Stuck in VT December Episodes 107-110 Airing January 2009 Channel 15, VCAM
And a new rerun of The Deadbeat Club playing this month as well! It is the New Year's episode from 2007, what fun. It features Suzanne M0nroe trying to hijack my show and lots of talk about the end of the world. Wow, that sounds just like this year! Apparently, I always think about the end of the world when a new year arrives?! Little did we know in 2007 just how impressively shitty 2009 would be...eek.
In 2007 I started vlogging for the first time but had not quite gotten the format down. Those early vlogs were really long, free form and experimental - basically me babbling. And in this episode I talk about how I wanted to make a well-structured vlog in which I interviewed VTers about their lives and what do you know? I did it. ;)
It is always nice watching old DBC and seeing how much has changed, especially when I am feeling like I move in slow mo and never get anywhere.
In the 2 years since I made that episode, I've produced 110 segments of Stuck in VT, interviewed just about everyone in town, got featured on Boston's The Chronicle and written about in the Freeps, not to mention having Stuck viewed all over the world. I got my dream job at Seven Days, bought a weird old house, and am continually excited by the work I do for the very first time in my life.
Who knows what 2009 will bring, but please let Mad Max be a way down the road. I still have to tile the front porch and figure out how to fit a ping pong table in the basement. I have plans, so many.
Jesus, in case you aren't as sick of me as I am, you can now watch some of the new March episode of The Deadbeat Club #30 on YouTube (you know, the crappy episode I threw together in one measly evening).
I went to bed last night with 277 YouTube subscribers and woke up with 578 subscribers - which has now gone up to 788. I thought Christmas was in December? My email IN BOX is packed full of pages and pages of subscriptions from very odd sounding user names. Is this how it feels to be Emmalina for a day?
At first I figured I hit the jackpot and got featured on the YT main page but quickly found that not to be the case (which is probably for the best as I do not think I am mentally prepared for the harsh spotlight that comes with being featured and having thousands of people tell you how "gay" you are).
I don't think I would have figured out the source of my YT spike had it not been for a heads up from Zack who let me know that I was featured on the new user sign up page. So when the zillions of people joining YT on a daily basis (are they real I wonder?) sign up for accounts, my channel gets recommended!?
So far I have talked to two of the other "Popular Channels" recommended for subscriptions. Abe has worried that there is cheating involved and people will be angry at his subscription spike. Tom is also overwhelmed with subscriptions but did not know the source of the sudden spike.
Ah well, little pleasures almost make up for still being cold after yesterday's Mardi Gras shoot. Maybe someday I will even be able to feel my fingers again. In the meantime, my Gmail account has never felt more loved. Thanks YouTube!
For each new morning with its light, For rest and shelter of the night, For health and food, for love and friends, For everything Thy goodness sends. ~Ralph Waldo Emerson
Late Wednesday night, most of our office had already fled the building as it was the day before Thanksgiving. As with most things I dislike, I had put off doing a loathsome invoice mailing all week and could put it off no longer.
Although there is something to be said for mundane, mindless jobs, I have a particular distaste for invoice mailings. Perhaps because I do them so often and it feels like each one brings me just a little bit closer to death's door.
To spice up the proceedings, I made this little video and asked the scintillating question, "Could a monkey do my job?" The verdict is still out. You be the judge.
Have a great Thanksgiving and be thankful that you are NOT a monkey doing invoice mailings!
Now this monkey can pig out and watch DVDs of The Office (check out this ultra dreamy montage of Pam and Jim), she's earned it!
Got no check books, got no banks. Still I'd like to express my thanks - I got the sun in the mornin' and the moon at night. - Irving Berlin
Yeah, deadbeats aren't well known for their political activism but Sophie is one eclectic 72 year old who breaks the mold! Watch Sophie, an honorary deadbeat (yeah, yeah, she is not much of a deadbeat but she is still one of the founding members of the club) attempt to educate her deadbeat daughters about the importance of voting in this recent November election. Even better, Sophie will blow your mind with a history lesson from the Middle East!
Man, you gotta, gotta, GOT TO love the Lesh. How can you not love someone who rocks a side pony, transforms thrift store dresses into skirts and attends the Big Lebowski Fest dressed as a severed toe? Yeah, say no more.
Lesh has created a blog, The Lesh Bomb, to detail her hijinx-filled adventures and was kind enough to feature MOI (ooh, head ready to burst from so much yummy attention). It is my best review yet, especially as it is entitled, Jackie Collins, Eat Your Heart Out...If You're Not Dead Already - see, I told you that you would love the Lesh (unless you are Jackie Collins that is...and she may be dead for all we know...?)!:
If I went to Africa, kidnapped a thousand monkeys, somehow brought them back to the states under the cover of darkness, and sat them in front of a thousand typewriters in a warehouse in the bowels of a big city...let's say St. Paul...they could not write enough to contain the brilliance of miss Eva and her brainchild, The Deadbeat Club, an hour-long show she puts together every month for Burlington's cable access station. Those monkeys probably couldn't write Shakespeare either, much less a blog like hers. Here is the second installment in the Offasty series, in which I happen to portray a drug addict who hides yogurt in her dress while rocking the side pony. - The Lesh Bomb
And did I mention that there is another Offasty in the can starring Lesh and her man Seth La Douche and the ever-fabulous Suzanne-"Who-Would-DO-Such-a-Thing?!". Coming soon to the next episode of DBC...stay tuned...
Well, the old song proves true, breaking up IS hard to do! But it is somehow easier when you have a cable access show and a sense of humor! For anyone who has ever had their heart broken, spit on, stomped under foot or ground to smithereens, this is the DBC segment for you!
Oh, and as an aside, the Burlington Free Press is doing a short article on VTers on YouTube this Sunday and yours truly may be making an appearance. Fingers crossed!
"If I'm working very hard, which is seldom, the last thing i want to do in order to relax is to be with people and babbling away and so forth. So I go to the movies or read a book or watch any of my thousands of tapes upstairs. Most of my friends in New York were my friends because we were all so busy going to things we had no time to do anything else. I might never had seen people if I didn't see them that way. Social events - foof. You know." - Edward Gorey, Edward Gorey and the Tao of Nonsense, 1992
Well, now I know the destination of my next weekend get away: Edward Gorey's Elephant House in Yarmouth Port, MA. Odele loaned me an amazing book of photos of Gorey's home which were taken one week after his death. The book is called ELEPHANT HOUSE or, The Home of Edward Gorey. It is everything you would expect from Gorey's abode. Dark, vine covered, cluttered with found objects, full-o-books, cats all over the place and lived in.
Gorey usually met his visitors on the front porch or in his kitchen for a cup of tea. Few were allowed into his inner abode. This makes the fact that his home is now a museum that everyone can visit a guilty voyeuristic pleasure. It is like getting a secret glimpse into his inner workings.
"[The House] really does need an awful lot of work, and if I got a large sum of money I would have it all fixed up - though I'm not sure I would have much of the inside fixed up more than it is. I rather like decay. I'm a little reluctant to take out a mortgage. Being free-lance, you never know." - Edward Gorey, Edward Gorey and the Tao of Nonsense, 1992
There are cool inns to stay at when visiting Gorey's house and you can even go and eat at the restaurant where he had many of his meals. They have preserved his Elephant House as it was when he died. Proceeds from the visits go to animal charities (as did Gorey's estate).
How cool would a trip to Elephant House be? I am so there. I mean, how can you resist a house located at 8 Strawberry Lane? Especially one that lets you inside the dark, mysterious, inner-workings of a talented mind like Gorey's?
To spend one day sniffing about his home is probably as close to a man like that as you can get. Although I have a feeling Gorey would not be too happy about all these strange feet tromping through his private kingdom.
Not that Gorey himself desires cult status, mind you. As he told the Globe in 1998, "When I think of other things that attain cult status, they strike me as somewhat feebleminded. I mean, I suppose it's better being a cult object than nothing at all. But I don't see how anyone has time to be really famous. I might get people dropping by who are slightly -- unhinged." - Amy Benfer for Salon
Apart from his amazing, prolific artistic creations, I am fascinated with Gorey as a person. He was an effeminate man who wore jewelry before it was popular. He had, as far as we know, no lovers of either sex. He moved from New York, which he found cumbersome and loud after Balanchine died, to the quiet of his Elephant House where he created a fanciful and private story book world for himself.
He spent most of his down time in his TV room where he taped all of his favorite TV programs on carefully labeled video cassettes (Buffy, Golden Girls and Third Rock). His cats ran wild and scrabbled over his table as he was drawing and bounced off the walls while he watched TV. He was a voracious reader and his library is overflowing with books and doo dads. He even gave the computer a try but found pen and ink more satisfying. He hated hospitals, who can blame him. He sewed Figbash dolls as he was watching TV.
Gorey's studio contained only one small window that overlooked his beloved magnolia tree. He complained that he dithered and dawdled but the fact that he produced 8,000-10,000 images proves him wrong. I find it entertaining that the most dedicated and hard working artists are often the best procrastinators.
Gorey filled his house with objects that had already had another life somewhere else. He created little tableaux with his strange found bits and pieces.
He was a fan of both high and low art. He had tons of unread fan mail to which he replied with a postcard, "You've written to me to no avail because I never read my mail." He suffered a fatal heart attack in his TV room and was kept alive on life support for three days before he died on April 15, 2000.
I believe that spaces retain a bit of the people who once haunted them. There is definitely a feeling present in Anne Frank's hidden home in Amsterdam. It is almost as if their suffering, fear and happiness in the face of horror, imprinted itself into the walls and puffs out whiffs of feelings.
Even a beautiful vacation home like Vermont's own Shelburne Farms retains imprints of its former inhabitants. I often feel that if I listen carefully or relax my eyes just right, I will catch a glimpse of a fleeting ghost of long dead people who once lived there.
So it is only fitting that my next road trip be to Yarmouth Port to soak up some Edward Gorey. True, if he were still alive, I would just be another cumbersome stalker trying to understand the mysterious enigma of a man who was also an amazingly talented artist. But since he is dead and long passed into the ether which he knew so well, it seems only just that I should soak up his last imprints at The Elephant House.
Gorey had the balls to be himself unabashedly. Without apologies or guilt or insecurity. He figured out who he was and he found a way to be that person and live his life to the best of his ability. And to boot, he left us with thousands of his creations as mementos of his pioneer spirit. What more can anyone ask for in this long, cumbersome life than a hovel of one's own in which to entertain our intimate fantasies?
Here is a piece we did about Gorey for the November DBC28 which included, of course, a foof of a montage avec Portishead:
Man, it is just NOT fair. Since I moved back to VT, it has been hard making close friends and when I finally did make some, they have to cut out on me and leave the state! Damn it! But I am happy for them, really I am. And even more happy that they swung back through town this weekend to give us all a much needed Abbie/Lesh fix. Too bad they can't bottle that shit cause I would become an addict fer sure!
Even better, we got to meet their new fellows, Seth and Dave who are all that they should be to deserve such fabulous ladies. It is nice to be around happy, caring couples who so obviously adore each other. Gives a girl hope.
Not being much of a bar scene person, I felt a wee bit awkward, especially since I was stone cold sober and fixated on editing my episode. The most time I ever spent in a bar was when I was bartending for 2 1/2 years and that was almost 10 years ago (man, time fucking flies!).
I learned a lot about people at that job, probably more than any other I've ever had. But I couldn't have spent all that time there if I didn't have something to do, pouring drinks kept me distracted. I was never a bar fly, hanging out in bars never appealed to me much.
Seth described the unique feel of the bar perfectlyas a "lost openness." That is much of the charm of the bar scene, the boundaries disappear and everyone is drunk and happy to be alive. As Jez of Peep Show says, "You can't be depressed when you're pissed, it's just not possible."
And inevitably, the next morning you wake up and find that the openness has closed up and only the lost remains - but at least you have your hazy memories of that open feeling and maybe you can recreate it if you are lucky.
Despite the girl's reappearance in Burlington this weekend, I had to spend most of my time glued to my G5 in order to finish editing the new episode of The Deadbeat Club. I took a couple of alcohol/girl breaks and still managed to turn the beast in this AM at eight. This was after staying up all night snipping and preening and honing the bastard down to one hour. I am afraid that it sucks but I always say that.
Left to my own devices, I would never be awake as early as 8am on a weekend. Unless I stay up all night finishing an episode (and being such a class A slacker, I am always working up until the last minute), I sleep till noon. This morning, as I drove the tape to VCAM, the sun was shining brightly and there were lots of bundled up people walking their dogs. Nice to see the morning people in their element soaking up this crisp fall day and the clean morning sun. They seemed open and not so lost.
PS Despite a lot of devilish temptations, I resisted the urge to smoke last night. That makes it 4 days and no ciggies. Yeah for me!
PPS Lovely ladies, one of you left a gray sweatshirt at my house, it smells good...mmmm....I will hold it hostage until you come back to visit again! Miss you muchly!
Premieres: Sunday, 11/5/06, 9pm Plays: Fridays at 11:30pm and Sundays at 9pm for the month of November on Channel 15
As always, I have been slacking off this month and am behind on DBC28. You would think with 2 whole months inbetween episodes that I would manage to get this beast to VCAM on time BUT NO, it turns out that whatever my deadline is, I always manage to be a little bit late.
I fear it has something to do with a genetic propensity toward procrastination. My dad is the same way. Waiting 'till the last minute to compose a piece of music and then staying up for weeks to get the thing out the door.
Reminds me of that scene in Adaptation when Charlie Kaufman's (as played by Nic Cage) inner monologue tries to slither out of doing any work; "Maybe I should go get a cup of coffee and then write...or maybe one of those muffins, that's be good."
Anyways, if I can clamp down this weekend and all goes according to plan, then the November episode of The Deadbeat Club will air on Channel 15 Sunday at 9pm. Here is a preview of the show's contents which may or may not all be in it, depending on space:
DBC28 Contents
Apple picking at Shelburne Orchards Mom Talks Politics Eva and GoogTube Granny's Goodbye Granny's Funeral
Break Up 101
Margot and Zombies
The Offasty 3: Copy Cat
Actress Oscar Bids
Art Beat: Edward Gorey
This episode is sort of centered on death and endings. My grandmother's death and funeral in Iowa got me on a pretty moody train of thought as of late. I can't say the November show isn't dark but I think life is a wee bit dark these days so what are you going to do?! Answer: wallow in it and try to make sense of things using art!
And if you are suffering from some sort of heartbreak, this is the show for you! There are the Top 5 Best Break Ups (from films like Say Anything and Valley Girl), a list of How to Break Up in Ten Easy Steps, and the break up montage is a doozy! So if your misery loves company then tune in!
If you are in the Burlington Vermont area, we hope you can watch! If not, bits and pieces will be posted on YouTube!
Do You Realize - that you have the most beautiful face Do You Realize - we're floating in space -Do You Realize - that happiness makes you cry Do You Realize - that everyone you know someday will die And instead of saying all of your goodbyes - let them know You realize that life goes fast It's hard to make the good things last You realize the sun doesn't go down It's just an illusion caused by the world spinning round Do You Realize - Oh - Oh - Oh
Do You Realize - that everyone you know Someday will die -
And instead of saying all of your goodbyes - let them know You realize that life goes fast It's hard to make the good things last You realize the sun doesn't go down It's just an illusion caused by the world spinning round Do You Realize - that you have the most beautiful face Do You Realize
And now for the ladies, here are some dashing dancing fellows to sweep you off your feet (gotta balance all those girlie pin ups pics with something for the gals).
It's also a look back at DBC18: September, 2005, in which the deadbeats celebrate their Babe of the Month dancers in this special dance episode. The top 5 are: Gene Anthony Ray (Leroy from Fame), Christopher Walken (wowie! he can dance!), Mikhail Baryshnikov, John Travolta and Gene Kelly. Please to enjoy the Madonna dance montage at the end!
Eva the Deadbeat makes a monthly cable access show called The Deadbeat Club which airs on VCAM. Stuck in Vermont is a weekly vlog about VT culture and it is sponsored by Seven Days.
Deadbeats Celebrate 2005
About The Deadbeat Club
The Deadbeat Club is a cable access show which airs in Burlington, Vermont on VCAM's Channel 15.
Join Eva and her family as they discuss indie films, art, celebrities, nature, politics, babes and anything else that strikes their fancies. Explore your inner deadbeat.
The Deadbeat Club VCAM, Channel 15 Fridays @ 11:30pm Sundays @ 9:00pm
Playing in March/April: RERUN! DBC30, March/April 2007 New episodes when we can!
An obsessive super freak with an excess of random interests and influences which all converge in the act of frantic montage making. Watch at your own risk: MySpace
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Stuck in VT
