tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-139700962011-11-23T23:34:24.154-08:00Marcushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10199110239609732534noreply@blogger.comBlogger1251100tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-13970096.post-87294173879713588302011-09-17T10:48:00.000-07:002011-09-17T10:48:34.524-07:00

After a week-long odyssey of trying to understand how JS functions connect to other objects, namely where their prototype, __proto__ and constructor properties point to, I think I've finally achieved enlightenment. Most JS tutorials and books are concerned with how functions connect to objects created by them, not with how they connect with objects that are created before them. I am really

Marcushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10199110239609732534noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-13970096.post-3152926173124105742011-08-12T06:34:00.001-07:002011-08-12T07:00:24.587-07:00

Stephen Sondheim just ripped Diane Paulus a new asshole. (NY Times story) Paulus is directing a Broadway revival of "Porgy and Bess," and she -- and her colleagues -- have chosen to adapt the play almost beyond recognition. Sondheim's letter to the "Times" sparked an electrical storm of comments in newspapers, magazines, blogs and in person, about the state of the theatre and directors. A (

Marcushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10199110239609732534noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-13970096.post-1471161775796608712011-07-17T10:34:00.000-07:002011-07-17T10:34:54.914-07:00

"If you choose to be an atheist, then..." "When you make the choice to believe in God, you..." I get confused when choice and belief cohabitate in the same sentence, because I've never been able to choose to believe (or disbelieve) anything. Yet so many people talk about beliefs as if they're neckties, as if choosing atheist or theism is as easy as reaching into a closet and picking the one

Marcushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10199110239609732534noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-13970096.post-11531390624127101072011-07-13T11:13:00.001-07:002011-07-13T11:13:44.792-07:00

Politics breaks problem solving -- or at least severely cripples it. Let's say that Sam is a guy who cares deeply about issues. He doesn't care about parties or elections or Red vs Blue. He just thinks that women should have the right to choose whether or not to have an abortion. Or be believes abortion is murder. It doesn't matter. There point is that there are issues on which he has

Marcushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10199110239609732534noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-13970096.post-91237997904382545122011-07-13T09:05:00.000-07:002011-07-13T09:05:19.691-07:00

Start with the idea or topic at hand and...1. Step in and step back, step in and step back... For instance, if the topic is abortion, think about its ramifications on a specific 16-year-old girl, maybe an actual girl that you know. Then think about its ramifications for society. Each time you add a new detail to your mental construction, step in and step back again. This is a really useful

Marcushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10199110239609732534noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-13970096.post-92016183605433973422011-07-13T09:02:00.001-07:002011-07-13T09:02:44.901-07:00

In Fiction Writing 101, we learned that each element must move the story forward. I agree with this, but, on it's own, that dogma is too simplistic. What does it mean to move a story forward? You can move "King Kong" forward by saying "... and then the ape climbed the Empire State building, reached the top and was killed by airplanes." If we can step forward with a sentence or two, why waste our

Marcushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10199110239609732534noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-13970096.post-42498319099642368602011-05-11T10:30:00.001-07:002011-05-11T10:30:57.898-07:00

To start with, I will define a "story" as a linear narrative: a tale of "one damn thing after another." There are, of course, stories that aren't structured that way. I am not going to consider them here, because, in most cases, I'm don't find them pleasing. (I have some theories that elevate linear narratives above other narrative structures, by which I mean that the linear form will most

Marcushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10199110239609732534noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-13970096.post-16544467078957638312011-04-27T08:15:00.000-07:002011-04-27T08:15:28.097-07:00

Every once in a while, one of my fellow atheists gets bent out of shape about starting God with a capital G. He -- the atheist not God -- demands to know why I follow this theistic trend. Well, aside from the fact that "God" is the character's name (I don't spell "Alice" as "alice"), I capitalize God because ...1. Communication works best when we follow rules. For instance, the symbol cat is

Marcushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10199110239609732534noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-13970096.post-15712854311979751812011-04-15T07:33:00.000-07:002011-04-15T07:33:49.753-07:00

The trick is to make it as much like a two-person show as possible. By which I mean that you (in collaboration with the actor) need to figure out who the actor is talking to: is it the audience? an imaginary other character on stage? himself? "Himself" is the hardest, but it's doable. In this case, the actor needs to come up with two characters -- the one who is talking and the other part of

Marcushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10199110239609732534noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-13970096.post-22898680334711769342011-04-13T19:43:00.000-07:002011-04-13T19:43:54.668-07:00

I will start by boring you with autobiographical details. Philosophies about directing vary widely, so without understanding the kind of person I am -- and how my prejudices and aesthetics congealed into their present state -- my advice will be an arbitrary list of techniques. By knowing something about the person behind those techniques, hopefully you'll be able to position yourself in a

Marcushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10199110239609732534noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-13970096.post-47587364658003255972011-04-05T12:26:00.000-07:002011-04-05T12:26:41.372-07:00

On quora.com, I got into a discussion about life lessons -- that stuff we all wish someone had told us when we were younger. One of my contributions was the claim that play is vital. This is so important to me, that I often ask friends (or want to ask them), "When was the last time you played in the mud?" Playing in the mud is somewhat a metaphor. If you don't like getting muddy, that's no big

Marcushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10199110239609732534noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-13970096.post-1524716779479689282011-03-22T10:12:00.000-07:002011-03-22T10:12:15.535-07:00

In my experience, the conversations that work best are not logically causal. They do not entail structures in which person A builds on (or questions) something person A said. Rather, they involve free-associating around a fuzzy, shared idea: A: Books like "The Blah Effect" don't work well, because the author is trying to mix fiction and non-fiction in a clunky way that serves neither genre. B:

Marcushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10199110239609732534noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-13970096.post-37593160939573077222011-03-05T08:33:00.000-08:002011-03-05T08:34:13.043-08:00

A "Psychology Today" article compared an Abstract Expressionist painting to one made by a chimpanzee. Over at Metafilter, debate raged.  One commenter, known as Astro Zombie, said "With the exception of minimialism, which deliberately sought to make art that had no subtext or metaphoric meaning, but just was whatever it was ... most contemporary art doesn't exist in a vacuum, where you can just

Marcushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10199110239609732534noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-13970096.post-57496660835026843332011-02-13T08:32:00.000-08:002011-02-13T08:32:29.513-08:00

I'm going to slap the wrist of the "Times" writer who blurbed "The Nearest Exit" (a spy novel by Olen Steinhauer). He wrote, "Steinhauer can be legitimately mentioned alongside John Le Carre." First of all, it's floundering in passivity. Steinhauer "can be mentioned"? Mentioned by whom? Why not, "I'm not ashamed to mention" or "you will wind up mentioning" or "readers will feel compelled to

Marcushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10199110239609732534noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-13970096.post-7561410039545289232011-02-03T07:10:00.000-08:002011-02-03T07:11:50.949-08:00

In a Facebook debate, one friend -- Wendy -- insisted that all Republicans are evil. My reply: I've met people who are fiscal Republicans but not social ones. They are pro gay rights, etc. But they don't believe in big government. They think high taxes, etc. hurt the economy. Some of them are genuinely concerned about the poor (some of them ARE poor). They just think the economy works in a

Marcushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10199110239609732534noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-13970096.post-66224432740053764562011-02-02T13:35:00.001-08:002011-02-02T13:35:58.908-08:00

I just realized a huge change I went through, starting sometime in my late 20s/early 30s. It's a little hard to explain. When I was a child and teenager, it was often the case that I hadn't made up my mind about some issue. Or I didn't have a strong aesthetic sense about whether some movie or book or actor was good or bad. But I felt it was important that I have -- or seem to have -- a strong

Marcushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10199110239609732534noreply@blogger.com8tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-13970096.post-8431648444931909232010-12-25T06:47:00.000-08:002010-12-25T06:47:19.297-08:00

Many were upset by the Pope's recent claim: "In the 1970s, paedophilia was theorized as something fully in conformity with man and even with children." Here's some unsolicited advice from yours truly: ignore passive-voice statements. Translate them as "blah blah blah," and then say, "Well, that's meaningless, so I can ignore it." You'll throw some babies out with that bathwater, but most of them

Marcushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10199110239609732534noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-13970096.post-7187290648872276732010-12-25T06:44:00.000-08:002010-12-25T06:44:49.094-08:00

On a forum I frequent, someone wrote: It does raise an interesting question -- what exactly does a guy like Julian Assange want? What does he want that someone, anyone, can give him? Not celebrity, not money, not power ... What is left? That, to me, is an extraordinary question. And, by that, I don't mean it's a stupid one. It's actually an elegant, pithy wording of a common attitude -- one

Marcushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10199110239609732534noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-13970096.post-7399643206950753732010-12-24T10:42:00.000-08:002010-12-24T10:53:13.692-08:00

"He who questions training only trains himself at asking questions." "When you doubt your powers, you give power to your doubts." "We are number one! All others are number two, or lower." - The Sphinx from "Mystery Men" By now, I should expect bullshit from academics and critics. Maybe I should be charmed by it: "whatchagonnado?" But I'm not. I can't seem to lose my innocence. I assume educators

Marcushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10199110239609732534noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-13970096.post-39144777232248220182010-12-11T08:21:00.000-08:002010-12-11T08:22:54.944-08:00

Someone emailed me, asking why I am against required classes. Here's my response:Regarding school, most people are stuck in a mental rut. I was, and it took me years of reading, thinking and debating to claw my way out of it. Thinking clearly about school is like imagining alien life. It's really hard -- impossible? -- to imagine it without picturing human, animal or insect forms. One's mind

Marcushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10199110239609732534noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-13970096.post-54232882806705639202010-11-25T10:20:00.000-08:002010-11-25T10:23:10.754-08:00

Response to One day, Pablo PIcasso was on a Train... (A Defense of Modern Art):"You cannot just dismiss an entire movement simply because it doesn't look like art. That's the whole damn point of the modern-art movement. You don't get to say what is and what isn't art. Because you don't know. No one does."So there's a thing called "art"?How do we know this thing exists? The philospher doesn't

Marcushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10199110239609732534noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-13970096.post-58255020101620017492010-09-25T09:36:00.000-07:002010-09-25T09:37:01.849-07:00

Response to: http://www.thesmartset.com/article/article09221001.aspxHi. If you look at your negative space, you'll see me. Your article for "The Smart Set" about "Freedom" clearly stated the opposite of some of my core views about fiction. It was antimatter to my matter. If you and I touched each other, I think we'd explode.We do agree on one thing: there's no canon. The idea that one "should

Marcushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10199110239609732534noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-13970096.post-67784302738016787332010-09-11T16:13:00.001-07:002010-09-11T16:13:17.204-07:00

A: you're wrong.B: no, YOU'RE wrong.A: no, YOU'RE wrong!B: no, YOU'RE wrong!ME: this isn't solving the problem. You've both used rhetoric, appeals to emotion and (sometimes) sound logic to try to convince each other, but neither of you is budging. A, I think you're just going to have to live with B believing what he believes. B, the same with you for A.B: Stop siding with A!A: Stop siding with B!

Marcushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10199110239609732534noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-13970096.post-20204921359897656892010-09-10T09:46:00.001-07:002010-09-10T11:35:36.197-07:00

So I've been discussing with various people the challenges of bringing a Irish pub alive onstage -- coping with laws that don't allow smoking in theatres and dealing with ways to fake beer so that (a) it looks real and (b) it has low-or-no alcohol content, so the actors can actually get through the play without falling over.I've gotten lots of great advice. But -- inevitably -- I've also gotten

Marcushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10199110239609732534noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-13970096.post-11027085398713681362010-09-09T13:28:00.000-07:002010-09-09T13:33:04.773-07:00

In an online discussion about free will and determinism, someone wrote he didn't much care about whether people are to blame for their actions, because "I'm not much of a blamer, myself."He also wrote "You are the 'owner,' of your actions, even if they are predetermined. (Even if you were determined to do them, you still did them. No one else did.) So why aren't you the moral owner as well?"My

Marcushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10199110239609732534noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-13970096.post-80067149655922663902010-09-09T13:27:00.000-07:002010-09-09T13:28:08.100-07:00

I work closely with people who are not systematic workers.Broken televisions would bamboozle them. I mean, what do you do if your click your remote and the TV doesn't turn on? Here's what I do: I think about the components in the system, which are me, the remote control, the TV, the power cord and the wall outlet.First I check me. Am I actually pushing the right button on the remote? Yes. Okay,

Marcushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10199110239609732534noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-13970096.post-81312121060814161072010-09-03T11:08:00.000-07:002010-09-03T11:09:59.658-07:00

Here's my response to this video:http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=G3UYZcwUEfw&feature=player_embedded#at=482This is my understanding of Stef's argument: he is trying to discredit Determinism by assuming it's true and then showing that its logical conclusions are nonsensical or impossible to swallow.1. Given: The future is set.2. When you argue, you assume you can change the person's mind.3. If you

Marcushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10199110239609732534noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-13970096.post-79373575861103291402010-08-26T11:43:00.000-07:002010-08-26T11:45:50.239-07:00

I, Marcus, swear to abide by the following rules to the best of my ability. It is my belief the they lead to civil, intelligent discussion in which the goal is to seek truth, rather than to win points, mock, humiliate or dominate -- all of which I consider ignoble wastes of time or worse.I invite you to call me on my own hypocrisy. If I violate any of the following rules, drop me a line saying, "

Marcushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10199110239609732534noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-13970096.post-4595365288229023282010-08-24T10:28:00.000-07:002010-08-24T10:29:50.219-07:00

Thought experiment: you move into a house and discover there's a locked door in the basement. It's a super-strong, steel reenforced door -- like a bank vault. You try everything you can to open it but nothing works. You call in an engineer, and he tells you that the door must remain closed. If you try to bash it open somehow, you'll bring down the whole house on top of you. (I realize this is

Marcushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10199110239609732534noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-13970096.post-80806642949173764872010-08-22T10:40:00.000-07:002010-08-22T10:53:44.775-07:00

Someone online posted about a school that gives students DAILY assessment tests. I remarked that this sounds like hell to me. A few people countered that it's much better than leaving kids to do homework and only occasionally checking in on how they're doing.I had to admit I'd been glib, and so I broadened my remark by saying, "Homework sucks, too. A school has failed when it has our kids captive

Marcushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10199110239609732534noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-13970096.post-45582740269263072452010-08-15T13:11:00.000-07:002010-08-15T13:13:05.628-07:00

I don't think that reading Shakespeare in strict iambic stress patterns is really the best way to communicate his language. -- post on a web forum.Sorry to harp on this, but it's sticking in my craw. Which is because I'm a Shakespeare geek. Here's what I think is true: lecturing people (e.g. in a class) about iambic pentameter is not (generally) the best way to make people (especially newbies)

Marcushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10199110239609732534noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-13970096.post-27213800095350000002010-08-12T09:35:00.000-07:002010-08-12T09:37:33.466-07:00

My response to this (from an message board): "I often struggle with this issue because to purchase a book is to support the artist, the author. And yet finding out that an author might be homophobic or ultra-conservative will inevitably change how I perceive the text. It shouldn't, but it somehow does."These are two questions here, both of which fascinate me and have for many years:1) Should we

Marcushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10199110239609732534noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-13970096.post-62292217259795231882010-08-11T07:42:00.000-07:002010-08-11T07:47:48.863-07:00

In an online forum, a young teacher asked for advice. She was upset because some of her (adult) students were surfing the web instead of listening to her. My response:I've been teaching for almost 25 years. I've taught all ages, from two-year-olds through people in the nineties. It took me a few years, but I found that the best way to teach is to rid the classroom of power dynamics. By "the best

Marcushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10199110239609732534noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-13970096.post-5001643781730829812010-08-11T07:25:00.000-07:002010-08-11T07:26:39.074-07:00

I got into an email discussion with someone about some lyrics from Sondheim's "Sunday in the Park With George." In the song, an artist is desperately trying to raise funds for his art. He sings:Art isn't easyOvernight you're a trendYou're the right combinationThen the trend's at an endYou're suddenly last year's sensation!All they ever want is repetitionAll they really like is what they knowGotta

Marcushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10199110239609732534noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-13970096.post-14260378399504043292010-06-09T07:05:00.000-07:002010-06-09T07:06:06.740-07:00

I'm not asking a free-will-vs-determanism question. Whether or not free will exists, we feel like we make choices. So, real or illusory, what does making-a-choice feel like?Dumb question? Maybe, but I shocked myself today by realizing that I have no idea what choosing feels like. I don't think I've ever felt it. And I'm wondering if that is unique to me or if, in fact, no one feels the act of

Marcushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10199110239609732534noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-13970096.post-83572695754832537532010-04-04T08:42:00.000-07:002010-04-04T08:43:22.914-07:00

This is a complicated story about how I was duped by a clever con man, Derren Brown. He didn't take my money or enlist me in a cult. But he took a bite out of my pride. I have a grudging respect for him, although I would have respected him more had he refrained from some over-the-top showmanship that eventually led me to say, "Oh, come ON!" He really had me going for a while. Now I call "bullshit

Marcushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10199110239609732534noreply@blogger.com5tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-13970096.post-76456775367045371232010-01-18T08:09:00.001-08:002010-01-18T08:09:48.755-08:00

As part of my pre-production prep, I listened to a lecture about "The Tempest" last night. It was from this TTC course: http://www.teach12.com/ttcx/coursedesclong2.aspx?cid=273 (which is on sale!) The lecturer suggested four ways of looking at the play:1. As a story about Colonialism.This has become the most common way of reading and producing the play. Modern productions frequently turn Caliban

Marcushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10199110239609732534noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-13970096.post-26093692449050549242010-01-15T08:32:00.000-08:002010-01-15T08:34:55.064-08:00

An Obvious Example"Once upon a time, there lived a young princess who had a wicked stepmother. Once upon a time, there lived a young princess who had a wicked stepmother. The princess cried herself to sleep each night."I need to cut one of those "once upon a time" sentences, don't you agree? Unless the goal is to write something experimental, something in the style of Gertrude Stein, redundancy

Marcushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10199110239609732534noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-13970096.post-8425280602169686002010-01-04T13:18:00.000-08:002010-01-12T12:42:36.702-08:00

My Approach to Design I miss designers. I love collaborating with them, but for the past few years, I've directed exclusively for a theatre company that performs on a bare stage without sets, props or lighting changes; costumes are street clothes, and there are no costume changes. Paradoxically, this approach has suggested to me new and better ways of working with designers.The Old WayIn drama

Marcushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10199110239609732534noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-13970096.post-3357305240140261172010-01-01T11:17:00.001-08:002010-01-01T11:17:47.666-08:00

A friend of mine cut lines from a bunch of different Shakespeare plays and pasted them together to form a new play. After seeing it, I wrote her this email:I really liked your play, and I have some advice about it. I waffled about writing this, because I hate giving unsolicited advice. I think it's rude, and I don't like it when people do it to me.But I feel strongly about what I'm about to say,

Marcushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10199110239609732534noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-13970096.post-88427910783912197632009-12-29T14:16:00.000-08:002009-12-29T14:17:32.854-08:00

I participated in an online discussion about Tiger Woods, an athlete who recently got caught with his pants down -- literally. He's been exposed as a serial adulterer, which is too bad, because before his "sins" came out, he was a role model to many people. Fans are angry. But each fan, being a unique human being, deals with this anger in his own way. Some see Tiger as a sick man in need of help;

Marcushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10199110239609732534noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-13970096.post-49637720381510467662009-11-05T09:20:00.000-08:002009-11-05T09:21:44.591-08:00

I am more of a dilettante than a Renaissance man, but I am interested in almost everything and read widely in history, science, literature, etc.However, I can't imagine anything harder or less painful than trying to become a Renaissance Man (or even a dilettante) because that's your goal. Is suspect most learned people got that way because they just studied lots of things that interested them --

Marcushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10199110239609732534noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-13970096.post-66066520667864871912009-10-26T07:27:00.000-07:002009-10-26T07:30:10.442-07:00

Over at Coding Horror, Jeff Atwood complains that users don't follow directions. When they post on his forum, they don't use appropriate markup, they don't look at the preview below the text-input area, and they don't press RETURN twice between paragraphs.Here's my response:I am a professional communicator. Specifically, I am a book author, computer programmer, teacher (20 years experience) and

Marcushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10199110239609732534noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-13970096.post-33511843694885879512009-09-28T14:13:00.000-07:002009-09-28T14:19:02.257-07:00

This is in response to John Heilpern's article, "Should a Fuss Be Made Over Colorblind Casting" in the June 9, 2009 issue of the "New York Observer.""Are plays about what makes sense? Or are they acts of the imagination between the actor and audience in a serious game of pretend?"Dear Mr. Heilpern:Hi. I'm a theatre director.In the quotation, above, you ask if plays are "about" what makes sense.

Marcushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10199110239609732534noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-13970096.post-79866720690882669212009-09-14T14:25:00.000-07:002009-09-14T14:54:35.710-07:00

After deciding to direct a Shakespeare play, but before starting rehearsals, I spend many days studying the script. Below, I'm going to take you through some of the games I play to get a handle on the text. As an example, I'll use the famous Saint Crispin's day speech from "Henry V." If you want to see two great examples of the speech performed, rent the Laurence Olivier and/or Kenneth Branagh

Marcushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10199110239609732534noreply@blogger.com4tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-13970096.post-34568700612883118622009-07-28T09:09:00.000-07:002009-07-28T09:57:18.532-07:00

Happy Marcus##8---o }Angry Marcus##8---o {Sad Marcus##8---o (Marcus sucking on a mint##8---o @Marcus talking##8---o []Skeptical Marcus##8---o \Marcus after eating a lemon##8---o +Marcus confiding in you##8---o YMarcus sick to his stomach##8---o $Marcus with a zit on one side of his mouth##8---o !Marcus with a zit on the other side of his mouth##8---o iMarcus smoking a cigarette##8---o LMarcus

Marcushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10199110239609732534noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-13970096.post-52008385564712702072009-05-25T08:06:00.000-07:002009-05-25T08:07:54.209-07:00

The concrete is better than the abstract.- If you're worried that your life has no meaning, or if you're afraid that God is dead, or if you're terrified of Global Warming, of if you're angry about The State of The Country, ask yourself if you've really gotten to the bottom of your concerns. These big-issue, abstract worries are one (or more) steps removed from your base nature. Dogs don't care

Marcushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10199110239609732534noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-13970096.post-71032226354855467152008-12-26T14:55:00.000-08:002008-12-26T15:00:29.107-08:00

Someone on a message board threatened to commit suicide because he was so alone. I wrote a response to him and got a lot of positive email about it. I really just tried to write what I wish someone had said to me back when I was 22, single and convinced I would be alone forever. As it turned out, the suicidal guy requested that the posts be removed, so the moderator deleted them. That's fine. I

Marcushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10199110239609732534noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-13970096.post-51171446407749911832008-12-23T09:14:00.000-08:002008-12-23T09:15:00.701-08:00

1. spent twenty minutes reading, trying to ignore the tiny scrap of paper on the floor, the crumb on the table or the blinking light on modem, until my head felt like it was going to explode, and I realized I'd read the same three words over and over. Finally I got up and picked up the paper or crumb -- or moved the modem to face the wall.2. watched my wife throw a tissue in the toilet that she'd

Marcushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10199110239609732534noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-13970096.post-84093436593993744632008-08-18T07:46:00.001-07:002008-08-18T07:46:55.049-07:00

Mrs. Key taught 3rd grade, and she turned my little life upside down. I remember, back then, we stayed with one teacher for almost the entire day. We'd have special teaches for Art and Gym, but other than that, one teacher would teach us everything.We'd quickly learn our teacher's favorite topic. One would lean more heavily on science; another more heavily of history; Mrs. Key -- Lord, save her -

Marcushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10199110239609732534noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-13970096.post-88016028016423209032008-05-09T08:20:00.000-07:002008-05-20T07:36:43.826-07:00

Everyone I know loved Tim Burton's adaptation of "Sweeney Tood." I'm the exception. But, like all my friends, I found it visually stunning: meaning that each shot looked like a arresting painting or photograph. On top of that, I've always loved Sondheim's music and lyrics. And the story moves me. So, a great story, fantastic music, stunning visuals... what's not to love?Redundancy. Rather than

Marcushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10199110239609732534noreply@blogger.com6tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-13970096.post-35887768547265676052008-03-11T12:48:00.001-07:002008-03-11T12:49:01.572-07:00

On an online forum, someone asked "How has art changed the world?"My response:I don’t think art has changed the world any more or less than anything else (trees, politic, war, germs, rocks…). And I don’t think it’s changed the world in noticeably different ways than anything else. Which isn’t to say I think art is inert.My problem is with the word art. It’s a useful word, but it’s necessarily

Marcushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10199110239609732534noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-13970096.post-40145850512092358412008-01-29T05:09:00.001-08:002008-01-29T05:09:55.146-08:00

I've been thinking about my state of mind when I first wake up in the morning. Due to my workload, I set my alarm for 6am every morning. This wouldn't be such a big deal, but I'm unable to get to bed before midnight, and I generally don't fall asleep right away when I am in bed. I know this isn't enough sleep. I said "yes" to too many projects, and this is the price I'm now paying for it. Come

Marcushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10199110239609732534noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-13970096.post-9368134120442159312008-01-23T08:06:00.001-08:002008-01-23T10:36:33.078-08:00

I just finished reading a fun, forgettable sci-fi/thriller called "Blasphemy." In it, a group of scientists seem to have contacted God. God explains to them His reason for creating the universe, which is, essentially, to help Him think. The universe is like a giant computer. All of the galaxies, stars, planets, people and animals are the "ones and zeros" in this computer, and we're all working

Marcushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10199110239609732534noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-13970096.post-30586623562453794832007-09-20T11:10:00.001-07:002007-09-20T11:10:22.239-07:00

Acting is strange. When you do it wrong, you're boring and phony; when you do it right, you're exciting and real. Being "real" means convincing the audience that you're engaging in purposeful thought -- that you seem to be actively trying to figure things out, right there on stage, in real time. If the audience feels that -- since you're read the script and toiled through countless rehearsals --

Marcushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10199110239609732534noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-13970096.post-85251932530673000452007-08-25T12:04:00.001-07:002007-08-25T12:11:34.127-07:00

What made me who I am? I'm a theatre director, a computer programmer, and a technical writer. My father, Harry Geduld, is none of those things. Yet, as I look back, I realize that he's responsible for nearly every career choice I've made and many of the (hopefully endearing) quirks of my personality.My dad is a Professor Emeritus of Comparative Literature, West European Studies and Film Studies.

Marcushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10199110239609732534noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-13970096.post-67199675408287251382007-01-06T17:06:00.001-08:002007-01-06T17:21:10.915-08:00

An actress friend is concerned because she can't make herself cry. Here's my take on stage crying:1) Very few people can turn on the waterworks at will. This is just a truth, and all actors need to admit it to themselves. In play X, if asked to shed tears, an actor may not be able to do it. He needs to admit that he may not be able to do it and come up with some other plan. (This actor is

Marcushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10199110239609732534noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-13970096.post-68621864530934546912006-11-12T19:43:00.000-08:002006-11-12T19:45:39.868-08:00

In response to this post, Rowan (from Australia) wrote me this terrific letter:I have to disagree with something you wrote. You said that in real life, the fact that people can't know intent (your mind will never truly touch another mind) is shocking and tragic. I agree that it's never possible to know another person's intent with certainty, but I don't see that as a flaw. So much of human

Marcushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10199110239609732534noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-13970096.post-1162755871391652882006-11-05T11:44:00.000-08:002006-11-12T19:37:44.747-08:00

A friend of mine is pessimistic about the state of the Arts. I understand. I will never make money as a director, even though I live in the America's theatre center, New York City. It's mostly filled with tourists going to see second-rate musicals. But I'm not pessimistic. But my lack of pessimism comes with a bite. I can only be optimistic about the Arts when I shine a harsh light on

Marcushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10199110239609732534noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-13970096.post-1162754370395862922006-11-05T11:13:00.000-08:002006-11-12T19:37:43.892-08:00

A reader wrote in response to this piece (in which I am skeptical that we can ever know an artist's intent). He wondered if, when I direct plays, I care whether or not the audience gets my intent. He also wondered whether actors might confuse an audience if they played their characters as confused. For instance, if an character is groping to try to figure out his next word, mightn't the audience

Marcushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10199110239609732534noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-13970096.post-1161560212598220162006-10-22T16:36:00.000-07:002006-11-12T19:37:43.448-08:00

[Letter to Ron Rosenbaum, author of The Shakespeare Wars.]Dear Mr. Rosenbaum:I'm the Artistic Director of Folding Chair Classical Theatre, a small company in NYC. I greatly enjoyed your book. It continually provoked me, sometimes to kiss the pages; other times to hurl the book across the room -- never because the book itself was bad; rather, because the various scholarly and artistic theories so

Marcushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10199110239609732534noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-13970096.post-1161026187034133082006-10-16T10:16:00.000-07:002006-11-12T19:37:42.989-08:00

Several years ago, when I was directing "The Winter's Tale," I noticed one of the actors was speaking strangely. His first speech in the play began as follows:Nine changes of the wat'ry-star hath beenThe shepherd's note since we have left our throneWithout a burthen: time as long againWould be filled up, my brother, with our Thanks...The character is Polixenes, the king of Bohemia, and he's

Marcushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10199110239609732534noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-13970096.post-1160505905883848152006-10-10T10:47:00.000-07:002006-11-12T19:37:42.604-08:00

How are plays and films different? What does each of the two mediums do best? True, when you watch a play you're watching live actors, and I've heard people say that this is what makes theatre special. But how do live actors make theatre special? For some, just knowing that the person they're watching is flesh-and-blood (not a photograph) has deep, spiritual meaning, but not for me. I need

Marcushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10199110239609732534noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-13970096.post-1160494930121630672006-10-10T08:18:00.000-07:002006-11-12T19:37:41.907-08:00

In "The Shakespeare Wars," Ron Rosenbaum laments the huge number of mediocre Shakespeare productions, and then, building to a crescendo, he writes:As someone who who has come to realize ... after a lifetime of hoping to find something ... electrifying ... on stage ... very little approaches it. I don't think people realize it's rarely their fault if they don't "get" Shakespeare. Shakespeare done

Marcushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10199110239609732534noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-13970096.post-1160158923043126372006-10-06T10:59:00.000-07:002006-11-12T19:37:41.451-08:00

This site invites people to define "The Human Network" ("a social structure composed of individuals, business partners, friends or other organizations") Here's my attempt:We can't ever know for sure whether anyone else is conscious, but as social animals, we've evolved to read conscious into other humans (as-well-as animals, puppets and other human-like entities). And we're vitally concerned

Marcushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10199110239609732534noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-13970096.post-1157131521901984322006-09-01T10:03:00.000-07:002006-11-12T19:37:41.108-08:00

I just closed "Much Ado About Nothing." I directed it and played several parts. Now that the smoke has cleared, I realize that I learned something really great from this production: as usual, I didn't make any cuts before rehearsals started. During the rehearsal process I made minor cuts to help deal with logistical problems ( e.g. making sure an actor who is playing multiple roles doesn't "meet

Marcushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10199110239609732534noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-13970096.post-1151955882782363582006-07-03T12:32:00.000-07:002006-11-12T19:37:40.736-08:00

Writing tip: beware of words that seem to be concrete but are, in fact, abstract. Examples: yellow and bird. There really isn't such a thing as a bird in the real world. "Bird" is a platonic category -- an abstraction. In the real world, there are hawks and sparrows and canaries. Even these are abstractions in a way, but they get closer to something we can actually see, smell and touch than "bird

Marcushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10199110239609732534noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-13970096.post-1151953923379539422006-07-03T11:18:00.000-07:002006-11-12T19:37:39.759-08:00

I wake up at precisely the right moment. I used to wake up all groggy, but ever since buying a sleeptracker watch, I've woken alert and refreshed. (The watch ensures you never wake from a deep sleep.) I trot downstairs to start my routine: an hour on the exercise bike before work. I used to hate riding, but now I love it; I rent DVDs from Netflix to watch while I cycle -- usually engrossing

Marcushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10199110239609732534noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-13970096.post-1151950565406418442006-07-03T10:42:00.000-07:002006-11-12T19:37:39.366-08:00

1) Good programmers have the ability to step in and step back. They can spend a couple of hours focusing on minutiae and then pull back and look at the whole project and its goals -- and then step back in. It's like being a good host at a party, focusing on one person and making sure he's happy, and then stepping back and taking in the whole room, making sure there's enough beer and cheetos left

Marcushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10199110239609732534noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-13970096.post-1151774771434828872006-07-01T10:13:00.000-07:002006-11-12T19:37:39.042-08:00

I leave my apartment and take the elevator down to the lobby. The person in the elevator with me is making a smacking sound. Please, buddy. I don't want to start the day hearing or seeing your gum. When did people morph into cows? Now I'm on the street, walking to the subway. HONK! HONK! HONK! I nearly jump out of my skin. Is the fact that you're waiting for your friend an EMERGENCY, because

Marcushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10199110239609732534noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-13970096.post-1151275512052885482006-06-25T15:30:00.000-07:002006-11-12T19:37:38.592-08:00

How is a book like a TV show but different from a film or a play? Give up? When you read a book or watch a TV show, you know when you're nearing the end. You also know when you've reached the middle and when you're two-thirds of the way done. When you go to the theatre, unless you first check the run-time and then keep monitoring your watch, the end could come at any time. As could the middle. In

Marcushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10199110239609732534noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-13970096.post-1151014411718430332006-06-22T14:28:00.000-07:002006-11-12T19:37:38.235-08:00

I exchanged emails with a fellow who questioned my ethics. When I mentioned I was against infidelity, he accused me of being swayed by Christian doctrine. To an atheist like me, "them's fightin' words." As we discussed it further, he explained that though an affair might cause my wife pain, NOT having an affair might cause me pain. So by choosing not to have an affair, I'm putting her needs

Marcushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10199110239609732534noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-13970096.post-1150542476928543812006-06-17T03:53:00.000-07:002006-11-12T19:37:37.896-08:00

When Stanley Kubrick died, I mourned. This isn't like me. I don't generally form attachments to people I don't know. Yet without ever meeting him, I lived with Kubrick all my life. He -- his films and the rare interviews in which he discussed his artistic process -- shaped me as a person and as an artist.I was born in 1965. One of my earliest memories is seeing "2001" when it first came out in

Marcushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10199110239609732534noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-13970096.post-1148406015767696942006-05-23T09:35:00.000-07:002006-11-12T19:37:37.605-08:00

What do we do with Kate and Petrouchio? She is strong willed and independent. He marries her, kills her spirit, and makes her subservient. This wrankles the modern, feminist mind. So most productions end with Kate winking at the audience, negating (or softening), her final speech:Thy husband is thy lord, thy life, thy keeper,Thy head, thy sovereign; one that cares for thee......Such duty as the

Marcushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10199110239609732534noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-13970096.post-1148401915311149092006-05-23T09:23:00.000-07:002006-11-12T19:37:37.308-08:00

How do I find a girl that I knew as a child/teen? All I have is her name (she may have changed it through marriage) and the town where she grew up? She doesn't live there any more.We both grew up in Bloomington, Indiana and attended Elm Heights Elementary School (doesn't exist anymore) and Binford Middle School (doesn't exist any more). Her name is (was) Kelly Shanks. Her family moved away (I

Marcushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10199110239609732534noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-13970096.post-1140637993406613502006-02-22T11:52:00.000-08:002006-11-12T19:37:36.994-08:00

I dislike the word "journey" to describe a narrative experience. "'War and Peace' took me on such a journey!" I hate it even more when it's used to describe a life experience: Reporter: How did you feel after your husband set fire to your house and all your children got roasted alive? Mother: Well, I tell myself that life is a journey... Yeah. A journey to hell! I feel the same

Marcushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10199110239609732534noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-13970096.post-1140630913661463472006-02-22T09:26:00.000-08:002006-11-12T19:37:36.751-08:00

I've been debating "informal" writing with some members of an online forum. We're all fans of writing that reads like casual conversation, but we differ on how best to achieve it (or, more causally, “how to best achieve it”). A popular view -- and one that sounds logical -- is that one should write "the way one speaks."If "write like you speak" means "don't don an unnatural, writerly voice when

Marcushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10199110239609732534noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-13970096.post-1139781862523006652006-02-12T13:46:00.000-08:002006-11-12T19:37:36.505-08:00

A painting comes to a stop where the canvas meets the frame. But my favorite paintings convince me that they extend beyond their edges. Paintings are static. Yet the great one's suggest movement. I love de Chirico's "Melencholy and Mystery of a Street", because I can "see" around the corner. The painting is bigger than what's shown on the canvas. It suggests a world beyond itself. It also

Marcushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10199110239609732534noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-13970096.post-1133714792738820302005-12-04T08:44:00.000-08:002006-11-12T19:37:16.705-08:00

Some people lament the death of The Novel; others champion experimental forms: post-modernism, 3D movies, smellerama. To me, these two types of people, the lamenters and the experimenter, seem very similar. The lamenter mourns the decaying flesh, but fails to notice the thriving soul. The experimenter sees the soul but, ignoring it's subtle beauty, dresses it up in frilly costumes so that it will

Marcushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10199110239609732534noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-13970096.post-1133198211566891442005-11-28T09:10:00.000-08:002006-11-12T19:37:16.162-08:00

Young writers worry about "finding their voice." For instance, someone (in an online forum) recently asked how to write original metaphors. He quoted Orwell's advice: "Never use a metaphor, simile or other figure of speech which you are used to seeing in print. " I'm a huge Orwell fan, and I generally agree with his ideas about writing. Certainly, I admire his push against hackneyed expressions.

Marcushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10199110239609732534noreply@blogger.com4tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-13970096.post-1131405347256454812005-11-07T14:09:00.001-08:002006-11-12T19:37:15.659-08:00

I'm disturbed. A couple of days ago, I had one of those conversations from which you emerge feeling as if the ground has shifted under your feet. Whereas you were formerly standing in an Indiana of simplicity, you're now standing in a Kentucky of complexity. How did you get there?The conversation took place online (a message board) and the topic was "spoilers." For those of you who are lucky

Marcushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10199110239609732534noreply@blogger.com6tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-13970096.post-1131143215741123532005-11-04T09:45:00.000-08:002011-10-20T12:12:46.423-07:00

A is for aardvark. Aardvarks eat ants, and they have long noses. My nose isn't long, but it's fat. It's like a big jack-o-lantern triangle that's been slapped haphazardly onto my face. Which is why no one finds me attractive. Also because of my stooped shoulders and my lazy eye. And because I eat ants. B is for boy. It's also for girl, because I don't want to be sexist. If I like girls "that way

Marcushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10199110239609732534noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-13970096.post-1131126061546696092005-11-04T09:40:00.000-08:002006-11-12T19:37:13.902-08:00

When I was five, a red dot appeared before my left eye. It was about the size of a pin head. Wherever I looked, there was the dot, floating in the air. If I closed my left eye and just looked through my right, I couldn't see it. Being five, I didn't understand it and didn't discuss it with anyone. After a while, I got used to it.It grew. The growth was so slow it was imperceptible, but by the

Marcushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10199110239609732534noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-13970096.post-1130956051080378982005-11-02T08:57:00.000-08:002006-11-12T19:37:13.568-08:00

I just finished "The Game: Penetrating the Secret Society of Pickup Artists" by Neil Strauss, in which the author tells how he transformed himself from a nerd to a stud. He wanted to lose his shyness around women, so he latched on to self-styled pick-up artists and learned their craft. He learned quickly and became a pick-up artist himself. The book is a cautionary tale (well written and fun)

Marcushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10199110239609732534noreply@blogger.com6tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-13970096.post-1130778949144262182005-10-31T08:31:00.000-08:002006-11-12T19:37:13.201-08:00

God doesn't exist.As I've written here before, he once existed for me in a weak way. I've never believed intellectually, but there was a time when, under stress, I'd blurt out a vague prayer to someone or something, usually in the form of "Please, please don't let this happen to me!" It was less a belief in God than a belief in some sort of ordering force in the universe -- some force that was

Marcushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10199110239609732534noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-13970096.post-1130523432532046592005-10-28T10:43:00.000-07:002006-11-12T19:37:12.850-08:00

When I discuss stories with other people, we often exchange the following sort of comments:Me: It doesn't make sense that a ghetto-guy like the hero would never swear.Other person: Well, I cut the writers some slack, because they're writing for network television.Me: There's a mistake on page six: Boa constrictors aren't green.Other person: Well, you can't expect the author to be an expert on

Marcushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10199110239609732534noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-13970096.post-1129759133977646442005-10-19T14:58:00.000-07:002006-11-12T19:37:12.462-08:00

I have invented a new game called "Literary Mashups." Here are the rules:1. Pick a book at random, open it to a random page, and (without looking) point to a sentence. Write that sentence down.2. Now choose another book -- something very different from the first book. Using the same process, pick a random sentence from this second book and write it down.3. Pretend the two sentences are from the

Marcushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10199110239609732534noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-13970096.post-1129752379115763172005-10-19T13:05:00.000-07:002006-11-12T19:37:11.955-08:00

The best form of drama is television. That's a biased statement, so I will explain my biases below. It's also an eccentric statement. Most critics call TV the bastard cousin of film. To address this, let me point to the word "form" in my biased statement: Television is the best FORM of drama. It's the form with the most potential. It's the best medium for great storytelling. Which doesn't mean it

Marcushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10199110239609732534noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-13970096.post-1129664438471326512005-10-18T12:18:00.000-07:002006-11-12T19:37:11.555-08:00

Am I the same "me" as I was when I was a small child, yesterday or five minutes ago? Is it fair to punish me for a crime that an earlier "me" committed? Theodore Sider's explores these ideas in an essay here (pdf file):http://fas-philosophy.rutgers.edu/sider/riddles/personal_identity.pdfIt's a well-written, entertaining and lucid survey to the philosophical questions that surround personal

Marcushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10199110239609732534noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-13970096.post-1129583862192758492005-10-17T13:27:00.000-07:002006-11-12T19:37:11.258-08:00

People keep fighting over rights to art. The artist wants to own his creation, and, as owner, dictate to what extent consumers can touch it with their grubby little fingers. But consumers sneer at touching. Consumers don't just want to touch. Consumers want to consume! They want it all. They want to snatch the work from under the artist's pillow and run away with it. They want to play it

Marcushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10199110239609732534noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-13970096.post-1129177306660986022005-10-12T21:03:00.000-07:002006-11-12T19:37:10.724-08:00

I just discovered The Two Things. It's a site of pure genius. "For every subject, there are really only two things you really need to know. Everything else is the application of those two things..."Example:The Two Things about Advertising:1. Get people's attention2. Overwhelm them with charm.Some of them are profound and really seem to peg a discipline's essence:The Two Things about Non-profits

Marcushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10199110239609732534noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-13970096.post-1128030986865550262005-09-29T14:53:00.000-07:002006-11-12T19:37:10.342-08:00

When learning any subject, it's useful to divide it up into items you should memorize, items you should access via reference materials and items you should deduce.You should memorize the subject's foundational items. For instance, it's really hard to do even the simplest math without knowing the digits by heart.You really need to boil down the "memorization list" to as few items as possible,

Marcushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10199110239609732534noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-13970096.post-1127929998535303202005-09-28T10:50:00.000-07:002006-11-12T19:37:09.893-08:00

I work as a freelance designer / programmer (and as a teacher). Most of the people I work for are clueless. I don't think of this as a problem. It's my expectation. Of COURSE they are clueless. That's why they want ME to design for them, program for them or teach them. Yes, in a perfect world, managers would understand the mechanics. But it's an imperfect world, and they're not being paid to

Marcushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10199110239609732534noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-13970096.post-1127764417180904002005-09-26T12:49:00.000-07:002006-11-12T19:37:09.459-08:00

A "Shakespeare Meme" is spreading from blog-to-blog. If you see someone quoting Shakespeare on their blog, you're supposed to follow suit and quote him on yours. So I present the following -- one of my favorite speeches. It's from "The Winter's Tale," Act II, Scene I. The speaker, Leontes, believes that his wife has betrayed him and he is about to seek vengence:1. How blest am I2. In my

Marcushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10199110239609732534noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-13970096.post-1127447549728147362005-09-22T20:49:00.000-07:002006-11-12T19:37:09.101-08:00

Have you ever found an old journal that you'd forgotten about? Here's all the surviving text from one I kept briefly in 2000, when I had only lived in New York for a few months. This was a more innocent time -- back before 9/11. Back before Katrina. Back then, I decided to keep a journal about my adventures on the subways and buses of New York.May 31, 2000 - RoutesI don't drive. I drove a moving

Marcushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10199110239609732534noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-13970096.post-1127151651385788362005-09-19T10:40:00.000-07:002006-11-12T19:37:08.517-08:00

Many of the things people say and write about art do not make sense, because they talk about meaning. They explain the meaning of a poem by Emily Dickenson; or they reveal the theme of "Macbeth." Theme is a kind of meaning. Whether you're talking about theme, meaning or subtext, you're talking about something other than the poem itself. The poem isn't its meaning. If it was, then why would we

Marcushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10199110239609732534noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-13970096.post-1126623819713111102005-09-13T08:03:00.000-07:002006-11-12T19:37:08.149-08:00

"I was talking to Fred the other day, and he said everyone in his family has a cold.""Who is Fred?""Oh, he's a guy I chat with on the web."Some people seem to have trouble remembering what the person they are talking to knows and what he doesn't. Is there a name for this "syndrome"? Has anyone researched it?Everyone does this at times, but with some people it's constant. It's as if, in their

Marcushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10199110239609732534noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-13970096.post-1126382891086612522005-09-10T13:01:00.000-07:002006-11-12T19:37:07.753-08:00

It is difficult for me to show any respect whatsoever for the belief that there is some sort of immortal space-alien Superman who hears your thoughts and grants your wishes. It's ridiculous on its face.-- posted to an online forum.I'm an atheist, but I take strong issue with your claim that Christian cosmology is patently ridiculous. Have you seriously studied Christianity or are you simply

Marcushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10199110239609732534noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-13970096.post-1126382386307598122005-09-10T12:57:00.000-07:002006-11-12T19:37:07.267-08:00

In an online forum, a teacher complained that some of his students were bringing laptops to his classes and surfing the web. He claimed this was distracting other students who were trying to pay attention.I have been a professional teacher for almost 20 years. I have taught children, college-aged people and older adults. I currently teach computer classes (Photoshop, etc.), but I've taught plenty

Marcushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10199110239609732534noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-13970096.post-1126103501490331352005-09-07T07:30:00.000-07:002006-11-12T19:37:06.740-08:00

I keep reading about scientists trying to prolong human life. They are recasting old age as a disease and trying to cure it. Assuming they succeed, we'll face some big problems. (And I'm going to ignore political/economic issues, like the fact that probably only rich people would wind up with 3000 year lifespans.)I don't know what your chances are of dying in a horrible, painful accident (as

Marcushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10199110239609732534noreply@blogger.com0