15. The Newsing Dayletters
I come bearing good newsletter!
Yes, my quarterly gospels have entered their Timothy Dalton phase! And if the esoteric titles had anything whatsoever to do with the content of the email, that might mean something.
But I’m in a portmantotally manic mood, so if takes a bit of a far reach to ping pong through various creative domains roaming from chaos to calm and sound to silence… why, with arms wide open, reach far I shall. So… What would James Bond be without his…
1. Weapons – Like Bond’s sexcapades, Weapons is a movie. And that’s about where the similarities end. Because this incredible horror-mystery-comedy-satire is anything but predictable and formulaic as it explores the value of considering varied perspectives when combating inexplicable evil. That kind of reasoning skill could be an incredible weapon in a world where we still struggle to understand the difference between…
2. Facts & Opinions – Too many folks let binary thinking cloud their reality (AGAIN) as they argue that belief in anything from scientific data, moral tenets, or conspiracy theories is a matter of Opinion, and that it therefore must be ‘respected’. Both premises are wrong. A. The difference between Fact and Opinion isn’t quality of evidence or density of denial. The difference is that Opinions fundamentally are subjective. There is NO right answer. B. If your opinion is that Weapons is boring and weapons are fun, why should I respect that? I should respect your right to have that opinion. But the opinion itself, why? And I certainly shouldn’t respect the refusal to acknowledge plain facts or objective logic. So, what’s the solution…
3. Airpods 4 Wireless Earbuds – I’ve long been an airpods fan, in part because nothing made me more irrationally angry (‘opinions’ on evolution included) than headphone wires snagging on doors and being from my earholes untimely ripped. But the new iterations of Apple’s admittedly expensive contribution to the field have really stepped it up with some incredible Noise Cancellation tech. It’s almost TOO good. When you take them off, it’s like getting out of a hot shower into an angry cold world. But they do make music sound amazing, and can also give you some solid silence for high quality…
4. Boredom – OK, it’s cool that we can listen to podcasts while we drive and do chores, and that we can fill a few minutes in the check-out line with intelligent social media discourse. But our victory in the war against boredom came with a cost. That dull tedium was the best petri dish for growing creativity. So I recommend trying to take some time to be deliberately bored. Sit in silence. Or enroll in a dull class. In fact, this is one of the things I talked about recently to…
5. The COOL Cooperative – In addition to all of the other wonderful things this New Orleans based program puts together to teach young people about filmmaking, they invited me to teach a course on Screenwriting. It was a blast, though I did I get carried away writing the informative ‘handout’ to go with the lecture, and now I’ve got a 45 page screenwriting book of my own. Perhaps I’ll publish it to davidxbush.com soon. Or if written materials are against your ‘opinion’, check out…
6. Two Friends Improv – That wasn’t a knock on these folks. They’re incredibly clever and their unwritten off-the-cuff shows at The Actor’s Apothecary (Wed. 11/5) are an absolute blast to watch. In fact, I recently attempted to steal some of their genius by attending a truly incredible class run by brilliant improvvers (that’s how you spell that, right?) Seth & Brandon. It was wonderfully uncomfortable for me, and I’ll absolutely do it again. Speaking of going with the flow…
7. Michalopoulos – You’ve almost certainly seen the vibrant, energic depictions of New Orleans in the artwork of James Michalopoulos. I recently got to see an excellent documentary about him at the NOFF, which highlighted not only his paintings, but also the ways he has contributed to New Orleans creativity through Orleania Art Studios, which has an open house on Friday 11/7. It’s an absolutely insane space that you have to see to believe. Meanwhile another kind of art is coming to life through…
8. Let’s Make a Scene – This newborn collective of locals helping each other turn their short scripts into reality was created by Eliaz Rodriguez and recently had its debut screening at Fish Pot Studios featuring the work of fellow filmmakers C. A. Munn, Lara Hill, and Nicci Wright (ALL poker alumni). This will be a repeating event, so look them up and see how you can play a part. And speaking of play…
9. Animals Out of Paper – is also a play. Weak, I know. Which is sad because this phenomenal piece, penned by Rajiv Joseph is an intricately folded masterpiece that (much to my surprise and delight) explored many of the recursive themes that have made me so obsessed with M.C. Escher. For something much more mundane, but equally compelling, read…
10. The Remains of the Day – Kazuo Ishiguro’s story of an emotionally withdrawn butler coping with a world in which the revered craft of buttling is falling out of practice might sound like the tedious tale of an unrelatable old man, but this riveting book reflects MOST people far more than they’d like to admit, and as such, it’s a wonderful empathy generating machine. And I never would have read it if not for my…
11. Reading Group – It’s overdue for Reading to join Writing and Poker among the groups I publicly praise. I used to think that as an avid reader, I didn’t need such a group to motivate me to revisit the written word. But just knowing that I’m going to have a discussion about what I’ve read makes me pay better attention. And hearing other people’s opinions and interpretations (sometimes the same thing but not always) is wonderful too. The club I’m in has broadened my horizons by picking books represented on the Booker Prize shortlists. And speaking of recommendations and representation, I finally went and got some.
12. Zero Gravity Management – Thanks to recommendations from some very talented friends, I am pleased to report that I now have representation! Namely, manager Tamer Ahsan of Zero Gravity. We’re already working hard to push forward a few projects and I couldn’t be more excited. And yes, this does mean that in the future, if these newsletters are increasingly populated by shameless self-promotion of my projects… Blame him!
See, good news indeed! Which is why I broke the recent trend (no doubt you noticed that the 13th & 14th newsletter lists had 13 & 14 items respectively) and cut this one off at a nice clean dozen. One chapter per Disciple seemed appropriate, since as soon as I hit send, I’m off to don my Jesus (per the Gospel According to White Painters) robes for what will (likely) be my last long-haired Halloween.
Excitingly, Syd is embracing the (holy) spirit of representation and will be rolling alongside me as a VERY different Jesus. The kind that nobody f*cks with. Although that’s just an opinion (but it isn’t), man!
Hit me up any time with some good news of your own.
And Cross your fingers that at some point in the evening the Jesi remember to turn from wine back to water, lest tomorrow we find ourselves struggling to rise again again.
Happy Halloween!
-David X* Bush
*My crooked cross to bear.