a wedge between everyone until they are the only ones left. <br /><br />
It happens all of the time.<br /><br />
Stand together. Stand up. And take care.milesboucherhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16783691033073213629noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2791903763744177937.post-74038434749046551872017-01-14T12:28:00.002-08:002017-02-12T09:57:21.331-08:00How Scary is Human Anyway? (Trollhunter: Where Jump Scares Fear to Tread)Today we discuss <a href="http://www.imdb.com/title/tt1740707/" target="_blank">Trollhunter</a>,<br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
</div>
<br />
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiFYyY7Zspi-QJ3R7TrxDRtnFJHIBfq1EpELowGjKuqQrRxKQL3029V1vz1JM3xaAyksrPcYT0Q2NU7nK4xs-W0_oFWrAaMcXrl6vwoCfYO9icKYBu07RGFS9_d28W8OrA6ncJ9JPisdVUm/s1600/1+title.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiFYyY7Zspi-QJ3R7TrxDRtnFJHIBfq1EpELowGjKuqQrRxKQL3029V1vz1JM3xaAyksrPcYT0Q2NU7nK4xs-W0_oFWrAaMcXrl6vwoCfYO9icKYBu07RGFS9_d28W8OrA6ncJ9JPisdVUm/s400/1+title.jpg" width="266" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://www.imdb.com/title/tt1740707/" target="_blank">Source</a></td></tr>
</tbody></table>
Where man fears to tread.<br />
<div>
I love this movie and for the longest time, I couldn't exactly put my finger on why. </div>
<div>
<br /></div>
<div>
I rewatched it as a part of fellowship, the sharing with a community of artists, and I think I finally figured it out:</div>
<blockquote class="tr_bq">
<b><u>The trolls are not the monster.</u></b></blockquote>
<h2>
Trolls:</h2>
<div>
So we start the entire experience following an amateur Norwegian film crew attempting a big scoop for their university. </div>
<div>
They are plucky, young, and nervous: you know...the audience. </div>
<div>
<br /></div>
<div>
So they go through the gorgeous Norwegian countryside in search of a bear poacher, which they establish early on is a very bad thing. </div>
<div>
<br /></div>
<div>
The kids follow a man called Hans (bear poacher) as he goes deeper and deeper into the wilderness only to discover he is out hunting trolls. </div>
<div>
This is about thirty minutes into the movie and we haven't seen anything yet. </div>
<div>
No jump scares.</div>
<div>
Not a damn thing. </div>
<div>
And around this point my inebriated compatriots are just about ready to turn this film off and why aren't we watching something else god bless it?! </div>
<div>
And then this happens...</div>
<div>
<br /></div>
<div>
<br /></div>
<iframe allowfullscreen="" frameborder="0" height="315" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/Io7wUtei6BA" width="560"></iframe>
<br />
<br />
And the entire game changes!<br />
<br />
Suddenly there is action and desperation and a really well done transformation scene I was not expecting from a B sci-fi flick.<br />
<br />
Suddenly we are excited to see what happens next.<br />
<br />
Well, the kids follow Hans after that and start believing him, which leads us to our next bit:<br />
<br />
<h2>
The Hunters: </h2>
<div>
<br /></div>
<iframe allowfullscreen="" frameborder="0" height="315" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/CjIU-zqxJEA" width="560"></iframe>
<br />
<br />
This is Hans.<br />
And he has been doing this job for too long.<br />
<br />
He reveals that there are different types of trolls and they cause all kinds of problems, but ultimately, they are just animals.<br />
Animals with a lot of aggression and life span, but animals still.<br />
<br />
He is a bully.<br />
A redeemable bully, but any one who goes into a tunnel system and murders dozens of troll mothers and children and fathers for an underground train is not a nice guy.<br />
And he knows it.<br />
<br />
Suddenly, we start seeing the truth of the movie:<br />
<blockquote class="tr_bq">
<b><u>The trolls are not the monster.</u></b></blockquote>
The bureaucracy is the real monster.<br />
It is the cold, calculated, almost farcical cover up of a breed of animal that nobody believes exists, but is absolutely willing to exploit.<br />
<br />
Things like a bear cover up:<br />
<br />
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh5GN0Vl36oHA8jqwx0S5MYSmjZFtEjO5FCFoMByJ5S2pj7xuIZKfPJ_Jv8OLZt_qT-kF-1mrJXPnENcwP10xJVOpmSRtj6iNC2kHsayCHdRZhI8uZo8vT1Pmna65SklJcOnjU_o46IH42y/s1600/5+bear.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="225" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh5GN0Vl36oHA8jqwx0S5MYSmjZFtEjO5FCFoMByJ5S2pj7xuIZKfPJ_Jv8OLZt_qT-kF-1mrJXPnENcwP10xJVOpmSRtj6iNC2kHsayCHdRZhI8uZo8vT1Pmna65SklJcOnjU_o46IH42y/s400/5+bear.jpg" width="400" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://www.ferdyonfilms.com/tag/mockumentary/" target="_blank">Source</a></td></tr>
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<br />
Where government officials bribe a Polish paint delivery company to shoot a bear and smuggle it across borders and deposit it on the site of a rampaging troll to hide the mess.<br />
<br />
Here are the Polish bear hunters on the issue:<br />
<br />
<iframe allowfullscreen="" frameborder="0" height="315" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/NpsnayCN5K0" width="560"></iframe><br />
<br />
It is absolutely preposterous!<br />
<blockquote class="tr_bq">
<b><u>The trolls are not the monster! The bureaucracy is the monster here.</u></b></blockquote>
<h2>
The Team.</h2>
But, the story keeps devolving.<br />
<br />
The kids have the footage; they can go public any time they want.<br />
The cinemotographer (Tomas Alf Larsen) wants to turn back.<br />
Tomas (Glenn Erland Tosterud), the reporter wishes to press forward.<br />
Johana (Johanna Morck) wants to stay together.<br />
<br />
They all follow along with the ride to see where it all leads...<br />
<br />
<iframe allowfullscreen="" frameborder="0" height="315" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/HSh63MNfwbE" width="560"></iframe><br />
<br />
It does not end well.<br />
<br />
The kids are way out of their depth.<br />
However, they follow behind Hans (Otto Jespersen) with full faith that he will lead them right.<br />
<br />
They end their story on the side of the frozen wastes high in the Norwegian wilderness.<br />
<br />
And there they meet the mighty Jotnar:<br />
<br />
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh_2qdMCJtTDZRELrUavPCejN0p2z1ZhOeoc6EX96PMymZwKg_JuJGq0CVjl90ow3lUc1AqtGfp_4y4ZPrFQBLSoFknlUOJgEkDGgX_QnOMwpISdgtwAd2KNbk98AJw3zjF6_geFUZcCrY2/s1600/7+jotnar.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="288" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh_2qdMCJtTDZRELrUavPCejN0p2z1ZhOeoc6EX96PMymZwKg_JuJGq0CVjl90ow3lUc1AqtGfp_4y4ZPrFQBLSoFknlUOJgEkDGgX_QnOMwpISdgtwAd2KNbk98AJw3zjF6_geFUZcCrY2/s640/7+jotnar.jpg" width="640" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://trollhunter.wikia.com/wiki/Jotnar" target="_blank">Source</a></td></tr>
</tbody></table>
It is a giant, perhaps 200 foot tall beast that is on a psychotic rampage.<br />
Suddenly, we believe that we are justified in our original feelings toward the trolls.<br />
This thing needs to be put down.<br />
And why?<br />
Because it is killing things, driving the other creatures away: the other trolls, you know the good ones.<br />
<br />
See it is usually at this point I check out of films.<br />
Films like:<br />
<a href="http://www.imdb.com/title/tt1588173/" target="_blank">Warm Bodies </a>that explore this Us vs. Them mentality often have a simple solution.<br />
<br />
Here we have the protagonist white male character in "R" and his inexplicably relateable zombie cohorts:<br />
<h3>
Zombies! (people)</h3>
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhEOTAD3Sc0HoreHYlh-CspUUIMJlescXgcKXhLreUcxzNXazE_F3xCbjxkk6vtQy94qrJZlKjxuzQ0jbD6OcNkeJayZfwJ_HHpjgpuvZZy6jmJmwNa1VuRIDdyBBZmKM-SU20tifO6CEEb/s1600/8+zombies.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="241" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhEOTAD3Sc0HoreHYlh-CspUUIMJlescXgcKXhLreUcxzNXazE_F3xCbjxkk6vtQy94qrJZlKjxuzQ0jbD6OcNkeJayZfwJ_HHpjgpuvZZy6jmJmwNa1VuRIDdyBBZmKM-SU20tifO6CEEb/s400/8+zombies.jpg" width="400" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://www.ifc.com/tag/warm-bodies" target="_blank">Source</a></td></tr>
</tbody></table>
These are the "people," the ones that we are going to relate to throughout the entire film.<br />
<br />
Next up:<br />
<h3>
Humans! (other people)</h3>
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjyXO0WoXhWRt0F_8_SAQHbfqH6UVqCptPALmmMmJgrHcNlOq3oxslsTlMz6jctr_mRwCCtxQEUp6ElwPtHRlyklZ8YJkcVYA-XqBAtXQDPv0pJFPng4hrl9nlCL9g84Xis43PR23tVuTsb/s1600/9+humans.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="280" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjyXO0WoXhWRt0F_8_SAQHbfqH6UVqCptPALmmMmJgrHcNlOq3oxslsTlMz6jctr_mRwCCtxQEUp6ElwPtHRlyklZ8YJkcVYA-XqBAtXQDPv0pJFPng4hrl9nlCL9g84Xis43PR23tVuTsb/s400/9+humans.jpg" width="400" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://www.frolichawaii.com/stories/nonstop-movies-warm-bodies/" target="_blank">Source</a></td></tr>
</tbody></table>
These are the ones that we are not rooting for.<br />
They have a military fetish and big guns and blowhard attitudes, so we do not like them at the start, but our protagonist does.<br />
We will inevitably come to understand and respect their ways or they ours because hey, they look like us.<br />
<h3>
The Lovers (they're people too!)</h3>
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiqyOXksZTSLuMvgrja4clV6khcvgaQj8PuRmqRzGWNlZmW9Q_JKM46Py5YRCoY_rIfNWp7fQc1QDvGavZLcai_yVFGuxTA8UtmcSZ_Lh7QWEQC4_6prXE6WwpxeKM3hMqxrgqX6Op1dFR3/s1600/10+lovers.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiqyOXksZTSLuMvgrja4clV6khcvgaQj8PuRmqRzGWNlZmW9Q_JKM46Py5YRCoY_rIfNWp7fQc1QDvGavZLcai_yVFGuxTA8UtmcSZ_Lh7QWEQC4_6prXE6WwpxeKM3hMqxrgqX6Op1dFR3/s400/10+lovers.jpg" width="400" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://www.theguardian.com/film/2013/feb/07/warm-bodies-review" target="_blank">Source</a></td></tr>
</tbody></table>
How will their love flourish?!<br />
Simple...<br />
By introducing someone worse than both:<br />
<h3>
The Boneys (the real zombies)</h3>
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgw24TNLktM4qIHGmOFjwThaKYHBDbIm2k_AyPEITdB7Qs1ElmHQrgw6X94BwRs668AT7sF0EEd3fEgyNlg5IBfCiNp-Jgcm6YLu3dbR2qYC9S5ypuwsF1Fml807T_-UO5nuZdKzNcpmv1U/s1600/11+boneys.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="225" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgw24TNLktM4qIHGmOFjwThaKYHBDbIm2k_AyPEITdB7Qs1ElmHQrgw6X94BwRs668AT7sF0EEd3fEgyNlg5IBfCiNp-Jgcm6YLu3dbR2qYC9S5ypuwsF1Fml807T_-UO5nuZdKzNcpmv1U/s400/11+boneys.jpg" width="400" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=k-m9p-FHX90" target="_blank">Source</a></td></tr>
</tbody></table>
These guys are alien and other and weird.<br />
They don't talk like we do.<br />
They don't look like we do.<br />
They are scary and mean and I hate them and why don't they all just go ahead and die already!<br />
<br />
That is the argument of the movie.<br />
Accept the other.<br />
Love the other.<br />
That is how love springs.<br />
But, not too other.<br />
Those guys are weird and still deserve to die.<br />
<br />
If you are wondering why this sounds familiar, this structure is used in a bunch of films.<br />
So I assumed it would apply to Trollhunter.<br />
<br />
<h3>
The Kids (our people)</h3>
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhLYl8BmOz08aeByQYyKEo8eDJ8_sr5FMA3k9CzzwBZ4vuBDAUKeDkwDaO_jZoIxSgX6Akzo_e01NhbnSkoFbwOhaU_6srwMArM9m7VSoHerhHnMRxdTj1BJuXa7JIwVLnFlwQfhH48cCHg/s1600/12+tomas.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="300" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhLYl8BmOz08aeByQYyKEo8eDJ8_sr5FMA3k9CzzwBZ4vuBDAUKeDkwDaO_jZoIxSgX6Akzo_e01NhbnSkoFbwOhaU_6srwMArM9m7VSoHerhHnMRxdTj1BJuXa7JIwVLnFlwQfhH48cCHg/s400/12+tomas.jpg" width="400" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://www.rottentomatoes.com/m/trollhunter/" target="_blank">Source</a></td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<div>
These guys are sweet and nerdy like me, I like them and want them to succeed. </div>
<h3>
The Trolls (the other people)</h3>
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiToDPGxqatitZV7owKQZ0_eGcPGHN3fV-VJEWm2dC3u_PVV98AvULEXv9OFfjFz5PzAtDPVP03iNTcHOZ2dKC3zlZA84jzfyTZyvE45AFsgLCWkcmT0C70A3fXpqHi2xJuCrfOr-4ROuam/s1600/4+bridge.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="217" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiToDPGxqatitZV7owKQZ0_eGcPGHN3fV-VJEWm2dC3u_PVV98AvULEXv9OFfjFz5PzAtDPVP03iNTcHOZ2dKC3zlZA84jzfyTZyvE45AFsgLCWkcmT0C70A3fXpqHi2xJuCrfOr-4ROuam/s400/4+bridge.jpg" width="400" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Source</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
These guys are mean and scary at first, but ultimately prove they are too big and dumb to know what they are all about.<br />
I can't hate them.<br />
<br />
<h3>
The Lovers (they're people too)</h3>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgo2AHEUKbgkenftZuhHrwbcTw4TDs6BNmQsnB0FMwmLCJElaHZlF9KyORAY2d9-lio834d7x3NrynMGAiA3zzUSrjdy05D60WSnxq_wlwhAANHS0oAfjSNfFiGW0PiIhH2Ps9cOBNYo4DO/s1600/2+mountain.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="223" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgo2AHEUKbgkenftZuhHrwbcTw4TDs6BNmQsnB0FMwmLCJElaHZlF9KyORAY2d9-lio834d7x3NrynMGAiA3zzUSrjdy05D60WSnxq_wlwhAANHS0oAfjSNfFiGW0PiIhH2Ps9cOBNYo4DO/s400/2+mountain.jpg" width="400" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Source</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<div>
How will their love work?!</div>
<div>
Simple, by introducing a bigger, scarier troll:</div>
<h3>
The Jotnar (the real troll)</h3>
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjuLbsn_p6z_xdzWl1y8lhpNB-TAn62VtCjsKVaQg_J2dwpplOmaV2_W9pj-eLw0P5lij0Uustd89GnLdzKTEFDJtbczBYg8t7EVuhXeF243Irx0k2QH_unCXvk0F3Vls2obCBHek3ElxTV/s1600/7+jotnar.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="180" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjuLbsn_p6z_xdzWl1y8lhpNB-TAn62VtCjsKVaQg_J2dwpplOmaV2_W9pj-eLw0P5lij0Uustd89GnLdzKTEFDJtbczBYg8t7EVuhXeF243Irx0k2QH_unCXvk0F3Vls2obCBHek3ElxTV/s400/7+jotnar.jpg" width="400" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Source</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<div>
Except it wasn't.</div>
<div>
It wasn't that way at all.</div>
See...it has <u>rabies</u>.<br />
You heard that right <b><u>rabies</u></b>.<br />
<br />
The Jotnar is a rabid animal.<br />
<br />
And they put it down.<br />
And Tomas and company are there to witness every moment of it.<br />
<br />
At this point in the film everybody tends to get real quiet.<br />
The humans survive, there are more scuffles that happen.<br />
The rest of the plot, an abrupt edit, some attempt at credits.<br />
<br />
But, for me, where this film really shines is the idea that the simplest answer isn't quite right.<br />
See, I would maintain that<br />
<h3>
The humans are the "Other"</h3>
<h3>
&</h3>
<h3>
The trolls are the "People"</h3>
<div>
No other movie has so successfully masked the idea that the monster we are chasing the entire time are the ones holding the camera.</div>
<div>
At no point in The Blair Witch Project do the kids put down the camera and think:</div>
<blockquote class="tr_bq">
"Maybe we are just terrorizing an old lady in the woods."</blockquote>
That just doesn't happen in modern horror.<br />
<br />
Trollhunter may be a mockumentary making fun of the documentary style of films like The Blair Witch Project as<a href="http://www.rogerebert.com/reviews/trollhunter-2011" target="_blank"> Roger Ebert maintains.</a><br />
But, I must disagree entirely with his assessment that this film is designed to make light of the genre and therefore, does not fail as a comedy, but succeeds as a tragedy.<br />
This film is about extinction.<br />
This film is about the horror of what we do to the planet and how ignorant we all are and how ignorant we are kept by bureaucracy.<br />
<br />
I sincerely hope you will take my recommendation and watch it.<br />
It's available on Netflix for pity's sake. <br />
<br />
<h2>
Conclusion</h2>
<div>
Trollhunter is a horror film in its truest sense. </div>
<div>
Many horror films rely on a monster, an "other". </div>
<div>
This character is removed from us by things like: </div>
<div>
<br /></div>
<div>
<b>Death </b>as in the case of <u>The Unborn</u></div>
<div>
or </div>
<div>
<b>Belief </b>as in the case of <u>The Exorcist </u></div>
<div>
or </div>
<div>
<b>Understanding </b>as in the case of <u>The Poltergeist</u></div>
<div>
<br /></div>
<div>
These movies (some of them timeless classics) can be distilled down to a single moment or event or person or thing. </div>
<div>
That is okay, sometimes that is good story telling as in the case of Bram Stoker's <u>Dracula</u> or Mary Shelley's <u>Frankenstein</u>. </div>
<div>
<br /></div>
<div>
However, movies like Stanley Kubrick's <u>The Shining</u> can aim at a certain feeling and provoke something deeply internal within all of us. </div>
<div>
The atmosphere and the sense of a thing disturbs us more than anything.</div>
<div>
We are presented with genuinely unknown and unknowable factors that drive us to despair.<br />
That is true fear and true horror. </div>
<div>
Movies like <u>The Shining</u> do not rely on jump scares for their ability to inspire horror.</div>
<div>
Instead, they rely on carefully crafted methods of disturbing or displacing the observer.</div>
<div>
Dramatic shifts in camera or sound create dissonance with the mundane nature of the present moment. </div>
<div>
<br /></div>
<div>
Ultimately, it boils down to an atmosphere and a writing style that provokes deep internal distress.</div>
<div>
<br /></div>
<div>
I do not think that <u>Trollhunter </u>lives up to <u>The Shining</u>. </div>
<div>
However, I do wish to contend that it is in a similar class or genre of film.</div>
<div>
Where horror is treated as it is in life: a thing ultimately unknowable and unappreciated upon first viewing, but is deeply unsettling and causes inner strife. </div>
<div>
<br /></div>
<div>
The trolls are not the enemy, but neither are the people.</div>
<div>
The truest enemy of people and troll population is a bureaucratic establishment that is sprawling and impossible to contend with. </div>
<div>
It drives and forces everyone to do what they do for things like salary or compensation or prize money, but punishes the troll community at every turn and by extension, their human oppressors. </div>
<div>
<br /></div>
<div>
This is the main tension of the film that is ultimately unresolved.</div>
<div>
Hence, my unease.</div>
<div>
Hence, my horror. </div>
milesboucherhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16783691033073213629noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2791903763744177937.post-68334419833111983822017-01-09T10:28:00.000-08:002017-01-09T10:28:24.396-08:00"Depressed? Just Shake it Off!" says my Brain (OR Lessons from Sabrina Benaim's Poetry)Today we discuss Sabrina Benaim...<br />
<br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<iframe width="320" height="266" class="YOUTUBE-iframe-video" data-thumbnail-src="https://i.ytimg.com/vi/aqu4ezLQEUA/0.jpg" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/aqu4ezLQEUA?feature=player_embedded" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen></iframe></div>
<br />
<i>Explaining my Depression to my Mother.</i><br />
<i><br /></i>
Whoa.<br />
This was the subject of our last fellowship.<br />
I am told.<br />
<br />
I am told because I was crying alone in my bedroom.<br />
I was crying alone in my bedroom because I couldn't get out of my bed.<br />
I couldn't get out of bed because my depression was sitting on my chest like a demon.<br />
<br />
I could not attend fellowship.<br />
In lieu of that, I write this because we all need better stories.<br />
I was the kid who couldn't get out of bed due to depression.<br />
Now, I intend to be the kid who attends fellowship through his depression.<br />
<h2>
The performance.</h2>
I love this girl; I think she has some serious chops.<br />
Her poetry is moving and interesting, always coming back to the mother image and describing in simple terms her depression.<br />
<br />
However, I do not dig her performance.<br />
It is very raw, very faltering.<br />
She takes a bunch of catch breaths because she cannot support the long and lengthy thoughts that she so well articulates in her writing.<br />
Nevertheless, the passion she drives home over and over carries her through to the end where she ends with:<br />
<blockquote class="tr_bq">
"Mom still doesn't understand! Mom, can't you see that neither can I?"</blockquote>
<h2>
The depression</h2>
That, for me, is the crux of it.<br />
Even if I stand here and describe every sensation of the night that I experienced, I don't think that I will ever truly understand this heinous beast inside of me.<br />
I will never understand my depression.<br />
It is a chimera<br />
<blockquote class="tr_bq">
"Some days it is a bear holding a butterfly/Some days it is the bear!"</blockquote>
So here are some actual texts from the night of fellowship:<br />
<blockquote class="tr_bq">
-I'd like food<br />-But prefer to make it together<br />-But prefer to be left alone till I've eaten<br />-But can't bear the silence<br />-But can't talk<br />-I would have preferred to have been part of the [fellowship]</blockquote>
What can you or your loved ones do with that laundry list?<br />
<br />
I have been told that depression is sometimes described as the porcupine disease because it is very hard to love someone with thorns.<br />
The more you hug them, the more they hurt, but the more they need it.<br />
<br />
<h2>
The anxiety</h2>
<blockquote class="tr_bq">
"Anxiety is the friend that depression felt obligated to bring to the party and I am the party, Mom"</blockquote>
I don't know why they seem to be so interconnected.<br />
Depression and Anxiety.<br />
Almost everyone I know with one has the other to some extent.<br />
<br />
Why is that?<br />
I really don't know.<br />
Maybe there is someone out there who can explain it to me.<br />
<br />
All I know is that when I am feeling low, I am also feeling anxious, hyped up, worked up to such a degree that I can barely sleep at night.<br />
A week ago, I spent the entire night playing through an entire game of Portal 2 in one sitting.<br />
Yesterday, I knew I was doing better because it took me three sittings to beat Dante's Inferno.<br />
<br />
Some days I use my anxiety to be productive.<br />
On the same night I beat Portal, I stayed up till seven in the morning rewriting a script and reformatting it in its entirety.<br />
That should be up on my <a href="https://www.patreon.com/milesboucher" target="_blank">Patreon </a>soon.<br />
And why?<br />
Because I had time. Because I was tired at not going to bed and feeling like I hadn't done anything.<br />
When other people started getting up for work was when I realized that I had a problem.<br />
<br />
No.<br />
That isn't right.<br />
I knew I had a problem in hour two of playing.<br />
When I realized that I was tired, but wasn't nodding off.<br />
I knew that I had a problem when I got to the point I wanted to stop and still did not stop.<br />
I knew that I had a problem when I beat the game and still did not stop.<br />
I know that I have a problem.<br />
<br />
But, what am I to do with knowledge?<br />
If knowledge is power, then why am I still sinking instead of swimming?<br />
Because knowledge means nothing without practical application and how do you apply what you have learned against the instrument where you learn?<br />
How do you build up a foundation under a crumbling mind?<br />
<h2>
The mother</h2>
<div>
I cannot divorce this poem from my own relationship with my own mother.</div>
<div>
I was shocked at this poem because it is eerily similar to conversations that I have had with my own mother. </div>
<div>
<br /></div>
<div>
The sad part is, I don't even blame my mother for not understanding.</div>
<div>
How can anyone else understand mental disease if they have never experienced it when those who are suffering cannot find ways to articulate it outside the realm of art? </div>
<div>
So I point to my art.</div>
<div>
I point to other people's art and hope that a sliver of a flicker of recognition passes through others and they say: </div>
<div>
"Oh, I get it."</div>
<div>
In lieu of that, I have this suggestion:</div>
<h2>
The answer</h2>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<iframe width="320" height="266" class="YOUTUBE-iframe-video" data-thumbnail-src="https://i.ytimg.com/vi/2kbuKMlG3k4/0.jpg" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/2kbuKMlG3k4?feature=player_embedded" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen></iframe></div>
<div>
<br /></div>
<div>
Neil Hilborn. <i>Joey.</i></div>
<div>
<i><br /></i></div>
<blockquote class="tr_bq">
"If you remove money from the equation, Joey would have been painting elk on cave walls. People would have fed him and kept him away from high places because god damn, look at those elk. <b>I think that the genes for being an artist and mentally ill aren't just related, they are the same gene</b>, but try telling that to a bill collector."</blockquote>
All that separates us from the Stone Age in Neil's poem is money.<br />
I love that.<br />
Everything about civilization is about the money, but at the heart of the human condition is<br />
<br />
<ol>
<li>Community</li>
<li>& Art</li>
</ol>
<div>
This guy is my superhero.</div>
<br />
I mean that literally.<br />
He has other poems and there are other stories of people who don't want medication for their mental illness.<br />
You know why?<br />
Because they do not see themselves as mentally ill.<br />
They see themselves as super-powered.<br />
<br />
<ul>
<li>They can see alternate planes of existence</li>
<li>They can hear the thoughts and minds of others</li>
<li>They can sense or go places no one else can</li>
</ul>
<div>
Those are the powers of superheroes. </div>
<div>
Characters such as Francisco Ramon: </div>
<div>
<br /></div>
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhlRhpg6hmYmGE49k49NgU7VR9Rwg_Pl57humwtiz7zLi5mGz8i14ny8cN6_QIWpXlLXHF0lPN58Y2WGgwQuDuS5HFof7nq4_ZDvDVN6cSDS4Z7H7A8RF1uNiUfPZ8Bh7sAvjaDDr8O0Dx_/s1600/1+vibe.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="188" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhlRhpg6hmYmGE49k49NgU7VR9Rwg_Pl57humwtiz7zLi5mGz8i14ny8cN6_QIWpXlLXHF0lPN58Y2WGgwQuDuS5HFof7nq4_ZDvDVN6cSDS4Z7H7A8RF1uNiUfPZ8Bh7sAvjaDDr8O0Dx_/s400/1+vibe.jpg" width="400" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://dc.wikia.com/wiki/Francisco_Ramon_(Prime_Earth)" target="_blank">Source</a></td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<br />
OR Jean Grey:<br />
<br />
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj5ItwwdiqF1ArjI4fHD5DdcQiEzT7bS-gHxqYsbhCl7XZ9Ak9Upx_g6MrxXfUC_SFxzqXZWzIYNV8JP5ZTap2mrWbkNuCn8NT0Wq3iKVMU3pJRvfKRp9pooG5kwWm97AsyHK9Mz7iMA1a8/s1600/2+jean.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj5ItwwdiqF1ArjI4fHD5DdcQiEzT7bS-gHxqYsbhCl7XZ9Ak9Upx_g6MrxXfUC_SFxzqXZWzIYNV8JP5ZTap2mrWbkNuCn8NT0Wq3iKVMU3pJRvfKRp9pooG5kwWm97AsyHK9Mz7iMA1a8/s640/2+jean.jpg" width="385" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://marvel.wikia.com/wiki/Jean_Grey" target="_blank">Source </a></td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<br />OR Kurt Wagner:<br />
<br />
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgSodvgF9eFPAqKuM2JOy35sdriOk3RKFnZXvLX6OJmvH-HQmH2ayfbjNDZmVUlGn5VsRcLDreX4OPGH8HA6-bNZW0AA-0dDL_47YutQo8Ytvxe90-cxYxhBNlgItHi4r6FpCBkbuVzEN1G/s1600/3+kurt.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="387" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgSodvgF9eFPAqKuM2JOy35sdriOk3RKFnZXvLX6OJmvH-HQmH2ayfbjNDZmVUlGn5VsRcLDreX4OPGH8HA6-bNZW0AA-0dDL_47YutQo8Ytvxe90-cxYxhBNlgItHi4r6FpCBkbuVzEN1G/s400/3+kurt.jpg" width="400" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://insidepulse.com/2014/01/14/amazing-x-men-3-preview-nightcrawler-takes-the-center-swashbuckling-stage-in-preview/" target="_blank">Source</a></td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<h3>
DISCLAIMER: </h3>
<div>
I am not arguing against treatment for mental diseases.</div>
<div>
I am not arguing for the abandoning of mental institutions or mental care or medication. </div>
<div>
World governments are doing that en masse, and although not the subject of this article, are absolutely the subject of a future one where we look into just how much we care about people mentally.</div>
<div>
<br />What I am arguing for is a change in perspective.</div>
<div>
I know of no artist that doesn't suffer from mental illness.</div>
<div>
Think about actors:</div>
<div>
<ul>
<li>We work 60 hour weeks</li>
<li>for a job with no set pay/benefits</li>
<li>for a limited time (anywhere from 4-12 weeks)</li>
<li>where we are unemployed at the end of it</li>
<li>where we can be fired at any point for any reason</li>
<li>& is actively under/unregulated</li>
</ul>
<div>
It would take a particular type of person to <i>want</i> to go into that profession.</div>
</div>
<div>
<br /></div>
<div>
Nevertheless, these jobs are important. </div>
<div>
To quote everyone's favorite teacher John Keating: </div>
<blockquote class="tr_bq">
"We don't read and write poetry because it's cute. We read and write poetry because we are members of the human race. And the human race is filled with passion. And medicine, law, business, engineering, these are noble pursuits and necessary to sustain life. But poetry, beauty, romance, love, these are what we stay alive for."</blockquote>
<blockquote class="tr_bq">
-Dead Poet's Society (1989) </blockquote>
<div>
<br /></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<iframe width="320" height="266" class="YOUTUBE-iframe-video" data-thumbnail-src="https://i.ytimg.com/vi/aS1esgRV4Rc/0.jpg" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/aS1esgRV4Rc?feature=player_embedded" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen></iframe></div>
<div>
<br /></div>
<div>
Art is necessary. </div>
<div>
It is so, so necessary.</div>
<div>
I know because it keeps me alive. </div>
<div>
Every day when I think about going walking until my legs fall off, of vanishing into the dark where no one can find me, these tales, these stories, sometimes my own are the things that pull me back from the edge. </div>
<div>
<br /></div>
<div>
To paraphrase Neil Hilborn again:</div>
<br />
<div>
<ol>
<li>At the heart of humanity is community.</li>
<li>And at the heart of community is art.</li>
<li>And at the heart of art is the artist.</li>
</ol>
</div>
<div>
<div>
If Joey were born in a different time, then he would have been taken care of.</div>
<div>
People would look at him and think him inspired by the gods, or the muses, or whatever else is out there.</div>
<div>
People would have looked after him because he was a holy man or a shaman or a dream interpreter or a doctor of the ragged edge of society. </div>
</div>
<div>
<br /></div>
<div>
That is what artists are. </div>
<div>
That is what those suffering from mental illness are. </div>
<div>
We aren't mentally ill, we're just magic. </div>
<div>
We spin something out of nothing and sometimes we pay a price for it. </div>
<div>
<br /></div>
<div>
I'm tired of paying alone.</div>
<div>
Sometimes I just want to be kept away from high places.</div>
<div>
Sometimes I just want somebody to say: look at those elk. </div>
<div>
That is the best I can offer coming out of an episode. </div>
<div>
Take care of yourself.</div>
<div>
And take care of your sha-persons. </div>
<div>
They need it. </div>
<div>
How do you do that?</div>
<div>
*shrugs*</div>
milesboucherhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16783691033073213629noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2791903763744177937.post-13191912995366762432016-12-05T00:00:00.000-08:002016-12-05T00:00:04.655-08:00From Sister to Murderer and Other Tales of Love (Adapting Kafka's Metamorphosis)Today, let us discuss <i>The Metamorphosis</i>.<br />
<br />
Mine!<br />
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiUIgcoLyfDjxx7BC2hibX45GCcrNpFldneWmf22gH_qRYdOwhM67Ru5FehcJvSgcArbEL-Z9UYhd_wYK5c-zDx0NYifBMvNl3kYRzhA2-UqZs_73fGSkvvneycG4ZG0L8ERo11IaN5Nnxr/s1600/1.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiUIgcoLyfDjxx7BC2hibX45GCcrNpFldneWmf22gH_qRYdOwhM67Ru5FehcJvSgcArbEL-Z9UYhd_wYK5c-zDx0NYifBMvNl3kYRzhA2-UqZs_73fGSkvvneycG4ZG0L8ERo11IaN5Nnxr/s400/1.jpg" width="247" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">He looks like he's excited.</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<br />
So this ties in to my work on adaptations.<br />
<br />
To give a brief idea:<br />
I think adaptations are usually terrible.<br />
I have an old article kicking around somewhere:<br />
<br />
<a href="https://artistichole.blogspot.com/2015/10/adapting-dracula-why-epistolary-is-four.html" target="_blank">Adapting Dracula (Why Epistolary is a Four Letter Word)</a> (Boucher 2015).<br />
<br />
In it, I outline a lot of my concerns when it comes to adaptations.<br />
Namely:<br />
<br />
<ul>
<li>The story works in whatever medium it originates (unless you are in a living medium like theatre, in which case you might be screwed)</li>
<li>The story may work (better) in another medium</li>
<li>Changes to the story are necessary to make it work in the new medium (books to film)</li>
<li>"faithful adaptation" is a meaningless phrase</li>
</ul>
<div>
I had a wonderful discussion with Bailey Boudreau, Artistic Director of Slipstream Theatre Initiative about adaptations the other day. </div>
<div>
It boiled down to figuring out what made the theatre, at the time, immediate/important, what was the author attempting to do at the time of writing and attempt to do that in the time in which we currently live. </div>
<div>
<br /></div>
<div>
Now, I believe this has some thorny problems:</div>
<div>
<ol>
<li>You cannot argue objectively about history and therefore anything that occurred surrounding a theatrical piece has to be considered correlative, not causative</li>
<li>And it is almost impossible to determine what the author intended</li>
<li>Therefore, any and all choices are still based in our own personal artistry. </li>
</ol>
</div>
<div>
I wrote an article consumed with the problem of author's intent:</div>
<div>
<br /></div>
<div>
<a href="https://artistichole.blogspot.com/2015/09/plague-alert-authors-intent-why-i-blame.html" target="_blank">Plague Alert: Author's Intent (Why I Blame Toni Morrison for Helping me Think)</a> (Boucher 2015)</div>
<div>
<br /></div>
<div>
It boils down to: </div>
<div>
<ul>
<li>The author intended something while writing</li>
<li>The art stands separate from the author (if it is good)</li>
<li>The art cannot stand separate from the audience's interpretation</li>
<li>Therefore, what is our interpretation?</li>
</ul>
</div>
<br />
At the time I was working on <i>Turn of the Screw</i> by Henry James, which, unfortunately, never materialized.<br />
Maybe a work for a later time.<br />
<br />
But, I was later approached by Slipstream Theatre Initiative to help assist to direct, write, and produce their <i><a href="http://www.slipstreamti.com/current-production-1" target="_blank">Penny Dreadfuls</a></i>.<br />
We had some brainstorming meetings and I threw in my hat hoping to direct and ended up writing for it instead.<br />
I had no idea what I was doing, but was excited for the project.<br />
<h2>
The Penny Dreadfuls</h2>
<div>
In years past, the <i>Penny Dreadfuls</i> had been adapted from older sources (like much of Slipstream's season). </div>
<div>
<br /></div>
<div>
Last year they had a carnivale feel where the production company (in the scenario) was performing in order to lure everyone into the back room so they could unleash a monster upon them. Much like <i>Pippin</i>!</div>
<div>
<br /></div>
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEir3bbkLoegosglDE1CAVv16Y6OHDMVU2IbPm4UYFlMC1HqRt2nBlHXR_v3ZQmYY_lYUB_H1P1-88OlBoB_oGKuPRSQq5BOlP-U52P_3eMjpfDkdv5blygw5PWt88xEGnLSWPTkRq1Zt16X/s1600/2.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="260" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEir3bbkLoegosglDE1CAVv16Y6OHDMVU2IbPm4UYFlMC1HqRt2nBlHXR_v3ZQmYY_lYUB_H1P1-88OlBoB_oGKuPRSQq5BOlP-U52P_3eMjpfDkdv5blygw5PWt88xEGnLSWPTkRq1Zt16X/s400/2.jpg" width="400" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://www.peabodyoperahouse.com/events/detail/pippin" target="_blank">Source</a></td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<div>
This year, the talk was more of madness, transformation, and subtler things. </div>
<div>
<br /></div>
<div>
Immediately <i>Metamorphosis </i>jumped out at me, but I couldn't say why. </div>
<div>
<br /></div>
<div>
It was always something that I wanted to work on, so I suggested it. </div>
<div>
<br />
Luna, the lovely director said that she was excited and off we were to the races. </div>
<h2>
The Process</h2>
<div>
I feel I should be pretty explicit here: </div>
<div>
<br /></div>
<div>
I had no idea what I was doing. </div>
<div>
<br /></div>
<div>
I felt really awful for everyone around me. Much of my life I feel like I am bouncing off of walls people already told me were there. So there is that.</div>
<div>
<br /></div>
<div>
Anywho, a few weeks out from opening, I had neither solidified a script, nor cast, nor rehearsal, nor tech, nor anything. I was pretty boned. So I settled down to read the text. </div>
<div>
<br /></div>
<h3>
The reading.</h3>
<div>
Anyone read Franz Kafka's <i>Metamorphosis? </i></div>
<div>
<i><br /></i></div>
<div>
If no, here is a really great Blog featuring synopsis and one of the best comic summaries EVER: </div>
<div>
<br /></div>
<div>
<a href="http://greatbookstudy.blogspot.com/2015/09/the-metamorphosis-by-franz-kafka.html" target="_blank">A Great Book Study: The Metamorphosis by Franz Kafka</a></div>
<div>
<br /></div>
<div>
In it, Gregor awakes one morning to discover himself transformed into a giant vermin. That's pretty much it. He wakes up and he is relatively okay with it. His family kills him.</div>
<div>
<br /></div>
<div>
A lot of metaphors happen here about isolation, depression, anxiety, and dehumanization, but really that is it. He feels like a bug or some sort of monster and everyone treats him like one. His family still feeds him sure, but they are no longer sure it is him. </div>
<div>
<br /></div>
<div>
Eventually, through neglect and downright abuse, Gregor lies down one day and dies, leaving his family a little bit wealthier and a little bit happier. </div>
<h3>
The Realization</h3>
<div>
That is it! I really did not feel comfortable with it. </div>
<div>
<br /></div>
<div>
To be honest, I get really uneasy every time that I read the text. </div>
<div>
I couldn't say why when I was in high school, but something profoundly disturbs me about the family's response to Gregor. He seems like such a nice bug. He loves and cares for his family. Why can they not recognize him? Why can they not see him for the the caring creature that he is? </div>
<div>
<br /></div>
<div>
And that is when it hit me: </div>
<blockquote class="tr_bq">
<b><i>The story is not Gregor's...</i></b></blockquote>
The moment that I hit that realization I knew I had something.<br />
<br />
Tadashi Suzuki writes beautifully in his <i>The Way of Acting</i> and other collected texts that in order to do justice to a production he tries to:<br />
<blockquote class="tr_bq">
<b><i>Tell the story from the most compelling perspective</i></b></blockquote>
OR: to put it another way:<br />
<blockquote class="tr_bq">
<i style="font-weight: bold;">Ask the question, "From whose perspective should this story be told?" </i> </blockquote>
<div>
He did this very famously in his Women of Troy, a play about the women mourning the sacking of Troy and the horror that they endure after its fall. </div>
<div>
Now, remember the Trojan War lasted for ten years...</div>
<div>
For ten years these women had already witnessed war literally at their gates.</div>
<div>
Now, it was inside, running rampant and destroying their homes, their families....their babies.</div>
<div>
<br /></div>
<div>
Tadashi Suzuki, a masterful director, set the Trojan Women in the mouths of Japanese women in Japan...after the Holocaust. </div>
<div>
<br /></div>
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhmJaR_diAN8cHX6VbD8VudLFiyfN3DcDn0MDZKiGh35dJH5kaeD5VDH2JURi33sYYjeB7oJDLBrMCAPVD_Egs_FfXte164qcWy8jIe376kzT8Lmq4nlr7SfJlPtAXefgNgzB-u-Hd_XYnx/s1600/3.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="252" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhmJaR_diAN8cHX6VbD8VudLFiyfN3DcDn0MDZKiGh35dJH5kaeD5VDH2JURi33sYYjeB7oJDLBrMCAPVD_Egs_FfXte164qcWy8jIe376kzT8Lmq4nlr7SfJlPtAXefgNgzB-u-Hd_XYnx/s400/3.jpg" width="400" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://www.taipeitimes.com/News/feat/archives/2011/02/11/2003495582" target="_blank">Source</a></td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<div>
Those women <i>needed </i>to tell this story in this way at this time. </div>
<div>
I was so moved when I read what he did. </div>
<div>
I cried. </div>
<div>
On a New York City subway, I cried while reading a theatre book.</div>
<div>
I was the crazy person that day. </div>
<div>
(The photo isn't from his acclaimed work, but it gets the sensation and it was directed by him La Dame aux Camelias)</div>
<div>
<br /></div>
<div>
So that question has stuck with me for years now. </div>
<div>
<br /></div>
<blockquote class="tr_bq">
<ul>
<li>"Whose story is it?"</li>
<li>"From whose perspective should this story be told?"</li>
</ul>
</blockquote>
<div>
I had a clue from the final paragraph of the translation: </div>
<blockquote class="tr_bq">
All the time, <u><b>Grete was becoming livelier</b></u>. With all the worry they had been having of late her cheeks had become pale, but, while they were talking, Mr. and Mrs. Samsa were struck, almost simultaneously, with the thought of <b><u>how their daughter was blossoming into a well built and beautiful young lady</u></b>. They became quieter. Just from each other's glance and almost without knowing it they agreed that it would soon be time to find a good man for her. And, as if in confirmation of their new dreams and good intentions, as soon as they reached their destination <u style="font-weight: bold;">Grete was the first to get up and stretch out her young body</u> (Kafka). </blockquote>
<div>
*shivers*</div>
<div>
The argument could be made that it is the parents' who are the aggressors in Gregor's torment and the objectification of Grete at the end.</div>
<div>
I think the case could be made and I know I certainly made it in high school.</div>
<div>
However, upon further reflection, the setup between the two siblings could not be clearer in Kafka's prose:</div>
<div>
<ol>
<li>Gregor: the lowly, virulent vermin, crawling across the floor, sticking to walls, hanging from the ceiling, feasting on refuse, collecting no income, sitting idle, or otherwise playing and becoming an unnecessary burden for the entire family</li>
<li>Grete: the exact opposite, young, vibrant, musical, industrious, hard-working, jovial, and pleasant to see. </li>
</ol>
<div>
So that was the basis of my thought. </div>
</div>
<div>
We have the one (did you know that the original title Die Verwandlung translates more literally to "transformation) transformation into beauty and the other into beast. </div>
<div>
<br /></div>
<div>
However, what to do with it now that I had my cornerstone. </div>
<h3>
The Concept</h3>
<div>
Considering the story from Grete's perspective opened up a whole new avenue of ideas.</div>
<div>
<br /></div>
<div>
Of course she told Kafka's <i>Metamorphosis</i>. She had spent the better part of a year, isolated in her own home, chained to caring for a beast that had almost certainly devoured her brother. </div>
<div>
<br /></div>
<div>
No wonder she had insisted on calling it "Gregor". No wonder she wrote the whole story making "Gregor" as kind-hearted and well-meaning as humanly possible.</div>
<div>
He is the closest thing we have to an existential saint. </div>
<div>
<br /></div>
<div>
It's all a lie. </div>
<div>
<br /></div>
<div>
Grete told a lie to save her brother's memory and very selfishly explain away the last year of her life. </div>
<div>
<br /></div>
<div>
With those ideas in mind, I started crafting a piece that was in that vein. </div>
<h4>
The Script</h4>
<div>
So the script was designed with Grete as the protagonist.</div>
<div>
She would be the lens through which the audience would grasp the narrative. </div>
<div>
She needed an adversary, Gregor would do. </div>
<div>
Her parents proved too irresistible not to write into the narrative. </div>
<div>
But, where/when would I set the action? </div>
<div>
<br /></div>
<div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; mso-margin-bottom-alt: auto; mso-margin-top-alt: auto;">
<span style="font-family: "times new roman" , "serif"; font-size: 12.0pt;"><b><u>Dramatis Personae<o:p></o:p></u></b></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; mso-margin-bottom-alt: auto; mso-margin-top-alt: auto;">
<span style="font-family: "times new roman" , "serif"; font-size: 12.0pt;"><b><u><br /></u></b></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; mso-margin-bottom-alt: auto; mso-margin-top-alt: auto;">
<span style="font-family: "times new roman" , "serif"; font-size: 12.0pt;">GRETE: A youthful, vibrant young
woman. She has been kept like a china doll by her mother, her father, and her
brother. She is strong and curved like a violin. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; mso-margin-bottom-alt: auto; mso-margin-top-alt: auto;">
<span style="font-family: "times new roman" , "serif"; font-size: 12.0pt;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; mso-margin-bottom-alt: auto; mso-margin-top-alt: auto;">
<span style="font-family: "times new roman" , "serif"; font-size: 12.0pt;">GREGOR: He is dead. An enormous and
virulent vermin. He begins transformed. There is no way to know what he was
before.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; mso-margin-bottom-alt: auto; mso-margin-top-alt: auto;">
<span style="font-family: "times new roman" , "serif"; font-size: 12.0pt;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; mso-margin-bottom-alt: auto; mso-margin-top-alt: auto;">
<span style="font-family: "times new roman" , "serif"; font-size: 12.0pt;">FATHER: He is dead. A man lost and
losing more of himself each and every day, but with a core of iron somewhere
under his flabby exterior. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; mso-margin-bottom-alt: auto; mso-margin-top-alt: auto;">
<span style="font-family: "times new roman" , "serif"; font-size: 12.0pt;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; mso-margin-bottom-alt: auto; mso-margin-top-alt: auto;">
<span style="font-family: "times new roman" , "serif"; font-size: 12.0pt;">MOTHER: She is dead. There is not
much to say of her. She loves her children. She is sad when they are gone.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; mso-margin-bottom-alt: auto; mso-margin-top-alt: auto;">
<span style="font-family: "times new roman" , "serif"; font-size: 12.0pt;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; mso-margin-bottom-alt: auto; mso-margin-top-alt: auto;">
<span style="font-family: "times new roman" , "serif"; font-size: 12.0pt;">The answer occurred to me after I wrote the character introductions: after the event. </span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; mso-margin-bottom-alt: auto; mso-margin-top-alt: auto;">
<span style="font-family: "times new roman" , "serif"; font-size: 12.0pt;">Gregor is already dead.</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; mso-margin-bottom-alt: auto; mso-margin-top-alt: auto;">
<span style="font-family: "times new roman" , "serif"; font-size: 12.0pt;">So are her parents.</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; mso-margin-bottom-alt: auto; mso-margin-top-alt: auto;">
<span style="font-family: "times new roman" , "serif"; font-size: 12.0pt;">Everyone is dead save Grete, but the story still carries on. </span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; mso-margin-bottom-alt: auto; mso-margin-top-alt: auto;">
<span style="font-family: "times new roman" , "serif"; font-size: 12.0pt;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; mso-margin-bottom-alt: auto; mso-margin-top-alt: auto;">
<span style="font-family: "times new roman" , "serif"; font-size: 12.0pt;">It provided too many interesting things to play with. </span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; mso-margin-bottom-alt: auto; mso-margin-top-alt: auto;">
</div>
<ul>
<li>Who was telling the story? </li>
<li>Only Grete? </li>
<li>How? </li>
<li>Who would play with her? </li>
<li>How would she get them to play? </li>
</ul>
<div>
All sorts of possibilities.</div>
<div>
And we explored a few of them during rehearsal. </div>
<div>
<br /></div>
<div>
The production was really remarkable, but I have no artifacts to present here. </div>
<div>
Only my words. </div>
<div>
<br /></div>
<div>
However, I was fortunate enough to be able to present my rough draft as a workshop performance last week at <a href="http://www.youngfenixfellowship.com/" target="_blank">Young Fenix Fellowship</a>. </div>
<div>
<br /></div>
<div>
I plan to host more, but the central question was: </div>
<blockquote class="tr_bq">
Does the play work as a standalone piece and should it be expanded? </blockquote>
Overall, audience response was largely positive. I think there was some serious confusion based on the reading of the stage directions. I write lengthy stage directions that are meant to help more than they hinder. I don't think I always succeed.<br />
<br />
Take a look:<br />
<br />
<h3>
Excerpt from <i>After the Transformation</i> by Miles Boucher</h3>
<i>There are hundreds of newspapers. All carefully arranged. They are in piles, in stacks by date and time and organized by geography. There is a system to this. It is a very complex, but comprehensive system to the person who made it, but to no one else. </i><br />
<i><br /></i>
<br />
<i>The newspapers wait. </i><br />
<i><br /></i>
<i>Enter Grete</i><br />
<i><br /></i>
<i>She leaves</i><br />
<i><br /></i>
<i>Enter Grete</i><br />
<i><br /></i>
<i>She leaves</i><br />
<i><br /></i>
<i>Enter Grete</i><br />
<i><br /></i>
<i>She feels it. That was it.</i><br />
<i><br /></i>
<i>She paces out the room. She takes its measure. This takes time. </i><br />
<i><br /></i>
<i>It is an (un)satisfactory room (depending on the day). She works with it. She places herself in the ideal spot. She places the audience in the ideal spot. This takes time. </i><br />
<i><br /></i>
<i>She lays herself down for bed. This takes time. Perhaps she starts with a newspaper. Perhaps she doesn’t. She makes for herself a pillow, a bed, a sheet, etc.</i><br />
<i><br /></i>
<i>When everything is perfect she begins:</i><br />
<br />
GRETE: One morning,<br />
<br />
<i>She pauses to fix a corner.</i><br />
<br />
One morning, when Gregor…<br />
<br />
<i>Did it move? No? Again.</i><br />
<br />
One morning, when Gregor Samsa woke from troubled dreams he found himself transformed in his bed into a horrible vermin.<br />
<br />
Vermin.<br />
<br />
Vermin.<br />
<br />
Vermin.<br />
<br />
Vermin.<br />
<br />
<i>That was it.</i><br />
<div>
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; mso-margin-bottom-alt: auto; mso-margin-top-alt: auto;">
</div>
<h4>
Moving Forward</h4>
I think that I would like to rewrite it, cutting much of the superfluous stage directions while keeping the bare bones and see what is left.<br />
<br />
Afterwards, there are at least a few moments that were and are definitely rushed as far as action goes.<br />
<br />
Some of the scenes where Gregor kills his parents are really solid and tight, but I think there are moments to explore between the siblings.<br />
<br />
How do you communicate with a wild animal and how long does it take?<br />
<br />
Stuff like that.<br />
<br />
So that is about where I am at with the piece. I am excited to keep workshopping it and continue to present it at YFF and elsewhere.<br />
<br />
Anyway, that is my critique of my own work and an explanation of what I have been doing with my fall.<br />
<br />
I hope you all enjoyed it!<br />
<br />
Auf Wiedersehen!<br />
<h3>
Bibliography </h3>
</div>
<div>
Kafka, Franz. "Metamorphosis." Project Gutenberg. Project Gutenberg, 13 May 2002. Web. 3 Dec. 2016.</div>
milesboucherhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16783691033073213629noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2791903763744177937.post-87790150881918387162016-12-03T08:40:00.002-08:002016-12-03T08:55:39.803-08:00Patreon Pals!Please, join my pals on Patreon!<br />
<br />
<a href="https://www.patreon.com/milesboucher" target="_blank">Here is my Patreon</a>.<br />
<br />
If you like my work here or elsewhere, consider clicking on the link above and supporting me there.<br />
<br />
For those who don't know, Patreon is a community funded artistic community.<br />
Think a lot like Kickstarter, but where artists can actually make a living as opposed to going from project to project.<br />
There are all sorts of reward tiers including:<br />
<br />
<ul>
<li>$1/month where you get access to all of my artistic work and patreon only blog posts</li>
<ul>
<li>novels</li>
<li>short stories</li>
<li>plays</li>
<li>scripts</li>
</ul>
<li>$2/month: early access to my poetry and artistic blogs</li>
<ul>
<li><a href="http://www.artistichole.blogspot.com/" target="_blank">Artistic (W)Hole</a></li>
<li><a href="http://www.princesseswish.blogspot.com/" target="_blank">Princess Wishes</a></li>
<li><a href="http://thewaywardalchemist.wordpress.com/" target="_blank">The Wayward Alchemist</a></li>
</ul>
<li>$3/month: access to all of my scripts and novel drafts </li>
</ul>
<br />
There are higher ones than that, but seriously anything that you can afford is greatly appreciated.<br />
<br />
I am posting this here today because this is the first day of my new campaign, which means...that's right...<br />
PATRONS GET EARLY ACCESS<br />
So no new posts today.<br />
I know.<br />
SO sad.<br />
<br />
But, today is just as good a day as any to get started and support me on Patreon!<br />
<br />
Thank you and have the best day!milesboucherhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16783691033073213629noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2791903763744177937.post-8035979628727064302016-11-21T20:29:00.001-08:002016-11-26T00:07:45.923-08:0013th (How Slavery is Alive and Kicking in the US of Netflix)<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in;">
<span style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif;">Today, we discuss
Netflix's 13th<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<br /></div>
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<span style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif;">Yeah.
It's that kind of show.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
</td>
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<h2 style="line-height: normal; mso-margin-bottom-alt: auto; mso-margin-top-alt: auto; mso-outline-level: 2;">
<b><span style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif;"><span style="font-size: large;">Review</span></span></b></h2>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in;">
<span style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif;">So to review:<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in;">
<span style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif;">This documentary is
brilliant.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<h3 style="line-height: normal; mso-margin-bottom-alt: auto; mso-margin-top-alt: auto; mso-outline-level: 3;">
<b><span style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif;"><span style="font-size: small;">Summary:</span></span></b></h3>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in;">
<span style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif;">The documentary is about
the U.S Constitution's 13th Amendment.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in;">
<span style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif;">For those who weren't in
Ms. Johansen's AP I/II U.S. History class and had to have each of the
Amendments memorized here it is:<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<blockquote class="tr_bq" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 5.0pt;">
<span style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif;">"Neither slavery
nor involuntary servitude, except as a punishment for crime whereof the party
shall have been duly convicted, shall exist within the United States, or any
place subject to their jurisdiction."</span><span style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif;">-<a href="https://www.loc.gov/rr/program/bib/ourdocs/13thamendment.html"><span style="color: blue;">13th Amendment to the Constitution</span></a></span></blockquote>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in;">
<span style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif;">Now, what does that
mean?<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in;">
<span style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif;">Well, to give you kids
some knowledge, there was this little thing in the United States.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in;">
<span style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif;">It was called <a href="http://www.history.com/topics/black-history/slavery"><span style="color: blue;">slavery</span></a>.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<h3 style="line-height: normal; mso-margin-bottom-alt: auto; mso-margin-top-alt: auto; mso-outline-level: 4;">
<b><span style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif;"><span style="font-size: small;">Slavery</span></span></b></h3>
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<br /></div>
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<span style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif;"><a href="http://www.counterpunch.org/2015/12/18/how-slaves-built-american-capitalism/" target="_blank"><span style="color: blue;">Source</span></a><o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in;">
<span style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif;">So from the very first
slave ship, which populated Jamestown, Virginia in 1619, the South prospered
for the wealthy, white landowners.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in;">
<span style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif;">Whereas the poor,
criminalized, and displaced whites and blacks did very poorly indeed. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<br /></div>
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<span style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif;"><a href="http://www.peterdavidmedley.com/slavery-human-rights/" target="_blank"><span style="color: blue;">Source</span></a><o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif;"><a href="http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2014/06/02/reparations-poll_n_5432116.html" target="_blank"><span style="color: blue;">Source</span></a><o:p></o:p></span></div>
</td>
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<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in;">
<span style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif;">Slaves were used
primarily on plantations in the Southern coast where the land was fertile and
vast. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in;">
<span style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif;">Tobacco and cotton
plantations were the most profitable. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in;">
<span style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif;">However, the exhaustive
process of collecting cotton by hand was time-consuming.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in;">
<span style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif;">Cotton is grown in pods
and the fiber must be separated from the seeds in order to be processed.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in;">
<span style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif;">One of the large reasons
slave labor was in such demand was because of the amount of time it takes to do
this. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in;">
<span style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif;">According to
Bailey: <o:p></o:p></span></div>
<blockquote class="tr_bq" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 5.0pt;">
<span style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif;">"Prior to the invention of the cotton
gin...cotton production languished. So dismal were the prospects of an expanded
market for raw cotton that southerners agreed in 1787 to a constitutional
compromise that prohibited the importation of slaves into the U.S. after
1808"</span></blockquote>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in;">
<span style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif;">And then there was this
guy: <o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<br /></div>
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<span style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif;"><a href="http://connecticuthistory.org/people/eli-whitney/" target="_blank"><span style="color: blue;">Source</span></a><o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in;">
<span style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif;"><a href="http://www.biography.com/people/eli-whitney-9530201" target="_blank"><span style="color: blue;">Eli Whitney</span></a>. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in;">
<span style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif;">The inventor of the
cotton gin in 1793<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<br /></div>
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<span style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif;"><a href="https://www.eliwhitney.org/7/museum/eli-whitney/cotton-gin" target="_blank"><span style="color: blue;">Source</span></a><o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<blockquote class="tr_bq" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 5.0pt;">
<b><u><span style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif;">"With the aid of the hand-operated gin, one
person could clean 50 pounds of cotton in a single day, instead of the one
pound that was possible without it."</span></u></b><span style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif;"> </span><span style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif;">(Bailey)<o:p></o:p></span></blockquote>
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<span style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif;">This machine mechanized
the entire process of collecting cotton save for the, you know, actual
collecting of the cotton. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in;">
<span style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif;">And that is where slaves
came in. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<br /></div>
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<span style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif;"><a href="https://www.britannica.com/topic/slavery-sociology" target="_blank"><span style="color: blue;">Source</span></a><o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif;"><a href="http://www.peterdavidmedley.com/slavery-human-rights/" target="_blank"><span style="color: blue;">Source</span></a><o:p></o:p></span></div>
</td>
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</div>
<ul>
<li><b style="text-indent: -0.25in;"><span style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif;">"Only
1.5 million pounds of cotton were produced in 179C [sic].</span></b></li>
<li> <b style="text-indent: -0.25in;"><span style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif;">Within
ten years after the invention of the gin in 1800, 35 million pounds of cotton</span></b></li>
<li><b style="text-indent: -0.25in;"><span style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif;">was produced</span></b></li>
<li><b style="text-indent: -0.25in;"><span style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif;">By
1840 the figure had grown to 331 million pounds.</span></b></li>
<li><b style="text-indent: -0.25in;"><span style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif;">Just
prior to the civil war in 1860, the amount had reached an astonished 2,275</span></b></li>
<li><b style="text-indent: -0.25in;"><span style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif;">million pounds"</span></b><span style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif; text-indent: -0.25in;"> (Bailey).</span></li>
</ul>
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<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in;">
<span style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif;">So slavery became of
vital importance to the Southern economy.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in;">
<span style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif;">It helped to fuel the
textile revolution that was happening in the North. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in;">
<span style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif;">It produced roughly 40%
of all raw industrial materials for Britain (Bailey). <o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in;">
<span style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif;">According to
Deyle: <o:p></o:p></span></div>
<ul type="disc">
<li class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal;"><span style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif;">[Slave property] was roughly <b>three times</b> <b>greater </b>than
the <b><u>total amount of all capital, North and South
combined, </u></b><o:p></o:p></span></li>
<li class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal;"><b><span style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif;">Three times</span></b><span style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif;"> what
was invested in <b><u>manufacturing</u></b>,<o:p></o:p></span></li>
<li class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal;"><span style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif;">Almost <b>three times</b> the amount <b><u>invested
in railroads</u></b>,<o:p></o:p></span></li>
<li class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal;"><b><span style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif;">Seven times</span></b><span style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif;"> the
amount invested <b><u>in banks</u></b>. <o:p></o:p></span></li>
<li class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal;"><span style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif;">Equal to about <b>seven times</b> the <b><u>total
value of all currency</u></b> in circulation in the country<o:p></o:p></span></li>
<li class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal;"><b><span style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif;">Forty-eight times</span></b><span style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif;"> the <b><u>total
expenditures of the U.S. federal government</u></b> that year.<o:p></o:p></span></li>
<li class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal;"><span style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif;">By 1860, slave property had even <b>surpassed</b> the
assessed <b><u>value of real estate within the slaveholding states</u></b> (Deyle
60). <o:p></o:p></span></li>
</ul>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in;">
<span style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif;">By the time of the Civil
War, there were an estimated 4 million slaves in the United States. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in;">
<span style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif;"><a href="http://www.census.gov/prod/www/decennial.html" target="_blank"><span style="color: blue;">Slaves made a total of 13% of the U.S.
population</span></a> according to the census performed in 1860. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in;">
<span style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif;"><a href="http://www.census.gov/history/pdf/1860_slave_distribution.pdf" target="_blank"><span style="color: blue;">All but a fraction of
them existed in the South. </span></a><o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in;">
<span style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif;">In the end, slavery was
abolished under the 13th Amendment., which is the subject of the documentary.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in;">
<span style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif;">Because it wasn't
abolished. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in;">
<span style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif;">This is not the land of
the free...not by a long shot. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in;">
<span style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif;">Read it again:<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<blockquote class="tr_bq" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 5.0pt;">
<span style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif;">"Neither slavery nor involuntary servitude, <b>except
as a punishment for crime whereof the party shall have been duly convicted</b>,
shall exist within the United States, or any place subject to their
jurisdiction."</span><span style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif;">
-<a href="https://www.loc.gov/rr/program/bib/ourdocs/13thamendment.html"><span style="color: blue;">13th Amendment to the Constitution</span></a></span></blockquote>
<h2 style="line-height: normal; mso-margin-bottom-alt: auto; mso-margin-top-alt: auto; mso-outline-level: 3;">
<b><span style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif;">The Argument</span></b></h2>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in;">
<span style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif;">There can be no slaves
on United States soil, save for those who have been convicted of a felony or a
crime. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in;">
<span style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif;">Those people <i>can </i>be
slaves. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in;">
<span style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif;">The moment that they
introduced that as premise, I saw the horror of what would unfold: <o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in;">
<span style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif;">As a result of the
Emancipation and the Abolition of slavery in the United States, there was a
federal government that openly condemned slavery.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in;">
<span style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif;">However, at the state
level, many states supported the idea of what came to be known as<a href="http://www.ferris.edu/jimcrow/what.htm" target="_blank"><span style="color: blue;"> </span><span style="color: blue;">Jim
Crow laws. </span></a><o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in;">
<span style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif;">These laws led to: <o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in;">
<span style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif;">Segregation and bigotry
and violence against anyone who was stigmatized as different:<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in;">
<span style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif;">Blacks, interracial
couples, mixed children.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in;">
<br /></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
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<o:p></o:p><br />
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<span style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif;"><a href="http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/americanexperience/freedomriders/issues/jim-crow-laws" target="_blank"><span style="color: blue;">Source</span></a><o:p></o:p></span></div>
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</div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in;">
<span style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif;">This intense interest at
the state level of overt racism and ambivalence from the federal government led
to the Civil Rights Movement: <o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in;">
<br /></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
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<span style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif;"><a href="http://www.biography.com/people/malcolm-x-9396195" target="_blank"><span style="color: blue;">Source</span></a><o:p></o:p></span></div>
</td>
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<span style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif;"><a href="http://www.biography.com/people/martin-luther-king-jr-9365086" target="_blank"><span style="color: blue;">Source</span></a><o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in;">
<span style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif;"><br />
Leaders like Malcolm X, Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King Jr., Rosa Parks, who became
symbols of a world on the brink of change.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in;">
<span style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif;">By leading non-violent
(and sometimes violent) protests, coupled with suits to the government, they
were able to affect new legislation to be passed. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in;">
<span style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif;">So much so that
President John F. Kennedy proposed the <a href="https://www.nps.gov/subjects/civilrights/1964-civil-rights-act.htm" target="_blank"><span style="color: blue;">Civil Rights Act in
1963</span></a><o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in;">
<span style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif;">Which, after his
assassination, led to his successor Lyndon B. Johnson to push along with
leaders like Dr. King, Dorothy Height, and others for the bill, which passed in
1964. (</span><span style="color: blue; font-family: "times new roman" , serif;"><a href="https://catalog.archives.gov/id/299891" style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif;" target="_blank">Source</a>)</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in;">
<span style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif;">It assured among other
things that there would be no discrimination based on the color of one's
skin. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in;">
<span style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif;">Much of the language may
even be familiar to you under the Equal Employment Opportunity
Commission,: <o:p></o:p></span></div>
<blockquote class="tr_bq" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 5.0pt;">
<span style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif;">"Title VII of the Civil Rights Act of 1964
that prohibits employment discrimination on the basis of race, color, religion,
sex, or national origin"</span><span style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif;">
-<a href="https://www.archives.gov/education/lessons/civil-rights-act" target="_blank"><span style="color: blue;">Source</span></a></span></blockquote>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in;">
<span style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif;">And that is where most
of my history books stopped.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in;">
<span style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif;">But, it went on in a
much more subtle way: <o:p></o:p></span></div>
<h3 style="line-height: normal; mso-margin-bottom-alt: auto; mso-margin-top-alt: auto; mso-outline-level: 4;">
<b><span style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif;">President Nixon's "War on Drugs"</span></b></h3>
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<span style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif;"><a href="http://www.latimes.com/local/obituaries/archives/la-me-nixon-obituary-23apr94-story.html" target="_blank"><span style="color: blue;">Source</span></a><o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif;"> <a href="http://www.4president.org/brochures/1968/nixon1968brochure.htm" target="_blank"><span style="color: blue;">President Nixon's
campaign promises</span></a>: <o:p></o:p></span></div>
<ul type="disc">
<li class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal;"><span style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif;">"Crimes of violence will double by the year 1972<o:p></o:p></span></li>
<li class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal;"><span style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif;">More police: better-trained, better-paid, and
better-equipped<o:p></o:p></span></li>
<li class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal;"><span style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif;">New laws, new tools to root out organized crime<o:p></o:p></span></li>
<li class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal;"><span style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif;">A new respect for law, a new determination that when a
man disobeys the law, he pays the penalty for his crimes. Some of our
courts have gone too far in weakening the peace forces in this country as
against the criminal forces, and we must restore the balance<o:p></o:p></span></li>
</ul>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in;">
<span style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif;">There were others. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in;">
<span style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif;">There were many others.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in;">
<span style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif;">But, these were among
the more pertinent ones in the documentary and our current national
sentiments. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in;">
<span style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif;">Now, the importance of
the "violent crimes" statistics were so important to Nixon and his
campaign. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in;">
<span style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif;">According to the <a href="https://ucr.fbi.gov/" target="_blank"><span style="color: blue;">UCR (Uniform Crime Reporting) Program </span></a> estimates
that the rate of crime: <o:p></o:p></span></div>
<ul type="disc">
<li class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal;"><span style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif;">In 1960 for violent crimes was 160 per 100,000<o:p></o:p></span></li>
<li class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal;"><span style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif;">In 1968 for violent crimes it was 298 per 100,000<o:p></o:p></span></li>
<li class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal;"><span style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif;">Whereas the population had only grown by 20,000,000
from 179 million to 199 million (UCR).<o:p></o:p></span></li>
</ul>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in;">
<span style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif;">However, the makers of
13th draw attention to an important cultural event: Baby Boomers. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in;">
<span style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif;">Baby Boomers are
generally understood to be the generation that immediately followed the end of
World War II (i.e. babies born in the period of 1946-64).<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in;">
<span style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif;">This chart illustrates
their arrival: <o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif;"><a href="http://www.cdc.gov/nchs/products/vsus.htm" target="_blank"><span style="color: blue;">Source</span></a><o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in;">
<span style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif;">At a remarkable rate of
3.5-4.0 million babies born almost every year from 1946-1964 an estimated 72
million baby boomers were born during that time period. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in;">
<span style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif;">By 1968 nearly 20
million were turning/turned 18. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in;">
<span style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif;">The makers of <i>13th
</i>suggest that this trend in the population dramatically increased the
statistical crime rates and inflated the fear surrounding such crimes. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in;">
<span style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif;">For those curious about
today, violent crimes have been steadily falling from their peak in <b>1991 </b>of
approximately <b><u>758 violent crimes per 100,000</u></b> to
approximately <b><u>383 violent crimes per 100.000</u></b> <b>last
year (2015)</b>.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in;">
<span style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif;">That is with an <b>increase
in population of</b> roughly <b><u>70,000,000</u></b>. (Ibid)<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in;">
<span style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif;">Due to this disturbing
trend in the statistics, President Nixon signed into existence <a href="http://www.fda.gov/regulatoryinformation/legislation/ucm148726.htm" target="_blank"><span style="color: blue;">The Controlled
Substances Act</span></a>. (CSA)<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<blockquote class="tr_bq" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in;">
<span lang="EN" style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif;">Long
Title: <i>An Act to amend the Public Health Service Act and other laws to
provide increased research into, and prevention of, drug abuse and drug
dependence; to provide for treatment and rehabilitation of drug abusers and
drug dependent persons; and to strengthen existing law enforcement authority in
the field of drug abuse.</i></span></blockquote>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in;">
<span lang="EN" style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif;">The
CSA under its provisions in Title II (termed </span><span style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif;"><a href="https://legcounsel.house.gov/Comps/91-513.pdf" target="_blank"><span style="color: blue;">The Comprehensive Drug Abuse Prevention and Control Act of
1970</span></a>) discusses how to create, monitor, and enforce drug
categories and laws, how to schedule them, repeal the schedules, reschedule,
research, etc. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in;">
<span style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif;">President Nixon through
executive order created an administration called the DEA (Drug Enforcement) to
oversee the provisions of the CSA and Title II The Comprehensive Drug Abuse
Prevention Control Act. </span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 0.0001pt;">
<span style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif;">According to CSA drugs are broken down into Schedules of which there are five.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div>
<span style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif;">These definitions are
pulled directly from the </span><a href="https://www.dea.gov/druginfo/ds.shtml" style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif;" target="_blank"><span style="color: blue;">DEA website</span></a><span style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif;">:</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in;">
<b><span lang="EN" style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif;">Schedule
I drugs:</span></b><span lang="EN" style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif;"> substances,
or chemicals are defined as drugs with no currently accepted medical use and a
high potential for abuse.</span><span style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif;"><o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in;">
<b><span lang="EN" style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif;">Schedule
II</span></b><span lang="EN" style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif;"> <b>drugs:</b> substances,
or chemicals are defined as drugs with a high potential for abuse, with use
potentially leading to severe psychological or physical dependence. These drugs
are also considered dangerous. </span><span style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif;"><o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in;">
<b><span lang="EN" style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif;">Schedule
III drugs: </span></b><span lang="EN" style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif;">substances, or chemicals are defined as drugs with a
moderate to low potential for physical and psychological dependence. Schedule
III drugs abuse potential is less than Schedule I and Schedule II drugs but
more than Schedule IV.</span><span style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif;"><o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in;">
<b><span lang="EN" style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif;">Schedule
IV drugs:</span></b><span lang="EN" style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif;"> substances,
or chemicals are defined as drugs with a low potential for abuse and low risk
of dependence.</span><span style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif;"><o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in;">
<b><span lang="EN" style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif;">Schedule
V drugs:</span></b><span lang="EN" style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif;"> substances,
or chemicals are defined as drugs with lower potential for abuse than Schedule
IV and consist of preparations containing limited quantities of certain
narcotics.</span><span style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif;"><o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in;">
<span style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif;">Basically: the lower the
number, the more strictly regulated and controlled the drug needs to be due to
its high potential for abuse, both physically and psychologically. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in;">
<span style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif;">Schedule I drugs
include, but are not limited to: </span><span style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif;">heroin, lysergic acid diethylamide (LSD), marijuana (cannabis),
3,4-methylenedioxymethamphetamine (ecstasy), methaqualone, and peyote</span><span style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif;"><o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in;">
<span style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif;">Most notably <b>HEROIN</b>:
a drug which has a <b><u>23% instant addiction rate</u></b>, can <b>cause <u>fatal
overdose</u></b>, <b><u>spontaneous abortion</u></b>, contraction of <b><u>hepatitis </u></b>or <b><u>HIV</u></b>, <b><u>collapsed
veins</u></b>, <b><u>infection </u></b>of the heart lining and
valves, <b><u>absesses</u></b>, liver or <b><u>kidney disease</u></b>,
etc. (<a href="http://www.webmd.com/mental-health/addiction/heroin-use?page=2#2" target="_blank"><span style="color: blue;">Source</span></a>)<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in;">
<span style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif;">Lies in the same
category as <b>CANNABIS</b>: a drug which <b>may </b>have a <b>30%
"problem use" rate </b>according to the same statistics, can
cause <b>similar <u>lung infections</u> </b>and <b><u>cancers </u></b>as <b><u>regular
tobacco use</u></b> and has <b><u>literally never caused an overdose</u></b>...ever.
(<a href="http://www.webmd.com/mental-health/addiction/recreational-marijuana-faq?page=2" target="_blank"><span style="color: blue;">Source</span></a>) <o:p></o:p></span></div>
<blockquote class="tr_bq" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 5.0pt;">
<span style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif;"><a href="https://www.dea.gov/pr/multimedia-library/publications/drug_of_abuse.pdf#page=72" target="_blank"><span style="color: blue;">"No death from
overdose has ever been reported."</span></a> </span><span style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif;">-Drug Enforcement Administration</span></blockquote>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in;">
<span style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif;">Okay. Seems a bit weird.
But, whatever. What else made the list? LSD? Ecstasy! Who made this???<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in;">
<span style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif;">Perhaps what is more
concerning is what didn't make the list or rather what made a lower Schedule. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in;">
<span style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif;">Schedule II substances
include: Meth! Fucking meth beat cannabis! Cocaine?! <o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in;">
<span style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif;">Now, to be fair, it is
described in the definition (see above) that "these drugs are also
considered dangerous."<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in;">
<span style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif;">What else is in this
category? Glad you asked: Vicodin, Oxycodone, Adderall, & Ritalin...<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in;">
<span style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif;">Now, I am not a medical
expert. I am a performer and would-be writer.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in;">
<span style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif;">But, the fact that
cannabis is even in the same category as any of these drugs is ridiculous.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in;">
<span style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif;">The fact that Schedule I
& II have a difference is big: Schedule I drugs have no medical use and
Schedule II have high risk for potential abuse. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in;">
<span style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif;">Therefore, the drugs in
Schedule II must have a medical use. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in;">
<span style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif;">You read that right.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in;">
<span style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif;">Exactly one medical
use: <o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in;">
<span style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif;"><a href="http://www.webmd.com/drugs/2/drug-8676/methamphetamine-oral/details" target="_blank"><span style="color: blue;">Methamphetamines are
used to treat ADHD</span></a><o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in;">
<span style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif;"><a href="http://www.webmd.com/drugs/2/drug-1383/cocaine-topical/details" target="_blank"><span style="color: blue;">Cocaine is used to
numb the mouth and certain areas before procedures by medical professionals</span></a><o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in;">
<span style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif;">Now, to be fair, I was
not able to find a medical use for heroin.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in;">
<span style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif;">But Marinol is a
derivative of THC (the active ingredient found in cannabis) and is a Schedule
III drug, which means it can be prescribed medically. <a href="http://www.webmd.com/drugs/2/drug-9308/marinol-oral/details" target="_blank"><span style="color: blue;">Marinol is prescribed
to increase appetite in HIV/AIDS patients and those undergoing
chemotherapy. </span></a><o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in;">
<span style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif;">In fact, in 1971
President Nixon appointed <a href="https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC1749335/" target="_blank"><span style="color: blue;">The National Commission on Marihuana and
Drug Abuse.</span></a><o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in;">
<span style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif;">Roger O Egeberg
suggested that cannabis be put <i>temporarily </i>on Schedule I list
until the Commission's report was heard. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in;">
<span style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif;">In Schafer's report to
Congress, he reported that: <o:p></o:p></span></div>
<blockquote class="tr_bq" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 5.0pt;">
<span lang="EN" style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif;">"The <b><u>existing
social and legal policy is out of proportion to the individual and social harm
engendered by the use of the drug</u></b>. To replace it, we have attempted to
design a suitable social policy, which we believe is fair, cautious and attuned
to the social realities of our time" (Nahas). </span></blockquote>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in;">
<span lang="EN" style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif;">Their
design for a suitable social policy was they recommended two pertinent changes
to the federal government with regards to marihuana [sic]: </span><span style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif;"><o:p></o:p></span></div>
<ul type="disc">
<li class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal;"><span style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif;">Possession of marihuana for personal use would no
longer be an offense, but marihuana possessed in public would remain
contraband subject to summary seizure and forfeiture<o:p></o:p></span></li>
<li class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal;"><span style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif;">casual distribution of small amounts of marihuana for
no remuneration, or insignificant remuneration not involving profit would
no longer be an offense<o:p></o:p></span></li>
</ul>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in;">
<span style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif;">They suggested making it
legal for recreational use, but still don't do it in public.</span><span style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif;"><o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in;">
<span style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif;">In fact, in a special
note at the end of the commissions statement before Congress: </span><span style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif;"><o:p></o:p></span></div>
<blockquote class="tr_bq" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in;">
<span lang="EN" style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif;">"Considering
the range of social concerns in contemporary America, <b><u>marihuana does
not, in our considered judgment, rank very high</u></b>. <b><u>We would
deemphasize marihuana as a problem.</u></b>" (Nahas)</span></blockquote>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in;">
<span style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif;">The President and his
staff did not remove cannabis from the list of Schedule I drugs. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in;">
<span style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif;">The Drug Enforcement
Administration monitors these controlled substances and their uses and their
abuses across the nation. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in;">
<span style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif;">They also graciously
tell the penalties for abuse of these controlled substances: <o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in;">
<span style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif;"><a href="https://www.dea.gov/druginfo/ftp3.shtml" target="_blank"><span style="color: blue;">Federal Trafficking Penalties</span></a><o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in;">
<span style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif;">Seriously, if you have
time to browse it, just do it. It is one of the most shocking reads I have ever
gone through.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in;">
<span style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif;">There are three
tables. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in;">
<span style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif;">The first names <i>specific </i>Schedule
I/II drugs including heroin, cocaine, methamphetamines, PCP:<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<ul type="disc">
<li class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal;"><span style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif;">You can carry up to <b>five times</b> the
amount of <b>cocaine </b>as <b>heroin </b>in order to
receive the <b>same penalty</b> (no less than <b><u>10
years to life imprisonment</u></b> and <b><u>$10 to $25 million</u></b>)<o:p></o:p></span></li>
</ul>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in;">
<span style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif;">The second table is
pretty generic penalties for all other Scheduled drugs from tiers I-V.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in;">
<span style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif;">The third table is
entirely devoted to Marijuana and similar drugs (Hashish oil)<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<ul type="disc">
<li class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal;"><span style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif;">It has similar if not identical restrictions and
penalties as the worst on Table I including, but not limited to minimum
sentencing <b><u>(not less than 10 years to life imprisonment</u></b>)
and a similar fine (<b><u>$10-50 million</u></b>)<o:p></o:p></span></li>
</ul>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in;">
<span style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif;">Granted, the amount of
cannabis one has to hold to incur such penalties is ridiculous. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in;">
<span style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif;">A LITERAL METRIC TON OF
CANNABIS. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in;">
<span style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif;">And granted, I am not a
drug dealer, nor a law enforcement official. I do not know how much of each drug
is a likely amount. I don't know how much more likely it is to find 1 kilogram
of heroin versus 5 kilograms of cocaine versus 1,000 kilograms of
cannabis. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in;">
<span style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif;">The point I am trying to
illustrate is that these seem like woefully balanced scales with cannabis being
treated as among the worst offenders in both the level of its control and even
in its execution within the penalties (with heroin coming in at a close
second). <o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in;">
<span style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif;">Why might this be so?<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in;">
<span style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif;">According to the makers of <i>13th</i>, there may be a reason. </span></div>
<blockquote class="tr_bq" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in;">
<span style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif;">Richard Nixon through
executive order created the federal organization the <a href="https://www.dea.gov/about/history.shtml" target="_blank"><span style="color: blue;">Drug Enforcement Agency</span></a>, in
order to establish a single unified command to combat "an all out global
war on the drug menace." (DEA.org)</span> </blockquote>
<blockquote class="tr_bq" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 5.0pt;">
<span style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif;">"You want to know what this was really all
about. The Nixon campaign in 1968, and the Nixon White House after that, had
two enemies: the antiwar left and black people. You understand what I'm saying.
We knew we couldn't make it illegal to be either against the war or black, but
by getting the public to associate the hippies with marijuana and blacks with
heroin, and then criminalizing both heavily, we could disrupt those
communities. We could arrest their leaders, raid their homes, break up their
meetings, and vilify them night after night on the evening news. Did we know we
were lying about the drugs? Of course we did" (Baum).</span></blockquote>
<blockquote class="tr_bq" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 5.0pt;">
<span style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif;">-John Ehrlichmann President Richard Nixon's
domestic policy chief</span></blockquote>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in;">
<span style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif;">Now, to be fair, there
are too few to corroborate this quotation. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in;">
<span style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif;"><a href="http://harpers.org/archive/2016/04/legalize-it-all/" target="_blank"><span style="color: blue;">The only instance of it being cited is in
Harper's Magazine by author Dan Baum who did the interview.</span></a><o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in;">
<span style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif;">But, it does paint a
stark portrait. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in;">
<span style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif;">The mandatory sentencing issued by the "<a href="https://www.unodc.org/unodc/en/data-and-analysis/bulletin/bulletin_1956-01-01_3_page005.html" target="_blank"><span style="color: blue;">Narcotic Control Act
of 1956</span></a>". <o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in;">
<span style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif;">The act introduced the
idea of mandatory minimums:<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<ul type="disc">
<li class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal;"><span style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif;">Whoever commits an offense, or conspires to commit an
offense, described in...for which no specific penalty is otherwise
provided, shall be imprisoned not less than 2 or more than 10 years and,
in addition, may be fined not more than $20,000. <o:p></o:p></span></li>
<li class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal;"><span style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif;">For a second offense, the offender shall be imprisoned
not less than 5 or more than 20 years and, in addition, may be fined not
more than $20,000. <o:p></o:p></span></li>
<li class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal;"><span style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif;">For a third or subsequent offense, the offender shall
be imprisoned not less than 10 or more than 40 years and, in addition, may
be fined not more than $20,000.<o:p></o:p></span></li>
</ul>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in;">
<span style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif;">These removed the
ability for judges to take into account the mitigating circumstances of each
case and instead imposed necessary sentencing or blanket sentencing across all
cases. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in;">
<span style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif;">Later in 1970, this was
repealed, but in 1986 it was reintrodued by Reagan under the "<a href="https://www.congress.gov/bill/99th-congress/house-bill/5484" target="_blank"><span style="color: blue;">Anti-Drug Abuse Act</span></a>"<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in;">
<br /></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjgr0_3mnli6bed2ChLxep33epdn-dvzTYL-yWxfLQNn7yeKaS2IOCPkaH4jnUqcwCuxIeNdRvm4sto36UVcZG_cuHINYqgs3ELS5T8J5Tv0jMS7uqOsesebly7d1YSGwJ0UKWYZ8GYTw_e/s1600/1.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="271" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjgr0_3mnli6bed2ChLxep33epdn-dvzTYL-yWxfLQNn7yeKaS2IOCPkaH4jnUqcwCuxIeNdRvm4sto36UVcZG_cuHINYqgs3ELS5T8J5Tv0jMS7uqOsesebly7d1YSGwJ0UKWYZ8GYTw_e/s400/1.jpg" width="400" /></a></div>
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href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg7hHoW7_xoEeaAh8cq3ljVyp6eKXwAs95FnW2mHT0aMhqvrPeYGWU3G4z7-EU4DT6pOuXD_7R6NZigllE8AxOeUZtl-jxKf8B4EHu-5Mm0Ad3yo69I8n1mBZjkWba8J4gvEkyv-iaEjpog/s1600/2.jpg"
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<span style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif;"><a href="http://blog.arcadiapower.com/reagan-took-solar-panels-white-house-calculated-impact/" target="_blank"><span style="color: blue;">Source</span></a><o:p></o:p></span></div>
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</div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in;">
<span style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif;">To make a long story
long: the legacy continued.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<ul type="disc">
<li class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal;"><span style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif;">Increased police force<o:p></o:p></span></li>
<li class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal;"><span style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif;">Increased funds<o:p></o:p></span></li>
<li class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal;"><span style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif;">Increased militarization of the police force<o:p></o:p></span></li>
<li class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal;"><span style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif;">Increased minimum sentencing<o:p></o:p></span></li>
</ul>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in;">
<span style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif;">It all piled up until
what you eventually had was a system in place that punished the poorest and
most marginalized groups in our society for recreational drug use.</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in;">
<span style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif;">To be fair, everyone gets punished for recreational drug use, but some are more punished than others. And therein lies the trouble. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in;">
<span style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif;">That is the argument of
13th.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<h2 style="line-height: normal; mso-margin-bottom-alt: auto; mso-margin-top-alt: auto; mso-outline-level: 2;">
<b><span style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif;">Relevance</span></b></h2>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in;">
<span style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif;">Many of you might be
wondering how this applies to us.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in;">
<span style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif;">If you are, then I have
to say, you probably aren't my audience. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in;">
<span style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif;">Recently (November 15th)
on <a href="http://www.npr.org/" target="_blank"><span style="color: blue;">National Public Radio </span></a> in their
segment: <a href="http://www.npr.org/programs/fresh-air/2016/11/15/502183404/fresh-air-for-november-15-2016" target="_blank"><span style="color: blue;">Fresh Air</span></a>, Terry
Gross interviewed Evan Osnos who recently wrote a piece for the New Yorker
entitled "<a href="http://www.newyorker.com/magazine/2016/09/26/president-trumps-first-term" target="_blank"><span style="color: blue;">President Trump's
First Term</span></a>."<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in;">
<span style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif;">In it, he consulted many
legal parties about what the President-elect's term might look like given his
campaign promises. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in;">
<span style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif;">He started the segment
with this: <o:p></o:p></span></div>
<blockquote class="tr_bq" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in;">
<span lang="EN" style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif;">"The
political science on this is pretty clear, and it tells a very different story,
which is that if you go back over the history of the presidency, you find that <b><u>presidents
tend to achieve</u></b><u> </u>the majority - <b><u>the overwhelming
majority of the things that they set out to accomplish when they were
candidates</u></b>.</span><span lang="EN" style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif;">
</span><span lang="EN" style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif;">
So the sort of classic study on this was by Michael Krukones who, in 1984,
tabulated all of the campaign pledges of all of the presidents between Woodrow
Wilson and Jimmy Carter, and what he found was that altogether they had
accomplished <b><u>73 percent of the pledges that they said they would</u></b>.
This has been replicated in other studies all the way up to the present where
PolitiFact, which is a nonpartisan fact-checking site, has evaluated the
campaign pledges by Barack Obama and found that he has achieved at least 70
percent of them."</span></blockquote>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in;">
<span style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif;">Politifact that tracks
President Obama's campaign promises: </span><span style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif;"><a href="http://www.politifact.com/truth-o-meter/promises/obameter/" target="_blank"><span style="color: blue;">Obamameter</span></a> at
70% (as of this writing)<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in;">
<span style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif;">Politifact that tracks
the GOP's campaign promises: <a href="http://www.politifact.com/truth-o-meter/promises/gop-pledge-o-meter/" target="_blank"><span style="color: blue;">GOP pledge-o-meter</span></a> 68%
(as of this writing)<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in;">
<span style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif;">I have attempted to
illustrate that President Nixon fell in with that trend. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in;">
<span style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif;">What he campaigned under
is exactly what he accomplished. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in;">
<span style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif;">Gross and Osnos go on to
illustrate that this may not be done simply because they wish it so from the
outset. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in;">
<span style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif;">Quite to the contrary,
many politicians make statements, campaign promises that they may not
whole-heartedly believe in, however: <o:p></o:p></span></div>
<blockquote class="tr_bq" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in;">
<span lang="EN" style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif;">"And
that gets us back to this kind of the core discovery that surprised me most
which is that <b><u>even when candidates don't seek to do the things that
they actually said they would on the stump that the internal momentum of
politics ends up forcing them to do things </u></b>that are more emphatic
or more absolute than perhaps they might have originally imagined."</span> </blockquote>
<blockquote class="tr_bq" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in;">
<span style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif; text-align: right;">In a wider study
Francois Petry and Benoit Collette discovered a similar trend across forty
years of records and two continents: </span></blockquote>
<blockquote class="tr_bq" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in;">
<b><u><span lang="EN" style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif;">"We
find that parties fulfill 67% of their promises on average"</span></u></b><span lang="EN" style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif;">-(Isbaum
Abstract)</span></blockquote>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in;">
<span style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif;">Wide variation between
parties, regimes, and countries were also denoted (Ibid). However, with greater
amount of reporting and statistical date available, the trend continued towards
the two-thirds. </span><span style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif;"><o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in;">
<span style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif;">Why/how is this
relevant?</span><span style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif;"><o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in;">
<b><span style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif;"><a href="http://www.politifact.com/truth-o-meter/article/2016/jul/15/donald-trumps-top-10-campaign-promises/" target="_blank"><span style="color: blue;">President-elect Donald Trump campaign
promises:</span></a></span></b><span style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif;"><o:p></o:p></span></div>
<ul type="disc">
<li class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal;"><span style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif;">Appoint a special prosecutor to investigate and
ultimately jail his political opponent Secretary Hillary Clinton<o:p></o:p></span></li>
<li class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal;"><span style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif;">Build a wall across the shared border between the U.S.
and Mexico and have the Mexican government pay for it<o:p></o:p></span></li>
<li class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal;"><span style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif;">Pull out from the Transpacific Partnership and NAFTA
(global trade deals) <o:p></o:p></span></li>
<li class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal;"><span style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif;">Renegotiate the Iran Deal<o:p></o:p></span></li>
<li class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal;"><span style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif;">Repeal Obamacare and replace it with a privatized
insurance solution<o:p></o:p></span></li>
<li class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal;"><span style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif;">Defund Planned Parenthood<o:p></o:p></span></li>
<li class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal;"><span style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif;">Save Medicare, Medicaid, and Social Security without
cutting benefits<o:p></o:p></span></li>
<li class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal;"><span style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif;">Temporarily ban Muslims from entering the United States<o:p></o:p></span></li>
<li class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal;"><span style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif;">Stop spending money on space exploration<o:p></o:p></span></li>
<li class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal;"><span style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif;">Allow Russia to deal with the Islamic State in Syria<o:p></o:p></span></li>
<li class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal;"><span style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif;">Target and kill the relatives of terrorists<o:p></o:p></span></li>
<li class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal;"><span style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif;">Bring back waterboarding<o:p></o:p></span></li>
<li class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal;"><span style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif;">Deport 11 million undocumented immigrants<o:p></o:p></span></li>
</ul>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in;">
<span style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif;">Some stark similarities
have been drawn between the presidential candidates (<i>13th </i>was published in
October 2016) and some moments of historical significance.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in;">
<span style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif;">I'll leave that to
tantalize someone who has made it this far into watching the bloody thing.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in;">
<span style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif;">I really haven't given
anything away besides the major argument: slavery did not end with the 13th
Amendment to the U.S. Constitution. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in;">
<span style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif;">In fact, all of the
research I have presented is my own and hopelessly skewed in an attempt to
illuminate what the creators have discovered in their much more impressive
work. </span></div>
<h2 style="line-height: normal; mso-margin-bottom-alt: auto; mso-margin-top-alt: auto; mso-outline-level: 2;">
<b><span style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif;">Conclusion</span></b></h2>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in;">
<span style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif;">For my own sanity.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in;">
<span style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif;">For the sanity of all
the other people of our community:<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in;">
<span style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif;">How about we see some
black and brown people in beautiful or even ecstatic pictures as opposed to
what we normally see on the news and media?<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in;">
<span style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif;">This is a selection of
images from the DIA's 30 Americans exhibit<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in;">
<span style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif;">Specifically the work of
Kehinde Wiley: <o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in;">
<br /></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjw8paQxzQoJeKUi5s8PMk7N9D7pojSTLrE2IVLkgCkTnui9wjxPFLMWwibsqtnpvh6evcQc0eH8p9bArqDzmImOM6XnYN-VcsvtWk4pFBujUg37Mj4LYa64N3eYREw_5gL-0P5s9OYdKSK/s1600/1.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjw8paQxzQoJeKUi5s8PMk7N9D7pojSTLrE2IVLkgCkTnui9wjxPFLMWwibsqtnpvh6evcQc0eH8p9bArqDzmImOM6XnYN-VcsvtWk4pFBujUg37Mj4LYa64N3eYREw_5gL-0P5s9OYdKSK/s400/1.jpg" width="335" /></a></div>
<br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhYkAPg8TTmPDHRh2kxsnVUk2ZkdE4I7qmmrSSN56jT11-yB1OEUMpVHCZrw4qGMuVxOvTQ_Els39Njrh88mHsxV9nD5udZ3PC5lOATGv1mn-yyz-WWH4lT84qfy0fz5LtlckCcg6Crzu-N/s1600/2.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhYkAPg8TTmPDHRh2kxsnVUk2ZkdE4I7qmmrSSN56jT11-yB1OEUMpVHCZrw4qGMuVxOvTQ_Els39Njrh88mHsxV9nD5udZ3PC5lOATGv1mn-yyz-WWH4lT84qfy0fz5LtlckCcg6Crzu-N/s400/2.jpg" width="301" /></a></div>
<br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiV6JcWqj9na06UMZUW76F_Yo9frckYO3y-dcz4Clos8CoYsrhoqK_0opJi4ginwRXOok52S6wY8X-a23K38lFC5Ta9yrLjC2Ah-pScSAyMpUN6Ei5DssT-jQrczhUWiqT7eUaLCHTJJh0e/s1600/3.jpeg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiV6JcWqj9na06UMZUW76F_Yo9frckYO3y-dcz4Clos8CoYsrhoqK_0opJi4ginwRXOok52S6wY8X-a23K38lFC5Ta9yrLjC2Ah-pScSAyMpUN6Ei5DssT-jQrczhUWiqT7eUaLCHTJJh0e/s400/3.jpeg" width="307" /></a></div>
<br />
<div align="center" class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in; text-align: center;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in;">
<span style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif;"> </span><span style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif;">You can check out his
work and others like him at 30 Americans at the DIA. </span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in;">
<span style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif;"><a href="http://kehindewiley.com/" target="_blank"><span style="color: blue;">Also here is his website.</span></a><o:p></o:p></span></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal">
<h2 style="line-height: normal; mso-margin-bottom-alt: auto; mso-margin-top-alt: auto; mso-outline-level: 2;">
<b><span style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif;">Bibliography</span></b></h2>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 0in;">
</div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="-webkit-text-stroke-width: 0px; color: black; font-family: "Times New Roman"; font-size: medium; font-style: normal; font-variant-caps: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; font-weight: normal; letter-spacing: normal; line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 0in; orphans: 2; text-align: start; text-indent: 0px; text-transform: none; white-space: normal; widows: 2; word-spacing: 0px;">
<div style="margin: 0px;">
<span style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif;">Bailey, Ronald. "The Other Side of Slavery: Black Labor, Cotton, and Textile Industrialization in Great Britain and the United States. (Eli Whitney's Cotton Gin, 1793-1993: A Symposium)." Agricultural History 22 Mar. 1994: n. pag. Web. 19 Nov. 2016.<br /><br />Baum, By Dan, By Kiera Feldman, By Walter Kirn, By Elena Ferrante, By Andrew Cockburn, By Daniel Asa Rose, and By Fred Bahnson. "Legalize It All." Harper's Magazine. Harper's Magazine, Apr. 2016. Web. 21 Nov. 2016.<br /><br />"Civil Rights Movement." History.com. Ed. Eric Foner and John A. Garraty. A&E Television Networks, 2009. Web. 19 Nov. 2016.<br /><br />Deyle, Steven. Carry Me Back: The Domestic Slave Trade in American Life. New York: Oxford UP, 2005. Print.<br /><br />Gates, Henry Louis, Jr. "Why Was Cotton ‘King’?" PBS. PBS, 30 Oct. 2013. Web. 19 Nov. 2016.<br /><br />Gross, Terry. "Could Trump 'Undermine The Legacy Of The Obama Presidency' With The Stroke Of A Pen?" NPR. NPR, 15 Nov. 2016. Web. 21 Nov. 2016.<br /><br />Imbeau, Louis M. Do They Walk like They Talk?: Speech and Action in Policy Processes. Vol. 15. Dordrecht: Springer, 2009. Print. Ser. 2.<br /><br />Nahas, G. G., and A. Greenwood. "The First Report of the National Commission on Marihuana (1972): Signal of Misunderstanding or Exercise in Ambiguity." Bulletin of the New York Academy of Medicine. U.S. National Library of Medicine, Jan. 1974. Web. 21 Nov. 2016.<br /><br />Osnos, Evan. "President Trump’s First Term." The New Yorker. The New Yorker, 19 Sept. 2016. Web. 21 Nov. 2016.<br /><br />"Richard Nixon for President 1968 Campaign Brochure." Richard Nixon for President 1968 Campaign Brochure. 4 President Corporation, 1 Jan. 2000. Web. 20 Nov. 2016.<br /><br />"Vital Statistics of the United States." Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, 27 Feb. 2013. Web. 21 Nov. 2016.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
</div>
</div>
milesboucherhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16783691033073213629noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2791903763744177937.post-112701057142531232016-11-11T10:33:00.000-08:002016-11-11T10:33:13.108-08:00The Wayward Alchemist (Where Novelists fear to Tread)Today,<br />
<br />
<a href="https://thewaywardalchemist.wordpress.com/">I have a new blog!!!</a><br />
<br />
I do not always know what is appropriate for blogosphere and what is not.<br />
I have been meaning to compile my musings into a cohesive whole at some point.<br />
Ideally my writings, my works would collate into something approximating a book.<br />
That has not happened.<br />
I realize it has something to do with names.<br />
<br />
Naming of things is powerful.<br />
And I dubbed this one Artistic (W)Hole.<br />
Not exactly a place to create a sensical book at any rate.<br />
So here we are.<br />
New blog.<br />
New site.<br />
New sense.<br />
<br />
I like new things.<br />
Not just new things, but different things.<br />
I like running places that are new.<br />
I don't like running a mile in one direction and a mile back.<br />
I prefer running a two mile circuit.<br />
<br />
I like changing my room around.<br />
I like moving my furniture every few months.<br />
I like spring cleaning.<br />
I like clean places.<br />
<br />
That is to say:<br />
New blog is a fresh start.<br />
Fresh starts, while not always a good thing, are sometimes really nice.<br />
So I have started writing a new blog.<br />
I hope it suits.<br />
Enjoy!milesboucherhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16783691033073213629noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2791903763744177937.post-37193721971974211572016-11-10T08:29:00.002-08:002016-11-10T08:29:55.939-08:00A Prose Poem Written in a Fugue State on November the Ninth Two Thousand Sixteen<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in;">
<span style="font-family: Times, Times New Roman, serif;">Today, Donald Trump is the forty fifth President
of the United States. <span style="font-size: 12pt;"><o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in;">
<span style="font-family: Times, Times New Roman, serif;">Last night, I slept. Restlessly, but I slept. I
slept because I couldn’t watch. I slept because there was nothing left to do. <span style="font-size: 12pt;"><o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in;">
<span style="font-family: Times, Times New Roman, serif;">I woke this morning and Donald Trump is the
forty fifth President of the United States.<span style="font-size: 12pt;"><o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in;">
<span style="font-family: Times, Times New Roman, serif;">I already knew. I knew because last night, I
awoke at 3am to the sound of sobs. My partner was crying and I knew. See, she
is not like me. I am not afraid. Why is that? I am a wealthy, white, straight,
cis-gendered male. I do not think in those terms because I do not have to. My
partner and people like her can’t afford not to. <span style="font-size: 12pt;"><o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in;">
<span style="font-family: Times, Times New Roman, serif;">My interests are not all interests, but they
will be seen to. They will be seen to no matter what. I know this because I did
not vote. Let me say that again: I do not vote. I am not a registered voter.
Because I can afford not to be. In my lifetime there will not be a need for my
voice. My voice, my concerns will be seen to. <span style="font-size: 12pt;"><o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in;">
<span style="font-family: Times, Times New Roman, serif;">I am not afraid. But, my partner is. She is very
afraid, as are the people I live with, as are the people I am friends with. The
reason being, I am in the minority. In my household, we have more latin voters
than black, more black voters than white, and we have no white voters. We have
our problems, but we make it work because we see such a wide variety of views.
I see such a wide variety of views. They are afraid and I am not. <span style="font-size: 12pt;"><o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in;">
<br /></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: Times, Times New Roman, serif;">When the life of a person, not their deeds, nor
speech, but their very existence is a political act, then they have done
enough. They are surviving and that is enough. When that is the case it is the
responsibility of those who are unafraid to act, to speak, to be a voice, a
call to reason and fairness and equality. Because we can afford to be offended;
we can afford to be made uncomfortable.</span><o:p></o:p></div>
milesboucherhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16783691033073213629noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2791903763744177937.post-55973352139344040172016-10-04T10:46:00.000-07:002016-10-04T10:46:21.623-07:00It's Not the Role, mate, It's How You Use It (OR Small Actors and Where to Find Them)Today we discuss small roles.<br />
What do I mean by that?<br />
<h3>
Small Roles</h3>
<div>
What makes a small role? </div>
<h4>
Leading Role</h4>
<div>
A leading role is clear. </div>
<div>
They are the protagonist/antagonist/main motivator of plot and action.</div>
<div>
They get top billing: </div>
<h4>
King Lear:</h4>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhJ2PrvN6vCbZtc2_GyoU7CWCxdy4i77AGzgOYb4hnyxyVT_AoPB-Wn1vp-gA4uxNbR4yMcikNZdTAF-W1rUZi4CLCEryUmpdZ0wkUjZ32g0qulX6VsP0TgIQHAN7lgkJTkWoTShHRrSO5Z/s1600/4.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="206" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhJ2PrvN6vCbZtc2_GyoU7CWCxdy4i77AGzgOYb4hnyxyVT_AoPB-Wn1vp-gA4uxNbR4yMcikNZdTAF-W1rUZi4CLCEryUmpdZ0wkUjZ32g0qulX6VsP0TgIQHAN7lgkJTkWoTShHRrSO5Z/s400/4.jpg" width="400" /></a></div>
<h4>
Macbeth:</h4>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhYoIu3NKRobEDdRb-Fx3E_60mkgh_wPKGj25BFSVQV_xEmWZaNwshUJMyOmNXlK30y2-TOeix4D6vD2rLuFFPvXNjzipncC_I7RnW3P4qncSar9vlx8SPLsZBnBeIsRFJSLl7t22OeDrYy/s1600/5.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhYoIu3NKRobEDdRb-Fx3E_60mkgh_wPKGj25BFSVQV_xEmWZaNwshUJMyOmNXlK30y2-TOeix4D6vD2rLuFFPvXNjzipncC_I7RnW3P4qncSar9vlx8SPLsZBnBeIsRFJSLl7t22OeDrYy/s400/5.jpg" width="210" /></a></div>
<h4>
Romeo & Juliet</h4>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjNq_PsES1cVjf8dMhB91IElVEc48dbcSMoJdy3DGOZN-k75MYZMX1PI-ibrXXQqtyhONGgqe3_VjDk5jnFoqud3cF67mJnd78V54FwgFTXKA0qXMlOH0KvnrJRaBg6tvXlLaottgXkBQXt/s1600/6.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="272" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjNq_PsES1cVjf8dMhB91IElVEc48dbcSMoJdy3DGOZN-k75MYZMX1PI-ibrXXQqtyhONGgqe3_VjDk5jnFoqud3cF67mJnd78V54FwgFTXKA0qXMlOH0KvnrJRaBg6tvXlLaottgXkBQXt/s400/6.jpg" width="400" /></a></div>
<div>
<br /></div>
Then, there are supporting roles.<br />
<h4>
Supporting Role</h4>
(These are the Oscar nominations.)<br />
People who support the leading characters in what they do (usually sacrificing health and happiness in the process)<br />
<h4>
Edgar/Kent: King Lear</h4>
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiANpoRK0RYA1Wswup-JKwmsIRsNdowu-IPt3j7y40pVEwg3nynV9wQER0zzCq7abI5NCA8IxoU1sSQcPagh7quwP8yRaTLazIBwmgZA8Obh-NnUBCilZCXjTSWa5tJ4gV-6UU48iFm4lyH/s1600/7.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="266" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiANpoRK0RYA1Wswup-JKwmsIRsNdowu-IPt3j7y40pVEwg3nynV9wQER0zzCq7abI5NCA8IxoU1sSQcPagh7quwP8yRaTLazIBwmgZA8Obh-NnUBCilZCXjTSWa5tJ4gV-6UU48iFm4lyH/s400/7.jpg" width="400" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Bottom and Top Left</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<h4>
The Witches: Macbeth</h4>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiGgtkPUyGaCNTtrVIaCM78pQ7SthDsbvGi24rLRnHlw5b9_glXxUx_ulUKlNGEWEQk1IPxS-kRlB1HC5evkIybiQqtcel-W_HcDzZtTf5syjj_glmMeh_pGFhWIRgftJiwO0GkQyFLH3aq/s1600/8.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="180" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiGgtkPUyGaCNTtrVIaCM78pQ7SthDsbvGi24rLRnHlw5b9_glXxUx_ulUKlNGEWEQk1IPxS-kRlB1HC5evkIybiQqtcel-W_HcDzZtTf5syjj_glmMeh_pGFhWIRgftJiwO0GkQyFLH3aq/s320/8.jpg" width="320" /></a></div>
<h4>
Eponine: Les Mis</h4>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjoIMAr0mjclQm_RScDf8R4NgHIX0p_9M5R2hEfJm2l7DjCN-hdsFEmKad1MBewkli0FuKOiC08AZLlihT1lCOD10T7Z586M36fyWlo96083zxmyhQ9eTScMsB4aISCGXHR1pSDN81-ejy0/s1600/9.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjoIMAr0mjclQm_RScDf8R4NgHIX0p_9M5R2hEfJm2l7DjCN-hdsFEmKad1MBewkli0FuKOiC08AZLlihT1lCOD10T7Z586M36fyWlo96083zxmyhQ9eTScMsB4aISCGXHR1pSDN81-ejy0/s320/9.jpg" width="317" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Oops...</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
Surely these aren't small roles.<br />
These are the roles everybody wants to play.<br />
Like Hotspur and Lady Percy (who literally have two monologues each).<br />
These are the roles people salivate over, sometimes more than the leading roles.<br />
So these cannot be small.<br />
<h4>
Extras</h4>
Now, we come to extras:<br />
<h4>
Star Trek (the other red shirts)</h4>
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<h4 style="clear: both; text-align: left;">
Batman (The other authority figures getting hit in the face)</h4>
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<h4>
Harry Potter (The other people wishing their children farewell)</h4>
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<br />
These are arguably the smallest thing you can be on a project.<br />
These are the Lords Attendant in Shakespeare.<br />
They are there to fill up a bare stage/frame.<br />
Therefore, some do not consider them roles.<br />
For the sake of this article, we won't either because they technically don't make the <a href="http://www.thefreedictionary.com/dramatis+personae" target="_blank">cast of characters</a>.<br />
<br />
So where are the small roles?<br />
Well, there is another class called bit roles.<br />
These are roles that are (usually) under five to six lines in length.<br />
<h4>
The Apothecary: Romeo & Juliet</h4>
<div>
Remember him?</div>
<div>
He is the one who gives Romeo the poison?</div>
<div>
Remember?</div>
<div>
Yeah.</div>
<div>
"That Old Guy"</div>
<div>
Yes. </div>
<div>
"With the Beard."</div>
<div>
Yep.</div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEglI7g1HevNSjxlQLG6cCwI09TCSFRTu84fmUZQvqCbawZLhmX56MsXDSWtcm1lSXzfy3GIQDno1wNd6Vw9LzsEQ4PsM7w3LsL8wOWudfmrdphTGeBtK7aSwICu4KiM8zK63Q8-TNpWeRIj/s1600/13.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="266" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEglI7g1HevNSjxlQLG6cCwI09TCSFRTu84fmUZQvqCbawZLhmX56MsXDSWtcm1lSXzfy3GIQDno1wNd6Vw9LzsEQ4PsM7w3LsL8wOWudfmrdphTGeBtK7aSwICu4KiM8zK63Q8-TNpWeRIj/s400/13.jpg" width="400" /></a></div>
<div>
Him.</div>
<div>
He is one of the most significant people in the play because without him, Romeo doesn't kill himself in Juliet's tomb. </div>
<div>
Juliet doesn't awake to find him poisoned.</div>
<div>
We don't get a farewell kiss: </div>
<blockquote class="tr_bq">
"I will kiss thy lips/Haply some poison yet doth hang on them."</blockquote>
<div>
None of it.</div>
<div>
But, that is his function: to move the plot along. </div>
<div>
<br /></div>
<div>
There are others in the Shakespeare canon.</div>
<div>
None of which you remember:</div>
<h4>
Seyton: Macbeth</h4>
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<br />
You know...the one who dresses Macbeth and says, "The Queen, my lord, is dead."<br />
<h4>
Fortinbras: Hamlet</h4>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgM2y00ai0wyUXA9cMB_hyiXUAwSHaCd0h4A60YCClq0sOT9avC1P-OZ_wk6k0w6J3xzFU1CbAU4JWfwLHg6Zla6hYSXa2uvxfBO9As6rF-HXTjL8-0AN_fRkaom7AnlGsuzYSuNGoM6IWj/s1600/15.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="373" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgM2y00ai0wyUXA9cMB_hyiXUAwSHaCd0h4A60YCClq0sOT9avC1P-OZ_wk6k0w6J3xzFU1CbAU4JWfwLHg6Zla6hYSXa2uvxfBO9As6rF-HXTjL8-0AN_fRkaom7AnlGsuzYSuNGoM6IWj/s400/15.jpg" width="400" /></a></div>
<div>
<br /></div>
<div>
You know...the one who takes over Denmarke after Hamlet has already killed everyone?</div>
<div>
<br /></div>
<div>
No? </div>
<div>
No one else does either. </div>
<div>
So these are small, small roles: </div>
<div>
BIT ROLES</div>
<div>
<ul>
<li>Often involving a total of one scene </li>
<li>a bare fistful of lines</li>
<li>and small actors</li>
</ul>
</div>
<h3>
Small Actors</h3>
HOWEVER!<br />
<br />
From our Lord and Savior Stanislavski:<br />
<blockquote class="tr_bq">
"There are no small parts, only small actors. "</blockquote>
<blockquote class="tr_bq">
-Konstantin Stanislavski</blockquote>
Mr. Stanislavski began his theatrical career in Russia, where the predominant form of art (in much of the world at that period) was <a href="http://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/melodrama" target="_blank">melodrama</a>.<br />
Some hallmarks of melodrama:<br />
<br />
<ul>
<li>larger than life characters</li>
<li>titanic/mythic struggles set in a familiar/domestic atmosphere </li>
<li>far and away places/exotic specimens (Native Americans)</li>
<li>enormous spectacle</li>
</ul>
<div>
In the midst of shows like: </div>
<h4>
The Octoroon</h4>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj3V5rcVbhDqOCVoLNh5t3ur_VxhvC7TrXpbHNow5g0sxtT0SQuuNHsopvP-VZytltv9i_wGO0mikorYNXEeL5rTbvtK2C4nOPpVWerLpxOAdNZ2BPVznNcVB8XW2TXV7e8AhVkHS_4TIPj/s1600/16.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj3V5rcVbhDqOCVoLNh5t3ur_VxhvC7TrXpbHNow5g0sxtT0SQuuNHsopvP-VZytltv9i_wGO0mikorYNXEeL5rTbvtK2C4nOPpVWerLpxOAdNZ2BPVznNcVB8XW2TXV7e8AhVkHS_4TIPj/s400/16.jpg" width="263" /></a></div>
<h4>
Uncle Tom's Cabin</h4>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjtGhcCI4OPO2C2YKlq_HQqGhqGZt56fZJpowufKZTyKV5r7EE6_LGJcnlTDaIt8RNa4Y8qhRXLZaZJYs86uPg4di-1AbOADIMTrY-eXXyHmK9saLqMqjEcVUPgzilhW5vSdRPki78WMKr-/s1600/17.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="293" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjtGhcCI4OPO2C2YKlq_HQqGhqGZt56fZJpowufKZTyKV5r7EE6_LGJcnlTDaIt8RNa4Y8qhRXLZaZJYs86uPg4di-1AbOADIMTrY-eXXyHmK9saLqMqjEcVUPgzilhW5vSdRPki78WMKr-/s400/17.jpg" width="400" /></a></div>
<div>
<br /></div>
<div>
(Yes. These are real advertisements. And yes. These plays actually happened...for decades in The United States)</div>
<div>
Melodramas are comparable to films or television today: </div>
<h4>
Hundreds of extras:</h4>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhxNXu01h8pdnfhyphenhyphencr_CAY4lIaItAPy8H_jJ4ooAWbpNI4vtkHutfRxcNB8sUa_yk5QJeTrGhMIqQPoOV3qK7GhIFXKOCMaxMg8xwboeSeZK2Azh5xLJDUYkGDbVpGiWVHiHNDWoa5FlaCQ/s1600/18.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="208" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhxNXu01h8pdnfhyphenhyphencr_CAY4lIaItAPy8H_jJ4ooAWbpNI4vtkHutfRxcNB8sUa_yk5QJeTrGhMIqQPoOV3qK7GhIFXKOCMaxMg8xwboeSeZK2Azh5xLJDUYkGDbVpGiWVHiHNDWoa5FlaCQ/s400/18.jpg" width="400" /></a></div>
<h4>
A diverse, well-written ensemble: </h4>
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<h4>
All surrounding a powerful leading player:</h4>
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<div>
<br /></div>
<br />
<div>
It was easy in melodrama (and film/TV today) to feel lost in the crowd and the shuffle. </div>
<div>
<br /></div>
However, that simply isn't the case and worse it is untrue.<br />
Look at Michael Shurtleff describing Dustin Hoffman:<br />
<blockquote class="tr_bq">
"After weeks of persuasion, the unknown Dustin Hoffman did come in to audition. He was right: he couldn't sing. However, he gave a marvelous reading of such imagination, intelligence, and humor that Mike Nichols never forgot it. The producer of THE GRADUATE later told me he nearly went into a state of catatonic shock because he couldn't believe Dustin Hoffman was Mr. Nichol's choice for the Ivy Leaguer. It made a star out of Dustin Hoffman," (Shurtleff 10).</blockquote>
Now, Shurtleff is referring to Hoffman's innate talent and skill.<br />
The lesson he concludes is: audition for everything.<br />
I cannot speak for Mr. Shurtleff or Mr. Hoffman (I wouldn't dream to do it), but the lesson I conclude is:<br />
<blockquote class="tr_bq">
Treat everything like a lead role (even auditions) </blockquote>
You never know how/when something will be your most important performance.<br />
Mr. Hoffman may not even remember the instance in question, but Mr. Shurtleff draws a direct line of causation to Mr. Hoffman's success with that particular audition.<br />
<br />
What does this have to do with bit roles?<br />
Well, treating them like any other is the key to success.<br />
You have an actor with innate talents and skills; they use them accordingly and they can shine in any role.<br />
Louis Zorich recounts his time in London, seeing <a href="https://www.lindsayanderson.com/theatre/the-cherry-orchard/" target="_blank"><i>The Cherry Orchard</i> at Haymarket</a> in <i><a href="https://www.amazon.com/Actors-Chekhov-Interviews-Psacharopoulos-Williamstown/dp/1880399059" target="_blank">the Actor's Chekhov</a>: </i><br />
<blockquote class="tr_bq">
I think it was <a href="http://www.imdb.com/name/nm0687506/" target="_blank">Joan Plowright</a> doing Ravenskaya and <a href="http://www.imdb.com/name/nm0277975/?ref_=nv_sr_1" target="_blank">Frank Finnley</a> doing Lopahkin and I forget who else. And believe it or not, the guy who stole the show, according to the critics was Pishchik! <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Cherry_Orchard#Characters" target="_blank">Pishchik</a>? (59)</blockquote>
<blockquote class="tr_bq">
Let me tell you what this Pishchik did. It's the scene where Charlotta enters with the the dog. They're all crossing the stage to go to the next room. And when she comes with the dog he sort of looked at the audience and winked - he was commenting to the audience about the play. This is the guy who walked away with all the reviews for the show! I said to myself, "What is wrong with these people, they don't have a clue!" (Ibid.)</blockquote>
Mr. Zorich concludes that the British have no idea what to do with Chekhov.<br />
Everyone from top down (including very talented leading players) had no idea what they were doing and shouldn't be performing Chekhov at all!<br />
That is a pretty remarkable claim, particularly with some of the characters they had named.<br />
Later on, regarding another production Zorich says:<br />
<blockquote class="tr_bq">
"Years ago, Olympia saw the Moscow Art Theater do <i>The Cherry Orchard</i>, and she said Pishchik did something she'll never forget. He comes in with the rug and all that and finally he says, 'Give me water, water, water!' And Pishchik goes - [He drink s a glass of water with both hands, gulping it, spilling it all over his face.] He played the longing, he WANTED water. How badly did he want water? It was like life and death! He wasn't just - [sipping.] But he, he - WANTED water, he wanted fucking water! And some of these things, when yous see actors really connected, you never, ever forget. A glass of water? A glass of water? His whole life was in that glass of water! It's incredible" (65). </blockquote>
The same role was given radiant reception, both by Ms. Dukakis and Mr. Zorich because of its treatment.<br />
Therefore, the character or the role does not determine its size, but its treatment on the part of the actor.<br />
However, I would amend the phrase and say:<br />
<blockquote class="tr_bq">
There are no small parts, only small directors. </blockquote>
However, that will be the subject of a different post on how to rectify this state of small-acting.<br />
Tune in next week.<br />
<br />
Work Cited: <br />
<br />
Hackett, Jean, and Nikos Psacharopoulos. <i>The Actor's Chekhov: Nikos Psacharopoulos and the Company of Williamstown Theatre Festival, on the Plays of Anton Chekhov. </i>Newbury, VT: Smith an Kraus, 1993. Print.<br />
<br />
Shurtleff, Michael. <i>Audition: Everything an Actor Needs to Know to Get the Part. </i>New York: Walker, 1978. Print.milesboucherhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16783691033073213629noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2791903763744177937.post-29717566718367833772016-09-28T08:45:00.002-07:002016-09-28T08:45:45.819-07:00The Seed to the Craft of Art is The Art of Going Insane (And Other Acting Tips)Today we discuss madness.<br />
<br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgG_3J_-AVWlKNKPYMTq1XiEtQHyNq0A8MJF5LTCk5n0VYP-J-xUF43PavuDXbUqwfQ7f0KDG-FUIv25fFsWlBrSs1EAxIbiBKnGIvZe2ujo1pdHbYlXADX8YqBUjzynnPM_mzWR11tv41i/s1600/2.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgG_3J_-AVWlKNKPYMTq1XiEtQHyNq0A8MJF5LTCk5n0VYP-J-xUF43PavuDXbUqwfQ7f0KDG-FUIv25fFsWlBrSs1EAxIbiBKnGIvZe2ujo1pdHbYlXADX8YqBUjzynnPM_mzWR11tv41i/s400/2.jpg" width="400" /></a></div>
<br />
Nope, not that.<br />
<br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjujIY_tpegs7FdLZiJal0mfZX0X2oIUaxzwAll4c9LUDPF5GAMD-SXyWih_nUh03hBXKqDcSwPrgmhaZL_QcM16kAEOyntzwKYpnmDP6VixWgGZAnxip0cZ-uNFyfk6_SL7y1MImtrWZ40/s1600/4.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="266" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjujIY_tpegs7FdLZiJal0mfZX0X2oIUaxzwAll4c9LUDPF5GAMD-SXyWih_nUh03hBXKqDcSwPrgmhaZL_QcM16kAEOyntzwKYpnmDP6VixWgGZAnxip0cZ-uNFyfk6_SL7y1MImtrWZ40/s400/4.jpg" width="400" /></a></div>
<br />
Yep.<br />
<br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgm2Gfsh2LrQ-ewHPrcvPFyG6u6cySITTP9KFSwzaZpBe-XKn-WMkUOuR9YGeUE2GuosIk3pjrZZhq6tbav87M8pk2uRESI1WYhM8c2I5nB21MkGucO3eW_dD7UKxIzHfF7t-Hq2nd_sfz4/s1600/3.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgm2Gfsh2LrQ-ewHPrcvPFyG6u6cySITTP9KFSwzaZpBe-XKn-WMkUOuR9YGeUE2GuosIk3pjrZZhq6tbav87M8pk2uRESI1WYhM8c2I5nB21MkGucO3eW_dD7UKxIzHfF7t-Hq2nd_sfz4/s400/3.jpg" width="400" /></a></div>
<br />
Yep. That.<br />
There, that is better.<br />
Or worse.<br />
I can never tell.<br />
And that is really the subject of this post.<br />
<blockquote class="tr_bq">
<br />
<span style="font-size: large;">"There are no sane characters. "</span><br />
-Miles Boucher</blockquote>
What do I mean by that?<br />
<span style="font-size: large;">WHAT I SAID!</span><br />
(hint: that was for dramatic effect)<br />
<br />
But, seriously, there are no sane characters.<br />
Rather:<br />
There are no reasonable people in drama.<br />
Don't believe me?<br />
Look at Oedipus:<br />
<h3>
Cast Study: OEDIPUS</h3>
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg6pDZ-bsI6SWMh2gAFvNhYD4dMv3zhijkqQvLBd5WjutYrOCgSKbFTMR4sT3X7Yt74X3GLz7eNXQpAGnzlRkEb0MKknXlG6uVJkCwnOwNRRDk1Rr7U0Fz5qTau4z95_GmZF9xphrIaYpSe/s1600/5.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg6pDZ-bsI6SWMh2gAFvNhYD4dMv3zhijkqQvLBd5WjutYrOCgSKbFTMR4sT3X7Yt74X3GLz7eNXQpAGnzlRkEb0MKknXlG6uVJkCwnOwNRRDk1Rr7U0Fz5qTau4z95_GmZF9xphrIaYpSe/s400/5.jpg" width="303" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">That right there is a King of Thebes...</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<br />
Oedipus meets his father Laius on the side of the road and what happens?<br />
<br />
<ol>
<li><i>Oedipus's </i>fa<i>ther Laius </i>tries to murder <i>Oedipus</i></li>
<li><i>Oedipus </i>murders his <i>father</i></li>
<li><i>Oedipus </i>marries his <i>mother </i>and becomes king of Thebes</li>
<li>His <i>mother</i> has four of Oedipus's <i>children</i></li>
<li><i>Thebes </i>suffers <i>plague</i></li>
<li><i>Oedipus</i> curses <i>himself</i> (unknowingly)</li>
<li><i>Oedipus </i>banishes his <i>brother Creon </i>and the <i>prophet Tireisias</i></li>
<li>His <i>mother Jocasta </i>finds out he is her son and hangs <i>herself</i></li>
<li><i>Oedipus </i>gouges out his own <i>eyes </i>AND is banished</li>
</ol>
<div>
Why?</div>
<div>
Why does this happen?</div>
<div>
Because Oedipus's father <i>Laius </i>is told by a prophet that someday his son will murder him.</div>
<div>
So what does he do?</div>
<div>
<ul>
<li><i>Laius </i>sends his son away to <b><u><i>die on the mountainside.</i></u></b></li>
</ul>
<br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhWgv92gCFY1QHvswz7X49YKRY2Xz8-2SSX1n-AFXIZUKGW6FLYNJkXdC4zZWiCiT3c0OzwcYLg931aRmUQriiOgUsyYxictEO6qKeGyIFCDnfrtLov6ReQvD5EtLZvb77w_HXD_QfIVMxR/s1600/6.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="225" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhWgv92gCFY1QHvswz7X49YKRY2Xz8-2SSX1n-AFXIZUKGW6FLYNJkXdC4zZWiCiT3c0OzwcYLg931aRmUQriiOgUsyYxictEO6qKeGyIFCDnfrtLov6ReQvD5EtLZvb77w_HXD_QfIVMxR/s400/6.jpg" width="400" /></a></div>
<div>
<br /></div>
<div>
I would call that an unreasonable response.</div>
</div>
<div>
Just the all of it.</div>
<div>
Because really what it came down to was the fact that a blind hermaphrodite tells a king that someday his newborn son will kill him and that is all it takes for him to order his son to die.</div>
<div>
Everything that follows stems from that moment.</div>
<div>
Arguably Oedipus is a complete innocent.</div>
<div>
But, the Greeks really don't seem to care about secular morality.</div>
<div>
<br /></div>
<div>
Okay. </div>
<div>
That is an extreme case.</div>
<div>
But, that was the Greeks.</div>
<div>
They worshiped dirt. </div>
<div>
That couldn't happen in a reasonable society.</div>
<div>
Like the Elizabethans in England?</div>
<h3>
Case Study: HAMLET</h3>
This may seem like easy picking.<br />
Hamlet and Horatio certainly talk about death and madness a lot.<br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<br /></div>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiAgL3L92NJKpXEmb9uXD3j1TfMagGAFTaZxJH5gvgFNYNfJAqSMRGJaWuA_nBYeMtgPHZLweXPgdta7NzhTjRnTWAyqoB1jn6FF8sV4vgwLwrZ4roS6UW5wh9FBfaJIhW1m05msAG_OICn/s1600/2.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="321" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiAgL3L92NJKpXEmb9uXD3j1TfMagGAFTaZxJH5gvgFNYNfJAqSMRGJaWuA_nBYeMtgPHZLweXPgdta7NzhTjRnTWAyqoB1jn6FF8sV4vgwLwrZ4roS6UW5wh9FBfaJIhW1m05msAG_OICn/s400/2.jpg" width="400" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Hamlet: Does this seem healthy to you? <br />Horatio: No. <br />Gravedigger: No.<br />Hamlet: I was talking to the skull.</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
Ophelia does literally go insane:<br />
<br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhmo7cK_ODa-b-0fpQAhyPEBK5kNYuIRZXSry7IrUanO0XAnDDsu0gqJDGjGub336vI7YTbBYAoOmBe1jPTH_MG3ynH6Ay_jWduna-sfNrbUAyHQnd7tOhCHH_X9eg61DycEHhLYPNUD1wH/s1600/3.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="285" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhmo7cK_ODa-b-0fpQAhyPEBK5kNYuIRZXSry7IrUanO0XAnDDsu0gqJDGjGub336vI7YTbBYAoOmBe1jPTH_MG3ynH6Ay_jWduna-sfNrbUAyHQnd7tOhCHH_X9eg61DycEHhLYPNUD1wH/s400/3.jpg" width="400" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">The King is like get this crazed bitch out of here!</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
Hamlet certainly feigns madness in the play scene where he woos the spurned Ophelia discussing lying between her legs and then does it!<br />
<br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj2Xs-to8Rtf6GPrFnqJuZ-Mhd6IJZ48LetlhuSTrHKqYFCfkPmcTRB1OwCmcsa-jP-zG04uN6kx1l13yV7ZsWyF29DnkrC-hrsnDnLU0x37fggUhxRT3_o2H3wlk0eA5lGg6aTNg5pc64J/s1600/4.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="250" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj2Xs-to8Rtf6GPrFnqJuZ-Mhd6IJZ48LetlhuSTrHKqYFCfkPmcTRB1OwCmcsa-jP-zG04uN6kx1l13yV7ZsWyF29DnkrC-hrsnDnLU0x37fggUhxRT3_o2H3wlk0eA5lGg6aTNg5pc64J/s400/4.jpg" width="400" /></a></div>
<br />
And then of course, Hamlet speaks to a ghostly vision that no one else can see save Hamlet and the audience....scholars still debate that one.<br />
<br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg6z9EoHneR6ZTCewrhM3mP_GOakLdInmwA8AMayz-lVUe6eck773YSPZ4XTSdcL3GTiRAr9H0596s_M6N_NArFLLYbCgM5mZG-Jx38Ti_XN9iIzPb4_VL_epa41VcJlF3_48pg1sn74H08/s1600/5.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="311" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg6z9EoHneR6ZTCewrhM3mP_GOakLdInmwA8AMayz-lVUe6eck773YSPZ4XTSdcL3GTiRAr9H0596s_M6N_NArFLLYbCgM5mZG-Jx38Ti_XN9iIzPb4_VL_epa41VcJlF3_48pg1sn74H08/s400/5.jpg" width="400" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Seriously, look at that shadow. That is my Father!</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
So some would say the play is filled with madness.<br />
I would argue that they are right.<br />
Yet again the:<br />
<ol>
<li><i>Hamlet </i>spurning <i>Ophelia</i></li>
<li><i>Hamlet </i>murdering <i>Polonius</i></li>
<li><i>Claudius's </i>banishment of <i>Hamlet</i></li>
<li><i>Claudius's </i>orders to execute <i>Hamlet</i></li>
<li><i>Laertes's </i>rebellion</li>
<li><i>Ophelia's</i> insanity</li>
<li><i>Ophelia's </i>apparent suicide</li>
<li><i>Hamlet's </i>return and subsequent <i>jumping into Ophelia's grave and fighting Laertes in it</i></li>
<li><i>Their duel</i></li>
<li>The accidental <i>poisoning of the Queen</i></li>
<li>The accidental <i>poisoning of Laertes</i></li>
<li>The deliberate <i>poisoning of Hamlet</i></li>
<li>The deliberate <i>poisoning and the subsequent stabbing of Claudius </i></li>
</ol>
<div>
All of this, all of this, all of this stems from:</div>
<div>
<ul>
<li><i>Hamlet</i> believing the <i>Ghost</i> who said:</li>
<ul>
<li>I am thy Father's Spirit AND</li>
<li>Your Uncle killed me</li>
</ul>
</ul>
<div>
That is it.</div>
</div>
<div>
That is all it took to convince Hamlet that it was all his Uncle and everything that followed stems from it.</div>
<div>
Who does that?!</div>
<div>
Crazy people do that. </div>
<br />
But, those were from the Renaissance.<br />
They did more drugs than the Flower Children.<br />
They drank ale instead of water.<br />
<a href="http://www.usatoday.com/story/news/nation-now/2015/08/10/study-shakespeare-marijuana-smoker/31424275/" target="_blank">Shakespeare probably smoked cannabis</a>.<br />
Of course their characters were crazy.<br />
We couldn't have that today...<br />
(it's a leading line of thought, but still)<br />
<h3>
Case Study: HOW I MET YOUR MOTHER (or any sitcom...Scrubs/Friends/New Girl/Cheers)</h3>
*SPOILERS*<br />
Meet Ted:<br />
<br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhVr1Rp_9huhU8w41k_VS5QEK_fH_UGvvmOr89IJNJrYwv2sLEeZQ-JbZJtEamk_we8XR6SX5gVEsgFDKxtA_KGedNMLSPs-xtHlN1QAem3WLEhTVSMEVSvdOkBRZDzyXksqCnvfJ-X3m4O/s1600/2.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="265" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhVr1Rp_9huhU8w41k_VS5QEK_fH_UGvvmOr89IJNJrYwv2sLEeZQ-JbZJtEamk_we8XR6SX5gVEsgFDKxtA_KGedNMLSPs-xtHlN1QAem3WLEhTVSMEVSvdOkBRZDzyXksqCnvfJ-X3m4O/s400/2.jpg" width="400" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Aww early Ted is the best Ted!</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
Ted is a psychopath.<br />
<br />
<br />
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgh1ZgK7CrSf-GHXRwmjGwTBzQocATAm6XCxKBoP3tRmi3Ny-i90CGHb7aNKkZdRBPYhDEbqXGQGH0Dl7IbsjJ2rk-QiZLHGK1_JWw5rea9x1NzxhSiRDRkNbn5wofVjaz1H4n4RnSULlZ0/s1600/3.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgh1ZgK7CrSf-GHXRwmjGwTBzQocATAm6XCxKBoP3tRmi3Ny-i90CGHb7aNKkZdRBPYhDEbqXGQGH0Dl7IbsjJ2rk-QiZLHGK1_JWw5rea9x1NzxhSiRDRkNbn5wofVjaz1H4n4RnSULlZ0/s400/3.jpg" width="300" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Crazy eyes! Crazy eyes!</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
Ted meets a girl named Robin:<br />
<br />
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgA3iNt8KQoLp0vmxsmyoyhGcrYUymbmxpm_fDvge3EgHiwQoIh2LnvAWFdnS3d5j_07lZ0iRqm39E3DAJ3lsSVKZLCOhqkBtIbz0y0RaamhnaeXsBwtdQzU5EqfDnOE9hc6AWu2ooeAu5F/s1600/4.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="300" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgA3iNt8KQoLp0vmxsmyoyhGcrYUymbmxpm_fDvge3EgHiwQoIh2LnvAWFdnS3d5j_07lZ0iRqm39E3DAJ3lsSVKZLCOhqkBtIbz0y0RaamhnaeXsBwtdQzU5EqfDnOE9hc6AWu2ooeAu5F/s400/4.jpg" width="400" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Her name is literally Smulders...</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
The entire first season is about them getting together.<br />
Second season is about them falling apart.<br />
Third season is about them working on being together (Friends w/Benefits)<br />
Fourth season they break up; Ted gets desperate.<br />
Fifth season is art.<br />
Everything after is just a sorry excuse.<br />
And then Ted finally meets up to his promise and meets the Mother of his kids:<br />
<br />
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgupalFFzexT4rn_5Wy2VvR5X8B3D9E-yUJ4D58uP1FpB7fmbKCoI9wCjFqGzuSYx_Zyb5PJv-BzwYhenGcHI0hu0_KduQEA7py2nK-lmkwGnycNUpwHvez0RweGQxbIi5W5mVG8xxtzRBg/s1600/5.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="266" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgupalFFzexT4rn_5Wy2VvR5X8B3D9E-yUJ4D58uP1FpB7fmbKCoI9wCjFqGzuSYx_Zyb5PJv-BzwYhenGcHI0hu0_KduQEA7py2nK-lmkwGnycNUpwHvez0RweGQxbIi5W5mVG8xxtzRBg/s400/5.jpg" width="400" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Sup!</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
And it was good.<br />
Until she dies.<br />
<br />
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEio4RqqHiJyyxzve7Kv0Q0aLgqb_lhUAFNROnN4sI6qnfymNlDXOlHDMRDobu-z5DCT8tl_0lUWARptbIiY-C9WFjfB7u3QPlqvS9_mXSS7SToZkSY28FTDfSuDbWlSWbEIEXeAZwRWcBON/s1600/6.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="212" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEio4RqqHiJyyxzve7Kv0Q0aLgqb_lhUAFNROnN4sI6qnfymNlDXOlHDMRDobu-z5DCT8tl_0lUWARptbIiY-C9WFjfB7u3QPlqvS9_mXSS7SToZkSY28FTDfSuDbWlSWbEIEXeAZwRWcBON/s320/6.jpg" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">WHY?!</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
So sad.<br />
And in the end, we find out that all of this is just an excuse to chase Robin.<br />
AGAIN!<br />
He literally asks his kids if it would be okay to date Robin after the death of his wife.<br />
<br />
<iframe allowfullscreen="" frameborder="0" height="315" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/nW82fRNJc84" width="560"></iframe>
<br />
Now, here is the sanity:<br />
It is very healthy to talk to your kids about dating again.<br />
They are a part of the relationship and can and probably should be consulted.<br />
<br />
But, Ted literally tells them everything about his sexual history, his conquests, his travails, his foibles.<br />
They know Ted & Robin have the unhealthiest relationship.<br />
<br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgW5zl4wZOR13FC3tj-7n1pUnF3n14NwasodY7uRiBciKDLk4fToXOFON5bdr8y7Qsi8HITkyCM2XO27NYq1h3y2jbj_KdWBLgILMJ3R6kodeplYv-X2Sqj8OPjCvwk4rwUcfRYW3lqKgNH/s1600/2.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="223" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgW5zl4wZOR13FC3tj-7n1pUnF3n14NwasodY7uRiBciKDLk4fToXOFON5bdr8y7Qsi8HITkyCM2XO27NYq1h3y2jbj_KdWBLgILMJ3R6kodeplYv-X2Sqj8OPjCvwk4rwUcfRYW3lqKgNH/s400/2.jpg" width="400" /></a></div>
<br />
That is not the action of a sane and healthy individual.<br />
Ted is the most obtuse individual when it comes to self-awareness and self-control.<br />
<br />
And here is the thing...<br />
It's what we love about him.<br />
NOT ALL THE TIME!<br />
<br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh7TKxIurQGmASyUloGLxjcfKrqLk-ajOXvu6qrZRVOxKv7-ezkuZXGp9Yzm9a6w0EjH5D-IJWK3dHGBB-uOC7tKzwCp4YNzuJ9sKm3JC-6Jq_QYvakWizD6lKiJHfJ2NVd89ctx1Tv_pQZ/s1600/3.gif" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="326" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh7TKxIurQGmASyUloGLxjcfKrqLk-ajOXvu6qrZRVOxKv7-ezkuZXGp9Yzm9a6w0EjH5D-IJWK3dHGBB-uOC7tKzwCp4YNzuJ9sKm3JC-6Jq_QYvakWizD6lKiJHfJ2NVd89ctx1Tv_pQZ/s400/3.gif" width="400" /></a></div>
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<br /></div>
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Oh shut up!</div>
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<br /></div>
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<a href="http://vignette4.wikia.nocookie.net/himym/images/4/47/Robin_holds_Ted's_hand.jpg/revision/latest?cb=20130507105307" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="223" src="https://vignette4.wikia.nocookie.net/himym/images/4/47/Robin_holds_Ted's_hand.jpg/revision/latest?cb=20130507105307" width="400" /></a></div>
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<br /></div>
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She is engaged bro!</div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">
To name a few.</div>
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But, there are so many precious, beautiful moments that we love.</div>
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<br /></div>
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His apparent disassociated moments with his students:</div>
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<br /></div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg7MG-6UYwnaTW2ob-Pd6FgoValDrVAepUVu5Q0I6qSE4HMRWdR5My60imWZ7IxlBHsg_90pplHv-6lVSITGg9PoJo1q4S-5Tinxnr8hGwpUiOlW5YD7jlhBAgkDj7BTV8ZzXIDRePvgJSj/s1600/2.gif" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="158" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg7MG-6UYwnaTW2ob-Pd6FgoValDrVAepUVu5Q0I6qSE4HMRWdR5My60imWZ7IxlBHsg_90pplHv-6lVSITGg9PoJo1q4S-5Tinxnr8hGwpUiOlW5YD7jlhBAgkDj7BTV8ZzXIDRePvgJSj/s400/2.gif" width="400" /></a></div>
<br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">
The fact that Ted made it rain for Robin:</div>
<br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgZnVVSsQCDreKvO_SLq0G8LztplkOt-GAEfJ8ZcdNzR_hhmyBy7P6xnf27ZN3y5-5DZr-W4jXAo2p_50iyKwQ2CL72OnhZwvQtnBAmQnhTtub1KXRJDB_Pej_7qtmm2SNflpyrBghyphenhyphen-c1w/s1600/5.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgZnVVSsQCDreKvO_SLq0G8LztplkOt-GAEfJ8ZcdNzR_hhmyBy7P6xnf27ZN3y5-5DZr-W4jXAo2p_50iyKwQ2CL72OnhZwvQtnBAmQnhTtub1KXRJDB_Pej_7qtmm2SNflpyrBghyphenhyphen-c1w/s400/5.jpg" width="400" /></a></div>
<br />
The fact that he would have stolen an entire blue orchestra:<br />
<br />
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<br />
These are still the acts of a crazy person.<br />
But, we can and do find them endearing.<br />
There are reasons explored actually within the series, but are not the subect of this article:<br />
<br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiw6JiSKvnab65KCYOaPa0lBa0JHbcX5bE-hQkHdWlVkgeLyiNAhvZCOYc4vNVVUgnxEAX-Y4Eo0q3NxS44oDMQnFACAsjgTin-kKDCuRgzmEHsnLSIuFswgozokG_QlAF5pNiyAYu1-ek8/s1600/2.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiw6JiSKvnab65KCYOaPa0lBa0JHbcX5bE-hQkHdWlVkgeLyiNAhvZCOYc4vNVVUgnxEAX-Y4Eo0q3NxS44oDMQnFACAsjgTin-kKDCuRgzmEHsnLSIuFswgozokG_QlAF5pNiyAYu1-ek8/s400/2.jpg" width="355" /></a></div>
<br />
The point is:<br />
<blockquote class="tr_bq">
All drama is filled with crazy and that is what we love.</blockquote>
<h3>
Case Study: YOUR FAVORITE STORY</h3>
Think of your favorite story.<br />
Okay?<br />
You have a story?<br />
You got it in your head?<br />
Know all the back story?<br />
The ups? The downs? The surprises?<br />
Good.<br />
<br />
Now, really examine those characters.<br />
Examine their behavior.<br />
Examine their responses.<br />
Are they responding reasonably?<br />
Dare I say sanely?<br />
I'd argue probably not.<br />
<br />
Now, here is the thing.<br />
<blockquote class="tr_bq">
EVERYONE WANTS TO BE SANE.</blockquote>
So far as I have been able to gather.<br />
However, I would contend:<br />
<h3>
Art is Insane</h3>
End stop.<br />
Art is Insane.<br />
It is what we love about art.<br />
People do things we would never do.<br />
<br />
<ul>
<li>Ted Mosby loves in spite of love kicking his ass.</li>
<li>Hamlet goes off the word of a spectre and his whole family ends up murdered and his kingdom overthrown.</li>
<li>Oedipus ends up blind, childless, and cursed.</li>
</ul>
<br />
We like watching these stories.<br />
We like watching characters get kicked and getting back up again<br />
And why?<br />
Because it is crazy to do so!<br />
So why is the first critical response I hear always, always, always:<br />
<ul>
<li>It was so real!</li>
<li>That is exactly how I would respond!</li>
</ul>
Really?<br />
Really?!<br />
Would you really?<br />
Would you really kill your father, mother, nieces, nephews, and children?<br />
If so, I may want to have you committed.<br />
<br />
Now, to be fair, it may say something about the human condition.<br />
Namely: we are all insane.<br />
But, that is the subject of another post.<br />
Here is my point:<br />
<h3>
Artists are trying to make their characters sane</h3>
<div>
It is the biggest tragedy to art I see right now.</div>
<div>
People are trying to make their characters 'real'. </div>
<div>
And that means by toning down their responses.</div>
<div>
That means that instead of tearing up the contract, characters are politely saying, "No, thank you."</div>
<div>
Instead of throwing pies in each other's faces, we see them tersely eat dinner for a half hour scene.</div>
<div>
This is not an overall trend.</div>
<div>
In fact, many modern comedies embrace the insane quite well: </div>
<div>
<ul>
<li>Death at a Funeral</li>
<li>Hot Fuzz</li>
<li>Shaun of the Dead</li>
<li>At World's End</li>
<li>Ted</li>
<li>Rush Hour</li>
<li>Tommy Boy</li>
</ul>
<div>
To name but a few. </div>
</div>
<div>
But, if you are stuck, if you can't quite figure out why a scene isn't working, consider that maybe you or your partner or the situation isn't quite crazy enough.</div>
<h3>
Questions to Consider</h3>
<div>
<ul>
<li>Who is right in this situation?</li>
<li>Who is wrong in this situation?</li>
<li>Can I make them wrong?</li>
<ul>
<li>How?</li>
</ul>
<li>Am I acting unreasonably?</li>
<ul>
<li>Can I act more unreasonably?</li>
<li>How?</li>
</ul>
<li>What would an insane response be?</li>
<ul>
<li>Why am I not doing that?</li>
<ul>
<li>Is the reason: to be liked?</li>
<li>Is it because I would "never" do that?</li>
<ul>
<li>What is wrong with doing it?</li>
</ul>
</ul>
</ul>
<li>What is the most I can get away with?</li>
<li>What are the consequences for my current action?</li>
<ul>
<li>Is it imprisonment?</li>
<ul>
<li>Why not?</li>
</ul>
<li>Is it lower than imprisonment?</li>
<ul>
<li>Why?</li>
</ul>
</ul>
</ul>
<div>
I'm not saying everyone needs to go to prison or murder someone.</div>
</div>
<div>
That would be formulaic.</div>
<div>
But, the number of comedies that have a prison sequence is as high as the wedding:</div>
<div>
<br /></div>
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://i56.photobucket.com/albums/g161/MichaelsSDE/christmas-vacation-18_zps5142d4fd.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="300" src="https://i56.photobucket.com/albums/g161/MichaelsSDE/christmas-vacation-18_zps5142d4fd.jpg" width="400" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">National Lampoon's Christmas Vacation</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<br />
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://uproxx.files.wordpress.com/2012/10/bridesmaids.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="225" src="https://uproxx.files.wordpress.com/2012/10/bridesmaids.jpg" width="400" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Bridesmaids</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<br /></div>
So if you aren't risking something in the scene.<br />
If you aren't gambling on going to prison in your play or screenplay or novel at some point.<br />
Then, I don't think you are writing drama.<br />
Because your characters aren't insane.<br />
And that really makes all the difference.milesboucherhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16783691033073213629noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2791903763744177937.post-90035232912939106452016-09-05T08:56:00.000-07:002016-09-05T08:56:27.500-07:00Why Advertising is Killing my Soul (How Wells Fargo dropped the Ball and so did You)Today we discuss Wells Fargo:<br />
<br />
Or more specifically this:<br />
<br />
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEig0oXUlIFQH0ddCGyi-Zmvhm6tv5a8myNElVT1b8xhBeCAq3WxvJdE1eoGui9UsFTKp6VPATKMJuDtx9SpwIcW2ygF0RsG8gnxb5RNkgYvzVzrBef-4N3_EHSJiSsvKN5W5v7cT4MUzmbh/s1600/1.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="225" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEig0oXUlIFQH0ddCGyi-Zmvhm6tv5a8myNElVT1b8xhBeCAq3WxvJdE1eoGui9UsFTKp6VPATKMJuDtx9SpwIcW2ygF0RsG8gnxb5RNkgYvzVzrBef-4N3_EHSJiSsvKN5W5v7cT4MUzmbh/s400/1.jpg" width="400" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Can you feel where I may not like this?</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
The lack of respect for artists is deplorable.<br />
<blockquote class="tr_bq">
<b>"A ballerina yesterday.<br />An engineer today."</b></blockquote>
<blockquote class="tr_bq">
<b>"An actor yesterday.<br />A botanist today."</b></blockquote>
I don't know that I have to explain ads to any generation at this point.<br />
They have been a popular form of consumer culture since they were invented.<br />
But, why don't we go down that rabbit hole?<br />
<br />
<a href="http://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/advertisement" target="_blank">Merriam Webster defines an advertisement as: </a><br />
<br />
<ul>
<li>something that is shown or presented to the public to help sell a product or make an announcement</li>
<li>a person or thing that shows how good or effective something is</li>
<li>the act or process of advertising</li>
</ul>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhwmmn0V7P5qoGXB5n81f29ZztDKGU-KGo2BiGbfR8GfJnBnv631NrSxVBYuzbx0xDW3GlksK7DhX99N5yYCKtOKhGfPnLOQssRkeW_wLo7CT5kVTPmbP1ZR7-BFQoe_gJhtWGeh-GgwtFg/s1600/2.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhwmmn0V7P5qoGXB5n81f29ZztDKGU-KGo2BiGbfR8GfJnBnv631NrSxVBYuzbx0xDW3GlksK7DhX99N5yYCKtOKhGfPnLOQssRkeW_wLo7CT5kVTPmbP1ZR7-BFQoe_gJhtWGeh-GgwtFg/s400/2.jpg" width="311" /></a></div>
<br />
Now, advertisements have been around since...awhile.<br />
We are familiar with the often ridiculous ads from the 50s, 60s, & 70s.<br />
Things like a baby wrapped in cellophane to help sell cellophane (pictured above)<br />
Or a doctor recommending a certain type of cigarette:<br />
<br />
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg01hpfcw9Zc0V9lww2raBUmjeeYFa4cGEVYyg0Ed-4oD-YKCcWHWmu9nG8KyJmL98Y6TfoAeCwA6E1Goa3niPmEau1G8-17v1Fq75x5hcbiuF-pEHnUoO1zORWntoB40g_A5n-JH-jY-kU/s1600/4.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="225" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg01hpfcw9Zc0V9lww2raBUmjeeYFa4cGEVYyg0Ed-4oD-YKCcWHWmu9nG8KyJmL98Y6TfoAeCwA6E1Goa3niPmEau1G8-17v1Fq75x5hcbiuF-pEHnUoO1zORWntoB40g_A5n-JH-jY-kU/s400/4.jpg" width="400" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Because he is a dentist</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
Or the infamous "If your husband ever finds out..." ad:<br />
<br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgHtY0ErgneMxhS35EU_IeRRXSSAEeR5IG5AlOwMQK9x_7UTThWPQ9eyDumTuMojChEFWErDhu1uyeMdKsYCIeyl8VMskxHO9Q8NtmUSr_8v09RMJNNY1QAFXBfdQc79hOAeBnhyphenhyphen05GivsZ/s1600/5.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgHtY0ErgneMxhS35EU_IeRRXSSAEeR5IG5AlOwMQK9x_7UTThWPQ9eyDumTuMojChEFWErDhu1uyeMdKsYCIeyl8VMskxHO9Q8NtmUSr_8v09RMJNNY1QAFXBfdQc79hOAeBnhyphenhyphen05GivsZ/s400/5.jpg" width="290" /></a></div>
<br />
Where a woman is held over the knee of her husband because...she isn't store testing for fresher coffee.<br />
Chase & Sanborn ladies and gents.<br />
But, for sheer longevity:<br />
<br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiJYn5YxMEyzL2Hms5Eoi4vs_TVIJJ2YwYeCKgsVcXs2-ZUoJggA_pPz0oioVpfcyLrToJArDYsHquB_hAke-iZ9_THOtkFwHC9WpxYkuCgJyMb2nkb4y5Qegfl3nIEYnBh1lOsOywJKFtL/s1600/3.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiJYn5YxMEyzL2Hms5Eoi4vs_TVIJJ2YwYeCKgsVcXs2-ZUoJggA_pPz0oioVpfcyLrToJArDYsHquB_hAke-iZ9_THOtkFwHC9WpxYkuCgJyMb2nkb4y5Qegfl3nIEYnBh1lOsOywJKFtL/s640/3.jpg" width="464" /></a></div>
<div>
<br /></div>
<br />
Lecture on Egypt from the New York Historical Society in 1864.<br />
A lecture by Professor Henry J Anderson, LL.D.<br />
It tells you the time, the place.<br />
All the information you need know.<br />
Also!<br />
To be followed by the Unrolling of the Mummy.<br />
TICKETS are 50 CENTS<br />
<br />
For those who don't know, often mummies were unrolled when they were discovered.<br />
Everyone got a turn unwrapping a little bit of it.<br />
What a remarkably unwholesome affair.<br />
But, it only cost 50 cents to get in.<br />
Which, if we access the inflation calculator (which only goes back to 1913) we get:<br />
<br />
<a href="http://data.bls.gov/cgi-bin/cpicalc.pl?cost1=.50&year1=1913&year2=2016" target="_blank">$12.15</a><br />
It would have cost less than a movie to attend and unwrap an historical monarch of Egypt.<br />
Talk about cultural sensitivity.<br />
<br />
Point Being:<br />
Advertisements have been around.<br />
We know good ones and bad ones.<br />
They have become a huge part of our culture.<br />
They have permeated almost every single medium.<br />
<br />
So we know what we are getting with each new batch.<br />
So now, let us take a look at the Wells Fargo ad one more time:<br />
<br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhvAFFCR8avDQU91Gqo_w-8hkN7O0NhOM21BiDbjpfh1XqVLtKmdgrm0_2aIiomyws3EIkNy64vXTIcdbflugKHpVziMomchVSJd5qGL-DTj8mUHaVNuwAjeA3bbtlTVqXKcMtddhrFe6cb/s1600/1.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="225" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhvAFFCR8avDQU91Gqo_w-8hkN7O0NhOM21BiDbjpfh1XqVLtKmdgrm0_2aIiomyws3EIkNy64vXTIcdbflugKHpVziMomchVSJd5qGL-DTj8mUHaVNuwAjeA3bbtlTVqXKcMtddhrFe6cb/s400/1.jpg" width="400" /></a></div>
<br />
<blockquote class="tr_bq">
<b>"An actor yesterday.<br />A botanist today."</b></blockquote>
What could they possibly be selling?<br />
Are they selling botany? Engineering?<br />
Specifically? No.<br />
Wells Fargo is selling a career. A dream. Somewhere to go.<br />
They are selling the future.<br />
How do you attain that future?<br />
By investing in them and their education programs today.<br />
So we have the three act structure:<br />
<h3>
Act I: The arts are yesterday</h3>
<div>
The arts lie in the past in this ad. Dancing, acting, other forms, are for the past. The implication being that they are hobbies, the stuff of children, of youth. </div>
<h3>
Act II: The education starts today</h3>
<div>
You need what we are selling. Education. Why? Because you were an artist. You have no skill set. You need to be trained. And why do you need to be trained? </div>
<h3>
Act III: The future is coming</h3>
<div>
Their byline is literally:</div>
<div>
"Let's get them ready for tomorrow."</div>
<div>
Why would you need to get them ready? Because these children are ill-prepared.</div>
<div>
Why are they ill-prepared? Because they don't know nothing.</div>
<div>
Why don't they know nothing? Because they were artists.</div>
<div>
<br /></div>
<div>
Logically, I follow the ad campaign.</div>
<div>
It seems to flow. </div>
<div>
You start out as a child, naive, innocent.</div>
<div>
They have to prepare you for the daunting future.</div>
<div>
So you buy an education in order to live the dream and overcome adversity.</div>
<div>
It's a lovely campaign.</div>
<div>
<br /></div>
<div>
<b><u>Big problem:</u></b></div>
<div>
<b><u><br /></u></b></div>
<div>
They disparage an entire community of professionals by linking artistry and the craft thereof with youthful innocence and ineptitude. </div>
<div>
<a href="http://artistichole.blogspot.com/2015/04/learning-creativity-how-babies-rule.html" target="_blank">Already I have a problem. </a></div>
<div>
Above is my link to one of my first articles: </div>
<div>
<a href="http://artistichole.blogspot.com/2015/04/learning-creativity-how-babies-rule.html" target="_blank">Learning & Creativity: How babies rule the world.</a></div>
<div>
<br /></div>
<div>
In it I maintain that: </div>
<div>
<ul>
<li>Learning</li>
<li>Creativity</li>
<li>Science</li>
<li>Research</li>
</ul>
<div>
These are not things that are taught, these are natural processes that we learn or have ingrained within us from a very young age.</div>
</div>
<div>
Not from professors or learned persons, but from our own observations about things.</div>
<div>
<br /></div>
<div>
But, the purpose of an ad campaign is to create a need where there may not be one. </div>
<div>
So, we as youths are convinced we are ignorant and therefore require more training, more understanding. </div>
<div>
Doesn't that just sound like parents, friends, and teachers: </div>
<div>
"Oh you don't know enough yet. You should go to school/university/graduate school in order to get more training!"</div>
<div>
<br /></div>
This is the worst lie, particularly for artists.<br />
Because we already are artists.<br />We already have the power to create from a very young age.<br />
Anybody can put crayon to paper.<br />
Most do at some point.<br />
Or stick to dirt.<br />
Or build in the sand.<br />
Or out of garbage.<br />
We are naturally creative people.<br />
So why don't we?<br />
Why don't we create?<br />
Because we believe the lie that we are not 'ready'.<br />
That we do not have 'marketable skills'.<br />
<br />
None of that is true.<br />
As artists we create<br />
That is the most marketable thing in the world<br />
Employers want people who:<br />
<br />
<ul>
<li>can learn quickly</li>
<li>are highly adaptable</li>
<li>work well alone or in groups</li>
<li>can memorize things verbatim</li>
<li>can create a pleasant atmosphere in which to work</li>
<li>are friendly, open, inviting personalities</li>
<li>can speak in front of a group</li>
<li>communicate clearly and effectively</li>
<li>create opportunities rather than problems</li>
</ul>
<div>
Every single one of these describes an artist or a creative.</div>
<div>
All of us are capable of being fantastic employees. </div>
<div>
Now, this is not to suggest that an artist could easily step into a specialized school or advanced career like engineering or law or doctoring.</div>
<div>
These are noble professions that require years of study.</div>
<div>
So too does artistry.</div>
<div>
All of them require years of craft.</div>
<div>
Each of them can and should be respected as said craft.</div>
<div>
<ul>
<li>Doctor</li>
<li>Lawyer</li>
<li>Artist</li>
</ul>
<div>
I would dare to put them on a level playing field.</div>
</div>
<div>
Because this ad goes deeper than just Wells Fargo.</div>
<div>
<a href="http://www.broadwayworld.com/article/Breaking-Wells-Fargo-Responds-to-Broadway-Outcry-Plus-Readers-Comment-20160903" target="_blank">Despite the fact that they recanted</a> after an outpouring of reader comments showed their distaste.</div>
<div>
Wells Fargo responded that they wished to be inclusive to all careers with their advertisement and they fell short. </div>
<div>
But, why did they fall short?</div>
<div>
<br /></div>
<div>
I contend because nobody at the institution recognized artistry as a professional career path.</div>
<div>
And that scares me more than anything.</div>
<div>
The fact that we have built a culture that celebrates the careers in Science, Technology, Engineering, and Mathematics over and above artistry to the point where we are no longer recognized as career professionals scares me.</div>
<div>
We need to right this.</div>
<div>
How?</div>
<div>
<ul>
<li>By working as a community.</li>
<li>By embracing our artist friends.</li>
<li>By paying for art.</li>
<li>By teaching art as a career </li>
<li>By encouraging community involvement with the artist</li>
<li>By never accepting, nor offering an opportunity as a "resume builder"</li>
<li>By never under-bidding ourselves</li>
<li>By creating work relevant to the community</li>
<li>By taking commissions</li>
<li>By cultivating a sense of patronage</li>
<li><br /></li>
</ul>
<div>
This list is not exhaustive.</div>
</div>
<div>
In fact, if others have more ideas, please share them.</div>
<div>
If this is ever going to change, we need help.</div>
<div>
Help as artists.</div>
<div>
Help as a community.</div>
<div>
Because the apologies aren't enough anymore.</div>
<div>
We need action to follow.</div>
<div>
I don't expect MIT to suddenly become an artist's haven, but we need something when I hear fellow artists say: </div>
<blockquote class="tr_bq">
<b>"Well, we aren't firemen."</b></blockquote>
A fellow artist said that to me and it broke my heart.<br />
We can do better.<br />
<div>
<br /></div>
milesboucherhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16783691033073213629noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2791903763744177937.post-42456406899631826522016-09-04T11:04:00.001-07:002016-09-04T11:04:07.640-07:00Sleep No More Changed Theatre (And You can too)Today we discuss a spirit jam:<br />
<blockquote class="tr_bq">
"How do you see 'the theatre of the future'"</blockquote>
The idea of a "theatre of the future" is a tricky one.<br />
What would it look like?<br />
Would it have cooler designs?<br />
Better interfaces?<br />
<br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg_YlFuyzX4KTvKRG01BOAr6_Fv_2zEzkaRlCaql7TR1Qrd9kQFuBWvTQrI6HjNAQ7pFBmFdKX5PXETeRebgqmRkIDp34G1ah15VKZ0kE8yxCUcM0LA7FZC6CnPrYG7Xsk5GAW1U6PaQd98/s1600/1.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="300" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg_YlFuyzX4KTvKRG01BOAr6_Fv_2zEzkaRlCaql7TR1Qrd9kQFuBWvTQrI6HjNAQ7pFBmFdKX5PXETeRebgqmRkIDp34G1ah15VKZ0kE8yxCUcM0LA7FZC6CnPrYG7Xsk5GAW1U6PaQd98/s400/1.jpg" width="400" /></a></div>
<br />
More impressive/realistic projections?<br />
<br />
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<br /></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">
Be terminally consumed with comfort?</div>
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<br /></div>
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<br />
In order to engage with this idea, I would contend we need to think less about a "theatre of the future"<br />
Because I believe theatre is of the now. This. The present this.<br />
There can be no future for theatre; it is dying even as it lives, much like all of us.<br />
So there is no future theatre to which we can speak.<br />
Instead, I would suggest that we discuss "the future of theatre."<br />
That can be guessed at, hinted at in our present time.<br />
<br />
With that in mind:<br />
I believe the future of theatre is moving further away from the idea of comfort, emulating cinema and their palaces of comfort.<br />
We cannot compete<br />
<h3>
Cinema</h3>
Cinema has supplanted theatre as a means of entertainment:<br />
<br />
<ul>
<li>The seats are luxuriously comfortable</li>
<li>The ticket is always a fair price point (usually under $10)</li>
<li>The food is convenient and allowed into the theatre proper</li>
</ul>
<div>
Theatre has very little of that these days.</div>
<div>
<ul>
<li>The seats are usually fold out or worse.</li>
<li>They are often cramped being a hundred years old.</li>
<li>The tickets sky rocket to $25-250.</li>
<li>Food and drink are highly discouraged.</li>
</ul>
</div>
<div>
In almost every respect theatre loses to the cinema when it comes to convenience, price point, and quite honestly, quality of content.</div>
<div>
<br /></div>
<div>
However, not all is lost, not all is bleak.</div>
<div>
Theatre has some remarkable experiences going for it. </div>
<br />
Theatre is becoming what the critics call "immersive" and that I believe is the future of theatre.<br />
<h3>
Immersion</h3>
To define immersion:<br />
<a href="http://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/immersion" target="_blank">Merriam Webster defines "immersion" as:</a><br />
the act of immersing or the state of being immersed, as:<br />
<br />
<ul>
<li>baptism by complete submersion of the person in water</li>
<li>absorbing/complete involvement</li>
<li>instruction based on extensive exposure to surroundings or conditions that are native or pertinent to the object of study</li>
</ul>
<br />
The idea is that it can be<br />
<br />
<ol>
<li>a physical act of immersing the senses in something</li>
<li>a mental act of engagement with their surroundings</li>
<li>a learning process through the first two definitions in order to learn something that otherwise they wouldn't be able</li>
</ol>
<div>
This can be applied to the type of theatre that is growing more and more popular.</div>
<div>
I will use Sleep No More as a case study.</div>
<h3>
Sleep No More</h3>
<div>
Sleep No More is a dance piece that takes place inside of a six floor hotel.</div>
<div>
First floor is tickets, coats, merchandise, pick up, and drop off. </div>
<div>
Second floor is a flow blown bar and jazz lounge.</div>
<div>
Floors three through six are the play.</div>
<div>
What play?</div>
<div>
Macbeth and Hitchcock's films (Rebecca and Vertigo) in a kind of weird synthesis that (in my humble opinion) doesn't really make much sense, but lends to the creepy hotel vibe.</div>
<div>
<br /></div>
<div>
Why is Sleep No More so successful?</div>
<div>
I maintain because the audience engagement is so fierce right from the start.</div>
<div>
<br /></div>
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<br /></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">
When you enter the second floor, through a dizzying labyrinth of ill-lit corridors, you find the jazz lounge.</div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">
And it is breath taking.</div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">
Filled with a complete bar, you can find your seat, order food, live up the high life in wonderful turn of the century fashion. </div>
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It is a dizzying spectacle right from the get go.</div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">
Entertainment plays all night, the bar never closes, and the food is fair.</div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">
<u>You could literally spend the whole night enjoying a jazz experience with friendly faces, a live band, a bar, and catered restaurant.</u></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">
And some people do.</div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">
<u>And that is okay.</u></div>
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<br /></div>
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<br />
Then, there are the other floors.<br />
They are filled with unbelievable artistry and attention to detail.<br />
This is the apothecary, filled with drying/dried herbs and flowers.<br />
Dead things are preserved in jars along the walls...snake skeletons and things like that.<br />
And this is just one room over many many floors.<br />
<u>You can spend literally the entire night exploring rooms filled with stuff you can lift and touch and play with.</u><br />
And some people do.<br />
<u>And that is okay.</u><br />
<br />
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<br />
<div>
Then, there is the performance, which is so difficult to describe in words.</div>
<div>
Everyone is granted a mask before entering the playing space.</div>
<div>
Each mask provides a sense of anonymity.</div>
<div>
They encourage exploration and interaction, but are very cognizant of safety.</div>
<div>
The actors physically stop audience members from getting too close or interfering with the action of the drama.</div>
<div>
<u>You could literally follow one person, one character through the entire hotel up and down four flights and into countless changes/scenarios, into secret areas/wings.</u></div>
<div>
And some people do.</div>
<div>
<u>And that is okay.</u></div>
<div>
<br /></div>
<div>
The reason that I think Sleep No More and shows like it are the future of theatre is because they immerse their audience wholly in the experience.</div>
<div>
<ul>
<li>They encourage free exploration.</li>
<li>They create a dynamic, free-flowing atmosphere where audience can seamlessly go from one stage to another in an instant. </li>
</ul>
</div>
<div>
I remember crawling down after the second repetition too tired to stand and in sore need of a piss, wandering into the rest room as a guy with a drink was coming out.</div>
<div>
He appraised me, and with a shrug of his shoulders that said, "Once more?" he downed his drink, put his mask back on and headed for the portal I had just vacated. </div>
<div>
There was a sense of camaraderie with that audience that I have almost never felt with another before or since.</div>
<div>
And I think it came from that sense of play.</div>
<div>
There was a freedom to the experience; the creators had designed a beautiful playground in which we could lose ourselves in almost any of it.</div>
<div>
<br /></div>
<div>
Now, I say seamless. </div>
<div>
There were clear holes in the work:</div>
<div>
<ul>
<li>A drawer full of lost rings that were all the same size bands of brass</li>
<li>Plastic plants that were meant to be exotic fixtures</li>
<li>Sterilized patches of art</li>
</ul>
<div>
I didn't begrudge the experience for the gaps in the design like so many other productions that I see.</div>
</div>
<div>
Because in other productions those things are glaring.</div>
<div>
It is clear and immediate what is wrong with the whole.</div>
<div>
In Sleep No More, I had to literally search for those types of things. </div>
<div>
And why?</div>
<div>
Because the rest of it was so compelling, so nuanced, so interesting.</div>
<div>
<br /></div>
<div>
So that is the trend that I am noticing in contemporary theatre that I wish to be built upon and be the foundation of future endeavors: </div>
<blockquote class="tr_bq">
The future of theatre will be built on the experiences that are only possible in the immediate present with bodies sharing space and breath within a singular theatrical design.</blockquote>
And you can see the trend developing with theatre companies like:<br />
<a href="http://www.slipstreamti.com/" target="_blank">Slipstream Theatre Initiative:</a><br />
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<br /></div>
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<br />
<a href="http://gonerve.com/gonerve/" target="_blank">Or Nerve: </a><br />
<div>
<br /></div>
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<div>
<br /></div>
<div>
<a href="http://thehinterlandsensemble.org/" target="_blank">Or The Hinterlands: </a></div>
<div>
<br /></div>
<div>
</div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg8NtS7yGG8PkOiSrCR2dT6tIf2agq2HIeFawKePiXzmLvBfZ7aK5IqK_I8UESDhpAXD_bmgFXVomiMfr3GykzQ4Ks9gs9A5PzR_1jroKtEY9pq6Wp-hw353zprW2kOH7YK3KTCWD-jmqCU/s1600/3.png" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="233" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg8NtS7yGG8PkOiSrCR2dT6tIf2agq2HIeFawKePiXzmLvBfZ7aK5IqK_I8UESDhpAXD_bmgFXVomiMfr3GykzQ4Ks9gs9A5PzR_1jroKtEY9pq6Wp-hw353zprW2kOH7YK3KTCWD-jmqCU/s400/3.png" width="400" /></a></div>
<br />
<div>
<br /></div>
<div>
Where immersion, where experience is the name of the game.</div>
<div>
Where audiences are not told what to feel or how to interact, instead they are given ever more carte blanche to write or even change the experience because they are willing participants in the action. </div>
<div>
It is daring, new, exciting, and dare I say, slightly medieval.</div>
<div>
The practice of throwing rotten vegetables is an age old way for the audience to show appreciation for the action they are experiencing and to interrupt it, if they so desire.</div>
<div>
So maybe the future of theatre lies in its origins.</div>
<div>
But, that is another tale.</div>
milesboucherhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16783691033073213629noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2791903763744177937.post-51580051592946386262016-08-31T21:15:00.000-07:002016-08-31T21:15:38.791-07:00Picking out a Spot in Heaven (What Really Happens when we Die)Today we discuss what happens when we die (good morning by the way),<br />
<h3>
PHYSICS!</h3>
So there are a number of things that I hold very dearly with regards to this topic.<br />
One is this online comic:<br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<br /></div>
<br />
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjIko2zFtT1POInespb5jI-zsnhMsFDK-AuaHKmhF_MR_GWekN9MJjokN5LoHKI4rGCHVMeGEMiccG_12xdLOnunP8H5GMC0G86_2EQ9XWeMzldfqjuGQMzBDF8Y7DKiEybevCYP8THEfzj/s1600/1.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="213" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjIko2zFtT1POInespb5jI-zsnhMsFDK-AuaHKmhF_MR_GWekN9MJjokN5LoHKI4rGCHVMeGEMiccG_12xdLOnunP8H5GMC0G86_2EQ9XWeMzldfqjuGQMzBDF8Y7DKiEybevCYP8THEfzj/s400/1.jpg" width="400" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://www.happletea.com/comic/mystery-solved/" target="_blank">Happle Tea. </a></td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<br />
<ul>
<li>God?</li>
<li>Hm?</li>
<li>Where do people go when they die?</li>
<li>The same place people go.</li>
<li>Heaven?</li>
<li>The ground.</li>
</ul>
<br />
<br />
It's sad, but it's true.<br />
But, there is also something deeply beautiful about the idea.<br />
There are no concerns like in the Greek mythology of different places where people end up, let alone the animals:<br />
<br />
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi_IcTCutmYGjvtHqhrtMQZUyzF0DjIeVMeAoZSbVZ172V6PFMcZ3dnSKa2txSLkzssw2ESFs4g5p9AFGMUtxGWgWbpSEKTiuFHQYFSF7SGRJ5gjKCANHylzYvTGMqkzhXbXJrRoMYz5aXS/s1600/2.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="392" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi_IcTCutmYGjvtHqhrtMQZUyzF0DjIeVMeAoZSbVZ172V6PFMcZ3dnSKa2txSLkzssw2ESFs4g5p9AFGMUtxGWgWbpSEKTiuFHQYFSF7SGRJ5gjKCANHylzYvTGMqkzhXbXJrRoMYz5aXS/s400/2.jpg" width="400" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Civil planning was a nightmare</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
Instead, we all get the same treatment.<br />
No cosmic judgment.<br />
No good or bad or the other.<br />
Just the ground.<br />
With everyone else.<br />
<br />
Hamlet actually says it best:<br />
<br />
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
HAMLET<span style="font-size: 12.0pt;"><o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
Dost thou think Alexander looked o' this
fashion i'<br />
the earth?<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
HORATIO<span style="font-size: 12.0pt;"><o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
E'en so.<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
HAMLET<span style="font-size: 12.0pt;"><o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
And smelt so? pah!<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
<i>Puts down the skull</i><o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
HORATIO<span style="font-size: 12.0pt;"><o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
E'en so, my lord.<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
HAMLET<span style="font-size: 12.0pt;"><o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
To what base uses we may return, Horatio!
Why may<br />
not imagination trace the noble dust of Alexander,<br />
till he find it stopping a bung-hole?<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
HORATIO<span style="font-size: 12.0pt;"><o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
'Twere to consider too curiously, to
consider so.<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
HAMLET<span style="font-size: 12.0pt;"><o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
No, faith, not a jot; but to follow him
thither with<br />
modesty enough, and likelihood to lead it: as<br />
thus: Alexander died, Alexander was buried,<br />
Alexander returneth into dust; the dust is earth; of<br />
earth we make loam; and why of that loam, whereto he<br />
was converted, might they not stop a beer-barrel?<br />
Imperious Caesar, dead and turn'd to clay,<br />
Might stop a hole to keep the wind away:<br />
O, that that earth, which kept the world in awe,<br />
Should patch a wall to expel the winter flaw!<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
Alexander, the world's greatest conqueror would one day act as a stopper for beer. </div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
We should all hope for so much.</div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
<br /></div>
<h3>
METAPHYSICS!</h3>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
To relate on a more metaphysical level:</div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
Zhuangzi (one of the greatest Daoist thinkers) had this dream that most everyone is familiar with:</div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
<br /></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh6NmV9K4ZzQ5kHyiXi2OZWYa7189gpGY069Nyc5aD_aVIRk39-XkfJ7gP13H2ZJi97scw9tuc1gKj26rnv9XCmc1WxEYb8-AWjrCoSFO9loXmchs99hCn4RcdvYkiMWzS2orcUHPqKMiss/s1600/3.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="252" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh6NmV9K4ZzQ5kHyiXi2OZWYa7189gpGY069Nyc5aD_aVIRk39-XkfJ7gP13H2ZJi97scw9tuc1gKj26rnv9XCmc1WxEYb8-AWjrCoSFO9loXmchs99hCn4RcdvYkiMWzS2orcUHPqKMiss/s400/3.jpg" width="400" /></a></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
<br /></div>
<blockquote class="tr_bq">
"Once upon a time, I, Chuang Chou, dreamt I was a
butterfly, fluttering hither and thither, to all intents and purposes a
butterfly. I was conscious only of my happiness as a butterfly, unaware that I
was Chou. Soon I awaked, and there I was, veritably myself again. Now I do not
know whether I was then a man dreaming I was a butterfly, or whether I am now a
butterfly, dreaming I am a man. Between a man and a butterfly there is
necessarily a distinction. The transition is called the transformation of
material things." </blockquote>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
<o:p></o:p></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
</div>
<ul>
<li> A man has a dream that he was a butterfly</li>
<li>In the dream he was unaware of being anything but a butterfly</li>
<li>Awakes again as the man</li>
<li>Is no longer sure he is the butterfly dreaming or the man who dreamt</li>
</ul>
<div>
In no medium have I seen this more accurately portrayed than Roy in Rick & Morty.</div>
<div>
<br /></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<iframe width="320" height="266" class="YOUTUBE-iframe-video" data-thumbnail-src="https://i.ytimg.com/vi/XHZ6HKaC438/0.jpg" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/XHZ6HKaC438?feature=player_embedded" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen></iframe></div>
<div>
<br /></div>
<div>
Meet Roy.</div>
<div>
Roy is a game.</div>
<div>
A game that people play.</div>
<div>
Where they wake up as a child from a horrid nightmare where they lived with otherworldly beings.</div>
<div>
We are reassured by our mothers back to bed.</div>
<div>
And we live a life.</div>
<div>
And when we die it's GAME OVER. </div>
<div>
And then we wake up.</div>
<div>
<br /></div>
<div>
And that is Roy's life.</div>
<div>
To us, to Roy it is complete and real and whole and valuable.</div>
<div>
But, from a larger perspective, it is just a game.</div>
<div>
That disturbs me more than anything.</div>
<div>
What if the nightmares from our childhood were the reality we are trying to escape?</div>
<div>
What if when we die, we wake up?</div>
<div>
Are we really butterflies?</div>
<div>
Are we monsters?</div>
<div>
Something inbetween?</div>
<div>
<br /></div>
milesboucherhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16783691033073213629noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2791903763744177937.post-6702375099602298122016-08-23T17:18:00.000-07:002016-08-23T17:18:57.170-07:00A Sex Lesson from the Future (And Why I liked it!)Today, we discuss the first fellowship I hosted:<br />
<br />
<iframe allowfullscreen="" frameborder="0" height="315" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/OAK1UIb-Fio" width="560"></iframe><br />
<br />
This.<br />
This is Sarah Jones, one of the most brilliant performers I have ever seen.<br />
In it, she performs as multiple personas given life through her theatrical device: BERT.<br />
OR<br />
Bio-Empathic-Resonance-Technology.<br />
B.E.R.T.<br />
<br />
<h4>
B.E.R.T.</h4>
It is brilliant.<br />
The idea is that in the near future, human technology is able to accurately <i>record, </i>and then <i>recreate</i> the emotional response inside of the originator.<br />
As a device, I cannot emphasize how effective this is.<br />
Josh Daniel Palmer said it best:<br />
<blockquote class="tr_bq">
"That is, quite simply, theatre."</blockquote>
In theatre, that is what we do. <br />We attempt to recreate an empathic response in our audience.<br />
By drawing attention to this simple truth in theatre, Sarah Jones is able to create a beautiful relationship with her audience.<br />
<br />
<h4>
The Setting</h4>
The talk is set in the far distant future and our near future is being taught as a history lesson.<br />
This setting acts as another layer of theatrical device.<br />
It lets Sarah Jones's character of Teacher act as an "objective" third party to our very emotional history.<br />
It lends perspective if not a sense of objective truth to it.<br />
<br />
That was as far as we got in our discussion.<br />
Her performance and text are so dense.<br />
We mostly discussed that at our fellowship.<br />
And the repercussions of those simple ideas<br />
<br />
<ol>
<li>What would a future like that be like?</li>
<li>How might we achieve such a future?</li>
<li>And how long might it take?</li>
</ol>
<div>
The idea of the technology was so interesting and compelling that we didn't even get to the content</div>
<div>
<br /></div>
<h4>
The Content</h4>
<div>
So, this is where Sarah Jones's work really shines.</div>
<div>
She is able to slip in and out of character so quickly and so easily that it is completely transformative.</div>
<div>
And then, she is able to appeal to many sides of the argument.</div>
<div>
<br /></div>
<div>
Her first character, an elderly woman views sex work as a mechanization/industrialization of the human experience of "making love"</div>
<div>
The second is a college age feminist who finds the work empowering, but has no interest in performing it herself.</div>
<div>
The third is a sex worker who wants the right and ability for economic empowerment.</div>
<div>
The fourth was a sex worker from a very young age having been forced into it by her husband's debts and viewed it as a business filled with lost souls without tether.</div>
<div>
The fifth and final one presented was a male who was getting married, attending his bachelor party, discussing freedom of choice for women who want to be in the business for positive, empowering reasons.</div>
<div>
<br /></div>
<div>
She indicates that her show SELL/BUY/DATE has additional roles, additional viewpoints, but already we have a wildly eclectic view of a single topic:</div>
<div>
Sex Work.</div>
<div>
And what does it mean?</div>
<div>
By giving us so many perspectives and so many rich stories and encouraging us to feel empathetically with each viewpoint completely, Sarah Jones is able to weave together a very rich tapestry of views and conversations into a single whole. </div>
<div>
<br /></div>
<div>
I think this work is some of the best I've seen.</div>
<div>
I think she is one of the best performers I've seen.</div>
<div>
I see no clear answer or way through this issue and I don't think that that is the point.</div>
<div>
I am heartened by the historical context that she presents: </div>
<div>
Somehow, some way we get through this time of strife.</div>
<div>
We come to a new understanding that is filled with rich words like "gender spectrum". </div>
<div>
I hope for a future where we can experience our ancestral history as a part of our growing understanding of our world.</div>
<div>
Maybe it already exists in our theatre as exemplified by Sarah Jones. </div>
<div>
I hope that I may experience more theatre like it. </div>
milesboucherhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16783691033073213629noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2791903763744177937.post-39785421150008747342016-08-11T20:07:00.003-07:002016-08-11T20:07:30.477-07:00Finding your Way (Getting Lost & Why it's Good for the Soul)Today, is a spirit jam:<br />
<blockquote class="tr_bq">
"What do you do to feel free?"</blockquote>
I don't know.<br />
I really don't.<br />
<br />
One of the hardest questions I have been asked in a while.<br />
The other being:<br />
<blockquote class="tr_bq">
"What do you do for fun/play?"</blockquote>
I was without answer then as well.<br />
<br />
Art is hard.<br />
And by that, I mean the artist life.<br />
<br />
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhuhiIfrzl4Td3Ehh5OwJhSa-I7sgWMvejWpUmQNxKgL5K9m6Ot3gH8mOS5ez5LWiscS6GehdG63FWhdwJy3Lem451lwp8i98O2ABwF196RjhQCps8wW44i52QudqU5VHb0bhKFcSB08Ibk/s1600/1.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="248" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhuhiIfrzl4Td3Ehh5OwJhSa-I7sgWMvejWpUmQNxKgL5K9m6Ot3gH8mOS5ez5LWiscS6GehdG63FWhdwJy3Lem451lwp8i98O2ABwF196RjhQCps8wW44i52QudqU5VHb0bhKFcSB08Ibk/s400/1.jpg" width="400" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Enter the Slings and the Arrows</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<br />
Meet Slings & Arrows.<br />
One of the scariest portrayals of artistry that I have ever seen.<br />
Mostly because it is too real.<br />
Mostly because it is too art.<br />
Meaning, it is a show about a Canadian Shakespeare Festival that is run by incompetents, the insane, and all around artists.<br />
<br />
It revolves around the travails of the festival and the man on the left, Geoffrey Tennant.<br />
Who, in the first season, ignores his mentor until said mentor commits accidental suicide by pig truck, only to have Geoffrey haunted by his ghost/hallucination in a Kafka-esque/Family Guy question: IS THE GHOST REAL? IS HE NOT?<br />
Oh and Geoffrey is the Artistic Director of the festival...meaning he runs the whole things.<br />
For those not in the know,<a href="http://www.theglobeandmail.com/arts/theatre-and-performance/stratford-festival-set-to-tackle-next-stage-of-growth/article23667482/" target="_blank"> a synonymous theatre festival's budget was approximately 57.4 million dollars last year. </a><br />
He is the CEO of a multi-million dollar corporation!<br />
<br />
Artists love this show.<br />
I love this show.<br />
As evidenced by this video:<br />
<br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<iframe width="320" height="266" class="YOUTUBE-iframe-video" data-thumbnail-src="https://i.ytimg.com/vi/1WKbzq3wqWo/0.jpg" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/1WKbzq3wqWo?feature=player_embedded" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen></iframe></div>
<br />
Stuff people say at a Shakespeare Festival:<br />
<blockquote class="tr_bq">
"This is exactly like Slings & Arrows. This is just like Slings & Arrows. It's better than Slings & Arrows! We're just like Slings & Arrows!"</blockquote>
Over and over again, classical companies compare themselves to this show.<br />
And why?<br />
Because it is a great show that makes you want to be a part of a festival.<br />
It is also psychotic, maladjusted, and lacks any semblance of communication.<br />
At one point, Geoffrey stabs his artistic rival Darren Nichols in a duel. Twice.<br />
It makes for great television, but why do we love to compare it to our lives?<br />
Maybe because it is a little bit true.<br />
<br />That while we get to wake up for work every day and go in and do sword fights and play...well, maybe that is actually really hard work.<br />
Yes, there is an incredible pay off.<br />
Nevertheless, that is work.<br />
<br />
The reason I bring all of this up?<br />
There is a wonderful scene where one of the characters is getting audited.<br />
She has no idea what to do, so she goes to her acting friends.<br />
They tell her:<br />
<blockquote class="tr_bq">
"Claim everything. Make up, skin cream, shampoo. And every book you read and every record you play. We, as actors, have to be in touch with the zeitgeist."</blockquote>
This did something very interesting to a young and burgeoning artist such as myself (me).<br />
It taught me that every single thing that I do is a part of what we might call: research.<br />
This does wonders come tax season, not so great for my mental health.<br />
And why?<br />
<br />
Well, damn near everything that every reasonable person does for fun or as a hobby now becomes an exercise in futility and a drain on energy for me:<br />
<br />
<ul>
<li>reading</li>
<li>writing</li>
<li>walking</li>
<li>hiking</li>
<li>exercise</li>
<li>cooking</li>
<li>nights out</li>
<li>nights in</li>
<li>move nights</li>
<li>learning skills</li>
<li>whittling wood</li>
</ul>
<div>
All of it becomes character work.</div>
<div>
All of it is transformed from play into something that is done for the benefit of the art.</div>
<div>
Which is really, really hard, because they are fun activities that I enjoy. But,...</div>
<div>
It is really hard because I burn out very quickly with no sense of play or rest.</div>
<blockquote class="tr_bq">
So what do I do for play?</blockquote>
I consider almost synonymous with<br />
<blockquote class="tr_bq">
What do you do to feel free.</blockquote>
Because I am trapped in a world of work.<br />
I have to work to play.<br />
I have to work really hard to feel free.<br />
So I find I often have to trick myself.<br />
So I start with a common hobby that I have turned into research: walking.<br />
And I keep doing that.<br />
I keep doing it and keep doing it, exhausting myself.<br />
And then I find myself in a new place.<br />
A new experience.<br />
Usually on accident.<br />
Something unexpected works its way into the exercise and I am given a choice, embrace it or keep going with the exercise.<br />
If the prospect is free and a lot of fun, I go with the flow.<br />
If it isn't, I often have to wrestle myself into it for a while.<br />
Point being you can keep walking/running:<br />
<br />
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjMRLvk_Fdfi1M8h6P6oyWImBYoELu5i7Pkar9JR_vijkpRsZ6OrQnFDlnS53fLcoBP3cGPrChTNYH7qxxqAkbPoaKND3WHj_a7DIh03mdHE-xwU5ONaplPg4IofMvkCXeTp8TA_k86zTc_/s1600/2.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="350" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjMRLvk_Fdfi1M8h6P6oyWImBYoELu5i7Pkar9JR_vijkpRsZ6OrQnFDlnS53fLcoBP3cGPrChTNYH7qxxqAkbPoaKND3WHj_a7DIh03mdHE-xwU5ONaplPg4IofMvkCXeTp8TA_k86zTc_/s400/2.jpg" width="400" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Joy.</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
Or join the lantern festival you didn't know was happening downtown:<br />
<br />
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgzrR3Gj3VmGNDs-0I_F4UeHGQ2IBdS01sWY3jLfcy-yTSHjTRupfl3R11d5Z29_n4x3qwbjj9hDTlH2AxRf7CFY0jGgoulbZqPFlOL08yyLC1RKH2MyoC_NGQvMm3AksfZGw8GvFzLDbaN/s1600/3.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="266" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgzrR3Gj3VmGNDs-0I_F4UeHGQ2IBdS01sWY3jLfcy-yTSHjTRupfl3R11d5Z29_n4x3qwbjj9hDTlH2AxRf7CFY0jGgoulbZqPFlOL08yyLC1RKH2MyoC_NGQvMm3AksfZGw8GvFzLDbaN/s400/3.jpg" width="400" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">You wanna set fire to the night?</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
So to come back full circle...<br />
<blockquote class="tr_bq">
What do I do to feel free?</blockquote>
<b><u>I get a little lost.</u></b><br />
<br />
It is one of the hardest things to do in this day and age.<br />
We have enough distractions, mini maps inside our pockets, and enough social media events happening pretty god damn constantly.<br />
But, it is worth it to get a little lost. <br />
milesboucherhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16783691033073213629noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2791903763744177937.post-19132189686479708672016-08-10T10:12:00.004-07:002016-08-10T10:12:28.282-07:00Those we Love? (Making Molehills out of Who Picks up the Check)Today we discuss one of Bevin's spirit jam questions:<br />
<br />
What is our responsibility to those we love?<br />
<br />
I'll just insert this here and go back to it:<br />
<iframe allowfullscreen="" frameborder="0" height="270" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/71o3hq6iSPM" width="480"></iframe>
<br />
<h4>
Initial response:</h4>
NONE.<br />
<br />
My initial answer is nothing.<br />
But, that sounds too harsh.<br />
We have no responsibility to those that we love?<br />
That doesn't sound right.<br />
<br />
But, there must be a truth in the gut reaction, right?<br />
So, taking it as a<b><u> partial truth.</u></b><br />
<blockquote class="tr_bq">
"We have no responsibility to those that we love."</blockquote>
Why?<br />
<br />
Because we are our own persons.<br />
We are responsible for making ourselves happy.<br />
That is true of us all.<br />
Therefore, we have no responsibility or obligation to those that we love because it is up to each of us to make us happy.<br />
<br />
Okay.<br />
What else?<br />
<br />
<h4>
Considered response:</h4>
SOME.<br />
<br />
There is some responsibility to the ones we love.<br />
But, what is it?<br />
How do we determine what it is/might be in any given situation?<br />
<b><u>Partial truth:</u></b><br />
<blockquote class="tr_bq">
"We have some responsibilities to those that we love. "</blockquote>
So what might that be?<br />
I think it is an understood relationship.<br />
Something that is crafted and that we can all agree with.<br />
Meaning, those who engage in sex and expect to have a baby have a responsibility to each other.<br />
They expect and, I think, are responsible to one another and to the child to take care of one another, to support one another.<br />
Now, what shape/details does that entail?<br />
I do not know, they could be anything that is agreed to or understood.<br />
The point is that there is a relationship that is entered and agreed upon.<br />
"We are going to be parents. Therefore, we must enter into a paternal/maternal//paternal/paternal//maternal/maternal//(whatever non-heteronormativity you can insert) responsibility.<br />
<br />
<h4>
Final thought:</h4>
FRIENDS<br />
<br />
Watching the video, I think it is one of the best ideas for responsibility to those we love:<br />
<blockquote class="tr_bq">
"Treat them how you would your best friend."</blockquote>
What a beautiful idea.<br />
If everyone treated those they loved as if they were their best friends? What a world in which we would live.<br />
The idea of EQUALITY: out the window!<br />
<b>The idea is one of FAIRNESS!</b><br />
I want to contribute to this date/holiday, but only make a fifth of your earning potential.<br />
It is a lavish, extravagant holiday.<br />
I cannot pay for half the holiday.<br />
Can I pay for a fifth?<br />
Fair.<br />
That is what I would expect of friends and of partners who work well together.<br />
No one is obligated to pay for everything.<br />
But, it is our responsibility to do our fair share.<br />
Right?<br />
<br />
Doing it the other way round.<br />
I could feasibly pay for this entire holiday, but to have the other person not even so much as offer to help out?<br />
Or have them offer to help and then deny them the ability to do it?<br />
None of that seems fair or friendly.<br />
It is important to allow people the opportunity to contribute where they can and to accept help whenever possible.<br />
<br />
So that would be my best answer.<br />
<blockquote class="tr_bq">
"Our responsibility to those that we love is the same as that to our best friends."</blockquote>
We enter into a relationship, a partnership, a teammate situation where we each contribute fairly to one another because that is what we have agreed upon, recognizing that it is to ourselves that we must turn to if we are unhappy with a situation, but we can always ask for help.<br />
<br />
Here is a picture of foxes to illustrate the point:<br />
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjBFUVn5CIsreGnSZsML7KrLItutKkVjUhhhkAdEnkielfuGZ0lv4NR94_y0JDvlqIdcQ_u9VnOrGKLpuUDFj2gDDslTRzExqLjJkAnvmmrD4xx7nGbIyeEkmS5Q2m4ajugoGfBsRe2TQCy/s1600/1.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="256" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjBFUVn5CIsreGnSZsML7KrLItutKkVjUhhhkAdEnkielfuGZ0lv4NR94_y0JDvlqIdcQ_u9VnOrGKLpuUDFj2gDDslTRzExqLjJkAnvmmrD4xx7nGbIyeEkmS5Q2m4ajugoGfBsRe2TQCy/s400/1.jpg" width="400" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Happy Little Fox Family</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
milesboucherhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16783691033073213629noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2791903763744177937.post-35987529233565094392016-08-03T09:51:00.003-07:002016-08-03T09:51:54.375-07:00Drawing Pictures of God (Why Ignorance is Hell/Bliss)Today, we discuss ignorance.<br />
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj9iMhooROJIsoDTdvfzviWn0EiE_FSCVZ6Fo1pVILhT9zbd9H8zW4MvT2wtdlkLRNs7rub2f0b0G9tJ7JcbzUb2yOUuIdhG6YWETBnmE44fjSaAhnyB2D6NJziV9BIc-aGKD-qd8AikZKZ/s1600/1.jpeg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="255" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj9iMhooROJIsoDTdvfzviWn0EiE_FSCVZ6Fo1pVILhT9zbd9H8zW4MvT2wtdlkLRNs7rub2f0b0G9tJ7JcbzUb2yOUuIdhG6YWETBnmE44fjSaAhnyB2D6NJziV9BIc-aGKD-qd8AikZKZ/s400/1.jpeg" width="400" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Nope.</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
Although I do have an article about the Drumpf nightmare somewhere....<br />
*digging around sounds*<br />
<a href="http://artistichole.blogspot.com/2016/03/making-donald-drumpf-again-one-blog.html" target="_blank">Here it is!</a><br />
<br />
But, that is not the ignorance of which I am speaking.<br />
I am speaking of the ignorance that stems from artistry.<br />
Something I don't talk about enough is process.<br />
Mine specifically, other artists, maybe (though I can't exactly speak for them, just anecdotally).<br />
<br />
I don't speak of it often because I assume (rightly or wrongly) that nobody wants to know these things.<br />
Also, it has been ingrained in me that <b><i>the work should always stand for itself.</i></b><br />
<b><i>Full stop.</i></b><br />
<blockquote class="tr_bq">
"Shakespeare doesn't give talkbacks."</blockquote>
Was an actual quote in my undergrad classes.<br />
But, then again...why do we have talkbacks?<br />
Isn't it to share with audience and with the artists making the art?<br />
<br />
So...my process/ignorance:<br />
I'm starting writing poetry.<br />
<a href="http://princesseswish.blogspot.com/" target="_blank">Check out my poetry/novel blog here. </a><br />
I have always felt completely out of my depth when it comes to rhythm, rhyme, and everything to do with poetry/songwriting.<br />
The reason for it is because I have a very ingrained sense of authority/hierarchy in the arts.<br />
Theatre is dancing somewhere near the bottom, whereas recognized art forms: music, opera, and writing are dancing somewhere near the top.<br />
Those are professions that require craft and specialization.<br />
<br />
So I am the ignorant country bumpkin, trying to create something in an art form for which I have no experience, but a whole soul filled with appreciation.<br />
<br />
And yet!I have always prized ignorance in others.<br />
At least when it comes to artistry.<br />
And why?<br />
Too often I hear students/learning artists say:<br />
<blockquote class="tr_bq">
I don't know enough. I don't know what I'm doing. I don't know how any of this is supposed to work.</blockquote>
And I congratulate them.<br />
They look at me confused, mortified even.<br />
<blockquote class="tr_bq">
It is better to know nothing when it comes to art.<br />
It is better to be ignorant when it comes to art. </blockquote>
There, I said it.<br />
Why so?<br />
<br />
<b>Children know nothing about art.</b><br />
They simply draw.<br />
<b>Children know nothing about play.</b><br />
They simply do.<br />
<b>And that makes them artists. </b><br />
Unquestionably.<br />
<br />
You can argue about the level of craft of their compositions or details, but one of the fundamental things about children as artists is they do it.<br />
They make an impressive body of work.<br />
My childhood portfolio is filled.<br />
I would bet that anybody could say as much.<br />
What about as an adult?<br />
Is anyone nearly so prolific?<br />
<br />
Ignorance is no bar to artistry.<br />
In fact, I maintain that it is helpful.<br />
And why?<br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<iframe allowfullscreen="" class="YOUTUBE-iframe-video" data-thumbnail-src="https://i.ytimg.com/vi/lefh0uBV9t8/0.jpg" frameborder="0" height="266" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/lefh0uBV9t8?feature=player_embedded" width="320"></iframe></div>
Sir Ken Robinson ladies and gentlemen!<br />
The story goes:<br />
<blockquote class="tr_bq">
A kindergarten teacher was observing her classroom of children while they drew pictures. Occasionally she would walk around the room to see each child's work. There was on little girl who hardly ever paid attention in school, but she was busy working on her drawing. "What are you drawing?" she asked the little girl was was working diligently at her desk. The girl replied, "I'm drawing a picture of God." The teacher paused and said, "But, nobody knows what God looks like." The little girl replied, "They will in a minute."</blockquote>
Ignorance is not a bar to artistry.<br />
It is about the most helpful thing in the world.<br />
Children are ignorant and are able to draw pictures of God.<br />
And why?<br />
Because they do not have a preconceived notion of their limitations.<br />
It is no stop to them or their abilities.<br />
Adults who perceive themselves to be ignorant have a worse time of it because it does bar them and their ability to create.<br />
<br />
For many years I have been the teacher in the joke, hopelessly afraid of writing anything.<br />
But, I never viewed my lack of formal education as a blessing.<br />
I have no scruples or understanding about how writing works.<br />
I am free to make any sort of art that I can conceive.<br />
<br />
So that is what I am currently doing.<br />
My first novel is an experiment in long-form internal monologue.<br />
The narrator is untrustworthy and will probably continue to be throughout the entire story.<br />
I am no longer breaking it down into chapters, but chimes, drawing a direct narrative parallel between his experience of a year, a day, and a moment atop a hospital, but also the marriage bells.<br />
Form influencing content and content influencing form.<br />
I wouldn't think that that was an acceptable prose form were it not for the fact that I have never had anyone tell me not to do it.<br />
<br />
My next novel is being written in tandem, two columns of material side by side for comparison or whatever the audience pleases.<br />
To be fair, I have seen something similar.<br />
<a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mark_Z._Danielewski" target="_blank">Much of my prose is influenced by the work of Mark Z Danielewski.</a><br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">
<br /></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">
<br /></div>
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh5WvTL_d-0G8pqVs8zS7YBt_j9PTaJk6LTfHYVgSYzogkQlMiDj0Su97WLD401N6SyVpUzv4EVRQxPSx1L9425AbdNgHi8cGLEBL2BS0_-uPEQ0nsdCvWisYEEEhn_jQwnD0Ay9SofGu2x/s1600/2.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="464" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh5WvTL_d-0G8pqVs8zS7YBt_j9PTaJk6LTfHYVgSYzogkQlMiDj0Su97WLD401N6SyVpUzv4EVRQxPSx1L9425AbdNgHi8cGLEBL2BS0_-uPEQ0nsdCvWisYEEEhn_jQwnD0Ay9SofGu2x/s640/2.jpg" width="640" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">House of Leaves is a bear to read.</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">
And this:</div>
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi-1LniL-5LJiU_TWdH6B4ZwjyZNBEo9N0TfFRgr6wy18HDDeMNoKUDUYLb5RmzbhfcTjz83HvDuZKwMWzqY5uk4F_itGDx6lWiI5EtNbXiSQX7DJNnrB7RZmlPSFVp0PV92pI5uPW51esG/s1600/3.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="500" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi-1LniL-5LJiU_TWdH6B4ZwjyZNBEo9N0TfFRgr6wy18HDDeMNoKUDUYLb5RmzbhfcTjz83HvDuZKwMWzqY5uk4F_itGDx6lWiI5EtNbXiSQX7DJNnrB7RZmlPSFVp0PV92pI5uPW51esG/s640/3.jpg" width="640" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Only Revolutions.</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">
Both of these works couldn't be told in the classical novel-form.</div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">
But, they are still very much novels.</div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">
He is one of the most daring novel writers that I have ever seen.</div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">
And I want more books to be like this: experimenting with form.</div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">
Since, I haven't seen it, well, I may as well write it.</div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">
One of the best anecdotes I was told by someone I care about very deeply was:</div>
<blockquote class="tr_bq" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">
You know how C.S. Lewis and J.R.R. Tolkien got their start? They were tired of the fiction being written at the time and decided to write what they always wanted to read.</blockquote>
That is bad ass.<br />
I would like a little more badassery in fiction and in art.<br />
So ignorance and lack of formal training being no bar, let's do it!<br />
Let us, each of us, make the art that we wish to see in the world!<br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">
<br /></div>
<br />milesboucherhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16783691033073213629noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2791903763744177937.post-22292679414550543352016-08-02T10:40:00.000-07:002016-08-02T11:20:45.545-07:00My Friend Bevin is a Digital Yogi! (How Can we Best Help Each Other?)<div style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin: 0in;">
<div class="MsoNormal">
<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
Today we discuss our digital self:</div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<o:p></o:p></div>
</div>
<iframe allowfullscreen="" frameborder="0" height="344" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/wdynfVNbJ5E" width="459"></iframe>
<span style="background-color: white; color: #1d2129; font-size: 14px; line-height: 18px; white-space: pre-wrap;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><br /></span></span>
<span style="background-color: white; color: #1d2129; font-size: 14px; line-height: 18px; white-space: pre-wrap;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><br /><span style="font-family: inherit;">
</span></span></span><br />
<div class="MsoNormal">
This is seriously one of my favorite things. Ever.</div>
<blockquote class="tr_bq">
We are conscious of ourselves; social media is the market’s
response to a generation that only wanted to perform. So the market said, “Here,
perform EVERYTHING. To each other. All the time. For no reason.” And we do. It
is audience and performer melded into one. It’s prison. It’s horrific. What do
we want to do more at the end of the day than to sit down and watch our lives
as a satisfied audience member.</blockquote>
<span style="background-color: white; color: #1d2129; font-size: 14px; line-height: 18px; white-space: pre-wrap;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">
</span></span>
Everyone is a performer in this day and age. Social media demands that we be. Demands that performers are no longer just performers in their work, but in everything they do:<br />
<ul>
<li>where/how they eat, </li>
<li>how they dress, </li>
<li>what they wear, </li>
<li>where they go, </li>
<li>who/what they see, </li>
<li>who/what sees them. </li>
</ul>
<br />
<a href="https://twitter.com/Lin_Manuel?lang=en" target="_blank">Look at Lin Manuel Miranda and his legions of Twitter followers</a> to feel inspired and uplifted, only to realize that you don't have that many friends.<br />
To realize that nobody cares what you have to say outside of your social sphere.<br />
<br />
My generation, and by that I mean I, was taught to think I was special, to think that my opinion mattered.<br />
That I would one day be like Lin Manuel Miranda.<br />
<blockquote class="tr_bq">
"I have a privileged life, and I got lucky, and I'm unhappy. "</blockquote>
Truer words were never spoken by a white, cisgender male.<br />
<div class="MsoNormal">
So what do we do?<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
You’ll notice the audience doesn’t answer.<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
In the tradition of Bevin Bell-Hall’s spirit jams on social
media, let us ask questions and hope for response (because that is the truth,
we never know if we will have a response/impact or not; every day is a leap of
faith. I know, I asked Bevin):<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
In an age where more emphasis is placed on social media and
the visual information, how can we best help each other? <o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://youredtechprof.files.wordpress.com/2011/06/users-detailed-view.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="346" src="https://youredtechprof.files.wordpress.com/2011/06/users-detailed-view.jpg" width="400" /></a></div>
<span style="background-color: white; color: #1d2129; font-size: 14px; line-height: 18px; white-space: pre-wrap;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><br /></span></span>
In an age where the friends you have are the friends you never really knew, how can we help one another?:<br />
<br />
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://blog.drewprops.com/wp-content/uploads/2012/10/facebook_004.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img alt="" border="0" src="http://blog.drewprops.com/wp-content/uploads/2012/10/facebook_004.jpg" height="401" title="" width="640" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Donald Trump & Princess Spanky are my homies!</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<br />
What can we do?<br />
How do we help one another?<br />
Speaking personally, I get depressed.<br />
Like seriously. wretchedly depressed looking at my feed.<br />
But, not even just my feed, posting to my professional page:<br />
<ul>
<li>When viewership goes down.</li>
<li>When the number of clicks plummets</li>
<li>When the number of people I may or may not know anonymously click on an article I have written and don't leave a comment, they become a single tick mark on the social media machine that tells me nothing about the beautiful, wonderful, individual souls that pass through my digital hall for a brief span of this precious life.</li>
</ul>
<div>
What can I do?</div>
<div>
What can they do? </div>
<div>
What can we do?</div>
<div>
<br /></div>
<div>
When Instagram is the dining experience as opposed to the DINING EXPERIENCE being the dining experience:</div>
<div>
<br /></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://spoonuniversity.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/198/2016/04/fine-dining-lovers.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="218" src="https://spoonuniversity.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/198/2016/04/fine-dining-lovers.jpg" width="400" /></a></div>
<div>
<br /></div>
<div>
Visual media and sensory information is becoming the dominant.<br />
<br /></div>
<div>
I feel compelled to chronologue every excursion, every event, every single fucking thing.<br />
And why?<br />
<br />
Because how do I know if I lived a life?<br />
How do I know if what I did mattered?<br />
How many people care about me?<br />
Do you?<br />
Does anyone?<br />
How do you know?<br />
<br />
Twitter tells you.<br />
Facebook tells you.<br />
Instagram tells you.<br />
<br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="http://www.webcodo.net/wp-content/uploads/2013/08/social-media-followers-counts.png" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="http://www.webcodo.net/wp-content/uploads/2013/08/social-media-followers-counts.png" height="115" width="400" /></a></div>
<br />
<br />
Unless you are completely switched off, which is possible, possibly even preferable these days, there is an objective tick counter that tells you how many people like whatever you are posting.<br />
<br />
There is a way to find and support almost anybody anywhere at anytime.<br />
<br />
But, this is our digital world.<br />
And it is a reflection of our real world.<br />
<br />
My very best friend Bevin, says that there must be a spiritual side to the digital landscape.<br />
And I, for one, support her in that idea.<br />
The digital sphere is what we have made it.<br />
It doesn't have to be.<br />
<br />
Because there are any number of ways that the digital sphere has been supportive and wonderful.<br />
Her spiritual jam sessions where Bevin asks thought-provoking questions are just one.<br />
As a political platform, it is unquestionably valid.<br />
The democracy of the internet is unquestioned.<br />
Everyone has access to the same internet so long as they have a connection.<br />
(there are socio-economic concerns there that are not the subject of this article, e.g. access to poor/disenfranchised areas being less prevalent than our 5G enabled megatropolis of the United States)<br />
<br />
Point being: WHAT CAN WE DO TO HELP ONE ANOTHER.<br />
<br />
For me?<br />
<br />
Letter writing.<br />
Studying the art of letter writing.<br />
In an age where everything is public, where everything is vocal, and loud, and noisy in our digital space, we need a chance to be quiet.<br />
A chance for kindness and dialogue and helping one another.<br />
<br />
Why?<br />
Because we perform. ALL THE TIME.<br />
The feed is like the town square. It is a place where people shout to be heard, discuss prices, dinners, bargains, news, stories, experiences, in loud voices with other people possibly watching and listening too.<br />
We need places and experiences to not do that.<br />
Writing letters is one.<br />
<br />
They are a physical, tangible way to show how much you care.<br />
The require time and crafting to be made manifest.<br />
But, they need not be purely physical.<br />
Writing digital messages in a bottle and sending them off is wonderfully cathartic for me.<br />
Apologies, love letters, congratulations, and calls for help to friends past, present, and future creates a digital landscape that I find spiritually and socially satisfying.<br />
I wish that I could just have the Messenger without the Facebook feed sometimes.<br />
<br />
Finding one's tribe in a digital landscape is what I think it is all about.<br />
Exposing oneself to different ideas is the ideal, but creating/paving the way for thoughtful, powerful experiences digitally is how I know best to help one another.<br />
SO I write letters.<br />
<br />
<ul>
<li>I write thank you letters to people for helping me out of bad situations</li>
<li>I write apology letters to people that I have wronged or felt that I have</li>
<li>I write celebratory letters to people that seem in need of uplifting or joy</li>
<li>I write letters for me so that I know somebody does.</li>
</ul>
<div>
I don't send all of them.</div>
<div>
Most haven't because they take time and they take craft.</div>
<div>
But, they are there. </div>
<div>
<br /></div>
<div>
I guess the biggest thing that I take away from it all is thoughtfulness.</div>
<div>
In a sea of information, I don't feel like a drop in the sea, or a part of the ocean. </div>
<div>
No.</div>
<div>
I feel like a drowning man in the middle of a tempest without so much as a plank.</div>
<div>
<br /></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://s-media-cache-ak0.pinimg.com/236x/67/c4/b2/67c4b2d9f66bc6ad1c8eb73b00fe0753.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="640" src="https://s-media-cache-ak0.pinimg.com/236x/67/c4/b2/67c4b2d9f66bc6ad1c8eb73b00fe0753.jpg" width="456" /></a></div>
<div>
<br /></div>
<div>
Every day is a hard fight to breathe and post something that is meaningful.</div>
<div>
Not just to me.</div>
<div>
oh no.</div>
<div>
But, to everyone.</div>
<div>
And that is where the feeling comes from.</div>
<div>
<br /></div>
<div>
So maybe the better term is deliberate.</div>
<div>
I aim to move towards a deliberate digital presence, a deliberate spiritual practice that can influence not only mine, but others as well.</div>
<div>
<br /></div>
<div>
This letter is one of the first to be made public.</div>
<div>
It is to my dear friend, Bevin and to any and all who read it.</div>
<div>
I hope you find it worthwhile.</div>
<div>
I hope it helps and expands the conversation.</div>
<div>
<br /></div>
<div>
Too often, I find social media to be the last place where anybody wants to engage in political debates.</div>
<div>
Mostly because the ability to offend through a purely textual medium is easy.</div>
<div>
It doesn't allow for positive rhetoric or affirmations of the quality of the ideas.</div>
<div>
Bevin manages to do it in her Facebook feed.</div>
<div>
She can and should be thanked.</div>
<div>
Thanks Bevin for all your hard work and bringing people together.</div>
<div>
It really means the world.</div>
<div>
It can be hard to engage because you never know if what you're saying has any meaning.</div>
<div>
I hate ascribing meaning to Facebook's "like" button. </div>
<div>
So, for me, personally, I'd like to burn that bad boy.</div>
<div>
<br /></div>
<div>
But, that being said, it brings me to my final suggestion.</div>
<div>
How we might best help one another:</div>
<div>
Show the love.</div>
<div>
I know everyone is doing it all of the time.</div>
<div>
And that is part of the problem of social media: Too much lovers, not enough time to love.</div>
<div>
I have too many friends to individually like and comment on everything they post.</div>
<div>
Same is true for me.</div>
<div>
Facebook cherry picks what I see.</div>
<div>
Already we have some people who are not seen in feeds nearly as much.</div>
<div>
Content that gets passed over. </div>
<div>
It can be very scary.</div>
<div>
And very daunting.</div>
<div>
The silent few who don't get noticed.</div>
<div>
<ol>
<li>Please notice them.</li>
<li>Help them where you can.</li>
<li>Message them.</li>
<li>Write a couple letters to people that you remember after years of not talking.</li>
</ol>
<div>
And finally:</div>
</div>
<div>
Think about the kind of digital life you would like to have. </div>
<div>
If you would like for it to happen, try doing it for someone else.</div>
<div>
And ask.</div>
<div>
Always ask for it to be returned. </div>
<div>
Maybe not right away, but soon.</div>
<div>
You deserve it.</div>
<div>
We all do deserve that much. </div>
</div>
<div>
<br />
Sincerly,<br />
Your Friendly Neighborhood Artist.</div>
milesboucherhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16783691033073213629noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2791903763744177937.post-33193500849881285502016-07-28T18:00:00.002-07:002016-07-28T18:00:23.681-07:00The Art of War is all about Storytelling (Laying Plans)Today we discuss Sun Tzu's <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Art_of_War" target="_blank">The Art of War. </a><br />
<a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Art_of_War" target="_blank"><br /></a><br />
I've been meaning to post this for a year now and darn it, I'm going to do it.<br />
<br />
I maintain that The Art of War is one of the greatest storytelling textbooks of all time.<br />
I will attempt to illustrate how throughout this series by drawing on how it relates to the author of the piece, the characters, and the plot.<br />
<br />
It begins:<br />
<blockquote class="tr_bq">
The art of war is of vital importance to the State. It is a matter of life and death, a road either to safety or ruin. Hence, it is a subject of inquiry which can on no account be neglected. </blockquote>
It actually begins:<br />
<blockquote class="tr_bq">
Sun Tzu said: The art of war is of vital importance to the State. It is a matter of life and death, a road either to safety or ruin. Hence, it is a subject of inquiry which can on no account be neglected. </blockquote>
But, that sounds creepy and just a little formal.<br />
It's like saying Miles Boucher says...<br />
<br />
Point being, Sun Tzu says that the art of war is of vital importance and can on no account be neglected.<br />
Why?<br />
He illuminates (later on) that war is the last tool of diplomacy.<br />
Meaning if diplomacy has failed us, war is the only recourse.<br />
But, the converse is also true: diplomacy should never fail, there should always be the option to be diplomatic.<br />
Therefore, the greatest of nations/utopias would be those without the need for war.<br />
<br />However, life is rarely so benevolent.<br />
Things happen.<br />
Bad rulers rise.<br />
And diplomacy <i>does</i> fail.<br />
To what must we turn in times of turmoil?<br />
Simply war.<br />
Since it is the last resort, it must be studied in ever greater detail (according to Sun Tzu).<br />
Why?<br />
<br />
Because diplomacy has failed.<br />If it had succeeded there would be no need of war.<br />
Therefore, diplomacy will not save you in the future.<br />Your nation's skill in war must be the saving factor from annihilation.<br />
Therefore, study.<br />
And attend.<br />
<h3>
The Art of War:</h3>
Sun Tzu gifts us five "heads" to determine who wins the field:<br />
Conditions when obtaining the field:<br />
<br />
<ol>
<li> The Moral Law</li>
<li>Heaven</li>
<li>Earth</li>
<li>The Commander</li>
<li>Method and Discipline</li>
</ol>
<div>
He then defines each: </div>
<div>
<br /></div>
<div>
The Moral Law unites the people under their ruler and means that they will lay down their lives for her, believing them to be in the right. </div>
<div>
<br /></div>
<div>
By Heaven, he means night and day, cold and heat, time and seasons.</div>
<div>
<br /></div>
<div>
Earth comprises distances, great and small, danger and security, open ground and narrow passes, the chances of life and death.</div>
<div>
<br /></div>
<div>
The Commander stands for virtue, wisdom, sincerity, benevolence. </div>
<div>
<br /></div>
<div>
Method and discipline are to be understood as the marshaling of the army into its proper subdivisions, graduation of ranks to officers, maintenance of roads, supplies, and funds. </div>
<div>
<br /></div>
<div>
Once these are outlined he goes on to say:</div>
<blockquote class="tr_bq">
<b>These five heads should be familiar to every general. She who knows them shall be victorious, she who knows them not will fail. </b></blockquote>
<div>
So now, we have our conditions for victory and failure. </div>
<div>
<b><u>Familiarity with the five heads.</u></b></div>
<div>
<br /></div>
<div>
He even provides a useful list of questions to ask when entering a battlefield:</div>
<div>
<ol>
<li>Which of the two sovereigns is imbued with the Moral Law?</li>
<li>Which of the two generals has the most ability?</li>
<li>With whom lie the advantages derived from Heaven and Earth?</li>
<li>On which side is the discipline most rigorously enforced?</li>
<li>Which army is stronger?</li>
<li>On which side are the officers and men more highly trained?</li>
<li>In which army is there the greater constancy both in reward and punishment?</li>
</ol>
<div>
By these, Sun Tzu is able to forecast who shall win any encounter.</div>
</div>
<div>
<br /></div>
<h3>
A Case Study: The Bat</h3>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
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<div>
<br /></div>
<div>
The Batman is one of my go to protagonists.</div>
<div>
Why?</div>
<div>
Because he fights like a damn diplomat.</div>
<div>
Meaning, he uses everything at his disposal in order to have an edge.</div>
<div>
And why?</div>
<div>
Because on any given Tuesday he might run up against this: </div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi5HDx_XoaDcKAvEKXEfICYNyhtfP-5dU1xlC8wVCBZY0APw4jtFbPj5RWKWLdxSM_JsCKzscbegbYL-SGxCIvVcSscw2P6t6jLeCSDfw88EWjikKkx9uAo5SIFyLIHycMS8RuQkVrPS3Ta/s1600/5.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi5HDx_XoaDcKAvEKXEfICYNyhtfP-5dU1xlC8wVCBZY0APw4jtFbPj5RWKWLdxSM_JsCKzscbegbYL-SGxCIvVcSscw2P6t6jLeCSDfw88EWjikKkx9uAo5SIFyLIHycMS8RuQkVrPS3Ta/s400/5.jpg" width="260" /></a></div>
<div>
That my friends is our god. </div>
<div>
Slash Superman.</div>
<div>
Same difference.</div>
<div>
Point being he is on a murderous rampage and what are you going to do?</div>
<div>
If you're Batman, you are going to win.</div>
<div>
And how? </div>
<div>
Well you can bet your last dollar that he has read the Art of War. </div>
<div>
Because Batman comes with the full accompaniment:</div>
<div>
<ol>
<li>Batman has the Moral Law. He seeks Justice, not Revenge (<a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Batman:_The_Killing_Joke" target="_blank">The Killing Joke</a>).</li>
<li>Batman has the single greatest mind on planet earth. He is without doubt the general with the most ability </li>
<li>Advantages would lie with almost any other adversary that Batman faces. Superman definitely has the power of Heaven and Earth. However, Batman lays plans to his advantage: Gotham is his playground and he makes sure to always have the upper hand (<a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Court_of_Owls" target="_blank">The Court of Owls</a> where he identifies the type of stone that constructs their secret base and uses it to create an explosive to escape in the waterways)</li>
<li>Batman is the most disciplined. (<a href="https://www.amazon.com/Batman-Files-Matthew-Manning/dp/1449462146/ref=pd_sim_14_4?ie=UTF8&dpID=518D8rYLsZL&dpSrc=sims&preST=_AC_UL160_SR123%2C160_&psc=1&refRID=7GEQ8G0QC77PF3JKW6KZ" target="_blank">The Batman Files</a> illustrate his daily training regimen, which is fierce)</li>
<li>Which army is the strongest? Probably the other guy. Damn you Supes. But, through carefully laid plans, Batman again becomes the strongest by weakening his foe (In <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Batman:_Hush" target="_blank">Batman: Hush</a>, Batman says that you never go to Metropolis (home of Superman) without preparing for him and pulls out a ring made of kryptonite (Superman's greatest weakness, able to kill him in some stories))</li>
<li>Batman is more highly trained (<a href="https://www.amazon.com/Batman-Files-Matthew-Manning/dp/1449462146/ref=pd_sim_14_4?ie=UTF8&dpID=518D8rYLsZL&dpSrc=sims&preST=_AC_UL160_SR123%2C160_&psc=1&refRID=7GEQ8G0QC77PF3JKW6KZ" target="_blank">Batman Files again</a>)</li>
<li>Batman is a good guy, meaning that he rewards and doles out punishment on a pretty consistent basis. You don't see him slamming Robin into a wall for acting like a hero on a daily basis (<a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Batman:_Hush" target="_blank">Batman: Hush</a>)</li>
</ol>
<div>
In every single category Batman, by laying plans and reaping the advantages of his calculations is able to overcome any adversary, no matter the difficulty.</div>
</div>
<div>
That is why I always bet on the Batman.</div>
<div>
And judging from this list: Sun Tzu would too. </div>
<div>
<br /></div>
<div>
Sun Tzu goes on to say: </div>
<blockquote class="tr_bq">
<b>All warfare is based on deception.</b></blockquote>
<div>
<ul>
<li>When able to attack, we must seem unable</li>
<li>When using our forces, we must seem inactive</li>
<li>When we are near, we must make the enemy believe we are far away</li>
<li>When far away, we must make her believe we are near</li>
<li>Hold out baits to entice the enemy. Feign disorder and crush her</li>
<li>If she is secure at all points, be prepared for her. If she is in superior strength, evade her</li>
<li>If your opponent is of choleric temper, seek to irritate her. Pretend to be weak, that she may grow arrogant</li>
<li>If she is taking her ease, give her no rest. If her forces are united, separate them</li>
<li>Attack her where she is unprepared, appear where you are not expected</li>
</ul>
<div>
<br /></div>
<h3>
Another Case Study: Bilbo in J.R.R. Tolkien's <u>The Hobbit</u></h3>
<div>
How to use this advice as an author?</div>
</div>
<div>
Consider your <u>protagonist </u>an <u>enemy</u>. </div>
<div>
Just do it.</div>
<div>
It can even be someone you like.</div>
<div>
Like Bilbo.</div>
<div>
<br /></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjvZ9S4IPIXc41tepn82m_PaBoo9SGAiB9uK1u5jJLgPeh6GiEVYjlA6TyFpEuP6-N8oo8vnLE0-yMzztUsGIvyUrdU6keY73h3m7aX3mVoCe7jLVOMYYwNJPfvpmz5mbU3ZZiHpg7dj-0t/s1600/1.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjvZ9S4IPIXc41tepn82m_PaBoo9SGAiB9uK1u5jJLgPeh6GiEVYjlA6TyFpEuP6-N8oo8vnLE0-yMzztUsGIvyUrdU6keY73h3m7aX3mVoCe7jLVOMYYwNJPfvpmz5mbU3ZZiHpg7dj-0t/s320/1.jpg" width="225" /></a></div>
<br />
Screw it.<br />
Make Bilbo a badass girl.<br />
<br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
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<div>
<br /></div>
<div>
<br /></div>
<div>
Yeah.</div>
<div>
Someone you can love.</div>
<div>
Now, who is Bilbo?</div>
<div>
She is:</div>
<div>
<ul>
<li>Affluent</li>
<li>Homeowner</li>
<li>Busybody</li>
<li>Fussy</li>
</ul>
<div>
In a word: SECURE.</div>
</div>
<div>
So what do you do with someone just bursting with potential?</div>
<div>
Well, as an author, you have to do awful things to them.</div>
<div>
<br /></div>
<div>
So Bilbo is affluent? Take away her money and make her a traveler.</div>
<div>
Bilbo is a homeowner? Take away her home.</div>
<div>
Bilbo likes her creature comforts like a hanky? Take away the hanky, give her the hardship of the road.</div>
<div>
<br /></div>
<div>
And that is just the bare essentials.</div>
<div>
The comfort level stuff.</div>
<div>
Bilbo is attacked by spiders, goblins, orcs, giant bears, elves, dark things in the night, etc.</div>
<div>
<br /></div>
<div>
How did Tolkien manage to make such a compelling story?</div>
<div>
By attacking Bilbo at every turn. </div>
<div>
By managing her expectations.</div>
<div>
<br /></div>
<div>
Bilbo & Co. are lost in Mirkwood.</div>
<div>
So, they send Bilbo into the least comfortable place imaginable: </div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
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<div>
<br /></div>
<div>
Up a tree.</div>
<div>
What is she up there to do?</div>
<div>
See the edge of Mirkwood.</div>
<div>
Except she doesn't:</div>
<blockquote class="tr_bq">
"It was no good. Gaze as much as she might, she could see no end to the trees and the leaves in any direction. Her heart, that had been lightened by the sight of the sun and the feel of the wind, sank back into her toes: there was no food to go back to down below.</blockquote>
<div>
Bilbo is at her lowest point.</div>
<div>
She is stuck up in a tree.</div>
<div>
No food anywhere.</div>
<div>
And no end in sight.</div>
<div>
But, that is the key: "in sight. "</div>
<div>
Tolkien confides in the reader: </div>
<blockquote class="tr_bq">
Actually, as I have told you, they were not far off the edge of the forest; and if Bilbo had had the sense to see it, the tree that she had climbed, though it was tall in itself, was standing near the bottom of a wide valley, so that from its top the trees seemed to swell up all round like the edges of a great bowl, and she could not expect to see how far the forest lasted. Still she did not see this, and she climbed down full of despair. She got to the bottom again at last, scratched, hot, and miserable, and she could not see anything in the gloom below when she got there. Her report soon made the others as miserable as she was. </blockquote>
Boom.<br />
Tolkien is managing our expectations as well as our protagonist's.<br />
For Bilbo will reach the edge of the forest of Mirkwood.<br />
How do you know?<br />
You were promised a Lonely Mountain and a Dragon.<br />
Until those two story items are on the page, the story isn't over.<br />
It is like watching a trailer for a film.<br />
Until you see everything in that trailer, you know the characters will keep on going.<br />
<br />
Now, we have been assured that they are very near the edge of the forest.<br />
But, the characters are in the midst of despair.<br />
Tolkien could have written ANYTHING.<br />
Bilbo could have seen a giant sign that said EDGE OF MIRKWOOD and that would have been that.<br />
Instead, Tolkien deceived poor Bilbo & Co.<br />
By making Mirkwood seemingly endless, he was able to provoke Bilbo & Co. into seeking help from the elves (bad idea) and into a nest of spiders (really bad idea).<br />
<br />
Sun Tzu says at the end of his first chapter:<br />
<blockquote class="tr_bq">
<b>Now the general who wins a battle makes many calculations in his temple ere the battle is fought. The general who loses a battle makes few calculations beforehand. Thus do many calculations lead to victory, and few calculations to defeat: how much more no calculation at all! </b></blockquote>
Batman always wins because he is well calculated.<br />
Bilbo just manages to win by taking in enough calculations.<br />
Writers don't write because they make no calculations at all and so lose out on all their wonderful story.<br />
I hope that this quick foray encourages people to try writing and telling stories like they are waging war.<br />
Try it!<br />
<br />
milesboucherhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16783691033073213629noreply@blogger.com0