What's up for 2011?

Of all the things I planned to do a year ago the only thing I actually accomplished was "compose more music." Although I did complete one of the full-length plays I had kicking around - that is JULIA & BUDDY. Although I might do some major re-writing of the second act.

So what am I gonna attempt this year?

~ Produce JULIA & BUDDY as a full-length.
~ Produce THE SLASH and direct it myself for the first time.
~ Compose more music.

That's it. I'm going to keep the list manageable this year.

I guess I shouldn't be TOO hard on myself, 2010 was a kind of aimed at stabilizing everything - I moved into a new apartment, which turned out to be great move, but moving is always somewhat traumatic. I have to stop doing it so much.

I was a little sad, moving from Manhattan to Astoria at first, but I really haven't missed Manhattan all that much. For one thing I always felt like I should be out DOING something, preferably something glamorous, when I was in Manhattan. Not that I actually did anything glamorous, but I felt like I should.

But in Astoria it's different. It's way more laid-back - even quiet. And this apartment is so much bigger - I saved all kinds of money on rehearsal space. And now I'm gonna do NYCPlaywrights meetings here too. My JULIA & BUDDY reading/party was kind of a test-run and I was able to fit 15 or so people in here quite comfortably. A far cry from when I attempted a Christmas party (sans reading) in my place in Manhattan.

And my view is actually better - I can see the Empire State Building AND the Chrysler Building from my west-facing windows.

So now that I've had a year to settle in, I will probably get more done. But I'll keep the list to three things for now.

Or rather, four - I also plan to publish the rest of the Willie ads.



In this ad from the January 10, 1942 issue of the New Yorker we can see Willie doing his part for the war effort by providing one of the troops with "Liberty liquor" - yeah, liberty in the sense it will be liberated from Willie's boss.

I failed utterly at finding a definition for "cogning the nose." It's no doubt a euphemism for drinking but it would be nice to have a little more info.

"Blowing the gaff" has two meanings that are relevant here:

2. Nautical A spar attached to the mast and used to extend the upper edge of a fore-and-aft sail.

Which I'm sure is the original meaning, and this meaning, which is more to Willie's point:

a. To take in or defraud; swindle.

Like I said, he's "liberating" that liquor. But the last part of this ad text has to be one of the worst puns I've ever seen - it's a good buy Mr. Chips??? I mean, yeah, it's a "good buy" in the sense that it's free, but WTF?

Good-bye Mr. Chips is a novel, and then later a 1939 movie about a British Victorian-era schoolteacher. Nothing to do with the ocean or whaling whatsoever.

Of course it's unlikely that anybody has ever scrutinized these ads like I have - and certainly not since this was published seventy-one years ago, so the ad's author wasn't too concerned about the pun. But sheesh!