ketchup time

my boyfriend made a series of heinz ketchup commercials that are in a voter-based competition on youtube. here is one of them. watch it, laugh, and then make it win by voting for it on youtube.



click here and vote for it! or rate it! or do whatever it takes to make him win.

seth rogan gets kicked

just read this hilarious letter on gawker written by new yorker writer ben greenman addressing the new it-man, seth rogan. read it!

romanian peasants

ioana crăciunescu is a fairly young romanian poet who lives in paris and is better known as an actress. i learned about her while i was living in prague. it is practically impossible to find any information about her online because her poetry was rarely taken seriously and instead more attention was paid to her prized beauty. this is a poem of hers:

i was in a field of potatoes
peasants with hoes were tearing up
the sail of my ship

those constantly buzzing flies
were creating for me a world
of bones and skin...

i was in a field of potatoes
peasants were raking and gathering
into stacks the ropes and helm,
poop and prow of my ship,
i smelt of potatoes,
the shipwreck seemed
an error of always navigating by the stars...

red ants were running through my hair
thriftily
taking and carrying ot their ant hills
the wind and the frost, the taste and the scent,
the air, the salt of the sea...

i was in a field of potatoes
the peasants were mowing down the fixed masts.

some of her poems can be found in an anthology published by my poetry teacher from prague entitled "child of europe" and compiled by michael march.

freak scene

dinosaur jr. are back again. the awesome trio are in town to promote their first record in over 15 years and are playing tonight at irving plaza at 9pm for a mere $25!

pink moon

last night while at the apartment of the gallery owner i intern for, ms jen bekman, i saw two amazing photographs on her wall by an artist she represents named benjamin donaldson. out of all the artwork smattered about her apartment walls, these two stuck out to me the most. i love the combinations of subtle pinks and blues in these pictures.





donaldson's work will be included in the "a new american portrait" exhibit opening friday june 22th from 6-8 at the jen bekman gallery.

the theater post

for those of you who don't know, there is an unbelievable international theater company based out of britain called cheek by jowl. instead of on artistic director, a director-designer team led by declan donnellan and nick ormerod. i saw an all-male production of "twelfth night" that they did at BAM last year with a cast of polish/russian actors that blew my mind.

anyway, i just read the introduction to donnellan's book on acting and theater called the actor and the target, which is now in it's second edition. here is a part from it that i really liked:

"acting is a mystery, and so is theatre. we assemble in a space and divide into two parts, one of which enacts stories for the remainder. we know of no society where these rituals never happen, and in many cultures these events are at the very center of that society. there is a persistent need to witness acted-out representations, from television soap opera to greek tragedy.

a theatre is not only a literal space, but also a place where we dream together; not merely a building, but a space that is both imaginative and collective. theatre provides a safe frame within which we can explore dangerous extremities in the comfort of fantasy and the reassurance of a group. if every auditorium were razed to the ground, theatre would still survive, because the hunger in each of us to act, and to be acted to, is inbred. we direct, perform and witness performances to communicated with ourselves as we sleep; theatre cannot die before the last dream has been dreamt."

the midwest on broadway

walked into nyu's tisch building today and strolled past the gallery show towards the rear of the 1st floor where a series of color photographs by alumna samantha contis are on display. the photos are mainly of spare agrarian landscapes and remind me of a sweet, rural melancholy that exists somewhere far away from the urban mayhem of new york.







The exhibit will be up through July 2nd.
Samantha Contis at Tisch