There's classy, and there's not classy.
Classy: Sending flowers, even if you can't attend.
Not classy: Canceling 24 hours before the event without an excuse, if you're a key attendee.
We had one of the latter.
As for the former, "Olivia Benson," you are one classy broad. Thanks for helping make the book so great!
After many headaches and some tears, "The Law & Order: SVU Unofficial Companion" got its own party last night, at Rouge Tomate in NYC. We had about 60 people there -- including some of the show's recurring or guest actors -- and it was quite delicious (who knew dill and cucumber could make such a potent drink?) It was also fairly frenetic. I'm not married, but I sense it was something like that: You got five minutes with everybody, barely got to eat, and if you were lucky someone brought you over a drink. Also, your shoes hurt.
And at the end of the night, you're left thinking: "That was awesome" followed by "I can't speak!" followed by "who RSVP'ed and didn't come?"
And the next morning, you go looking for photos. More can be located here, if you're really, really curious.
EDIT: And even more here!
Perhaps no one else but myself cares about this, but Bette, the tree planted in December, 2007 outside my window as an early holiday present (okay, it was actually part of the million tree plan initiated in NYC by Mayor Bloomberg and Bette Midler's New York Restoration Project) deserves an update. Here, the before, middle and after spanning just under two years:
Before:
First Spring (April 2008), and now with a collar of stones around the tree base:
Full bloom, June 2008, complete with water skirt:
Erika Abrams, Fatih Akin, Yves Alberty, Stephane Allagnon, Woody Allen, Pedro Almodovar, Gianni Amelio, Wess Anderson, Michel Andrieu, Roger Andrieux, Jean-Jacques Annaud, Tomas Arana, Frédéric Aranzueque-Arrieta, Alexandre Arcady, Fanny Ardant, Asia Argento, Marie-Hélène Arnau, Darren Aronofsky, Olivier Assayas, Alexander Astruc, Gabriel Auer, Zdzicho Augustyniak, Alexandre Babel, Vladimir Bagrianski, Lubomila Bakardi, Fausto Nicolás Balbi, Eleonor Baldwin, Jean-François Balmer, Alberto Barbera Museo nazionale de Torino, Luc Barnier, Christophe Barratier, Ernest Barteldes, Carmen Bartl, Pascal Batigne, Anne Baudry, Juan Antonio Bayona, Xavier Beauvois, Liria Begeja, Matthieu Béguelin, Gilles Behat, Jean-Jacques Beineix, Marco Bellochio, Yannick Bellon, Florence Bellone, Monica Bellucci, Véra Belmont, Jacqueline Belon, Jean-Marc Benguigui, Djamel Bennecib, Luc Béraud, Jacob Berger, Alain Berliner, Gael Garcia Bernal, Pascal Berney, Xavier Berry, Bernardo Bertolucci, Giuseppe Bertolucci, Jean-Marie Besset, Marlène Bisson, Arnstein Bjørkly, Lucien Blacher, Virginie Blanc-Brude Bard, Jean-Marc Bloch, Léa Bloch, Catherine Boissière, Anne-Sylvie Bonaud, Olivier Bonnet, Thierry Boscheron, Renata Bosco, Freddy Bossy, Patrick Bouchitey, Cédric Bouchoucha, Paul Boujenah, Frédéric Bourboulon, Katia Boutin, Ian Brady, Jacques Bral, Sophie Bramly, Paulo Branco, Patrick Braoudé, Guila Braoudé, Edwin Brienen, Adrien Brody, Isabelle Broué, Max Brun, Merima Bruncevic, Anne Burki, André Buytaers, Emilie Buzyn, Anthony Byrne, Marco Cacioppo, Gerald Calderon, Monica Cannizzaro, Peggy Carajopoulou-Vavali, John Carchietta, Christian Carion, Henning Carlsen, Jean-Michel Carré, Esteban Carvajal Alegria, Lionel Cassan, Bryan Cassiday, Miss Catadler, Mathieu Celary, Teco Celio, Muriel Cerf, Dabiel Chabannes, Thierry Chabert, Chagi, Jean-Yves Chalangeas, Daniel Champagnon, Christophe Champclaux, Georges Chappedelaine , Fabienne Chauveau, Claire Chazal, Patrice Chéreau, Brigitte Chesneau, Michel Chevalier, Mishka Cheyko, Catherine Chiono, Catherine Chouchan, Elie Chouraqui, Elie Chouraqui, Souleymane Cissé, Jean- Pierre Clech, Henri Codenie, Robert Cohen, Catherine Colassin, Suzanne Colonna, Jean-Paul Commin, Anne Consigny, Alain Cophignon, Alain Corneau, Jérôme Cornuau, Guy Courtecuisse, Miguel Courtois, Antoine Courtray, Guillaume Cousin, Morgan Crestel, Rudyard Cretenet, Dominique Crevecoeur, Penelope Cruz, Alfonso Cuaron, Estelle Cywje, Frédéric Damien, Sophie Danon, Olivier Dard, Luc et Jean-Pierre Dardenne, Isabelle Dassonville, Bruno de Almeida, Bruno de Almeida, Marion de Blaÿ, François de Lamothe, Hervé de Luze, Artus de Penguern, Valérie de Saint-Do, Virginie De Wilde, Olivier Debert, Viviane Decuypere, Guillermo del Toro, Benoît Delmas, Michel Deloore, Jonathan Demme, Nicolaine den Breejen, Ruud den Dryver, Louisa Dent, Edwin Dervaux, Dante Desarthe, Romain Desbiens, Sophie Deschamps, Thomas Desjonquères, Alexandre Desplat, Chris Devi, Rosalinde et Michel Deville, Guillaume D'Ham, Christelle Didier, Kathrin DiPaola, Claire Dixsaut, Julien Doger, Xavier Dolan, Ariel Dorfman, Jean Douchet, Jean Douchet, Fabrice du Welz, Marina Duarte Nunes Ferreira, Danièle Dubroux, Marc Dufrenois, François Duhamel, Sissi Duparc, Jean Dusaussoy, Georges Dybman, Daniel Edinger, Arne Eickenberg, Yaniv Elani, Gerónimo Elortegui, Gerónimo Elortegui, Elrem, Sam Enoch, Peter Lucas Erixon, Ernest, Ann Eyckmans, Jacques Fansten, Joël Farges, Gianluca Farinelli (Cinémathèque de de Bologne), Etienne Faure, Maud et Romain Ferrari, Michel Ferry, Jean Teddy Filippe, Aurélie Fiorentino, Alan Fischer, Martine Fitoussi, Sebastian Fleischhacker, Joy Fleury, Michael Flynn, Hugues Fontenoy, Scott Foundas, Werner Fraai, Jean-Robert Franco, Stephen Frears, Marion Frelat, Thierry Frémaux, Marc Freycon, Nadine Fruchard, Sam Gabarski, Jean Francois Gaillard, René Gainville, Sara Gandolfi, Matteo Garone, Yves Gasser, Tony Gatlif, Catherine Gaudin-Montalto, Jean-Marc Gauthier, Costa Gavras, Nathalie Geiser, Lizi Gelber, Isabelle Gély, Jean-Marc Ghanassia, Alain Gil, Véronique Gillet, Terry Gilliam, Christian Gion, François Girault, Stéphane Gizard, Nelson Gonzalez, Carlos Miguel Bernardo González, Christophe Goumand, Michel Gras, Eric Gravereau, Martin Gregus, Thierry Grizard, Philippe Gruss, Florent Guézengar, Marc Guidoni, Marta Gutowska, Mikael Håfström, Ronald Harwood, Dimitri Haulet, Geert Heirbaut, Buck Henry, Nicole Herbaut de Lamothe, David Heyman, Laurent Heynemann, Joshua Highfield , Dominique Hollier, Isabelle Hontebeyrie, Frédéric Horiszny, Robert Hossein, Jean-Loup Hubert, Wendy Hudson, Alejandro Gonzalez Inarritu, Gilles Jacob, Eric et Veronique et Nicolas Jacquelin, Just Jaeckin, Thomas Jahn, Olivia Janik, Jean-Baptiste Jay, Anne Jeandet, Marie Jergan, Alain Jessua, Renate Jett, Sébastien Jimenez, Arthur Joffé, Pierre Jolivet, Kent Jones (World Cinema Foundation), Peter Josy, Alexandra Julen, Paola Jullian, Roger Kahane, Pierre Kalfon, Elisabeth Kalinowski, Reena Kanji, Nelly Kaplan, Wong Kar Waï, Nicolas Kermel, Darius Khondji, Ladislas Kijno, Muriel Kintziger, Richard Klebinder, Jonathan Klein, Harmony Korine, Jan Kounen, Chantal Krakowski, Sylvia Kristel, Diane Kurys, Elzbieta Kusak-Majchrzak, Emir Kusturica, Irene Kuznetzova, Jean Labadie, Eliane Lacroux, Eric Lagesse, Michel Laigle, Stéphane Lam, John Landis, Claude Lanzmann, David Lanzmann, André Larquié, Pauline Larrieu, Jacques et Françoise Lassalle, Marc Latil, Carole Laure, Christine Laurent-Blixen, Pierre Laville, Emilien Lazaron, Eric Le Roy, Pierre Le Scouarnec, Fábio Leal, Vinciane Lecocq, Patrice Leconte, Linda Lefebvre, Béatrice Lefoulon, Delphine Legros, Claude Lelouch, Ann Lemonnier, Julieta Lencina, Alain Lenglet, Gérard Lenne, Les Nanaqui, Larry Levine, Charlotte Levy, Lorraine Lévy, Pierre et Renée Lhomme, Katarzyna Lipinska, Jean-Claude Irving Longin, Marceline Loridan-Ivens, Michael Louis Wells, Boris Loundine, Rachel Lowenstein, Catalina Lozano, Hugo Luczyc-Wyhowski, Flore Luquet, Laurence Lustyk, David Lynch, Bania Madjbar, Krzysztof Majchrzak, Laurent Malet, Tim Malieckal, Guy Malugani, Erling Mandelmann, Michael Mann, Yvon Marciano, François Margolin, Jean-Pierre Marois, Tonie Marshall, Alain Martin, Sandrine Martin, Danielle Martinetti, Florent Martinez, Didier Martiny, Mario Martone, Thierry Mathelin, Christine Mathis, Esmeralda Mattei, Nicolas Mauvernay, Yannick Mazet, Christopher, Spencer et Claire Mc Andrew, Natalie Mei, Guillermo Menaldi, Mathieu Mercier, Muriel Mercier, Frédéric Mermoud, Laura Metaxa, Allison Michel, Radu Mihaileanu, Jean-Louis Milesi, Claude Miller, Lionel Miniato, Nelly Moaligou, Jean - Marc Modeste , Mario Monicelli, Jeanne Moreau, Frédéric Moreau, Sarah Moreau-Flament, Gael Morel, Omayra Muñiz Fernández, Stephanie Murat, Christian Mvogo Mbarga, Anna N.Levine, Charles Nemes, Juliette Nicolas-Donnard, Sandra Nicolier, Rachel Noël, Rui Nogueira, Olivier Nolin, Alejandra Norambuena Skira, Fabrice Nordmann, Fabrice O. Joubert, Marc Obéron, Michel Ocelot, David Ogando, Mariana Oliveira Santos, Szentgyörgyi Ottó, Martine Pagès, Eric Pape, Abner Pastoll, Alexander Payne, Nicola Pecorini, Richard Pena (Directeur Festival de NY), Lindsey Pence, Olivier Père, Suzana Peric, Jacques Perrin, Cesare Petrillo, Thomas Pibarot, Michel Piccoli, Arnaud Pierrichon, Stéphane Pietri, Anne Pigeon Bormans, Samuel Pinon, Claude Pinoteau, Michele Placido, Sabrina Poidevin, Agnès Catherine Poirier, Jean-Yves Potel, Stéphane Pozderec, Harry Prenger, Jean et Marie Prévost, Gilbert Primet, Marie-Hélène Raby, Philippe Radault, Tristan Rain, Florence Raphaël, Florence Raphel, Jean-Paul Rappeneau, Joseph Rassam, Rolandas Rastauskas, Brett Ratner, Raphael Rebibo, Carol Reid, Jo Reymen, Laurence Reymond, Yasmina Reza, Christiane Rhein, Jacques Richard, Dominique Robert, Margarita Robski, Jean-Jacques Rochut, Christian Rogler, Yannick Rolandeau, Paul Rondags, Avital Ronell, Frank Roozendaal, Graciela Rosato, Elisabeth Roudinesco, Kontochristopoulou Roula, Laurence Roulet, Joshua Rout, Paolo Roversi, Isabelle Ruh, Martin Ruhe, Sonia Rykiel, Anita S. Chang, Esteban S. Goffin, JOAQUÍN Sabina, Marc Saffar, Ludivine Sagnier, Gabriela Salazar Scherman, Walter Salles, Jean-Paul Salomé, Jean-Frédéric Samie, Marc Sandberg, Léo Scalpel, Jerry Schatzberg, Richard Schlesinger, Daniel Schmidt, Georg Schmithüsen, Julian Schnabel, Pierre Schoendoerffer, Barbet Schroeder, J. Neil Schulman, Pierre Schumacher, Pierre-Alexandre Schwab, Ettore Scola, Luis Gustavo Sconza Zaratin Soares, Martin Scorsese, Carole Scotta, Steven Sedgwick, Andrea Sedlackova, Frank Segier, Michèle Seguin-Sirhugue, Guy Seligmann, Elis Semczuk, Lorenzo Semple Jr, Julien Seri, Joël Séria, Catherine Sermet, Ken Seton-Vyhnal, Sophie Sharkov, Boris Shlafer, Antoine Silber, Pierre Silvant, Charlotte Silvera, Noel Simsolo, Christophe Sirodeau, Abderrahmane Sissako, Beatrice Sisul , Petter Skavlan, Marcin Sokolowski, Loïc Sorel, Paolo Sorrentino, Vassilis Sourapas, Roch Stephanik, Karen Stetler, Denise Stieglitz, Guillaume Stirn, Bernard Stora, Gérard Stum, Jean-Marc Surcin, Tilda Swinton, Piotrek Szymanek, Jean-Charles Tacchella, Radovan Tadic, Mickael Tanguy, Danis Tanovic, Bertrand Tavernier, André Techiné, Cécile Telerman, Harold Alvarado Tenorio, Marie-Ange Terrier, Alain Terzian, Christian Texier, Jean-Paul Thaens, Valentine Theret, Virginie Thévenet, Pascal Thomas, Jeremy Thomas, Marc Thomas Charley, Cyril Thurston, Giuseppe Tornatore, Serge Toubiana, Daniel Treichler, Nadine Trintignant, Julie Turcas, Mitja Tušek, Tom Tykwer, Alexandre Tylski, Stephen Ujlaki, José Antonio Valdés Peña, Jaques Vallotton, Phil van der Linden, Betrand van Effenterre, Leopold van Genechten, Christophe van Rompaey, Dorna van Rouveroy, Elbert van Strien, Vangelis, Alessio Vannetti, Lucília Verdelho da Costa, Christian Verdu, Jean-Pierre Vergne, Sarah Vermande, Julien Veyret, Francesco Vezzoli, Régine Vial, Vivien Villani, Marc Villemain, Jean-François Villemer, Daria Vinault, Verde Visconti, Alain Vorimore, Thomas Vossart, Gilles Walusinski, Eric Watton, Monika Weibel, Dominique Welinski, Wim Wenders, Andy Whittaker, Anaïse Wittmann, A Wolanin, Margot Wolfs, Peter Woltil, Arnaud Xainte, Steve Yeo, Paule Zajdermann, Christian Zeender, Terry Zwigoff.
(Bold emphasis mine to indicate names I've heard of.)
This is what they signed:
Petition for Roman Polanski
We have learned the astonishing news of Roman Polanski's arrest by the Swiss police on September 26th, upon arrival in Zurich (Switzerland) while on his way to a film festival where he was due to receive an award for his career in filmmaking.
His arrest follows an American arrest warrant dating from 1978 against the filmmaker, in a case of morals.
Filmmakers in France, in Europe, in the United States and around the world are dismayed by this decision. It seems inadmissible to them that an international cultural event, paying homage to one of the greatest contemporary filmmakers, is used by the police to apprehend him.
By their extraterritorial nature, film festivals the world over have always permitted works to be shown and for filmmakers to present them freely and safely, even when certain States opposed this.
The arrest of Roman Polanski in a neutral country, where he assumed he could travel without hindrance, undermines this tradition: it opens the way for actions of which no-one can know the effects.
Roman Polanski is a French citizen, a renown and international artist now facing extradition. This extradition, if it takes place, will be heavy in consequences and will take away his freedom.
Filmmakers, actors, producers and technicians - everyone involved in international filmmaking - want him to know that he has their support and friendship.
On September 16th, 2009, Mr. Charles Rivkin, the US Ambassador to France, received French artists and intellectuals at the embassy. He presented to them the new Minister Counselor for Public Affairs at the embassy, Ms Judith Baroody. In perfect French she lauded the Franco-American friendship and recommended the development of cultural relations between our two countries.
If only in the name of this friendship between our two countries, we demand the immediate release of Roman Polanski.
Taken from:
http://www.sacd.fr/Tous-les-signataires-de-la-petition-All-signing-parties.1341.0.html
**************
Every one of them should be called to account. Every one of them should explain their reasoning behind affixing their good name to this petition, which asks that because a crime is old, because the victim has forgiven the criminal in order to move on with her life, and because the criminal had a) a hard life and b) is basically a charming rascal who makes great movies -- he should be set free once and for all.
To which I cry bullshit. Like Polanski's films or not (and I generally do), he's not above anyone else. Here's the grand jury transcript from the trial, read if you have a strong stomach:
http://www.thesmokinggun.com/archive/polanskicover1.html
-- if that had been your 13-year-old sister, daughter, friend ... would you care that it had been decades since it happened?
No, you would not.
Those who support this should be held accountable. Here are their names. Make them explain themselves.
Please feel free to repost this on your own Facebook or blog page.
And yes, I can call it big and gay because that's just part of the channel it's on -- and because they're big, gay and wonderful. So thanks to both of you guys.
I'd never been to SiriusXM before; frankly, I never gave what their offices might look like more than a few moments thought. I don't have satellite radio, though it is one of the cooler apps I could have on my life's iPhone -- but I don't drive and just don't have blocks of time where it would make sense.
But there I was, in the McGraw Hill building in NYC going up to the 36th floor and in a way it was like stepping back in time and in the future all at once. The space! The lavish glass walls and big screens announcing what was playing at any given time on dozens of the satellite stations! Walls of Plexiglas that had been signed by hundreds of visitors over the years (though Paul McCartney got his own special space on a pillar). Jim noted that they never know who they're going to find in the lobby on any given day -- anyone from Katie Couric to Ghostface Killah could be hanging there, waiting to go on the radio.
Inside are dozens of cubicles stacked with what looks like a partial car dashboard -- in order to accommodate the satellite; computers stand everywhere, waiting to be used by anyone -- I saw more than one person randomly checking email, as if they were in the airport. And then we came to the rows and rows of glass paneled studios, each for a different radio show. Frank's show (Jim drops in once a week to do a TV wrap-up) is across from Martha Stewart and Opie and Anthony (they have inner curtains; wonder if Martha recom
So I got about 10-15 minutes to discuss the "L&O: SVU" book, and we covered everything from the recent cast negotiations to the reasons why you don't want a network endorsement, why Chris Meloni is hot to all the sexes and why Mariska Hargitay's character Olivia Benson is not a lesbian -- though Frank's co-host in L.A. just wanted to hear me say it, so I did. You go with the flow, baby. And while I had an occasional brain fart -- remembering the characters' names seemed beyond me so I did a lot of "Chris Meloni's character...." comments -- I had a great deal of fun, just laughing about one of my favorite shows with two amazing raconteurs.
And later, Jim even blogged about the book -- so I will reciprocate here. Thanks again, you guys! It was a great big gay day of fun for me.
Or, I've lost count how many times I've messed with Texas.
Mainly because I occasionally begin to think it might be OK down there, and then I remember: I've only ever really been to Austin. So I forget to pay attention.
And then BS like this pops up.
From the NY Times:
"President Obama's plan to deliver a speech to public school students on Tuesday has set off a revolt among conservative parents, who have accused the president of trying to indoctrinate their children with socialist ideas and are asking school officials to excuse the children from listening.
The uproar over the speech, in which Mr. Obama intends to urge students to work hard and stay in school, has been particularly acute in Texas, where several major school districts, under pressure from parents, have laid plans to let children opt out of lending the president an ear."
WHY O WHY does it not surprise me that out of all of the loony fringes in the loony parts of the U.S. that TEXAS comes up first.
This is YOUR PRESIDENT. Vote for him or not, like him or not, he is the UNITING FACTOR of what we call the UNITED STATES.
My favorite part:
“The thing that concerned me most about it was it seemed like a direct channel from the president of the United States into the classroom, to my child,” said Brett Curtiss, an engineer from Pearland, Tex., who said he would keep his three children home.
“I don’t want our schools turned over to some socialist movement.”
That's right, your GOVERNMENT-FUNDED PUBLIC SCHOOLS shouldn't be turned into a socialist movement. And get your grubby government hands off my Medicare, while you're at it.
I really wanted to restrain myself from noting that had this been the former President Shrub, and it had been 2003 or 04 and he'd decided to give a speech to public schools, and some Democrats had objected the reply would have been: "Why would you do something so anti-patriotic? We are AT WAR. Why do you hate America?"
And then I decided not to restrain. The HYPOCRISY IS PAINFUL.
And my eldest niece has just started to attend these schools.
Lord help us all.
Not to brag or nuthin', but "The Law & Order: SVU Unofficial Companion" is now No. 5 on Amazon's TV show book list! Hurrah! Thanks to everyone who bought one ... or 10 ... or 20 (hi, mom!)
If you don't have one yet, why not? Here's the link, so clicky clicky.
I would also like to note that I'm having a squeeful moment in which I'm even vaguely associated with a Joss Whedon product, and as you can see, his book on the amazing "Firefly" is No. 6. Not commenting on how I feel being upstaged by some Playboy bunnies, though.
So, it's been one of those days.
On the good side, I now have a new story up on podcast at the wonderful Well Told Tales. It's called "Can't Keep a Dead Man Down," so please head on over there and comment on how much ya liked it. (Or not!)
On the less good side, a gig I had been testing for since February ultimately didn't work out today and while I can reapply, I am still in decompression phase. I may blog more about it in detail at a later time, but not at the moment. Suffice it to say it's a humbling experience to learn you're not as exceptional as you may think you are.
So once again, the universe comes into balance.
So, remember roughly about a year ago, where you were?
I remember where I was: Sweatin' up a storm in Ft. Lee, New Jersey and eatin' up the yummies on the set of "Law & Order: SVU" in between watching the filming, taking notes and interviewing cast members.
Some of the most amazing 10 days of my life, I tell you.
Today, the advance copies of "The Law & Order: SVU Unofficial Companion" arrived and I had a moment of pure squeeing pleasure. Then I had a few more moments.
As I told my mom on the phone, I think I would have been airlifted by sheer joy alone had this been a novel; as it is, it's pretty darned wonderful to have anything that goes into a library with your name on it. I've been working on that part of my life's goals since I was about 12.
Not perfect, of course: I can see one or two places where small changes were asked for but not gotten -- but it's hard to quibble: Nearly 500 pages, not everything can be perfect. I'm a very, very happy camper.
And if this has inspired you in any way, it's available for pre-order at Amazon.com.
Squee!!
Know how sometimes you want nothing more than a big tall cold glass of water from the fridge ... and sometimes you just want a glass of ice with tap water poured over it?
Taste buds are fickle things.
