At The Red Fox

This is a clip of Mark and Lorna, a couple who perform six nights a week at the Red Fox Lounge in Winter Park, FL, near Orlando. I happened to be staying at the Best Western where the Red Fox is located, and got to see them. They have been playing there for 18 years, married 37 years. They are purportedly the basis for the SNL skit "The Culps." They are remarkable. Please visit them in real life.

Ben Cameron's speech at ISPA

I just stumbled onto this speech, and I think it's worth reading. There's a lot here. Take a breath, get a beverage and block out some time:

http://www.ispa.org/ideas/cameron.html

Here are two tidbits:

1. "We may be in the arts looking at the world—watching our audiences shrink, seeing subscribers decline, standing by as organizations teeter and fall—through the lens of scarcity, when the world—especially the young—are playing in a field of abundance."

2. "Theatre practitioners how report growing audience resistance to encountering any idea not instantly recognizable as one’s own, an increasing polarization in our country, for instance, that led members of the audiences at last year’s Tony winning Alliance Theatre to exit en masse, mid-act, climbing over others, when a character said, “If I had time with George Bush, I’d tell him to share his toys and play nice with others.” For so many, the encounter with the other, with difference, with the new lies at the heart of our missions and purpose: what will it mean for us if we lose this appetite as a society and wish only to encounter the familiar, the known, the already embraced?"

"Even The Nostalgia Was Better Back Then"

Here is a video of excerpts from some monologues I put together a couple years ago. There's going to be a production of this piece in San Diego, directed by Judy Bauerlein, later this year.

Lisbon

Douglas Coupland

I thought this op-ed captures something of now.

Instructions for a day alone in Lisbon

1. Order what you can neither pronounce nor translate. It's likely it will taste good.

2. Listen to how nice everything sounds on the lips and tongue.

3. Saudade.

4. Go to a record store where you like the sounds coming out the door. Maybe in the Bairro Alto. Ask the clerk, in Portugese ("fala ingles?") if they speak English. If so, ask for recommendations of local music, or his/her favorite music. Say you are a musical omnivore; if "omnivore" doesn't register, then say, "I like everything," in either language.

5. Do things earnestly but with a sense of humor, if possible.

6. Enjoy the fact that the Portugese, "No," sounds like the English "Nao."

7. Read whatever book you are carrying, preferably outside. See how long it takes to finish a chapter.