Whew!

Okay. Ever been so busy that you didn't have time to be sick and then as soon as things let up a bit, boom! Viral smackdown? Soiree Dada wrapped up Saturday night. On Sunday, I was sneezy and congested all day and assumed that it was my usual allergies. I took a Claritin to no effect. Late in the afternoon, my throat started to feel scratchy. I laid down for an hour, had some dinner, hypnotically watched the movie Stargate on the Sci-Fi Channel and noticed for the first time that French Stewart was in it as a bad ass marine, and started feeling worse. I don't think the miscasting of French Stewart had anything to do with this. Through my girlfriend's recommendation, I took a bath by candle-light with a bath bomb. Okay, the candle-light was my idea. Shut up. I'm sick.

I crawled into bed around 8pm and slept for nearly ten hours.

So, at the moment I feel much better, albeit quite achy. Today, all I have on the docket are my Columbia classes. I'm free this evening to come home and chill out. And, if I'm still not feeling well, take another bath by candle-light. I said shut up.

Things have been a little slow around here for snarky political and social commentary or talking about theater and writing. There's lot for me to write about, so we'll get those pistons fired back up this week.


If you're a geek like me, this is good news...

Young Actors Audition For Justice

George Miller, director of the upcoming Justice Leage of America, flew from his native Australia over the weekend to audition young actors for roles in the much-anticipated comic-inspired film, according to The Hollywood Reporter.

The marathon casting session started Oct. 14 and continues on the 15th, with 35 to 40 actors testing for roles, including Superman, Wonder Woman, Batman, Flash, Aquaman, Green Lantern and the Martian Manhunter. A few nonhero parts might be testing as well.

On the roll call are Adam Brody (The O.C.), Joseph Cross (Running With Scissors), D.J. Cotrona (Windfall), Mary Elizabeth Winstead (Final Destination 3), Michael Angarano (Sky High), Teresa Palmer (Wolf Creek), Max Thieriot (Jumper) and rapper Common.

The cast of NBC's Friday Night Lights is well-represented as well, with Minka Kelly, Adrianne Palicki and Scott Porter also among those testing for parts. No costumes are involved in the tests, which are being taped as actors read script pages.

Miller is looking for actors to grow into their roles over the course of several movies. Sources told the trade paper that Miller, known to be a methodical director, is testing not only for the roles themselves but also how the actors interact with one another while keeping an eye on the look of the whole group. The director is due to present his findings to the studio midweek.

George Miller also did the Mad Max film series and that other bloody revenge franchise, Babe.



THE BS NEWS QUIZ OF THE DAY

Saturday, I asked...

"Australian performance artist Stelios Arcadiou recently had what grafted to his body?"

25% picked "A Horn"
- I wasn't specific as to if I meant a horn like a rhino or a horn like a car. I'd love it if I had a truck horn I could use on escalators where lazy people block the paths of those of us who want to use our legs while escalating. But it doesn't matter which, because neither is right.

25% "Pig Nipples"
- I'm sure the pig would feel great about this. "They chop me up for science and for sandwiches. They part out my body like a used car and some asshole gets to wear my nipples for art? I wish they had just clubbed me in the head when I was born." Don't worry little piggy. Your nipples are safe. For now.

No one thought it was "A Duck Bill"
- Too hard to imagine, I guess. Where would you put it? It's too small to graft to your lips. I think they'd make pretty cool eye lids.

50% got the right answer with "A Third Ear"

According to the BBC, an Australian performer has had an ear grafted onto his forearm in the name of art. Stelarc, aged 61, said it had taken him years to find a surgeon prepared to perform the operation. The ear does not function, but he hopes to have a microphone implanted to allow others to listen to what his extra ear picks up. Um, I think the extra ear on his forearm is going to pick up the rustling of his shirt as well as everything else that his other two ears hear. My question is, did this jerk get a grant for this?

Saturday Morning Cartoons!

"Rabbit Seasoning" (1952)


I heart Daffy Duck. Whenever I create a character for a show, I usually end up using elements of Daffy. I think you can see traces of the duck in my work in Soiree Dada and The Armageddon Radio Hour. In Rabbit Seasoning, he teams up with Bugs Bunny. They were the Hope and Crosby of the cartoon world. Willing to work together, but more often than not, willing to sell out the other at the drop of a hat. This cartoon has two of my favorite Daffy quotes; "Pronoun trouble." and "You're dithpicable." He also gets shot in the face half a dozen times. It's the kind of thing that would send parental watchdog groups in a tizzy and it's hysterical slapstick.





THE BS NEWS QUIZ OF THE DAY

Yesterday, I asked...

"In Brisbane, Australia, to save a man who ingested anti-freeze, doctors intravenously fed him what?"

30% picked "Oatmeal"
- Must have been the real runny kind...No.

No one went for "Iced Coffee" or "Cat Food"
- Which is a treat I give my own cats during those hot summer days. Not.

70% chose what many consider to always be the right answer "Vodka"

According to the Associated Press, doctors plugged an Italian tourist into a drip-feed of vodka to save him at a hospital in Australia that ran out of the medicinal alcohol it would normally have used for treatment. It worked, but he was very upset they didn't use a nice grappa.

Shaking the Spear

ROBOWRITERS ASSIGNMENT

Courtesy of Mr. Chris Othic

One of the things about writing sketches is coming up with ideas for
scenes.  Well, there is one particular playwright out there that
has an endless supply of scene ideas:  William Shakespeare!

This assignment is pretty straightforward.  Just think of all those
Shakespeare plays, rife with hundreds of scenes.  The great thing
about Willie Shakes is he knows how to create drama, so the scenes
contain lots of conflicts and are great setups for sketches.

Just choose a random scene from one of Shakespeare’s plays and
rewrite it.  You can do it however you like.  You can keep it in
its original time period, move it to another time period, or make
it modern.  You can write it in verse if you like, or use normal
dialogue.  You can loosely adapt it with your own characters or use
the same characters and just exaggerate it.

It's an opportunity to explore "Clash of Context" by having, say, a
scene from Macbeth taking place in a corporate setting. Another
example, take the balcony scene from Romeo and Juliet.  There are
literally hundreds of ways to write a sketch based on this scene. 
One way is to modernize it, where a drunken college frat boy Romeo
is trying to climb up to Juliet’s sorority house.  His drunkenness
is one obstacle, and maybe he is in the crappy fraternity while
Juliet is in the cool sorority.  The possibilities are endless.How
about the end of Hamlet?  Everybody dies, right?  So let’s keep the
set up, but let’s have poor Hamlet be confused and start killing the
wrong people.  By the end of the scene, you have a stage full of
dead bodies, and poor Hamlet still hasn’t gotten his revenge.

Shakespeare’s works are rich and full of conflict, internal and
external, as well as all the fun stuff that you can think about
putting in your sketches like murder, mistaken identity,  and
revenge.  Brush up on the bard and then bastardize his work.  Good
times!

Note:  If you aren’t familiar with at least some of Shakespeare’s
plays, you really should start reading or seeing them now!



THE BS NEWS QUIZ OF THE DAY

About a year ago - it seems - I asked...

"To honor the place where they met and had their first date, a couple in Springfield, Ohio got married last week where?"

20% said "Strip Club"
- How romantic. And the dee-jay officiated. The dollar dance got a little out of hand, though... No.

11% thought maybe "Rehab"
- They had to say "I do's" and many "I don't-any-more's."...Nope.

11% picked "Prison"
- And even though it was a men's prison, they had plenty of volunteers for "maid of honor." someone got shivved when the bride threw the bouquet, too. ...Not.

58% got it right with "Wal-Mart"

According to the Associated Press, Wal-Mart employees Chet Eldridge and Danna Hornback tied the knot last amid the retailer's flowers, shrubs and lawn chairs. Eldridge, 51, an automotive manager, and Hornback, 45, an arts and crafts associate, met during the store's employee orientation. She agreed to their first date in the furniture section. No word on how the honeymoon in the Sporting Goods aisle went.

Man, It's Early!

Scrambling around this morning in the semi-darkness looking for a pair of matching socks. I'm off for the last day of the corporate gig. The best part, is that I am done early and should be back home by 10:30am.

Soiree Dada closes this week! You have only tonight, Friday and Saturday to come see it. And Robowriters is tonight at 6:30pm. See the column on the left for more details.

Now that October has started acting like October, again, here's a picture of a pumpkin! Weeeee!

Yikes!

Okay, so yesterday's first day of events at the corporate gig went well. I had to come back to Chicago for a rehearsal and have to return to Schaumburg this morning at 6:30am! So, I am up at 4am to shower, gather up all the things I need for the day - I teach two classes at Columbia and one at Second City - and head out to not return home until 11pm-ish. And then I have to do the same thing tomorrow morning!

But I am a professional. You will hear no whining from me.

Yet.

Blerp!

The corporate gig I have been working on has called me out to the site a day early to do last minute script fixes. Apparently, they gave us the wrong information a month ago on which we based a third of the script. Yippee! This means "Bite and Smile" may not have another update until Wednesday. Just so you know.

Begging for Change

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