Albert Hofmann, father of LSD, dies at 102. Read the obit in the Times.

(Also, avant-garde composer Henry Brant, who I’d never heard of but who sounds fascinating)

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It started yesterday.  I’m behind. But there’s great stuff going on all over the city as part of the PEN World Voices Festival.

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It’s like every day I find a new blog that I feel like I should have known about for a long time!

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Reading this made me feel bad for Britney Spears, for the first time. Since I was already pretty much an adult by the time “that which we call Britney” came into being, and since I was always more of an indie/alternative-type guy, I always found her kind of amusing and pathetic. But reading interpreted world‘s parsing of the “Hit Me Baby One More Time” video actually made me feel pity for this girl, this sensational media-fabricated train wreck. Encountering that song in a new interpretation [btw, I guess I have kind of been living under a rock - what band is that doing the acoustic-y version?] also lends a creepy insight. Acoustic versions of highly processed pop often are quite revealing – or at least entertaining. To demonstrate how old I am, I will reference  Aztec Camera’s acoustic interpretation of Van Halen’s Jump:

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The Drama Desk Nominees were announced.  As usual, most of the people we know were in the “unique theatrical experience” category:

Unique Theatrical Experience:

Between the Devil and the Deep Blue Sea

Cut to the Chase

Fabrik

The 39 Steps

Traces

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If you haven’t checked out the American Theatre Wing website (www.americantheatrewing.org) you should. Then you won’t have to ask yourself  “Why didn’t I know about this site?” when you finally do find it!

Its got lots o’ good stuff!! Check it out.

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I know absolutely nothing about this production or this company, but I’m a big fan of political campaigns as performance art (I *did* run for mayor after all!). Plus, a company that is also doing a show about “pegging” can hardly be all bad! So here’s the info:

VOTE DEBS IN ’08

www.packofothers.org/votedebs

A 2008 Presidential Campaign Alternative reviving the spirit of 5-time candidate Eugene Victor Debs!

Created by Brian Pickett & Sophie Nimmannit

Featuring the Music of Jon Braman. With performances by Aaron Lisman, Sean Toohey,  Erika Kate MacDonald, Liza Bryn, and Jonathan Farmer.

Two Shows Only! (Different Locations!)

Wednesday April 30 @ 8pm

Hudson Guild Theatre

441 West 26th Street

(between 9th and 10th Avenues)

All seats $10

For tickets call 212.352.3101

or visit www.ProspectTheater.org

Presented by Prospect Theater’s Dark Nights Series produced by Dev Bondarin.

Thursday May 1 @ 8pm

Jimmy’s No. 43

43 East 7th Street

between 2nd and 3rd Avenue

2 Drink Minimum

To reserve a spot email us at

votedebs@gmail.com

“I’d rather vote for something I want and not get it than vote for something I don’t want and get it.”    -Eugene Victor Debs

Vote Debs in ’08 is a 2008 presidential campaign alternative and ongoing theatrical performance designed to unlock the spirit and passion of five-time candidate Eugene V. Debs. Host Red Genie looks at the 2008 race and takes a chance on a 1908 candidate. Come along on the search, hear historical oratory, and enjoy original campaign music by ukelele hip-hop guru Jon Braman.

For more information on the campaign check out

www.packofothers.org/votedebs

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My friend Tony co-produced this film called Unsettled which is supposed to be really good. I haven’t seen it yet but here’s the deets:

The day after the screening, a Rutgers student said, “That was one of the best films I have ever seen in my entire life. -Rabbi Esther Reed, Associate Director for Jewish Campus Life, Rutgers University

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Chez Bushwick Presents FORCE MAJEURE: Microsystéme

(A Studio Showing Of New Work)

GENOA/US

Microsystéme

Artistic Director: Victor Gauthier-Martin

(Based On Genoa 01 By Fausto Paravidino)

Guests are cordially invited to view the creative process of a staged rehearsal for GENOA / US, as part of the serial project directed by French Director Victor Gaulthier-Martin/Microsystéme, conceived for non-theatrical spaces such as museums, foundations and national parks. This work was developed during a Watermill Center Spring 2008 Residency, and has been staged with American performers.

Location:

Chez Bushwick

304 Boerum St., Buzzer #11

Brooklyn, NY 11206

http://www.chezbushwick.net

Time:

Monday, April 28th @ 7:00pm

Reservations Recommended: info@chezbushwick.net

Admission Is Free

About FORCE MAJEURE:

From September 2007 – May 2008, Chez Bushwick will offer ten residencies to young choreographers from Austria, Belgium, Chile, Croatia, Finland, France, Holland, Norway, Romania, Spain, Switzerland, and the United States, through an innovative new program called FORCE MAJEURE. These periods of creative development will culminate in FREE public presentations of new performance, while catalyzing international dialogue between the dance communities of NYC and abroad. This program is designed to create discourse about new choreography, while ensuring that future generations of dance artists – and dance viewers – remain active and informed about the global dance community.

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Variety’s blog, The Circuit, reports that Cindy Sherman has disavowed the documentary Guest of Cindy Sherman, now playing at the Tribeca Film Festival.

I don’t know the filmmaker Paul H-O and I’ve never seen his cable access show Gallery Beat, but I think the documentary – by the fact of its existence – raises some interesting questions about privacy, art and appropriation. Most artists use the people around them as fodder, often creating cruel caricatures, or at least biased portraits, of their ex-lovers, family and associates. Now that the documentary form has become less about objective journalism and more about crafting personal visual essays, which rules apply to this film? Is it truly a documentary or is it a personal essay about a man unhappy with his status in the world and as a +1 to his much more successful girlfriend?

Also, of course, its interesting that Cindy Sherman, whose body of work is largely about her chameleonic recontextualization of other identities, is now being appropriated and apparently unflatteringly recontextualized? And as a pioneering woman artist, what does it mean to have her life and work be so relentlessly subjected, overtly, to The Male Gaze?

Of course, the likelihood of me getting down to the Tribeca Film Festival isn’t high, and the odds of me getting a ticket are even lower. So my “informed” judgement will have to wait!

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