Theater, Movies, Art and Literature

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From an interesting blog, 'Dillsnap Cogitations'... Aleister Crowley's "White Stains" (hidden seminal poetry) As legend holds, Aleister Crowley was “The Wickedest Man in the World.” Born in 1875, Crowley was a British occultist, writer, mountaineer, philosopher, poet, yogi, and opium addict. He figured prominently in several occult organizations including: the Hermetic Order of the Golden Dawn, the A∴A∴, and Ordo Templi Orientis (O.T.O.). In 1898, Crowley published a work of poetry entitled White Stains. The topics in this work included homosexuality, pederasty, bestiality, corprophilia, and necrophilia. Printed in Amsterdam, “White Stains” had an initial run of …

Time to start reading SF again! http://www.theguardian.com/books/2014/aug/18/ann-leckie-debut-novel-hugo-science-fiction-award

If anyone gets to see this, please let us know how they liked it. I don't like near a "real" city so I'll have to wait for a bit to see it. http://www.hollywoodreporter.com/review/i-am-happiness-earth-film-725713

Together... ...50 years or more: http://www.elisarolle.com/ramblings/real_life_romance.html ...40-49 years: http://www.elisarolle.com/ramblings/real_life_romance/real_life_romance_2.html ...30-39 years: http://www.elisarolle.com/ramblings/real_life_romance/real_life_romance_3.html ...20-29 years: http://www.elisarolle.com/ramblings/real_life_romance/real_life_romance_4.html

Final Soliloquy of the Interior Paramour Light the first light of evening, as in a room In which we rest and, for small reason, think The world imagined is the ultimate good. This is, therefore, the intensest rendezvous. It is in that thought that we collect ourselves, Out of all the indifferences, into one thing: Within a single thing, a single shawl Wrapped tightly round us, since we are poor, a warmth, A light, a power, the miraculous influence. Here, now, we forget each other and ourselves. We feel the obscurity of an order, a whole, A knowledge, that which arranged the rendezvous, Within its vital boundary, in the mind. We say God and the im…

Nice interview with Christopher Lee. http://m.youtube.com/watch?v=5GyQRDhJOrI

Good review of massive MoMA exhibition of one of Germany's greatest artists in the last hundred years. http://www.theguardian.com/artanddesign/2014/apr/17/alibis-sigmar-polke-moma-exhibition-review

Found on Austin Chronicle's very nice 'AggreGAYtor' feature page: http://www.austinchronicle.com/daily/gay-place/2014-07-15/the-aggregaytor-july-15/

http://www.salon.com/2014/07/22/wallace_shawn_i_wish_people_knew_me_as_a_radical_playwright_instead_for_the_princess_bride/

Back years ago, a great musical on Broadway lasted only about 90 shows. It was one of my favorite musicals of all time and I still sing the music when I travel. It was with the amazing Alice Ripley and Emily Skinner. I saw him 2 times and never understood why it closed. It may be back. If so, run, do not walk to see this amazing show! http://m.playbill.com/news/article/193459-Revised-Side-Show-Ends-Kennedy-Center-Run-Is-Broadway-Next

I visited this place shortly after it opened. It was something else. Definitely click the source link at bottom to view photos of it. You Can Rent Dorothy's House In The Very Creepy And Very Abandoned Land Of OZ Theme Park In 1970, a Wizard of OZ theme park called The Land of OZ opened its doors to the public in the resort town of Beech Mountain, North Carolina. In 1980, it closed. Good run, guys. And since it closed 34 years ago, the park hasnt really been altered much. Which means that the abandoned park scores wonderfully high on the creepy meter. And to make it even more eerie, the original designers were told not to watch the iconic film and instead base everyt…

In September I hope to be in New York City, "The Big Apple," for almost five days to celebrate my birthday! Right now I have a ticket for KINKY BOOTS but am undecided in terms of other plays that I should view. What other two would you here recommend: musical/drama? For one of them, I've thought about ALADDIAN....

7 bogus grammar 'errors' you don't need to worry about You actually can start a sentence with a conjunction — and end it with a preposition By Ben Yagoda | March 5, 2013 The Week When it comes to the English language, I'm not an anything-goes kind of guy. If I were, I wouldn't have written a book called How to Not Write Bad: The Most Common Writing Errors and the Best Ways to Avoid Them. It's just that I hate to see people waste their time hunting down so-called mistakes that really aren't mistakes at all. So consider this a public-service announcement in the wake of Monday's National Grammar Day. Here are seven rules you really (really!) don't have to worry about follo…

'Every hour a glass of wine' – the female writers who drankThe long list of male alcoholic authors is well known, but what about their literary sisters? Olivia Laing looks back on the great female writers who sought refuge in the bottle and salvation on the page Olivia Laing Edmund White wonder if Duras was not in the grips of what Freud had called the repetition compulsion. "I'm acquainted with it, the desire to be killed. I know it exists," she once told an interviewer, and it is this intensity, this absolute and uncompromising vision, that sets her work apart. At the same time, this statement seems to shine a light on how she used alcohol: as a way of giving in to he…

11 words that are much older than you think The 'recency illusion' makes us believe words and phrases we've just noticed are new. But it isn't always the case David Shariatmadari theguardian.com, Tuesday 1 July 2014 05.30 EDT Charles Dickens' manuscript of Great Expectations. The verb 'to hang out' appears in the novelist's work. Photograph: Cambridge University Press Sometimes it feels like we must be the snarkiest, slangiest, least-formal generation in human history. What other age could have coined the word chugger, invented ROFL and its many permutations, or seen vocal fry ripple out from Kim Kardashian in an unstoppable wave? This idea fits snugly next to…

Allan Sherman’s Last Laugh A thorough new biography chronicles the rise and fall of the big, Jewish self-destructive funnyman By Josh Lambert | April 29, 2013 12:00 AM | Tablet Allan Sherman. (Michael Ochs Archives/Getty Images) Is there any lower form of comedy than song parody? Dirty limericks and knock-knock jokes may be worthless, but at least they have the decency to be brief. A parody song almost always lasts a chorus or two longer than necessary, and that’s just the beginning of the trouble. Which makes the best work of Allan Sherman all the more astonishing. Fiddling with the lyrics of recognizable songs—transforming “Frère Jacques” into “Sarah Jackman”…

Great meditations by writers, journalists, comedians on their favorite Monty Python sketch, and why. http://www.theguardian.com/culture/2014/jun/22/monty-pythons-greatest-skits-best-sketches-o2-shows

This article includes a condensation of the list of 'great books' that Harold Bloom included at the end of his book The Western Canon, with links to free online texts of all the works: http://www.openculture.com/2014/01/harold-bloom-creates-a-massive-list-of-works-in-the-western-canon.html (Sorry, tried to copy and paste the list, but large chunks went missing for some reason.)

This is why I like older SF better than newer. Rambling, offensive – and unbeatable: beam me up, old-school sci-fiNow that science fiction is respectable, it's lost almost all of the conceptual craziness and dubious sexual politics that made it both fanboy bait and of genuine interest Sandra Newman The Guardian Regarded with amusement and disdain … classic-era sci-fi Science-fiction writing used to be the preserve of spotty teenagers and cranks. It was a small, incestuous subculture, regarded by most people with amusement and disdain. Both were sometimes deserved. The culture was plagued by a misogyny so intense it sometimes crossed the line into psychosis. Ther…

Great news for fans of Larry Kramer's groundbreaking 1985 play The Normal Heart! It's finally heading to the (small) screen. Ryan Murphy will direct, Larry Kramer himself is adapting the screenplay and Julia Roberts, Mark Ruffalo, and Matt Bomer are attached to star. Production starts later this year in NYC. The Normal Heart is about the terrifying and tragic early days of HIV-AIDS crisis in New York City. Ruffalo will play Ned Weeks, a gay New Yorker who watches while the mysterious new disease claims so many around him. Roberts plays the paraplegic physician who treats several of the earliest victims. Matt Bomer plays the reporter who becomes Ned’s lover. We can't wa…

"Good afternoon, Mr Amer. Everything is going extremely well. " "Let me put it this way, Mr Amer. The 9000 series is the most reliable computer ever made. No 9000 computer has ever made a mistake or distorted information. We are all, by any practical definition of the words, foolproof and incapable of error. " "Not in the slightest bit. I enjoy working with people. I have a stimulating relationship with Dr Poole and Dr Bowman. My mission responsibilities range over the entire operation of the ship, so I am constantly occupied. I am putting myself to the fullest possible use, which is all, I think, that any conscious entity can ever hope to do. " "Excuse me, Frank. We'v…

Only that, again as ever, Stanley was one of those intellects unparalleled. http://m.youtube.com/watch?v=3c_dOMVXRhw

Gay drama Burning Blue arrives in select theaters and on VOD tomorrow. The film is based on the Off-Broadway play by DMW Greerand centers on two Navy fighter pilots during the “Don’t Ask Don’t Tell” era. So, basically sounds like Brokeback meets Top Gun–which might not be a bad mix at all. Today sees the release of a new preview clip as well as several hot new scene stills featuring stars Trent Ford and Rob Mayes. Some stills from the movie: