Filed by Bil at 7:25 pm under Fightin' Words, Love, Politics, Pop Culture, Religion, The Science
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I read a New York Times Opinion article recently about our human tendency to anthropomorphize machines and assign the badge “Artificial Intelligence” to robots that simply aren’t intelligent. (I suspect he’s referring to articles like this one.) The opinion article is a great read, but it’s kinda long and it seems to conclude in a different place than it starts out, so if I were a high school English teacher, I’d give the essay a B.

At its core, this piece is a warning to us humans not to infuse our technological advancements with religious or philosophical ideologies. And I must say, I completely agree with that statement. My favorite point the author makes is this:

In fact, the nuts and bolts of A.I. research can often be more usefully interpreted without the concept of A.I. at all. For example, I.B.M. scientists recently unveiled a “question answering” machine that is designed to play the TV quiz show “Jeopardy.” Suppose I.B.M. had dispensed with the theatrics, declared it had done Google one better and come up with a new phrase-based search engine. This framing of exactly the same technology would have gained I.B.M.’s team as much (deserved) recognition as the claim of an artificial intelligence, but would also have educated the public about how such a technology might actually be used most effectively.

It punctuates exactly what he’s trying to state before going on to make grander observations about religious wars and the concept of personhood.

However, it did get me thinking – not so much about personhood or religion, but about the meaning of intelligence.
(Keep reading…)

Filed by Bil at 12:03 pm under Pop Culture, Religion, Shameless Plugs, The Arts
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It’s the Monday before the show opens, so you know what that means: FULL ON SHOW PROMOTION MODE!

“Orestes” opens this Thursday down at the Dream Theatre in Pilsen, the Heart of Chicago. “Orestes” completes the Agon Trilogy, which has won Best New Play of 2010 by the Chicago Reader.

Here’s why you should come see it:

1) It takes place in Hell.

In this play, Hell is cold and dark. Forget what you believe about burning fire and torturous machines. Electra finds her way to the black pit in the second act of this show, and there she finds the long suffering of people in their own private sequestered rooms, tortured by themselves and able only to torture Electra once she finds them. This show shows us not the physical pain of Hell, but the mental anguish of loneliness and lost hope.

2) All your questions about Chorus will be answered.

I’m not giving anything else away. You have to be shown by the cast, not told by a blog.

3) The audience matters here.

In this play, moreso than in any other play I’ve experienced (either as an actor or an audience member), the audience are characters. There is a purpose to the actors’ talking to the audience, not for the simple sake of “breaking the 4th wall” or for any kind of shock value. The audience not only has a presence to the characters onstage, but a history. It’s thrilling and it draws you in as completely as possible, and there’s no hokey “audience participation” necessary. (Read: do not shout out occupations for the cast. They will cut you if you do this. Really.) Don’t be fooled by Tryphosia in the lobby before the show, you will actually be scared by the importance you bring as the audience member.

4) Seeing live theatre is awesome.

You can’t get an experience like this staying at home, and you can’t get it at the movies. It’s not expensive, and it’ll make you think things you never thought you’d think. Don’t be shy. Live a little.

Tickets are here:

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 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 10:22 pm under Religion, Shameless Plugs, The Arts
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Danger: the following post is probably really, really boring. The only people who ever seem to care when an actor talks about acting are other actors…and I suspect they aren’t really interested at all, they’re just acting.

Ahem.

Being that I’m rehearsing a silent melodrama right now, I find myself being much more aware of the way I move in my everyday life, especially at work, where my physical body is the closest thing for my mind to drift to (and drift it must, or else the dullness and high stress of work will kill me). So, lately, when I close a case at work, I do so with a distinct click of the mouse and my head held high with pride that one more disaster has been averted.

Yes. My day job has disaster potential.

Recently, while talking with my wife about other things that could be considered disasters, I was reminded of something I learned in college but had sort of forgotten about for a long time: center. It sounds like one of those pretentious actor things, but it’s actually really useful. (For actors.)
(Keep reading…)

Filed by Trevor at 12:05 am under Activism, Humanism, Shameless Plugs, Social Issues
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Rather than carry on the way I normally do and preface this entry with loads of backstory and ancillary details that relate in no way to anything else, I’ll be direct: in just over a month I will begin six months of training for the Chicago AIDS Marathon to be held on October 11th, and along the way I will also be participating in the American Foundation for Suicide Prevention’s Out of the Darkness Overnight Walk. This is hugely out of character for me and I’m absolutely terrified, but paradoxically this is precisely why I have confidence this is the path I need to take.
(Keep reading…)

Filed by Lance at 12:47 pm under Activism, Fightin' Words, GOP, Gay Agenda, General, Politics, Religion, Social Issues
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As a sure sign that we’ve elected the right man for the job, Mr. President-Elect is in hot water with some of his most ardent supporters for doing exactly what we elected him to do… it’s just that he’s not only going to do it with his most ardent supporters.

The lineup for Obama’s inauguration ceremony was announced yesterday, which includes Rick Warren delivering the Invocation. Rick Warren is the pastor of Saddleback [mega-]Church in Lake Forest, California and author of The Purpose Driven Life, which is one of my Mom’s favorites, and which I never finished reading. Warren has been credited with broadening Evangelical’s focus to social issues that aren’t gay marriage and abortion, including AIDS and poverty, which can be like getting a rabid bulldog to recite Milton.

It’s no secret that Warren supported Proposition 8, and is opposed to abortion and stem-cell research, and when the Inauguration committee released the news Warren will pray at No. 44’s Oath of Office, The Human Rights Campaign sent this letter to Mr. President-Elect:
(Keep reading…)

Filed by Bil at 1:41 pm under Damn Hippies, Fightin' Words, GOP, Gay Agenda, Homophobia, Politics, Religion
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Ordinarily I don’t like to just leave a link to a news article without really expanding on it by adding my own thoughts, but I don’t have much time right now and I really wanted to put these out there:

1) Totally Gay Happy Meals/It is the end of the nutball Christian right. Here is your proof. To go

A sharply-written (and delightfully snarky) article about how the Religious Right has lost its power over America because the public has been bored with them for some time now.

2) McCain’s Problem: Not Age, but Condition

An article by Alec Baldwin for the Huffington Post with a very rational and appropriate warning not to alienate our elders by labeling John McCain as simply “old.”

Read and discuss. I’ll be back. (Coming up next – probably – all about the most interesting rehearsal process I have ever experienced, and some shameless personal promotion for the play I’m acting in…)

Filed by Chelsea at 11:21 pm under Catholicism, Religion, Social Issues
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Tonight is the night of Easter Vigil.
The Holiest Night of the Year.
While Christmas may get the most attention and inspire warm fuzzies and gift-giving frenzies all over the world, even in people who have no idea what’s actually being commemorated, Easter is actually the biggest deal in the religious world. Everybody has a birthday. Not everybody rises from the dead.

I’ve just been to a three-hour Easter Vigil mass and I feel great!
I feel enlivened.
I feel I have a clean heart.
(Keep reading…)