LONELYPOND PRESENTS

News:

Well, this is the question that’s been bugging me. Where’s the new Blink Kitty Love? What’s the band up to?* It’s been a month.

Yes, it’s been a month, but I think the whole Streamy push tired me out…Yes, it would be GREAT to be nominated for a Streamy and I really do think that Blink Kitty Love deserves consideration in both the Best Animated Series and Best Experimental Series categories, but I find that the energy required to promote something drains the energy required to create something.

Did you look outside, there’s winter (and snow).

I’m learning how to draw tigers for my two week Chinese New Year artistic meditation — very exciting; I love focusing on one animal a year. Here’s the collection so far and the current year.

Meanwhile, there’s been the The Lion, The Witch and The Wardrobe set, which I am helping with but the designer is an amazing artist who has a vision in his head and doesn’t want anybody else raising a brush near it. I respect that but it is also draining in its own way.

More exciting is that I’ve been discussing (early for me) Merchant of Venice (#merven) with a really cool artist who is planning to do the logo so I’ve been getting up to speed on that (and trying to coordinate a conversation — scheduling is one of the more annoying things to do while also being one of the more important).

So I’ve been drawing less, tweeting less, blogging less and stressing more. Which is just the low point of a natural cycle so it’s time to swing back the other way.

I did remember to catch Smallville: Absolute Justice. Their viewing numbers must be a huge increase over other weeks since I think everyone I know who has ever loved a comic book watched it. Smallville has caught a lot of interest now, so we’ll see where it goes. There were some great moments in Justice - Dr. Fate putting the mask on tops the list, a moment of heroism that made you catch your breath, and the newsreel footage was excellent. It was nice to see heroes without the shades of murky grey that Smallville likes to muck everything up with. I hope this can continue without the presence of Geoff Johns’ writing. But WAY TOO MANY COMMERCIAL BREAKS, CW. You abused your audience’s tolerance there. There are other ways to make transitions.

Looking forward to The Lightning Thief opening next weekend. Finally got the books back from my mom because Gayle saw the movie trailer and said do you have the books?

What I have been reading is the Hopeless Savages collections. Finally ordered the second and it’s better than I remember (I have all the original issues but I need to sort my comics out and find them). I was initially turned off by Bryan Lee O’Malley’s art, so different from the first series, but decided to give it another go now that I’ve had the “fall in love with Scott Pilgrim (or maybe Kim Pine) experience.” I recommend both series; there need to be more comics like that. Read ‘em.

*The band continues chatting on their Twitter feed and their blog so you can still continue the Blink Kitty Love love while we’re all hibernating (warning: food cravings may occur). And I do have some live footage I’m planning to experiment with (warning: food cravings may occur) soon.

Stay warm, darn it.

New Blink Kitty Love blog post where the band links to their favorite TV themes.

Continuing the TV theme, still loving Chuck, although it gets bumped on Monday nights by Top Gear, one of Gayle’s top 3 shows.

Wizards vs. Werewolves — nope, fail, not really any fun at all. Solve our problems by making the bad boyfriend and the actress we’ve put on another show go away. More substantive criticism? Ok. Well, exactly in the middle, I thought I’ve seen this dramatic pose around a fountain exactly in a soap opera (yes, there was soap opera watching at some point in my past; my mom was a General Hospital/One Life To Live fanatic and so were half the GUYS in my freshman dorm) and near the end, I thought straight steal from Buffy (the why can’t we date normal people moment). Flash was so bored she slept through it — which is good, no seizure from overexcitement. I find it really annoying that Alex so changes her personality for the boy of the moment, unless this is supposed to be an example of the standard girl experience, although they’ve spent a lot of time setting up Alex as a not so standard girl. And yes, Mason was a bad boyfriend but not enough time was spent on that either. They solved too many problems too easily and had too many plots in the air for one episode, even an hour long one. And I would have liked to have seen Juliet’s parents make an appearance again; they were fun. The we pay attention to plot and character pendulum swings back toward iCarly (after the successful iSaved Your Life). Nick’s doing a Secret Crush weekend…have been catching the odd True Jackson, and although it’s nice to see more of the school (and Mikey J), there’s a moderate sized hole where the manic fun that is the Mad Style staff used to fit. Caught another episode of Big Time Crush and didn’t enjoy it. Too much loud; too little character based humor. The guys are interchangeable and the having to shoehorn in the little sister plot really drags it down.

Did I mention Chuck is great. And The Big Bang Theory continues fun, although I am getting TIRED of Howard. Bring back Leslie Winkel, put him between her and the current girlfriend, have a little frank enough for television sex talk and let’s watch his brain shrivel (that’s as low as I’m looking).

Cool glass robots (thanks to Geek Dad for the link.)

Howdy…

Can you guess the character?

Haiti: such a terrible week. Fortunately, most of the world is acting in a compassionate fashion. We donated through Episcopal Relief and Development, which has a strong ground presence through the Diocese of Haiti, and will continue to do so after the immediate crisis is over. I hope you will consider donating if you haven’t yet.

Greetings, o most loyal and amazing blog visitors. Happy 2010. I’m going to give you a fairly thorough round up as I would really like to be taking a couple of weeks for some R + R while it’s cold and all my baser instincts are saying, “Stay under the covers, it’s warm.” I am not particularly good at the R + R things so I may be forced to resort to things like read all the Harry Potter books, read all the Sarah Caudwell books, read all the Terry Pratchett Watch themed books, read my MFK Fisher + Elizabeth David, dig out my Raymond Chandler and Peter Cheyney, read through the pile of newspapers, watch all the movies I’ve borrowed from friends (Tristram Shandy, Bubba Ho-Tep, Steam Boy), watch the movies I watch every year and skipped in ‘09 (the original 3 American Pies, Tomb Raider, Bring It On, The Bandwagon, Strictly Ballroom, etc.)

So to tide you over, there’s the new Blink Kitty Love, all the old Blink Kitty Love, the band website and this:

Lunch With Tristram Stuart who feeds people from discarded food to highlight wastage.

Article about really cool jazz pianists CD collections I can’t afford.

The FT’s this year in culture quiz…

Stefan Stern’s suggestions for movies to watch and pick up business tips from this season (for the rest of you who don’t do R + R).

Very cool story about a native Gypsy theatre experiment/troupe in Spain. I am always amazed by the effect theatre can have on both audience and performers.

Umberto Eco’s latest looks to land on a list of fun reads.

Hoping to catch Nine at the local cinema…doesn’t look like Orson Welles and Me or The Station will make an appearance here; bumped Moon to the top of the Netflix queue and may soon give in to the buy Star Trek and/or Wizards of Waverly Place The Movie DVD urge…also on that list, the Cary Grant double feature — The Bachelor and The Bobby Soxer and Walk, Don’t Run, which I just saw on TCM and laughed at the frequently priceless moments.

TV: Zeke and Luther’s I, Skatebot episode looks cool, a bit worried about Wizards vs. Werewolves (Wizards of Waverly Place) — perhaps too soon after Wizards vs. Vampires and what will be left for Max, Wizards vs. really grumpy mythological creatures left out of the Twilight series — not really watching much on Nick at the moment except for late night What I Like About You, Top Gear kicks off a new season soon (Gayle very excited), I still miss Warehouse 13 and I really need to spend more time reading.

Merchant of Venice (#merven) planning not kicking into gear — but it’s early yet. Trying to get an artist for the logo, Gayle’s scheduling shows, I’ve decided to have people audition with their cool electronic gear (cell phones, laptops, etc.) Need to read through the play again; concerned about the Bassiano/Antonio axis –and no, I don’t mean in the gay way, just in the everybody’s always so concerned about Portia and Shylock, but hey without these two, I’ve got two right side wheels on a vehicle that needs two on the left as well.

The Lonely Pond Productions, Inc. annual meeting went in unexpected directions. But Google Wave worked well when the snow prevented travel. I need to put together scripts for a short live action adaptation and a few animations. And mull over movie related issues some more.

And Sarah Hemming’s “Twelfth Night” review left me grumping about people who weight down comedies with misery so I have been considering exactly how tragic the characters of Malvolvio, Sir Andrew, Wile E. Coyote, Elmer Fudd, et al are. And her Rope review makes the show sound like an excellent experience to have in a theatre.

Speaking of Hitchcock, there was a Vanity Fair photospread (thanks @njtam, a fellow Hitchcock fan) of modern stars in classic Hitchcock scenes…the women do better than the men, who seem to suffer from not being Cary Grant or Jimmy Stewart.

My current favorite breakfast is oatmeal with hot apple cider for a drink, my current most likely to be worn shirt is this one (it amuses Gayle) and I heard this amazingly goofy song at one of our favorite restaurants that Google has been no help with finding the title of…the lyrics as we can remember go something like this: “you’re good cause you don’t do things like (or that) you should…you’re cool cause (cuz?) you don’t do things by the book.” Sounded like a guy singing, it was a Spanish-Peruvian restaurant where music usually has spanish lyrics, it was chanty, and if you drop the title/artist in the comments, there will be a reward.

And I think that gets you up to date — and should tide you over for awhile. Wishing you the best of 2010’s. Stay warm.

P.S. Cool toasters…I need one.

Haven’t been posting here as much because I’ve been having fun finishing my Christmas themed (ELVES! The Fat Man! Danger!) holiday noir short spoof, Which List For The Mrs.?

Lively Peter Aspden interview with Christian McKay, Orson Welles of Me and Orson Welles.

I think this will be a good year for Oscar hosting as Steve Martin’s and Alec Baldwin’s performances in It’s Complicated were great — with remarkable mischief on Baldwin’s part and excellent reserve on Martin’s. Funny, solid movie. We’re skipping the Squeakquel as all reviews indicate redone, tired and stole plot from High School Musical and I can’t see it being worth matinee prices. Which is a shame because I liked the first one and I thought they had more pride in the franchise.

There were an amazing amount of people at the movies on Sunday. The late afternoon It’s Complicated showing was nearly sold out and other movies had lines and there were even more people coming in as we left. It’s already been a record breaking year and those in the know are expecting it to finish off even stronger.

Enjoy your New Year’s Eve and three day weekend. Stay safe, warm and sober (if you’re driving). Thanks for stopping by. My plans? Trying to finish a New Year’s themed Blink Kitty Love (holiday related humor = built in time stress) and a weekend full of some of our favorite movies (plus Pineapple Express, the current Netflix offering).

And please don’t forget to vote for Blink Kitty Love as a Best Experimental Web Series nominee. Thanks!

We saw The Princess and The Frog this weekend. Impressed — they made great use of New Orleans the city. Tiana is good, strong heroine with a hint of humor to be nudged out by a carefree prince; I even liked the blonde spoiled needs to be a princess girl (Charlotte) and I didn’t think I would from Disney advance advertising. It was also funnier than I thought it would be — and the Prince in no way reminded me of Pepe Le Pew, one of my original worries.

It had a strong opening weekend with lots of disclaimers — in December, for an animated movie, etc.

Go see it: the animation was beautiful; there was a great art deco Josephine Bakerish fantasy sequence, the shadows loomed with scary menace, the villain’s schemes and dreams were excellently evil and the heroine and hero captivated the audience’s interest even though they spend most of the movie as amphibians. There were some tough moments and real sadness — it’s a Disney movie, they’re harsh. But if it had been any less harsh it would have been a cop out and not served the story.

I would have liked more jazz. They should have put all the music through the jazz blender; the city and its culture were so beautifully evoked, I wish they would have done the same with the music and worked with a Marsalis instead of a Newman or a Ne-Yo.

Entertainment Weekly gave it an A; I’d agree if there’d been any memorable music so B+ from me. I’ll keep the Enchanted soundtrack for that slot until Disney kicks up its game to offer a replacement. Great to see Disney put so much effort into old school craft, solid story and timeless art.

The Big Bang Theory — ok, I adore Christine Baranski, she’s a very funny, very talented actress but she’s just not as funny as Leonard’s mother as I hoped. Now, Sheldon’s mother played by Laurie Metcalf is a triumph of walking humor’s fine edged line so I’m not sure whether to blame Baranski never clicking as a writing, directing or casting issue. She’s the only character on the show who doesn’t seem to have any seed of a real person at her core.

An article about how Armistice Day turned into Veteran’s Day. And as I was clicking through a link to Doonesbury from @zephoria, the social media maven I follow on Twitter, I discovered that Doonesbury on Slate hosts The Sandbox, a milblog with posts from service members deployed to Iraq and Afghanistan. I’ve been reading and the posts are full of philosophy, practical advice, history, humanity, survival tips, Disney discounts, humility, bravery, isolation, comradeship…

I almost ended up in the military twice (although my mother and a buddy of mine in the ROTC program claimed I would have ended up out or in a military prison for insubordination.) In high school, I was interested in and recruited by Navy ROTC, but I didn’t know what I wanted to do for the four years of college and thought it a bad idea to commit to something for five years after that. And then when I got to Northwestern and saw the hours my buddy got up to do PT and drill team, I figured it had been a good decision.

After college, I didn’t have any grand plan, thought travel might be fun, and returned to the military thought. The Marines didn’t want me, not in shape enough, so they suggested the Air Force. The Air Force offered Monterey, foreign languages and adventures. But I was gay, no doubts or apologies, and I wanted to see if anything would develop with Gayle. I wasn’t going to lie. A buddy of mine had lived an entirely double life because the military was something he could not be separated from and gay was something he couldn’t get over — and there was the handy girlfriend who refused to notice. I watched him do it for four years of college and some years after and it was a terrible thing. We once had a half serious discussion about marriage so he would have a cover and I would have health insurance and could keep writing or whatever it was I wanted to do.

A friend from high school led the hidden life with separate mailing addresses. And I sat there in a military recruiter’s office, very curious but unwilling and unable to lie for opportunity.

Over the years, I have read so much about the treatment of women and gays in the military and sometimes I thought, perhaps my mother was right; I would have clocked the first person who yelled in my ear at 0 dark thirty or used a word I didn’t care to be referred to as.

“Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell” was never a solution. The time has long passed for its reversal. The Advocate reports today, very fittingly, that the repeal of Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell is to be included in next year’s Department of Defense Authorization Bill. The Advocate has also been running excellent articles on gays in the military, their supporters, Congressman and Iraq veteran Patrick J. Murphy, and even one article with an undercover reporter trying to get the view of the average straight soldier in the PX.

So thanks to veterans everywhere for supporting freedom, this country and the Constitution. And I hope that one day soon, this will be a country where we really will be free, with equal rights for every citizen. And I can finally marry the woman I had hopes of getting to know better many years ago.

Harrisburg area tonight: go see my buddy Jeremy in concert (taking care of sick Gayle so need stunt double stand in).

This was just going to be about me swearing off entering film festivals, considering film festivals, reading about film festivals, worrying about film festivals, et al on the advice of Gayle who remembers me complaining about nearly frying my computer every time I think I ought to enter one. So Blink Kitty Love is going to continue its merry musical way without the imprimatur of the Nick Animation Fest — which does look fun + is free to enter so points for them (entries closed for this year; try next if that’s your flavor). But there I am looking for approval or safety or a production deal again, and I’m not sure that’s what I’m actually trying to conquer — not that I’d turn down a production deal ; ) And I really do nearly fry my computer every time.

But (second half swearing off reference, cue segue)…

Entertainment Weekly listed its top 20 animated films ever and not only do they have Chicken Run in (instead of Fantasia for instance), one of the main criteria seems to be will it make you, the viewer, cry. The goal is not even like that of old school tragedies — will you learn a lesson while someone’s eyes are being plucked out offstage and tears are being rent unwilling from yours or as you just stare at the stage in horrified understanding, just maudlin basic level Dumbo separated from his Mom issues. The easy stuff. That and September 11th references + articles, made me remember when and why I swore off tragedies for the summer Shakespeare Theatre Under The Trees experience.

September 11, 2001 I had a touring show rehearsal (acting) in the morning, Gayle had a day off, Beau was a little past teenager + living with us…I walked into the theatre some time after nine (I am not prompt in the morning; rehearsal started at 8:30 a.m. Diane plans around me). There was an atmosphere I hadn’t felt since the watching the Challenger disintegration at Northwestern’s student center or the couple of times I listened to the World Series on the radio (one of those times was in college, in an effort to study while it was happening — total fail; the other was grade school when I had a manic Phillies fan as a teacher). All of the parents were huddled around the table, a news type voice was saying something about Logan airport and I remembered my sister lived in Boston. And so I jumped to the conclusion that something had happened there. Then the full + awful story unwound while the rapt silence continued. I found a phone to call the still sleeping Gayle, so glad that both she + Beau were safe and that I knew where they were. I was still worried about the Boston branch of the family. My father watched the Towers fall from the roof of the plant he worked at in Rahway, NJ, came home that night and hung up an American flag from the eaves.

So that summer, the plan was to do Julius Caesar. I had even applied for a Nike grant — I thought football uniforms and a sports theme might add an interesting flavor. But one afternoon, I just decided not to watch people die on stage. If I did it well (and I planned to), it would be riveting + horrifying. That wasn’t what the universe needed. I asked myself, because it suddenly seemed possible, if the world were going to end, what play would I regret not doing. I had always loved Beatrice + Benedict; the wonderful wordplay that was their relationship. So the summer of 2002 turned into the summer of Much Ado About Nothing. And I continue to shake my head at gifted comedians who would rather play Ophelia than Beatrice or Rosalind or Olivia(although one of them recently told me she’d rather play Gertrude than Ophelia; it’s a much better part.)

September 11, 2001…so much happened then + since. My thoughts are with the victims’ friends + families and the soldiers who fight for our country. I often think they all deserve better politicians.