Seeking to re-create the classic tradition of Vaudeville, Theatre@First searched the four corners of the globe to find a diverse and entertaining collection of acts to present on Johnny D's
world-renowned stage. Then we returned to Somerville and realized we never had to look beyond our very own city!

From our local artistic community, we have assembled an amazing assortment of talent for your delight and amazement. Enjoy an evening's worth of pure entertainment generously provided by storytellers, musicians, dancers, mimes, poets, singers, and even our
own hula girl.

Tickets: $12, pay at the door. Call Johnny D's for reservations.
Reservations available for dinner beforehand (minimum $10/person for food).

Performers:
Jessica Almeida
Ari Herbstman
Uncle Shoe
Ian Thal
Justin Werfel
Erica Schultz
The Pluto Tapes (Andy Hicks)
Can-Can Revolution
Heisenberg's Mezzos (Andrea Humez, Erica Schultz, Jessica Raine, and
Gilly Rosenthol)
Gilana and her Hula Hips (Gilly Rosenthol)

You like anime? You like Jonathan Coulton? You a Code Monkey?

You need this.

Don't forget, kids, June 1st at my place for the premier! We'll watch Season 1 and 2 selected episodes until showtime and revel in the glory that is Venture Bros.!

On Saturday, May 10th, the luscious ladies of Can Can Revolution will be performing our first live show! The Papercut Zine Library in Cambridge is having a bash and we've been asked to do a number, there. 

Our big, official debut is happening on May 28th. Can Can Revolution will be performing two numbers at SomerVaudeVille!



  
Theatre@FIrst Presents: SomerVaudeville

ONE NIGHT ONLY
Wednesday, May 28, 2008, 8:30pm

Johnny D's
17 Holland St, Somerville MA
(just across from the Davis Square T station)

A DOZEN GREAT ACTS UNDER ONE ROOF!

Seeking to re-create the classic tradition of Vaudeville, Theatre@First searched the four corners of the globe to find a diverse and entertaining collection of acts to present on Johnny D's world-renowned stage. Then we returned to Somerville and realized we never had to look beyond our very own city!

From our local artistic community, we have assembled an amazing assortment of talent for your delight and amazement. Enjoy an evening's worth of pure entertainment generously provided by storytellers, musicians, dancers, mimes, poets, singers, and even our own hula girl.

Call Johnny D's for reservations at 617-776-7450.
Theatre@First is unable to accept reservations for this show.

Tickets: $12, pay at the door.
Reservations available for dinner before the show.
(minimum $10/person for food).

Note: Because tickets are sold through Johnny D's, the free ticket
benefits for members do not apply to this show. We apologize for any
inconvenience.

Performers:
Jessica Almeida
Ari Herbstman
Uncle Shoe
Ian Thal
Justin Werfel
Erica Schultz
The Pluto Tapes (Andy Hicks)
Can-Can Revolution (Renée Johnson, Alyssa Osiecki, and Mandy Hughes)
Heisenberg's Mezzos (Andrea Humez, Erica Schultz, Jessica Raine, and
Gilly Rosenthol)
Gilana and her Hula Hips (Gilly Rosenthol)


Come see us shake our frilly rhumba panties in your general direction! ;)

Hey, are any of you blood donors? You should consider registering with the National Bone Marrow Registry, too. Emru, whose story is below, is just one of many who need our help to overcome hematologic malignancies like leukemia and lymphoma.

You may know Emru Townsend as an animation or technology writer and blogger. You might have run into him at an animation event or conference. A husband and father, you may know him as an old or new friend. Or you might not know him at all.

In mid-December, Emru was diagnosed with leukemia, and a condition called monosomy 7. Due to the monosomy 7, he has an increased risk of the leukemia coming back, no matter how successful chemotherapy is. This is where you can help save his life.

Emru needs a bone marrow transplant. This kind of therapy is administered through a transplant of bone marrow stem cells from a matching donor. The highest chances for a match are from siblings, but his only sister is not a match. As a result, he must to turn to national and international bone marrow registries to find a compatible donor. There are 11 million donors worldwide, but there is still no guarantee that he will find a match: The chances of matching another person can be as high 1 in 450 or lower than 1 in 750,000. Time is of the essence as the optimal window of opportunity is in the first few months after remission.

A broad and diverse array of donors are required because the chance of finding a match requires finding the right combination of matching human leukocyte antigens (HLAs) between donor and recipient. While anyone, anywhere can be a potential match, his best chance for a match comes from a donor who shares his ethnic background. As the son of two African Carribean parents, his chances are further diminished as blacks are underrepresented in bone marrow registries worldwide.

You can help by registering for your country's bone marrow registry and spreading the word about the need to diversify its database. Registering can help save not only Emru's life, but that of one of the many other patients waiting for a bone marrow transplant.

It's easy for healthy, eligible adults to join:
Visit your registry's website or local office.
Complete a form consenting to be added to the registry.
Provide a mouth swab or a blood sample.

There's even a convenient drive happening in Boston on Monday, May 28th on your lunch break!.

( Look! A flyer! With superheroes! ) 
 

So I'm volunteering at this year's Independent Film Festival Boston and had an orientation, tonight. Some very exciting events were discussed, one of which was described as, "Get ready to get your Dumbledore on!"

( Don't you want to see a movie *about* Harry Potter? )

( After the show, see FOUR Harry Potter themed bands! )

Two things of giddy note arrived at my office, today, both executed by the same individual. Have I mentioned that he's made of awesome?

( A rose by any other name... )

AND

( When this man tells you not to die, you damn well better not be thinking about it. )

Be wary of listening to This Morn' Omina and Iszoloscope at loud volumes on the train. If you do, old ladies next to you will complain that you and everyone around you will go deaf...

Despite the fact that you can very clearly hear them whispering about you through your headphones and over the drone of the aforementioned rhythmic noise.

Will I ever be one of those old ladies?

I've heard through the grapevine that Arisia has had Friday night musical guests, like Boiled in Lead. Is this something we could attempt again? Keep the Saturday night club dance, but try to get a great fan act like Jonathan Coulton or something for Friday? They could perhaps be part of a music panel or two.

Thoughts? Practicalities? Logistical problems?

Thanks!

So, recently, my mp3 player, "Das Maschine," went to London. The lucky bastard hitched a ride with a really awesome guy that totally rocks my socks. He got to see all the sites and even got a little cheeky at the British Museum. I always knew he was quite the Cassanova.

( Das Maschine Goes to London )
( Das Maschine's encounter with the hippest author, ever )

It goes without saying that the aforementioned guy continues to amaze me with his awesome thoughtfulness. I'm all verklempt!

I'm not necessarily steampunk.

I am, however, Neo-Victorian.

I am also in love with a set of (probably NSFW) photographs.

For more (SFW) pictures in this style, check out Viona Ielegems.

Well, *I* think my ideas are brilliant and should be exploited at every opportunity.

Why doesn't everyone else? ;)

I need an external hard drive, 200GB or more. My PC doesn't have a USB 2.0, just a USB slow-point-oh. Generally, I don't have compatibility problems, just speed issues.

Ok, so the Western Digital My Book 500GB wins, hands down.

Now, where is the nearest Circuit City or MicroCenter and can I get there on a bus? I need to get this on Thursday, if possible. It's a dire emergency, I promise you.

This is what happens when nerds get their hands on paintbrushes and the knowledge that their apartment is a blank canvas:

http://smacaski.livejournal.com/778548.html#cutid1

Also, you can see evidence that my dog does, in fact, exist.

I forgot to post about this! I directed Carmilla for 2007's Tomes of Terror II live radio "thrillogy" and it's up online for your listening pleasure!

Tomes of Terror II Continues on the Post-Meridian RadioPod

An adaptation of J. Sheridan LeFanu's 1872 novella, written for CBC Radio's terrifying horror series Nightfall by Graham Pomeroy and John Douglas in 1982. In this story, inspiration for Bram Stoker's Dracula, a young woman dreams of a friend her own age. But in the dark depths of the Black Forest, nothing is quite what it seems and she gets more than she ever wanted. A chilling tale of childish fantasy and lost innocence.

Recordings of PMRPod #2 are up on the new HOTU/PMRP website as both low-quality and Internet-quality MP3s. You know you want to listen...

-------------------------------------------------------
For Tomes of Terror III in 2008, I'll be directing my very own adaptation of an English/Scottish traditional ballad called Reynardine. The original ballad is sometimes called "The Mountains High," if you want to look it up. In the ballad, Reynardine lures beautiful women to his cold and lonely castle by promising them his protection while crossing the mountains. They arrive safely, but one is lead to believe that once there, they're not safe anymore. In later versions, as well as in the short story that I have adapted, he is portrayed as a were-fox, an idea that I'm heavily promoting and playing upon in my adaptation.

My Reynardine is not a cruel and cunning predator, though he has his revenge, in the end. The way the original short story was written, he's an intelligent and fanciful young lad with no stomach for hunting and a penchant for singing and wandering the hills of his step-father's lands. *sigh* I'm kind of in love with the idea of him, honestly. My adaptation needs to be fleshed out, a little, but I'm really loving the way that it's taken shape and can't wait to see what I can do with casting. Marcel (my Reynardine) needs to be able to sing a capella, which will add an interesting element to the performance.

You can buy it on Amazon, if you want.

Yeah, I know you probably give a rat's ass about curing cancer, but I worked damn hard on that book. See that nice green color? I was the tie-breaker in picking that color. I'm even on page xx in the acknowledgments. Though, gilana, their editors and designers couldn't figure out how to put in the accent on my name. Those bastards!

For my guy friends: Ode to Nice Guys.

And for all of my girlfriends: Ode to Nice Girls.

Things to be thankful for:
1) My supportive and awesome friends.
2) My loving (and generally supportive) family, whose parental units are about to celebrate 50 years of marriage!
3) A fun and eclectic roof over my head and a great roommate who's willing to poke me in the eye, stab me with safety pins and listen to me whine.
4) Our brand new record player. Special thanks to you-know-who-you-are.
5) My health. Excepting pneumonia and a recent relapse of Meniers, I'm pretty healthy!
6) The music. If nothing else and when all else fails, there's always the music.

Open your favorite digital music player. Arrange your songs by “play count,” and post your top fifteen songs.

1. "Fools Rush In" - Bow Wow Wow
2. "Flathead" - The Fratellis
3. "Piazza, New York Catcher" - Belle & Sebastian
4. "Take On Me" - A-Ha
5. "All Tomorrow's Parties (single version)" - The Velvet Underground
6. "Losing Your Affection" - The Future Bible Heroes
7. "Ooh La La" - Goldfrapp
8. "Slow Show" - The National
9. "You and I Misbehaving" - Tilly & the Wall
10. "Transylvanian Concubine" - Rasputina
11. "In the Aeroplane Over the Sea" - Neutral Milk Hotel
12. "Brainy" - The National
13. "Kings of the Wild Frontier" - Adam & the Ants
14. "Magic Dance" - David Bowie
15. "Girl U Want" - Devo

I blame the 2007 summer one-acts for some of this and Sophia Coppola for a few others. As for the rest, I regret nothing!