Thursday, September 30, 2010

Wankel rotary engine Heavens to Mergatroyd

The Wankel rotary engine is quite an ingenious device, and one which I wouldn't have ever considered, probably, except for tangling with a gigantic douchebag. As readers of this blog might recall, at the beginning of the year I mentioned that a local independent film director's casting call had been posted on Nudity Required, No Pay for which he had a hissyfit, apparently in part because I didn't mention him by name. But I guess if you have no sense of shame, you have nothing to hide. Anyway, eventually he and some buddies realized I could read their search strings to get to my blog and so proceeded to come to my blog via a wide variety of search strings, including at least one that was a threat of sexual assault. He also libeled me on his blog until I made him remove it.

One of the less offensive things he typed at me were variations on "wankel rotary engine" combined with "heavens to mergatroyd" although often mispelling both wankel and mergatroyd. Here's a screen cap of my Google Analytics report:



Not knowing what a Wankel rotary engine was, I hastened to Wikipedia and read up. So creeps can certainly have their uses. I learned about this excellent device thanks to one.

And as I've also mentioned on this blog, they can inspire art as well. My newest play "The Cassandra Directive" about a lesbian couple who end up performing in a Star Wars/Bladerunner/Romero- ripoff film by an independent film director is directly inspired by my dealings with this particular creep. I did a reading of the first two scenes at NYCPlaywrights last night, and the women who participated in the reading especially enjoyed it - because what woman hasn't had at least one unpleasant run-in with a middle-aged man with fratboy sensibilities?

I haven't yet figured out how to include a reference in the play to a wankel rotary engine as a "tribute" but I will, eventually. I'm thinking about renting space at Manhattan Theater Source to do a public reading of this play - apparently they are desperate for renters. Maybe I'll even get a discount. Should be lots of fun.


And speaking of giant douchebags - James O'Keefe's biggest humiliation yet:

Lindsay Beyerstein reports:
Talk about hubris... Dirty trickster James O'Keefe's foray into gonzo porn has ended disastrously for him. O'Keefe schemed to seduce CNN investigative reporter Abbie Boudreau in front of hidden cameras. The right wing media activist, who recently pleaded guilty to charges of attempted phone tampering, tried to lure CNN's ace investigative reporter to a small boat, excuse me, a "floating pleasure palace," stocked with sex toys, strawberries, champagne, hidden cameras, and Mr. James O'Keefe.

Over at Jezebel:
Boudreau, an investigative reporter, was tipped off by a rogue member of O'Keefe's organization that he planned to turn a professional meeting into a seduction on a boat. Although this plan required some confidence in O'Keefe's irresistibility, he had reinforcements ready:



Apparently all douchebags think that a sure-fire way to score with chicks is to have pictures of naked women all over the place.