I suppose I could get away with one of those gawd-awful Mike Barnicle style posts outlining my mental paralysis induced by Red Sox dementia...
I COULD do one of those, but it would be a lie.
Truth is baseball has never done it for me and it never will.
I got no clue as to what is going on down on that diamond-none.
Now you wanna talk boxing or horse racing...then we've got something...but baseball?
Sorry nada.
What should we do if they win?
I mean besides hiding from the BPD?
An old AAA ball player from the olden days lives next door to me, IF the miracle happens and it may not, I might slip next door and offer him hearty greetings and congratulations.
And then I'm high-tailing to my cellar to crouch behind stoutly stacked sandbags, armed with a fifth of Jack Daniels and my trusty "head buster" twelve gauge.
:)
Speaking of boxing, is Kevin McBride the nigh on seven foot tall "Clones Colossus" still fighting?
I pity the wretch that climbs into the ring with him. McBride is so massive (despite his lack of technique) that you'd have to be armed with a tire iron to hope to do any real damage and even then...
I saw him knock a guy out of the ring once a round for three rounds before his opponent quietly sighed, shrugged, and called for a cab.
Anyhow between the Sox, the election, and the lunar eclipse it is shaping up to be night of howls and phantoms, fire and air as it were.
So enjoy it, and er...GO SOX! Yes that is it!
Wednesday, October 27, 2004
Tuesday, October 26, 2004
Wish we had better news
Channel Zero only garnered about three paying viewers last night. For a grand total of five since we've moved to the Zeitgeist Gallery in July.
This is to say the least extremely discouraging, other events seem to do well at the Zeitgeist but so far Channel Zero is a bust therein.
Jon Joe and I will have to rethink our format in the sweet by and by.
Frankly, it is no fun to hand distribute twelve-hundred leaflets and shake down our mailing list twice to yield up an audience of two.
I'm coming to a dark and unpleasant conclusion that Boston just isn't as diverse a cultural enviroment as it thinks itself to be.
It is nightmarishly difficult to garner publicity for small events in out of the way venues.
Audiences just don't seem to be primed for the offbeat and bizarre.
Hell, the Coolidge Corner is screening "Buffy the Vampire Slayer" episodes at Midnight for free...what does that tell you about the romantic spirit of experimentation in the Hub?
However all blather aside,I'd like to thank Alan Nidle director of the Zeitgeist Gallery as usual he was brisk, efficient and non-judgemental.
For the moment though, Channel Zero has no new events planned and probably won't be doing anything else this year.
We are in need of a new approach.
This is to say the least extremely discouraging, other events seem to do well at the Zeitgeist but so far Channel Zero is a bust therein.
Jon Joe and I will have to rethink our format in the sweet by and by.
Frankly, it is no fun to hand distribute twelve-hundred leaflets and shake down our mailing list twice to yield up an audience of two.
I'm coming to a dark and unpleasant conclusion that Boston just isn't as diverse a cultural enviroment as it thinks itself to be.
It is nightmarishly difficult to garner publicity for small events in out of the way venues.
Audiences just don't seem to be primed for the offbeat and bizarre.
Hell, the Coolidge Corner is screening "Buffy the Vampire Slayer" episodes at Midnight for free...what does that tell you about the romantic spirit of experimentation in the Hub?
However all blather aside,I'd like to thank Alan Nidle director of the Zeitgeist Gallery as usual he was brisk, efficient and non-judgemental.
For the moment though, Channel Zero has no new events planned and probably won't be doing anything else this year.
We are in need of a new approach.
Sunday, October 24, 2004
Whoops...I goofed
according to my esteemed and honorable brother, the Red Sox are on the road tomorrow so there is no game. So tell all your friends baseball fans or not, Channel Zero is at the Zeitgesit tomorrow night!
:)
:)
27 Hours to go...
before the balloon goes up at Channel Zero...frankly we are none too optimistic at this point. The World Series seems to be the only thing on anyone's mind right now in Boston.
But if you wanna get out to an offbeat film, feel free to drop by the Zeitgeist Gallery tomorrow night at 7:30pm. Or at least tell all your friends who don't care for baseball!
:)
But if you wanna get out to an offbeat film, feel free to drop by the Zeitgeist Gallery tomorrow night at 7:30pm. Or at least tell all your friends who don't care for baseball!
:)
Monday, October 11, 2004
R.I.P. Chris Reeve...
news has reached us of the untimely death at age fifty two of actor Chris Reeve.
He had been dealing with extensive paralysis as a result of a horseback riding accident in 1995 and died of complications associated with that condition.
Sad...I feel that we let him down somehow.
After all he never let us down in cape or out.
I think the story was supposed to end a little differently alas though, he passed on while waiting for a cure.
I give him credit, the Superman comic's sales were in dire straits prior to Superman I's huge box office in 1978...he and director Richard Donner may well have saved the franchise as a comic and as a cultural force.
They did it the old fashioned way, by taking the character seriously, by treating Superman as a acting challenge (One shudders to think that everyone from a young Arnold Schwarzenegger to Sylvester Stallone were considered at one point or another) and by having faith in the audience.
Chris remained an anomaly in Hollywood for the rest of his career classically talented and handsome he had the bad fortune reach stardom at a time when male lookism had peaked in Hollywood. By the end of the 1970's Reeves was competing with the likes of Dustin Hoffman or Al Pacino for roles that would've been his sans demure just a decade earlier.
Perhaps Reeves needed the backing of a golden age type studio to reach his potential those days however were over.
Still and in the end he was an actor.
He took his trade seriously and infused his signature role with a huge amount of Capra style dignity and strength.
He will be missed.
I have to say by way of nostalgia, that as much as I enjoyed "Star Wars" back in the summer of 1977 I marked out even harder for "Superman the Movie"come Christmas 1978.
When Reeves catches Margot Kidder in one hand and a falling helicopter in the other I knew the man and the role had come together in a way not seen before in a comic book type film.
Class like that only comes along once in a generation in these types of films.
That makes Reeve's loss all the more poignant.
He had been dealing with extensive paralysis as a result of a horseback riding accident in 1995 and died of complications associated with that condition.
Sad...I feel that we let him down somehow.
After all he never let us down in cape or out.
I think the story was supposed to end a little differently alas though, he passed on while waiting for a cure.
I give him credit, the Superman comic's sales were in dire straits prior to Superman I's huge box office in 1978...he and director Richard Donner may well have saved the franchise as a comic and as a cultural force.
They did it the old fashioned way, by taking the character seriously, by treating Superman as a acting challenge (One shudders to think that everyone from a young Arnold Schwarzenegger to Sylvester Stallone were considered at one point or another) and by having faith in the audience.
Chris remained an anomaly in Hollywood for the rest of his career classically talented and handsome he had the bad fortune reach stardom at a time when male lookism had peaked in Hollywood. By the end of the 1970's Reeves was competing with the likes of Dustin Hoffman or Al Pacino for roles that would've been his sans demure just a decade earlier.
Perhaps Reeves needed the backing of a golden age type studio to reach his potential those days however were over.
Still and in the end he was an actor.
He took his trade seriously and infused his signature role with a huge amount of Capra style dignity and strength.
He will be missed.
I have to say by way of nostalgia, that as much as I enjoyed "Star Wars" back in the summer of 1977 I marked out even harder for "Superman the Movie"come Christmas 1978.
When Reeves catches Margot Kidder in one hand and a falling helicopter in the other I knew the man and the role had come together in a way not seen before in a comic book type film.
Class like that only comes along once in a generation in these types of films.
That makes Reeve's loss all the more poignant.
Monday, October 04, 2004
The Channel Zero mailing list, both paper and e-mail
was activated this weekend. So welcome to CZ's own little blog...we will have some reviews, cultural commentary, and the usual blather associated with Boston's most notorious entertainment franchise.
We are also in the market for a decent venue for the legendary Bad Poets Society so if anyone has a reasonable suggestion post it in the comments.
What we need is:
A venue be it bar or a legit performance space.
It has to seat between 150 and 200 people (BPS has trended upwards on turnout every year that we've done it).
We'd like to secure a single Friday night in April 2005 for the reading but are negotiable on the specific night of the week.
We are willing to "four wall" the joint if the price is right.
Said venue needs to be MBTA accessible preferably on the Red Line if we can swing it.
Doesn't matter what side of the river we will listen to any proposal.
All this does mean that IF we do the Bad Poets Society in 2005 we will have to charge admission for the first time.
Meanwhile I'm off to one of the classiest laundromats in Cambridge to drop leaflets for our next show.
We are also in the market for a decent venue for the legendary Bad Poets Society so if anyone has a reasonable suggestion post it in the comments.
What we need is:
A venue be it bar or a legit performance space.
It has to seat between 150 and 200 people (BPS has trended upwards on turnout every year that we've done it).
We'd like to secure a single Friday night in April 2005 for the reading but are negotiable on the specific night of the week.
We are willing to "four wall" the joint if the price is right.
Said venue needs to be MBTA accessible preferably on the Red Line if we can swing it.
Doesn't matter what side of the river we will listen to any proposal.
All this does mean that IF we do the Bad Poets Society in 2005 we will have to charge admission for the first time.
Meanwhile I'm off to one of the classiest laundromats in Cambridge to drop leaflets for our next show.
Friday, October 01, 2004
Amish in the City endgame...
I'm late with this, but it's been a busy week for a jobless writer in Boston.
As all of you know "Amish in the City" wrapped up last week and the five farmers departed our teevee screens with heads held high.
Below is a recap of my predictions along with the actual outcome.
Mose: Oldest and smartest of the bunch. At twenty four he drawls and makes droll comments like a farmer out of an Artemus Ward sketch. He is also a skilled craftsman and the most outwardly religious of the group. For all that he seems to be wrestling with his Amish status, he keeping coming back to the decision he must make in all his monologues.
Odds: 50-50
It appears that Mose opted to ditch the Amish lifestyle at the conclusion of the show...although he clearly prefers the rural life and will no doubt find a home in a less stringent sect.
I had a feeling he'd go over the side...he is just a little too reflective for the strict life of an Amish elder.
Miriam: blonde and bodacious she outwardly fits in with the SoCal zeitgeist. She seems to be enjoying herself no matter what is on the agenda. I get the impression though, she is just living it up and plans to resume the Amish lifestyle once she’s milked Southern California dry. Her allegedly off-screen pre-show fling with Randy demonstrates that there is a battle of the sexes going on even among the plain volk.
Odds: 60-40….Miriam is goin’ back.
This one surprised me, Miriam freely admitted she wasn't going back to the country nor accepting baptism into the Amish community. Clearly something about secular life struck a cord with her late in the process.
Jonas: Plain and simple, Jonas wants OUT! Don’t be fooled by his frequent confrontations with the “city kids”…all he is doing is flight testing his future “secular persona”.
Odds: 80-20 Jonas is out whether he passes his GED or not.
Jonas made some pro-Amish sounds late in the game but in the end as I predicted he opted out. he also passed his GED so good for him I say.
Randy: Tall blonde taciturn and a bit lispy, Randy makes the least impression on viewers. He is appropriately camera shy although he may be intimidated by the presence of his former girl friend Miriam in the mix.
Odds: 80-20 Randy is back on the first bus to Lancaster Pa.
Even shutmouthed Randy surprised me, he merely said he was returning to the country to resume his carpentry shtick...but he made his baptism into the Amish community contingent on "finding an Amish girl"....interesting.
Clearly Randy was doing some hard thinking all throughout the process...go figure?
Ruth: Ah Ruth….so full of questions…her monologues are things of wonder and delight. Clearly she was good and surprised by a lot of the things they’ve encountered in the city. Watching her deal with the least little thing like parking meters is really what the show is all about. Ruth is a bit like Mose in that she is constantly and guilelessly asking questions. He mind doesn’t seem to be made up and I wonder if she’ll chuck the Amish lifestyle when the klaxon sounds.
Odds 50-50, Ruth is a mystery.
Less of a surprise here, Ruth sounded like she was going back to the Amish life but a lot was contingent on the attitude of her boy friend "Marvin".
Didn't you just KNOW Ruth had an Amish sweetie named Marvin?
The republic is a little safer tonight knowing this...
:)
Overall I enjoyed the show more than I should have, we get so few glimpses into that lifestyle...the five Amish kids were charismatic, countrified and uncomplicated...how often do you see that on TV?
As all of you know "Amish in the City" wrapped up last week and the five farmers departed our teevee screens with heads held high.
Below is a recap of my predictions along with the actual outcome.
Mose: Oldest and smartest of the bunch. At twenty four he drawls and makes droll comments like a farmer out of an Artemus Ward sketch. He is also a skilled craftsman and the most outwardly religious of the group. For all that he seems to be wrestling with his Amish status, he keeping coming back to the decision he must make in all his monologues.
Odds: 50-50
It appears that Mose opted to ditch the Amish lifestyle at the conclusion of the show...although he clearly prefers the rural life and will no doubt find a home in a less stringent sect.
I had a feeling he'd go over the side...he is just a little too reflective for the strict life of an Amish elder.
Miriam: blonde and bodacious she outwardly fits in with the SoCal zeitgeist. She seems to be enjoying herself no matter what is on the agenda. I get the impression though, she is just living it up and plans to resume the Amish lifestyle once she’s milked Southern California dry. Her allegedly off-screen pre-show fling with Randy demonstrates that there is a battle of the sexes going on even among the plain volk.
Odds: 60-40….Miriam is goin’ back.
This one surprised me, Miriam freely admitted she wasn't going back to the country nor accepting baptism into the Amish community. Clearly something about secular life struck a cord with her late in the process.
Jonas: Plain and simple, Jonas wants OUT! Don’t be fooled by his frequent confrontations with the “city kids”…all he is doing is flight testing his future “secular persona”.
Odds: 80-20 Jonas is out whether he passes his GED or not.
Jonas made some pro-Amish sounds late in the game but in the end as I predicted he opted out. he also passed his GED so good for him I say.
Randy: Tall blonde taciturn and a bit lispy, Randy makes the least impression on viewers. He is appropriately camera shy although he may be intimidated by the presence of his former girl friend Miriam in the mix.
Odds: 80-20 Randy is back on the first bus to Lancaster Pa.
Even shutmouthed Randy surprised me, he merely said he was returning to the country to resume his carpentry shtick...but he made his baptism into the Amish community contingent on "finding an Amish girl"....interesting.
Clearly Randy was doing some hard thinking all throughout the process...go figure?
Ruth: Ah Ruth….so full of questions…her monologues are things of wonder and delight. Clearly she was good and surprised by a lot of the things they’ve encountered in the city. Watching her deal with the least little thing like parking meters is really what the show is all about. Ruth is a bit like Mose in that she is constantly and guilelessly asking questions. He mind doesn’t seem to be made up and I wonder if she’ll chuck the Amish lifestyle when the klaxon sounds.
Odds 50-50, Ruth is a mystery.
Less of a surprise here, Ruth sounded like she was going back to the Amish life but a lot was contingent on the attitude of her boy friend "Marvin".
Didn't you just KNOW Ruth had an Amish sweetie named Marvin?
The republic is a little safer tonight knowing this...
:)
Overall I enjoyed the show more than I should have, we get so few glimpses into that lifestyle...the five Amish kids were charismatic, countrified and uncomplicated...how often do you see that on TV?
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