Must-Watch Science Fiction TV Series

Planet of the Apes

Firefly

Star Trek

Star Trek: Next Generation

Battlestar Galactica


Dr. Who

Westworld

Quantum Leap

Stranger Things

Dark (German)

Timeless



Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

The Role of Creatives in Tumultuous Times

Image
  This blog article is a little different than my previous ones. And, in some ways, it’s the most important. It’s less structured and more conversational. I’m not using headings, because it’s all of a piece.  It’s an open letter, fully from the heart, to an amazing community with so much Wisdom and Passion to give.  First of all, I appreciate the opportunity given to me by Stage 32 blog editor Taylor Baker in 2021 to share my thoughts in this way during what I originally called “Times of Crisis.” Even though I have adjusted the title, it is indisputable that we live in Unprecedented Times. Times that don’t exist in a vacuum. Since 9/11, I have watched with fascination and terror as the Act I circumstances have initiated and unfolded, leading us into this Act II middle in which we find ourselves. COVID-19 was certainly the new character that is essential for us to introduce at the mid-point of Act II to keep it from bogging down as it progresses toward the Climax. This new...
Read more

Finding the Line between Inspiration/Homage and Plagiarism

Image
  All beginning writers, having first gotten the urge to tell stories because of their early and persistent love of reading and watching films and TV, are bound to “borrow” from the writers they love. Storytelling luminaries Neil Gaiman (who legacy is now in question; I wrote this essay in 2014) and Stephen King often write and talk about their early influences and how they emulated them, sometimes only realizing years later that they borrowed from their heroes quite freely. King has done pastiches of Sherlock Holmes and has said that if there was no Dracula, there would be no ‘Salem’s Lot. The heavy influence of Shirley Jackson is clear in many of his books and teleplays. My writing mentor in college used to tell us to “steal all you can.” A man of high principles and the chair of the graduate writing program, he certainly was not talking about Plagiarism, and we all knew it. Some writers, on the other hand, such as William Faulkner, were quoted as saying that writers are immoral ...
Read more

My Work as a Chautauqua Scholar and Historical Education Performer

Image
  What Is Chautauqua? Chautauqua (named for Lake Chautauqua, where this historical education format was first started in 1874) is a unique way to present historical characters. A Chautauqua scholar typically spends 18 months to 2 years preparing a historical character. This includes research (first-hand documents if possible, scholarly research, site visits, interviews, etc.) They then write a 35- to 50-minute monologue (each hiring organization is different) to be presented to an audience. There is some debate about whether this is a lecture in costume or a theatrical performance, with most scholars somewhere in the middle. I prefer to treat it as a theatrical performance, looking as much like the character as possible, using an accent or otherwise changing my voice, and writing the monologue with a broad spectrum of experiences that allow for a variety of emotions.  After the monologue, there are two Q and A sessions, lasting 10 to 20 minutes each. One as the character and o...
Read more