My brother the home movie clown

I put this together the summer of 1966, house-sitting before grad school at my parents' home in Medford, using dad's home movies. Great fun. But it still feels like Bill was stolen by aliens.

Unblah

Cooking, which always improves my mood. Going to have salmon tacos for dinner! Inspired by the lodge's excellent version.

Blah

In a big funk since Sketch died. 

Strange, strange Internet

Way back in the day, in the early year of the World Wide Web, I was commissioned to write a book about the new digital environment, which I called SECRETS OF THE WEBMASTERS, a book about how to set up a web page. I had put up the first website for Screenwriters and Playwrights, after all, and at the time was ahead of the curve. I wrote the book but the publisher went under before it got published. Nonetheless, it had an ISBN number and early marketing efforts, so there is online evidence that it existed, although never published.

But I just found this:

Top download audio book Secrets of the Webmasters in Spanish PDF DJVU FB2 by Charles Deemer 0945264208

Very weird! I had to join something to download and didn't but what the hell? Well, the manuscript did exist, so this is possible, I suppose, but man is it weird! Moreover, the book is about html 1.0, so it was obsolete a year after I wrote it! This, if it exists, is an historical relic.

Of course, I never got royalties but I did get, and I kept, my generous advance. When was this? The early 1990s, I think.

Hot off the press

The Last Song of Violeta Parra, my one act hyperdrama selected for "the canon of first generation hypertext," my best known work internationally. Now in paperback! Of course, it also is online, free, and much easier to read there, but this will give it additional exposure.

What Prof. Ensslin wrote about it.

Too late?

Today's headline.

As UN Climate Chief Urges Immediate Action to Save Planet, Extinction Rebellion's New Book Gets Rushed to Press

Read it. 

Anybody actually CARE? It's like watching slow motion extinction.

A new rhythm

Everything, EVERYTHING, is different without Sketch at my side. A very difficult transition,.

Harriet wants to get another dog. I don't. I suggest she gets a cat.

Reflections on the design of a hypertheater

I’ve written seven produced hyperdramas, and each has been performed in a real space, on what would be called “a location” instead of “a set.” But what if a theater company wanted to specialize in the productions of hyperdrama? Would they have to find and rent an appropriate location for each new work? What would the design of their performance space look like if they produced all their hyperdramas “in house”?

  I’ve given these questions considerable thought over the years without much satisfaction. This morning, however, I awoke with the design of a “hypertheater” in my head. If I were younger, I would jump on this because I think it will work. Instead I put down my thoughts for the possible inspiration of younger theater artists.

Read it. 

Grief

I feel more gut-wrenching grief from the passing of Sketch than I felt for the passing of my parents, my brother, or my best friend. The dog was a constant companion for almost everything I did for over 17 years.

Memorial

The runner

In his youth, Sketch loved to run. Check it out.

New morning

For almost 18 years I've started my morning by tending to Sketch, usually having been woken by him. This morning, no dog. Different. Sad. Empty. A very silent house.

Sad sad day

A best friend gone. Peaceful exit.

Last photo

Sketch died in Harriet's arms at home.

Sketch

Loved his blanket!

Loved my nose!

Loved just hanging out!

R.I.P. Sketch 2001-2019

Realities

1. After the Mariners historic start, the Astros came to town and swept them in 3 games. The fantasy is over. The real challenge begins.

2. Signs that Sketch, our 18 year old rat terrier, is on his last legs.

3. Have an idea that may FINALLY give me a sense of wrapping up my writing career. A tangible, end of the road symbol of sorts. More later, perhaps.

4. Hangin' in like Gunga Din, still.

Perspective

Harriet and I live a charmed life. I don't have to look around much to realize this. We complain, of course, but complaints reduce to concerns of ego and fantasy. Man, life could be so much worse for us, so I celebrate our good fortune.

And bitch in between ha ha.

A surprise!

We saw our tax guy Tuesday. He filed electronically. Today BOTH state and federal refunds showed up in our bank account. This must be a record for IRS efficiency.

The Mariners needed a miracle to beat the Royals. They got it, and return home 13-2, sweep in hand.

What a start! I was pissed when management traded away so many starters and icons, but maybe they know what they're doing. But it's a very long season. Still, what fun to root for the best team in baseball at the moment!

Bill McKibben on our future

The respectable have punted; so now it’s up to the scruffy, the young, the marginal, the angry to do the necessary work. Their discipline and good humor and profound nonviolence are remarkable, from Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez to Greta Thunberg. They are what’s left of our fighting chance.

Read the article. 

Taxes

A very good day, meeting with our tax accountant and submitting our returns. Unlike others, we have no negative consequence of new laws. Same accountant for 18 years.

Researchers Warn Arctic Has Entered 'Unprecedented State' That Threatens Global Climate Stability

"Never have so many Arctic indicators been brought together in a single paper." And the findings spell trouble for the entire planet.

by

Jon Queally, staff writer

Read it and weep. 

In development

Finally publishing the work that made my international reputation. Not easy fitting hypertext into the linear package of a book! Grunt work and more grunt work. I only do it in order to make this more accessible. I suppose it's the closest thing I have to a "claim to fame," being in the canon, one of eight international works so chosen. Nothing like being esoteric ha ha. But fits for a teenager who kept a math journal instead of chasing girls. At 80, no regrets!

2 days, 2 deaths

Family, friend. The environment of old age.

Sad Laughter

This play, based on the relationship between Moliere and the king, provided a rare experience in my career. It was commissioned by the New Rose Theatre, where I was resident playwright. I wrote most of it in Bend, where I was house-sitting, in the early 1980s.

The first bump in the road was that I became more interested in another new play. This was the Rajneesh era in Oregon, the Bhagwan was on a vow of silence, and instead of working on the commission I took a side trip and wrote Christmas at the Juniper Tavern. My artistic director was furious! But I assured him I would meet my deadline, and I did. And JT became my biggest hit.

But I was not happy with the Moliere play, at that time called The Comedian In Spite of Himself (the director's title). It was three acts and sprawling. The artistic director loved it, but not I. I wanted to withdraw it. We reached a compromise: I continued to rewrite (read, cut) during the run! This is extraordinary. Of course, the actors hated it: every Monday they got new pages throughout the six week run. By the end, I'd cut a half hour from the play. It was a success but I still thought it was too long.

My deal was that the theater got a percentage of future royalties for the first five years of the play's post-premier life. So I shelved it! I forgot about it. I found it cleaning my office over a decade later.

This time I rewrote it as Sad Laughter, a TWO act play. I loved it. I directed it myself at a staged reading at a college and polished it.

Later I turned it into a screenplay. My agent at the time said it was the best screenplay he'd ever read. But he couldn't sell it. (From a screenwriter in the documentary Tales From the Script: "The biggest myth in Hollywood is that the script is everything. The script is nothing. What matters are attachments.")

Here are the play and screenplay, published in paperback:

The play:

THE CAST:

Moliere, the great French playwright

Armande, his young wife, an actress

Madeleine, his former mistress, an actress

La Grange, Moliere's friend and an actor, the narrator, who plays many roles

THE SET:

A unit set, for quick changes of place.

THE TIME AND PLACE:

Paris and elsewhere, 1658-1673

(Excerpts from Moliere's work in verse translations by Richard Wilbur. Used with permission. Adaptations from Moliere's work in prose by Charles Deemer.)

(ACTOR'S NOTE: Moliere has a slight stutter when he is upset. This is only occasionally noted in the text but the actor should be aware of this and use it to effect.)

ACT ONE

prologue/

(A DARK STAGE: and we hear the voice of LA GRANGE in the darkness:)

LA GRANGE (V.O.): In darkness is the proper place to start

Our play, for darkness holds the human heart

In profound mystery. Who can look

Into the heart of man and find the hook

On which to hang a life? —Naked, stark:

A piece of meat called man. But the mark

Of man is not so easily drawn.

(And a SPOT comes up on LA GRANGE on stage, as narrator.)

LA GRANGE: —Moliere:

Jean-Baptiste Poquelin, my friend: but where

To start? He suffered, yes; so do we all.

He laughed. He . . . laughed. I think he'd be appalled

To hear me say he cried. I saw him once

And, catching him, I saw him play the dunce

He knew so well on stage. It was as if

No pain, no grief, no agony or rift

Was worth a tear except to shed on stage

For all to see, in this way to assuage

What, privately, he could not share. This man

I loved, who taught me all I understand

About the stage, I hardly knew. Begin

In darkness, then:

(And the LIGHTS begin a SLOW FADE:)

LA GRANGE: What clarity we win

Will rise between the darkness we see now

And the certain night that gets us anyhow.

(It is DARK.)

LA GRANGE (V.O.): Begin in darkness:

sixteen sixty-three:

In Paris, two players rehearse a scene.

1/ at the theater

(THE LIGHTS RISE ON ARMANDE AND MADELEINE, who are rehearsing the opening scene from "The Critique of the School for Wives." ARMANDE is six months

pregnant.)

MADELEINE: "Cousin, has no one called on you?"

ARMANDE: "Not a soul."

MADELEINE: "Then we've both been alone all day — which surprises me."

ARMANDE: "I'm surprised as well. Ordinarily all the court loafers would be dropping by your house."

MADELEINE: "I miss them; it's made the afternoon very long."

(LA GRANGE quickly enters. He is visibly upset about something.)

LA GRANGE: Where's Jean?

ARMANDE: Isn't he at his desk?

LA GRANGE: He wasn't a moment ago.

MADELEINE: Is something the matter?

LA GRANGE: The Hotel players are starting to play dirty.

MORE

The screenplay:

FADE IN:

SUPER

"Paris, 1663"

EXT. PARIS - STREET - DAY

A chaotic mass of humanity and animals that makes even a contemporary rush hour look like order itself.

A gutter of filthy water runs down the center of the street, not along the sides.

PARISIANS move through the streets in all directions. They have to dodge CARRIAGES, WAGONS and CARTS, as well as DONKEYS, MULES, HORSES, DOGS and other animals.

STREET PEDDLERS are everywhere, selling vegetables and pastries, needles and barrels, water and brandy.

A covered wagon pulled by a mule moves slowly down the street. At the reins is WAGNER.

MICHEL BARON, 15, sees the wagon and calls out.

MICHEL BARON: Herr Wagner!

He runs to the wagon.

MICHEL BARON (CONT'D): I'll do it!

WAGNER: It didn't take you long to decide.

MICHEL BARON: I want to be an actor. At least this is a start.

INT. BISTRO - DAY

A crowded watering hole and meeting place for the men of Paris.

MONTFLEURY, 30s, sits at a table with PRINCE DE CONTI, 40s. They speak in hushed tones.

PRINCE DE CONTI: You will, of course, exercise the greatest precaution. No one is to trace this back to us.

MONTFLEURY: I understand. I'll get right on it.

PRINCE DE CONTI: Finish your brandy. There's no rush.

Montfleury drinks.

PRINCE DE CONTI (CONT'D): Montfleury, what do you expect to come of all this?

The question takes him by surprise.

MONTFLEURY: In a more enlightened time than ours, Moliere would be burned at the stake.

MORE

The stage play has one of my favorite endings:

ARMANDE: A priest will see me right after he's buried.

LA GRANGE: Good.

ARMANDE: Do you think it could be true?

LA GRANGE: The genius of Pascal's Wager is that it covers all bets.

ARMANDE: He was tormented by the possibility, wasn't he?

LA GRANGE: Perhaps. He was a hard man to know very well. I loved him but I never really understood him.

ARMANDE: "All it takes is a ticket to my play to know me."

LA GRANGE: "Plays don't write themselves."

(A beat.)

ARMANDE: I'm going to revive "Tartuffe."

LA GRANGE: Really?

ARMANDE: You under-studied Orgon. If we get right to work, we could have it up in a week. Jean wouldn't want the theater to go dark.

LA GRANGE: No, he wouldn't. "Busy, busy."

ARMANDE: Then you'll do it?

LA GRANGE: I have no choice — Pascal's Wager, you know? I'll let you have a moment alone . . .

ARMANDE: No — I've had quite enough time alone.

(They exit.)

(LIGHTS INTENSIFY on the casket.)

(Then LIGHTS BEGIN SLOW FADE as we hear:)

LA GRANGE (V.O.): End

In darkness, then: what clarity we win

Will rise between the darkness we see now

And the certain night that gets us anyhow.

End in darkness, then . . .

(LIGHTS continue to FADE: until SUDDENLY: A SHOCKING CHANGE OF FOCUS:)

(LIGHTS UP on MOLIERE, as he rises up out of the casket.)

28/ epilogue

MOLIERE: Shed no tears! You rot in one grave as another;

If you don't believe that, don't ever have a mother.

The luck that gets us all got me—

Though I'm better off than most, you must agree.

Consider this: though I am dust, you're glad to pay

Right through the nose to see my plays!

Without me, Montfleury's just a name;

Because of me, he has a kind of fame.

The Archbishop of Paris is no concern of yours

Except for me — I give him the notoriety he deserves.

In other words, why shed a tear for me?

My plays live on until eternity!

Oh, I know — in your age the time is getting short,

Everywhere there's war, famine, a great environmental wart.

Yet you insist your own age is unique:

"Never has civilization reached such a peak!"

But I question this wisdom found on TV and in "Forbes,"

Though maybe that's presumptuous, coming from a corpse.

Still, I don't see our times as different, I confess,

Since in your age, as in mine, it's all a mess.

Though you've reached the moon, discovered strange galactic gasses,

Three hundred years later, the world's still full of asses!

(LA GRANGE enters.)

LA GRANGE: So we hope we've moved you and given you a little fun; In truth,—

MOLIERE & LA GRANGE: — there's not a damn thing new beneath the sun.

(MUSIC FANFARE AND CURTAIN CALL: THE PLAY IS OVER.)

This monologue got published in the annual Best Monologues anthology.

New Mexico Replaces Columbus Day With Indigenous Peoples’ Day

Read about it.

Humans march on

A headline: NASA announces designs for homes on Mars.

Well, getting prepared to flee our ruined planet, go ruin someplace else. Read the story.

Education

The key to fixing everything! Graduate students who become citizens who can think straight and have common sense. But our educational systems have been in shambles for a long time.

Kamala Harris wants to do something about it. She's made education reform a major concern in her campaign for president. Her reasoning is perfect: much of the 2016 election was determined by ignorance! Great to hear a politician say that at last.

The late great Oregon senator Wayne Morse considered himself the education senator. When I wrote my one man play about him, I concluded with a speech that must have Morse squirming in his grave to see what has happened since his death:

 MORSE

            So if you asked me, Wayne Morse, name

            the one thing in our country that you

            think will do more to strengthen

            American foreign policy in the next

            half century, you might be surprised

            at my reply. I would say, Do something

            to protect the educational standard of

            American boys and girls.  Do something

            to protect American brain power. 

            Because the only sure and lasting

            defense of peace is a highly educated

            and enlightened citizenry.

Headline ha ha ha

Former Federal Prosecutor On Mueller: Never Took Me 400 Pages To Say ‘Nothing’s Wrong’

Read it.

The capitalist takeover of higher education

As our most trusted universities continue to privatize large swaths of their academic programs, their fundamental nature will be changed in ways that are hard to reverse. The race for profits will grow more heated, and the social goal of higher education will seem even more like an abstraction.

Read the article. 

Ramblin': the songs and stories of Woody Guthrie

Check it out.

Jim Wylie & Charles Deemer