Tuesday, September 29, 2009

Puppet Pandemic!

WOW!  What a night.  I hope I'll have some pictures to post soon.  Best of all, I had the chance to see some amazing work, and reconnect with a whole bunch of fantastic people. Thanks to all of you who came out to support the show!

Sunday, September 20, 2009

Meet Spike. And come see Ed perform next week!


Spike says howdy...

...and Spike REALLY wants you to come see "Puppet Pandemic" in NYC next weekend!

It's a benefit for the O'Neill Alumni Scholarship fund, and I am pleased as heck to be a part of it.  There'll be a lot of GREAT puppetry at all 3 shows.  

But as added incentive - at both shows on Saturday I (Ed, not Spike) will be performing my short play, "Alaska" from my 50-play cycle AmericaLand.  With me will be my original partners in crime from last summer at the O'Neill, Marina Tsaplina and Jones.

Three shows ONLY! (*Please note: I am only performing my short piece, "Alaska" at the two Saturday shows.)
Friday Sept 25th, 7:30pm - with hosts Jim "Nappy" Napolitano, Leslie Carrara-Rudolph & Lolly
*Saturday Sept 26th, 3pm - Jim "Nappy" Napolitano

*Saturday Sept 26th, 7pm - Leslie Carrara-Rudolph & Lolly

The Tank
354 West 45th Street
New York, NY 10036

Tickets:  $10 online, $15 at the door.  Click HERE to buy tickets in advance!

Can't wait to see you there!!!

"This showcase of works developed at the National Puppetry Conference explores the infectious nature of puppets. Watch as artists redefine conventional notions of puppetry. From marionettes to papier mache mayhem, puppeteers breed new strains of creativity.   All profits from these performances will fund an Alumni Scholarship to attend the National Puppetry Conference, in order to continue propagating provocative theatrical works.  Like a pandemic, the passion for puppetry is spreading! The only cure: a prescription of puppet performances!"

Yay for Government-Run Single-Payer Health Care... in Iraq.

Oh, and one more thing: we already helped give the Iraqis universal health care. Single-payer, government run, universal healthcare is enshrined in the Iraqi constitution.

"Many US lawmakers opposing health care reform need to be asked why it's OK for Iraqis but not Americans, Mark Dorlester writes for the Huffington Post. Article 31 of the Iraqi Constitution—made possible by the war, and hailed as a victory by the Bush administrationguarantees every Iraqi state-funded health care, a provision Dorlester thinks would be slammed as out-of-control socialism by right-wingers if it applied to Americans." (Emphasis mine - Ed.)

Here's the link to Mark Dorlester's article. Article 31 of the Iraqi Constitution reads:
"First: Every citizen has the right to health care. The State shall maintain public health and provide the means of prevention and treatment by building different types of hospitals and health institutions.
Second: Individuals and entities have the right to build hospitals, clinics,or private health care centers under the supervision of the State, and this shall be regulated by law."
Lately, I've heard a lot of people sneer at the idea that health care is a human right (here, for just one example. Plenty more out there.) And we can debate whether or not health care is or should be considered a right for every single citizen of the U.S. Obviously I think it is a right, just like food (though I've heard people scoff at that too - but food IS a human right, as declared in the UN's Declaration of Human Rights, 1948)...

...but you should know that universal health care is already considered a right for every single Iraqi. And U.S. tax dollars and American soldiers' lives have helped provide the Iraqi citizens with single-payer coverage.

Basic health coverage for all, and protection for the already sick

Yes, I know I was going to focus on writing, and on living the writing life, and art, and puppetry and theater and all, but...

Well, I've been thinking a lot about healthcare lately. (Wonder why?) So I'm posting this link to an article from Wonkette, which is a great takedown of the ever-snotty Peggy Noonan... and of the mindless (or is it heartless?) offensive being waged against making much needed changes in our health care system.

Money quote: "How about this: Basic health coverage for all, and protection for the already sick. There is plenty to criticize in Obama’s meandering inability to emphasize these simple goals, but if those two simple objectives mean nothing to you, or bore you — you, the political columnist whose job is to understand these concepts — then you are a sociopath. You are apathetic to the unnecessary and costly deaths of your fellow citizens under the current system, which even the most basic reform plans under consideration would do much to alleviate."