blog

Tea Party serves tepid brew and Bristol Palin can't dance

Thu, 25 Nov 2010 16:36:07 +0100

I've spent almost forty years as a teacher of the performing arts and have had to judge countless presentations. Some young people had that undeniable spark and some worked at it to such a degree that they were able to transcend the footlights and connect with the audience.

Poor Bristol Palin, victim of the haters and buoyed up by the tea party supporters was incapable of creating that invisible connection. She never should have been on the dance floor past week four. Brandy had it. Rick Fox had it in spades. Audrina certainly had enough of it to last longer than she did. Even Florence Henderson still retained a bit of that fiery ember. All right, Bristol was slightly better than the "The Hoff"and a few of the others and could execute most of the steps most of the time but the deadpan glaze and the oft-times clumsy footwork took away so much from her performance that her placement in the finals was a travesty. Should have been Brandy up there with Jennifer Grey and either Kyle, Rick or Audrina.

At least, despite the politics, the best dancer won the day.

I don't understand it!!!

Mon, 22 Nov 2010 17:51:25 +0100

Obamaland

Health care? We don’t want it. Control over the banking industry that has taken us to the brink of disaster. Nope, that could be construed as interference in the capital marketplace. Extend the unemployment benefits to those who were devastated by the aforementioned banking collapse? Are you kidding? That is…socialism… oooh! Lets have a war in Afghanistan because Osama just might be there...or near there. The Taliban, who took down the twin towers, actually came from Saudi Arabia but they are our friends so we can’t fight with them. I know. I’m being much too simplistic. I do remember, however that it was the vast expenditures on the war in Afghanistan that brought down the mighty Soviet Union.

Does any of this make sense?

Let’s go closer to home.

Canadian politics. We like to think that we are smarter and more reasonable than our neighbors to the south, yet we are permanently fractured. The Bloc, a regional party, born in and representing only Quebec has rendered our national parties incapable of forming a majority government. How did we let this happen? The opposition is so fearful of what might occur in yet another futile election that they waive democratic rights . Let’s prorogue parliament. Okay. Lets have the unelected Senate defeat the new environment bill. Why not? Lets extend our support of the war in Afghanistan without debate in the chamber. Okeedokee. Let’s buy some helicopters and Jets while the country continues to stagnate under a debt load previously unthinkable. $16,000,000,000? Just a lot of zeroes. Who cares?

And even closer.

Our premier resigns and the B.C. liberals are in total disarray. What does the opposition do? Well, they don’t gather round the leader and demonstrate that they, at least, can be depended upon to show strength in government. Nope. They gather, like the Senators in Julius Caesar’s Rome, with knives hidden in the folds of their togas. Makes sense doesn’t it?

I could go on but I want you to come back to this blog weekly while I eviscerate in my most curmudgeonly fashion, the events of the times. Next week Briston Palin and the Tea Party.

Do you believe?????

Thu, 04 Feb 2010 02:13:28 +0100

Donald Sutherland' s rich baritone caresses your auditory sensitivity. Do you believe?. Well, sorry folks, I don't. Not a whit. In fact I am such an unbeliever that I will be leaving town on Feb. 11 and will not return until the fiasco in the snow
( if there is any snow) is done with. I don't care whether a slalom skier, Canadian or otherwise, flies down a hill 1/200th of a second faster than another. I don't care whether the figure skating judges play politics or play fair. I do care that the budgets for schools have been cut and that the cultural grants and have been decimated and health care has been put on hold. I do care that during a time of economic upheaval, Vanoc is spending a billion dollars on security for the two week long fun fair. I do care that the Cowichan band, world renowned for the quality of their unique sweaters have been displaced by knitting mills of China which will be turning out an inferior, yet more expensive product under the Vanoc brand. I care that the Olympic committee at my expense will be staying at the Bayshore; a place where I cannot afford to stay. Heck the 2010 games have even given our Federal government an excuse not to govern. I'd love to have been able to prorogue when things got a bit tough at my job.

So as you watch the skiers flounder down the snow covered bales of hay, as you you shout hurrah from a distance because you couldn't afford a ticket, as you witness the Hatians and Africans and all the other less fortunate people on this globe suffer while the world spends billions on a two week long extravaganza, remember that the 2010 games will not move us one iota closer to world peace or end world hunger or bring about some harmony in this ecologically devastated planet.

Remember The Summer Olympics in Montreal in '76. It only took thirty years to pay for that one. See ya when it's over

B.C Election

Wed, 13 May 2009 13:39:21 +0100

I'm sorry that the NDP fared so poorly in the election yesterday. Unfortunately, they blew what could have been a decent showing or even a victory because they failed to capture the imagination of the electorate. The first error was the carbon tax claw-back plan. They made that the capstone of their platform, obscuring some excellent proposals in the 50 page doc. They were, in other words, "green-shifted" out of contention. People simply didn't care as much as they had when gasoline was $1.50 per litre. Green luminaries ran away from them in droves and the rest of the public stayed home and sat on their hands. Imagine what Suzuki, Berman et. al would have done to bolster the campaign had Carole James said that, not only would she have collected the carbon tax, but she would also have put every cent collected into rapid transit. When the group of powerful Lower Mainland Mayors requested such a move Campbell dismissed them. Carol needed to change gears and jump on that.

The rest of the platform was filled with good intentions, but, as it was a repeat of a '90's political philosophy, remember "six bucks sucks?" It had no credence in the post economic collapse.

Finally, Campbell was vulnerable and the NDP didn't take advantage.

How could could he justify skipping a legislative session when people were losing their jobs?
How could he allow such "fast ferry" style over-runs on the Olympic village, Cambie RAV line, Convention centre?
How could he claim economic success when the logging industry and the fishing industry are falling apart?
How could he claim to be a champion of the environment with such ignorance of its worth?

I could go on but the election is over. I don't blame Carole James, although she could use a lesson or two in modulating her voice. She is personable and articulate. The advice she received was poor, the NDP platform was wishy-washy, the election strategy was abysmal and therefore a mediocre Premier; a Bush clone in the post-Bush era has another four years to do damage.

Poor B.C.

Staying alive at 65

Sat, 25 Apr 2009 15:38:40 +0100

In less than a week, I will be a senior. Despite my general demeanor, I have been dreading this birthday. I don’t really know why. It’s just a number isn’t it? I was, earlier this year in a bit of ... in a deep depression. Not my style. We had a great time on Maui. I have been work-shopping more than usual . I love my little Zozo so much that her smile lifts me into the sky. Margie is well. I am healthy. What happened was that my Monologue book was rejected after more than a year of teasing by Talon. I couldn’t write. I was stuck. I’m never stuck or depressed for very long. I decided, based on some good advice from Rob Crowston, to build a new website. If you build it, they will come. theatretogo.net has been a lifesaver. It has brought me a great deal of credibility. I have decided to self-publish M&M and it is now being carried by Biz Books. I have increased my share of workshops this year. I will be workshopping for ABCDE at the provincial conference this fall. This is huge!!!!! It should mean gigs all over the province. And lots of book sales. Best of all, I am writing again. 35 minutes and counting for My new 50 minute play, "Homeless" (working title) which I plan to present at Fringe 2011. I am going to a conference in NY and they will be presenting the first scene of”My Music.” Right now, at 65, I am on top of my game.

A Golden Moment

Mon, 20 Apr 2009 15:27:41 +0100

Wonderful memories glitter in the mind. The best memories are shared with others. It is with this in mind that I write today’s blog.

I have been to many concerts; had moments in the theatre when tears tracked down my face because of the sheer joy (or pain) of the experience, I am easily moved by a painting or a sculpture.

A partial list includes: Rodin’s garden in a Parisian mist, Michaelangelo’s Pieta, Picasso’s Guernica at the Sofia in Madrid, The Martha Graham dancers performing at the acropolis in Athens, Jean Pierre Rampal and Lily Laskine at the Hollywood Bowl, James Taylor sitting under a tree at the Boston Common and playing for the few of us who were fortunate enough to happen by, Moody Blues and the

VSO under the stars My own production of The Ecstasy of Rita Joe, A Fiddler on the Roof on Broadway. A partial list, as I said but I am a fortunate gentleman to have been able to witness such events.

Another such memory occurred Last night. At G.M. Place, where generally Hockey holds sway, a seventy-four year old Leonard Cohen treated the ten thousand or so gathered in the arena to the nonpareil of concerts. He treated the members of his band with the reverence they deserved. These accomplished musicians played brilliantly suffusing the arena with sounds of longing and joy.

The husky baritone, now cracked with age, sounded even more appropriate for the poetry of his lyrics. His joy in performance was contagious. His back up singers lent perfect harmony to his whispered songs. It was a transformative night.

He sang his heart out. For three and a half hours, he covered every bit of his repertoire, from the youthful ballad to Suzanne to the power of Hallelujah, to the painful lyrics of the Future.

He graced us with six encores that included Marianne and my personal favourite First you Take Manhattan.

What a night. I am blessed to have been there.

It's happening.

Fri, 17 Apr 2009 16:11:33 +0100

My book of monologues will be sold at Biz books in Vancouver starting next week. Oooh! I'm pretty excited.

Liberals are ahead in the upcoming B.C. election and I'm pissed. There is no way they have such a commanding lead. Gordo in a megalomaniac who will ruin the salmon run, has done nothing to eradicate the Pine Beetle, and has no idea of the final cost of the Olympics. They will create a monstrous debt for the Province.

Unfortunately, The NDP platform is straight out of the 90's with a rather foolish claw-back proposal of the carbon tax. There is really nothing in their for the current situation.

What needs to happen... and this is why blogs are written... because we bloggers can with impunity solve the problems of global warming, the economic melt-down and world peace... is

1. That the carbon tax should be maintained and every penny pumped into mass transit.

2. Taxes be raised for the top 15% of British Columbians and lowered for the bottom 15%. Th excess in revenue

(and there would be millions) should go into social-housing and to protect the homeless.

3. Legalize and control marijuana...B.C.'s most lucrative export and use the income to fight the gangs that are beginning to own our streets.

I will still vote NDP but I wish they had more imagination.

That would be a start anyway.

Would you vote for me?

Obama

Thu, 09 Apr 2009 15:51:15 +0100

I don't know about the rest of you, but I am still enthralled by the new attitude espoused by the President of my neighbor to the south. Not only is he a take charge guy but his method is inclusion rather than the superior posturing that W used to treat his allies and his enemies. There seems to be a realization that America under Bush/Cheney was nearly universally hated and that reparations are needed.

I was pleased to read that Obama hosted the first 'seder' in the White House. I am neither a religious Jew nor a fervent Zionist but, as a writer, I do believe in the importance of the symbolic gesture.

It seems as if, to this point in any case, the guy is real and the promise of change is genuine. I don't understand the GOP clinging to a rationale that has clearly passed them by. It may be because I am not American but negativity in politics rarely wins the day.

Mired in the sixties

Wed, 01 Apr 2009 15:51:51 +0100

I am a left-wing, former beatnik (that's pre-hippie) who wrote poetry and read philosophies. I am a peace loving, ban the bomb marching, environmentalist who is constantly disappointed in the failure of my generation to solve or resolve all of the ills of our society. This is my background, so the fact that I own several houses, travel the world and, despite paper

losses, am somewhat unfazed by the recent stock market melt-down, belies my foundations. Unlike Jerry Rubin who became a stock broker on Wall street and died rich in Brentwood Ca., I joined the system believing that as a teacher of theatre arts I hadn't quite "sold out." It's called equivocation.

It's all about the music. We shall Overcome, The Times are-a-changing, Freedom, Draft Dodger Rag are the anthems of my day.

I can't get into todays music. I don't understand it, despite the fact that my son is a well-known music critic and I try to read his writings and listen to his selections. I feel the anger and the power. I believe that the angst of today is more worthy that the s -bop-sh-bop doowadidie bubble gum music of my teens. I just can't comprehend it. Just as my parents couldn't get beyond Sinatra and Dino. I lie. My father liked Pat Boone. Every time his dulcet baritone was on the radio dial, he would say, "Now that's a singer!" As for me, I can't get much beyond Dylan, Ian and Sylvia, Arlo, the Beatles and the Doors. I have seen, among others, Pete Seeger, The Eagles, the Stones, Buffy, and Dylan( 6 times). The Moody Blues and Jim Fogarty played outdoor concerts in Deer Lake park near my home. I saw Hendrix, the Mamas and the Papas and Jefferson Airplane in Golden gate park in San Francisco. I sat under a tree at the Boston Common thirty years or so ago and James Taylor casually sat down, took out his guitar and began to play as a small crowd gathered. Enough.

On the thirtieth of March, amazingly youthful despite her seventy years, Judy Collins sang with the Vancouver symphony Orchestra. I smiled throughout the entire concert. I loved that she opened with Both Sides Now and followed it with Someday Soon and Suzanne. After the intermission she did Chelsea Morning. I even liked her tribute to John Denver. I knew all the words to almost every song she sang.

I wonder how many of you feel the same... mired in your generation and unable to cope with the totems of today. Talk to me.

What's funny?

Mon, 16 Mar 2009 14:31:30 +0100

In a depression such as this, laughter is hard to come by. There are a great many topics that are tabu while people are waiting for financial recovery or at the least, a few signs of stability. I hear no Geithner jokes or Bernanke jokes. Even Madoff, who 'made off' with so many people's life savings, has been mostly exempted from skewering by the comics.

Those of us who are all right for the time being, and I include myself on my teachers pension, are meeting at social gatherings and not talking about it. " I don't even look" "I hope by the time I really need it, it will be there." "It" being money enough to live on. We are certainly avoiding talking about those middle class fallen who have lost their homes and their savings. We do feel badly but ... what can we do about it? Obama says to spend. So does our Prime Minister. My question is where do we place our money? My wife and I have decided that in these lean times, we will support the Arts.In the past month, we've gone to the Ballet, the Symphony and several theatre events. We'll keep doing this because the money doesn't trickle down, it gushes into the pockets of the artists.

Here are some of the things that are so outrageous that we should be making jokes about them.

GM has come up with a great plan. They're going to raise the prices and lower the warranty.... I mean they're going to lower their prices and raise the warranty... I mean... doesn't it want to make you cry?

Why would anybody buy a GM or Chrysler car when the likelihood is that within a short period of time, the morally bankrupt companies will have gone the way of American Motors and Studebaker. Let the companies fall and hire the workers to repair the roads and bridges that are in such a shambles.

They blew it. The CEO's with their gigantic salaries and their bonuses and their private jets and their arrogant attitudes need to be fired. Nobody needs a gas guzzling SUV anymore and they were collectively too stupid to realize it. Fire their asses and repossess their assets.

And the Banks and Insurance giants, let's give them a hand-out . Government needs to let the bloated bankers fail and put the bail-out money directly into the hands of the needy. This is not rocket science. If the money is given to the banks, whose sole motivation is to earn a profit, it will never get to those who deserve a break. What is really funny, is AIG telling the world yesterday that they couldn't continue to hire the brightest and the best unless they give out $450,000,000 in bonuses. Bonuses? For whaaaat!!!! This is akin to a teacher telling her student. " You didn't study, you never did your homework, you're a disruptive influence in the classroom and in the school yard, so I've decided to give you straight "A"s. Keep it up."

These failures need to be turfed. They didn't cut it. Bonuses? Take those money craving executives out to the street and have them switch places with a homeless person for a few weeks so that they can realize what it is they have done to the majority of the population. After that, fire their asses! AIG wants to bring us all back to Marie Antoinette. " Let them eat cake!" How about letting them eat feces instead?

Okay, so this rant started out to be a review panning the satirical Bill Maher show I saw on Saturday night in Vancouver. It was, at best, a lazy performance, he didn't even deign to include a Canadian segment in his patter and abruptly left the stage after a one hour and fifteen minute show. When I was on the Atkins diet and slipped for a baked potato, I would say it wasn't worth the carbs after my weigh-in the following morning. Maher, king of the sardonic comics, wasn't worth the laughs, not even the chuckles or the chortles. Maybe a snicker or two at best. He should have received a government bail-out or an AIG bonus for that performance.