sundries, supersized

[rm]

Tomorrow at 6am EST Patty and I have our last vid date before she is home on Tuesday. Then, I crawl out of bed for 2 Day Film School! Then ladyofthelog comes over for apartment cleaning and Sherlock obsessing.

If you haven't heard Erica and I screaming with joy on other social media (or generally just from various upper reaches of Manhattan), last night Dogboy & Justine crossed the funding threshold.

So first, thank you. We can't say it enough, and I hope to be able to say it more poetically soon.

As of now, we've raised $6,045 for our workshop production. So what happens next?

First, the fundraising period is still on. If you've wanted to contribute and haven't yet, you can until the evening of the 21st and we will continue to be very, very grateful. Having a cushion is of course always good, and we have other projects in the works including a cabaret evening, and Erica's Pygmalion creation. Plus, we're getting ready to submit Dogboy & Justine to the New York Musical Theater Festival for 2011.

I really, really, really haven't been kidding about the incredibly specificity of Weird Crap in My Brain that put this in gear, and I am so grateful for all the people and pieces that were in the right place at the right time to make this possible. Knowing Erica is a fluke. She is a New Person in a world where I don't really do new people because people sort of freak me out in spite of my whole gregarious chatter holding court thing. And she's scary talented. And it's awesome.

Anyway. On December 21st funding will close. At that point we will start getting in touch with all you lovely donors with thank you cards, information on your premium tickets (how to book or how to transfer them to someone else) and other rewards big donors have earned.

Sometime in the 5 - 14 days following that, the funds, minus Kickstarter's fees will transfer to our Amazon account, and after that, transfer to our savings account for the show. Then January shows up, we make a timeline, hold auditions, look at theaters (I have a few we're considering that we used to help us run the budget numbers) and then here we are.

If you were thinking about donating to Dogboy & Justine and want to put your money elsewhere now that we've reached our goal, we support that too, and hope that if that's your plan you'll consider another Kickstarter project targeted at working artists or the Brain Injury Foundation of America, which we'll be donating at least $200 (and hopefully more) to through a percentage of our ticket sales and audience support in the course of the workshop production.

Yesterday was also a productive Friends of the Text meeting and there will be stuff of awesome for you soon. We are doing our best to fight the academic pace of things, and I think we're on target to make stuff happen.

I also can't make enough noise about Kali and I having solved the book. Which, hilariously has a shitty working title we hate and a title we know an eventual publisher will call it, but not actually a title we like and would advocate for yet. I'm hoping that we'll have some sort of summary or excerpt we can share with at least a selected audience sometime in the next few months.

For fuck's sake, yes, I am still working on ConSweet. And yeah, still listening to that shit Kevin Rudolf song on repeat to do it.

Have I mentioned that Bazmark Inq is actually using the Internet lately? I know, right? Anyway, I alert you to this because today a list of research materials they've been looking at for Gatsby was posted. For those wanting to follow along at home (and also scholars), this is super cool.

When I got home last night, after midnight, I turned on the news and saw footage of the rioting in London and promptly burst into tears. First, there is an easy to understand brutality to the footage. It's just pushing and shouting and people being beaten with truncheons and frightened animals (and, btw, you should also Google "kettling" and get an understand of what's being done to even peaceful protesters).

I lived in DC during the first Gulf War, just six blocks from the White House. I protested and went to cover the protests as a student journalist. I saw cops on horses hit a man over the head with a truncheon not even a foot away from me. He collapsed to the ground bleeding profusely. The photo appeared in our local City Paper but not in any sort of national news.

There were night when the protests broke off from the official protest area illegally, and marched through the streets. One night we got cornered by cops, and it seemed absolutely clear that we were about to be hurt, because we could be, because no one was watching. And then someone pulled out a video camera. And I remember that man, probably 24, 25. He was standing right next me and shaking like a leaf. The cops told him to put it away. And he said no, over and over he said no. We were so scared. And eventually, the cops just escorted us back to where we were supposed to be.

When I think of London, it is a double image of my recent year of visits there, of sitting in a park near Westminster alone thinking about this death and mourning project thing and how I might not have done it had I known what the experience was going to be like. It was hard. It was confronting. It was personal. It was brain stretching. It was me at my absolute finest and me sometimes at my least generous.

But I also think of my childhood when I think of London. I think of Regan and Thatcher and the Cold War and AIDS. I think of older teenagers I knew who explained terrible times made for great music and everything was better in London, because people were so much angrier there. I think of Morrissey and V for Vendetta and fantasies of protests and nightclubs and the world of adults I lived more on the edge of than someone my age was supposed to.

I look at the riots in London and my heart breaks. My heart breaks for the UK. And my heart breaks for America where I despair of anyone ever getting angry enough about the right things in that way anymore. Rioting isn't good, sure. But why aren't we angry? Why are we letting the power of anger be co-opted by racists and other demagogues?

My heart breaks for London, which always seems so far away.

Meanwhile, who's surprised by this one? Not me: some Wikileaks team members are breaking away to form a competing organization, Openleaks, in response to differences with Assange. The money quote comes from a chat log Wired obtained in which a Wikileaks staffer says to Assange, "You are not anyone's king or god, And you're not even fulfilling your role as a leader right now. A leader communicates and cultivates trust in himself. You are doing the exact opposite. You behave like some kind of emperor or slave trader."

I am, honestly, sincerely, actually freaked out by the state of the world right now. It's not that the world is so much more fragile or dangerous than at any other time in my life. In some ways, it's less so. But we are on the cusp and in the middle of fistfulls of changes in a way I've never seen before.

In other news, this is the most useless article about Polari ever, but it's facing extinction and you should know about it.

Let me show you my continuing love for the Disunion blog: Today, Visualizing Slavery, focusing on the 1860 census of the population of people enslaved in the US at the time.

My Last Play: the thing about gimmicks is that they can work. Sometimes, they can also be sincere.

The New York Times writes an article which contains some interesting content yet actually has a thesis that's far, far, FAR more all over the map (so perhaps no thesis) than it realizes, declaring this "the year of the transsexual." The piece is also, unsurprisingly, so full of fail it's jaw dropping.

Randomly: join me in staring at Benedict Cumberbatch's beautiful cat-like face.

Comments

[ayoub.livejournal.com]

AWESOME NEWS!

:D

[arielstarshadow.livejournal.com]

Oh, wow - I hope those who still know the language have been putting together a lexicon. In this day and age, there's no reason why we can't save such things.

[xtricks.livejournal.com]

I'm actually glad to hear that some wikileaks employees are splitting off. Not because I dislike wikileaks or care much about assague (sp?) but because just like a monolithic traditional press here in the US is crippling the balance of power, a monolithic secret minder isn't good either.

[lovefromgirl.livejournal.com]

Y'know, I never thought of it that way before. Awesome point.

[browneyedgirl65.livejournal.com]

A good point, although by this time WikiLeaks already is, in a sense, because it's been spawned and replicated everywhere (quite out of Assange's or the remaining 5-6 people officially with it) once its original domain was taken down.

But anyway, WikiLeaks is a creature of the Internet, and so was destined to become as amorphous and diffuse as its host.

What I *didn't* expect was the narrative RM uncovered, the clash of personalities going on -- although of course that makes perfect sense (politics being when 3 or more people get together).

[rm.livejournal.com]

Here's what I want to know -- Wikileaks has appointed a new public face. But a) does anyone care and b) who now controls the key to the insurance file? Wikileaks and its new public face or Assange?

[ladyaelfwynn.livejournal.com]

Yay about D&J!

I used to work for the Brain Injury Association, sort of. They hired the firm for which I worked to organize their library and I helped them hire a librarian to run it after we were done. It was interesting in that I learned a lot and as my sister had had a traumatic brain injury in the early 1980s, it felt like a good project for me to work on.

[ladyofthelog.livejournal.com]

And I will finally discover the location of the pickaxe.

YAY for getting full funding on D&J! I am delighted for you!

eta: fave Cumberbatch faces

[brewsternorth.livejournal.com]

N'awwwwww! (Reminds me of some of the adorable-faces-in-action when BC was being interviewed for iirc "Harper's Bazaar".)

[adelheid-p.livejournal.com]

Woot! That's great news about D&J! I'm out some money because of it, but glad to be so.

[eumelia.livejournal.com]

Hooray for the Musical!

I've been feeling like Marvin the Paranoid Android the whole day regarding the state of the world. Today is Human Rights Day (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Human_Rights_Day) and honestly, it should be Human Wrongs day.

Going back to the Hitchhiker's Guide and denial...

[brewsternorth.livejournal.com]

Interesting factoid about Polari: it crops up in the dialogue to the Pertwee-era "Carnival of Monsters". (The carnival-owner speaks it, though apparently Pertwee's Doctor doesn't.) I hope that not merely the language but its history is preserved and understood.

[missysedai.livejournal.com]

Dogboy & Justine: YAY! Congratulations! This has all been quite fascinating to me.

Polari: I had no idea such a thing existed. Also, what the hell is Morrisey's hair doing in that picture? He's otherwise looking pretty good, but my gods, the hair! (Maybe it's just a bad picture?)

Benedict Cumberbatch: Oh my. How come I can't have cheekbones like that??

[dine.livejournal.com]

the London riot footage reminded me in several ways of riots during the First Gulf War and how Portland got its "Little Beirut" nickname

astoundingly, the Polari article contains no actual information - truly worthless. I was thinking about Polari during my morning commute the other day; no clue why it crossed my mind then, but I love synchronicity

*stares at beautiful BC for a while*

[merrycaepa (from livejournal.com)]

I'll just leave this here...
http://fuckyeahbenedictcumberbatch.tumblr.com/

[malle-babbe.livejournal.com]

*Thank You*

[green-maia.livejournal.com]

Dogboy & Justine crossed the funding threshold

YAY!!!!!

[hab318princess.livejournal.com]

I am, honestly, sincerely, actually freaked out by the state of the world right now. It's not that the world is so much more fragile or dangerous than at any other time in my life. In some ways, it's less so. But we are on the cusp and in the middle of fistfulls of changes in a way I've never seen before.

just - yes! (though I'm not sure whether I like that I now have to face this fear that it's been expressed)

[tenacious-snail.livejournal.com]

Vicky (Judge-elect Kolakowski to most of you) was pretty stunned to end up in a NYT fashion article.

[azn-jack-fiend.livejournal.com]

I think that dude looks more like Kermit the Frog :D

Congrats on D&J!

[lovefromgirl.livejournal.com]

Before I go stare:

CONGRATULATIONS! ♥ I am really excited that this project gets to go forward. I know it's kinda your baby and all, and so I raise my glass to it and to you.

Polari going extinct makes me sad. It's not even mine to claim, but dammit, languages are awesome, and there are things you just can't say in "proper" English. Languages bring context to a conversation.

I think the only reason I am not scared right now is that my worldview doesn't extend that far, that right now the entirety of my concern revolves around what I can touch (yeah, there's enough of it to fill the space). If I were as aware as you are, I would probably be quaking in my boots. Please know that at least one person thinks no less of you, okay? Scared is normal. I'm the weirdo. ;)

[laufeyette.livejournal.com]

Congrats re: your play!

And hello there, Mr. Cumberbatch. ♥_♥

!

[keith418.livejournal.com]

"What in the good name of Benedict Cumberbatch is going on here?!?"

[misch.livejournal.com]

Congrats on making your funding goals.

The "My Last Play" reminds me of Randy Pausch and The Last Lecture.

[bodlon.livejournal.com]

It would feel a lot more like "Year of the Transsexual" if my insurance coverage were adequate, my ability to make legal changes was less ridiculous, and my ability to marry and trust that spousal benefits and the legality of that union wouldn't be challenged in court was a little more...robust.

*takes a nice breath, goes to look at Benedict Cumberbatch for a couple of minutes*

Also, is it wrong that I'm amused there's a photo of Morrissey with the article about Polari?

[junebugged.livejournal.com]

Thank you for donating to BIA. As someone who is living with daily reminders of a major stroke, this means the world to me.

That aside, I am so ridiculously psyched that D&J met your goal... that is so awesome!!!!

And ditto about the state of the world. Ditto so hard.

[rm.livejournal.com]

Thank you! And thank you for saying good things about BIA. It's always hard to be sure you're choosing the right charity in these sorts of circumstances, I find, but with your comment and someone else above saying they used to work there, I'm feeling like we're doing okay.

[junebugged.livejournal.com]

I can see how my original comment could be misleading, and I'm sorry about that. I can't say that I have personal direct experience with them - I was expressing my thanks for the area you chose to support. Full disclosure, and all that...

[rm.livejournal.com]

Oh, well all good. I'm glad you're glad. Sorry for the confusion.

[junebugged.livejournal.com]

no no, I'M sorry! I haven't been very good with phrasing lately... my brain is in a fog that I'm choosing to blame on my hibernating grizzly bear ancestors.

[rm.livejournal.com]

I've been up since 6am, and did a 9 hour class today and a friend is currently cleaning a cache of spider eggs out of a cabinet in my house, so I'm not doing so hot either. We can probably take the blame 50-50 on this one.

SPIDER EGGS.

[junebugged.livejournal.com]

aaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaagh getitoutgetitout get. it. OUT!!!!!

Am I close?

[rm.livejournal.com]

Mostly it's her saying "Don't look, IT IS UNDER CONTROL" and me looking anyway.

Me: Are those white fuzzy things spider egg sacks?
Her: ARE THEY?
Me: I think so.
Her: *smashing them against the floor with a random plastic bottle*
Me: Dude.

But it's over now.

There was even mopping after.

It never happened.

Ever.

Ever ever.

[rm.livejournal.com]

I should also note we're listening to the Spice Girls as this is happening.

[junebugged.livejournal.com]

*dead from lol*

[imaginarycircus.livejournal.com]

The idea of you and E listening to The Spice Girls while smashing potential spiders is too funny.

[sanat.livejournal.com]

That IS kind of a useless article on Polari, as it just raises questions as to what counts as a distinct language, and whether Polari was already dead with a few surviving loanwords (as someone else-forum has asked).

Wikipedia doesn't really help by defining it as a cant, defined in turn as "the jargon, argot or cryptolect of a group". This is why I get stuck for hours reading bloody Wikipedia because I click on all these links looking for their definitions!