Those who have seen many of my acts have probably come to the conclusion that I love comedy. Which would be an accurate Judgement. I love to make people laugh. And the majority of the acts I have performed in Second Life have been - or at least to have been intended to be - humorous. The first original play that I wrote to be performed in SL was a hilarious piece of satire called Cleo and the Czar. I claimed that I plagiarized George Bernard Shaw and William Shakespear, but that was part of the humor. I used a couple of lines from each but mixed in with the silliness was a story that was based upon a lot of research into the "true" - or at least accepted - history of the events surrounding the romance of Julius Caesar and Cleopatra.
Yes I'm bragging. It's funny. Even if I wrote it, anything that I can read for the hundredth time and still burst out laughing . . . must be funny. Unfortunately two years ago it opened at Paramount and was closed after two performances. Significant by it's absence was . . . an audience.
And yes I would love to update it with the movement and choreography tools we now have available. Except for one thing.
My Silly Muse quit singing to me.
I have created and performed in non-comedy acts in these three years that I have been performing on stage in sl, but they have been exceptions which didn't follow the rule.
I have noticed that the response I get from other dancers and performers is best for my most serious acts, namely "Sacred Ground." My Silly Muse was mercifully silent when I was dreaming that one up and I'm glad.
Starting in January of this year my Silly Muse seems to have taken a holiday. Other, more serious muses have taken her place. Serious, dark acts are making a lot of noise, wanting to be heard (by me) and translated into on-stage performances. Also by me.
The serious ones are much more difficult. To be totally honest, for a long time i have accepted the ability to make people laugh as a Gift From God. Humor is Easy. Serious is Difficult and Dark is Very Hard.
My output of acts has gone down, seriously. I have been working on one that is 10 minutes long, which I started in late January. It's due to be performed in 3 days (this coming Friday) and I'm still working on it.
Along the way I have come up with a few "regular length" acts, some by digging out old acts and updating them using some of the modern tools available. A couple from scratch; one goofy, one serious. The serious one got a good reception. The bad one - I mean the non-serious one - received some very negative criticism. Negative criticism is something I take to heart deeply, especially when coming from someone whose opinions I respect.
I'm close to "finished" with the current project and I have two very dark and very long projects waiting in line. All three of these projects are intended to be "My Art." How others view them will be - - :-) of course - up to them.
Tuesday, April 21, 2015
Sunday, April 19, 2015
Oklahoma City Bombing
Other than the families who lost their lives in the Oklahoma City Bombing twenty years ago today, those who were in the building and the Journal Record building nearby, and the first responders, I honestly believe no one was affected by that crime than my rl wife.
I was affected - to a much lesser degree - I wasn't downtown. I wasn't at Ground Zero while the firemen were carrying babies out of the rubble. She was.
The effects it had on both of us - primarily her, but also to me because what affected her affected me through her, were more significant than any event in either of our lives, ever.
I post this to make an effort - a bad one I'm sure - at explaining why she and I ignore this date as much as possible - April 19. There are some emotional tar pits that are better ignored. I'm deliberately trying to shut out all the things that want to bubble to the surface and be typed about.
This isn't comparing a tragedy with any other tragedy. The ability of humankind to embrace evil and to do evil deeds truly amazes me, in addition to the tendency to wrap evil deeds in a cloak of some kind of "cause" religious or otherwise. My heart goes out every day to people who have survived all manner of tragedies, both accidental, health, and terrorism. The OKC bombing did lasting damage to my wife . . . I just saw her change the channel on the TV away from a memorial service . . . those of who you who pray, if you want to say prayer for my wife, her name is Ann.
Path
I was affected - to a much lesser degree - I wasn't downtown. I wasn't at Ground Zero while the firemen were carrying babies out of the rubble. She was.
The effects it had on both of us - primarily her, but also to me because what affected her affected me through her, were more significant than any event in either of our lives, ever.
I post this to make an effort - a bad one I'm sure - at explaining why she and I ignore this date as much as possible - April 19. There are some emotional tar pits that are better ignored. I'm deliberately trying to shut out all the things that want to bubble to the surface and be typed about.
This isn't comparing a tragedy with any other tragedy. The ability of humankind to embrace evil and to do evil deeds truly amazes me, in addition to the tendency to wrap evil deeds in a cloak of some kind of "cause" religious or otherwise. My heart goes out every day to people who have survived all manner of tragedies, both accidental, health, and terrorism. The OKC bombing did lasting damage to my wife . . . I just saw her change the channel on the TV away from a memorial service . . . those of who you who pray, if you want to say prayer for my wife, her name is Ann.
Path
Thursday, April 16, 2015
Lhasa a Shih Tzu
There are so many things I want to write about - - if i am not careful I'll wind up writing an incomprehensible run-on sentence about 10 yards long, and then have nothing left to say. So tonight I will talk about a dog. In my experience I have yet to read a magazine article, book, or online post about the Lhasa Apso breed that doesn't include a statement that "Lhasa Apso's can be trained, provided you can find something the dog wants to do. To call them stubborn is an understatement."
A few years ago, newly single, I decided I wanted a dog. As a kid I had had a Cocker Spaniel, and then my family, as my kids grew up, had mostly dachshunds. I had no idea what kind of dog I wanted, at first. Then I met a Shih Tzu. A Lady Friend had one and told me lots of stuff about Shih's - the one that impressed me the most is that they are the only breed of dog originally bred to have no job. They don't herd cattle or sheep; they dont catch moles or pull cart. They don't do much of anything really except LOVE. They were specifically bred to be lap dogs - to be sweet and loving.
Well I wanted one. I was very impressed with my friend's little dog and I was checking out the possibility of buying one when a friend called me and said, "I have co-worker who is a real s.o.b. and he says he is going to take his Shih Tzu out in the country and turn him loose if he can't find someone to take the dog off his hands." The next day I became owned by a ball of fluff whom I named "Pau Ling" - in honor of his Oriental origin. He was "about a year and a half old" - and seemed a little large for a Shih Tzu so I assumed he was a mix with strong Shih Tzu heritage.
Pau, pronounced "Pow," instantly transferred his affection and allegiance to me. It was uncanny. I picked him up at noon on the day before Thanksgiving. I had driven my most disreputable car (see "The Motor Pool" in some future blog) to get him. Took him home. Drove into the back yard. Left him in the car and closed the gate. Then let him out of the car. He immediately jumped out and sat up and begged. Poor cute little guy - he was a mess. Long matted hair - the same hair that on a "show Shih Tzu" would be brushed and glowing and hang down straight so that the dog looks like a living dust mop - well Pau looked like a dust mop that was about 40 years old and had never been cleaned.
Over the next few weeks he got all his shots - and his surgery - and trimmed and trimmed again and groomed - once he grew out from being bald. And for the record he was well groomed always after. :-)
I began to learn about Shih Tzu's, about how they are basically the result of breeding Pekingese with Lhasa Apso. I'd never heard of Lhasa's. At that point in my life I'd never met a Peke I'd liked and Pau didn't appear to have much Peke in him. So I studied up on Lhasa's. I began to suspect that Pau was maybe half Shihz and half Lhasa. The shape of his head, his temperament - - (more about that later) he really came across more like a Lhasa than a Shih Tzu
A year later I rescued a Shih Tzu show dog whose fortune had resulted in in him being trained - he knew how to strike a pose - but his teeth were very crooked and he was thrown away. A rescue service saved him and I drove to Elvis' birthplace (Tupelo, Mississippi) to get him. His name was Gizmo and he was pure Shih Tzu and as different from Pau as night and day.
Later on a vet who had much experience with Lhasa's told me that Pau was almost certainly a pure bred Lhasa.
Most dog stories are sad, and this one is sad so I'm not going to tell it to the end. Pau was the best Friend I'd ever had in my life. He was totally focused on me. He was very protective. Lhasa's were originally bred to be small guard dogs to serve in temples - - . Little dogs with a huge bark. And Pau was so protective of me - - well - - I'm lucky I didn't get sued by a few people who were unfortunate enough to cause Pau to think they were going to harm me.
I will probably write another blog about Pau - because if I triew to tell the whole store of his "Pausonality" - it would read more like a novel. He was not a very good dog . . . . in the way that some dogs are "good." But OMG he was scarily intelligent. Not Border Collie intelligent but LASSIE Intelligent. Uncannily intelligent.
To be continued. :-)
A few years ago, newly single, I decided I wanted a dog. As a kid I had had a Cocker Spaniel, and then my family, as my kids grew up, had mostly dachshunds. I had no idea what kind of dog I wanted, at first. Then I met a Shih Tzu. A Lady Friend had one and told me lots of stuff about Shih's - the one that impressed me the most is that they are the only breed of dog originally bred to have no job. They don't herd cattle or sheep; they dont catch moles or pull cart. They don't do much of anything really except LOVE. They were specifically bred to be lap dogs - to be sweet and loving.
Well I wanted one. I was very impressed with my friend's little dog and I was checking out the possibility of buying one when a friend called me and said, "I have co-worker who is a real s.o.b. and he says he is going to take his Shih Tzu out in the country and turn him loose if he can't find someone to take the dog off his hands." The next day I became owned by a ball of fluff whom I named "Pau Ling" - in honor of his Oriental origin. He was "about a year and a half old" - and seemed a little large for a Shih Tzu so I assumed he was a mix with strong Shih Tzu heritage.
Pau, pronounced "Pow," instantly transferred his affection and allegiance to me. It was uncanny. I picked him up at noon on the day before Thanksgiving. I had driven my most disreputable car (see "The Motor Pool" in some future blog) to get him. Took him home. Drove into the back yard. Left him in the car and closed the gate. Then let him out of the car. He immediately jumped out and sat up and begged. Poor cute little guy - he was a mess. Long matted hair - the same hair that on a "show Shih Tzu" would be brushed and glowing and hang down straight so that the dog looks like a living dust mop - well Pau looked like a dust mop that was about 40 years old and had never been cleaned.
Over the next few weeks he got all his shots - and his surgery - and trimmed and trimmed again and groomed - once he grew out from being bald. And for the record he was well groomed always after. :-)
I began to learn about Shih Tzu's, about how they are basically the result of breeding Pekingese with Lhasa Apso. I'd never heard of Lhasa's. At that point in my life I'd never met a Peke I'd liked and Pau didn't appear to have much Peke in him. So I studied up on Lhasa's. I began to suspect that Pau was maybe half Shihz and half Lhasa. The shape of his head, his temperament - - (more about that later) he really came across more like a Lhasa than a Shih Tzu
A year later I rescued a Shih Tzu show dog whose fortune had resulted in in him being trained - he knew how to strike a pose - but his teeth were very crooked and he was thrown away. A rescue service saved him and I drove to Elvis' birthplace (Tupelo, Mississippi) to get him. His name was Gizmo and he was pure Shih Tzu and as different from Pau as night and day.
Later on a vet who had much experience with Lhasa's told me that Pau was almost certainly a pure bred Lhasa.
Most dog stories are sad, and this one is sad so I'm not going to tell it to the end. Pau was the best Friend I'd ever had in my life. He was totally focused on me. He was very protective. Lhasa's were originally bred to be small guard dogs to serve in temples - - . Little dogs with a huge bark. And Pau was so protective of me - - well - - I'm lucky I didn't get sued by a few people who were unfortunate enough to cause Pau to think they were going to harm me.
I will probably write another blog about Pau - because if I triew to tell the whole store of his "Pausonality" - it would read more like a novel. He was not a very good dog . . . . in the way that some dogs are "good." But OMG he was scarily intelligent. Not Border Collie intelligent but LASSIE Intelligent. Uncannily intelligent.
To be continued. :-)
Wednesday, April 15, 2015
The Paramount Players
Lotta and LeAnn and I started the Paramount in late November 2012. LeAnn and Lotta were my wives at that time. Star came with us. :-) Star is still with us and I think LeAnn may start doing an act every now and then.
Our current roster includes: (Lawd help me to not skip anyone)
Paramount Dancers: In the order they appear in the Group List:
Nova
Queenie
Ariel
Coco
Chrissy
Kyshra
Lotta
Maar
Path
Rebecca (She's the DJ)
Shannon (Hostess)
Star
Paramount Guest Dancers:
Rina
Myth,
Kyra
Alex
Amenhotep
Annie Panties
Indy
Tirza
I have not listed Alts - most infamous of whom is my twin brother Trail, who is our bank robber in residence; he's the one who passes the tips on to the dancers. :-)
That's all for this episode. Whomever I left out of the list please send me a big bag off Cashews. :-)
Adios! Path
Our current roster includes: (Lawd help me to not skip anyone)
Paramount Dancers: In the order they appear in the Group List:
Nova
Queenie
Ariel
Coco
Chrissy
Kyshra
Lotta
Maar
Path
Rebecca (She's the DJ)
Shannon (Hostess)
Star
Paramount Guest Dancers:
Rina
Myth,
Kyra
Alex
Amenhotep
Annie Panties
Indy
Tirza
I have not listed Alts - most infamous of whom is my twin brother Trail, who is our bank robber in residence; he's the one who passes the tips on to the dancers. :-)
That's all for this episode. Whomever I left out of the list please send me a big bag off Cashews. :-)
Adios! Path
Tuesday, April 14, 2015
Why?
Why Blog? Hell, I dunno. Guess because I have somethings to say. :-)
I'm assuming that anyone who reads this is a Second Lifer, familiar with the SL Dance Community. Which actually, said community is the topic of this blog. Not "Why?"
The Dance Community - somehow I keep thinking it is bigger than what I see. Than what I have seen so far. I know that new Dance Venues come into being often, and that takes me back to when we first opened the Paramount. We being Lotta, LeAnn, and myself. In the late fall/early winter of 2012 the Paramount was brand new and struggling to stay in existence.
I look at the, "known universe" (to me) of the sl dance community and realize how little I knew about it at the time we created the Paramount. How little actual experience we had and how, we really had no idea what we were jumping into. I'm glad. Glad we didn't realize how many burlesque type venues we in existence. I probably would have been scared. In my ignorance, I was totally fearless. :-) Very nervous, mind you, but fearless. Like walking thru a jungle saying, "Wow look at these big puttie tats!!!"
We have come a long way, and that has been due to the wonderful efforts of a great many people. You see, back when we started, the dancers we had - US - were basically self trained - and we trained almost all our dancers for the next year plus. I - We The Paramount - owe a great deal to Gunner and Babypea von Phoenix, for being part of our first Rocky Horror (horrid) Show which we presented late in 2013. They had a continuing effect on us in many ways, including the fact that we tried to return the support they gave us for Rocky by attending shows at Elysium. Through them we were introduced to much more of the SL Dance Community than we had previously been aware. We branched out and started attending shows at a lot of other venues, and certainly Winds of the Sahara was of the venues we attended as often as possible.
2014 introduced us to a lot of dancers, many of whom had much more experience than we had. Different ways of doing things, and several of those dancers have performed at Paramount - some as Guests and some have joined our permanent Cast. From those experienced dancers we have learned still more and I know that the acts of others have improved. I hope mine have. Shrugs. I do it for fun. :-)
When Winds had some "real estate" problems this past winter we extended our hands to try to help; it turned out that the help wasn't needed, but friendships grew and we have grown into a close relationship between the Paramount and Winds, which is beneficial to both. Significantly, Rebecca Dembo of Winds has become the "DJ and Audio Engineer" for paramount, taking a huge load from my shoulders.
Next time I write in this blog I will do it while logged into SL for I would like to name every dancer who performs at the Paramount; if I mention any more names, I'll surely skip someone and I don't want to skip anyone. Having worked as a Reporter for a small newspaper, and edited and written the newsletter for a yacht club, I am very aware of the perils of not mentioning names. Like the time I wrote about a Caney Creek Yacht Club project and left out the name of the Commodore.
This 2nd episode of my blog is kind of like a long, run on sentence. I still want to learn more about the dance community in sl. I'm certain it must extend beyond the boundaries of the "burlesque" community. The Paramount is also a "Playhouse" - we do the occasional play and I would love to do more. I'd like to learn about other venues who also produce plays.
I see things advertised - so I know stuff is going on out there. I hope to expand my horizons and visit these other places. In the meantime, I will work - and i plan to use this vehicle to talk about my work, - and feel tons of gratitude to those who have supported us, those who have helped us, those who have criticized us. And a huge hug of gratitude to the Paramount Players - past and present - because - - - They are The Paramount. Honest.
Path
I'm assuming that anyone who reads this is a Second Lifer, familiar with the SL Dance Community. Which actually, said community is the topic of this blog. Not "Why?"
The Dance Community - somehow I keep thinking it is bigger than what I see. Than what I have seen so far. I know that new Dance Venues come into being often, and that takes me back to when we first opened the Paramount. We being Lotta, LeAnn, and myself. In the late fall/early winter of 2012 the Paramount was brand new and struggling to stay in existence.
I look at the, "known universe" (to me) of the sl dance community and realize how little I knew about it at the time we created the Paramount. How little actual experience we had and how, we really had no idea what we were jumping into. I'm glad. Glad we didn't realize how many burlesque type venues we in existence. I probably would have been scared. In my ignorance, I was totally fearless. :-) Very nervous, mind you, but fearless. Like walking thru a jungle saying, "Wow look at these big puttie tats!!!"
We have come a long way, and that has been due to the wonderful efforts of a great many people. You see, back when we started, the dancers we had - US - were basically self trained - and we trained almost all our dancers for the next year plus. I - We The Paramount - owe a great deal to Gunner and Babypea von Phoenix, for being part of our first Rocky Horror (horrid) Show which we presented late in 2013. They had a continuing effect on us in many ways, including the fact that we tried to return the support they gave us for Rocky by attending shows at Elysium. Through them we were introduced to much more of the SL Dance Community than we had previously been aware. We branched out and started attending shows at a lot of other venues, and certainly Winds of the Sahara was of the venues we attended as often as possible.
2014 introduced us to a lot of dancers, many of whom had much more experience than we had. Different ways of doing things, and several of those dancers have performed at Paramount - some as Guests and some have joined our permanent Cast. From those experienced dancers we have learned still more and I know that the acts of others have improved. I hope mine have. Shrugs. I do it for fun. :-)
When Winds had some "real estate" problems this past winter we extended our hands to try to help; it turned out that the help wasn't needed, but friendships grew and we have grown into a close relationship between the Paramount and Winds, which is beneficial to both. Significantly, Rebecca Dembo of Winds has become the "DJ and Audio Engineer" for paramount, taking a huge load from my shoulders.
Next time I write in this blog I will do it while logged into SL for I would like to name every dancer who performs at the Paramount; if I mention any more names, I'll surely skip someone and I don't want to skip anyone. Having worked as a Reporter for a small newspaper, and edited and written the newsletter for a yacht club, I am very aware of the perils of not mentioning names. Like the time I wrote about a Caney Creek Yacht Club project and left out the name of the Commodore.
This 2nd episode of my blog is kind of like a long, run on sentence. I still want to learn more about the dance community in sl. I'm certain it must extend beyond the boundaries of the "burlesque" community. The Paramount is also a "Playhouse" - we do the occasional play and I would love to do more. I'd like to learn about other venues who also produce plays.
I see things advertised - so I know stuff is going on out there. I hope to expand my horizons and visit these other places. In the meantime, I will work - and i plan to use this vehicle to talk about my work, - and feel tons of gratitude to those who have supported us, those who have helped us, those who have criticized us. And a huge hug of gratitude to the Paramount Players - past and present - because - - - They are The Paramount. Honest.
Path
Monday, April 13, 2015
First Blog
Actually this is a test. It is only a test.
Do not duck and cover.
Do not arm the device.
Do not shoot anyone who doesn't need shooting.
Do not duck and cover.
Do not arm the device.
Do not shoot anyone who doesn't need shooting.
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