The Builders Are In
I had the immense privilege of joining the Bishop Sullivan High School Forensics Team last week at the Smoky Mountain Invitational Speech Tournament. I worked with these guys for two years before coming out to the West Coast, so it was particularly exciting to get to reunite with them, meet new faces, and watch them compete. Or, as their team captain said, I actually got to watch them wander into a room where there was a pile of wood. I watched them build a stand and decide to open an a##-kicking stand.And they opened it wide. This team's 15 kids carried approximately 55 events. Of those, 28 broke to at quarter-finals. Something like 23 of those went to semi-finals. 9 events ended up in finals.The team ended up coming in 3rd overall in speech and 4th in sweepstakes, which combines speech and debate. Here are the really impressive parts. They only missed winning the entire competition by like 25 sweepstakes points (the equivalent of one more break to semi-finals and one first place) AND the team that won had over twice the number of events as our kids. Plus, they didn’t even have a debate team and they came in fourth overall! That’s how many points they had!This tournament also gives out a Trithon award (the high school equivalent of pentath) for students who have at least one event in each of the three genres of category—public address, limited prep, and oral interpretation. Bishop Sullivan was the only school to have two students to place in the trithon! Go Crusaders!Here is the individual breakdown of how the students did in each event. Extemporaneous Speaking—Michael Nugent (3rd); Jon Tan (4th); George Schaefer (6th); Chris Downs-(Semi-finals); Ashley Wilson-(Semi-finals)Declamation—Michael Nugent (2nd); Amanda Kuhnley (3rd); Richie Debo (Semi-finals); Chris Downs (Semi-finals); Ashley Wilson (Semi-finals)Storytelling—Amanda Kuhnley (Semi-finals); Renee Shuman (Quarterfinals)Prose Interpretation—Megan Clark (Semi-finals); Christine Lewandowski (Semi-finals); Deanna Flemings (Quarterfinals)HI—Renee Shuman (Semi-finals)POI—Megan Clark (2nd)Persuasion—Amanda Kuhnley-(5th); Stephanie Wilson (Semi-finals)Impromptu Speaking—Chris Downs (Semi-finals); Michael Nugent (Semi-finals); George Schaefer (Semi-finals); Jon Tan (Semi-finals)Poetry Interpretation—George Schaefer (6th); Christine Lewandowski (Quarterfinals)Dramatic Interpretation—Megan Clark (Quarterfinals); Amanda Kuhnley (Quarterfinals)Informative Speaking—Michael Nugent (3rd)
Sheesh!
No matter what your politics are, you have to be thankful that President Logan and Lynn McGill aren't real and that they aren't running this country.
If there is ever an argument as to why the vice-president should be carefully scrutinized in elections, President Logan is the reason. This man was clearly never capable of being POTUS and here he is buckling under pressure as the world watches. He has no faith in anyone, because he has no faith in himself. He's fine with the idea of mass casualties because "what if" is his breakfast food of choice.
And let's not even get started about someone who's running CTU but probably he is as incapable of dealing with stress as I am dealing with electrical wires. I mean, this guy makes Chloe look chill!
Humor
Personally, I'm getting a little tired of the
Brokeback
humor. It was funny the first time. Not the 556th. I don't see anybody making any
Crash
jokes, which probably says a lot about the fact we still think homophobia is funny and racism isn't.
Nevertheless, this might be my favorite parody yet. It's the
trailer for
The Empire Brokeback
starring C-3PO and R2-D2.
You're Going to Lose Your Audience
Within Act One circles it's been called "The Horse Whisperer" moment. It's the point in a story where something so horrendous happens that they audience doesn't want to go any further with the storyteller. They've been scarred by what's already come and they're not interested in what's coming ahead.
It's particularly dangerous when it's a character that engages in this kind of behavior. If he/she does something that is so appalling that you've lost the audience's empathy (or sympathy) for that character. While there are some stories that actually make this part of what is intriguing about the character, it's always a danger that people will just quit caring.
Sure, this is a subjective problem. Personally, I didn't have a problem with the scene of the horse being injured in
The Horse Whisperer.
I thought it was beautifully shot and edited and interesting. But then again, maybe I have a high tolerance for that kind of stuff. It takes a lot to lose me.
But after last night's
Grey's Anatomy
, I fear that the show might have lost me.
I love George. While Bailey is still my favorite character, I almost love George equally. T.R. Knight does a great job of playing his frustration, frailty, and yearning for a girl he can't get up the courage to tell her how he feels. He's not McDreamy or McSteamy, but he's McHusband material. So last night, when he finally got up the courage to tell Meredith how he felt about her and why he should be her McDreamy, in a moment of weakness, she pounced. She took complete advantage of him and used him to quash "the beast."
And I think she lost me.
Sure, it all happened as a great teaser for what's to come next week. For all I know, this might be the start of the next great couple of television, but I doubt it. She just doesn't seem to be into him and it was pretty clear from what happened in the course of last night's episode that she was in need of some kind of validation. And George was willing to give it. The writers have done such an effective job of making us care for George and his desire for the attainable that to have him used seems like a betrayal of the unwritten code.
If it were a character other than Meredith, we might be able to go there with them. She is the weakest of the characters. Partly because she's had a run of really bad luck since the program began, but partially because the other characters just seem to have more depth than her. Maybe this is the way for the writing team to really get into something with her and make us understand and care for her more. But if that's the attempt, it better happen quickly because the moment that George becomes my crushed, my newfound admiration for this show could deflate even faster.
So I'm waiting and nervous about next Sunday night.
Not Yet!
As I was driving around town today, I was assaulted by the sudden emergence of the character posters for the upcoming
X-Men
movie.
PLEASE NO!
The "For Your Consideration" billboards are barely down. At least let us get through Oscars before any of the studios start marketing summer product. PLEASE! The movie doesn't even open until the end of the May. After
MI: 3
and
DaVinci Code
.
ARGH!
Great Group of People
Last night I started the TV Track Spring Training for
Act One. And as I sat around the table listening to folks pitch their ideas, I realized a couple of things:
1. This is a really talented group of people.
2. I really want to write TV and get paid for it.
3. I wish I had moved to LA and started on this sooner.
4. Everytime I go in thinking that I'm going to write my next spec for [insert show title here], somebody suggests that I consider doing something else. The suggestion last night was
The Shield or
House.
5. Despite all the physical evidence to the contrary, I know that during the course of the last year, I have been truly blessed.
Enough Already
Ten minutes of it and I’m already sick of the Olympics. Let me watch some Jeremy Bloom action and then I’m done.
And oh, the end of another season of
Arrested Development. What did we ever do to deserve this show?
"I Love You" Songs
Broadwayworld has an interesting feature up where over 150 theater professionals share their
favorite Broadway love song. This of course got me thinking about what I would argue are the greatest Broadway love songs. There’s no way I could get mine down to one, but here’s a list of ten to consider.
- “All I Ask of You” from The Phantom of the Opera
- “Goodnight, My Someone” from The Music Man
- “He Touched Me” from Drat That Cat
- “If I Didn’t Believe in You” from The Last Five Years
- “Love to Me” from The Light in the Piazza
- “Not a Day Goes By” from Merrily We Roll Along
- “Not While I’m Around” from Sweeney Todd
- “Somewhere” from West Side Story
- “Unusual Way” from Nine
- “Written in the Stars” from Aida
Excitement
Here's a potential door-opener. Apparently, I have an interview on Monday to be part of the staff for a uperproducer's Pilot.
Let's hope it goes well.
Halftime Show!
I might not have seen all of the Grammys, but I can tell you this much—whoever Kanye West’s background dancers were deserve some serious cash. Dancing while strapped to either a set of quads (or quints) or even a bass drum is not easy. Then being able to play the funkiest drum break I’ve ever heard is quite impressive.
And I’m gonna need some time to digest the idea that Sawyer and Charlie are in cahoots with one another. At this point, the only word I can use to describe it is brilliant.
Two Days Too Late
This
AP story more than explains why it took me an hour (!) to drive a mile to my writer's group! ARGH! There has to be an easier way to let people know about these things!
The Fugees, one of the more enigmatic rap groups of the 1990s, brought a compelling blend of street and gangsta rap, Third World influences and pop sensibilities that helped rap gain acceptance in Middle America. Their albums, 1994's "Blunted on Reality" and 1996's multiplatinum "The Score," established the group as a force to be reckoned with.
Rumors abounded as to whether the Fugees would ever reunite, but the prospects looked dim over the years. While the Fugees officially regrouped at the 2005 BET Awards in Los Angeles and later played several European rehearsal dates, their show Monday in Hollywood was their first American concert in 10 years.
A massive radio giveaway of 8,000 free tickets for the show at the intersection of Hollywood Boulevard and Vine Street created a huge parking problem in a 12-block area leading into Hollywood. But all traffic worries were quickly banished as Wyclef opened with a 10-minute freestyle rap that included several lines in French and Spanish. Hill, adorned in a waist-length fur jacket, and Pras, in a peach summer jacket, followed onstage. Backed by a potent band, the Fugees threw themselves into the concert with abandon to roiling waves of rock and hardcore beats.
Polly Want a Boyfriend?
Dating rituals are confusing enough for adults, but for acne and angst-ridden middle-schoolers, it can be completely overwhelming. These years were the absolute low point of my romantic life. (I hit my stride when I was in kindergarten and married to seven girls at one time. I obtained pimp-daddy status at five and slowly deteriorated from there.) Seventh grade was the worst. I was adjusting to being a fish in a slightly bigger pond. But more importantly, there were girls—lots more girls that were catching my interest.
An important point to consider is that prior to my seventh grade year, I’d been in school with the same 26 people from kindergarten through sixth grade. Since I’d already divorced seven of those girls before I turned six, my options were verging on non-existent. I’d already traveled far in the friend zone with these girls, and believe me there were no benefits that far in. (Though being the only guy at a birthday party when they decide to play Seven Minutes in Heaven could qualify as a benefit, I guess…)
So my seventh-grade year comes around and I develop a big crush on this girl at my new school. For the sake of not completely humiliating myself with this tale, we’ll keep her anonymous and call her Polly. I thought Polly was cooler than He-Man, hotter than She-Ra and I knew (even before I understood the concept), she was out of my league. Nevertheless, when Polly spoke, I listened. When Polly answered a question in class, I knew she had to be right, even when the teacher claimed otherwise. When Polly told me my breath stunk, instead of calling her on her rude behavior, I agreed with her and rushed home to scrub my teeth with baking soda, hoping the next she’d notice and kiss me as a reward for my troubles. (I also had delusions of grandeur at this age—way before I understood what that concept meant.)
The worst was when I decided it was time for me to make a move. Polly was never going to respond if all I was doing was brushing my teeth to make sure they were clean in case she wanted to examine the health of my tonsils.
So I decided to write a secret note. But I was in desperate need of Dating For Dummies. It had been so long since I’d asked somebody to “go with me” that I’d forgotten how it was done. Since I was too chicken to call her or address her directly, a note in her locker sounded like the right decision.
But how to do it? I wanted to be able to deny culpability, so I had to come up with a plan that was fool-proof. The answer was simple. I would write a fake journal entry (not a diary mind you—a journal, because yes, I did keep one at that age) talking about how much I crushed on Polly. Then at the bottom of the entry would be a tear-off page that asked Polly if she would go with me. I would then enlist one of my former wives to tear off the bottom portion and slide that into Polly’s locker. Polly would then find it, be overwhelmed and become wife #8 in no time at all.
Wanna guess how it went down? Yep. Not the way I planned.
The former wife thought it would be funny to slip Polly the whole journal entry. I was appalled. And then when Polly found the thing, I tried to rationalize it by saying it was a journal entry. (Like that made anything better.) The skeptical look on her face made it obvious that she was as frightened of me as I was swoony for her. I didn’t really understand that expression until years later when I found myself making it upon being confronted by my second stalker.
The irony to all this is that by my Senior year in high school, Polly was already engaged. When we were giving our farewell speeches, I mentioned this long-standing crush, she hugged me and claimed not to know.
Indeed.
Seriously
So I get home tonight, all primed to watch
24
, walk in the door, and literally scream at the sight of my own shadow.
Seriously.
Writing about Writing
Two TV writing blogs that have become must reads for me:
Jane Espenson--(she wrote for
Buffy
a long time)
Grey Matters--the blog for the writers of
Grey's Anatomy
(so got into last night's ep btw).
I Feel Like I Should Be Sad
Western Union is quitting sending telegrams.
I guess I'd really care if I'd ever received a telegram. I always wanted to. Thought it would be cool. Alas, it's not supposed to happen.
A singing telegram on the other hand...
Listening vs. Seeing
I've always heard about how people who listened to the JFK/Nixon debates on the radio had a different impression of the two men compared to those who watched the debates on TV. While I understand the impact of those two media, I'd never really experientially encountered something that forced my hand, allowing me to realize how it actually worked.
Until last night. Being on the West Coast, the State of the Union (as is the same with apparently all Presidential broadcasts) is shown live. So I was on my way from work. No way I was going to be able to get there in time to see the whole thing, so I turned over to a talk/news radio station and listened to the President address the country.
And what a weird thing it was. Granted, I didn't hear the entire speech, just over half of it, but to me, it seemed like the rhythms were off, the punch wasn't there and it just sat there. But, I don't think that was the speech. I think that was me. My reaction was off. I couldn't make anything of it. I was less engaged. I was less interested. I was using fewer of my senses than normal when watching this annual affair, and as a result, I could've cared less. Even if I'd been home, I probably would've been surfing the Net, reading, cleaning, cooking, or doing something else with my eyes, but not being able to occassionally look at something (other than the highway). Says a lot about the power of the visual.
