Ráméis

So blah, blah, blah:

I got two plugs and I'm gonna tell you about them. Click on the pull quotes for a link to the full reviews.

McGlaughlin, as the public Gar, is the standout in the cast — perhaps because he’s a good actor, and perhaps because the role calls for restraint, so he delivers a performance that is genuinely nuanced and subtle.

Rising above any drawbacks, though, was some wonderful acting. At the heart of this production was the unassuming but remarkable work by McGlaughlin as Gar (Public). He was thoughtful and quietly intense as he portrayed this introspective young man struggling to come to terms with a range of feelings. There was solid intention behind each glance, each reaction and (though this may seem odd to notice) every move of his hands as he fidgeted, worked with props, picked at some chipped paint on the wall, smoothed a tablecloth. There was just a natural ease about this performance, as well as genuine emotion.

Philadelphia, Here I Come!

I'm the one with the hat on, f.y.i.

I'm in a play at the Walnut Street Theater St.5. You can get tickets here.
It was also reviewed here. Not so great. She did have this to say though:


"McGlaughlin, as the public Gar, is the standout in the cast — perhaps because he’s a good actor, and perhaps because the role calls for restraint, so he delivers a performance that is genuinely nuanced and subtle."

That's a wrap.

MAYA is finished with principal photography. These stills are lifted from director Dan Papa's Kickstarter page which you can find HERE. So go check it out.

colostomy bags and root balls

This is a pic taken from Bartram's Garden. It's a a botanical garden in West Philadelphia, believe it or not and I didn't even know that it existed until yesterday.

We shot a couple of scenes for an independent film called MAYA there.

There's a West Philadephia Artist named Corina Dross that makes a series of illustrated playing cards called "Portable Fortitude" - they're individually drawn and they each feature a phrase that begins with "Protection From..."

Gives you an idea of what yesterday looked like.

So much fun.

The Top Ten

New Article is up at GamingOgre.com
Check it out!

Dondada

All Credit goes to my brother for turning me on to this guy. Watch the whole thing.

Leisure, The Basis of Culture

A quick note about a book that's been on my go-to list for a while.

This book came out in 1948 and Josef Pieper was specifically countering Karl Marx. He says that Man at his core does not derive his intrinsic worth from his work, or industry but from his rest or prayer i.e. leisure.

Let's go back to the Greek world, we're not talking about laziness or sloth, it's a habit which disposes us to the good. It's deeper, the vita contemplativa.

Man exists for contemplation, or a resting in prayer. In God.

It's not our ability to do things, but to be. To Be in the presence of God.

He also gets into the differences between the servile and liberal education.

The modern experiment has gotten this wrong concerning the purpose of education. Education has become at the service of work, job training. There is an ideology operating behind this.

It's a philosophical book and a dense one, but it's one of the best books I've ever read.