MeyerBros

oooo… I was with you right until that last bit.

(Sidenote: I was going to post this as a comment on Eric’s post, but then it got long and I decided to make it my own post. A review of his post, if you will.)

Some great questions, points, musings… But the “edification of the artists involved” part I question. At the New York Times, there is an ombudsman (yes, he’s a man), and he is the person who speaks for the readers (ie, the audience) - not for the paper. Speaking for the paper (ie, the artists) would be the editors in their editorials (like the Artistic Directors in our letters and director’s notes to audience). So the way I understand it, an ombuds for a theatre would be someone on staff who would express views of the audience (”the people”), not views of the artists.
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Walmart has been infiltrating other countries. I suppose I knew this, although it wasn’t really on my radar. What I find interesting now is that its “Formula Doesn’t Fit Every Culture”

Apparently in Germany it has lost lots of money, because of the company’s lack of cultural sensitivity. The article states:

“In Germany, Wal-Mart stopped requiring sales clerks to smile at customers — a practice that some male shoppers interpreted as flirting — and scrapped the morning Wal-Mart chant by staff members.”

One employee explained, “People found these things strange; Germans just don’t behave that way.”

And Americans do???? We enjoy morning chants and fake smiling at all customers????

Fascinating.

We also, apparently, are willing to move to another state when one store closes and we are asked to transfer to another store - unlike the Germans who were “infuriated” and quit. And unlike in Germany, Walmart doesn’t actually need to work with labor unions in the U.S.

They say they are learning more about how to work with other cultures. In reading this, I am learning (or at least wondering) more about ours.

Thought some of the Meyers and/or Meyer friends might be interested in this… (I don’t know anything about it - I got it off of an arts list I’m on - but it looks interesting)

CALL FOR FLYING MACHINES!
Deadline: July 31
This October 21, thirty teams of daring individuals will take to the skies above the city’s Inner Harbor at Red Bull Flugtag Baltimore. Flugtag, which means “flying day” in German, challenges the everyday creative genius to build a human-powered flying machine with four close friends, family members, neighbors, or co-workers and pilot it off the end of a 30-foot ramp in hopes of achieving flight…or at least entertaining the crowd. Hey, there’s always the People’s Choice Award! So, if you’ve ever dreamed of flying or know someone you’d like to push off a ramp, we want you! Applications are available online and are being accepted now through July 31, 2006. For more information, please contact Sara Leeper at 323.866.6057 or sara.leeper@mslpr.com.

Eduardo Machado is a Cuban (/American) playwright with a lot to say. He gave a pretty gutsy talk a couple weeks ago that I find inspiring, challenging and moving. I am in the midst of finishing up plans for the next New World Arts season, and some of what he said hit me right in the gut.

He weaves together thoughts about immigration, the wall being built on the Mexico border, and his own experiences as a green card-carrying immigrant. His treatment as an “outsider” by a profession (theatre) that I believe should be on the cutting edge of acceptance is appalling. This flows into his thoughts about theatre, about not trying to make audiences happy, and about bravery. He rails against rampant entitlement issues, including the “entitlement” to be trained as a theatre artist - which really just plays into making theatre more corporate-minded.
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Did I just hear this right? I think I just heard (on NPR) our President, GWBush, say:

“In our free society, people have the right to choose how they live their lives.”

Yes he did. I just looked it up.

And yes, he then followed that with the logical conclusion about free society:

“…decisions about such a fundamental social institution as marriage should be made by the people.”

Therefore, the logic follows, we need to have a constitutional amendment banning gay marriage. This will put the power back in the hands of The People. So they can be free to live the way they want to. So The People can decide what marriage is.

None of the people, of course, are gay. None of the people would support gay marriage. These aren’t the people. The people are the ones who are free to live as they choose and define social institutions freely. Freely = no gay-ness. Anyone who is gay or supports gay rights must be… an animal! One of those beastly, uncivilized ones, like a warthog or a toad. Therefore, we need to have an amendment to protect The People from The Toads. Those same-sex loving toads must not marry. We need to keep the people free.

Amazing how easy it is to string these thoughts together.

So this is pretty amazing. Amazing enough that I’m posting the same thing here that I just posted on New World’s Action Comedy blog. But interesting to write about here for a different reason - the backstory is all about the politics of cooperative editing, etc. Perhaps some of you have already heard about this? Here’s what’s happening:

A guy wrote a story. It involved first-person language about spying on a semi-naked woman and murdering a homeless man, as well as volunteering to defend our country. Someone (quite possibly a disgruntled wikipedia user who was banned) called the school where writer-guy is a grad student and told them about the story, complaining that it looked suspicious. Writer-guy (okay, his name is Phil Sandifer) was subsequently investigated by the police, asked for fingerprints, etc. Apparently writing about stalking and murdering makes you a suspect for actually doing those things. No one asked him if he was actually thinking about defending our country.

Wow. I feel totally honored to join y’all here as an official contributor. Hopefully you won’t downgrade my privileges anytime soon. Here’s my first post:

What I’ve Been Reading
(and would like to share with you)

1) “Holy Skirts” by Rene Steinke, a novel about the Baroness Elsa van Freytag-Lorenghoven. Subtitled “A novel of a flamboyant woman who risked all for art.”

This woman was courageous, outrageous, and true to herself even when it hurt. She didn’t just make art, she lived it. A close friend and would-be lover of Marcel Duchamp. She wore taillights, bird cages (avec bird), and postage stamps, among other things, and a Time writer wrote of her: “She was New York’s first punk persona 60 years before their time.” Everyone thought she was crazy by the end of her life, perhaps from syphillis, but perhaps, as Ezra Pound wrote of her in a poem:

“Well, of course, there was a certain strain
On the gal in them days in Manhattan
the principle of non-acquiescence
laid a burden.”

I think I want to write a play about her.
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