setting: a North Carolina B&B community
time: 2003

SCENE 1
common person 1: “I paid my bills.”
cp 2: “I got Mexicans to cut my grass.”
cp 1: “good.”
cp 2: “what are you doing.”
cp 1: “look who just came in.”
cp 3: “hey.”
cp 1: “where you been.”
cp 4: “I am married.”
cp 5: “where’s who been.”
cp 1: “yep.”

SCENE 2
cp 3: “hey.”
wife 3: “the neighbor’s yard looks nice.”
cp 3: “Mexicans do a good job.”
wf 3: “yep.”
wf 3: “help me with this crossword puzzle?”
cp 3: “uh-huh.”
wf 3: “no, look at 4 across …”
cp 3: “all right, maybe ‘turpentine’ then.”
wf 3: “uh-uh.”

SCENE 3
cp 3: “when is the golf program?”
wf 3: “it comes on in a minute, be a little more patient.”
cp 3: “all right.”

SCENE 4
boss 1: “good morning, Joe.”
cp 1: “mornin’ Ralph.”
bo 1: “good morning, Ken.”
cp 3: “morning Ralph.”
cp 1: “did you watch the golf program.”
cp 3: “I did.”
cp 1: “me too.”
cp 3: “I am going to dinner tonight.”
cp 1: “with your wife.”
cp 3: “yeah.”

SCENE 5
valet 1: “hello.”
cp 3: “thank you.”
vl 1: “your wife looks lovely, sir.”
cp 3: “yes, you’re a gentleman”, handing valet 1 $5.
vl 1: “enjoy your dinner, sir.”
wf 3: “did you give the valet his tip.”
cp 3: “yes.”
maitre d 1: “what?”
cp 3: “table for 2.”
md 1: “right this way.”
… a minute later …
md 1: “may I get your chair madam.”
wf 3: “that’s fine.”
wf 3: “what are going to eat.”
cp 3: “soup.”
wf 3: “that sounds good.”
cp 3: “what are going to eat.”
wf 3: “soup.”
cp 3: “that sounds good.”
wf 3: “I like the music.”
cp 3: “pianos are pretty.”

SCENE 6
wf 3: “turn out the lights.”
cp 3: “good night dear.”
wf 3: “good night.”
… several hours later …
zoological monster 1: enters the house 3 through front door ( off stage ).
hs 3: shakes slightly
cp 3: sleeps soundly
zm 1: advances toward bedroom
hs 3: shakes slightly more
zm 1: advances closer to bedroom
cp 3: feels the bed shaking a bit
zm 1: enters the hallway area towards bedroom
hs 3: shakes very much near bedroom
zm 1: “ahhuuhh-ehh, hhuuuu-ehh-hnhnhnhn, uhhuu”, loudly at bedroom entrance
wf 3: opens eyes
zm 1: grunting, thudding gait, steps forward
zm 1: crosses dark bedroom threshold
cp 3: very concerned
wf 3: also very concerned
zm 1: proceeds along cp 3’s bedside
zm 1: turns beyond cp 3’s side of footboard
zm 1: proceeds beyond, parallel to footboard
hs 1: bedroom is destructively rattling
wf 3: can’t believe it
zm 1: crashes through window, destroying much of window frame
hs 1: window glass shatters outward, downward from the second floor window
zm 1: exits bedroom with shards of glass and wall portions
zm 1: lands undaunted in yard beneath window
cp 3: gets out of bed, quick steps to remains of window
cp 3: “its running through the neighbors yard.”
wf 3: joins husband at window
zm 1: moves into a distant darkness
cp 3: calls inurance company and emergency serveices
for several hours there are many investigators examining the scene

SCENE 7
wf 3: “are you going to have breakfast.”
cp 3: “yes.”
wf 3: “what do you want.”
cp 3: “toast, eggs.”
wf 3: “ok.”

SCENE 8
bo 1: “good morning, Joe.”
cp 1: “mornin’ Ralph.”
bo 1: “good morning, Ken.”

cp 3: “morning Ralph.”
cp 1: “how was dinner, Ken.”
cp 3: “it was good.”
cp 3: “did you get the files ready.”
cp 1: “yes.”
cp 3: “good.”

SCENE 9
cp 1: “hello.”
cp 4: “good to see you.”
cp 1: “when did you get the shoes.”
cp 2: “yesterday.”
cp 1: “good.”
cp 4: “have a good evening everybody.”

SCENE 10
wf 4: “dinner’s on the table.”
cp 4: “I am hungry.”
wf 4: “do you like pesto.”
cp 4: “it’s good.”
wf 4: “ok.”
wf 4: “drink your orange juice.”
cp 4: “I will.”

SCENE 11
cp 3: “golf is on.”
wf 3: “my hands are full.”
cp 3: “I am watching golf.”
wf 3: “here’s the wine.”
cp 3: “where’s the pimento.”
wf 3: “I have to make separate trips.”
cp 3: “ok”
wf 3: “here’s the pimento.”
cp 3: “ok.”

SCENE 12
cp 3: “I am thinking about buying a boat.”
cp 2: “boats are nice.”
cp 3: “I looked in the newspaper.”
cp 2: “classified ads?”
cp 3: “yes.”
cp 2: “all right.”
cp 4: “how much.”

curtain down

………………………………………………………………………………………………………………..
………………………………………………………………………………………………………………..

we ate, each of us, a
bucket of ham to go along with
enough bread all right
and we drank a pound of juice
    … or more I’d say

I leaned over and spoke
to my neighbor, but there were
goats on the hillside so
how could we get along

………………………………………………………………………………………………………………..
………………………………………………………………………………………………………………..

I bought some chicken at the convenience store; the clerk told me the beer and cigarettes would be more pleasurable with chicken juice;

the cigarettes were fine, but when I added the juice to the beer there was a smoking red flavor that murdered the housewives next door, so I threw all of it out;

………………………………………………………………………………………………………………..
………………………………………………………………………………………………………………..

Dearest Olivia took me to Tesco’s to get the food shopping in last night and, upon setting eyes on the four-page list of ingredients I was supposed to buy, helped me reach the executive decision to give cookery a miss this week.

It’s the end of the pay period, I’m not exactly rolling in it and I’d rather buy electricity and phone credit than vine fruits and pudding basins. I apologise to my mum and dad for this because it means I probably won’t be turning up to either of their houses over Christmas bearing seasonal homebakery as I’d hoped.

Today my friend and now colleague Flavie accompanied me on a mini-reconnaissance through Primrose Hill to find a good taxi-hailing street where I could loiter, lumpen in my orthopedic footwear, and pretend to be glamorous despite it being pitifully clear that will be impossible for the next six weeks.

The outfit went down the pan because I couldn’t even bring myself to try on my pencil skirt with flats, let alone wear it to a new job, and then the accessorising fell by the wayside too.

Skirt suit

Law suit

We had to run away quickly because people started throwing coins at me. One of them implored me to please not spend the money on a good meal.

Conclusions:

• In the absence of recipe cookery I was able to buy a trolley-full of exciting fruit, veg, yoghurt and other healthy items I hardly ever get to eat. It’s the equivalent of how a normal person feels buying a load of cakes and pizzas.
• A few things ruining my chances of looking like a Hitchcock heroine this week: flat shoes, special boot, crutches, neon socks on crutches, too-low waistlines on clothes (cinching and flats have a difficult marriage), eighties tailoring, heavy fringe, lighting.

Congratulations to our very own sponsor/designers Oblong+Sons, for their wins at the
35th Annual 2009 Brisbane Advertising and Design (BAD) Awards recently, picking up two awards for corporate identity and self‑promotion.

Here’s the news from the source:

Black Sheep Coffee won it for us in the corporate identity category. Their logo was designed to give them their own distinctive, cheeky personality in a market that traditionally takes itself quite seriously. It’s working like a charm so far.

The other award was for our little Oblong do-it-yourself-ice-cream-truck-model postcard. We’ve received a lot of positive feedback for this piece and really enjoyed putting it together.

If you haven’t received an ice-cream truck from us (or you’d like another), just let us know and we’ll send one straight to your door.

We love what we do, and it’s good to see that our peers appreciate it too.

Nice work, us!

.

INDEED. Nice work, Oblong+Sons.

No, it’s never too soon to talk about the After Party!

We give thanks to “Top Floor” who are hosting the after party on Saturday night from 9pm til 1 am (NB that’s 1 in the morning!!!). This is a great way to finish a great day and indeed celebrate all the hard work that has happened over the past 6 months organising the event. There will be Dj Dastardly Kuts playing tunes for the night and fortunately “Top Floor” is BYO (No eskies please). Bring your own alcohol and have “Top Floor” staff keep it cold and serve it back to you, whilst you enjoy mingling with audience, organisers and performers. Please remember you can purchase your tickets ahead of time for only $10 ($15 on the door, on the night) and there are only 250 available.

More After Party details After Party Flyers Colour

Hamish took some snazzy shots at the Launch Party on Wednesday evening (kindly hosted by Fringe Bar, Valley).

It’s a bit unfortunate that Sky 1 chose to screen ads for the new seasons of 24 (January!) and Lost (Coming Soon!) during this episode.  They got me excited, yes, but also reminded me that there are tv shows out there that I’m hugely excited about (since you were asking, e  ) and that Fringe isn’t one of them.

Which is a shame really as this episode wasn’t a bad one.  The Observer was back again (I know, he’s in it every week, but I’ve NEVER managed to spot him so it doesn’t count, ok?) and this time he brought his buddies.  Apparently, The Observer is not like The Highlander – there can be more than one.

And guess what The Observers (which I was going to say should be the name of an indie rock band till I saw this) have been up to?  They’ve been turning up before significant events in history – execution of Marie Antoinette, Boston Tea Party, you know the type of thing – getting themselves a seat at the back and settling down for the show.  Why, you ask?  I don’t know.  Maybe they don’t have cable tv. 

Anyway, this week, one of them decided to stop observing and start taking part, so the story kicked off with him kidnapping a young woman, and Olivia and the Bishops being called in to help find her.  The story of his relationship with the girl might have been a bit more movingly handled in another show, but Fringe’s effort at the themes of love, loss and self-sacrifice was passable, and at least Olivia’s role was scaled down a bit.  The Observers may play robotic but they’re still more lively than Agent Dunham.

Of course, we can’t have everything, so, because the story was a bit better, they decided to scale down Peter’s role too, relegating him to jumping up and down demanding to know what The Observers know.  Oh, Peter.  I hope you actually get to do something about it when you find out.

It’s rare that I feel my attention focused and manipulated so precisely as it was on Saturday afternoon during Kelly Bond’s performance of Splitting the Difference during the Fall Fringe festival. Laser-like precision was involved in this one-woman work as Bond compelled her viewers to observe her tongue, her thighs, her teeth. It wasn’t as simple as this suggests. While specific body parts were highlighted at times, there were also moments where attention was brought to a whole pose, or to the relationship of hair to shirt to breath.

The entire performance was simultaneously riveting and uncomfortable. I was embarrassed to find myself unable to stop a small fit of awkward giggling as Bond made eye contact during a particularly acute segment involving mouth stretching. Any performance that can provoke an uncontrollable visceral physical reaction is going to have my admiration.

The beginning of the fantastically weird piece is going to be reverberating in my body for a long while; Bond entered the stage and inquired in her normal voice, “can everyone see me if I stand here?” before almost instantly launching into the awkward mouth stretching bit. The juxtaposition of the everyday with the extraordinary was jarring and set the stage for more small shocks to the conscious. There were definitely alien bodies involved, especially during a section focused on the tongue, which was unbelievably strange. I felt as if a small, fleshy creature had taken up residence inside of Bond’s body and kept trying to force its way out, via her mouth. It was a tongue that did not look like a tongue. Bond’s shoulder blades became continents that slowly drifted across her back, as her thighs converted into rivers as they were isolated and left to freely ripple for several minutes.

Bond left her audience with a haunting ending as well: a simple jump, as if she were jumping rope but without the rope, repeated. Then the lights went out and we were left only with the sound of her sneakers hitting the stage, for a perfectly long time. The question from the beginning was repeated, “can everyone see me if I stand here?”, but this time in the dark.

Later that night I inadvertently hit the side of my head on a chair, with force. A large purple bruise arose between my eye and my eyebrow. It felt oddly complementary to the performance as I imagined alternative narratives for the bruise. Like, I had been in a ferocious moshpit at a secret show, or I had been in a fight with an uncooperative foe. Splitting the Difference, along with my injury, made me think about how physical narratives shape how we are and how we feel. How our stories become embedded in our bodies. And the various alien bodies inside all of us, whether we acknowledge them or not.

A mile gap-ped in between with distance covering
air wind water trees interstate littered waste tossed onto ground span-ned
and you are diligent with a window facing me here in this building
and I am disquieting with a window facing you there in that building

………………………………………………………………………………………………………………..
………………………………………………………………………………………………………………..

we ate, each of us, a
bucket of ham to go along with
enough bread all right
and we drank a pound of juice
    … or more I’d say

I leaned over and spoke
to my neighbor, but there were
goats on the hillside so
how could we get along

………………………………………………………………………………………………………………..
………………………………………………………………………………………………………………..

I bought some chicken at the convenience store; the clerk told me the beer and cigarettes would be more pleasurable with chicken juice;

the cigarettes were fine, but when I added the juice to the beer there was a smoking red flavor that murdered the housewives next door, so I threw all of it out;

………………………………………………………………………………………………………………..
………………………………………………………………………………………………………………..

This post was supposed to happen yesterday. Whooooooooops.

Tonight:
8pm – Heroes on NBC
8pm – House on FOX
9pm – Trauma on NBC
9pm – Lie to Me on FOX
10pm – Castle on ABC

TUESDAY:
8pm – V on ABC
8pm – So You Think You Can Dance (Top 12) on FOX
8pm – NCIS on CBS
9pm – NCIS: Los Angeles on CBS

WEDNESDAY:
8pm – So You Think You Can Dance (Results) on FOX
9pm – Glee on FOX
10pm – CSI: NY on CBS

THURSDAY:
8pm – FlashForward on ABC
8pm – Bones on FOX
9pm – Fringe on FOX

FRIDAY:
10pm – White Collar on USA

SATURDAY:
11:30pm – Saturday Night Live on NBC

Nothing particularly exciting this week.

Melted Brain To-Do:

• Last week’s FlashForward/Instant Replay
• Finish catching up on NCIS: LA
• Catch up on Fringe
• Catch up on V
• Hindsight: BSG
• Catch up on White Collar?
• Last week’s SNL?

The end.

I’ve had two recurring dreams in my life. The first was during the summer after 5th grade. My brother and I was spending the summer with my real dad while my mom and step-dad moved to Algood, Tennessee. The second has been over the past couple years.

In the first dream my family are in a house that I do not recognize but it is clearly my family’s house because my mom, step-dad, brother, and sister are all there. In the dream my family is being killed one by one by none other than Darth Vader. I am the only one spared because I am hiding behind this odd patterned chair and Darth Vader never finds me. I had this dream at least a couple of times a week while staying at my dad’s over that summer. When the summer was over my mom came to Mississippi to pick up my brother and I. Mom was very excited about the new house. She had gotten me and my siblings new bedroom suits. As we walked through the front door of the new house I stood for a few moments taking in what I saw. Then without being directed I went straight to my room. What is strange is that I wasn’t scared. At the time it was more of a confusion. I couldn’t understand how a house I had never been in and furniture I had not seen till that moment could have shown up in my dreams. The house was exactly, right down to the furniture pattern and arrangement, like in my dreams from that summer. I have never told my family about that first recurring dream. Needless to say, Darth Vader never showed up and killed my family, but I did hide behind that chair quite a bit when hiding from my siblings.

The second recurring dream always has a different location and different people in every dream, but the same action occurs. I am with someone that I don’t recognize and our vehicle (never the same vehicle) breaks down in the middle of the night. A couple always (never the same couple) stops to help us, but they take us to wherever they live. While we are at this house the couple that helped us begins to act strange. Ultimately, they drug the female I’m with and I’m trying to figure out a way to save her or find help. In the dream, the male character who helped us is always stalking me while I try to figure out a way to get away to get help or trying to help the female with me. It is a nightmare. It is in fact the most frightening dream I’ve ever had. I always wake up before I can save the female that is with me.

I had this dream again this past week, but this time two strange things happened. The dream began and is progressing as it always does. I don’t recognize the location and it is different from the past locations. I don’t recognize anyone in the dream except for the man who stops to help us. Still, all the people in the dream are different from those in previous dreams. When we (my companion and I) get to the couple’s house my dream jumps forward to the bad female sedating or drugging the female I’m with, but it is at this point that the first difference occurs. In the dream, I say, “this has happened to us before because I recognize the drugs.” When I say this in the dream I am looking at the bad female as she is prepping the syringe and at the metal tray containing all these medical instruments. As I’m looking at this tray and saying “this has happened to us before because I recognize the drugs” the second strange thing happens. As I’m looking at the tray of instruments and drugs there is a flicker. It was like in a TV show or movie and the police are looking at surveillance video and their is a flicker in the video because someone has stopped the camera and then turned it back on again later after the crime has been committed. Or somewhat like what JJ Abrams incorporates in the last episode of the first season of Fringe when Olivia Dunham is on the elevator. In the dream, after I say what I said and the flicker occurs I am outside being stalked by the bad guy. Then I wake up.

I find dreams very interesting. Throughout history the importance of dreams have been debated. This is seen in Shakespeare’s The Tragedy of Romeo and Juliet. On the way to the Capulet’s masquerade ball there is a conversation between Romeo and his best friend Mercutio in Act I scene IV:
ROMEO:
And we mean well in going to this mask; But ’tis no wit to go.
MERCUTIO
Why, may one ask?
ROMEO
I dream’d a dream to-night.
MERCUTIO
And so did I.
ROMEO
Well, what was yours?
MERCUTIO
That dreamers often lie.
ROMEO
In bed asleep, while they do dream things true.

The issue of dreams and their importance are seen in “The Nun’s Priest’s Tale” in The Canterbury Tales, and also in Holy Scripture. Dreams are important in psychoanalysis thanks to Freud. It was a dream that inspired the Twilight Saga.

Do my dreams mean something? I have no idea! I just know that my experience with dreams, specifically recurring dreams, has been interesting.

News reaches the Whingers of a fabulous piece of emergency casting.

Carola Stewart, the leading lady in Faithless Bitches currently playing at the Courtyard Theatre in Hoxton, has departed the show. According to a press release the pressure of the role was having a detrimental effect on her health.

Stepping into the breach is co-author and director Harold Finley who yesterday took over the role of Monique Masters and will continue to do so through to the end of the run.

This is clearly above and beyond the call of duty and think the likes of Michael Grandage and Nicholas Hytner should take a leaf out of Mister Finley’s book and take their directorial responsibilities a little more seriously in the future.

Separated at birth?: Carola Stewart (left) and Harold Finley (right)

I grew up with Al Pacino !
in a western village in southern Florida,
right off the panhandle border with Georgia,

and me and Buddy Baker are always getting
our hair cut together. Buddy’s insisting to the
barber to always use my style as a template for his own hair.

That’s about it really.    … (?) …     actually:

in El Paso, Tx back in 1964, Robin Williams and I
befriended one another for that one summer. He was already
funny.

and Dick Wolf, producer of Law and Order, worked on
a screenplay with me in Mrs. Phillips’ 3rd grade
social studies class. To be honest, if you wanna know,
he didn’t really have the touch yet, but he had a
good work ethic;

Leonard Nemoy came over to my house a couple
of times,

Sandra Bullock – this is pretty kool – and her date
and I and my date doubled for our high school prom.
Her boyfriend was not very polite to her. So after the
dance me and Sandra did it in my truck, and uploaded
the pictures to wikipedia. Search for ‘Sandra Bullock prom’.

I can’t think of anymore.

………………………………………………………………………………………………………………..
………………………………………………………………………………………………………………..

we ate, each of us, a
bucket of ham to go along with
enough bread all right
and we drank a pound of juice
    … or more I’d say

I leaned over and spoke
to my neighbor, but there were
goats on the hillside so
how could we get along

………………………………………………………………………………………………………………..
………………………………………………………………………………………………………………..

I bought some chicken at the convenience store; the clerk told me the beer and cigarettes would be more pleasurable with chicken juice;

the cigarettes were fine, but when I added the juice to the beer there was a smoking red flavor that murdered the housewives next door, so I threw all of it out;

………………………………………………………………………………………………………………..
………………………………………………………………………………………………………………..

Phil couldn’t make this one. He claimed he was off to a thanksgiving dinner but it was Andrew who was most thankful.

For Phil may have found himself on the horns of a terrible dilemma here. On the one hand he would have been thrilled with the food on stage: a spaghetti meal and a dance number involving strings of sausages but on the other hand there was a park bench in Act II. And even though this was technically a cemetery bench it was the kind of outdoor furniture which generally raises his hackles.

These, however, are concerns which probably did not pass through the minds of lyricst/composer Lynn Ahrens and Stephen Flaherty or Terrence McNally* who wrote the book of A Man Of No Importance based on a 1995 film.

Film, of course, being pronounced “fillum” as it is set in Dublin. Andrew had worried that it was all going to be a bit Riverdance. But on the whole it wasn’t.

It’s 1963 and bus conductor Alfie’s life is dedicated to running an amateur theatre group which meets in St. Imelda’s Church hall but the church takes a dim view of his decision to present Oscar Wilde’s Salome and when Alfie becomes the victim of queer bashing/mugging, it seems his life will fall apart.

Once more the Union punches above its weight. Director Ben De Wynter delivers a slick and charming production with an infeasibly large cast (17!) working with an infeasibly small orchestra of three. And yet it all works. It’s even got some funny bits, the funniest by far being an attempt to choreograph the dance of the seven veils in tap. Paul Clarkson is superb as Alfie and there’s top notch support all round but Andrew was particularly impressed by the voice of Patrick Kelliher (the object of Alfie’s unrequited love) and Jamie Honeybourne’s comic turn as Ernie Lally.

A most impressive production. And yet.  And yet….

Andrew can’t help feeling he’s suffering from Gay Theatre Overload. It does seem that you can’t move for gay characters on  the London stage at the moment: Cat On A Hot Tin Roof, Public Property, La Cage Aux Folles, Prick Up Your Ears and The Habit Of Art, Cock, Priscilla Queen Of the Desert and The Shawshank Redemption (at a stretch) follow hot on the heels of The Fastest Clock In the Universe and  Cloud Nine. Bringing up the rear will be The Little Dog Laughed and Rope.

Indeed Andrew is starting a campaign to address the issue of the over-representation of gay men in plays and musicals. His lobby group The Campaign for Less Over-representation of Gays (CLOG) will aim:

a) To educate playwrights about alternative heart-wrenching emotional shame-inducing secrets that make people outcasts from society – such as fancying Jedward.

b) To increase the representation of lesbians on the stage although this will mostly consist of persuading Sonia Friedman  to revive The Killing Of Sister George with someone fabulous in the Beryl Reid role such as Sian Phillips or Beverly Klein. An appeal to the Twitterverse also came up with these suggestions: Sandi Toksvig (from @garethabbit) and Pauline McLynn (“Ah gwan, gwan Childie, let me see your t*ts….”) suggested by @chrispoppe. Update: and Amanda Lawrence (@postculturist), Claire Higgins (@schiaparelli)

Footnotes

*This is, incidentally, the team behind Ragtime, currently enjoying a Broadway revival.

Você provavelmente o conhece bem. Joshua Jackson foi uma das estrelas do extinto seriado dos anos 90, Dawson´s Creek. No cinema, o ator amargou filmes bem fracos, com exceção dos primeiros que realizou ainda adolescente, Super-Patos, onde era capitão de um time de hockey juvenil, onde teve como treinador outo ícone da época, Emilio Estevez.

Atualmente o ator, é um dos protagonistas da série de ficção Fringe e está saindo-se muito bem por sinal como Peter Bishop. Tal sucesso na série lhe rende mais uma chance de voltar para a tela grande. De acordo com a Variety, Jackson vai protagonizar o longa UFO. Baseada na série que leva o mesmo nome e foi sucesso na década de 70.

Ainda na publicação, Jackson interpretará Paul Foster, um piloto de testes que junta-se com a SHADO, uma organização de soldados que defende a Terra contra uma invasão alienígina. Os “homenzinhos verdes” dessa vez, atacam o planeta para abduzir seres humanos e usar partes do nosso corpo para fins próprios.

O longa será dirigido por Gratzner, que foi superviso de efeitos visuais em vários filmes de Martin Scorcese e outros longas diversos como Homem de Ferro. A produção está marcada para ter início na Primavera, no Reino Unido.

O tempo passa, mas nada como colocar o planeta em perigo, arranjar mais um bom moço e ter aquela cena clássica de todos rezando para o mundo não acabar.

Guilherme Jr.

Making a succesful break from Dawnson’s Creek to the mysteries of Fringe it appears that Joshua Jackson is on the sci-fi trail as he joins the adaption of the classic Gerry Anderson 1970s show, UFO (read what Anderson has to say about the adaption – also check out the cool what if concept art)

Directed by visual effects wiz Matthew Gratzner, Variety are saying that Jackson will star as Paul Foster, a test pilot who joins S.H.A.D.O. (Supreme Headquarters Alien Defense Organization), a covert org built under a Hollywood studio that defends Earth against a race of aliens who have been abducting humans and using the body parts. The series was a cult hit in the ’70s.

This film version appears to be following Foster as opposed to the series that focused on the leader of SHADO, Ed Straker (played by Ed Bishop) who had the cover of a Hollywood studio mogul. Looks as if we will be learning about SHADO along with Foster. The question is who will they get to play Straker in the new film.

Graztner, the visual effects supervisor on films ranging from the Martin Scorsese-directed “Shutter Island” to “Iron Man,” was set last summer to make his feature directing debut on a film that its producers said is aiming for a spring start in the U.K.

“Character development is the most critical part of ‘UFO,’ and Joshua’s terrific talent and range is exactly what I need to convey the inner conflict of the character of Paul Foster,” Gratzner said.

How do you feel about Pacey fighting the aliens?

I grew up with Al Pacino !
in a western village in southern Florida,
right off the panhandle border with Georgia,

and me and Buddy Baker are always getting
our hair cut together. Buddy’s insisting to the
barber to always use my style as a template for his own hair.

That’s about it really.    … (?) …     actually:

in El Paso, Tx back in 1964, Robin Williams and I
befriended one another for that one summer. He was already
funny.

and Dick Wolf, producer of Law and Order, worked on
a screenplay with me in Mrs. Phillips’ 3rd grade
social studies class. To be honest, if you wanna know,
he didn’t really have the touch yet, but he had a
good work ethic;

Leonard Nemoy came over to my house a couple
of times,

Sandra Bullock – this is pretty kool – and her date
and I and my date doubled for our high school prom.
Her boyfriend was not very polite to her. So after the
dance me and Sandra did it in my truck, and uploaded
the pictures to wikipedia. Search for ‘Sandra Bullock prom’.

I can’t think of anymore.

………………………………………………………………………………………………………………..
………………………………………………………………………………………………………………..

we ate, each of us, a
bucket of ham to go along with
enough bread all right
and we drank a pound of juice
    … or more I’d say

I leaned over and spoke
to my neighbor, but there were
goats on the hillside so
how could we get along

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