Like the Spelling Bee.....

...but probably harder. I don't know, I can't spell things. Or vocabularize them. (hee hee, I just mangled the English language. Fitting, for this post. In a backwards sort of way.)

Anyway, this thing sounds harder.

The National Vocabulary Championship, to be taped in early March and broadcast on the Gameshow Network in April, is a competition which tests high schoolers on their understanding of vocabulary. As far as I can understand. This is its first year, but the hope, according to the Gameshow Network's Senior Vice President of Marketing Dena Kaplan, is "to make the NVS a cultural phenomenon," presumably like the Spelling Bee. The competition is to take place in the New York Public library and the prize is--wait for it--a $40,000 college scholarship. Yeesh.

A more thorough article, plus a list of contestants, can be found here. (this is where the quote comes from.)

I'm the older sibling of a Spelling Bee nerd who is now a vocab nerd. I'm excited. You should be too.

A Crying Carnival

The Winter Carnival is currently going on in Saint Paul (through Feb 4th, Harriet Island). I went with some friends last night, and it was incredibly depressing. The ice sculptures were all melted. There was one that survived to be recognized--fittingly, two polar bears hugging. Perhaps they were consoling each other over the loss of winter.

The snow sculptures weren't finished, except for an enormous one of a plane and a palm tree and stuff that I don't think was part of the competition. One competitor was being sponsored by the Mexican Consulate; his piece was right next to the big block of snow with the enormous American flag sticking out of the top. Kind of funny, that.

Also available at the Carnival: pony rides, sledding, an ice maze, a big hotdish/special event tent, and of course various fair foods. The skating rink wasn't open last night, but my friends and I ended up in Landmark Plaza at the Wells Fargo WinterSkate. With two dollars each and a couple of laps around the rink, we created our own winter carnival and tried to forget about the melting polar bears.

Performing a Protest, Part II

from the BBC: Germans Put Price on Protesting

an interesting follow-up to my experience down South

Democracy

I love Michael Frayn. His play Noises Off is one of the greatest comedies to come out of recent British theater. His play Copenhagen is a fascinating historical drama. His book Headlong is the only book I have ever seen written in the present tense that actually works. I love Michael Frayn. I would marry him if he asked me.

Last night was one of the first performances of Park Square Theatre's performance of Frayn's Democracy. Overall, the show was kind of so-so. Not fantastic, but not bad, a pleasant night of theater.

The play is based on the true story of Gunter Guillaume, an East German Communist spying on Willy Brandt, the West German Chancellor from 1969-1974. It begins as he is working on getting into Brandt's inner circle.

The play itself was not quite tight enough. The first act could have been condensed to bring the tension of Guillaume's position. One of the people I went with complained about the lack of conflict, but the tension comes not from an immediate conflict but from the initial lack of conflict, from the actions that happen in spite of the lack of conflict, the actions that are meant to pre-empt any conflict but in fact end up creating it. It is a rich, fascinating work, but it could have been trimmed.

The performance I saw was the first preview, and the actors were still stumbling slightly over their lines. One actor was reading his lines from a binder. He covered it well and the flow of the play was not at all interrupted, and a few more run-throughs will cement the lines.

There were some highlights among the acting. J.C. Cutler, the actor playing Guillaume, was superb, giving us a character who was splitting himself in two, and making us sympathize with both halves of the man. Richard Ooms, playing political strategist Herbert Wehner, brought to life a "puppet-master" behind the politics of West Germany, giving humanity to a manipulative, snarky character. Finally Stephen Pelinski, as Chancellor Willy Brandt, gave a touching performance as a man trying to lead his country and stay sane amid the politics.

It is in the technical aspects of the play, though, that this production shines. First, the lights were done beautifully--my friend and I noticed this last time we saw a production at Park Square. In a play when lights were used to differentiate between locations, all transitions were smooth and understandable. There was one point in the play when a red light flashed repeatedly on a chair for no discernible reason, but other than that everything was
seamless. The other technical aspect that worked well was the music. Sets didn't change; the music did, and you had to orient yourself in time and place by the music. One scene was obviously in a church; another was outside during the winter. Knowing place was possible because of the music.

I do not highly recommend this show, but it is pretty good. Worth the price of admission. If you are interested in Frayn's work, German history, spies, or solid theater, you should go.

movie review: Proof

I recently watched the 2005 movie Proof, starring Gwyneth Paltrow, Jake Gyllenhaal, and Anthony Hopkins. David Auburn adapted the screenplay from his stage play, which won the 2001 Pulitzer and the 2001 Tony for best play. It is, quite frankly, a brilliant play, and when properly staged is one of the highlights of a play-goer's life. I saw such a performance last year, which completely blew me away. The movie, unfortunately, is not quite up to par.

The story hinges on Gwyneth Paltrow's character, Catherine, and her relationship with her father (a world-renowned mathematician), her sister, her father's mentee (another mathematician), her father's work, and her own work. The main external conflict in the story revolves around a mathematical proof, which may have been written by Catherine's father or by Catherine herself, but it is the interpersonal conflicts between the four characters that makes this play work.

Paltrow's performance is the highlight of the movie, but in a cast of only four everyone needs to be strong. The biggest problem was Jake Gyllenhaal. Fantastic in Brokeback Mountain and Donnie Darko, here he is sadly miscast. He's just not nerdy enough. The tension between his character and Paltrow's, evident in the written play and in the live performance I saw, was simply lacking.

Anthony Hopkins--I can't really describe what was wrong with him. He was sometimes British, and sometimes not so British, and seemed like he had shown up only to read his lines, collect his paycheck, and leave. There was no energy, no spark to his performance.

Finally, the non-star of the cast, Hope Davis, produced a performance as Paltrow's sister that really just wasn't interesting. I had a conversation with a friend of mine (Proof is his favorite play) and we agreed that this character is the weakest one in Auburn's play, and the hardest to perform. However, I have seen it done.

The adaptation was fine. The play takes place in only one setting, and Auburn did a good job spreading the action out over various places. He also rearranged events slightly, but it didn't detract too much from the viewing except that he moved one of the most powerful speeches to a later place in the show so my friend and I were confused waiting for it to appear. This would not be a problem for anyone who hasn't seen or read the play before.

Proof is, as I said before, a brilliant piece of writing. However, I would attempt to see it staged rather than watch this movie. You are more likely to get a show worthy of this play's words.

The stage performance I saw, in case anyone is interested, was produced by the theater department at a small college in Saint Paul, MN. The four student-actors and the production team behind them put on a show easily 10x better than the film.

Performing a Protest

So I had various adventures during my recent trip to the southeast, but this is the one that inspired the most thought....

I was entering a hotel that was partially under construction, except that the construction workers were in front of the hotel with signs, singing and marching around in a circle. My companion, a man who studies and has been involved in labor history in the United States, of course could not just walk by, but went to find out what they were protesting and why and basically to gather any information he could on the event.

It was a basic protest: the workers wanted higher pay.

Then a homeless man that we had walked past on the street came up, exchanged his coat for a construction vest, was handed a sign, and joined the circle.

It turned out that the people marching around with signs, an almost exclusively black group, were not the construction workers. They had been hired by the union to protest. My companion's theory was that the construction workers themselves were probably mostly white, and these homeless African-Americans would be more likely to induce sympathy in passers-by.

Now, I'm all for worker's rights, especially the right to strike or protest. I am not ok with hiring people to protest for you. No matter how justified your claim is, I feel that you lose some right to sympathy and compensation when you hire people--actors, basically--to falsely represent your position. It is just wrong.

Once Upon a Crime

In a basement in Minneapolis, just off of Lyndale Avenue on 26th Street, sits a little gem of a bookstore, Once Upon a Crime.

Their front room is crowded with all the standards of mystery fiction, plus dozens of authors I had never heard of. Aside from this, there are short but rich sections of YA mysteries, mystery writing how-to (I almost could not resist the book on poisons), and Minnesota authors (there was one little book about crime and hotdish).

The best part of the store, though, is the back room called The Annex. This room, down a hallway and only accessible by an employee with a key, houses their first-edition and rare book collection. And what a collection it is. There are old suspense magazines; first-editions of Raymond Chandler, Dashiell Hammett, and others of that caliber; a special Sherlock Holmes corner; and rare editions of almost any famous author you can imagine.

I made two purchases at the store: The Last Detective by Peter Lovesey, and Jean-Claude Izzo's Chourmo (the second book in his Marseilles trilogy--I was especially pleased to find this because I didn't think it would be published until later this year).

Visiting Once Upon a Crime was slightly bittersweet, because I couldn't help but think of the grandfather of mystery bookstores, Murder Ink in New York City, which announced that it would close December 31, 2006. I presume that it did. The big box and online retailers are continuing to cause the demise of niche and independent bookstores.

For the hopefully many years that Once Upon a Crime stays in business, they will have my support. In addition to the rows upon rows of books, the staff was friendly and helpful. It is a welcoming place, and I highly recommend it to any lover of mysteries.

review: Phantom of the Opera

I do not like Andrew Lloyd Webber. Just going to throw that out there as a warning/caveat. He has good taste; I like his source material. The Woman in White. Old Possum's Book of Practical Cats. The Phantom of the Opera. But then he starts adding music and songs and stuff...

Last night I saw the movie version of Phantom of the Opera, the most financially successful show in Broadway history. This was my introduction to the show. (It was originally produced in 1986, the movie is from 2004. Yes, I'm a little behind the times.) Some friends and I gathered around the television to watch this masterpiece of modern musicals, me with strong misgivings stemming from the time I tried to watch Jesus Christ Superstar and had to turn it off about fifteen minutes in because I couldn't stand the music.

The music in Phantom was not nearly that bad. It still wasn't good. The lyrics, if you listen to them, were not very clever; having never heard the songs before, I could finish many of the lines along with the singers. Never a good sign. The melodies were...dull. I didn't like "Memories," the most famous song from Cats, and with a few exceptions Phantom's music sounded like "Memories" over and over again--not note for note, but in terms of mood and theme. Two songs I did like: "The Phantom of the Opera" and "Point of No Return." Mostly I liked the "PHANtom of the Opera is heeeere" bit of the first song, and the drama surrounding the second song helped enhance its power. The love song--"All I Ask of You", I think--was simply dreadful, and they used the motif repeatedly.

During many of the songs I got up and did things like dishes, but I always came back and kept watching because I enjoyed the story, especially the character of the Phantom. My desire to know what happened to the characters slightly outweighed my dislike of the music, so I stayed to watch. This reinforces my previous appreciation of Webber's taste in material, and creates an obvious next step of reading the 1911 Gaston Leroux book. Also, there are two older movie versions of the story, pre-Webber, one with Claude Rains as the Phantom and one with...hold on here, folks...Lon Chaney as the Phantom. Oh yeah. Netflix, here I come.

When I was younger, I loved Cats and Joseph and the Amazing Technicolor Dreamcoat. My conclusion is that Webber is excellent at creating kid-level shows. His music is simply not complex enough to be interesting to me anymore. Most of the Broadway-going public disagree with me, but I'm used to popular opinion disagreeing with me.

Finally, I've heard the movie disparaged by people who have actually seen the show live (of course). My thinking is that while some dramatic choices may make the movie "worse" (Minnie Driver, maybe), the music is going to be pretty much the same. Since it is the music I don't like, I will presume I wouldn't like the show, either.

back from vacation

I have returned from the weather-beaten southeast, where the internet was not nearly as available as one might have hoped. There are definitely some things I want to post about, so that will happen as soon as I, y'know, unpack and stuff.

The Clown Prince of Denmark

I've decided to be more or less frivolous today and simply dedicate this post to Victor Borge, who was born on this date in 1909. Born and raised in Denmark, Borge was quickly recognized as a piano prodigy and began performing classical music on tour. Then, he decided to throw some stand-up in with the Bach...and the rest, as they say, is history.

"I only know two pieces; one is 'Claire de Lune', and the other one isn't."

"Ladies and Gentlemen, this number is a number during which most people cough."

"Many people have asked me why there are three pedals in these grand pianos. Well the pedal in the middle is there to separate the two other pedals."

"The Steinway people have asked me to announce that this is a Baldwin piano."

"This is a piano concerto for piano and concerto and was originally written for approximately 95 piece symphony orchestra. Due to circumstances beyond my control we seem to be approximately 95 pieces short. But you won't notice the difference because I play it very fast."

"Would you like to hear the famous Polonaise in A flat by Chopin? [applause] Very well. Is there anyone here who can play it?"

"The difference between a violin and a viola is that a viola burns longer."

Since Borge is of course much better appreciated in video, here are links to two of my favorite sketches, courtesy of youtube.

Phonetic Pronunciation

The Magic Flute

Victor Borge died December 23, 2000.

Also born on January 3rd: J.R.R. Tolkein, Mel Gibson, Cicero, John Sturges, Bobby Hull, Sergio Leone.

crystal palaces

I have noticed a trend in the fusty old world of libraries: Light.

In the past five years, due to various travels and residences, I have been witness to the reconstruction of three libraries in the midwest: the main Salt Lake City library; Bozeman Public Library in Bozeman, Montana; and the Minneapolis Central Library. Each reconstruction, in addition to expanding the square-footage of the library, had one other drastic and obvious effect: a great increase in the number of windows.

The buildings are now beautiful, and this could simply be a trend in architecture that I am unaware of. However, I think the increase in windows and natural light in these institutions shows a lot about what libraries are becoming in the 21st century. To quote from the SLC library's webpage:

"The new Main Library in Salt Lake City embodies the idea that a library is more than a repository of books and computers - it reflects and engages the city's imagination and aspirations."

Libraries no longer simply contain knowledge. They produce it. They have become lively centers of interactive learning, engaging the community and not just sitting in the middle of it.

The increased light allowed by the increased number of windows represents this new position of libraries in our world. The windows provide a view as well as light, allowing people to see easily into and out of libraries, something not possible in the traditional granite library. This lack of visual barrier strengthens the idea of libraries as a part of the community.

Those are my musings for today.



That's SLC, Minneapolis, and Bozeman, top-to-bottom. (a non-construction picture of Bzn would be appreciated, if anyone happens to find one)

my new year's best list

Well, Happy New Year, it's time to make lists and declare superlatives! All over the web, bloggers are declaring 2006 Bests. Time for me to jump on this bandwagon! Or I could be eccentric and do it in July...

Instead of doing a "Best" list or declaration, I'm going to make one recommendation:

Read August Wilson's Pittsburgh Cycle: 10 plays, spanning a century of African-American life, one for each decade of the 20th century. Each is a brilliant tragedy encircling an African-American community; together they are one of the masterpieces of Western literature. True, they are plays, so the ideal would be to see them performed. In recognition of Wilson's death in October 2005, many regional theaters are doing productions. The Penumbra Theatre in St. Paul has a few planned; I will let you know how they are.

But while live theater is the ideal, Wilson knew, as a black man writing in the 1980s, that it was unlikely that his plays would be produced for a wide audience. His early plays reflect this in the descriptions he provides for the setting, the action, and even in historical prologues. Many of his early plays (Ma Rainey's Black Bottom, Joe Turner's Come and Gone) read almost like stories. Even though, as he won Pulitzers and recognition, he trimmed the extra description from his later plays, they are still true pieces of literature and some of the easiest plays to read.

These plays are more than just pretty stories, though, they are a history. A history of a time period, of a race, and of a man. These plays are America in the 20th century. I realized that this year, and that is why they are, collectively, my one recommendation on this New Year's Day.

a word of explanation

I am a college student attempting to become a writer. When not writing, I do many other interesting things, and this blog will allow me to ramble/comment about some of them. Topics will include theater (mostly in Minneapolis/St. Paul), books, movies, travels, college, current events, historical events, and anything else that might happen to appear in my life.

The blog's name and address make sense if you have read my current work in progress, which you haven't since I haven't finished it yet. Rest assured, once you have read it, this blog title is very clever.

one of the literati

What Kind of Reader Are You? Your Result: Obsessive-Compulsive Bookworm You're probably in the final stages of a Ph.D. or otherwise finding a way to make your living out of reading. You are one of the literati. Other people's grammatical mistakes make you insane.
Dedicated Reader	****************
Book Snob	***************
Literate Good Citizen	***********
Non-Reader
Fad Reader
What Kind of Reader Are You? Create Your Own Quiz

Surprisingly accurate, except for the PhD part...