A Podcast I Love: Off-stage and...On The Air

I love podcasts.  Love 'em!  They are basically radio shows available on the air, and while some of them are available on the FM dial, many of them are produced exclusively for the internet.  Whatever your interests or passion (old time radio shows, Harry Potter, crocheting) no matter how eccentric,  it's likely someone on the web is podcasting about it.  Some are professional, very polished shows and some are as simple as a guy (or girl) on a microphone.  In case you've not listened to them, they are treasure troves for artists of any kind, as many shows focus on the creative process, explore art and culture, and these shows will also talk in depth to wildly talented folks like John Hodgman or  Charles Busch, or Neil Gaiman, who don't get a huge amount of time on the radio or TV.    I hope, in the future to talk about a lot of my favorites, but thought I'd start with a local podcast I enjoy which is available on I-tunes.  That Podcast is...(drum roll please)



  Off-stage and... On The Air (with Lisa Scheps and Nicole Shiro)-


 My college professor used to drill it my and my peers young undergraduate brains that if wanted to call ourselves theatre artists we needed to suck up every bit of knowledge we could about current events, culture,visual arts, food, theatre history, and certainly about what was happening in the present in the theatre scene.

I paraphrase him and say, if you want to call yourself a theatre artist (or theatre appreciator), especially in the Austin area, you need to be listening to Off-stage and... On-the Air.  The two hosts (Lisa Scheps and Nicole Shiro) are opinionated, passionate, kooky and have a charmingly self deprecating sense humor.  Both care deeply about their subject, but don't usually "insist upon themselves". They're the kind of people you want to hang out with at a dinner party, and that's exactly what I want out of an on-air personality.  As for the show's content, not only will you hear run-downs and reviews about what's going on in Broadway (what's in development, what's opening and what's closing, and reviews on those shows), but you'll also hear what happened "on this date in theatre history", and get interviews with Austin artists discussing their current projects. 

I've been on the show a couple of times and seeing it from that side is, needlessly to say, a very skewed way of catching the show.  I was so caught up in how I'd sound on the air, whether I'd fuck something up in the dramatic reading of the scene we were performing or some other self-involved nonsense, that I didn't get to enjoy the rest of the program.  As an audience member, I get so comfy and relaxed and I often listen more than once to soak up the tidbits I missed the first time.  So, please sidle up to your radio station on 91.7 KOOP Wednesdays at 2PM CST or download the podcast on I-tunes, or at their website. 
http://www.offstageontheair.blogspot.com

And if you are like I was and had only been on it and never taken the opportunity to listen, do yourself a favor and "step right up".

I will only eat one kind of pickle from now on!

Clausens, that is.  For a while I'd taken issue with the vast difference in quality between the pickles I got at the deli and the ones I found in jars at the store.  In comparison the store pickles were limp, flaccid, and the juice resembled what I imagine formaldehyde might taste like.  And then, a miracle!  I was hanging out at my friend Meg and Dave's house, when Dave offered me a bite of his pickle.  It was delicious!  Crisp, salty, delicious!  I had to see where they came from, because from now on I would only eat this pickle.  One pickle for the rest of my life:  Clausen.  Halleluj.

Imagine my surprise when I went to the pickle aisle of my local store and found it overrun by the Vlasic Stork, and some asshole named "Miss Olive".  No thanks.  I'd been ruined for other pickles.  If it couldn't be Clausen, it would be nothing.  I went to another store, same result.  Had those bastards run the Clausens out of the pickle business I wondered?  A search on the Internet revealed no such occurrence.  Thanks to a quick text to Dave I discovered that Clausens were in the deli area, refrigerated.  Because Clausens are NEVER heated!  I love them so I've even taken to dipping them in hummus.  What a snack sensation.

Accept no other.

Ira Update

I mentioned several posts ago that my cat Ira, who's been with me for many years, has been experiencing major health issues and I was struggling with thoughts of putting him to sleep.  Opinions on the subject were varied, but most were leaning toward the unhhappy ending, and I was completely confused about what was best for him.   Emotions were up and down for about two weeks in conjunction with his health outlook.  And then, a a couple Tuesdays ago my vet became more hopeful that he might make it.  He was under the bed in hiding most of the day, but not all, and the fact that he was feeling at all sociable seemed to be a good sign, plus, the veterinary dentist had seen other cats with his condition recover, and he was taking food by syringe, so home he went.  

I syringe fed him three times a day, gave him pain meds twice a day, and injected fluids into him twice a day for several days.  It wasn't fun for either of us, but it got results, and I'm happy to report that he is back to his sassy, vocal self, sleeping on the bed rather than under it, and he is even drinking and feeding himself (though I'm still supplementing with the syringe so we can get his weight up closer to where it should be).  In short, he seems happy, and I'm glad I waited it out, as bleak as things were seeming for a while.  Thanks to everyone who gave their advice and well wishes, as they were sorely needed.

The Punchy Players!

The Punchy Players have been creating some hilarious videos at their youtube channel featuring celebs and TV characters of the past including Hazel, Caroline Ingalls, Lucy, Liza Minnelli, Julie Andrews and Ann Miller.  Their humor is always fresh, sharp, and never mean spirited, which I love.  They often feature videos with Judy Garland, and they first came to my notice through "Judy's Cream of Wheat".  While that one is definitely a keeper, this new one might be my favorite.  It imagines what might happen if a child brought Judy to "Show and Tell".

And... here's an original medley, for those of you who haven't seen much of Judy's 1960's work.

"Total Faith" due out on April 16th

A new cd from Broadway sass-bucket and all around talent, Faith Prince, is due out in just a few days!  Those who live in Austin and were lucky enough to catch her at Austin Cabaret Theater a few years back will be pleased to know that almost all the material is new, aside from a story about a duck which I'm assuming is the same one she told at The Mansion at Judges Hill, because how many duck stories can there be?  For those who wish to revisit that evening, many of those same songs and stories can be found on her previous cd, A Leap of Faith. 

A few of the promising tracks from the current disc include: a medley of "Somewhere That's Green" and "Suddenly, Seymour", "If He Walked into My Life", "The Ladies Who Lunch", and "But the World Goes 'Round". 

Sir Ian McKellan Spreads the Word

 

At the opening night of the new "Breakfast At Tiffany's", Sir Ian McKellan dropped a juicy tidbit to Michael Musto.  Naturally, while discussing the show (which McKellan isn't in, but was attending) McKellan mentioned that he hadn't seen the film, but had auditioned for its director, Blake Edwards a while back and spoke to someone, asking... 

"Do you think they'd ever employ me if they knew I was gay?  I was told 'What is the problem?  He's gay - and so is his wife'.  That's Hollywood."

Tell it like it T-I- Is, Sir Ian!

Of course, I don't know the specifics of the situation, but this rumor has been making the rounds for years so it's not exactly breaking news, and I'm not sure if I believe it (and if do, it naturally doesn't change my love for either of them).  Still, it's interesting to hear it from such a notable third hand source.

In related news...

Love in Bloom?

Julie Andrews' television special from the seventies, "Step Into Spring", will be available on DVD for the first time beginning April 23rd.  It features performances by Leslie Uggams, Leo Sayer, and...the Muppets!

Updates

1. It looks like I'm moving.  Again.  I've only been in my apartment for about a year, but a dear friend of mine is looking for a roommate, and so after thinking about it a little, I went with my gut AND my practical side and leapt.  Yes I enjoy living by myself and the privacy it provides.  But I also love my friend, and the fun we'll have, and the excitement of a new place to decorate and make home.  Life's too short to live stuck in a hobbit hole.

2.  I have a job tomorrow.  It's a one day temp assignment, and it's not amazing pay, but for the first time in a little over a month it allows me to put my foot back into the workd of the office.

3.  I finished writing a full-length screenplay.  It's something I've been working on for almost three years now, and I finally finished it.  Awhile back I was having trouble fixating on an idea to expand into a long form piece and then I finally remembered that I had something already in progress.  A story I was nearly finished with, but had deserted due to fears it wouldn't be brilliant.  Well, I went back to it and at 10:00 PM this evening, printed it out.  Halleluj.

4.  I don't know if I'm someone who can write much about relationships while I'm in them.  Baring thoughts and feelings, hopes and hesitations while I'm still sussing them out?  That doesn't seem like something to post in a blog, but to confide to friends.  Trust me, once those relationships are over, I feel like they are fair game, but until then... Suffice it to say that I've had a few dates with a nice guy, and I like him. 

Explorer of the World

I remember walking to school as a first grader, by myself.  I lived just down the street from my school, and it was a very safe neighborhood, but regardless, my mother probably wouldn't feel as safe letting me do that today.  But then?  I would count the cracks on the sidewalk as I headed to school.  On rainy days I would look at the worms drowned in the puddles and smell there sickly sweet smell of death, and feel sad for them.  I would skip.  I would run past one house and then walk past the next.  On colder days I would put my head under the collar of my jacket and look through the button holes like I was a headless man.  "Nothing to look at folks, just a headless man walking down the street."  And I would talk to trees.  Have little conversations with them.  Pause and say hello, ask the tree how it's day was.  I would shake it's limb in greeting.  Sometimes my conversations went overlong and my mom would walk down the street to find me, and there I'd be.  Hanging out with a tree.  We all do things like this, as kids.  As a kid, I had "wonder".  I was excited by and curious about things around me.   I explored my world thoroughly.  What happened?

Today, I am an explorer of people.  Of media.  Of MS Outlook.  I look in faces and try to find out what people are thinking, but not saying.  I watch movies and diagnose the structure, and try to apply the things that worked to my own writings.  I double check emails to make sure the spelling and punctuation are correct and that they can be easily comprehended by one who should read it.

But I don't taste a peanut butter and jelly sandwich like I used to, or try to count the stars at night.  Who does?  As people, we explore these kinds of things for awhile and then forget about them, take them for granted.  We've discovered enough about these things to know which ones will and will not hurt you, and if they will how to avoid that hurt.  Then we get on to the big business of the world like achieving those tasks that other people give you, or that you give yourself, and almost always involve paper work.  Yes, we need to support ourselves.  We don't have the luxuries we had as kids.  But I don't do that kind of exploring on my off time either.  If not then, when?

I want to explore more.  One of the things I want to do is go to the Museum of Natural History on campus.  That's my next task.  And the Blanton Museum.  But more than that, I want to pick up shiny rocks.  Collect leaves and paste them in a book.  Look at a lady bug on the tip of my finger.  That's the stuff that makes life fun, and gives all the drudgery of the day meaning. 

Parents get a second childhood in a way, as they get to see this world through their son's or daughter's eyes.  They answer their multitudes of questions and ponder alongside them.  They can't help it.  It must be one of the reasons people say "If you want to learn about something, teach it." 

Well, I don't have a child, but I can become a kid again, in a way, by inviting myself to look at the world a little differently than I usually do.  See how many orange colored shirts I can see at work.  Look at who has curly hair and who has straight.  It's not too late to capture that childhood wisdom, as long as you can stop long enough to remember its worth

Toasty Posting

Random Thoughts:
 
1.  New Girl is totally fucking underrated.  I've watched like twelve episodes in a row and I still love it.  And I love my new imaginary best friends,  And my imaginary hook-up Jake Johnson.

2.  Perks of Being A Wallflower is the best thing to watch when you are feeling a little blue.  It's so good it makes me laugh cry.  That's when you are trying so hard not to cry that you start laughing and then it turns into jagged tears.

3.  I don't care how young Ezra Miller is (20), I still want to lick him.

4.  Will someone PLEASE release the 1991 post-World War II drama Home Front on DVD??

5.  I miss Cedar Rapids, Iowa (my birthplace), land of Loose Meat Sandwiches, Happy Chef Restaurants, garage sales, blue skies to rival Santa Fe.

Calling all JILFs!!

I love Jewish men, and am obviously not the only one.  Shalom Life has posted their top 50 hottest Jewish men.  If you are also a fan of the JILF (Jew I'd like to fuck for those of you out of the loop, and this term is used by Shalom Life so I feel absolutely no guilt in using it) please check out...

 http://www.shalomlife.com/culture/17032/top-50-hottest-jewish-men-10-1/

Here are my top three (in no particular order):

1.  Ben Feldman (AKA Michael Ginsberg from Mad Men)

I don't actually know much about Ben Feldman himself, but his character in Mad Men is brilliant, artistic, outspoken, eccentric and adorable.  I just want to wrap my arms tight around him.

2.  Daniel Radcliffe

In interviews he's so articulate and open, beautifully liberal... From all I've read he has an amazing work ethic and dives whole-heartedly into anything he attempts.  Plus he's a very vocal advocate for gay rights. 

3.  Matt Heinz

He's an openly gay Doctor, a Democrat, a representative for Arizona and a current Congressional candidate.  Need I say more?

Music for an Overcast Day

I was introduced to the music of Johnny Hartman several years ago by a musician friend of mine who was kind enough to say he thought my singing voice was reminiscent of his, and upon hearing this "make you swoon", mellow, vulnerable but intensely masculine voice I just fell in love. 

For a while I listened to this album non-stop, thoroughly annoying my friend Aaron, who is dictatorial about when certain music should be played.  "Respect the Seasons!".  He was adamant that the Johnny Hartman John Coltrane album was only appropriate for Autumn and Winter, but with the weather as cold and wet as it is today, I think it's just perfect.