So, back in action. Things were kind of screwed up with this website for awhile but now it again has the potential to convey wonders and terrors beyond the scope of mortal imagination. Silence is frustrating, I’ve gotten used to being able to instantly communicate my thoughts on this here World Wide Web, and it’s frustrating when that’s taken away. On Thursday, when the London bombings occurred, I wanted to say profound and poetic things about the horror and sadness I was feeling, and about how I firmly believe that terrorism is wrong. Of all the many tragedies of that day, my inability to post on this website shall surely be remembered as one of the greatest…As you can see I made the transition from said horror and sadness to freewheeling giggling with my usual efficiency and speed.
The victory referred to in the last post before the blog went on a technology imposed hiatus was of course, the victory in the Darknight Gallery short play festival, which now seems ages ago but is worthy of recounting: Six short, dark and scary plays were presented in one night (having been culled down from lots of submissions evidently), the audience voted on the top three, which would be awarded the privilege of going on to a full run in the fall. Although I had lots of friends in the crowd, it was a big audience, so it was very gratifying that many strangers must have voted me into the top three. All in all, it was a really great night.
…Marred, however, by the fact this full run in the fall they speak of may not actually happen. The theatre in which they were going to perform, is suddenly closing. So they’ve got a show and no place to put it, which is never as fun as say, having a place to do it. Maybe my apartment…
I’m also taking a writing class at the storied Improvolympic. Normally, I’m not terribly into writing classes, but this one is being taught by Jeff Griggs, who once taught me in a class focusing on the “Improv” aspect of Improvolympic, (this class, presumably, represents the “Olympic” aspect) and Jeff’s a fine fellow. He’s also the author of a very good book about the legendary improve guru, Del Close, entitled, appropriately enough, “Guru”. He’s also writing the script for the film adaptation of the book, to be directed, theoretically, by Harold Ramis. Doesn’t get much cooler than that. So if I show him a bit of Activision and he likes it, and he will, because I’m unstoppable, he will no doubt sweep me up into the world of cinematic superstardom. Yes, I calculate the odds of that happening as being “extremely likely”.
As Rory did indeed say some profoundly poetical thoughts on Thursday, albeit on my always-working blog, I thought I'd share them with his legions of fans:
One of the political bloggers I often read (http://billmon.org) expressed how personal this was for me, even though I've never set foot in England:
The cold blooded murder of Londoners is no more horrifying than the murder or New Yorkers or Madrilenos -- or Baghdadis. But today's target still has a special hold over my emotions. If your mother tongue is English, and you loved stories as much as I did as a child, then London is the city of your imagination, of Mary Poppins and David Copperfield, of London-bridge-is-falling-down and the prince and the pauper. And if you've been there, and visited the places you dreamed about as a boy, and ridden the tube to Picadilly Circus, and climbed the stairs of the Tower of London, and strolled through Hyde Park in the morning fog, then what happened today hurts more than maybe it should, logically.
We are all New Yorkers, we are all Madrilenos, we are all Baghdadis. But I was a Londoner from the time I learned how to read. I know it shouldn't make any difference, but it does.
And because I am a megalomaniac, some words of my own, from my own blog (before it broke) April 27, 2004:
I guess it reminds me of another scary news story about things Scary Crazy Dickheads are saying, in this case some radical Islamic types in London. They're openly calling for the death of Tony Blair (who I think is an awfully nice guy, yes he was toolish to go along with the Iraq war but I don't think he had much choice) and fly an "Islamic flag" over 10 Downing Street. They're basically talking about the conquest of western Europe, which may sound silly and farfeched but there's a real danger of some serious violence there. Much more there than here actually, given demographics. The article I read also stated for the record that the vast majority of British Pakistanis are condemning the crazy people. Still, I don't know, it made me angry. It made me wonder about what free speech is, and whether it really makes sense to kind of stand around being British while fascist religious maniacs are talking about cutting your head off. I've always been kind of an anglophile, which I guess is strange for an Irish American but I'm strange in many ways. For some reason the idea of an enemy flag flying over 10 Downing Street is much more disturbing than the White House, Anyone But Bush and all that. Yeah, I know the British did a lot of bad things when they were an empire, raped, pillaged, slaughtered innocent millions, created a lot of the fucked up situations in the Middle East in the first place, etc. but they also gave us Shakespeare, the Beatles and Monty Python so I'm inclined to like them. I read the words announcing the destruction of western civilization and I wanted to look these cocky fanatics in the eye and tell them about the legend of the island they're standing on, how throughout history its people never backed down and never said die, and I wanted to spit the words of its national anthem in their faces, "Britons never, never never shall be slaves, motherfucker."
That's a slightly revised version of the British national anthem. Well, James Bond's gonna kick their asses anyway.
-Rory
July 08, 2005 12:47 PM
Actually I realize "Rule Brittania" isn't the British national anthem but it should be.
-Rory
July 08, 2005 12:49 PM
