Notes from Insomnia: July 31, 2008--2:43 AM (EST)

“Spiritual flight does not involve a physical journey, but an ecstasy in which the soul is felt to leave the body. There can be no ascent to the highest heaven without a prior descent into the depths of the Earth. There can be no new life without death. The themes of this primitive spirituality would recur in the spiritual journey undertaken by mystics and yogins of all cultures.

“It is highly significant that these myths and rituals of ascension go back to the earliest period of human history. It means that one of the essential yearnings of humanity is the desire to get above the human state. As soon as human beings had completed the evolutionary process, they found that a longing for transcendence was built into their condition.”

--Karen Armstrong, A Short History of Myth

Notes from Insomnia: July 29, 2008--3:39 AM (EST)

UPDATED: Available on The Muppet Show, Season One

In a Family Way: The Two Coreys

This week's episode of The Two Coreys shifts the focus from the titular stars to what seems to be their most significant family member. In the case of Feldman--his wife Susie, who is given the green light (per Hef) to pose for Playboy; in the case of Haim--his father Bernie, who comes to town for a visit.

The double-feature provides too-brief insight into T2C's underlying issues--like USA Corey's love/self-hate relationship with control, and Maple Corey's need for his father's approval. Feldman veers between pride and fits of covetous crisis as the impact of Susie's pictorial dawns on him. With the attention off of Junkie Corey, Dr. Monti calls Possessive Corey on his control-freak tendencies. The chance to mine said mania goes untapped, and the glossy sheen of wisecracks ("You go to the studio. I'm going to the toilet to throw up.") stays on.

During Haim's session with Dr. Monti, we learn that his father--though very supportive--cares very little for "the industry." Papa Haim cared even less for it when his son was younger; he felt child participation would expose them to the craft's dark underbelly too soon and lead them to ruin. Unfortunately for his family, he was right.

In a moment of both irony and sagacity, Maple Corey is invited to speak at Cynthia Bain's Young Actor Studio to a group of young hopefuls. He handles it deftly, speaking to the kids as both a once-peer and one-man PSA.

Combined with his earlier adventure with taking a whack out of golf balls, the moment turns out to be one of redemption for father and son. It has all the makings of one of those teacher-watching-his-former-pupil-become-the-teacher breakthroughs--which is lovely. It's also a little two-dimensional; the episode never really touches on the father-son relationship in any way that could be helpful for Maple C to take a bite out of the great self-sabotage barrier. (Also, Haim seems a little soused during his discussion of the pupil-teacher transference.)

Or maybe it is--maybe it'll be just what the overachieving-by-way-of-undermining son needs to turn the tide. There's only one episode left--and not a lot of time to spare. So don't use drugs!

Top 8 Songs: Week Ending July 26, 2008

1. "So Much Out the Way," Estelle (from Shine)
2. "Digital Ghost," Tori Amos (from American Doll Posse)
3. "Get What I Want," Bitter:Sweet (from Drama)
4. "American Boy (featuring Kanye West)," Estelle (from Shine)
5. “My Own Worst Enemy,” George Stanford (from Big Drop)
6. "The Bomb," Bitter:Sweet (from Drama)
7. "Murder in the City," The Avett Brothersl (from The Second Gleam)
8. “Hey Nineteen,” Steely Dan (from Gaucho)

ASS: You Know Your Art-History Geek Is Showing When...

A friend jokingly referred to cubism as lame, to which I replied:

Cubism is da bomb--diggity, even! Cubism was about pushing the envelope pried open by the expressionists' experiments with light and movement--one brought to its creative apex by Cezanne! It was about breaking from the staid two-dimensional attempts at rendering the third dimension and broadening painting’s texture palette! It was about addressing the growing complexities and psychological schisms of early 20th Century life--complexities that were heightened by the planet's first world war! Of course, I could see how it would make more sense if you had amblyopia/"lazy eye” (which I do). Or a pair of 3-D glasses. I was going to compare it to the magic puzzle phenomenon of the '90s, but that sounds kind of...lame. My art-history geek is showing, isn't it?

Pablo Picasso, Woman Playing the Mandolin (1909)
State Museum of New Western Art, Moscow

Is there an Art-School Student (ASS) support group of some sort out there? I obviously need to sign up. "Hi. My name is Lawrence, and I'm a recovering ASS."

Postscript: Cubism wasn't all about painting; sculpture was also part of the deal.

Turning of the Screw (from the WH@P Employee Manual)

When sending screw-you notes, the value of spell check can not be overemphasized. A little proofreading goes a long way. Nothing ruins the soul-searing humiliation of a well-worded insult more than a spelling error. Instead of giving the object of your intended scorn one to stew on, you give him, her or them something to laugh about. Having it in writing makes: (1) a source of perpetual shame; (2) matters worse; and (3) comedy gold. If ever there was a gift that keeps on giving, it's the error-riddled note that can be forwarded to friends and coworkers. So be sure to spend the same time proofing your note as you spent composing it. It's the only real way to really get even!

Mo Ping
Director of Op-Domestic Relations, WH@P

Mr. Ping's own unfortunate adventures with syntax have made for many an interoffice knee slap. "Whatever you do," he says, "don't let me happen to you!"

Hooray for Drama!

Bitter:Sweet's got a new album out: Drama (*)!

Okay, it's not that new--it was released on June 3--but I'm a little remedial when it comes to cutting-edge anything. But I digress: Love the Bitter:Sweet (which consists of Shana Halligan and Kiran Shahani)! The duo's '06 The Mating Game (*) was easily my favorite album of the year. Hell, the jazzy astrolounge dirgefest was my oxygen for a while there! The disc's "Bittersweet Faith" held the #1 position on my Top 16 Songs: 2006 list.

If you've watched television during the past two years, chances are you've heard them. If not on Grey's Anatomy or Smallville, then surely in The Devil Wears Prada movie. Should none of those ring familiar, I present Refresher One:

And Refresher Two:

Familiar now? Thought so. Just in case you're feeling too lazy to follow the links to their new album, you can get a sample--"The Bomb"--from the Lipstick Jungle clip below,

So yeah--Drama's been brought'n! So get it!

Love & Anorexia: The Two Coreys

Love, soft as an easy chair...and at least as strange. So it makes sense that Valentine's Day should arrive in the middle of the summer--at least in the world of The Two Coreys.

This week's episode and its emphasis on love through the lens of both Coreys was a tale of "Whoa!" Committed Corey celebrating his eighth V-Day with wife Susie on one end; Single Corey scrambling to fill the romantic void on the other. Feldman's over-the-top tribute--with its rose-petaled pathway, string-section remix of a song he'd written for her, and wedding-ring carat upgrade--seemed...over the top. But then I realized how much she's likely been through with Feldman, from the labor-intensive task of loving a former teen idol to...the Haim cohabitation and continued contact, and thought, "Fair enough."

Lovelorn Corey's last-minute (read: last-call) cruising of Melrose Boulevard and his on-the-spot date with star-eyed aspirant Sarah (who totally had "the vapors") was a little heartrending. Sad was made pitiful during his session/s with the therapist, who tied his search for love to the chord of self-sabotage that runs through his life. Then she got metaphoric on him: "You're like a man at a banquet who doesn't know how to eat. And you're starving." In a word: ouch.

Having written that Modern Love essay, I know from emotional anorexia. It's not a good state of mind to be in; hungry people can't be trusted to make good dietary decisions. Ask Karen Carpenter. That's not a crack; she went out with songwriter Tom Bahler and broke up with him after she found out he had fathered a child with a married woman.*

But I digress: Hungry Corey's half of this week's episode ends with a calamitous reunion fix-up (courtesy of the well-meaning Feldmans) with former flame Nicole. He tells her she looks better than ever; she tells him how much older he looks. He tries to talk her into some V-Day nookie; she leaves no room for doubt--accent on the "No." Ugly stuff.

I enjoyed the episode and feel the show is really starting to get somewhere. Good to see Romantic Corey not taking his hard-won happiness for granted. Good also to see Anorexic Corey getting the counseling he so desperately needs. Here's hoping it takes.

Saw this heart-shaped cloud last Monday and thought, "Nice!"

* According to Ray Coleman's The Carpenters: The Untold Story, the breakup inspired Bahler to penn "She's Out of My Life"--which, ironically enough appeared on Michael Jackson's Off the Wall.

Top 8 Songs: Week Ending July 19, 2008

1. "Peaceblaster '68," STS9 (from Peaceblaster)
2. "American Boy (featuring Kanye West)," Estelle (from Shine)
3. "Beyond Right Now," STS9 (from Peaceblaster)
4. “Foolish Love,” Rufus Wainwright (from Rufus Wainwright)
5. "Ring My Bell," Anita Ward (from Ring My Bell)
6. “My Own Worst Enemy,” George Stanford (from Big Drop)
7. "Willow Don't Cry (Secret Song)," Leslie Hall (from Door Man's Daughter)
8. "So Much Out the Way," Estelle (from Shine)

Notes from Insomnia: July 18, 2008--3:25 AM (EST)

Seven days have passed since my Modern Love essay first hit the Web. I had no idea it would inspire as much support and heartfelt sharing as it has. I'm truly honored. Even the complaints are their own form of flattery.

Jeff is amused by his brush with fleeting celebrity. Mom is getting her share of congratulations from colleagues and fellow church members. And Dad is dad: proud.

Me, I'm flattered that the J and I inspired an illustration--something that doesn't happen often. Okay--it never happens!

All of which, I suppose, is a very long-winded way of saying, "Thank you."

Urban Renewal: The Mystery Revealed (...Sort of)

I've been asked about the novel a lot recently, so I figured I'd share a little description--which goes a little something like:

Set in the first six months of 2001, Urban Renewal tells the story of floundering actor and Brooklyn native Alistair “Ali” Dunbar, blacklisted model-turned-publicist Diana Jameson, and guerilla artist Julian Cartwright--three late-twentysomething New Yorkers whose shared frustration with the era’s dot-com arrogance and societal glass ceilings drives them to retaliatory action.

Hoping to restore the city to its pre-“Generica” glory, the three combine forces and pit the “Manhattan fabulous” against the “bridge-and-tunnel” set. A riot at the Museum of Modern Art throws their chain of successful coups into turmoil, and its aftermath is upset by the appearance of a mysterious male suitor whose romance with Ali coincides with a series of calculated calamities that divide the group.

As the casualties, copycat insurrections, and Tri-state turmoil ensue, the trio must contend with the watchful eye of the authorities. They must also decide whether they can resolve the tensions between them and band together to find and stop their enemy before being discovered--or destroyed.

Urban Renewal is a meditation on the state of urban living, American aspiration, sabotage, and the consequences of each. It has the symbiotic tensions of community, sub/cultural commentary, and the wry rendering of Joshua Ferris’ Then We Came to the End, as well as the linguistic sensuality and romantic-platonic conflicts featured in James Baldwin’s Giovanni's Room.

Under + Mines: The Two Coreys

With its newer, more realistic schedule* in place, this week's episode of The Two Coreys strips away the posing and petulance to address the topic of sabotage.

Still high (not literally, of course) from the previous episode's breakthrough dinner at Haim's, the less-dysfunctional duo meet for another therapy session. I initially thought the therapist's skepticism had to do with a desire to keep them in crisis for personal profit. Canadian Corey's tumble from the clean-and-sober wagon, however, proves me wrong. His anxiety over the Lost Boys 2 shoot sets off a self-fulfilling prophecy that saps the patience of the cast, crew, and film's director. An out-of-sorts yet oddly insightful Maple Corey mutters, "I didn't kill anybody. I didn't hurt anybody...but myself."

(Haim does not appear in the following LB2 clip, which can't be a good thing...for him.)

When the therapist confronts/accuses Canadian Corey regarding his drug use--not just on the Lost Boys 2 set, but over the past few weeks, the reasons for her skepticism are clear. And it is there, where the reality of Haim Spiral 2.0 leaves no room for tough facades, that the bonds that bind and break male relationships--the show's emotional center--begins to be revealed.

Which made me wonder whether the film (LB2) might not also be a metaphor. In many ways, it 's their legacy--one that intimidates Maple Corey, strings Feldman along, and represents the unfulfilled/undermined promise of their youth. Perhaps those are also the reasons Maple Corey sees fit to sabotage it. To complete the film would mean living up to that promise, as well as moving on--something that, based on tonight's episode, he clearly isn't ready to do.


* New episode during the first half-hour; rerun during the second half

Top 8 Songs: Week Ending July 12, 2008

1. "Just Friends," Amy Winehouse (from Back to Black)
2. "Peaceblaster '68," STS9 (from Peaceblaster)
3. "Heart Beat Rock," Kylie Minogue (from X)
4. “The Stranger,” Billy Joel (from The Stranger)
5. "Shazam I'm Glamorous," Leslie Hall (from Door Man's Daughter)
6. “My Own Worst Enemy,” George Stanford (from Big Drop)
7. "Vicki Waiting," Prince (from Batman)
8. "Why Can't We Live Together," Sade (Diamond Life)

Appearing on an NYT Web Site Near You

My Modern Love essay, "A Brother as Significant as Any Other" is up on the New York Times Web site.

Jesse Jackson: The New Michael Richards?

Oh, Jesse--or rather, oh, Jesus--Christ!

Black culture has come a long ways away from its "I am...somebody!" days--which is why Jackson's decision to revisit the Old (Oppressor) School is less amusing and more tragic. The race-pimping was sad enough, but this--this deserves nothing short of an:

I get it--he was at the forefront of the Civil Rights Movement; his bid for the presidency predated Obama's (but not Shirley Chisholm's; and no longer having that kind of juice must hurrrt--but only kind of. I've never done any of those things, only to watch my relevance ebb with the passage of time. The closest I come is the vantage I have on my teens and twenties from my late thirties. Still, his verbal voyage to the heart of hateration destroyed whatever respect he had left.

And that's saying a lot. This is the man whose "Hymietown" comments lost him the presidency, but not the black community's love. The man who preached brother/sisterhood while keeping his love child and baby mama on the DL. He was still able to coast on the coattails of his civil-rights heyday, and was one of the two go-to people that people and organizations approached to atone for racist comments, behavior, and policies. (See "Strange Fruit.")

Whether his trash-talkin' desire for Obama castration will be the death knell is anybody's guess. I certainly wouldn't bet my nuts on it.

State of the Art: Barbara Kruger

I was checking out Peaceblaster(*), the new STS9 (Sound Tribe Sector 9) album...

...and felt nostalgic for Barbara Kruger. Back in the early nineties, when I was a photography major, I was heavily into Kruger, Lorna Simpson, and Cindy Sherman. In case you don't remember her, she was best known for the following ode to commodity fetishism:

And the following pro-choice assault:

What I dug about Kruger's work was her combination of vintage photographs and text that challenged the images while speaking to postmodern battle of the sexes. Her work often subverted the male gaze and its power to both seduce and oppress. Not only that, she used the medium of advertising to comment on and question its sway over the culture's consciousness. I'm art-dorking out, I know, but how genius is it to have someone buy a T-shirt, bag, or other related merchandise that mocks their pursuit of retail therapy? Exactly.

Like any good flake is wont to do, I lost track of her when I switched from photography to new genres. But the Peaceblaster album cover set me to sleuthing, which led to an article about her latest piece: an installation at the University of California, San Diego student center. Would that I were still in LA, I'd take a trip down to the SD. Thankfully, the piece is there for the long haul, so I'll check it out the next time I hit SoCal. The STS9 disc, on the other hand, I can get to now.

Same Ol' Lame Ol': The Two Coreys

Nothing new to report this week; A&E is actually running a rerun. A rerun. Two weeks, four episodes in, and they have the nerve to air reruns. I get it--they've run four episodes in two weeks--and yet, it strikes me as lame.

Speaking of lame, what's the deal with the jaundice-colored tint to the look of the show? The smog in L.A. is bad, but not that bad. It looks like they're using a cheddar-cheese filter. Seriously.

Is it the art director? The director? Producer? Who decided to make an artistic statement? Worse: who saw it and thought, "Ah, yeah--this is it--this is the hotness!" Because it is they who deserve the blame, an appointment with an ophthalmologist, and a hearty flogging.

Also: I dare you to watch this episode and be able to say T2C haven't taken homosocial codependence way over the top. They make straight look gay and gay look straight--like some West Hollywood version of Freaky Friday(*).

That's right--the original version, thank you very much!

* Link to Amazon.com version

Top 8 Songs: Week Ending July 5, 2008

1. "My Dear," Nomo (from Ghost Rock)
2. "'Round Midnight," Amy Winehouse (from Frank: B-Sides)
3. "Toast," Tori Amos (from The Beekeeper)
4. "They Say It's Wonderful," John Coltrane & Johnny Hartman (from John Coltrane and Johnny Hartman)
5. "Sparrow Dead," Mighty Sparrow (from Soca Jam Back #2)
6. "Miracles," Stacy Lattisaw (from Sixteen)
7. "Telephone," Erykah Badu (New Amerykah, Pt. 1 [4th World War])
8. "Close Edge," Mos Def (from The New Danger)

Notes from Insomnia: July 5, 2008--3:22 AM (EST)

Just when you thought album cover art was dead:

My former New Genres teacher/mentor Tony Labat would love this. It's clever, it's funny--and, consequently, brilliant. (They could have done a better blending job with the clipping path around the afro, but who deals in details anymore?) This is what they should have done for the "25th Anniversary Deluxe Edition" of Thriller(*)--because, really, wouldn't it better match the public perception that has now become the sadder part of the King of Pop's legacy?

* Link to AmazonMP3.com version

Name that Voice: Patrick Dempsey

I have a special loathing for insurance companies these days...but a voiceover in a State Farm commercial temporarily pulled me out of my "hateration," as you young people call it. I recognized the voice immediately: it belonged to Patrick Dempsey.--currently known as "McDreamy" for his role as Dr. Derek Stewart on Grey's Anatomy.

When Grey's became a hit, it was portrayed as Dempsey's comeback--which is funny, because he never went away. The actor has worked steadily since his 1985 debut in the comedy Heaven Help Us, in which he played a thoroughly forgettable role (Corbet). The obscurity continued on the television version of Fast Times (Dempsey played Mike Damone).

His then-big break came in Can't Buy Me Love:

The teen hit was followed by Loverboy, where Dempsey's Randy Bodek is the payee; an American Gigolo for the teen set, if you will. The trail of less-memorable movies and television shows followed, but the turn of the century proved to be fruitful. Dempsey got the ball rolling with turns as Detective Kinkaid in Scream 3; Matthew (Will's love interest) in Will & Grace; and Aaron Brooks in Once and Again.

The ABC/Disney (Once and Again) connection led to the role of Dr. Paul Stewart on The Practice--which, of course, led to his current gig as Dr. Derek Shepard (aka "McDreamy") on Grey's Anatomy.

Between seasons, he has done voiceover for Brother Bear 2, some celluloid stuff (Enchanted, Made of Honor), and healthy doses of racing. And though I have no real proof, I'm convinced he's the voice in the Mazda commercial below:

When I have more concrete proof, I'll be posting it. And if anyone knows where I might find some, I'd be mighty obliged. There's a comment in there about the connection between auto insurance and cars to be had, but my imagination has gone, "Zoom-zoom!"