WA Goes Acrostic

 

What difference will it make if

Our time is all devoted to

Reading, writing, and reviewing

Loving literature and thinking

Despite the scary roughness of our lives

 

Although it may sound like killing time

Unpaid in bucks, unpromising

Don’t miss to see the beauty it creates

Illumining our thought and understanding

Enhancing our self-esteem and image

No millions could ever buy us

Come here on the board of pen and ink

Enjoy the amazing ride of words

 

Fun-to-Do Exercise: Read the first letter of each line in both stanzas to bottom and see what you get. Sounds familiar?   

My writer friend Leonore Dvorkin, who lives in Colorado, makes intelligent use of her spare time (and remember she is a very busy woman who does a number of jobs daily) by penning down haikus-pointing to important issues and raising significant questions about our lives and our place in the world. Here is one that I picked for sharing with readers on this forum (with Leonore’s permission of course). It’s called Down the Drain.   

Tell me.
Where is that dark, cold hole
that swallows the world's
bright hopes and dreams?

Soon after I got this haiku, Leonore sent another one that was equally intelligent and very much appealing to the metaphorical spirit of our literary tastes. The second haiku is titled Tiny Toy Teddy and it follows along with Leonore’s brief message that explains what sparked the creation of this piece.

 
There in the gutter:
dropped,
wet,
muddy
and forgotten
... but still smiling!

Leonore wrote: ‘On a cold, damp morning in early April, when we were hurrying along on our way to the bus stop, we saw this tiny little gray-blue teddy bear in the gutter.  In one of the houses very near there, a woman runs a day-care center.  We assume that one of the little kids must have dropped him.  He seemed a sort of metaphor for bravery and good cheer in the face of adversity.’
 
Do share your thoughts and haikus (I’d love to get more from literature lovers) as they are just like small stars that appear like diamonds in the night sky. As for Leonore, visit her site www.dvorkin.com to enjoy more of her wisdom. 

Ernest Dempsey

The longevity is remarkable. It is a living example of niche marketing at its best.  

I remember playing the board game for the first time twenty years ago after receiving it on my ninth birthday. Back then I found it quite funny….  But now, after picking up the March 2008 issue (issue #487), I am astounded at how little has changed, but it still remains humorous the cheesy kind of way. Have you guessed which publication I’m referring to?  I’m talking about MAD Magazine.

I can’t say that I’ve ever witnessed many purchases of their brand products (either books or magazines); but to have stayed in business since their first issue of October/November 1952, they must have been enjoying some degree of economic success.

On the surface, the recent issue appears to be much like the ones I remembered as a kid—the same cast of characters led by Alfred E. Neumann, the token Spy vs. Spy comic, and some clever satire of both celebrities and pop-culture. Newer contents include excerpts from an Internet blog, and marketing of their madmag.com website. One feature that had escaped me as a kid, or perhaps had just forgotten, is the impressive quality of the comic artwork. Aside from this positive attribute, I found some other thought-provoking elements in MAD when looking at it on a deeper level (yes, there really is a deeper level to MAD if you really want to see it).

First, there are relatively few “real” advertisements in MAD, although there are many parody ads. I found this surprising, in light of their relatively low cover price of $5.99 Canadian for the fifty-page issue. Compared to serious ad-heavy, special interest magazines of similar price, I’m curious as to how MAD’s sales and profit figures are maintained despite (speculatively) lower advertising revenue. To make this even more noteworthy, is that content of the ads (mostly video games) appear to target a lower income clientele of adolescents and younger adults. The age range of the Letters to the Editor authors seems to confirm this.

Secondly, MAD is clearly not a new fad, or even a resurrected throwback trend like vintage sports jerseys or ‘80s fashion statements’.  It has maintained a certain comic appeal for over five decades, while countless other entertainment trends have come and gone. What is their MAD business secret? 

Thirdly, a few quick inquiries in my local comic shops revealed that issues of MAD Magazine have not been regularly stocked items for years. MAD seems to appear more in newsstands and larger bookstores that carry a vaster array of periodicals. Does this mean that the MAD market has shifted to the “mainstream”?

Finally…how does MAD continue to obtain their content?  Look at the magazine credits under Contributing Artists and Writers—“the usual gang of idiots”.  I’m not sure about idiots—perhaps just mad genius.

About Howard Wu: Howard Wu is a Canadian entrepreneur, whose writing interests are primarily off-beat research material. His most recent anthology is Random Thoughts, published by Trafford Publishing. It can be found online at www.trafford.com/4dcgi/robots/07-2847.html.

* MAD Magazine exists online at http://www.dccomics.com/mad/.

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE 

World Audience Publishers is proud to announce publication of

GERTRUDE STEIN DAYTON & OTHER PLAYS

by Louis Phillips

 
                   This collection of one-acts is the 3^rd book by Mr. Phillips to be published by World Audience. The other two books are THE AUDIENCE BOOK OF THEATRE QUOTATIONS (now in its 2^nd edition) and another collection of one-act plays – THE DEATH OF THE SIAMESE TWINS & OTHER PLAYS.

 

                    Louis Phillips, a widely published poet, playwright, and short story writer has written some 35 books for children and adults. Among his works are: two collections of short stories-- A DREAM OF COUNTRIES WHERE NO ONE DARE LIVE (SMU Press)

And THE BUS TO THE MOON (Fort Schuyler Press; HOT CORNER, a collection of his baseball writings, and R.I. P. ( a sequence of poems about Rip Van Winkle) from Livingston Press; THE ENVOI MESSAGES, and THE LAST OF THE MARX BROTHERS’ WRITERS, full-length plays,(Broadway Play Publishers  His books for children include: THE MAN WHO STOLE THE ATLANTIC OCEAN (Prentice Hall & Camelot Books), THE MILLION DOLLAR POTATO (Simon and Schuster), and HOW TO WRESTLE AN ALLIGATOR (Avon Publishers).

 

         Mr. Phillips’ plays have been performed Off-Broadway at the Colonnades Theatre Lab, and In SUCH REGIONAL THEATERS AS INDIANA REP and THE OLD GLOBE THEATRE (San Diego). His one-act plays have been published by such literary journals as THE CHICAGO REVIEW, THE MASSACHUSETTS REVIEW, AUDIENCE, ATHALON, THE DISTILLERY, and THE GEORGIA REVIEW.

 

 

     The books published by World Audience are available from www.amazon.com and www.bn.com and other online bookstores. Or Order by phone 646-620-7406, or by mail from:

               

 

               WORLD AUDIENCE

               303 Park Avenue SOUTH

               #1440

               New York, New York, 10010

 

 

The Audiece book of Theatre Quotations –

       ISBN 978-1-934209-28-8

 

THE DEATH OF THE SIAMESE TWINS AND OTHER PLAYS

       ISBN  978-1-934209-30-1

 

GERTRUDE STEIN IN DAYTON AND OTHER PLAYS

       ISBN   978-1-934209-68-4

                   

Read about World Audience's new books:

http://www.worldaudience.org/whatsnew.html

NEWS RELEASE

WORLD AUDIENCE, INC.
www.worldaudience.org
303 Park Avenue South, Suite 1440
New York, NY 10010-3657
Phone (646) 620-7406 Fax (646) 620-7406

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

For more information contact CEO M. Stefan Strozier Strozier@worldaudience.org or worldaudience@gmail.com

THEATERS AND THEATER COMPANIES OF NEW YORK

BY M. STEFAN STROZIER & ANTHONY RUBINO JR.

Everything you ever wanted to find out about New York theater, with detailed information and wonderful, original pictures on every page, is here in this excellent guide!

World Audience Publishers introduces Theaters and Theater Companies of New York, A Backstage Pass to Theaters and Theater Companies (http://www.worldaudience.org/pubs_bks/Guide_Theater.html). This book features in-depth descriptions of famous theaters in New York, as well as prominent theater companies operating in New York. Written in a lively and humorous way, this book takes a critical eye at the theater industry in general, and makes sure that the theatergoer, and his or her best interests are fairly represented.

Only $16.99 retail price, Theaters and Theater Companies of New York is available: www.amazon.com, www.bn.com, www.worldaudience.org, as well as bookstores and in the New York theater district. It features original photographs taken and arranged by the authors, fascinating facts, inside information about the New York Theater Community, and much, much more.

current mood: cheerful
current music: French Classical

Reviewing a Submission:

Members post as many works as they wish. In order for a work to be considered for the ezine, however, a) members have to review three other works first; b) members can have no more than 3 works considered for each issue of the ezine; and, c) 3 or fewer works members choose, for consideration, have to receive at least 3 reviews, from different artists. We operate on the honor system. It is up to members to keep track of their reviews, to make sure they are reviewing other members’ works. The bottom line is this: For every work a member wants to submit to the ezine, the member must post three reviews first. The artists, whose works are included in the ezine, are paid an amount set by the board of directors, who are also members. The board is excluded from including their own works in the ezine. When the board creates the ezine, they consult a listing of all scores, from all members’ rated works.

Please utilize this numeric rating system in your comment when reviewing a submission:
1-5; Lowest to Highest

• Overall scope and originality
• Level of craft (dialogue, transition, context, characters)
• Development still required (how much editing is needed)
• Focus and potential (how clear is the work, and relevant)

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Carry on...

current mood: awake

( Read more... )

current mood: weird
current music: Unknown Piano

Spring

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current mood: bitchy
current music: Mozart

The Tempter’s Dove

Chula Cobo arrived in Tampa on a warm winter day. She carried one old bag made of Llama skin. She was different; like a snow drift in the desert, and she came unexpectedly.
( Read more... )
Every Saturday night, a fat dark haired man entered the store to buy a cigar. He drove a shiny black car and smelled of evil.
His eyes were faithless holes of trouble and there was no redemption in his body.
Chula had seen thieves in the mountains of Peru. Soulless cut throats out for misery; they stalked in the dark and lived short lives.

He came in late one night smelling of liquor. The owner had left Chula by herself for the day.
“Are you afraid?” he asked, slithering along the counter and lighting a cigar. The corners of his mouth curled as he smiled behind the green smoke.
Chula closed the register drawer and backed away.

She was not afraid.

“Getting dark out isn’t it?” he said, turning his head and looking out the window. Chula looked down at his waist and saw the handle of a pistol.
“Cierren la puerta,” slurred the bloated man.
She moved like an expert fawn; locking the door and turning the sign to “closed.”
He was dizzy from the scotch roiling through his veins. He sucked on the end of his cigar and studied her; rocking in his silk slippers.
He tapped the handle of the pistol with the tips of his fingers and moved toward her.
Chula stood and listened to her heart; he was afraid beneath his frock; a village dog that stole scraps from the weak.
He felt the calm of her cool breath on his chest; he smelled its clover as he touched her breasts. Her eyes locked on his as he struggled with the waistband of her slacks; forcing a hand between her legs.

She gasped.

She was outside of herself as his fingers entered her.

“You like the lord?” he asked, and he leaned in and kissed her, but Chula was not there. She was watching from above, detached from resistance.
He ripped his hand from her.
“You’re cold as a witch,” he said; his face a strange contort, and Chula returned.

He knew.

She moved toward the door and unlocked it. Chula turned the sign around and raised the shade. She walked back toward him, he shivered and swallowed a burp. He coughed once as the door slammed behind him, out into the night he went. He vomited. She listened to the car start; the headlights glared at her and she smiled.
He was a grain of sand beneath her feet.

Chula was a dove for the devil, the absolute perfect flower.
Evil had come to Tampa Bay.

current mood: awake