SAY WHAT??!!?? (yes...)

To the casual reader, the previous posts may have been mere fodder for the masses... whoo-hoo, Steph and James are on holiday!

However, the more keen observer may have noticed something very, very different...

Look again:
"What??" You say... "It's just Stephanie playing with fire again."

Perhaps.

Look again.

Closer...

Even Closer:
Is anything out of place?

Do you see something that doesn't belong?

No that's not a new tattoo...

YES, I AM GETTING HITCHED.

I never thought (and I'm sure most of you never thought either) that I'd see a ring on that finger, but in truth, it fits, James fits, and I am the happiest woman alive right now... and it feels something like this:

a goofy kiss across the stickshift in a convertible that's going
120 km/h through the twisty roads of Europe.

Yeah... something like that.

A Nice Easter Weekend

Coming up the drive to James' family home in South France after a grueling 12 hours of delayed flights, missed connections, and knee-knocking airplane rides invites you to breath a little deeper and walk quite a bit slower. The house is in Gattiere, a secluded town north of Nice where every shop closes for an hour at lunch and you can walk from one side of town to the other in minutes. A beautiful change from the hectic New York concrete skyline.

Lunch was everyday on the patio, over looking various French towns. On a clear day, you can see the Mediterranean just beyond the hills in the distance. Here the family gathers - having just woken up or been working in the gardens since dawn - and the day commences...















Afterwards, the afternoon is yours... to catch some sleep like James' brother Simon here, or catch some sun instead and contribute to the gardening facelift that the grounds around the house are undergoing... everyone here saved at least one tree from the ivy or built one section of a pathway wall...














Outside the house is an open-stove fireplace. The quinessential pizza oven! I have never had a pizza anything like what came out of this oven... fresh ingredients, wood-burning stove, cooked to perfection!














Easter lunch was a more forman occassion... we all gathered with friends of the family for a delicious meal after attending mass service at a tiny church in the center of the town.

Landscape Artists?

So much has already been done to bring thirty years of overgrowth under control... The walls and levels, which were once covered in ivy, are now blank canvases for lawns, gardens, swimming pools... reality does indeed leave much room for imagination!















Off we go! James' brothers Tim (the youngest) and Nico (second youngest) and I to hack and chop our way through the landscape!

Veni Vidi Vici Venice!

Before leaving for Nice, I had made plans with an old friend of mine, Brian, to meet him in Venice for dinner one night. Seeing as how he had no cellphone or internet connection during his tour of Italy, I couldn't very well cancel... so we took a quick drive along the coastline of southern France and Italy and across the mainland, which looks astonishingly similar to rolling grassy hills of Tennessee - only that the buildings are made of stone. And have been in existance longer than the United States.
















well, maybe not so quick... never did figure out why the entire motorway came to a complete stop in the middle of the afternoon. We translated the Italian truck driver's description into somthing along the lines of "fire-breathing dragons are ravishing the countryside!!"

But we did eventually make it in time for dinner, and to see the lights come on across the buildings in St. Marks Square. One of the most stunningly beautiful twilights I have seen in my life... Here the sky grows dark over The Basilica:















I honestly had not been feeling 100%, probably all the travel and time adjustments... but when you're in Venice, this face doesn't last too long!















The next morning we were up early and headed back to the Square to go inside the Basilica (more pics soon) and roam the Square with Brian and his brother Michael before they headed off to Munich... Brian is on the left here and looks EXACTLY like when I knew him 16 years ago. Will try to find evidence of this!














And then James and I were off to meander the quiet, narrow passageways of Venice ourselves... I desparately wanted to get lost for days, but we were due back in Nice in time for the evening Chelsea football (read: soccer) match.

(I'll post more Venice pics later - Blogger only allows 5 per post)

Book your tickets now!

As you know, getting going in New York isn’t always easy. But moments like this make it worth it!
PROUDLY ANNOUNCING….
Stephanie’s New York theatrical directing debut!

And this is not just a random play in a forgotten black box theater. I am directing CURFEW, written by Academy-award winning writer Arthur Jolly, as part of the acclaimed American Globe Festival, with two incredibly talented actresses: Susan Stout and Casey Geraghty. This promises to be a riveting performance you do not want to miss!

Mark your Calendars and Get your Tickets! The show is just off Times Square on Friday, April 27th at 8:00pm. At this performance, the audience will participate in selecting the best play of the evening, so your support at this performance is much needed!

THE DETAILS:

~~~~~~~~~~~
Date:
Friday April 27th at 8:00pm. Run-time is approximately 1 1/2 hours.

Venue:
AMERICAN GLOBE THEATER, Times Square's longest-running Off-Off-Broadway theatre, located at 145 W. 46th Street. As part of the American Globe Festival - Offoffonline.com called the Festival the highlight of the Off-off Broadway season (May 2004).

Cost:
$15. This festival sells-out every year and tickets are already on sale! Best not to wait. Purchase your seats by either calling American Globe Theatre at 212-869-9809 OR going to www.theatermania.com to purchase them online. Only pre-paid (not reserved) seats will be held once it sells out. And seriously, where else can you spend $15 on a night-out in New York?!

Afterparty:
Drinks nearby directly afterwards!

HAPPY BIRTHDAY BRO!

May all the presents you open either
look like This
or
bring this Look to your face!

Oh YEAH!

NSEW in Full Effect

Having
flown West for the completion of "New York Blind",
driven South to see my brother and friends in "The Greatest City in America",
and having no intention of going any further North until the weather starts cooperating
- it's time to head EAST... all the way over the Atlantic, down to the south coast of France to find a little sunshine, lots of space to breathe, and a few games of chess between hours and hours of eating.

Back next weekend...

Heading south for the winter weekend!

I've been waiting to put this post up for a while... not sure why though.

After a full 12 hours of non-stop snow in New York City, James and I trudged our way to the rental car shop wondering if we were actually going to make it out of the City... the highway speed was dictated by signs all the way down to D.C. "35 MPH". And not a drop of snow on the road. Even the cops knew that speed limit was ridiculous. As I was driving down the New Jersey Turnpike I thought to myself "hmmmm, that dark Crown Victoria with tinted windows, that just pulled on to the road is probably an undercover cop"... and proceeded to continue at a steady 85 MPH. Sure enough he pulled in front of me, put his lights on... and slowed me down to 35. And when I was going mind-numbingly slow enough, he took off. Punishment enough even without a ticket.

Eventually we made it down to DC, where Tom now lives... saw his awesome apartment and took a stroll around the original Great Mall of America. Of course, it was freezing so we found the optimal place to spend a few hours:















In the IMAX movie theater at the Air and Space Museum.
Somehow that wasn't "American" enough. And here we are hosting a Brit to the nucleus of our country... the center of what makes everything run... Capital Hill, Washington Monument, Smithsonian... but let's get real here.

Let's go to Baltimore! It's claim to fame, after all, is written all over the benches...











(Disclaimer: This was the only bench we could find that hadn't been set on fire or been claimed by a homeless person)

This is where my girlfriend Kat and her husband live... both working at Johns Hopkins, which is probably the only reason that this boarded-up, dying-while-standing-up, frighteningly-forgotten town is still on the map. Well, that and Duckpin Bowling.















"What is Duckpin Bowling?" Kat asks as Justin and James check out the scene... well just look here to find more... It's the Sport of a Lifetime! And we went to the #1 rated Duckpin Bowling Lanes in Baltimore...




















But I'm not going to spoil it for you! This sport is sweeping the nation! Find out for yourself how "Duckpin bowling combines the elements of fun, excitement, challenge, competition and sociability into one fantastic activity!"

And after that wild ride, how could we possibly bear leaving America's Greatest City for... New York City? At least there were no speed limit reductions on the way back. Not that they would have slowed me down anyways.

Just in time for Summer

No more hiding the booze bottles from the cops patrolling the sand... No more awkward bottles to carry along with your beach volleyball gear... No more getting so lit you can't remember where you left the liquor!


A flip-flop that doubles as as flask!!! Now, the only thing I want to know is why they only come as menswear?

http://www.reef.com/productdetail/guys/footwear/sandals/2597

Chips N Sips

Poker at ours last Tuesday... maybe the guys thought that the suits and ties were going to be intimidating??? I don't think so, boys! Look at where the chips are stacked... Not even this pair of pocket rockets could help Good Ol' Randy...

Why?

Sunday morning with the sun playing hide-n-seek behind the clouds... and I'm listening to my neighbor's music... usually loud and hammering... this morning it seems they too enjoy a slightly slower Sunday... I catch myself humming along to the lyrics - lyrics that I don't know the words to, but I do know... somehow... the chorus... "tell me why"... Annie Lennox. Annie Lennox. That is the EXACT same song that I had cranked up last night at midnight while I taking a much needed relaxing bath (yes, they can be essential at midnight!)... there was something soothing about going to sleep and waking up to the same song... like the world was in tune with me or I had passed the song on to someone else... or maybe they heard it in their sleep and they, too fell asleep and woke up to the same song... without knowing "why"...

If not here, then there...

If you can't see the video below, go here and watch it full screen on YouTube:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kkm1HLOfEdo

The Making of New York Blind

Chronicaling the calamitous creation of the 3-minute film "New York Blind"... to its curious conclusion!

What was the first poem that ever struck you?

I used to read a lot of poetry... the simplicity, precision, and imagery of poetry was always much more my style than long prose using 20 pages describing 30 seconds of action (Hemingway, anyone?). Recently, a friend has been going through tough times here in New York, and the first poem that ever struck me and stuck to me came back in a brilliant rush... potent, emmersive, emotional, beautiful... I remember the person who gave it to me, the reason why, and where I kept it for the longest time. Now it's something that I pass on... will they remember who gave it to them and why?

After a while you learn the subtle difference
between holding a hand and chaining a soul
And you learn that love doesn’t mean leaning
and company doesn’t always mean security
And you begin to learn that kisses aren’t contracts
and presents aren’t promises
And you begin to accept your defeats
with your head up and your eyes ahead
with the grace of a woman, not the grief of a child
And you learn to build all of your roads on today
because tomorrow’s ground is too uncertain for plans
and futures have a way of falling down in mid-flight.
After a while you learn that even sunshine burns
if you get too much.
So you plant your own garden and decorate your own soul
instead of waiting for someone to bring you flowers.
And you learn that you really can endure
that you really are strong
and you really do have worth
And you learn and you learn
with every goodbye you learn.

VERONICA A. SHOFFSTALL
1971

Ways to fight the -19 windchill...

You know that when nothing's going up on the blog, that something's going on in life... Very busy lately with shooting a new short film called "new york blind" and a follow-up short that shows the "Making of New York Blind", but those are nearly complete now and several new projects are coming up...

I'm helping to put together a large party at The Pierre Hotel on Thursday where they're unveiling a re-furbished venue for social events and meetings. The Hotel has been around since pre-Depression and managed through several turns of hand to maintain an air of elegance and old-world charm. I believe it used to be owned by the Four Seasons, but has recently been bought by Taj Hotels. Small-scale event management has always intrigued me as something that would be fun, yet not time-consuming to do... so far, my instincts are proving to be correct.

I am also currently laying the foundation to direct Arthur Jolly's short play "Curfew" as part of the American Globe Theatre festival. It's a stunningly well-written play with beautiful parts for the two characters... both gripping and revealing. The festival has been running off-Broadway for 13 years and is well-established and able to attract name actors. Definitely worth making my off-Broadway directorial debut a success!

As always, the Arizona documentary continues... we've located many of the subjects we're looking to interview and a week in Arizona is now scheduled for late March, pending schedule confirmation with the interviewees.

James and I are looking at a trip to visit his family over Easter weekend. All in all, many wonderful things happening and lots of things to look forward to... For today, however, it's Sunday, so a nice, calm breakfast and an afternoon cycle in Central Park with friends is all that needs to be planned.

Flicker

Somewhere during Celine Dion's performance I lost all interest of watching the Oscars. Somehow the glitz and glamour of huge white snowflakes coating downtown New York was more captivating than guessing what movies were in the montages (and which ones should have been) or watching painted faces smile forcefully at the camera... I opened the window and looked out across the stillness and silence... through the white haze noticed dozens of lights flickering the same colors at the same time in separate apartments, in fact in apartments hundreds of yards away from each other... In the window below, across the street, over in the penthouse, behind semi-transparent curtains, off the faces sitting on couches... all illuminated by the broadcast of the Academy Awards. Each television a vessel, an escape, a dream. There is a reason Hollywood is massive. There is a reason we dedicate ourselves to telling these stories... the ones in black box theaters, the ones on silver screens, the ones inside virtual characters... it wasn't the Oscars that everyone was watching... sure they watch the popularity contest, but in the end, we, the reflection, are watching them... looking out and wondering - do you feel like I do? can we laugh together? will you hear what I'm saying?... am I saying anything at all?... We are always saying something. Even when we're silent. I especially enjoy the kind indicating Celine's performance is over.

Academy Awards....

I am terrible at predicting who will actually win at the Oscars. Ultimately, it's just an over-hyped popularity contest... But here is whom I would WANT to win...

Performance by an actor in a leading role: Ryan Gosling
Performance by an actor in a supporting role: Jackie Earle Haley
Performance by an actress in a leading role: Kate Winslet
Best animated feature film of the year: Cars
Achievement in art direction: Pan’s Labyrinth
Achievement in cinematography: Children of Men
Achievement in costume design: The Queen
Achievement in directing: The Departed
Best documentary feature: Jesus Camp
Achievement in film editing: Babel
Original Score: Pan's Labyrinth
Best motion picture of the year: Babel
Best live action short film: Binta and the Great Idea (Binta Y La Gran Idea)
Achievement in visual effects: Pirates of the Caribbean
Original Screenplay: Babel
Adapted Screenplay: Borat

Why I love New York

This is just around the corner from me... Yum! indeed!

Feb. 23 (Bloomberg) -- Yum! Brands Inc. said a KFC/Taco Bell
restaurant in New York City 's Greenwich Village that was infested
with rats this morning will stay closed until the pests are gone.
Rats could be seen running, playing and eating scraps off
the floor of the restaurant at Sixth Avenue and West Fourth
Street, which closed for business at 11 p.m. yesterday, WCBS-TV
reported.

Quote...

To conquer fear is the beginning of wisdom.
Bertrand Russell

L.A.S.E.R. Tag!

Look closesly at the building below...
See the "graffiti"?!? Lasers that let you non-permanently graffiti the entire side of a twenty story building instantaneously... brilliant. The video is even better:
http://graffitiresearchlab.com/?page_id=76#video

Save the Strand!

http://www.friendsofthestrand.com

My father forwarded this to me - The Strand is a theatre we saw sit empty (and I secretly always dreamed of owning so I could put on the most amazing and theatrical shows that the sleepy Square had ever seen!) throughout my childhood. Now they're looking to raise the final amount remaining from the $2.3 million to begin (re)construction by March 1, 2007, and a total of $4.5 million...

I wonder what the sound system was like?

I find this old picture funny actually because I always remembered Marietta as having a bit of religious over-zealousness in it. Especially after the uproar that followed a reading of Terrance McNally's "Lips Together, Teeth Apart"...

Behavioral Existentialism

What were all those things in life we said we'd never do? Smoke cigarettes? Live in New York? Drive over the speed limit (well, maybe not double the limit)? Owe anyone more than a penny? Turn a blind eye to a needing hand?

And what happened? Did you walk too far on the wild side? Is that as much a risk as letting everyone else take the risks for you? We take our sides and look at the beasts across from us - what were they thinking? How could they?!? Maybe more importantly - WHY?!?!

Would we really want to know? To paint life with a specific palette and act on instincts is natural. To appreciate the works of art that we do not agree with nearly impossible. Behavioral Existentialism. Raw. Pure. We are firmly aligned having set our life forward to support, defend, and justify our choices in life.

And when you did what you said you'd never do... how did it get to that point? The need. The excuse. In the end, justification needs no justification.
We move forward.
Look back?
Evaluate?
How did it turn out - were the consequences what you thought they'd be? Are you a better person because of it. Are you proud of the things you've done. The way you've treated people - the list of things you did or didn't do? New Years Resolutions don't count. Noticing the way your best friend laughs does. And is that something you can justify?

Luckiest Pig Year in 600 years?

Lucky indeed! ...that I looked up all these fascinating cultural-isms so we know what to expect in the coming year and can abide by formalities that further our chances of a successful year... imagine if you did not know these...!

Other New Years beliefs/rituals include:
- Pay off all debts before the holiday to avoid a negative start
- Lending is considered bad luck on New Years Day as is Crying -- if you do any of the those things, you'll do them for the rest of the year.
- On New Years day, people give out red paper packets called "hong baos" which are normally filled with crisp notes in sums that do not comprise the number four, because Chinese for four sounds like Chinese for death. The number eight, however, is lucky.

For this year in particular:
- South Korean fortune tellers predict this could be the luckiest pig year in 600 years!
- Babies born in the Year of the Pig are particulary lucky
- According to tradition, this is not a good year for weddings
- This year is especially unlucky for people aged 29
- The pig is the 12th animal in the Chinese zodiac and anyone whose age is a multiple of 12 should put a small electric light in a temple for protection and be mindful of accidents
- It is also advised that people to put a strip of yellow paper with red lettering in the living room during the pig and snake years as a tribute to two gods and pray quietly.
But the piece of paper, about the size of an average bookmark, should not face the toilet.

Whew! Note to self: do not to pray to the Pig and Snake Gods while on the pot!

Happy New Year!

Gung Hei Fat Choi!
Happy Chinese New Year - the year of the Pig is upon us!

In China, this is also known as the Year of the Boar....
According to legend, the nian, a man-eating beast from the mountains, could silently infiltrate houses to prey on humans. The people later learned that the nian was sensitive to loud noises and the color red, so they scared it away with explosions, fireworks and the liberal use of the color red. These customs led to the first New Year celebrations. Guò nián, which means to celebrate the new year, literally means the passing of the nian beast.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Chinese_New_Year

The Chinese Calendar moves in 60-year cycles, meaning the world will experience in the new year events similar to those that took place in 1947.

In that turbulent year, the Cold War began in earnest when then US president Truman declared his anti-communist doctrine and the Soviet Union rejected a US plan for atomic weapons control, sparking the nuclear arms race.

More predictions at:
http://www.breitbart.com/news/2007/02/14/070215043912.onjqts5b.html

And a List of TOP TEN LIST FOR YEAR OF THE FIRE PIG!

http://www.firepig.com/firepigmagdetail.aspx?ArticleID=312

Tonight I'll be putting on my brightest Red and heading down to Columbus Park for the celebratory fireworks that will usher in the fifteen days of the lunar new year... followed by a fantastic feast - as many people as possible fitting around a table crammed full of food... reminds me of Hong Kong. I do miss Hong Kong.

Weather Update...

Last time I did this on a blog it was for a typhoon... bit different this time around...

NEW YORK (MANHATTAN)-BRONX-RICHMOND (STATEN ISLAND)- KINGS (BROOKLYN)- QUEENS- 415 AM EST WED FEB 14 2007

...WIND CHILLS AT OR BELOW ZERO EXPECTED TONIGHT AND THURSDAY NIGHT...
WITH THE PASSAGE OF THE FIRST SIGNIFICANT WINTER STORM OF THE SEASON...BITTERLY COLD TEMPERATURES ALONG WITH STRONG WINDS WILL RETURN TO THE AREA. WINDS TONIGHT WILL BE INCREASING TO 25 TO 35 MPH WITH GUSTS UP TO 50 MPH. COMBINED WITH OVERNIGHT LOWS IN THE MID TEENS...THIS WILL CREATE WIND CHILL VALUES RANGING FROM ZERO TO 5 BELOW ZERO THROUGHOUT NEW YORK CITY. THOUGH WINDS DIMINISH TO 10 TO 20 MPH WITH GUSTS UP TO 30 MPH THURSDAY NIGHT...OVERNIGHT LOWS IN THE LOWER TEENS WILL ONCE AGAIN CREATE WIND CHILL VALUES FROM ZERO TO 5 BELOW THROUGHOUT NEW YORK CITY.

EXPOSURE TO COLD CAN CAUSE LIFE THREATENING HEALTH CONDITIONS. AVOID SERIOUS CONDITIONS SUCH AS FROSTBITE AND HYPOTHERMIA BY KEEPING WARM. IF YOU MUST GO OUTSIDE...WEAR LAYERED CLOTHING... MITTENS OR GLOVES...AND A HAT. COVER YOUR MOUTH TO PROTECT YOUR LUNGS FROM EXTREMELY COLD AIR. STAY DRY AND CHANGE WET CLOTHING TO PREVENT LOSS OF BODY HEAT. AVOID BEVERAGES CONTAINING ALCOHOL AND CAFFEINE...AS THEY HASTEN THE EFFECTS OF COLD ON THE BODY. IF YOU OR A PERSON YOU SUSPECT IS SUFFERING FROM FROSTBITE OR HYPOTHERMIA...SEEK MEDICAL HELP IMMEDIATELY OR CALL 911.

Loving It

Valentine’s Day 2007 and the snow finally decides to wrap itself around New York City and give the rest of us a reason to wrap ourselves in a bit of love for the Hallmark Holiday. And I have no problems that I have no plans tonight… except to get home from work and watch the world turn white from my window, which I find to be special enough to take a night off from hour-long phone meetings and planning sessions that keep me busy until at least 11pm. More on this madness later... for now remember that “Love that is not madness is not love.”

New Time added at Zion Film Fest

Bystander picked up an extra show time at the Zion Film Festival! It will now be showing:

SAT, FEB 24, 4:30pm • FLANIGANS INN
SAT, FEB 24, 8:30pm • FLANIGANS INN

Check out their synopsis!

DUMP Bank of "America"

This infuriates me and if I still had a BofA account, I'd change banks immediately...

BofA aims new credit card at illegal immigrants: report
Tue Feb 13, 2007 12:35am ET
NEW YORK (Reuters) - Bank of America Corp. has begun offering credit cards to customers without Social Security numbers, typically illegal immigrants, the Wall Street Journal reported on Tuesday.

In recent years, banks across the country have been offering checking accounts and even mortgages to the nation's fast-growing ranks of undocumented immigrants, most of whom are Hispanic, the paper said, adding these immigrants generally have not been able to get major credit cards.

The new Bank of America card is open to people who lack both a Social Security number and a credit history, as long as they have held a checking account with the bank for three months without an overdraft, the Journal said.

Bank of America tested the program last year at five branches in Los Angeles, and last week expanded it to 51 branches in Los Angeles County, home to the largest concentration of illegal immigrants in the U.S., the Journal said.

The bank hopes to roll out the program nationally later this year, the paper said.
A Bank of America spokesman was not immediately available to comment

Missed Sundance? Go to Utah Anyways!

BYSTANDER has been accepted into the Zion Indpendent 
Film Festival! It is currently scheduled to play in the
Shorts Program at 2:30 PM in Springdale, Utah on
Saturday February 24th. Congratulations again to all of
the dedicated filmmakers and supportive friends and family
of BYSTANDER!

Short Stories...

Beginning. Middle. End.
Easy enough, right?
Ok. How about in five minutes or less.

Sounds easy enough, no? 30 second commercials. One-page magazine advertisements. News headlines. Common cliche. It's not as easy as it seems.

Consider: Nabokov's short stories still take at least 40 minutes just to read. Newspaper clippings that take five minutes are only snapshots of life, not stories. In a conversation it usually takes someone more than five minutes to recount a story.

Tonight's mission has been: what story can you tell in 300 seconds...
Mission: Impossible?

Quick Pics

...from when James' cousin Sophie was in town...

Out with the girls... Sophie is third from the right and the girl next to me studied business at CMU and actually had a class with one of my favorite professors, Geoffrey Hitch. Who knew business grads had a bit of drama in them?















With Ken Kwalik, an old CMU friend who has been a one-stop welcoming committee to New York since I've arrived. We're at the top of the Gansevoort here I believe...

CUPID ON DEMAND!

If you don't already have plans for tonight, I'm going to be managing this fundraising auction (details below)... they've got some sweet items to bid on and it should be a fun night... or even just the start to a good evening ;-)

Cupid On Demand II:
Love For Sale

Critically acclaimed songwriters “auctioned off”
at hip Pre-Valentine’s Bash
and Stunning silent auction items available to bid on!

Saturday, February 3rd, 6-9pm

Songwriter’s Auction at 7pm

Mannahatta (316 Bowery, at Bleeker)

New Sounds Theatre and Beth Morrison Projects host the second annual Cupid On Demand, a “Pre-V-day” Party featuring a Songwriter’s Auction, where partiers have the chance to buy a customized love song – for a sweetheart, a crush, or even an ex. Five talented songwriters will be put up for sale, and given one hour to write personalized love songs for the highest bidders…to be performed and recorded that night! Writers include pop songstress Greta Gertler, underground rocker Richard X Heyman, hip-hop maestro W Ellington Felton, Off-Broadway composers Peter Hilliard and Matt Boresi (Don Imbroglio), and cabaret parodists Lisa Neubauer and Andrew Byrne. The auction begins at 7pm .

The party offers plenty of other opportunities for fun and mischief, for singles and couples alike…send a singing "Crush-O-Gram", bid on fabulous silent auction prizes (SEE BELOW!), swoon to the stylings of vocalist/ songwriter Sachal Vasandani, and lose yourself in the groove with jazzy progressive dance music from DJ Dub Ell and pianist Will Rast.

Admission is $15 in advance or $20 at the door (and includes one free drink). Proceeds go toward the upcoming production of The Don Giovanni Radio Hour, a new musical being presented this May by New Sounds Theatre and Beth Morrison Projects.

Purchase tickets at www.newsoundstheatre.org

DID WE MENTION OUR SILENT AUCTION?

We've got thousands of dollars worth of amazing merchandise and experiences (just in time for those last-minute Valentines gifts)! Here's just a few of the amazing items up for sale...

Miracle Date #2: A Night at the Opera
(one of 6 complete dates!)
Enjoy a gourmet meal at the award-winning Cafe Gray, followed by a night of glorious music at the New York City Opera. Top it off with a bottle of fine wine from the Caparone winery.

Dinner for 2 at Megu
Dine at one of New York's most esteemed, exclusive, and delicious Modern Japanese restaurants (over 10 meals available from other award-winning restaurants)!

BAM Tickets
Attend any show of your choice at the world-famous Brooklyn Academy of Music!

Health/Beauty Super-Pack
Look and feel great with a 3-month ladies-only gym membership at Fitness Express, a private yoga session with certified instructor Marissa Nielsen-Pincus, and a haircut at celebrity barber Richard Stein's hair salon.

Original Artwork
Take home the marvelous work of acclaimed contemporary artist Kevin Berlin, whose work can be found in the collections of Luciano Pavarotti, David Letterman, and Senator Hilary Rodham Clinton.

Designer Belts and Bags
Accessorize in style with 3 exotic belts and a calf skin anchor bag from innovative designer Bliss Lau.

AND MUCH MORE!!
For a complete list, visit http://www.newsoundstheatre.org/html/silentauction.html

Dream Analysis

Nothing happens unless first we dream. -- Carl Sandburg

I don't know why I'm so quote-happy lately... a loss of words? a lack of succinctity (is that even a word)? inability to find the profundity in mundane situations? what do we use quotes for anyways?... to remind us that life REALLY IS that simple? and that sometimes the simplist answer is truly the best? or to give us a different way of perceiving a world that gets awfully cold and dreary and lives that get decidedly lifeless... exchanging the fight to stay awake all night with the fight to get up in the morning... trading hard times for decidedly easier ones... watching friends sleepwalk into their thirties and I wonder: are they dreaming?

I hope they are...

New Quote...

"Going to work for a large company is like getting on a train.
Are you going 60 miles an hour or is the train going 60 miles
an hour and you're just sitting still?" - J. Paul Getty

What should be on the front page

Ecuadorean footballer rebuilds village

Judy Fladmark BBC News

De la Cruz sends money home every week

A South American footballer playing in the English Premiership is spending his high salary not on fast cars and big houses, but on rebuilding an entire community where he grew up.

What he has built for his village next to the Andes:
- 18km of water pipes and a treatment system
- Hundreds of books, a new school roof and a playground
- Each day, 100 primary school children receive breakfast and lunch at school
- a medical centre
- money to pay for a doctor, a dentist and a nurse at the clinic
- 10% of his salary each month back to Ecuador

And what he is building now:
- a new sports and community centre, now under construction.

Mary, Mary Quite Contrary...

...How does your AeroGrow?



Ah the delights of living in New York City! In other parts of the world there are gardens and greenhouses. Here in New York, we import our selection of hydroponic seeds from flashing numbers and commands to "call now!" and donate twelve cubic inches of precious counter space in the kitchen. And for that we get!: Seven assorted herbs (chives, dill, parsley, mint, cilantro, and two kinds of basil) and a light that radiates through the apartment at alternating hours - seven hours off, seventeen hours ON. Think of a nightlight on steriods. James' new hobby should come to fruition (literally) in eight weeks. That's one too many. Let's stick with the sevens...

Most important: the seven deadly sins... and then the dwarfs... the wonders of the world... days in a week... samurai... the hong kong sevens!... and dante, oh dante... AND I just realized, here we are in 2007.

And maybe it's time to simplify. Rather than lists and lists of 'what I'm going to look back on in a year and remind myself - oh now THAT'S what I was supposed to be doing' I'm feeling compelled to itemize (yes, mother, make a list!) and I'm thinking that a list of Seven For 07 is the way to go. But I gotta ask myself, do I feel lucky?

Sad Monkey

Insight

Some of the worst bits about directing are also the aspects that make it such a fantastic job.

Although film-making is a co-operative process, the director is the one who's supposed to have the vision and the plan.

The crew and actors are paid a lot of money and so the producers of the film will expect the director to organise the film efficiently. At any time, the rest of the crew will look to the director for guidance. She or he has to be ready with a decision, even if they are unsure of the consequences. Like most creative jobs, the hardest thing is belief in your vision when everyone is telling you you're wrong, even you!

During the making of Apocalypse Now, Francis Ford Coppola was close to despair, commenting to his wife Eleanor, "I tell you from the bottom of my heart that I am making a bad film." And again, "We are all lost. I have no idea where to go with this." Although not all directors will have to go through Coppola's traumas, most will experience self-doubt at some time during a shoot.

If you're interested in Coppola's experience on Apocalypse Now, try and get hold of a copy of Hearts of Darkness, a great film documentary largely shot by his wife, Eleanor. Another wicked insight into the soul of a director is a book called Hitchcock by Francois Truffaut and Helen Scott.

http://www.bbc.co.uk/blast/film/advice/careers/cons_of_being_a_film_director.shtml

Go with the Flow

"Directing is an idea that you have of a total flow of images that are going on, which are incidentally actors, words, and objects in space. It's an idea you have of yourself, like the idea you have of your own personality, which finds its best representation in the world in terms of specific flows of imaginary images. That's what directing is."

-- Roman Polanski

Miss Manners Reports

Oh yeah, it's here... the face-numbing, finger-stinging, eye-watering reality of freezing breezes. I went out for a meeting with my "jacket" on and heard more than one "is that all you have?" comment from the all-knowing streets of New York. One guy looked at me coming out of the subway station and said "you gotta be kiddin' with that jacket"... thanks genious. Well, the temperature in my apartment stays a comfortable 75 degrees or so with the sun shining in, and then BAM when I walk out: COLD. FREEZING. BLISTERING. OUCH. Rude Awakening. Who said New York had manners?

Why unpack?

From Bangkok to the Catskills before I had time to unpack... I brought my computer and external harddrive and worked my way through the weekend while the boys worked their skis through muddy snow. I went for the fireplace (success!) and they went for the slopes (drudging across manufactured snow through pouring rain)... somehow I think I still won out. Couldn't get the camera operating at the cabin, but I did download a few of the b-roll shots we took for the documentary in Bangkok...

After leaving New York and traveling for hour after hour, day after day, to reach the exotic and exciting foreign country of THAILAND... I throw open the curtains in my hotel room to see:










Looking out the hotel from the other side you can see the newly constructed convention center, which was built in the honor of the Queen. Hidden speakers pump "soothing" music across a man-made lake... as I watch the sunset over the lake and the imposing buildings beyond, I begin to suspect that the music is there to cover the incessant honking and braking of Bangkok taxis and tuk-tuks rather than to provide harmony to the joggers circling the lake...










You'll see images like this everywhere in Thailand. I don't believe this is a Buddh - if anyone does know what it is, please enlighten me. The clasped hands, non-committal facial expression, and floral background seem to reflect the Thai mentality...












Street signs take on a whole new meaning. Bold colors, just like ours, but it's more difficult to understand exactly what they stand for. Example below: what is this "X" telling us not to do??












This image is full of striking contrasts when animated: the silver fish whip through muddy water that luscious velvet blooms rest peacefully above...

Thai Times

I think a reference manual should be written about filming in Thailand. Perhaps it should be a manual that covers "filming outside of the US". There are certainties that vary in each country and customs that can make your life immeasurably easier or more difficult.

A few quick points for the book before I run off to work:
- Beware Thai time. When you say "be here at 8:00am", that is translated as "some time between 8:30 and 11:00 is ok"
- Confrontations in Thailand. Don't do it. No matter how much the Thai you're working with was late or didn't do their job, there is no point in arguing. You will be wrong. Best to smile and try to explain, humbly, how you could have possibly misunderstood what they know to be obvious.
- 220V outlets. I knew this before, but apparently filming crews bring you american plugs (110V) when they see you speak English.
- Buddhism. Get to know it and love it. Thais love to talk about Buddha even at work. And before they do anything (buy a house, sign an agreement, breathe) they must check with Buddha first.

Images of Bangkok...

What a business trip to Thailand looks like... not quite as exotic as you might think:

Up working at 5am









On set by 7am










8 t0 10 hours of shooting









Try to relax at the end of the day










And then crash out

Trouble in Paradise

Equipment didn't show up. Will need to research the new gear coming in - what are its limitations? Language barrier loses precious time. Conversations run long. Need new strategy. Seven hours of sleep in the past two days (sleep on a plane never counts as decent REMtime). Haven't gotten through all this new material. Eyes swelling. Clock ticking. 7:00 am breakfast set and then slam-bam shoot. What permits? I know I only need sleep. And tomorrow will be brilliant. Fucking brilliant.

The Story Begins...

With a firm handshake and a gentle glance, I meet the man whose story I am here to hear. His stature is short but his stories more than compensate... The years of hard cases, dead bodies, and difficult decisions have been worn off by the warmth of this country. For hours we sit outside under an umbrella. And I listen. A few questions here, a laugh there, but mostly I just let him talk about things no one here could understand. I watch as his face becomes softer and he relives hour after hour of a different lifetime. I can sense that now is his time to set the story straight, to open up to a world he had to close off. And I love the fact that he just handed me a monstrous stack of paper to go through about his life and his investigations. Very few people have seen what I have in my hands now. And I know that more than this is me investigating his life... what is really happening over the next few hours is his investigation of me: how much detail will I remember from these pages? How thoroughly will I read what he gave me? Will I ask the right questions when we meet again after dinner? And ultimately, am I the right person for him to tell his story to...?

Yes.

Einstein

As I prepare for this series of interviews, feeling that I am lacking indepth knowledge of the events, the players, and the motives involved in the situation I am documenting, I look at the quote of the day: Imagination is more important than knowledge.

Some new, some old... Bangers revisited

After over 20 hours in the air and multiple almost-missed connections, it's good to have my feet back on the ground. We landed at Bangkok's new International Airport, which just opened two months ago and is absolutely stunning.

It actually reminds me a lot of Hong Kong's airport as far as the immigration floorplan and the glass-steel (is it steel or aluminum? I'd check but I'm only getting thai google) architecture. Say "sawadeeka" to the BMW that takes us to the airport and a few minutes later, I've moved into my home for the next five days: Sheraton Grande Sukhumvit. It's a favorite from my Hong Kong days when James and I would take quick weekend romps here. Still a beautiful and accomodating hotel. My room looks something like:

We are exactly 12 hours ahead of New York, so it's almost 3am here and I'm wide awake. Figure I'll go through a couple of notes and read myself to sleep in preparation for tomorrow when we meet the lead investigator in the 1978 massacre... a time and a place that is eras away from the view out my window on the 24th floor. Just hoping that the recent violence here doesn't make me feel too close to the story I'm trying to tell...

Happy New Year!!

Dinner with James, Nicoli and the Atlanta crew in New York's Little Italy before going to the New Year's celebration...














Bringing in the New Year at a Soho loft party...















The boys from Atlanta bust it out and break it down...















Big hugs as we bring in 2007...















James gets love from the ladies!