document.write('<ol class="tumblr_posts">\x0a    \x0a        \x0a            <li class="tumblr_post tumblr_text_post">\x0a                \x0a                    <div class="tumblr_title">Keynote</div>\x0a                \x0a                \x0a                <div class="tumblr_body">\x0a                    <p>I did my first Keynote (the Mac equivalent of PowerPoint aka PPT) presentation recently for a &#8220;master class&#8221; at Carnegie Mellon University. I&#8217;m learning that business presentations using this type of software (mainly PPT) are notorious for being insanely boring and stupid. This reputation, of course, attracts me like a fly to dung. I did slide shows for years, and presentation software is the next progression, although much easier and cheaper to develop.</p>\x0a<p>I&#8217;m going to create a bunch of new material for a presentation or two, using found materials and invented graphics&#8230;maybe drawings, too&#8230;I was thinking that drawings on black paper would look really cool.  Anyway, I&#8217;m stoked about the medium. Thought I&#8217;d share&#8230;</p>\x0a                </div>\x0a            </li>\x0a        \x0a\x0a        \x0a\x0a        \x0a\x0a        \x0a        \x0a        \x0a        \x0a        \x0a\x0a                        \x0a    \x0a        \x0a            <li class="tumblr_post tumblr_text_post">\x0a                \x0a                    <div class="tumblr_title">American Non-Ab-Ex artists</div>\x0a                \x0a                \x0a                <div class="tumblr_body">\x0a                    <p>Have a look at a Doug Simay review of George Tooker&#8217;s retrospective in Columbus, OH:</p>\x0a<p><a href="http://www.simayspace.com/NorthernOhio.htm">http://www.simayspace.com/NorthernOhio.htm</a></p>\x0a<p>Lots of really great pix of Tooker&#8217;s and others. Simay argues that American figurative painters from 1920-1950 period were shunned in the 50s and beyond because of their political content and/or the fact that they were painting figuratively. Look at how Phillip Guston was derided when he abandoned abstract painting to take up his spectacular figurative work in the Ab Ex days. This attitude continues, as Abstract Expressionism still rules the day.</p>\x0a<p>Simay decries this hideous bias, and I agree. Tooker, Paul Cadmus, Charles Demuth, Jacob Lawrence, Peter Blume, Arthur Dove, Marion Greenwood, Marsden Hartley, Jared French, William Gropper, Belle Baranceanu, Charles Sheeler, Charles White: the list goes on and on. They are our national treasures, and it&#8217;s time for the second tier status to end.</p>\x0a<p>In case you haven&#8217;t lapsed into a coma yet, for more excellent commentary on this subject, try &#8220;American Expressionism&#8221; by Bram Dijkstra; the book is filled with fantastic reproductions and his excellent text presents a vibrant defense of this remarkable movement.</p>\x0a<p>Thank to Bert Green for alerting me to the Simus review. His gallery in downtown L.A. is one of the most interesting and well curated in town:</p>\x0a<p><a href="http://www.bgfa.us/index.html">http://www.bgfa.us/index.html</a></p>\x0a                </div>\x0a            </li>\x0a        \x0a\x0a        \x0a\x0a        \x0a\x0a        \x0a        \x0a        \x0a        \x0a        \x0a\x0a                        \x0a    \x0a        \x0a            <li class="tumblr_post tumblr_text_post">\x0a                \x0a                    <div class="tumblr_title">Pontifications, free.</div>\x0a                \x0a                \x0a                <div class="tumblr_body">\x0a                    <p>Grant applications: great way to figure out what I&#8217;m going to do, and when, and how much it is going to cost.</p>\x0a<p>Parking tickets: street tax.</p>\x0a<p>Buy local, when it comes to culture: xenophobia?</p>\x0a                </div>\x0a            </li>\x0a        \x0a\x0a        \x0a\x0a        \x0a\x0a        \x0a        \x0a        \x0a        \x0a        \x0a\x0a                        \x0a    \x0a        \x0a            <li class="tumblr_post tumblr_text_post">\x0a                \x0a                    <div class="tumblr_title">My house and a dummy!</div>\x0a                \x0a                \x0a                <div class="tumblr_body">\x0a                    <p>Ordered a ventriloquist dummy from Conrad Hartz. A dupe of a Frank Marshall figure (Marshall is the most revered of American vent dummy builders in the 20th century). I&#8217;m stoked!</p>\x0a<p>Learning how to say B, F, V, W, and and M are super hard, lemme tell you. I figured (heh) that the only way I&#8217;m gonna get my ass in gear is to buy one of these things. Promises, promises: enough already. Now I have YOU to account to&#8230;uh oh.<br/><br/>My house was just featured in the LA Times. There&#8217;s 13 pix posted on the Times website.<br/><br/>1. STORY ABOUT HOUSE  <a href="http://www.latimes.com/features/home/la-hm-zaloom6-2009jun06,0,5523481.story%C2%A0%C2%A0">http://www.latimes.com/features/home/la-hm-zaloom6-2009jun06,0,5523481.story  </a>  <br/><br/>2.  MORE FAB PIX OF THE HOUSE  <a href="http://www.latimes.com/features/home/la-hm-0606-zaloom-pictures,0,6280273.photogallery">http://www.latimes.com/features/home/la-hm-0606-zaloom-pictures,0,6280273.photogallery</a><br/> ***Make sure you check out photo #8. The writer&#8217;s caption mentions German figures, a Danish pot, and a paper mache car that I bought in Cuba&#8230;. um, she forgot the Homies on the left, one of whom is giving a hummer to another while their pals look on (and I don&#8217;t mean the Jeep thingie).</p>\x0a<p>&#8230;and&#8230;</p>\x0a<p>3. STORY ABOUT PUPPET PEOPLE IN L.A.  <a href="http://www.latimes.com/entertainment/arts/la-ca-puppets17-2009may17,0,1324727.story">http://www.latimes.com/entertainment/arts/la-ca-puppets17-2009may17,0,1324727.story</a><br/><br/>Notice the doll is mentioned in both articles #1 AND #3&#8230;..eeeeks.</p>\x0a                </div>\x0a            </li>\x0a        \x0a\x0a        \x0a\x0a        \x0a\x0a        \x0a        \x0a        \x0a        \x0a        \x0a\x0a                        \x0a    \x0a        \x0a            <li class="tumblr_post tumblr_text_post">\x0a                \x0a                    <div class="tumblr_title">Banksy</div>\x0a                \x0a                \x0a                <div class="tumblr_body">\x0a                    <p>Graffiti artist Banksy does lots of other stuff, like this amazing, funny-as-hell automata installation in NYC:</p>\x0a<p><a href="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TAMsZxABiv4">http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TAMsZxABiv4</a></p>\x0a<p>I beleive Banksy is a puppeteer, in the same vein as Survival Research Laboratory. Automata and machines are a branch of our beloved, low brow, not-taken-seriously-but-who-gives-a-shit art form.</p>\x0a<p>I was going to tell a friend to check it out and add that I thought that Banksy was &#8220;one of the best artists working today.&#8221;  I wonder why he has to be &#8220;the best?&#8221; How come he can&#8217;t just be my favorite? I mean, I know that it&#8217;s totally meaningless to make the grand declaration that someone is the &#8220;best&#8221; at something that cannot be measured like a bike race or a baseball game. It&#8217;s why the Oscars are friggin idiotic as hell. &#8220;Best actor.&#8221; Hunh?</p>\x0a<p>So why do I buy into it? I want to return it to the &#8220;Best Buy&#8221; or whatever. *groan</p>\x0a                </div>\x0a            </li>\x0a        \x0a\x0a        \x0a\x0a        \x0a\x0a        \x0a        \x0a        \x0a        \x0a        \x0a\x0a                        \x0a    \x0a        \x0a            <li class="tumblr_post tumblr_text_post">\x0a                \x0a                    <div class="tumblr_title">LA Times article on puppetry</div>\x0a                \x0a                \x0a                <div class="tumblr_body">\x0a                    <p>Holly Meyers writes about the puppet scene in L.A. She said something really cool about The Punch and Jimmy Show:</p>\x0a<p>&#8220;&#8230;a hilariously irreverent gay adaptation of the classic routine.&#8221;</p>\x0a<p>She also mentions my beloved clown doll, tucked under the covers, but she says it&#8217;s a stuffed animal. It&#8217;s weird to have such an odd, idiotsyncratic thing reported in the press (a full grown adult with a doll in his bed), but whatever.</p>\x0a<p>She also writes about Laura Heit, Janie Geiser, Susan Simpson, Eli Presser, and others.</p>\x0a<p><a href="http://www.latimes.com/entertainment/news/arts/la-ca-puppets17-2009may17,0,3045880.story">http://www.latimes.com/entertainment/news/arts/la-ca-puppets17-2009may17,0,3045880.story</a></p>\x0a                </div>\x0a            </li>\x0a        \x0a\x0a        \x0a\x0a        \x0a\x0a        \x0a        \x0a        \x0a        \x0a        \x0a\x0a                        \x0a    \x0a        \x0a            <li class="tumblr_post tumblr_text_post">\x0a                \x0a                    <div class="tumblr_title">Aerosmith nuts</div>\x0a                \x0a                \x0a                <div class="tumblr_body">\x0a                    <p>I read this quote somewhere a couple years ago and just found it in a dusty corner of my computer. My family was in the pistachio business for many years: my great uncle Joe had his company Zenobia, and my dad and his brother had Zaloom Nuts (no jokes, please; I&#8217;ve heard them all).</p>\x0a<p>Here&#8217;s what I found: a qutoe from Steve Tyler, lead singer of Aerosmith and all-around ex-degenerate:</p>\x0a<p>&#8220;&#8230;  My first paycheck? I bought a big bag of Zaloom pistachios, a bottle of Boone&#8217;s Farm, and a little bag of blue crystal meth, which I hid in the back &#8230;&#8221;</p>\x0a                </div>\x0a            </li>\x0a        \x0a\x0a        \x0a\x0a        \x0a\x0a        \x0a        \x0a        \x0a        \x0a        \x0a\x0a                        \x0a    \x0a        \x0a            <li class="tumblr_post tumblr_text_post">\x0a                \x0a                    <div class="tumblr_title">New kids show</div>\x0a                \x0a                \x0a                <div class="tumblr_body">\x0a                    <p>I&#8217;m working on some ideas for a new kids stage show. I love performing for children; they have their own sense of humor, which is not that obvious to us adults. The challenge to make them laugh and keep them engaged is crazy fun.</p>\x0a<p>I&#8217;ve debated whether or not to do a new Beakman show or leave that character behind. A reason to keep it is that teachers and parents remember the show and liked it, and they will bring their kids to see the stage show. Plus I love playing the character, with his cheesy Noo Yawk accent and ridiculous get-up.</p>\x0a<p>I&#8217;m also intrigued to try just playing myself for the next show. Yeah, it may sound dreary, but in The Mother of All Enemies, when I do play myself with the bumper sticker section, people really respond. I also want to explore this more direct means of performing, no longer mediated by a bunch of crap or some character.</p>\x0a<p>Now, Zaloom doing a show without a bunch of crap is unlikely, but in the new world that&#8217;s unfolding, mean and lean is the way to go. I have too much freight for venues to cover, the tech takes too much time, and I want to streamline the whole enterprise while filling the stage up.</p>\x0a<p>So in the kids show: I am currently considering a low tech multi media spectacle about the brain. I find it pretty interesting, how this gooey grey thing works, and I&#8217;ve come up with some ideas on how to make the subject matter compelling. I&#8217;m also wondering how I can sell the damn thing, since this is not a hobby but a full time job.</p>\x0a<p>I&#8217;m thinking of it as a &#8220;Zaloom show&#8221; for kids and families&#8230;i.e. without the potty mouth and politics&#8230;well, some sly subversion in tone, anyway.</p>\x0a                </div>\x0a            </li>\x0a        \x0a\x0a        \x0a\x0a        \x0a\x0a        \x0a        \x0a        \x0a        \x0a        \x0a\x0a                        \x0a    \x0a        \x0a            <li class="tumblr_post tumblr_text_post">\x0a                \x0a                    <div class="tumblr_title">Confirmation: insane.</div>\x0a                \x0a                \x0a                <div class="tumblr_body">\x0a                    <p>I saw Mike Daisy&#8217; show a couple weeks ago about the demise of theater in our country: How Theater Failed America&#8230;it was funny as hell and right on the money, not to mention pretty depressing. Daisy sits at a desk with an outline in front of him and a glass of water to the side, a la Spaulding Gray. I particularly enjoyed his rant about how buildings have taken precedent over productions in theaters across the country. After the show, there was a panel of theater folks from LA who talked about the current and future state of live theater. I had a great time and wanted to kill myself.</p>\x0a<p>Re: the posting below. The director of the show won an L.A. Weekly Theater Award. I am insane.</p>\x0a                </div>\x0a            </li>\x0a        \x0a\x0a        \x0a\x0a        \x0a\x0a        \x0a        \x0a        \x0a        \x0a        \x0a\x0a                        \x0a    \x0a        \x0a            <li class="tumblr_post tumblr_text_post">\x0a                \x0a                    <div class="tumblr_title">I must be insane</div>\x0a                \x0a                \x0a                <div class="tumblr_body">\x0a                    <p>I saw a show yesteday here in LA: &#8220;Linda Lovelace: The Musical&#8221; (you read that right).</p>\x0a<p>My pal Randee suggested we go; within one minute, she  was leaning over to apologize to me. The show was maudlin, corny, obvious, and excrutiatingly cliched from start to finish. We sat in the front row (last time I ever do that), so we couldn&#8217;t skip.</p>\x0a<p>The music was bombastic, the staging idiotic, the lighting laughable, blah blah. And of course this truly atrocious kitsch fest got not only a rave review in the LA Times but a vigorous and sustained standing ovation; my jaw was on the floor. Randee and I were the only people in the house who stayed in our seats. To stand would have been creepily dishonest; I&#8217;m trying to avoid that.</p>\x0a<p>I guess we are insane, the two of us. I don&#8217;t get it.</p>\x0a                </div>\x0a            </li>\x0a        \x0a\x0a        \x0a\x0a        \x0a\x0a        \x0a        \x0a        \x0a        \x0a        \x0a\x0a                        \x0a    \x0a</ol>');