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 22 Dec 2007 @ 13:11, by jazzolog. Performing Arts
Four years ago I wrote an article about a radio production of Dickens' Christmas Carol that my father constructed in our hometown back in the 1940s. He had based his presentation on an RCA Victor set of 4 12" 78 RPM records of the story, produced by famed radio personality Ernest Chappell in 1941. Nothing I've ever written has yielded such a prolonged response. Google still carries it and eventually Wikipedia picked it up in its entry about Chappell.
Each year I get requests from people in at least the English-speaking world for CD copies of that old RCA release, which of course is long gone in its original form (although EBay sometimes offers one I understand). In my original essay, I offer to make a copy for anyone---and that offer still stands.
In honor of radio drama and all the actors who made a living in that unique format---and who had such a huge impact on my life---I've decided to re-post the article...and some of the comments that have appeared since. My main motivation is the interactions with those people who want a copy, and the stories they tell of how much this production meant to them and their families. Hopefully the search engines will be reinvigorated and other people will get some answers---and maybe provide more!
The image accompanying this version is of the cover of the original set of records. It was sent to me by a contact this year in Ontario. The photograph I refer to at the beginning of the essay can still be seen at the original printing here [link] . More >
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 5 Apr 2007 @ 17:49, by Unknown. Performing Arts
Picture: Brazil (Terry Gilliam - 1985)
Tag-line: "It's all about flights of fantasy. And the nightmare of reality. Terrorist bombings. And late night shopping. True love. And creative plumbing. It's only a state of mind."
Yellow Alert!
Very serious and alarming stuff from the Executive Director of the International Council for Economic Development here:
"I spent three days searching the Internet for articles and websites about disinformation, 99 out one hundred sites were communist propaganda about so-called conspiracy theories, and only one site was moderate in its approach. Nowhere I could find references to the most deadly weapon used by the old Soviet Union to weaken the US and discredit American Institutions for over four decades: the KGB disinformation war.
After September Eleven, for a brief moment, the patriotic spirit, spurred by that tragedy and pain, cleared the minds of media reporters, politicians and most of the public. Now the constant repetition of well-designed lies, contorted logic, and half-truths is clouding the minds and the judgment of many, including many prominent people. The Internet is becoming the platform where lies can be multiplied and spread like highly infected viruses. Its primary target hosts: younger people. Being an emotional triggered program, its easiest hosts: people with emotional imbalance such as, resentment, fear, hate, and frustration. The new Department of Home Security should try to install confidence and peace of mind, and not fear and uncertainty. Even the economy can work better only if surrounded by confidence and trust, while fear, lack of trust and insecurity can only bring depression… as in the Great Depression.
But the root is the same: brainwashing through highly emotional issues, and constant repetition of simple intellectual concepts."
---George Lombardi
Executive Director
International Council for Economic Development
GASP!
More Here: The Twin Towers, Babylon and Saddam
Now you know and you have been warned. Britney Spears said it best, remain confident and trust in our President. Have you heard about the secret: Do not add to the negative energy.
More >
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 16 Oct 2005 @ 07:55, by jazzolog. Performing Arts
The individual becomes perfect when he loves his individuality in the all to which he belongs.
---D.T. Suzuki
Value judgments are destructive to our proper business, which is curiosity and awareness.
---John Cage
When one tugs at a single thing in nature, he finds it attached to the rest of the world.
---John Muir
Playwright Harold Pinter in a rare appearance at the Orange Word Screenwriters Programme, at the British Library, in 2004.
Bruno Vincent/Getty Images
I don't remember how I stumbled across Harold Pinter. It must have been in the mid-60s sometime, but I don't know if it was a live performance of a couple one acts or that terrifying Dirk Bogarde movie The Servant. It might have been Anne Bancroft and Peter Finch duking it out in The Pumpkin Eater. All I know is his plays grabbed me by the throat instantly. I already was a fan of Samuel Beckett, and had staged Waiting For Godot as a student in 1960. Pinter was trickier. For a production of The Homecoming in 1974, my colleagues and I felt we had to build a 2 story house in the theater. Getting the pauses right required actors literally to count off seconds to themselves. One of the eeriest moments of my life occurred in the late 60s as I walked along Fifth Avenue, and Pinter and his wife at the time, Vivien Merchant, came towards me, each on either edge of the sidewalk, obviously in the midst of an argument and issuing forth icy silence. In the instant they passed on each side I was living a Pinter play. O why hide it, my whole life has been a Pinter play. Isn't everybody's? More >
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20 Mar 2005 @ 20:01, by swanny. Performing Arts
A Ouestion?
Is to do ones art worth prostituting
oneself for? More >
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 9 Feb 2005 @ 16:55, by jazzolog. Performing Arts
When Governor Lu was about to return to his office, he came to say goodbye to Nan-Ch'uan. The Master asked him: "Governor, you are going back to the capital. How will you govern the people?"
The Governor replied: "I will govern them through wisdom."
The Master remarked: "If this is true, the people will suffer for it."
---Zen story
Only that which does not teach, which does not cry out, which does not condescend, which does not explain, is irresistible.
---William Butler Yeats
Lent, then, is a church institution embodying an exalted idea, the idea of cleansing and disciplining both mind and body toward the end of making them more receptive to the Christ ideas.
---Georgianna Tree West
The photo is of composer Alban Berg, in army uniform in 1915.
This essay started out yesterday, Mardi Gras or Shrove Tuesday, as a forward of an amazing link from Bushman at his Log. You may be aware he's a gardener in Sedona, which sounds very poetic and adventurous---and he is that but he's also a graduate of a school for Very Hard Knocks. He has a website [link] , but mainly I wanted to share this other URL~~~
[link]
HaloRising seems to be a platform for creating interesting projects, in this case a kind of documentary/news report from the future. It's supposed to be a commentary for some sort of installation at a Museum of Media History in the year 2014. The piece is very brilliant and maybe chilling. If you're stuck with dial-up, as we are, you may lose patience with the load, even though the work runs only 8 minutes. If so, make a note of the site's location and try it at work or a library. Hmm, it just loaded for me in the time it took to write those 2 sentences...so maybe it won't be so bad for you after all. However, there are lapses...so when it's done, replay it by right-clicking and choosing "Play". Its creator is Robin Sloan whose site is [link] More >
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 6 Dec 2004 @ 23:50, by raypows. Performing Arts
The Garden Goddess
I've been helping a friend launch a new endeavor that I am excited about. I have been a big fan of her sculpting and recently, after some research and some design considerations, we can finally break out of the mold, literally.
The Garden Goddess is a line of ornamental art designed to enhance potted plants and gardens while offering empowerment and inspiration through the messages and stories of goddess mythology.
Each figure represents a particular Goddess taken from ancient Greek or Nordic mythology. Each comes with a card that reveals her unique story, as well as an inspirational message to support us in our daily lives.
Also, if you are interested in Neolithic Goddess symbology, you can visit my Ceremonial Gourd Rattle site. I have been creating these for a few years now and have really enjoyed sharing these ancient images based on Marija Gimbutas' research. The images are carved and woodburned onto gourds and represent cultures from 1500-5000 B.C.
And...for you music lovers, my CD, Heart of the Mother, is still available. It has continued to bring experiences of peace and beauty into peoples lives. Remember, 30% of each sale is donated to the Ojai Birth Resource and Family Center. More >
 
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 5 Apr 2004 @ 03:28, by jazzolog. Performing Arts
An intense love of solitude, distaste for involvement in worldly affairs, persistence in knowing the Self and awareness of the goal of knowing---all this is called true knowledge.
---The Bhagavad Gita
In the blue heavens,
cold geese calling.
On the empty hills,
leaves flying.
---Ryokan
Again the blackbirds sing; the streams
Wake, laughing, from their winter dreams,
And tremble in the April showers
The tassels of the maple flowers.
---John Greenleaf Whittier
Dancing to the Big Band sound at the Penn State Senior Ball of 1936
I have reason to believe and report to you that the disappearance of the art form and social occasion known as the dance band now is complete. It has been the duty of my generation in America to preside over this evolution, and I have embraced it lovingly hoping hard and often I would not witness extinction. The final struggle took 50 years, which is not long in social or species history---but of course nearly a lifetime for this man. I have evidence, however, it has breathed its last.
There was a simple notice in the Events Calendar in Thursday's The Athens News that the Ohio University Jazz Ensemble would perform for dancing at the Athens Community Center on Saturday night. The band is made up of around 15 students playing the traditional instrumentation of this music (3 trumpets, 3 trombones, 5 saxes, 4 rhythm) and I was unaware they had developed a dance repertoire. In most parts of this nation, an opportunity to invite your partner to an actual dance in a ballroom is so rare that I jumped at the chance. I marveled at the wisdom of a teacher/leader to attempt to teach this tradition to a new generation of young people. When we got there, a table was set up at the door and they wanted $25 to get in---but "String Of Pearls" was playing inside, so I plunked down the cash and we walked through the door. More >
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31 Dec 2003 @ 21:28, by inanna. Performing Arts
Starring: Shahrukh Kahn, Manisha Koirala, & Preity Zinta
Dil Se is a movie that captures you on so many levels. The actors are wonderful and itÂ’s a pity that Shahrukh Khan is not better known here in the USA, because he is pure magic. Maybe if you think of Al Pacino and Robert De Niro combined with someone with great moves, who can really dance, you just might come close to describing Shahrukh. More >
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 26 May 2002 @ 08:23, by hwtnv. Performing Arts
[R h y t h m E n g i n e ] project info.
[link]
Hello,
I'm Hidenori Watanave,media artist and chief director of Team Photon.
You already know,
We opened the official site of a "communication tool beyond the space-time"
[Rhythm Engine].
[link]
Through the "RhythmEngine", we suggest, "the session which is inherited from
the past to the future using place as an agent" and "music and image
communication which has rich emotion" to the Web-world.
We are going to perform "RhythmEngine" to SIGGRAPH(Web Graphics,7/25 @ San
Antonio) and It was archived in [Rhizome] artbase.
I want you to know our project and carry out a test play,
And please give us your comment,and a chance to spread "RhythmEngine".
And please introduce [RhythmEngine] on your site.
There is access of one days 10000, and it is introduced to [Neural] which is
the media art magazine of Italy,[Art & Science collaborations inc.] of USA,
and Many International site. It seems that the cognition of [Rhythm Engine]
is spreading little by little recently.
[link]
http://www.cosmoworlds.com/rhythmengine.html
[link]
and japanese site,
[link]
I'm waiting for your reply.
thank you! More >
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