Monday Motivator: Naaaa Naaa Naa Na Na Na Na

My funny friend Jeff Chacon of the Rodents of Unusual Size comedy troupe shared this with me this morning, and I thought it was a perfect for the Monday Motivator.
Many thanks to the "love all this" blog for flow-charting the Beatles's classic, Hey Jude.

Happy Monday, cherubs!

Superhero Sunday: Gridiron Heroes

Nice paradox. Not.
Will there be nudity?

In 1986, the then editor-in-chief of Marvel Comics launched The New Universe, a separate continuity of stories outside of the regular Marvel Universe. No magic (sorry, Dr. Strange), no aliens (tough break, Silver Surfer), no gods (bummer, Thor) and no supertechnology (meaning Iron Man in that universe would just be some guy with an iron.) A whole new series of heroes was created - the idea being superhero stories in a more grounded reality. Verisimilitude was the operative word. (Actually, "realistic" was probably the operative word, because "verisimilitude" is not easy to say over and over. Fun, but not easy.)

Little Billy Romanowski
suddenly gets an idea . . . 

It was actually a pretty good idea in retrospect, but it didn't go over terribly well. This could have been because, at the last moment, the Marvel corporate bosses cut Shooter's budget, so his original plan to use established artists had to be replaced by lesser-known names. It might also have been because thirteen-year-old comic book readers - like yours truly - just, weren't interested.

Yep. He's wrestling a white lion.
Verisimilitude.

One of the first titles to be canceled was also, ironically, the most traditional of the superhero books. Kickers, Inc. followed the adventures of a unique detective agency made up of former football players. The leader of the group, Jack Magniconte, also the only member of the team to have superpowers, went by the name of Mr. Magnificent. Kickers, Inc. investigated paranormal mysteries - something that the New Universe had in abundance as a result of the mysterious "white event" (also the source of Mr. Magnificent's powers).
As I said, in 1986 I had no interest in the New Universe, and today what little interest I have only barely extends to the short-lived superhero team of Kickers, Inc., but it is the day of the Superbowl (I'm told), so why not feature a team of super football players?

Actually, I'm a little embarrassed now.

Save the World Saturday: Heart of the Matter

February is American Heart Month, no doubt chosen by the American Heart Association, for February's association with Valentine's Day. I am a firm believer that, before we can save the world, we must make sure we are in sufficient health to do so, and - like so many other things - that starts with the heart.

The AHA website has many ways that you can take better care of your heart. There are sections on managing stress, eating better, and more. Give it a look.

And for fun, here's a blast from the past PSA from the American Heart Association featuring one of America's favorite heart transplant recipients, the Tin Woodsman:

Friday Film Buff: Romance On the Road

The romantic comedy is one of those Hollywood creatures that we all love to hate. It tends to follow a specific formula, so it's predictable. You pretty much know how the film is going to end by looking at the movie poster. It's usually an opportunity for the studio to showcase the flavor or flavors-of-the-moment - generally actors who are gaining some notoriety in a television drama or who sparkled in a supporting role in another major film. Soap stars will often appear in mindless television romantic comedies in an effort to break out of daytime drama. I'll just say it, most romantic comedies are awful.
However, when they're good, they're very good. I'm thinking of films like When Harry Met Sally, While You Were Sleeping, Murphy's Romance, The Shop Around the Corner and its modern re-make You've Got Mail.
Today's Friday Film Buff selection is, in my opinion, the romantic comedy that set the stage for all romantic comedies to follow - both the good and the bad.

It Happened One Night has a dashing and rugged leading man with a quick wit in Clark Gable, a beautiful and charming leading lady with a sharp tongue in Claudette Colbert, and a recipe for romance that is still shamelessly copied to this day. A beautiful heiress is traveling incognito from Miami to New York City. An ace reporter has uncovered her identity but agrees to help her get to New York for the promise of an exclusive. They hate each other, but they're stuck together. Let the sparks fly!
This is my favorite from director Frank Capra, and I think it's a terrific "time capsule" of American film. This is before World War II and before Gone With the Wind. The "rules" of film-making were still being written.
One thing that the Zucker brothers and company did to my generation is the heavy "spoofing" of many classic films. I was just talking to a friend  a couple of weeks ago about how it's hard to watch the beach scene in From Here to Eternity without giggling because it's been lampooned so many times. It seems cliché now, even in the movie that bore the cliché!
It Happened One Night does not seem to suffer from this. Even though many of the elements of this film have been turned into clichés in other films, they seem just as fun and fresh today as they were in 1934.
If you're making a Valentine's Day movie-viewing list, make sure this one is on it.

Theatre Thursday: What's on the Menu?

Some months ago - perhaps even a year or two - I made some comments on a local theatre blog and drew some analogies on this blog as well about a growing problem in Denver - and possibly national - theatre: nonprofit theatres existing for little more reason than that they just want to, without serving their community in new or quality ways, veering off of their original mission to gain audience, even if other nonprofits already exist in that genre. I made liberal use of the term "vanity project" and suggested that many of these redundant theatre companies were actually drawing audiences away from small companies that really were doing something new and original. I called for a possible "pruning" of unnecessary, vanity-driven projects in the interest of healthy Denver theatre growth.
That did not go over very well.

Well, here we are, several hateful e-mails in my inbox later, and the chairman of the National Endowment of the Arts, Rocco Landesman has recently gone on record saying pretty much the same thing on the national level, a position that is supported by a recent study by Americans for the Arts.
Landesman has come under fire for his suggestions, much as I did here. I was even accused of hating Denver theatre (albeit by someone who refers to himself publicly as the "farce master" and a "Denver theatre legend" so I wasn't terribly offended), so I would like to make something as clear as I can:
I made my comments in the interest of Denver theatre. I would like to see theatre in our nation de-centralize from Broadway, and, in my opinion, Denver could be a prime candidate for the Southwest theatre hub. (Look if we don't, Phoenix or Santa Fe will take it. Possibly even Salt Lake City.)
Here's the deal, though. We don't need six productions of Grease or I Love You You're Perfect Now Change or Spelling Bee within a few months and a few miles of one another. I know that there are dozens of actors in town who want to play William Barfee, but that's not reason enough to put on dozens of productions. Yes, audiences go to see it, and, yes, they enjoy it, and, yes, some audiences will go to see multiple productions of it within months, but I do not believe that's because they only want to see that show. 
I'll use a restaurant analogy (similar to one I've used before): Some people go to a restaurant and only order the same thing, let's say it's the meatloaf. (I like meatloaf.) Not very adventurous, I know, but some people want to be sure that they're going to get their money's worth (even if the meatloaf is sometimes a little bit under or over cooked.) Unfortunately, what's happening is that the restaurant has all of this other food not used in the favorite entree that is going unused every week - really good food - that is going bad.

Well, there are a couple of things that this restaurant could try. One would be to only offer the meatloaf and items using the same ingredients on its menu. They have to change the name of the restaurant from Phil's Fine Family Dining to Phil's Meatloaf. One option. A business-savvy option. Let's just hope people don't get tired of meatloaf.
Second option: Phil decides one week to tell the wait staff to tell the patrons that the "meatloaf cooker" is out of order and suggest a different menu item. Phil's taking a risk here. It's possible that some people will walk out, but it's also possible that some people will try something different, enjoy it, and even after the meatloaf returns, continue to order alternate items from the menu. A riskier option, but with potentially far better results if your ambition is to run a restaurant with a diverse menu.
Now, let me add a wrinkle: imagine that Phil received a government grant to open a restaurant that offers Chicken Cordon Bleu on its menu. Imagine that Phil received donations from organizations wishing to promote a healthy fish diet on the promise that he would offer smoked salmon as a menu item. Does that change Phil's options? 
Now, before we get too confused with the analogy here, Phil's Restaurant is not a metaphor for a theatre company, it's a metaphor for a theatre community - particularly a theatre community of nonprofit theatre companies. There is a different business model for a nonprofit vs. a for-profit theatre. If you're a for-profit, do whatever you want. Present all of your favorite shows without regard for who else is doing or has recently done them. Fill the seats in whatever way you can. Your bottom line is profit. 
Nonprofits do not - as the name might suggest - eschew profit, but they do have a different or additional bottom line. I've heard that bottom line referred to as "people" and "community," but I think I like to use the term "constituency." What's your constituency as a nonprofit theatre? Well, what's your mission statement? (Do you even remember it?) If your answer is "I'm not sure," well, you have a bad mission statement. If your answer is "everybody," then that's probably not a very good mission statement either. Unless your theatre company provides food, shelter, or air, you can dig a little deeper than "everybody" to define your constituency. Now, if your mission statement is identical to someone down the street from you, then, sadly, one of you is unnecessary. If your mission statement is different, but you're doing the same kinds of shows, then one of you is straying from your mission and that group is unnecessary.
If you're the only game in town, that's different. If I open a nonprofit theatre company in my hometown of Ignacio, Colorado, it doesn't really matter whether I'm committed to doing comedies, dramas, classic shows, or original works. My constituency is geographical rather than based on genre. In a metropolitan area that has dozens upon dozens of theatre companies accessible by car or public transportation within minutes, the geographical distinction isn't enough. 

Now if I were to start a nonprofit theatre company here in Denver (which, surprisingly, I still get asked to do), the question I have to ask myself is: "What will I do that isn't being done by someone else in this community?" If I decide to open a company committed to performing shows of a "gothic" or "Grand Guignol" nature (which I did consider at one point), it is my responsibility to determine whether or not that is already a constituency being served by another nonprofit or nonprofits in my area. I decided that it was (perhaps not always on a year-round basis, but enough), so I determined that it would have been irresponsible of me to draw upon theatre donors, grants, SCFD funds, etc. to start a nonprofit just because I wanted to do so. Now, a for-profit? Well, I have never ruled that out entirely, but that's a riskier venture - as it should be. 
The non-profit system was established to lessen the risk of starting a service-based organization, and, in the case of arts companies, the thought is that should free them to take more risks, not to specialize in meatloaf.

Wildlife Wednesday: Under Dogs

Good news from the Southwest: the Mexican Gray Wolf population on a reserve in New Mexico and Arizona has increased from 42 to 50 over the last year! That's almost a 20% increase,and it is the first time that the population has grown in four years.
You can read more about this on the Defenders of Wildlife blog.
Mexican wolves are a smaller subspecies of the Gray Wolf and are native to North America. They are classified as "EW" or "Extinct in the Wild" on the conservation status scale. The Mexican Wolf is also smaller in size - about the size of a German Shepherd (which, yes, is still pretty big.)
Here's a video on the Mexican Wolves in the American Southwest:

Tuesday Tunes: John Barry 1933-2011

I know that over the next week, as the media remembers the Great composer John Barry, we're all going to hear   a lot of the themes from the James Bond films, Out of Africa, Dances with Wolves, and Born Free, so I thought I'd pick out some memorable music from some films that received a bit less praise from Oscar and such.
First up, the film Indecent Proposal got a lot of tongues wagging when it was released as it posed the question: "What would you do for a million dollars?" However, beyond the hype, there wasn't much to recommend this movie apart from Barry's moving score.

Now, Howard the Duck is largely hailed as one of the worst comic book movies ever made, and while I do not wholeheartedly agree with that sentiment, I will admit that it . . . could have been better. Unfortunately, amid the tomato-throwing at this film, many missed the wonderful John Barry score.

Disney's The Black Hole turned a profit in 1979 - though perhaps less than its $26 million budget warranted - and it did receive Academy nominations for visual effects and cinematography, but it was rather coolly received by critics. Still, John Barry's soundtrack (the first ever in the world to be digitally recorded) is worthy of note.