all right, I saw some of the PETA video...
Posted by pd on 6/2/2008, 12:57 pm, in reply to "Cow City Theme Song...I have a script..."
I didn't watch much... here are some voyeur lines (at the end of tentagatnet)... they sit watching a movie of some cannibal holocaust, the guy says, "Turn it off... I feel so powerless sitting here," the girl says, "so go back in time and save them." Food processing...an ongoing carnage of intelligent beings. The energy released is dangerously powerful... poor victim... poor killer...

Good morning on this lovely Memorial Day Weekend Sunday. I was up until 2:30 a.m. last night watching "The Chicago Ten" with Bob Fass at Theater for the New City. All right, director Brett Morgan, congratulations. Obviously you can't take your eyes off it. At last I have some idea of what went on then. I recall the days of protests and riots. My friends had older brothers always running off to Washington. That 1968 Democratic convention was a non-communicative mess, especially horrifying considering the revolutionary origins of this country... and what happend in 1968? Humphrey won to lose against Nixon.

TNC's Lower East Side Festival for the Arts runs through Memorial Day in New York City, and it's full of great surprises, this one beginning at 12:30 AM, following the beautiful "Lower Eastside Stories." Much earlier in the evening I saw parts of a film that explained the origins of square dancing, that the swing your partner director was reciting battlefield encounters with Ulysses S. Grant. I see now that this was a mockumentary called "The Bentfootes."

Earlier in the evening I was on the West Side hearing Woon-Sung Choi articulate "Pictures at an Exhibition" on the Merkin Concert Hall Steinway. She also played another Carnival piece, this one of Vienna, by Schuman, (Fauschingsschwank aus Wien). The music in the movie and piano concert were similarly dynamic in range, although the film's score had a very loud playback. The sound design in the film, well, everything about it is a documockumentary accomplishment.

In other entertainment news, Chris Force and Maria Micheles shared a reading night at the Brecht Forum, the way Elizabeth Versalie and I shared one the month before. Chris's play is called "Adam Delved;" Maria's is "Round and Round the Night Park."

I saw an impressive staged reading of Les Hunter's full length play, "To the Orchard."

Cry Baby the Musical turns out to be great. I loved the song collection on the movie soundtrack, which took me until the end of the night to remember. It's a sub-genre of the 50's nostalgia show, the misunderstood Juvenile Delinquent. The lyrics and score, orchestrations, arrangements, directing and sets are great, as are the cast, crew and orchestra performing them. The script reminds me not to confuse John Waters with Tim Burton, although the camp film genre is a treated seriously and sincerely by both.

Quick note on meta data, a CLE lecture taught us that meta data is the record of every word I originally typed and evey change I made in this entry.

Lawyers, there are programs you can feel obligated to buy that can strip clean your meta data. I say, Be Proud of Your Meta Data!

OWL
Kristen, you're gonna be mad at me.
PUSSYCAT
Why?
OWL
I swear if I see that Bruno again I'm going to kill him. I can't go back to Albany.
PUSSYCAT
All right. I'm not mad at you.
OWL
You will be. But I think I know the way to give your career a shot in the arm.
PUSSYCAT
You don't have to do that. You're already paying me.
OWL
Well, you're allowing me to explore a beautiful example of the very species to which I am held accountable, and to whom I play a role that can only be described as ministerial.
PUSSYCAT
What do you do again, Mr. Fox? I'm kidding.
OWL
If I see that Bruno again, I will murder him and that will just devastate my family. This is better.
PUSSYCAT
What are you going to do?
OWL
It's complicated, and yes it involves you.
PUSSYCAT
Is it safe?
OWL
No, it's going to pretty bad, mostly for me, though. However, with the pressure mounting, it does provide an immediate out as governor. Your boost into stardom is somewhat secondary.
PUSSYCAT
Thanks. So what's happening?
OWL
I've been churning some of my trust accounts, in a small way. The banks wouldn't even notice except I've goaded them into uploading software to detect a pattern in suspicious transaction activity.
PUSSYCAT
How goaded?
OWL
I hold them accountable for crimes they fail to detect without it. So they have to report me to the IRS. It looks like I'm being blackmailed.
PUSSYCAT
Why are you so sure they're going to bother checking you?
OWL
You know why.
PUSSYCAT
You keep saying how everyone hates you. Why is that?
OWL
How many times have we seen each other? You know I'm not one for toadying. They're right to hate me, because I hate them, especially Bruno. It's a problem for me. I've got to get out of this. I'm going to snap at any minute. I'm so sick of plastering this smile on my face.
PUSSYCAT
I'm going to call your wife.
OWL
Get her on the phone. Call her cel.
PUSSYCAT (picking up the phone and dialing)
Are they here?
OWL
No, my family is home in New York.
PUSSYCAT
I thought we were having breakfast with them?
OWL
Next time.
She talks to the phone.
Silda, it's Kristin, that's right, your husband's call girl. What? Yes, he called me. No, through the agency. Yes, I gave him my number. No, he insists on calling them. Here let me put him on.
OWL (talking to the phone)
Silda, I'm resigning from office. I'll be out in a month at the most. Yes it's possible.
No, it's not a lot of effort on my part, I don't have to do anything except churn some accounts and spend a lot on Kristen here, which is one of the reasons I was put on this planet. I know, her CD is great, and the children like it; that's the decisive thing, if it plays well with the young folk, anyway, it's great publicity for her. Yes, I want this more than anything. Yes more than anything I also wanted to govern. It was the obvious next step. It was a mistake. Look, I tried but I can't help it. Sometimes you just don't take to people and when I see Bruno I see red. It's only going to lead to trouble so I'm thinking, we'll help Kristin here, make her the call girl of the century. Why not? It's only 2008. No, I think the Ambassador club will have to go down. Oh, it's the Emperor Club, by the way, like Caesar, not Kissinger. Actually, I, too, am going to have to go down. Why? I'm paying for sex.
PUSSYCAT
You are not. You're paying for my company, but yes I'm very available to you.
OWL?
Doesn't your fee make you feel a little Pre-disposed?
PUSSYCAT
Yes, pre-disposed to follow your command, oh Emperor, so long as you keep safety a priority.
OWL
(Shaking his head, returning to his phone conversation.) Anyway, Silda, I even had her take the train to DC so in effect I'm trafficking over state lines for an illicit purpose. It's a Federal offense. If I'm caught they may fine me, send me to jail, but definitely they'll force me out of office. I know. It sounds too good to be true. No. Right now they think I'm on the take. They're going to be very disappointed, but I've been pretty severe about the sex trade. This'll turn the gun back at me. I'll be forced out of office. Hypocrites will take to calling me a hypocrite and I really won't have done any harm to anyone except myself, especially with regard to sleep deprivation.
PUSSYCAT
You have to wake up early tomorrow?
OWL
I have a very busy day. We'll wrap this up in a minute. You probably need to get home, too.

PUSSYCAT
I was hoping to join your family for breakfast.
OWL
Next time. I only brought you here to trigger Federal law. I want nothing to do with New York State.
PUSSYCAT
Look, I'm going to go.
OWL
Yes. Go ahead.
PUSSYCAT
Don't you want to jerk off on my tits or something?
OWL
No, I'm fine. Just hearing you say it is enough. Thank you. Hey, I love that CD. So when the Feds contact you, just tell them everything. I should apologize for putting you through this but if you'll forgive my instinct, I sense that you are up for it.
PUSSYCAT
Yes, Mr. Fox. I can't imagine you abandoning your work.
OWL
No, I'm abdicating. If you knew my colleagues and caught a glimpse of New York's future, you'd want to do the same.
PUSSYCAT
I thought the whole point of these trysts was to sharpen your focus.
OWL
A good night's sleep would also help.
PUSSYCAT
Good night.
OWL
Good night. Silda, are you still there.
SILDA (She is suddenly audible on the other end of the phone line)
Yes. Are you sure this the right thing, Elliot?
OWL
It's better than the right thing.
SILDA
Just let me stand by your side throughout it.
OWL
OK. I probably won't take questions, then.
SILDA
Don't bother. You don't have to. Let them do everything.
OWL
Thanks.
SILDA
Did you just let her go?
OWL
Yes, she left. Is that OK?
SILDA
I hate seeing you blow through your family trust fund.
OWL
It stimulates the economy.
SILDA
But the dollar, Elliot, you're exposing the true value of a dollar.
OWL
Please. Good night, Silda. Oh, Silda, what about our daughters, are they going to be OK?
SILDA
No, Elliot, nice of you to think of them. It sounds like you've already pulled the trigger on this one. Good night.
A sexy dwarf appears offering advice about sex.
Hello, sexy dwarf.
Oh, just call me Mae West!
------
February 13th, 2008, Mayflower Hotel
from "Client Nine from Outer Space"
A play script by PETER DIZOZZA

I've got these opening characters, Cis and Ces, from the two endings for the two spellings of Francis/Frances. One of them survives while the other disappears into a mystery void, like the Vertigo couple. The end result disrupts the education at the school they both attend. It's an all boy's school, but Cis and Ces are male and female versions of the same name. Raleigh Horn and Georgina Abbot Masters return to re-enact their ritual of inquiry into matters outside their experience. The catalyst is Raleigh's son who calls on his father from the school overlooking the Hudson river, even though his father is agoraphobic and living across the continent, even though his mother is happily remarried and has a daughter still in kindergarten.

I may be falling into the Sin City trap. I loved the concept but not the film. The title of my project is Cow City. That is the saddest thing, though, going to Cow City. I came across an aspergers story in an Oliver Sachs book, it's probably the title story, about an anthropologist on Mars, whatever that means. It's a horrifying story about designing abitoirs. Arbitoriums? The idea of such a makes me so sad. In fact, I feel an underlying sadness and am at crossed purposes regarding telling about it, even about writing here, and withdrawing into a shell.

Oh wow, and now the airwaves will carry not analogue but rather digital signals, by law. $40 dollars of government funding will go toward each citizen's purchase, if necessary, of a digital analogue converter.

I don't know, and tonight the clocks sprang forward. Tighten those clock springs. Cheer up.

I was completely engaged by a performance last night at Theater for the New City. I was attempting to connect with my southern Italian druid roots by attending the solstice dance of the Tarentella. The existence and Italian nature of a spider dance was news to me. News to me now is the memory of making passing reference to the word after a visit to Mama Leone’s in 1982. Mama Leone’s was a theater district restaurant featuring a hodgepodge pageant of Italianate cooking and traditions where, after a visit there, I equated the Tarentella with the Mexican Hat Dance. I remember now coming from a Broadway Production called Marilyn which I saw because Debra Dotson was somewhere in the ensemble.

By the way, last night I was coming from an open house at the Ferencz residence. George, the director and his wife, Sally and son, Jack, extended their hospitality to family and friends and I spoke with a few of the Experimenta playwrights, Kim Merrill, Michael Zeitler (Waiting for Mert), and Yasmina Rana (The Warzone is My Bed) as well as the author of the upcoming White Whalers show, Mark Gorman. A fellow named Brian Johnson was moving from helping costume "Is He Dead?" to Caesar's Palace in Las Vegas where Bette Midler takes over for Celine. Meanwhile, Julie Rosier is joining forces with Grace Lee Boggs, and I suppose with Julie's sister, too, to leave New York, to clean up Detroit and spread the good news (which goes well beyond the transition at Caesar's Palace).

This was a night of enjoying old friends directly and indirectly, beginning with Yasmine’s update on Kenny Nowell and Justin Lambert, and their two daughters. Justine’s Looking Glass Theatre was one of Yasmine’s first producers in New York. She heard from Justine that Kenny and I were roommates. Remember, in one of these other posts my mention of Kenny’s adaptation of Wedekind’s Spring Awakening.

I arrived at TNC at 8:30... the 8:00 curtain rose forTarentella in the Johnson Theatre to a packed room with additional chairs already added so Angelina sent me into Queens of Heart by Sabura Rashid, and I'm grateful. There is an important element of salvation there and the voice that comes through to the main character, a voice that is often supressed under the term schizophrenia, is of an acknowledged savior, an elder, a grandmother. The piece includes a therapist's hilarious acknowledgment of spirituality behind and beyond professional therapy, and a general sense that the voice of the playwright is aggressively healing.

At the end of the piece I met Fred (Fedele) Spadafora again. His oil painting of Sabura is in the Theater Lobby along with a few other still life canvases from photographs. He is a photographer and designer who has worked in publishing. For example, he designed the Pro-Choice on Mental Health CD and the privately released Prepare to Meet Your Maker Soundtrack Recordings. He also took photographs for The Marriage at the Statue of Liberty. We went to Otto's Shrunken Head, a Trader Vic bar with music programming by DJ Shred...

While there I got a message from Jeff Marino that he and his family were near and I joined them at an Indian Restaurant. They had just seen The Golden Compass. They came by the apartment. It was a surprisingly eventful evening.

इ वास कोम्प्लेतेली एन्गागेद। वहत'एस गोइंग ओं हियर?

I was entirely engaged by a work in progress last night, a reading of "Ribbons" at Theater for the New City. This play is a fantastic ensemble piece of naturalistic interaction and bonding occurring under a perfect absurdist catch-all for disabilities. It builds to a rioutous comedic sequence, and continues from that to show the joy of people allowing themselves to connect with one another.

Then I joined Bob for dinner at the Frank restaurant. Earlier that evening Bob had marked a cel phone message for me as urgent because my myspace icon wasn't loading. I hope I was able to transfer to that dinner meeting a fraction of the glow I gained from attending the reading.

Welcome to Haiti! The most generic bit of information I have to relate is that before falling asleep at 11:30 I watched a 1/2 hour of a dvd on my computer of a 1932 independent film called "White Zombie." Waking up at 4:30, I saw the other 45 minutes. Bela Lugosi makes a familiar appearance...familiar if you've seen Robert DeNero play horror.

This achievement of masterful filmmaking probably required the minimalism of its budget.

One scene of dialogue runs 5 minutes without a cut, even when the Dr. character fumbles a line.

The matt montages are awe-inspiring.

The ocean cliffs, the castle, the piano room, are spectactular.

Three soundtracks run concurrent throughout the film.
One: The synched dialogue.
Two: The continuous music, percussion, chanting or crickets.
Three: the synched sound effects.

And it's the first Zombie film!