Filed by Lance at 11:43 pm under General, Love, Shameless Plugs, The Arts
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I’ve been fortunate enough to have some amazing mentors in my life, and I’m happy to say Lisa Canning is one of them (I don’t know if she likes or knows she’s wearing the name badge of “Lance’s Mentor,” but I’m sticking it on her, anyway). She’s taken my thinking in directions I didn’t know were there, and if I can get my feet out of the mud, the things she teaches have the potential to simply take my life somewhere I’ve always imagined it could go.

(Keep reading…)

Filed by Lance at 5:23 pm under General, Love, Social Issues
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So after the success of our last Hatemail recording on 2/28, I felt inspired to Vlog about it.

Problem was, I felt a little like a zombie, and looked and sounded like one, too.

What to do?
(Keep reading…)

Filed by Lance at 10:41 pm under General, Love, Religion, Stuff to Read, The Arts
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I remember a story told about one of my favorite composers, Arvo Pärt, that when he was just beginning his career, he went to see a monk. He told the monk, “I would like to learn to write prayers, because I think it could help my music.”

The monk said, “No, no. Every prayer has already been written.”
(Keep reading…)

Filed by Bil at 8:01 pm under Love, Pop Culture, Religion, Shameless Plugs, The Media
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I’m gonna say it up front: I have no idea who this blog’s audience is. It is entirely possible that we have NO audience, and that the hit counter is just making shit up so that we don’t fire it.

That being said, I still take it as bad news that teenagers and pre-teens are reading fewer and fewer blogs these days:

Teens Spurn Blogs, Twitter

In light of the fact that it’s going to get harder instead of easier to pull an audience, I think it’s time to ask myself: what do I want from this blog?
(Keep reading…)

Filed by Bil at 12:40 pm under Love, Shameless Plugs, The Arts
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If you haven’t already donated money to help Haiti (or even if you have, but want to donate more), I recommend one of two things:

A) Text the word “HAITI” to 90999. This will give $10 to the Red Cross. The $10 will show up on your cell phone bill. You’ll probably never even notice the $10, but every little bit will help get them through this disaster.

B) Go to the We Can Build An Orphanage homepage (http://wecanbuildanorphanage.com/) and follow the links to donate. This is a charity that was already in the process of building a home for AIDS orphans in Haiti when the earthquake hit.

If you’ve already helped Haiti and are now looking to help yourself, I strongly recommend the INFAMOUS COMMONWEALTH THEATRE’S 5TH ANNUAL 24-HOUR PROJECT going on Saturday night (the 16th) at 8 PM. I will be one of four playwrights on the bill, and Trevor will be one of the musicians. The theme is REDEMPTION, so this will probably make you a better person if you come and watch it.

Saturday, January 16, 8PM
Vittum Theater
1012 N. Noble St

Tickets are $20 (student discount available).
Call 312-458-9780 or email info@infamouscommonwealth.org
for ticket reservations.

Filed by Trevor at 11:25 pm under Activism, Catholicism, Gay Agenda, Humanism, Love, Sex Ed
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This evening I attended Chicago Opera Vanguard’s second annual AIDS Quilt Songbook, which not only functions as a valuable fundraiser for outreach programs in the city, but is also a fantastic exhibition of local composers and performers. To boot, this year’s concert was held at Center on Halsted, which was an even more appropriate venue and didn’t require schlepping down to Hyde Park again. Bonus.
(Keep reading…)

Filed by Bil at 1:25 pm under Damn Hippies, Love, Social Issues
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This World AIDS Day, I called in sick to the office. I don’t have AIDS, I just happen to be under the weather.

While I can’t do much about the syndrome itself, seeing as how I am not a research scientist, I can at least raise awareness and encourage prevention education.

Here’s how I do that:

Please read this article on World Aids Day 2009 from NPR’s news blog, The Two-Way. The article contains a brilliant summation of the current world AIDS situation from UNAIDS executive director Michel Sidibe.

If you’re too lazy to read the article, I’ll reprint the summation here, with some parts in bold (courtesy of me, because I like them):

On this World AIDS Day we are filled with both hope and concern.

Hope because significant progress has been made towards universal access. New HIV infections have dropped. Fewer children are born with HIV. And more than 4 million people are on treatment.

Concern because 28 years into the epidemic the virus continues to make inroads into new populations; stigma and discrimination continue to undermine efforts to turn back the epidemic. The violation of human rights of people living with HIV, women and girls, men who have sex with men, injecting drug users and sex workers must end.
(Keep reading…)

Filed by Bil at 8:56 pm under Fightin' Words, Love
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This music video doesn’t really have anything to do with anything, I just find it enormously entertaining.
(Keep reading…)

Filed by Lance at 11:55 pm under General, Love, Pop Culture, Shameless Plugs, The Arts, The Media
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It’s been a crazy two weeks. Here’s what the program looked like:

1. 4/20, Act I: The Game of Contact and a workshopped performance of The Meaning of Anthology
2. 4/25, Act II: Directing for Theatre of Women IV at Dream Theatre
3. 4/26, Act III: Directing a staged reading of a new play called To Grandfather’s House by Nancy Schaefer at Chicago Dramatists
4. Relaxing Denouement (Be be be be be beep, be be be be be beep.)

(Keep reading…)

Filed by Bil at 11:12 pm under Love, Shameless Plugs, The Arts
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Thanks to all who came out for The Game of Contact, and thanks to all who submitted scripts! You are much loved. Videos of the first half of the evening are up on YouTube…check out the highlights:

I’ll have more to say about both halves of the evening; they were unique and fun and special, but very different. In the near future I will write an article – in the first half of the article, I will gush about the first half of the evening, and in the second half of the article, I will rave about the second half of the evening. To put it as simply as I can, I’m extremely glad I live in Chicago.

Coming up this weekend is Dream Theatre Company’s Theatre of Women 4. All three active members of Tip Your Waiter Productions (Trevor, Lance, and myself) will be participating in one way or another, though none of us – I repeat, none of us – are women.

This particular 24-hour fest sold out rapidly last time, so if you can make it to the performances on Saturday, April 25, you should probably order your tickets now!