FOT Extra-Curricular Activities Bulletin Board

[Denim Gremlin]

My friend wrote and is directing no budget feature that we're filming mostly in my house. I'm one of the assistant directors and i've also been drafted to act in it.

It's not finished yet so I've been hesitant to post anything about it but we're finishing up shooting in the next few weeks and hopefully we'll have a finished product soon after that.

check out the myspace.

http://www.myspace.com/scenesfromoblivion

ps if any LA FOT's feel like getting involved or want help us out you can contact the myspace or email me godbowstomath@gmail.com

[dania]

dave, if you like, I'll call him up and tell him "You should make a stop in Knoxville.  There's a guy there that wants to see you play.  [medium pause]  He's a supercaller"
I'll totally do it! 
 

[dave from knoxville]

OK, I will pay one of my students 10 bucks to show up and claim to be me! (I very rarely go to live shows anymore because I now have old-guy ears, and it hurts. I blame Warren Zevon and Cheap Trick.)

[iAmBaronVonTito]

OK, I will pay one of my students 10 bucks to show up and claim to be me! (I very rarely go to live shows anymore because I now have old-guy ears, and it hurts. I blame Warren Zevon and Cheap Trick.)

oh, dave...they have old-guy ear plugs at the home depot.

[Shaggy 2 Grote]

OK, I will pay one of my students 10 bucks to show up and claim to be me! (I very rarely go to live shows anymore because I now have old-guy ears, and it hurts. I blame Warren Zevon and Cheap Trick.)

oh, dave...they have old-guy ear plugs at the home depot.

This makes me want there to be an old-guy iPod, like a Jitterbug Phone.  Maybe they can re-brand the Zune.

[Shaggy 2 Grote]

I wrote my first-ever song lyrics yesterday.  It's a musical theater workshop, so keep in mind that the parameters are very different from the kind of music (or comedy) most of us like: more storytelling than rocking, more wit than funny.

It's also written for a specific (female) singer, based on an interview I did with her - I have no embarrassment or shame whatsoever that I wrote a love song for a guy, though it is ironic, as I'm the only straight male writer in the room.

Here are the lyrics: I'll post an .mp3 if there ever is one.  Forrest, this is all happening in your neck of the woods if you want to get coffee sometime.

"My Israeli Guy"

Music by Marisa Michelson, lyrics by me

I wake up smelling coffee
From gay husband/roommate, Greg
The radiator hisses
As he boils me an egg
I think of my Israeli guy
I mean, The Israeli guy
We dated once, and nearly kissed
But I refuse to get invested
In this thing that can't exist

I'm hustling down Fifth Avenue
Avoiding killer moms,
A fleet of speeding taxis,
And a madman shouting Psalms
I dream of my Israeli guy
My hairy sweet Israeli guy

I think about
The time that he
Won ten bucks in the lottery
He bought ten more
Gave nine to me
I love his generosity

I really should call my mother
And practice piano more
The last thing I need's another
Entanglement with a man
I think he'll understand

At my desk, he texts me
My Mediterranean expat
Before I know what I am thinking
My thoughts have turned to sex chat
I drift to my Israeli guy
His shoulders and his lisp
My rugged, cute Israeli guy
I float off in a wisp

I can't believe
The ways that he
Remains lodged in my memory
We talk all night
Stay up 'til three
The romance of philosophy

I really should stop this dreaming
This magical thinking's bad
It really is unbeseeming
This mania for a man
He wouldn't understand

I wish these thoughts could be dismissed
I'll hold my heart in my clenched fist
I'll wait for my lust to subsist
If he's not here he won't be missed
Please don't let me get invested
In this thing doesn't even really not even a little
This thing - my Israeli guy and me - doesn't even exist

(I'm picturing a sort of improvisational Lena Horne scat-like thing here)

[Sarah]

Impressive!  One nitpick, though (and I promise I wasn't looking for excuses to gripe):  In the last verse "subsist" is wrong.  I believe you mean "subside," which throws off the whole rhyme scheme.  But, hey, you've got the flair to fix it, of that I have no doubt.

[John Junk]

Nice Joan Didion reference.  I love writing lyrics with stories in them. 

I wrote a musical once.
http://www.integr8dmedia.net/viralnet/2008/each_lament.html?artist=hogan

[emma]

My story is back in the Broken Pencil competition--it's the "semifinals" this week . You guys were really really really nice to vote for me before, and if you feel like it, you can get to be really really really nice again! I won't post more about this because I feel kind of obnoxious already. But I really appreciated everything the FOTs did to get me past the first round of voting, whether or not I win the whole thing. You are all super cool.

My story's here, if you're lookin': www.brokenpencil.com/deathmatch. This time I'm the one who isn't the guy from Finland.

(oh, and Jason/John? The songs from your musicals? I don't like them.




I LOVE THEM).

[Shaggy 2 Grote]

Impressive!  One nitpick, though (and I promise I wasn't looking for excuses to gripe):  In the last verse "subsist" is wrong.  I believe you mean "subside," which throws off the whole rhyme scheme.  But, hey, you've got the flair to fix it, of that I have no doubt.

Right you are.  Those last rhymes were quick-and-dirty, intended for the composer to pick one or two and discard the rest, and she solved that problem by discarding the line, with my consent.  We also changed "hairy" to "slender," as the real Israeli guy the singer has a crush on is not in fact hairy at all, and I'm a sucker for verisimilitude.  I think we'll record the song next week and I'll post a link.  It's very traditional musical-theater fare, but it was a show-stopper if I do say so myself.  The singer was awesome.

Nice song, JJ - reminds me a little of Barbara Morganstern.  I didn't know you went to CalArts - I had a short play done there last year.

And Emma, thanks!  I voted for you again.

[samir]

I'm on Team Emma, too. Two thirds of the vote, at this moment in time! Go go go go!

[Sarah]

Voted for you, Emma.

And, Jason, I'm glad you changed "hairy" to "slender."  "Hairy" was a bit of a cliché, as I'm sure you recognized.

[Shaggy 2 Grote]

Sarah, do you mean stereotype?  Or are you referring to the swarthy-lover-romance-novel trope which I had (unsuccessfully, obviously) meant to wink at?

And everybody, Emma's getting trounced!  Get on over there and vote! 

[Sarah]

I meant stereotype: the hairy/swarthy Jew/Israeli.  To me, it didn't evoke bodice rippers at all.

[Martin]

I know I've plugged my podcast here before, so my apologies, but I just wanted to mention that the pod is still going strong, a whopping five episodes in. Also, I'm quite proud of this week's episode. It's 60+ minutes of experimental soundscapes, noise, dreamy rhythms, audio leftovers... A somewhat different direction. Features stuff by Boards of Canada, The For Carnation, Forss, Pan American, The Caretaker, Tadd Mullinix, and many more.

For streams, feeds and direct downloads, check:

http://houroftruth.blogspot.com

(I'll shut up now.)