Visitors

Monday, July 31, 2017

Sam Shepard dies

Dear Universe.. 
I asked nicely for a break.. Evidently, you have your own agenda.  Sam Shepard was an icon. Period.  I understood that he spent time with The Company Theatre, but that would have been before my time.  The Magic Theatre up in San Francisco produced his Fool for Love with Kathy Baker and Ed Harris, contemporaries.. of an age.. A time of innocence and a time of promises.. to coin a phrase. 

We play six degrees from time to time and Sam was in a movie that I am one step away from.  One degree.  I've seen his plays well done and mangled. Hopefully, now that he's gone, there may be some productions or readings to remind us that grit and simplicity in language and in character hold up.  I have some of his poems here.. they are under something.  I'll find them.  

When contemporaries die.. Michael Johnson.. Sam..  and older folks.. June and Wally..  It's just nature's way of reminding us to tell friends we love them, I guess.  

Whom did you tell today? 

If you are reading this, I love you. 

I hope we never "rest in peace" or otherwise just give in to death.  If there's more to do, I hope we do it and have some fun. 

The last day of July, 2017
michaelsheehan

Thursday, July 27, 2017

MJ and June

Oh boy.. Death..  

It's so final..  all the stuff going on that I've railed about with crapotus and the Boy Scouts takes a back seat to sadness when people who have been important in our lives die.  Friends die.

June Foray was almost a hundred and her health had been slipping with time.  Her friend, David Nimitz was there for her day and night, a comfort. Ninety nine.. and counting.. she'd have made it to a hundred in a few weeks.  She was a pistol.  She listened.  Not all of our friends listen..  Her fame as a voice artist in the hey day of Daws Butler, Stan Freberg and Mel Blanc is legendary.  I was fortunate to be on the edges of all of that.  So long, June.

Michael Johnson was a Colorado guy.  I met him in college and had him on a radio show I hosted on KYOU 1450 AM in Greeley, Colorado.  It was clear that this eighteen year old kid had something special. He was a double music major at Colorado State College and well on his way.  We touched base from time to time after college and I worked with his brother, Paul, in Denver for a short time. In 1966 we connected again in Barcelona where he showed us the city and we spent a day getting really sunburned on the Costa Brava.  

So.. Michael is gone.  His music is all over the net and his early albums are on CD.  His early folkie work still sticks with me, though he moved on into country and some crossover stuff later.  This is one of his old tunes that presents some basic philosophy..  

Rooty Toot Toot For the Moon! 
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bYttaL_AHLw&list=RDbYttaL_AHLw

He covered "You Have to be Carefully Taught" from South Pacific in a short simple riff.  He played his own composition "Hills" the first time he appeared on The Other Side of Day on KYOU.  The guy was gentle and kind and I am so sorry that I didn't find time to track him down to just chat one more time.  The world is better for his having been in it.  

Ditto for the amazing talent of June Foray. MJ's gone too soon and June.. she was in it to the end. 

Thanks to the fates for drawing me into the sparkling circles of these two amazing talents.

Michael Sheehan
July 27, 2017
Glendale, CA 

Tuesday, July 25, 2017

HELL TO THE CHEF?

The idea that Hail to the Chief is played to announce the 45th president makes me cringe.  The dignity and solemnity of the office deserves respect. This man has no respect. If I was to write a play right now, it would start with a big fat orange peacock coming out of a bathroom having wiped his behind on the American flag.  Laughing. Where is the San Francisco Mime Troupe when we need them???

I just spoke with a staffer at The Summit, the now permanent site for the Boy Scouts of America National Jamboree held every four years.  He was flustered, but professional, deferring all remarks and questions regarding the president's speech to the over 40,000 scouts and staff who were in attendance yesterday, July 24, 2017.  I've not read the text of the president's speech, but understand that this man got the assembled crowd to 'boo' President Obama and cheer for other things that had nothing to do with encouraging the Scouts to become good citizens.  One comment I read used the terms "self congratulatory and jingoistic..." Not a surprise.

I encourage every person who may come upon this short blurb of mine to do three things: 
 
1.  Write an email to the Public Relations folks for the BSA:  PR@scouting.org   If you feel that the president completely overstepped good taste by his rude comments, ask the BSA to issue a comment that speaks to this issue.

2.  Write a snail mail to the BSA with expanded comments demanding that this issue be addressed publicly. No one at the phone number knew the name of the Chief Scout Executive!  So.. that title may suffice: UPDATE.. HERE IS THE NAME AND ADDRESS OF THE CEO OF NATIONAL BOY SCOUTS OF AMERICA:

Michael B. Surbaugh, CEO
Boy Scouts of America.  
1325 Walnut Hill Lane
P.O. Box 152079. 
Irving, Texas 75015-2079  

3.   Take time to give them a call to ask if they knew that the president would go off as he did and ask for them to issues a statement: 
972 580 2000    

They are inundated by calls and have a recorded response that answers no questions.  Ask to speak with a person and you'll be directed to a press '7' option for information.  
Don't do that.  
The best that can be done is to leave a message. Wait for recorded instructions to do that.  

I learned from the person I spoke with at The Summit site that the president's 45 car motorcade and the fly over by Air Force One was impressive to the kids on the ground.  I just hope that these scouts will understand that being manipulated by this person is a deliberate trick that may turn the BSA into some frightening version of Hitler Youth and it must be stopped. Right Now!  Please copy and post to friends or share this link.  Did you know that the US President is the honorary president of the BSA!  That should change immediately! What do you think?

After seeing a stunning performance of "Building the Wall" on Sunday and hearing it's sickening prophesy, I hope that this call to attention may be shared with at least one other person.  

http://onstagelosangeles.blogspot.com/2017/07/building-wall-extended-at-fountain.html 
Copy and paste to read my review. 

Let's do something!
Michael Sheehan
July 25, 2017

Since posting this call to action, I have composed the following letter to Mr. Surbaugh and encourage you to use appropriate elements and send him a snail mail or an email.  Guessing at his email address: Michael.Surbaugh@scouting.org or MichaelB.Surbaugh@scouting.org or some variation.  If I puzzle it out, I'll correct this information.  Here's letter that goes out in the US Post today:  I don't know why I can't fix the size of the text.  Copy and paste it into an email or snail mail and it should bump up? 


Dear Mr. Surbaugh:

I learned to be respectful as a Boy Scout in Greeley, Colorado and I'm grateful for it. Hopefully, your National Boy Scouts of America organization will find a way to respond in a respectful but shocked way to the debacle that happened yesterday.  You and I both know that kids the age of the boys attending the National Jamboree are impressionable, as were the kids in Germany in the thirties.  Hitler Youth.  

I hope that you are as appalled as I am regarding the president’s very un-presidential speech and that you will find a way to distance yourself from this 'honorary president’ of the BSA.  I'd say it was time for that office to be revoked.  An early impeachment?! If the BSA is not political, then bestowing this honor on a politician is inconsistent with being non-political.  I am embarrassed for you.

Crowd mentality, especially thirty thousand boys at a very critical age, is a powerful thing. It is imperative that we teach our children to think critically and to discuss what happened.  Of course, I am partisan and feeling abject fear as each day unfolds regarding this man.  How are you feeling?  Off the record.

Let us never permit our children to be manipulated the way this event may have changed their lives. Let's say something.  Please let the nation know that the Boy Scouts of America does not ratify nor condone disrespectful remarks by anyone about others.  Hopefully, you will make a public statement on behalf of Scouting that in its pure form follows the Scout Oath and our Scout Law. “Courteous” may be the by word as we see this president make virtually obscene and disparaging remarks about his imagined enemies almost every single day.  Speak out. Please.

            Sincerely,

 
 

Wednesday, July 12, 2017

GIVE ME A BREAK!

DEATH..    
Man.. so.. Wally dies and it's a blessing, I guess.. No more suffering.. And, the genius designer/mentor/professor, Herb Camburn, whom I only knew slightly.. and he had been ill and it was time.. but 

Out of the blue.. a director I met years ago whom I admired and was complimented by, Andy Doe, from UC Santa Cruz.. a guy steeped in Theatre and a champion of artists bit the dust.  

And, then.. the major shock.. a true genius and avant garde director whose work challenged every aspect of what the theatre is really about.. The cutting edge and the 'stuff'.. Steven Kent.. gone.  In the late  sixties Steve fell in with a rowdy bunch of recent deportees from USC and Cal State LA to form The Company Theatre.  Along with William Dennis Hunt.. Bill. and a handful of energetic kids they opted for a new road creating Children of the Kingdom, The James Joyce Memorial Liquid Theatre and The Emergence along with crazy stuff by Megan Terry and Michael McClure that brought in audiences and turned 99 seat theatre into a haven for artistic freedom.  

To have mortality so rear its hoary head with the deaths of these giants right in a row is a reminder that we do the work (if we do the work) and then we go.  Each of these theatre guys leaves behind a legacy of changed lives and grateful colleagues.  I among them. 

We toss off "Rest In Peace" when someone dies.  Not me, boy.  I hope that this energy is carried on and on and on and just about the time we're about to drop from exhaustion, we'll hear Steve say, "One more time.  And, when you turn around, look 'Enlightened!'" Carry on.  

Carry on.  

July 12, 2017
michaelsheehan

Monday, July 10, 2017

Wally Burr has died

July 10, 2017
Word came today that my old animation director pal, Wally Burr, has died.  

Death for a guy over ninety, especially when he's been felled by multiple strokes may be a blessing.  I know that if it were me, I'd hope for a quick end.  Wally was a center in the world of animation for many, many years. He had a 'way' about him that actors loved and hated at the same time.  He was exacting and detailed and even criticized. He had his way.
Jemcon 2008 L to R Roger Slifer, Christy Marx, Wally Burr, Michael Sheehan, Samantha Newark
 Thanks to Samantha Newark for this photo. Roger was a writer, producer and all round go to guy (with Will Meugniot) for the series.  Christy is the creator of Jem and the Holograms, Wally, our voice director, me, the voice of Rio and Samantha Newark the voice of Jem and Jerrica.   Please credit the standing organizers of the JemCon  if you know who they are.

Words are so inadequate when it comes to death.. the death of someone we love.  But, as words are all we have passing just sitting together and nodding..  I need to wallow a little in this loss and at the same time pay tribute.  

I knew that visiting Wally in the facility where he wound up after his strokes, unable to speak or communicate would be hard for us both.  For our many visits over the years, I was used to just sitting with him and asking questions. I encouraged him to write a memoir or present a one person show.  He liked Spaulding Grey's approach to story telling and was organizing some of his thoughts that turned on his being a tank commander in WWII.   That was an adventure! His ability to 'direct' may have been influenced in the European Theater.  Even listening to the same story more than once was a pleasure because from the look on his face and the vibrant tenor in his voice.. the man was an actor!!..  he brought his story to life.  Imagining this guy cut short just makes me sad. And, sadly... it is on me that I did not visit.  

I'm glad that some old friends did visit Wally. The recent announcement on Facebook of his passing spread like wildfire to the Voice Community:
 a good thing.  

  Every single actor who came under the baton of Mr. Burr (he'd call me on the phone and say in a sonorous tone.. "Mr. Burrrrr herrrre..." and launch into whatever he wanted to talk about) has a story.  Ultimately, working with Wally was always a pleasure.  

In the studio it was not always easy, though. That's a story for another day.  The man knew what he wanted from his cast and one way or another he always got it.  I can still see him hunkered over the talk back (the button that lets the studio hear his voice and at the same time prevent any intercourse from the actors in the studio!) giving specific direction.. really.. really specific direction..  It was his way. 

Hopefully, folks close to Wally... I may be one, we shall see.. will hire a hall and take time to console one another and tell the stories, some of which are already legendary.  Did Wally's voice direction actually kill Orson Welles?

I'm imagining a grave stone with a button on it that one may press to hear Wally's voice commanding, "Bigger! More Energy!! Rolling!"  Is there such a thing? Anyone have any outtakes? 

So long, Mister Burrrrrrrrr.  
You are missed.. Big Time! 

michaelsheehan
July 10, 2017



Tuesday, July 4, 2017

Cyber Hearts on Cyber Sleeves

July 4, 2017

The margin for missed understandings and disappointment in others in the land of phosphors is so wide.. and so deep...   and feelings can be devastated at the drop of a comma.  or a comment.  
All this stems from my error.. Facebook is the culprit for luring us into a false sense of 'friendship' with folks we don't know and exacerbates issues with folks whom we may know and is doubly problematic with people whom we may love and have known for a long time.  We offer condolences to people whose relatives or friends have died and somehow, to me, that's just hollow.  We congratulate others on birthdays and it's all sort of on autopilot. We 'go off' on others whom we have never met and ... thankfully... never will because they have posted some nasty remark about someone we like or may approve of.  Limbic reactions.. not all together insincere, but it's social media! And, I am not alone being sucked into the maw.

Was it Newton Minnow who coined the phrase, "Omniverous Maw".??  He called television a "vast wasteland" and in a way, the wonderfulness of the Internet fulfills both phrases.  Sitting here is more wasteful of time and energy than not. And, the WWW is happy to gobble us up with the illusion that we may be accomplishing something. 

 Business communication does happen, of course and I'm happy for that.  The good feeling of connecting with someone I care about ... when it is informative and positive.. or even sad news.

Having just lost what I thought was a true friendship of over thirty years because of the word 'stupid' being 'uttered' in relation to an idea that I have makes me sad.    My friend did NOT call me "stupid," she just thinks my idea of dismissing the man currently in the White House by only referring to him by his number (45) and to never utter his name is stupid and to me that feels like I am being called stupid.   After reflecting on this, I've decided that in some way, it is true.  Only a stupid person would make a stupid comment.  And, only a stupid person would not get it that a superficial 'friendship' is not a true friendship, but is probably more superficial than not. Of course, there are degrees of superficiality and every single one of our connections to folks we care about may be deep or shallow to some degree.  My stupidity was in thinking that this woman was a 'true friend' to be trusted and loved, when she was somewhere a little to the left of 'true blue.' The illusion was real to me. But, that illusion IS on me.

Ultimately, hard feelings may be reconciled.  Arguments may be solved. Apologies are really useless unless the person offering is truly sorry. Why should someone apologize for simply speaking their truth?  I just accused a guy I don't know on FB of being a member of the KKK because of a racist image he posted on the Greeley Tribune page.  He probably isn't, but the feeling I got was that given an opportunity to burn a cross, he might think that it was a good way to express his feelings.

With those who matter most to me, I want harmony and understanding (do I hear The Dawning of the Age of Aquarius in the background?).. I learned long ago that if we love one another, if there is a problem, then we 'get over it.'  That lesson is one I'll never forget, thanks to a true blue friend. 

Foolishly, I sent a hand written note to the woman who thinks my idea of calling the current POTUS "#45" is a stupid idea.  In my letter I wanted to declare my friendship to her.  However, the 'tone' of a recent email from her indicated that she really has little ... if any... respect for me and that hurts because I've considered her to be a 'close' friend for so many years.  That might be considered a little bit 'stupid,' too? Because I'm afraid that most 'apologies' are hollow, I'd never expect or ask for an apology. What I am truly sorry for is that I've not been awake to the true nature of our 'friendship.'  Have we been acquaintances.. mostly?

This whole rant is about trust and respect.  Friendship turns on respect, love and trust.  All others pay cash. 

Bottom line is that we all are being sucked into this 'omniverous maw'  of Facebook and the Internet and like a bad, bad habit, it's invading our psyches in ways that seem to me to be more harmful than not.  Even this brief diatribe may be misunderstood because of an interpretation that may be made that I have not intended. 

Michael Sheehan
Happy July Fourth! 2017