A Note on Friday

The lazy days of summer have revealed themselves to me of late, as you can all tell by my lack of participation in blogging these past two weeks. I want to thank Mighty Toy Cannon for his continued ability to entertain us with some top-notch posts; many of you who read him here have cited him as one of your favorite bloggers in Portland, and I agree!

It's just that this arts administration stuff is hard work, especially during the summer where much time is spent contemplating, brainstorming, evaluating, writing, fundraising, and preparing for the future. All my mental energies and creative juices have been spent at this work, leaving precious little energy to explore nuggets of creativity on this blog. Hell, I couldn't even muster a review of the shows I recently saw in Ashland. That's so unlike me. My secret hope is that next weekend's JAW festivities will incite in me some kind of renewed enthusiasm for rampant creativity that I cannot help but contribute here to the conversations that are sure to take place there.

We did have a fun time at Art Spark last night. Filmmaker Andy Blubaugh was shooting a "scene" with all of the partygoers on the roof of the Hotel Deluxe parking garage. Down the street at City Hall, PDX Pop Now was kicking off their summer series, and Literary Arts staged a benefit for their Writers in the Schools program with poetry and fiction readings inside the cool Newmark Theater. (Did you hear the Dickman brothers on OPB earlier in the day?) Over in the Pearl, PCS was wrapping up its Made in Oregon series, part of the larger JAW festival that continues with more readings next weekend.



Yes, being part of it all IS hard work, and I labored for a full five days this week -- oy! As I anticipate the weekend I am reminded of a jingle that my grandfather wrote many, many years ago. It's a catchy little tune, actually, but since I cannot sing it to you, and I'm not about to make a You Tube video of myself doing so, I suggest you read it plainly and fight the impulse to fit it into The Mamas and the Papas' Monday Monday melody. My grandfather's simple sentiments on Friday came first, and he's more of the vaudeville type than a hippie.


Friday, Friday
Friday is my favorite day
Friday, Friday
Always been my favorite day

Monday is bummer
Tuesday’s only fair
Wednesday’s getting better
Thursday’s almost there

But Friday, Friday
Friday is my favorite
Always been my favorite
Friday is my favorite day

Van Culture

You want to know what’s worse than a blog that hasn’t been updated for nearly a week? I’ll tell you what’s worse: The woeful demise of American van culture.

Sure, light rail, street cars and bicycles are all great and “green,” but there’s just no artistic flair in those sensible approaches. How do you airbrush a mermaid on the side of a bicycle? What’s the one thing that can save General Motors? The solar-powered super-van, that's what.

I know what you’re thinking: “Yes, of course more hip gibberish, more van-jive, more youth identification … all of that crap that you p.r. people come up with.”

I’m telling you, we came so close to discovering breakthroughs in van technology in the late 70’s. I blame Jimmy Carter, but others say it was the greed of Wall Street tycoons that killed research into van designs that rocked hard while achieving respectable gas mileage.

In case you have doubts, be sure to rent the groundbreaking documentary, “Dude, Who Killed the Super Van?” Here's the trailer:



By the way, that's poet Charles Bukowski appearing at about the 1:08 mark.

Just Wondering...

Everyone has been fascinated by Michael Jackson’s physical transformation over the years. What I find amazing is that nobody is talking about the huge change in his father's appearance since Joe Jackson's 1979 hit single “Is She Really Going Out with Him?” I mean, look at the change over the past three decades!




For those readers who don't know Joe Jackson from old timey time, here he is singing "Sunday Papers" (something else that will soon be a relic of the past).

All I Really Need to Know I Learned on Twitter.

I’ve been blogging for almost a year. (Yes, we will walk down memory lane together next week). I have broken the 100-friend milestone on Facebook. Now it’s time to tackle the Twitter. Once I'm all atwitter (and when my ShopBot 3000 is operational and picking up the groceries for me), I’ll have eliminated a need for direct human contact completely!

I started a Twitter account months ago, but ignored it until last week when I dove into the pool with real intention. Now I’m keeping tabs on Neil Gaiman (@neilhimself) even though he has 735,593 followers and only reciprocates by following 376 people. I don’t think I’ll be trading quips with Mr. Gaiman. I've had a few hot looking hookers (I presume) sign up to follow me. (They're blocked). The bottom line is I need a bigger social web of people I actually know. If YOU want to follow me on Twitter, I'm there as @mightytoycannon.

One thing I’ve learned this week is that putting a hashmark (#) next to a word or phrase makes it easier for others to search for posts on the same topic. For instance, searching for “#iranelections” became a popular way to keep track of all the tweets related that volatile issue.

Twitter keeps track of the frequency with which words are used and hashmarked, then displays a listing of the top “trends” for the day. Over the past week, for instance, “#MJ” has been exceptionally popular. Yesterday, folks started tagging their posts “#firstdraftmovielines,” thus starting a fun game in which tweeps re-imagined famous movie quotes in their early draft form, with many hilarious results.

But the trend that attracted my attention last night was a topic labeled, “#notagoodlook.” As I reviewed hundreds of tweets with that tag, I was not only entertained, but learned important self-improvement tips. For readers who have not yet joined the Twitterverse, the following is a list of 28 of the finest tweets tagged with #notagoodlook. I have not edited them. You should read them out loud with dramatic flair. My personal favorites are #10, #18 and #26. And I think I’m going to start saying “Hot Mess!” more often. Do you have any favorites? Or maybe you want to add to the list.

1. Not a good look is when a guy has dreads and it’s in the style of a mullet! Hot mess!

2. Not a good look is when them females got them outrageous fake nails like that curl and shit and they fake. No class!

3. Not a good look is when u Always Got To Ask Somebody For A dollar...Yo Po ass.

4. If you a grown ass man with holes in your socks is not a good look.

5. Not a good look is rockin bummy shoes outside like they crispy. Keep that shit within the crib's walls.

6. Not a good look is people who think their swagga is right, because they swagga jacked.

7. Not a good look is to piss your pants/skirts/shorts after a wild nite at a club/bar! male or female! control ur bladder!

8. Not a good look is celebrities with f*cked up teeth. U got too much money for that!

9. Not a good look is you rockin the same outfit on our first date that u did when i met u...its cute..but not THAT cute girl!

10. Not a good look is pulling off your wig at church 2 scratch urr head. damn!

11. Not a good look is producers using appregiated synths on every track. Give dat shit up already!!

12. Not a good look is goin 2 da library just to check ya twitter/myspace/facebook. There's books in dere 2 you know.

13. Not a good look is to ask a girl out and not have a vehicle! Hell, she might as well have asked YOU out!

14. Not a good look is not knowing what some of these abbreviations mean. I'm clueless over here.

15. Not a good look is when you die your hair a wack ass color like lime green ..or something..

16. Not a good look is gettin someone name tattooed on u that got someone else's name tattooed on them but not yours

17. Not a good look is if u prefer pepsi over coke...Im jus sayin. pepsi is better than coke ... Jus sayin!!

18. Not a good look is very very drunk sluts that cant control themselves well i guess thats ok but crazy drunks

19. Not a good look is stank breath and you love to talk

20. Not a good look is playin wit females emotions!!!!!!!

21. Not a good look is when grown men are still wearing braids with beads... leave that to the little 5yr old girls

22. Not a good look is this bitch getting her hair braided in dunkin donuts right now. Like are you serious?

23. Not a good look is when they ask you "where you get crabs from around here" and you say "I think it was that bitch Ashley"...

24. Not a good look is NuNu and Nivea both being preggo by Weezy...NuNu seem sooo nice..she cudda done sooo much betta!

25. Not a good look is when your tracks are showing... handle that mama

26. People who think I won't beat their ass because I'm wearing this IKEA shirt. Not a good look. For YOU anyway.

27. Not a good look is putting negative energy in the universe. Karma is a motherf..

28. Not a good look is when u cant get yo ass off twitter........

Op-Ed Up-Tick

One of the benefits of having a major arts organization almost go under is that it increases awareness about the value of the arts. In the past month or so, and as recently as this morning, four major opinion pieces have been published by The Oregonian (one, two, three, four); one in the Portland Business Journal; several letters to the editor in all of the papers; and an OPB radio program dedicated to the topic.

So here we are again, addressing the most fundamental of questions, "Why art?" I didn't like the way Emily Harris approached this question on OPB -- I found her more an annoying irritant than a thoughtful devil's advocate, the way she would not relent on questions that were not designed to enlighten but rather to divide -- questions like, exactly how much should go to major arts organizations vs. the smaller ones?, and, which arts organizations in our community are acting irresponsibly? You are all free to speculate on such matters, but it's either naive or mean to think that any informed guest on the program would or should answer such questions.

But. I don't mean to say that the question "Why art?" is irrelevant, and I do agree that we all need to get better at addressing the importance of art in our daily lives and in our community. But I also know that many hard hearts will never be convinced that art is a fundamental value, or that it's essential for the public sector to provide a foundation of support, so I really don't think we should spend all of our energy on an exercise of such futility.

Instead, I have been thinking that it would be great to just collect people's stories -- the personal stories always work better than the quantifiable statistics anyway -- and keep them available online someplace for us all to reference and point people toward any time we're looking to remind ourselves of the articulate things that people have already said in answering this question. Almost like the Multnomah County "When I Was 15" stories project ... but for the arts. An online repository of thoughtful essays and arguments. What do you think?

When I was Fifteen.

Fifteen is an exciting time for most kids. Yet it’s also the average age of youth involved in the juvenile justice system. Positive, caring adults can help get them back on track.

People from our community are sharing their stories about how an adult made a difference when they were kids. These real life stories show how even a small act of encouragement can make a big difference in a kid's life.

Art Alexakis's story, for starters.

Arts Stimulation

The NEA just announced new grants made under the “American Recovery and Reinvestment Act.” These were grants designed specifically to save jobs--either by keeping someone from being sacked, or by allowing a laid off employee to be rehired.

You may recall that Culture Shock covered this topic months ago when we decried Republican Senator Tom Coburn’s batshit crazy attempt to restrict funding of arts and cultural projects. That coverage included this rip-roaringly hilarious parody of an NEA grant proposal.

The NEA awarded 631 grants totaling close to $30 million. Only arts organizations which had received NEA funding within the most recent few funding cycles were eligible. The NEA also allocated a share of economic stimulus funds for state arts agencies to distribute. Now that the first round of direct grants has been announced, I expect that the Oregon Arts Commission will soon be announcing who will receive funds from its pool of money.

Oregon received a total of $350,000 in nine grants. Curiously, Oregon Ballet Theatre wasn’t among them. The local winners were:

Literary Arts, Inc. $50,000
Miracle Theatre Company $25,000
Oregon Symphony Association $50,000
Portland Center Stage $50,000
Portland Youth Philharmonic Association $25,000
White Bird $50,000

Out of towners were:

CALYX, Inc. $25,000
Eugene Symphony Association, Inc. $50,000
Fishtrap, Inc. $25,000

Congratulations!

Oregon's Historical Places

I've been working on long post about arts advocacy and public funding--a belated follow-up to last week's "Think Out Loud" broadcast on the topic. But it's late and I'm tired of trying to make the post less boring, so will set it aside for another day.

Tomorrow's episode of "Think Out Loud" is a discussion of "Oregon's Historic Places." To stir up some excitement, the teaser for the show mentions the Memorial Coliseum and the recent move to save it from demolition. You all remember that issue, don't you?

The show will also discuss other buildings or sites on the National Register of Historic Places, including such landmarks as the Paul Bunyan statue in the Kenton neighborhood, which was placed on the register earlier this year. Five years ago, friend of the blog and perfumista, Angela Sanders, wrote a fun story about Paul Bunyan statues up and down the west coast for the University of Portland’s award-winning quarterly magazine, Portland. The article was accompanied by charming illustrations by Portland artist Michael Brophy.

This post is to alert you to what may be an interesting show on a cultural topic. Also, it's an excuse to plug my friend's writing and to post the picture you see here.

Update: Added link to Laura Russo Gallery section on Michael Brophy. Also, if you all want to pitch in to buy me a Michael Brophy painting for my upcoming birthday, the one I want is shown below ("Oregon Trail"):

Sarah Palin Declares Independence

If you want to be gobsmacked by inanity, I suggest you watch the video of Sarah Palin's press conference announcing her resignation as Governor of Alaska. (In my part of the country we call it "quitting"). Better yet, go to her official state website and read the text of her speech, which has been published without changing a jot of her folksy illiteracy. Did she really think that announcing this on a Friday before a holiday would beat the news cycle? If you were making a speech that you knew would get national attention, wouldn't you actually write something down, rather than ad libbing? Whatever.

What if Sarah Palin had been among our forefathers back in 1776? Here's how I think the Declaration of Independence might have turned out:

"Don’t you know that sometimes we the people have got to do what we got to do. We can't keep playing the politics as usual game by stickin’ with each other just because that's the way the big powers want it to be. Sometimes you have to strike out on your own, listening to your heart and praying for guidance. But, yes, you need to explain to the people so they understand why you’re doing that and all. Though--this is funny--my mother has a sign in her scullery that says 'Don’t bother explaining yourself. Your friends don’t need it, and King George won’t listen!' Now that's what I call a self-evident truth! {wink}

Anyhoo, here’s what I’m thinking and being guided by the good Lord to say. First thing: Everybody, even the little guy from a real town or farm is just as equal as a big-time Philadelphian or Londoner. Even Bartholomew the Ironmonger has got to have rights like Life, Liberty and the pursuit of Happiness. And Energy! People have a right to energy independence too.

To hold on to these rights as tightly as I'm holding my beautiful son Trig, you sometimes have to let government take care of things. But that doesn’t mean you have to accept politics as usual. And you need the people that you’re governing to agree to that and all. Because that's what this is really about. The people. And that’s not government interference they want! No sir.

But, you know -- and I want to say this straight to my fellow colonists and not have it filtered by the towncrier and those broadside printers. (And Lord knows that Benjamin Franklin guy with his sayings and his 'gotcha games'). So let it be said, when government gets big and corrupt, sometimes you need to pass the ball and play a different kind of game by standing up. I choose to stand up. I'm not wired to sit down and hit my head against the wall.

Life is too short to plod along and listen to the people who say, 'Just quiet down and pay your excise taxes' or tell you to just 'go with the flow.' Nah, only dead fish 'go with the flow.' I choose to fight. I fight for you so we can build up! National security and small government. Saying no to the big interests and standing up for freedom and our troops. We need to support our troops and all that they have ultimately sacrificed with their blood. We need to say 'No more tyranny!' to King George so we can progress this nation along the path that Jesus wants us to progress it on.

Thomas Jefferson wrote a few things about this same thing and is doing that politics thing of getting other powerful interests to sign it. You just know, don't you, that he's going to use that fancy way of talking like they do in Virginia. That kind of talk is all just words and everything. I wanted to tell you straight, without all the sugar coating and the “whereas” and “wherefores” which get in the way of telling you what people need to hear.

So there, I’ve said it. Some of you will question the timing of my declaration. Sure, I could have waited until summer was over, but jiminy-cricket, it’s the Fourth of July people! This is the day God intended us to declare our independence. So now Todd and my wonderful family are going to roast some meats and put on a Chinese gunpowder display. Thank you."

Repurposing the Past at the Dawn of a New Year

As I mentioned in the preceding post, today is the start of a new fiscal year for many nonprofit organizations. The accountants are all hung over and sleeping under desks, their heads resting on curls of adding machine tape. The beginning of a new year seems like a good excuse to bring back the video dance mashup that premiered on the Culture Shock Channel exactly six months ago.

Long-time Culture Shock readers will have fond memories of the post in which I bade farewell to 2008 (“Get the hell out of here old man!”) and welcomed 2009 (“Look! It’s a baby wearing a top hat!”). Many of you have been clamoring to see my tribute video again, wanting to relive the moment. New readers are saying, “I wish we were around when Culture Shock was still new and fresh and all the cool kids were reading it.”

After my film (can I call it a film?) premiered, I had a dream in which one fan wrote, “I sure hope someone will post this video again in … say, six months.” I asked a palm reader whether I should post it again; she said, "All signs point to YES!"

This post is dedicated to all the arts organizations struggling to stay afloat in these troubled times. I’m sorry I didn’t have time to update the titles and remix the soundtrack to “Billie Jean.” For young readers, the funny man at the beginning of the film used to be the President of the United States.

Closing the Books on Another Year

For all nonprofit organizations with fiscal years ending at midnight tonight, congratulations on making it through a tough year.

Now that you’ve managed to stanch the hemorrhaging, drain the festering wounds, and stabilize your vital signs, we can go ahead and take a look at that broken bone. This won’t hurt a bit.

We all know that there’s really nothing magical about the start of a new fiscal year. Our accountants just need to place a marker to signal that one period is done and another is beginning. Art organizations will not wake up tomorrow morning to find that their bank accounts have been replenished by the Funding Fairy*. We just start up all over again in the unending struggle to meet budget goals.

*Note: The Funding Fairy unwisely invested funds with Bernie Madoff, ending up in the condition seen below.

In a recent article, The Chronicle of Philanthropy reports that nonprofits are feeling the “stress” of the recession. According to recent studies, the hurt has been felt most in small organizations; 70% of those with revenue under $1-million reported that finances had worsened in the past six months (compared with fewer than half of larger organizations).

More troubling is the finding that nonprofit leaders working at theaters and orchestras are sweating the economy the most. Whereas only 13% of all respondents said they were worried about organizational survival, the percentage of pessimists among orchestra leaders was 24%, and among theater managers a whopping 33%. Let me repeat that last figure: One-third of leaders of nonprofit theaters surveyed said they were worried about survival.

(More troubling is that 97% of artistic directors reported being "Very Concerned" when asked "Are you concerned that there won't be enough affordable one-person shows available to fill your season?").**

The co-author of one of the reports, William Foster, looked for the silver lining in all this: “The economic tightness is forcing nonprofits to do things that would be healthy habits in any economic time. If we’re going to come out of recession smarter than we came in, it will only be if tough decisions and thoughtful economizing has taken place.”

Tomorrow morning, tune in to OPB (91.5 fm) at 9:00 when the “Think Out Loud” topic will be “World Class Arts?” The question mark at the end of the title implies that there is debate about Portland's ability to sustain the number of top-notch arts institutions we now enjoy. Barry Johnson wrote about this at Portland Arts Watch a week ago, reporting that Doug Stamm, Executive Director of the Meyer Memorial Trust, had posed the question as to whether Portland can support all five of our top arts groups ... or even try. (The top five are the Portland Art Museum, Oregon Ballet Theatre, Portland Opera, Oregon Symphony and Portland Center Stage).

It’s a legitimate question, though I find it troubling that the head of one of the region’s major foundations would ask it in a way that implies the answer might be “No.” How about if we rephrase the question to give it a more positive spin: “What do we have to do to sustain the arts at a level that Portland deserves?”

Barry followed his original post with an interesting thesis about the role of true democracy in how we run arts organizations. It’s a thoughtful post packed with arguments and contentions worthy of lively debate. It’s long, but not “Infinite Jest” long if you're one of those people who are participating in "Infinite Summer" and have committed to read the David Foster Wallace opus in its entirety between June 21st and September 22nd.

** This part isn't true.

Secret Portland

Anybody want to guess where I took the photo of downtown Portland seen above? Does the picture below give a hint?

The "Absolutely No Smoking" sign below is from the site. Over the years, visitors have inscribed their names on the sign, as well as on other surfaces. One visitor, "Pocatella Slim" visited several times, starting as early as 1964. Some wag decided to rechristen Mr. Slim as "PocaFella Slim" in the seventies.

SPOILER ALERT! The first comment on this post reveals the mystery, thanks to David's diligent and crafty research. If you want to play along, don't read the comment section yet. You always read the comments, don't you? You should. They're often better than the post.

Also, I'll post some more fascinating details about this secret location in the next day or two, so be sure to come back for a visit. You always come back to re-read these posts, don't you? You should. They age and mellow.

UPDATE: The top photo was taken from the door on the south side of Union Station's Italianate tower, just below the clockface in this postcard.

The clockface photo is taken from inside the tower. A craftsman/carpenter with whom we are acquainted was working on clocktower renovations for many weeks and invited us to take a peek. The stairway to the top is several hundred steps, with narrow, steep steps on risers twice as high as a normal staircase--more of a ladder than stairs. The walls in the top room are inscribed with names and dates. I wish I'd brought a a notepad to write some of them down. The center of the room is filled with the clockworks (pictured below). The works were in a glass box so I couldn't stick something in the cogs to jam up the works.

Here's an exciting action video of the clockworks, which are powered by gravity--somebody has the crank the weights back up to the top of the tower periodically.

The King is Dead! Long Live the ... Who?

The media is so saturated with coverage of Michael Jackson’s death and retrospectives of his life that I’m reluctant to add to the noise. Plus the story has little to do with life and culture in Portland, the reflecting upon which is Culture Shock’s ostensible mission. Last night, I spent a lovely evening with past and present theater colleagues gossiping about the local art scene. Our conversation included great material for this blog, but the phrases, "cone of silence" and "off the record" were invoked so often that I'm afraid I'm speechless. Therefore, lacking any other ideas for a weekend post, here's what I'm thinking about this morning:

Many reports are drawing the inevitable comparisons between Michael Jackson and the other “king,” Elvis Presley who died in 1977 at age 42 (which now seems so remarkably young). Parallels can be spotted between both men’s incredible artistic achievements and the intriguing and/or bizarre nature of their personal lives and tragic circumstances of their passing. Then there’s Jackson’s brief marriage to Lisa Marie Presley that further cements the two together. (As a side note, Ms. Presley posted a heart-felt and revealing comment about her relationship with Mr. Jackson on her My Space page yesterday).

All this has me thinking, “What is it that elevates an artist from star to king?” Here’s a test that I think both the King of Rock & Roll and the King of Pop met.

You may be a King in popular culture if:

1. You have influenced popular music in profound ways, demonstrating a unique genius either in creating something new or in interpreting an existing form in such a way that the public’s perception of it shifts radically. For example, while I will quibble with Elvis fans who argue that he “invented” rock and roll, I agree that he thrust the music into the marketplace in a way that profoundly redefined popular culture. The same for Michael Jackson with R&B and pop music.

2. You are more than just a singer, but are a brilliant entertainer whose performances can be described as spectacles. More than filling an arena, you deliver a concert that is packed with charismatic showmanship worthy of the best of Las Vegas and PT Barnum.

3. Your influence extends beyond your songs and recordings to areas of popular culture such as fashion, movies and television.

4. The public has a deep fascination with your private life, and your private life also happens to be weird enough to deserve that kind of attention.

5. Your popularity and influences extend beyond racial/ethnic boundaries and can be found on every continent.

6. Your career is long enough to have an impact on more than one generation of fans.

7. News of your death spreads around the world at the highest speed possible given current technology. (Thanks to Twitter, news of Jackson’s death was near instantaneous).

8. News of your death warrants front page headlines – and I mean banner headlines, not just a front page article. Also, your death is considered legitimate “breaking news” worthy of interrupting Oprah. Also, your death is recognized with special television programming of an hour or more on the major networks on the same day it is announced.

I would argue that there are many stars who fit some of these categories, but only Presley and Jackson fit all of them. I’m open to argument and debate.

Here are questions for you to ponder and comment on:

1. Have I left any defining characteristics off my list?

2. Can you think of anyone else (past or present) who would qualify?

3. Do you see anyone on the horizon who might assume the mantle of “King” in the next decade?

UPDATE: Go visit me on my eponymous site, Mighty Toy Cannon, for a post about Mr. Jackson's moonwalking influences.

UPDATE: Bill Wyman (former arts editor for Salon, not the Rolling Stone) has some interesting posts about Michael Jackson on his blogsite, Hitsville, including one comparing Jackson and Presley titled, "The Lost Boys." He's also posted about the financial and legal clusterf*ck facing the Jackson estate, its creditors, and the vultures that have been pecking away for years.

Michael Jackson RIP

The story is spreading fast, so no breaking news here, other than a quick tribute video to Michael Jackson. LA Times story here. His bizarre personal life aside, there shouldn't be a lot of debate about his contributions to popular music. His impact stretched across at least a few generations including mine, which was introduced to Mr. Jackson when he was just the youngest member of the Jackson 5.

No Day But Today

I am a former RENT-head. I was in college in 1997 majoring in theater and sure the whole world misunderstood me. When I first heard the original cast album blasting in the costume shop of the theater department, I felt like someone was singing my soul. I was instantly captivated. I loved RENT like my mom loves Jesus. I played the cd as I moved into my first apartment. The walls of that grungy apartment were covered with RENT posters. I spent hours in AOL chat rooms of theater nerds talking about RENT.

My best friend/sidekick/roommate and I sang RENT in the car, at work and, under the influence of midori sours, staged the whole show in our living room for anyone who wanted to watch us. To this day when I hear those songs, it's like having him in the room.

I was completely obsessed with this musical that I had never seen. Seriously. I couldn't afford the trip to New York to sit in line for the $20 front row tickets. Best friend/sidekick/roommate went several times, but he had a scholarship. (He did bring me a t-shirt) Sure, there was a grainy VHS bought on eBay of the original Broadway cast. So I had an idea of the staging. But that is hardly a substitute for live theater.

When I finally saw a touring production years later, it felt anti-climactic. I moo-ed enthusiastically at Maureen's protest and I cried when Angel died, but something felt kind of empty.

I saw the current touring production with original cast members Adam Pascal and Anthony Rapp last night. It was perfectly fine. It was a kick to see them in the roles that made their careers. A few other performers were particularly fun. Nicollete Hart as Maureen was so sexy and fun. (Imagine a hybrid of Amy Poehler and Storm Large) Justin Johnson, as Angel, managed to keep his performance fresh and funny, even on this exhausting tour.

But I had the same feeling last night that I did when I finally saw the show for the first time. I know this is good, but I'm kind of dissappointed. What's missing? Why does this feel empty? I know I'm older and the show is a relic at this point. The freshness of live theater is considerably diminished when you know the show by heart.

But I think that ultimately, no RENT will equal the one staged in my living room in 1997. I texted the former best friend/sidekick/roommate this morning and told him it was time for a visit.

Died on This Day: Obits Online

On my web rounds, I periodically visit “Obit,” an online magazine that addresses issues of life, death and transition with intelligence and elegance. I don’t do this out of a morbid fascination with mortality, but because the site is beautifully designed and full of thought-provoking ideas. Here’s how the Obit editors describe their mission:

Death gives life its immediacy. Because we know it will end, we savor and value life all the more. Obit examines life through the lens of death. Whether it’s the loss of a person, a place, an object or an idea, life’s constant change presents an opportunity for examination, discussion and even celebration. By examining the transformations we face, we can understand how the past influences our time and our future. Obit aims to offer a forum for ideas and opinions about life, death, and transition that you will find nowhere else.

Obit's tone isn’t somber and grave. Today, for example, in the section titled “Died on the Same Day” the editors noted that both Aaron Spelling, the television producer, and Harriet, the 175 year-old tortoise reportedly collected by Charles Darwin himself, both died on June 23, 2006. They then gently point out the slight resemblance between the two, no disrespect.

What do you think?