Archives: January 01, 2005

Time for a House Party

Monday, 24 January 2005 12:36 PM

Melanie Miller, founder and choreographer of Pittsburgh's Junction Dance Theatre, is looking for stories set in rooms of houses, to use a raw material for a upcoming work. Here's her call for ideas:

I would like to invite you to help direct the creation of House Party, Junction Dance Theatre’s most resourcefully renegade, ultimately intimate, three-story, site-specific, breakfast-to-dinner dance performance yet.

On May 7, 2005, we'll premiere House Party, a site-specific dance event with seven performances in seven rooms of a Victorian house in Pittsburgh, PA. Each performance is limited to 35 people.

I will create the dance installations based on contributed stories, poems or anecdotes that somehow deal with or happen in your bathroom, kitchen, bedroom, living room, dining room, stairwell, guest room, home office or foyer. Rehearsals begin in March 2005. I will develop up to seven of the new works based on seven of the stories we receive.

Everyone who submits a story will receive credit in the program. If Junction Dance Theatre uses your story to inspire a new performance, you’ll receive a CD of original music composed for JDT’s evening-length work Mission by Karl Mullen, or a free 2005 Renegade Membership, which provides you with top-secret information on when and where the company will be for 30 surprise performances in June.

To participate, visit this web page for more information, or send your original stories from now through March 5, 2005, via e-mail to interact at junctiondancetheatre.org with House Party Inspiration in the subject line, or mail them to Junction Dance Theatre, 7634 Westmoreland Avenue, Pittsburgh, PA 15218, ATTN: House Party Inspiration.

Steeler fans not the only ones depressed today

Monday, 24 January 2005 12:30 PM

There's mathematical evidence that today is indeed a no good, very bad day:

If you stumbled out of bed in the dark this morning, fell over the cat, found no milk in the fridge for your porridge, had a row with your partner, received a rude letter from the bank, got covered in snow at the bus stop and finally arrived at work in time to be made redundant, you will already know that today is the most depressing day of the year.

And if you want scientific proof, then Cliff Arnall of Cardiff University has it.

He settled on January 24 after using an elaborate formula expressing the delicate interplay of lousy weather, post-Christmas debt, time elapsed since yuletide indulgence, failed new year resolutions, motivation levels, and the desperate need to have something to look forward to.

In short, all that's left of Christmas today is credit card bills and a pervading sense that the next holiday is months away.

"It means 'respond so very promptly'"

Sunday, 16 January 2005 04:59 PM

Three days until the second Pittsburgh BlogFest. Will it be fun? Yes, certainly. Will you be glad you attended? You betcha.

WHAT: Pittsburgh Blogfest 2
WHEN: Wednesday, January 19, 5:30 - 9:30 pm and later
WHERE: Finnegan's Wake (near PNC Park, 20 General Robinson St., North Shore, 412-325-2601), in the Pub Room
WHO: You
AND: Creating Text(iles), Grabass, My Brilliant Mistakes, Inner Bitch, many more

Please email blogfest at closkey.com if you plan to attend, so we can warn the nice people at Finnegan's Wake how many kegs to bring up from the basement.

Incidentally, if you are not a knitting person, please don't let all the discussion of knitting dissuade you from attending. I predict that most BlogFesters will not knit. For sure, I won't be knitting. Most likely I will murmur admiring comments about someone's work or express amazement at the porcupine nature of the kneedle-infested item they've brought. Then I will bop blissfully away to join another conversation where I will blurt out an authoritative-souding statement that has absolutely no basis in fact. Then I will wave to the bartender for another drink. Watch for it.

Also, a contest! I will award an exciting prize to each of the first three people who RSVP and correctly identify the source of the cultural reference from whence comes the title of this entry. And, because that's an easy one, there will be an extra, extra-special prize for anyone who can bring in evidence of the exact correct wording. (Which I admit not to remember.) Previous RSVPers are welcome to re-RSVP for purposes of the contest.

All applicable exclusions and limitations apply, must be present to win, no animals or children were harmed in the offering of this contest.

"We tried everything to give that game away, but they darn well wouldn't take it"

Sunday, 16 January 2005 12:34 PM

Things I lost at the Steelers game against the Jets last night:
1. My Terrible Towel
2. My voice
3. My sense of the inevitability of Steeler wins

The towel was no big loss. I bought it at the Pittsburgh airport in January 1996, when I was traveling around the country with my grad school program, touring manufacturing plants. The Steelers, you may recall, had certain troubles in the Super Bowl that year, a noticable pile of bad luck. So ever since I've wondered if it carried some kind of bad karma, or maybe loser cooties. I rarely brought it out -- in fact, I had to search for a half hour Friday to find it.

Even with the potential of poor karma on it, I had to bring it to the game, as it was my first in-person Steeler game (indeed, my first in-person pro football game anywhere) and having a Terrible Towel was absolutely required. I worried the whole way to the stadium and all the way to my seat about losing it, and in fact nearly dropped it many times.

At halftime I took a potty break, sought out a fresh $5.75 beer, walked around a bit in the massive crowd, and suddenly realized that I was towelless. I gave a cursory look about at places I'd been, but I knew the towel was gone. And I felt free: freed of the responsibility of carrying it, free of its potential loser cooties, free at last.

I missed having it in the second half and overtime, when I had nothing to wave in support of the team. But I made up for its absence by screaming at the top of my lungs to help rattle the Jets. I like to think I contributed in my small way to the win. (This is my personal favorite yell: YI-YI-YI-YI-YI-YI-YI!!!)

And thus it was that I lost my voice. It hurt to laugh for the rest of the night -- not that I had much energy for laughing, having screamed and shouted and shivered through nearly five quarters of football. I was completely wiped out, and completely thrilled to have been in the stadium to see all the drama. I would have seen much more of the game sitting at home -- from our sky-high seats near the non-riverside endzone I barely spotted the ball's flight on any of the kicks, although I did watch and enjoy the Jets kick that bounced on the goalpost -- but I couldn't have enjoyed it more.

As for that sense of inevitability: This season has been strange for me in that, from the third game on, I've felt fully confident each game that the Steelers would prevail. This has never happened before; usually I'm a nervous wreck during games and have to sedate myself or even leave the room when things get tense. But this year, even when they fell behind, even when they seemed to have lost rhythm and taken to making too many mistakes, I've caught myself calmly thinking, "And how will they pull it together this week?" I've never been really nervous.

Then last night, with seconds left in the fourth quarter, when Doug Brien was setting up to kick the winning field goal for the Jets, I felt the first stab of doubt. The playoffs are the worst: sudden death, one and done, no next week. Maybe the Steelers wouldn't win. This could be it.

And then the kick went. I didn't see it fly. I didn't see it land. And before I could search the field for some gesture from the officials that would tell me what the hell was going on, the stadium erupted.

From then on, my confidence returned. Even when the Jets won the coin toss for overtime, I felt in my core that the Steelers defense would hold, the offense would get the ball, and the team would march down the field and score. Which is exactly what happened.

Even so, that crack in my certainty remains. The title to this post is something that my friend Natalae overheard: Two older ladies were talking in the stands after the game, shaking their heads in amazement that the Steelers won in the end. Whichever team the Steelers play next week will be good, very good. From now on, it's anyone's game.

That's OK though, because it's all football, it's all good. I can't wait for the next game.

Things that I gained at the game last night:
1. Memories of a fantastic, hard-won playoff game
2. A new Troy Polamalu (#43) jersey
3. An invitation to go back next Sunday for the AFC Championship

YI-YI-YI-YI-YI-YI-YI!!!

America's sweethearts

Thursday, 13 January 2005 10:20 PM

I'm guessing that every web user has seen it by now, but on the off-chance it was missed, here's what happened between Brad and Jen. (Not for those with delicate sensibilities, little interest in uber-celebrities, or no sense of humor.)

(Link via everyone.)

One lump or two? Or three?

Sunday, 09 January 2005 08:45 PM

Friday was a three-coffeeshop day. I started at Cummings Candy and Coffee, not working but writing, trying to restore to memory what I've done so far in the writing of my novel. Cummings has terrific booths with classic wood seats and marble table-tops, and a warm small town vibe, which makes it ideal for writing (or pretending to write).

From there I moved on to the Panera in Highland Park, just south of the PA Turnpike. It also has a warm and welcoming vibe, although none of Cummings's history. My Fat Plum partners and I have been meeting there for months. We like it for the endless refills on the coffee and the way the tables can be rearranged for multi-person meetings. Also, we can get something substantial to eat there -- a little too substantial, actually. I lay the blame for at least 10 of the 15 pounds I gained last year on the shoulders of Panera Bread. We put in a couple of hours, discussing business and life and bringing everyone up to speed on recent writing progress. We brainstormed the ending of my novel for a while with great results. No actual ending, but several good pieces which will gel soon I'm certain.

And then, on the way back to Butler, I stopped at a Starbucks to check out the long-anticipated Chantico Drinking Chocolate. The Chantico was announced months ago but not to be released until 2005. Well, 2005 is here, and I thought I'd do some reconnaisance on it for my Cummings employers. After all, chocolate is the Cummings game. We like to be aware of modern coffeehouse developments.

I first checked for posters announcing the Chantico. Nothing. Then I searched the chalkboard menus. Again, zilch. I resigned myself to the idea that it was being introduced in big cities first and wouldn't make its way to little suburbs like ours for some weeks.

At the counter I told the girl that I'd read a newspaper article about a new chocolate drink they were introducing. Was it available?

She knew right away what I was talking about. "It's not on the menu yet," she said. "I can check whether we're allowed to sample it." Before I could say anything she'd walked to a nearby manager for a conference. He immediately looked stern and shook his head, saying something as he looked to where I stood at the counter, checking what sort of person I might be.

The girl came back to deliver the bad news. "We're not allowed to sample it out until next week." She seemed relieved that I wasn't upset and quickly typed in my alternate order for a vanilla steamer.

(Actually, according to Starbucks terminology I ordered a vanilla creme, which is steamed milk with vanilla steamer. At Cummings, any flavored steamed milk is a steamer, and it's about a dollar cheaper than what Starbucks charges. It's also less likely to be burned. Although my vanilla creme was yummy, I have to say.)

Still in my innocent chocolate enthusiast persona, I asked the Stabucks coffee girl whether the new chocolate drink was hard to make.

"No, it's easy. You steam the chocolate. But there's milk in it too. We sampled it earlier -- it's really good." I thanked her warmly, secure in the thought that Cummings could match or exceed the Chantico offering easily, even without having sampled it.

On my return home I rechecked the press release to find that the Chantico would be released officially on January 8 -- I was a mere one day off.

Actually, I then also stopped by Cummings to pick up my paycheck for the previous two weeks. I didn't have a coffee because after my bottomless Panera cup I felt positively fried -- it turns out there is a maximum to my coffee intake after all.

The line between nifty and nasty is not as fine as one might think

Wednesday, 05 January 2005 06:32 PM

I used to think my old 50s bathroom was an interior design horror. Now I know things could be much, much worse. For your consideration: Eurobad '74, an exhibition of Europe's
worst interiors of 1974. I wanted to choose one to feature for you as the best/worst, but they all defy categorization. If I had to pick, I'd choose the green kitchen that opens onto a stable.

(Link thanks to Screenhead.)

So hard to overrate

Sunday, 02 January 2005 11:00 PM

"With nothing to play for, Steelers show they have everything"

"This game says a lot about our team," said Ward. "We really didn't have that much to play for, and they had everything to play for. We started with our starters, and our backups came in, and there was no dropoff. And that's been the case all year."

That depth is only another reason to embrace this club going into the playoffs. They're a league-best 15-1, the best record in franchise history; they have the home-field advantage through the playoffs; and they beat the No. 2 seed in the AFC, New England, and the NFC's top dog, Philadelphia, in successive weeks. Plus, they're rolling, not having lost since the second weekend of the year.

"This is probably the best team I've been on," said Ward. "We don't really care who gets the accolades or success. We just believe in one another."

OK, I think we're ready for someone to write new lyrics to the fight song now.

(Thanks to Rowdy for spotting the article.)

We don't make movies for kids

Sunday, 02 January 2005 01:08 PM

From janitor to animator: a career at Pixar.

The local cineplex is littered with movies made by studios who want to second-guess what the audience wants. We find we get better results by making what we want, and then assuming that there are other people like us out there.

If audiences in general are underestimated, kids really get the patronizing treatment. Two things are often forgotten about kids. One: They have no taste. They will watch just about anything. This is normal and healthy. Taste comes later. Two: They are not stupid! Kids are born intelligent, and there's no good reason to make dumbed-down entertainment for them.

(Link via Fark.)

Well-begun is half-done

Saturday, 01 January 2005 03:13 PM

I'm quite superstitious for a modern gal, and so I'm both pleased and dismayed to have read that "anything you do on New Year's Day you do every day for the rest of the year." I'm pleased in that I now have some way of controlling my actions for the coming year, and dismayed in that I'm only finding out now, when the day is more than half done.

So far, it looks like 2005 will be filled with waking up late, reading things on the internet and posting about them, drinking coffee and not eating, cursing the absence of my broken iPod and listening to old CDs, buying new CDs, and getting a bit of work done. Which, except for the not eating part, means it will be very much like 2004.

But I have many hours yet in this day. I've already planned to eat dinner with my family -- can I interpret this as "spending time with family members" so I don't have to have sit-down meals with them each of the next 364 nights? I also still expect to get a bit of exercise and to write. I'll have to set aside a few minutes to play piano as well. And if I can manage just a half hour of organizing ... why, I'll be a pure dynamo for the remainder of the year.

I'll have to avoid the television while at my parents' or else I'll be forced to finally get cable, so I'll have something besides DVDs to watch in the coming year.

Things you learn in school can be useful after all

Saturday, 01 January 2005 01:27 PM

A piece of good news from the tsunami coverage: British 'angel' saved hundreds from tsunami with classroom knowledge.

Tilly, who has been renamed the "angel of the beach" by the top-selling tabloid The Sun, was holidaying with her family on the Thai island of Phuket when she suddenly grasped what was taking place and alerted her mother.

"Last term Mr Kearney taught us about earthquakes and how they can cause tsunamis," Tilly was quoted as saying by The Sun.

"I was on the beach and the water started to go funny. There were bubbles and the tide went out all of a sudden.

"I recognised what was happening and had a feeling there was going to be a tsunami. I told mummy."

(Link via Fark)

Clean slate

Saturday, 01 January 2005 12:52 PM

I have for some months been trying to bully my life into shape. It used to be that I could get great piles of things done without regard to time or energy, but at some point I lost the skill. Perhaps I finally put enough on my plate that other things started falling off.

My friend Julie has had great success bringing her many projects under control. She's following the guildelines of Getting Things Done, which others have discovered as well. (Check out 43 Folders, who is blogging experiences in implementing the Getting Things Done methodology and exchanging tips from others.)

I set aside the prescribed two days to bring things under control, but then I spent them simply throwing things away and piling useful stuff to process. That was two months ago. Since then I've been navigating around the maze of boxes that make up my new In box, occasionally have to search through to find something that's due or overdue. When I will have another weekend to try again I don't know, but I remain hopeful.

Cheers!

Saturday, 01 January 2005 12:12 PM

Bunny Mcintosh must be studying my playbook. She distills the very best techniques for having a fabulous time into one convenient article, Sexoholism 101: Your Guide to Getting Action At An Athens New Year's Eve Dance Party

After you've preemptively squared away your work situation, you're going to need to decide what to wear. Gentlemen, go ahead and bust out your gayest outfit. If you dress like David Bowie, you're going to come off as less threatening, awkward, fumbling and desperate than you actually are.

Ladies, wear whatever you want. Pretty much girls look hot dancing around in whatever, and drunk girls even look cute in jean shorts. On the other hand, there is always some skank running around dressed like a Vegas showgirl, and that skank might as well be you. Whatever makes you comfortable.

(Link via Screenhead)

I did not myself go out last night. My body, taking seriously the thought that I'd already consumed my allotment of alcohol for 2004, preemptively made me feel punky, wiping out all plans for constructive and destructive activities for the day and night. I awoke this morning feeling fine.

Which means I start 2005 with not only a positive attitude but also a stable stomach and clear head -- such an exciting change of pace. Look for this year to be one of great triumphs.

Copyright © 2004 – 2007 Cynthia Closkey