One of my daily traditions involves laying down for a late morning nap.  It is not only energizing, but also a pleasant way to “skip over” a few hours of the day which would be spent in debilitating anxiety.  Normally, upon waking up from these naps, I go about my usual business of watching Wife Swap and waiting until the sun goes down so I can go to sleep again.  Yesterday, however, I clicked over to one of my favorite television news outlets, and was immediately guilt stricken.

As it turns out, NASA had discovered an entirely new form of life.  Much to my dismay, this life was found in Mono Lake, California. Okay, NASA.  I admit it.  I am responsible for this new life form you have discovered.  I’m sorry. [Read more →]

Tags: mostly kidding by Matt Scottoline, science by Matt Scottoline
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Not all of my Broadway experiences have been in midtown theaters. Between 1988 and 1993 I did my graduate work at 721 Broadway in lower Manhattan, the sixth floor of which housed (and still houses) the NYU Department of Performance Studies. There I learned to think of performance as something broader and more diverse than what happened on so-called legitimate stages. I had friend who was into Japanese Rakugo, another into shamanic rituals involving trance states, another into queer theory, and still others who studied downtown dance in which the women lifted the men. My area was American popular performance, especially vaudeville with a concentration in magic–the entertaining deception kind, not the raising the dead kind. Today, I sometimes teach a course with a deception theme, but back then I was still learning the basics.

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Tags: Broadway Fred by Fred Siegel
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Is  Burlesque a “good” movie? No, but I do not think it is trying to be that. Did I love it? Yes. It has a predictably stupid plot, but it looks gorgeous. The performance numbers are big, bright and dazzling and for the most part, the cast is terrific. I sat like a mindless zombie for 100 minutes, eyes glued to the screen, and it felt great. [Read more →]

Tags: Gail sees a movie by Gail D. Rosen
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