un·der·whelm  [uhn-der-hwelm, -welm]

–verb : to fail to interest or astonish

This is my first post in almost three months.  My record to date.  It would have been closer to two months if I hadn’t spent the last two weeks pondering my glorious return.  Everything I remotely came up with was so underwhelming and certainly not glorious, so I have decided to embrace it.

I figured I would dazzle you with some trivia on the word, or at least an etymology of sorts.  The googled results are surprisingly underwhelming.  Not really sure what I was expecting, now that I think about it.

In the past three months, I have:

• Gotten my first technical writing job.  I am writing procedures in the corporate office of Westpac, an Australian bank.
• Submitted a second round of immigration application which in theory will lead to permanent residency.
• Discovered The Oatmeal
• Sanded and oiled six deck chairs we found in the trash pile of a Mormon church.  Surprisingly, this project has taken the entire three months.  I put the final coat of oil on this morning.  I still smell like turpentine.

All I  can do is apologize promise to attempt to be more dazzling, or at least more consistent, in the coming months.

I leave you with this profound quote:

Chastity: I know you can be overwhelmed, and you can be underwhelmed, but can you ever just be whelmed?
Bianca: I think you can in Europe.

God speed.

I don’t know if you’ve been following this, but in the last couple weeks there has been a big uproar in the entertainment industry when Ramin Setoodeh wrote an article in Newsweek claiming that gay actors could not “play straight.” This was a response to watching the broadway play Promises, Promise where he was unconvinced by leading man Sean Hayes’s performance.  Since then, the after math includes venomous retaliation from fellow cast member Kristen Chenoweth and fellow gay Alan Cumming, among others, who were appalled by Setoodeh’s remarks.

Now, I understand the uproar.  I get why they would come running to the defense of Sean and other’s like him.  However, I couldn’t quite gel with their arguments.  And I have figured out why when I read an article posted by the genius himself, Aaron Sorkin.  Immediately I felt “this is my opinion.” Funny that, I knew I had an opinion, I just couldn’t articulate what it was.

Me trying to recount it would only butcher the grace in which he writes, so I have posted Sorkin’s response in it’s entirety below.

Now That You Mention It, Rock Hudson Did Seem Gay

This is a sentence I never thought I would type: I’m coming to the defense of a theatre critic.

Newsweek‘s Ramin Setoodeh wrote an article last week titled “Straight Jacket” in which he argues that gay actors can’t and shouldn’t play straight characters. His “Exhibit A” in the piece is Sean Hayes, the stunningly gifted actor who came to our attention playing Jack MacFarland on the much beloved NBC half-hour comedyWill and Grace. (This was back when NBC broadcast television shows.) Mr. Hayes just opened in the Broadway revival of Promises, Promises, a 1968 musical by Neil Simon, Burt Bacharach and Hal David that was based on The Apartment, the Academy Award-winning film by Billy Wilder and I.A.L. (Izzy) Diamond that starred Jack Lemmon and Shirley MacLaine. Are you following so far?

It doesn’t really matter, because all you need to know is that Sean Hayes plays C.C. Baxter in this great show, and that C.C. Baxter is a man who is attracted to women.

Ramin Setoodeh, unlike the overwhelming majority of the people in the audience at the two preview performances I attended, was unhappy with Sean Hayes’ performance. This reaction was not due to Mr. Hayes’ acting, singing, dancing, comedy, unique charm and exceptional rapport with the audience. Mr. Setoodeh’s problem with the star’s performance was that in real life, Mr. Hayes is gay. And as if the studio had given the screenwriter a note that the story had to be spicier, Mr. Setoodeh is gay as well.

Much is being made of the Newsweek piece. Much should be. I’m proud to say that my friend, Kristin Chenoweth, who stars opposite Mr. Hayes in the show (and about whose performance I can’t possibly be objective — she’s sensational and we’ll leave it at that) led the charge — posting an online rebuttal to Mr. Setoodeh in which she called him homophobic.

For an actress who makes her living and her reputation on Broadway, throwing down with a prominent theatre critic isn’t something you do as a career move. In her response to Setoodeh, Ms. Chenoweth made good point after good point after good point…

…and missed the point.

So did Setoodeh.

Read the rest of this entry »

New blogs have been added to my links.  —->

Hollywood University OR: How to get a job in Hollywood

and

A TV Calling

Also, my earnest apologies for the lack of updates.  The joys of an crazy life.

Mary Sue

a term used for a character in a piece of fiction who is really the author’s idealized self-image, often shallow and uninteresting to anyone but the author. Mary Sues dominate any story in which they are included and are most often seen in online fan fiction. The term originated with Paula Smith’s 1974 character from Star Trek fan fiction.

I added a link taking you to a “Mary Sue Litmus Test” to help you determine if you’ve fallen into lazily writing this over-cliched character.

Note: There are many many Mary Sue litmus tests available on the web, some pretty extensive ones at that.  I chose this one because it specifically pertained to the creation for characters in original fiction, whereas most include one or more sections of FanFic and/or RPG characters.  I figured this would be more helpful to people are writing something intended to be actually published.

Today is the Hindu celebration of Diwali ¹ or “the festival of lights.”  My partner is hindu so I have been celebrating since I moved to Australia three years ago.

In preparation for the holiday, everyone cleans their houses, trims their gardens and makes enough sweets to kill an army of diabetics.  On the day everyone dresses in new brightly colored clothes and visits all their friends and family to share the afore mentioned sweets with one another.  At night lots (and I mean lots) of candles are lit all around the yard and sparklers are waved.  It is the festival of lights, after all.

At some point there is a service to worship Lakshmi, the goddess of wealth and prosperity.  It is said the reason everyone is so keen on cleaning their house and buying new clothes is that however you are on Diwali, you will spend the rest of the year.  In other words, filthy house today, filthy house for the next 365.  Be prosperous now, be prosperous later.

This is the big holiday for the Hindu faith.  The Indian Christmas, if you will.  It’s so important that it is a national holiday in India, and everyone spends the night having fun and setting off firecrackers. ²

There is something about this celebration that really appeals to me. Not only is it aesthetically appealing and we get an excuse to eat all day, but we get to spend it among some of those we love the most.  I also really like the idea that we get a blank slate every year.  If you have a rough year, you get to put it behind you and start anew. We could all use that sometimes.

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New Article posted.

The Twilight Saga: Shimmering Vampires Who Drive Volvos

You know, to follow my apparent recent vampire theme.

Posted a new link on my Articles page.  But you can read it here, also.

How vampires got all touchy feely.

Now that I have experienced the joy getting my first job in the script department of a real life television show, it is inevitable that I will have to experience the joy of having the show axed and me losing said job.

I am no professional photographer, but I love taking pictures.  For the longest time I have wanted a “real” camera to snap some shots with.  No point in shoot, but a cool on with one of those twisty things out the front –

It may be possible to guess that I know nothing about buying a camera, which is the main reason  I haven’t gotten one.  However, when I went to India this past October, I decided that as soon as I had the money I just had to get me one.  I tried going to various brand sites and looking at the specs for their models, but I think it might have actually been more helpful if they were written in French.  I was overwhelmed by the complicated jargon about lenses and ISO and viewfinders.  ¹  I have given up the search about six times since October, and within ten minutes of each attempt.

I have found my godsend.  Digital SLR Guide dot Com.  It assumes you’re an idiot and explains everything in plain simple English and walks you through every step of figuring out what camera is right for you, starting with “what kind of photographer are you” because, as it turns out, that matters.  See, it’s already helping me.

Then after you figure it out if you want to take pictures of every detail of your kids drool or cars going by, it allows you to compare cameras by a number of different ways: cost, size, speed, features, you name it.  Then it walks you through all that.  The first place I went, of course, was by cost, and personally, I appreciate the website for not judging me for it.

What I like best about the site, is the guy has a clear love for cameras and spends a lot of time making sure his sites is the most helpful it can be.  There’s something about enthusiasm on top of knowledge that is really appealing.  Not to mention, the site allows you to read as much or as little as you need to make a pretty informed decision (even on accessories and lenses) and when you think you’re ready, the website walks you right up to the buying process, including it’s own store. 

I haven’t had a chance to read the entire site, but from what I have read, I have already learned a lot from, so if you have any interest in graduating from “point-and-shoot” to a “real” camera, check it out.

This week on Entertainment Weekly’s website, the run a story (? is that what we call it?) listing the top 17 DVR “No Delete” episodes of all time. ¹   EW is famous for the list that no one cares about (No? Okay well known to myself at least) because let’s face it, people need a bit of time between each time you rearrange the top 50 Movies of All Time list.  Expecting a filler list here and there is, well, expected.  But this ones a doosey. 

First off, the list is off to a roaring start with the fact that there is seventeen items on it.  What? You couldn’t find a few more to make it an even twenty?  The remaining three are the ones you’ll “probably delete the next you run out of space.”

The List is as follows — and I don’t even think it’s a count down to be perfectly honest.

1. “I Will Remember You”  – Angel (not off to a bad start)
2. Rosie/Elisabeth View Blowout  (what does that even mean?)
3. Two episodes of The Golden Girls, only referenced as “the mystery one” and “the one with a nurse” (so now the fake list is cheating.  And with very little research.)
4. “Naked Man” – How I Met Your Mother
5. “The one where Jim Plays a Banjo at the end” — The Office (are we even trying still?)
6. The Scrubs Musical Episode (which I found to be grating and a bit derivative)
7. 30 Rock‘s ”MILF Island” episode  (Saved by the Baldwin)
8. The series finale of The West Wing (Of all the awesome episodes written, a hundred written by the Sorkin himself, we choose the most tired predictable episode of the season.  Fine, at least they swung for the bleachers.)
9. ”Once More With Feeling.” – Buffy the Vampire Slayer (Buffy and Angel on one list.  That only has 17 in it, no less.  Go, geeks, go.)
10. The series finale of The O.C.  (Once again, I could probably list 20 that are better than this.  All from Season 1)
11. ”Patriot Games” – Family Guy (Haven’t personally seen this ep specifically, but a point for the obscurity.)
12. “A couple episodes” from Felicity (okay, see, now you’re cheating again)
13.  90210 where Dylan marries Toni (I actually have nothing to add one way or the other, sorry to build your expectations)
14. The Rick James episode ofChappelle’s Show ( What?! Really?  Gag.)
15. ‘The Constant.” – Lost (I stopped watching lost after season 2 because it turned to wank, but okay, if you say so)
16. ”Post-it Always Sticks Twice” – Sex and the City (This just seems like an obligatory mention by this point)
17. Saturday Night Live ”J*zz in My Pants” (ARGLLLL!!)

Besides the fact that most of these are not even real episodes, this is the most obscure list I have ever come in contact with.  And I make a many of lists.  It goes from Geek to 80′s sitcoms to just random bits of episodes and then back again taking a loop around the lowest common denominator.  Who is this list trying to appeal to, exactly?  Are we being ecclectic to prove that there is unforgettable television everywhere?  Well, if it were so damn unforgettable why are only a few of the episodes actually named by titled instead of “the one where something happens to some person and it was funny, sorta.”  Ugh.  I, as a list maker and television view alike, am personally offended by the nonsense of this list.  This list maker should be fired  and they should hire someone who can make better lists with multiples of fives and proper labelling.  And a descending order, dammit!

Hippies. Sigh.

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