(no subject)

As has been evidenced somewhere in the swirl of my massively divided attention span around here, I have a real hard on about a lot of the fall movies coming out, notably Vanity Fair (two days away now) and Closer (December).

I had to code an entire article about Closer at work today, and it enticed me further. So, I ran out and bought the play, and hot damn, it's just... exactly the sort of thing I think plays should be about in the way I think they should be about them.

But more importantly than that, it made me absolutely 120% realize exactly what it is I need to write about the Michael thing, and how, because I finally see the thread of the plot there, and see it at a distance and see why it should be told in a given way in a given format, and I am just so fucking excited, even if the act of writing such thing will effectively make every terrible thing he ever said about me true.

And I don't care.

I'm going to write it, and I'm going to submit it to Fringe next year.

That said... Closer -- this play, this play... it makes me want to take a scene study class right now just to work on parts of this with someone.

I'm not being eloquent, I'm too excited by too many things to be eloquent right now.

Obligatory RNC analysis

Granted, they aren't my party, but is it all just not quite getting you revved up?

McCain, who is generally an excellent speaker, I just didn't find exciting at all. I also found the content of his speech to be at odds with many of the views he's expressed that make me like and support him. All in all, I thought his speech did him no favours with either party, and didn't do much for the image of the Republicans in general.

Giuliani's speech was more interesting in general, mostly as a case study of Giuliani who is a fascinating and problematic political figure on both the local and national stage.

Basic speechcraft first: too long, too rambling, too many vague enemies, too many comparisons that were often weak. Blame the French! blame the Germans! Blame the Russians! Terrorism started in 1972...? digression, digression digression -- it needed another day with an editor.

Also: significant strategic flaw -- boo'ing sounds bad. It sounds negative, it sounds depressing. Don't set up zingers that let the audience boo the enemy, it just makes your side sound weak and petty. Zing the enemy, say something positive about your guy and then pause for applause, not boos. Bad tactic.

That said, Giuliani tells a good story, and when he was talking about the construction workers, he was great. The only flaw was that Giuliani has sort of made it his mission to recount his September 11th experience as much as possible (and as well he should -- as much as he enraged me often in his tenure as mayor he was absolutely the man we needed for the job in those days) and as such, embellishments in the story are very obvious to those of us who have lived here, with Giuliani all this time. So that was a bit frustrating.

RNC Production values: kinda suck. Those moving stars are giving me a headache. All those handpainted signs were clearly handpainted by the same person -- you want folksy, WORK HARDER.

On the subject of 9/11:

September 11th is something that happened to all of New York City, to all of America, and I think we've clearly seen as time has passed all of the world. It didn't just happen to Republicans, and the challenges were not merely met by Republicans and how dare they suggest they were the only ones who prayed and lit candles and donated blood, money and time. How dare they. And how dare they pretend, that this day was the only day to have ever happened here, as if New York City was merely a useful Brigadoon in some weird hawkish fantasy.

Finally, on a mostly personal semantical note -- I loathe the constant use of the word "hero" -- we have become a nation that says it over and over until it becomes meaningless. Acts of courage are often astounding because they are committed by ordinary people who when in the wrong place at the wrong time, choose to be right person in the right place, at the right time. They are people like you and I who maybe knew they could do such things, but mostly, probably had no idea. And when we set them apart, not for their deeds, but for an assumed nature that made their deeds possible, I believe we devalue their extraordinariness and minimize the example their courage sets.

New York is my home. It is not a strange object, a hostile land, a convenient metaphor or a sitting target. It is not a den of sin or a vacation theme park. Treat it with kidness, not pity. And with respect, not fear. Otherwise, you don't deserve her welcome.