There Are No Problems
December 11th, 2009There are no problems. Only situations – to be dealt with now, or to be left alone and accepted as part of the present moment [...] until they change or can be dealt with.
~ Eckhart Tolle The Power of Now
Of all the frou-frou, self-dev books I’ve collected over the past 3 years, none have had such a profound impact on my perspective as Tolle’s The Power of Now. Here’s a nice little interview on the Hour that introduces his philosophy.
This idea that I quoted above has been rattling around in my head the past couple of days. I find my life has gotten a lot by readdressing problems as situations. I like to think of the story of my life. And I try to be “one of the good guys,” in my story and as many other stories I’m featured in.
Actually, The Power of Now reminds me a lot of being an actor and making honest choices grounded in the moment. I’m not talking about being dramatic, I’m talking about listening to your scene partner and reacting appropriately to carry your role in the situation.
There are no problems, only situations. This makes the bills a little less scary. It makes me less critical of others. It eases my fears for tomorrow and my frustrations with yesterday. Tomorrow and yesterday are unimportant next to what is happening right now.
Tags: Quotations
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Donkey
December 9th, 2009
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Bill Maher: Vaccination Conversation
November 16th, 2009From my sick bed, I bring you:
Bill Maher wrote a very lovely, lengthy piece which artfully articulates a healthy dose of skepticism for the “medical-pharmaceutical-food industry” complex.
So if I remind you of a conspiracy theorist, you sometimes remind me of Britney Spears when she said “we should just do whatever the president says to do, and not ask questions and just support him.”
There’s a link between questing and questioning. Go seek your Truth, people.
Thanks, Dan for sharing. I’ll happily subscribe to Maher’s blog.
Tags: health, questioning
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Where the Wild Things Breathe
November 8th, 2009Where the Wild Things Are is a beautiful treat for anyone still nurturing their imagination; anyone who has (or had) imaginary friends; anyone who remembers what it was really like on the school yard.
The film is inspired and based on a short children’s book by Maurice Sendak. My lady friend and I snuck into the bookstore beside the cinema to read the book before watching movie. And I’m glad we did.
Despite how short the book is, and how few sentences there are. (I believe the book is nine sentences long.) The movie does a fantastic job of capturing, not only the imagery and style, but even some of the explicit moments drawn in the book.
The costumes and fx are delightful. I fell into the world, and very rarely did I pause to think about the mechanics of making such a film. (This is very rare for me.) My only slip up was watching the boy climb a rock cliff, where we very clearly only saw the back of his head. My inner-moron gleefully calls (silently) “Body double!” To which my inner bully gives the inner-moron an elbow, “Of course it is. You think they’d have a child climb that in a furry costume? Idiot.”
The photography did an excellent job of eavesdropping on this world and these characters. This is shaky cam well done. I felt like I was running through the trees. I felt like a dirt clod could explode into the camera at any moment. I felt like I was being told the story by the little boy, (who is an exceptional story teller, in his own rank.)
My one gripe with the movie was that I felt the soundscape suffered a distinct lack of imagination. In a story of enormous costumes and gorgeous landscapes, where anything can happen… I found the acoustic environment to be very lackluster. The most prominent sound of the movie (for me) was the breathing and wheezing of the monsters. Very cool. Very humanizing… but… I really would have liked to hear a bit more fantastical wilderness.
The soundtrack is great. Karen O and the Kids made some really playful, youthful songs. There were moments where the music gave me shivers. Still does, listening to the top of All Is Love (embedded below). I just would have liked a stronger acousmatic description of the world.
As an aside, I was realizing that I know very little about audio dynamic compression in the cinema (particularly relevant to my snobby ears bellowing for more sound art).
I typically find the cinema very LOUD, and the stereo field very narrow. Can anyone tell me if cinemas add additional dynamic compression? Is a DVD or Bluray more or less squashed than the film?
Tags: Cinema, Review, whimsy
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Richard Schechner: Observation Plus Subtraction
October 25th, 2009While clearing through a pile of paper from my drama undergraduate, I came across a photocopy of an email from New York theatre director Richard Schechner. One of my classmates had written him, explained they were doing a presentation on his work and asked if he had any personal message for the class. While his advice has the director in mind, I think it’s useful for anyone involved in collaborative creation. [Emphasis mine.]
Ok, I don’t usually do this, but….
Some advice for directors:
- Directing is mostly observation plus subtraction
- Stay out of the actors’ way mostly. But if you do intervene, do so with clarity and conviction
- Don’t let the designs, lighting, and other tech stuff submerge your production. Less is best, unless you are Robert Wilson
- You need to make a group, no matter how brief the rehearsal period. So you need to have a coherent warmup and exercise program. Sports are a good model: its mostly continuous training.
- No one is too old or too good not to need continuous training.
- Share yourself, not just ideas.
- Draw clear boundaries, when the work is “on” when the work is “off”. The principal of the sideline, the bench, the offtime. The intensity of the ontime.
- Make the whole thing good enough so that you show the audience only 25% of what you could show them.
Good luck!
rs
Tags: creating, Quotations, theatre
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