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July 20, 2006
Muddy
Sorry for the silence. I was dogsitting Kingsley & Ezra this past week (pictured above frolicking in mud; thanks to David Prior for the photo). The reading/fundraiser went well, although now I'm kind of convinced my book may be too depressing. Now I'm off to Vermont to go camping, believe it or not. I'll report back when I return to Mass (the state, not the church event).
Posted by scottheim at 11:24 PM | Comments (6)
July 12, 2006
Reading: This Sunday
For the first time in a long while, I'm giving a (short) reading, as part of a monthly benefit to help support progressive congressional candidates nationwide. This event will be held in Newton, Mass, at 7pm on July 16, at the Attic / Union Street Bar. I'll probably read a very, very short scene from We Disappear, nothing much, just enough to get a sense of the characters or whatever. You can get advance tickets here or at the door (obviously, the money goes to a good cause--well, unless you're a conservative moron, in which case it would be a rather bad cause). Michael is reading that night as well, as are four other writers--Julia Glass, Pagan Kennedy, Lauren Slater, and Laura Zigman. For more information, see the poster below (click for a larger, easier-to-read size).
Posted by scottheim at 01:44 PM | Comments (1)
July 11, 2006
R.I.P. Syd Barrett
Here's the initial report. I'm going to go lie in bed and listen to The Madcap Laughs.
Posted by scottheim at 09:08 PM | Comments (0)
July 10, 2006
Happy Birthday, Alice Munro
July 10th marks the 75th birthday of the brilliant short-story writer, Alice Munro.
It's currently rumored that her forthcoming-in-November book, THE VIEW FROM CASTLE ROCK (pictured above, next to the photo of lovely, genius Alice herself) may be her last.
The Virginia Quarterly Review's Summer 2006 issue has a new story by Munro. You can't read this story on their online version, unfortunately, but you can read essays included in their "symposium" on her. There are commentaries by writers like Russell Banks and Margaret Atwood and other literary folk.
Let's all celebrate by reading a Munro story, or better yet, an entire Munro book. Michael's sister Linda and her boyfriend Chris just bought us an unbelievably sweet and unbelievably cool housewarming gift of a backyard hammock--so I know the perfect place to take one of my cherished, many-times-read, signed 1st editions of Runaway or Friend of My Youth on this muggy Boston afternoon.
Posted by scottheim at 10:39 AM | Comments (2)
July 08, 2006
Wassup
I absolutely loved, loved, loved Wassup Rockers, the new Larry Clark film. It's beautiful. Go see it.
Posted by scottheim at 09:58 AM | Comments (1)
July 06, 2006
Backtrack: Santa Ana
We've been living in the new house now for two weeks, but I've hardly had time to breathe, so I forgot to report on my time in southern California. The weather was great, and it was blissful seeing my friends Eryk and Bryce. And the Rude Guerrilla production of the Mysterious Skin play (see more info from my blog entry a few weeks back) was snappy, confrontational, sometimes brutal, and all-around well-acted and -directed. I went with my trusty cohort and book-to-stage adapter Prince Gomolvilas and his friend, filmmaker Gabriel Fleming; I was also lucky enough to snag Brady Corbet from his busy schedule, and the four of us Rent-A-Carred to Santa Ana for the show. And here's where I'm going to let Prince take over. The following is an excerpt from Prince's own excellent weblog, and he tells the details of that night much better than I can. First, a little pause for photos of us in the rental car (Prince, Brady) and at our quick pre-show dinner (Gabriel)... okay, now take it, Prince:
"Skin novelist Scott Heim hit town this past weekend, and we made plans to go see the play together last Saturday. As we walked the streets of downtown Glendale, Scott kept thinking that he had been to Glendale before. I assured him that this was not true because people from out of town never end up in Glendale for any reason whatsoever——there's no point. But he insisted. After beer, he shut up about it, and we were on our way.
"We carpooled with my friend Gabriel Fleming, who was celebrating his birthday, and Scott's actor friend Brady Corbet.... Brady has an encyclopedic knowledge of independent and foreign film, and I would describe him as an 80-year-old version of Scott trapped inside the body of a 17-year-old.
"Anyway, the production is pretty great. There's a level of precision that the director and actors bring to the text. Isn't it wonderful when actors actually understand the lines they are saying? It then gives them room to play and discover nuance and depth. I cried three times.
"Scott and I knew that the actors were nervous that we were in the audience, so we had the idea to play a really mean practical joke. Scott was going to stand up at the end of the play and scream, "You decimated my vision!" And I was going to yell, "This is a travesty of justice!" But we couldn't bring ourselves to do it, and we both really did love the show.
"There was a post-play discussion scheduled with the director and actors, and, since Scott and I were around, we were pulled onto stage as well. The word "fisting" was thrown around so many times and so casually out of seemingly demure mouths that both Scott and I were squirming in our seats. Brady later mentioned that we should've started a drinking game, where you would have to take a swig every time someone said "fisting." The whole place would've been drunk. And I would've been on my ninth Shirley Temple."
Oh, that Prince. The photos above help illustrate his story--that's us with some of the actors after the show. (Unfortunately I didn't take all that many decent shots. If you want, you can find more from the production here). The run is over now, sadly--its last night was July 1st. A big thanks to director Dave Barton and everyone in the cast and crew for doing such a fantastic job, and for making us feel welcome while we were there. A totally great bunch of people-- we were sad we couldn't stay longer.
I'll give updates on the house soon, I promise. I'm still trying to unbox everything and decide where I want things and coordinate and compromise with Michael. Tomorrow will be the delivery of our new sofa & chair, and Monday, our washer/dryer. I really need a drink.
Posted by scottheim at 12:19 AM | Comments (1)
