Last weekend went swimmingly. Jon's play was awesomely clever; very Oscar Wilde, with lots of references to The Importance of Being Earnest, which I love. And it included a lot of philosophizing on Dadaism and the meaning/definition of art in general, which I wasn't expecting. It was the first time Dadaism was presented to me as anything less than a valid artistic movement involving talented, artistic people, and it was HILARIOUS. One of the main characters' takes on Dadaism was that it was "art" for artists who weren't talented enough to be "real" artists. Here's my favorite bit:
Tzara: Doing the things by which is meant Art is no longer considered the proper concern of the artist. In fact it is frowned upon. Nowadays, an artist is someone who makes art mean the things he does. A man may be an artist by exhibiting his hindquarters. He may be a poet by drawing words out of a hat.
Carr: But that is simply to change the meaning of the word Art.
Tzara: I see I have made myself clear.
Carr: Then you are not actually an artist at all?
Tzara: On the contrary. I have just told you I am.
Carr: But that does not make you an artist. An artist is someone who is gifted in some way that enables him to do something more or less well which can only be done badly or not at all by someone who is not thus gifted. If there is any point in using language at all it is that a word is taken to stand for a particular fact or idea and not for other facts or ideas. I might claim to be able to fly...Lo, I say, I am flying. But you are not propelling yourself about while suspended in the air, someone may point out. Ah no, I reply, that is no longer considered the proper concern of people who can fly. In fact, it is frowned upon. Nowadays, a flyer never leaves the ground and wouldn't know how. I see, says the somewhat baffled interlocutor, so when you say you can fly you are using the word in a purely private sense. I see I have made myself clear, I say. Then, says this chap in some relief, you cannot actually fly after all? On the contrary, I say, I have just told you I can. Don't you see my dear Tristan you are simply asking me to accept that the word Art means whatever you wish it to mean; but I do not accept it.
It was a really, really good play. In addition to the Dadaism debate, we were also entertained with a Wilde-esque romantic mess, discussion of socialism, imperialism, capitalism, etc, and (perhaps most importantly) a communist librarian who stripped down to pasties and panties while dancing around and singing about various political and ideological isms.
So that was Friday. Oh, that, 99 Ranch, and dinner at Souped Up. Where ironically, the soup was the only thing I didn't like. Their mac & cheese is amazing.
Saturday we ran a crap-load of errands and then had a Chinese New Year's Eve "Reunion Dinner" with some of Brett's family (though it wasn't exactly a "reunion," since we see each other all the time), then we all played Balderdash, then everyone but Ali and Corey left around 10pm or so. After that, Scooter (aka Brett) fell asleep in a chair, Corey surfed the net on my computer, and Alison and I got out all of my makeup and skin care stuff and talked about beauty stuff and Sephora for like two hours straight. Then at midnight I opened the windows and doors, popped some fire crackers, scared the crap out of Brett, Ali and I had some pie, and then they went home and I watched lion dances on tv.
Oh, and earlier during cooking Brett started a fire in the kitchen. According to his mom the flames were like two feet high. They put it out with the cover of our wok, which is now black on the inside. Better the wok than the kitchen, though! :) The worst part of it (aside from the mess in Brett's pants) was the burning plastic smell, which we later realized was the bottom of the microwave melting. It's not damaged; the plastic just got a little sticky for a while, but seriously - it COULD'VE been pretty bad. I guess oil got spilled into the burner or something. Oh, and yes, we do have a fire extinguisher, and it's full, and it's right next to the stove. If they felt they really needed it, they could've used that. But it would've been a disgusting mess.
Sunday was the first day of CNY, and we decided not to go to Vancouver since we're so busy, but I forget what all we did...I think we watched part of Mulan, then we went out for a vegetarian feast (which included Buddhist's delight) at Noble Palace, then we watched Mulan 2 (Disney played Asian stuff all day), then we puttered around the house for awhile, and then I took a nap and Brett practiced cello, and we missed most of the Sunday night Fox stuff, which was lame because it was all new, including The Simpsons. :(
This upcoming weekend will probably be pretty similar - Friday night we're having a party for 16 or so of Brett's friends from work, and then Saturday night we're having a party for some of our other friends. Both are potlucks, to cut down on the effort and expense. Sunday I don't think we have plans to do ANYTHING, which will be nice. Maybe we'll watch a little bit of lantern festival business on tv if anything is on, and maybe we'll do something nice for dinner, but that'll probably be it.
Okay, so I guess this post wasn't "quick like a bunny," but I think I still have time to get a lot of stuff done today. Before I go though, I'd like to mention (for those of you who haven't already read about it on "Life of Ai") that Spinshell.tv is now broadcasting videos! I've watched the first episode of "Shoot Me" and I'll be watching the rest later when I have time. I'm also going to check out the rest of their videos as well, because they seem pretty interesting and they're good quality, with good music. Suzy and Maki of Chapter 11 did the theme song for Shoot Me, and I love it. Check it out! :D
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