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Thom Dunn is a Boston-based writer, musician, and utterly terrible dancer. He is the singer/guitarist for the indie rock/power-pop the Roland High Life, as well as a staff writer for the New York Times’ Wirecutter and a regular contributor at BoingBoing.net. Thom enjoys Oxford commas, metaphysics, and romantic clichés (especially when they involve whiskey), and he firmly believes that Journey's "Don't Stop Believing" is the single greatest atrocity committed against mankind. He is a graduate of Clarion Writer's Workshop at UCSD ('13) & Emerson College ('08).

True Believers Production Photos

Here's a little peek at True Believers, for those of still waiting / unable to see it (or for those of you who want to relive the experience). All photos by Paul Cantillon / LIDEC Photo.[slideshow]

True Believers Updates, Part I

Okay. Breathe. We just made it through opening weekend of True Believers, which saw mostly packed houses and very responsive audiences (and only a few technical malfunctions that hopefully no one noticed but me). All in all, I'd say it's going well so far! We'll just have to wait and see what the critics have to say about it. In the meantime, here's a little interview I did with Jacqui Bryant, a local Boston entertainment blogger, about the show. Full disclosure: I thought she was writing an article, not posting the full interview transcription, so some of my answers, uh, well, they go on for quite a while (I wanted to give her a lot of information to pull from!)

We also got a nice shout out in the print & online version of DigBoston / The Weekly Dig:

Now, you might assume this unconventionally comedic play (penned by local playwright and Emerson College alum Thom Dunn, go Lions etc.) chronicling the interactions between conventional comic convention-types—aspiring artists, single-minded fanboys, haute couturecosplayers and so on—would be a tad nerdy. You would be right. Some World’s Greatest Detective stuff, that is. But just how nerdy are we talking? Try “Cyborg Head of Stan Lee” nerdy. Yes, that’s a kind of nerdy. The “most” kind.

Ha. Thanks, guys (I think...)

Opus Affair, a social group for young professional interested and involved in the arts in around the Boston area, also highlighted the show in their "On the Town" weekly roundup, praising it with favorable comparisons to both Closer and Magic Mike (both of which I assume were intended as compliments though I'm not entirely sure...)

Anyway, stay tuned, True Believers, for more updates, including production photos and...The Cyborg Head of Stan Lee!

I'm Back Now, And I Brought T-Shirts For Everybody!

I have a confession to make. I didn't really bring t-shirts for everybody. Although I do have these sweet new business cards! So that's cool, right? I know I've been slacking (again) lately (again) with keeping this website updated with all of my various doin's. But it's not like I've not been not doing things (...or is it?)! Instead, I've just been too busy doing things to, ya know, write about doing things. It's kind of why I hate meetings in general, because I'd rather be doing things, than talking about doing things. So this website's kind of like a meeting then. Except I don't hate it; in fact, I quite love my little website here. So really, not like a meeting at all.

(shut up Thom) Okay so here's a brief rundown of where the hell I've been:

  • My very short play, Stumped, was performed as part of a staged reading series to celebrate Company One's production of Hookman.
  • My debut comic book story, Not Dead Yet, finally saw print in GrayHaven Comics' sci-fi anthology, The Fifth Dimension! Also the first printing already sold out, which means maybe someday you'll be able to sell that shit on eBay for like $20 (but probably not)
  • I did a totally awesome article for Quirk Books comparing Samuel Beckett (the playwright) to Sam Beckett (the time traveling protagonist from Quantum Leap) and it was totally awesome. Don't believe me? Ask the former executive director of the American Theatre Wing!
  • I also started doing some writing for Tor.com, with my first article being a roundup of great sci-fi/fantasy rock bands (so basically my two favorite things, combined. If only there was more beer!)
  • We did another staged reading of my play True Believers as part of ImprovBoston's Geek Week celebration. It was really great to hear the play out loud in front of different kind of crowd, as it helps me figure out what kind of changes I need to make to the script before the world premiere this summer at the Factory Theatre (July 12 - 21! Get yer tickets while they're hot! Just kidding, they're not on sale yet). The lovely producing folks at Vagabond Theatre Group have a post up over at their website about the event so you can catch up on all the happening. There's also the first part of an instructional series about how to make your very own The Cyborg Head of Stan Lee, which actually comes a lot more in handy than you might think.
  • Did I mention that I launched a new website for the Huntington, and that our world premiere production of The Luck of the Irish was extended, and sold out almost every night? For being, ya know, "just my day job" or whatever, sometimes it keeps me pretty busy as well.
  • Plus Cupcake! So many things, so very busy with this wonderfully little world-premiere-musical-that-could. We raised $6,000 in our Kickstarter campaign (we were going for $3,750...whoops!), and we were the featured show this past Friday on Goldstar. You may have seen some of my sexy posters around town as well (just don't tell Grant that I photoshopped his arm a bit...) Previews start this Thursday, May 10!
  • AND, to top it all off, I've only got like 50 pages left to read in Infinite Jest (finally! Jesus God this book is epic), so I'm gonna go finish that right now and hopefully conquer my crippling fear (no pun intended) of paraplegic Quebecers.

Lá Fhéile Pádraig!

[soundcloud url="http://api.soundcloud.com/tracks/12036874" iframe="true" /] Anyone who knows me can vouch for the fact that I love being Irish. I hold a great deal of pride in the culture, a feeling ingrained in me by my father since a very young age. We also know, of course, that I do enjoy drinking (as if the homebrewing section of my website weren't enough of an indicator). That being said, St. Paddy's Day (and that's "Paddy" for Pádraig, mind you. "Patty" is a girl's name, or what you might call a hamburger) inspires some conflicting feelings within me. I love the celebration of my heritage, and the recognition that it brings to such a unique and fascinating culture. But I find myself being constantly aggravated at the Plastic Paddies and rampant racism that accompanies the holiday. Sure, I plan on heading over to the pub on the 17th to enjoy a few pints, but that's not all there is. I plan on taking in a few Irish seisiuns, enjoying the music and the culture of Ireland, in addition to the drink. Too many people are happy to diminish the accomplishments of the Irish people and reduce us to alcoholic slobs. And while a great many of us do take to the drink — as well as there are many who actually suffer from alcoholism, which is far from humorous — there's much more about the Irish to celebrate. Unfortunately, most complaints about the depiction of Irish stereotypes in American culture are quickly brushed aside as essentially "white people problems." Despite the fact the Irish are generally an accepted — and celebrated — culture in modern day America (especially in Boston!), many seem to forget the years of struggle that our ancestors went through. Sure, it hasn't much affected me directly — no one's ever called me a "white nigger," or pointed to a sign saying "No Irish Need Apply" — but it affected my family, and thus, it's had affect on how I grew up and who I am today.

This week's post on Five By Five Hundred is brought to you by Brian Boru, Flann O'Brien, James Joyce, Fionn MacCumhaill, Brendan Behan, Samuel Beckett, Cuchulain, Maewyn Succa, and all of the other bright and brilliant faces of Irish culture that have had a positive impact worldwide.

"Nina Never Loved Me" on FiveByFiveHundred.com

(also, while you're at it, I suggest you check out The Shore, the newest Oscar-winning short film by Terry George)

The Past, The Present, and The Imperfect Future Walk Into a Bar...

Things have been less than ideal as of late, as my girlfriend's best friend quite abruptly passed away from an unexpected heart attack at the age of 28. As you can imagine, it's been a very rough and emotional week. I could very well fill this blog with my thoughts and feelings on the occasion, but anything factual I would attempt to type would feel disingenuous, so here are a few posts catching up on Five By Five Hundred that were inspired by the situation.

Rest in peace, Crystal Gomes. I guess a light as bright as yours is bound to burn out much too fast.

"Being Tense" on FiveByFiveHundred.com

"The Old Maid on the Bar Stool" (part one) (part two) on FiveByFiveHundred.com

No Time For Love, Doctor Jones

And so begins the madness. First, I'll be performing tonight at Mortified Boston, thanks to the fantastic Ms Lisa McColgan (a co-worker over at the Huntington, as well as a fellow writer on Five By Five Hundred and possibly the world's biggest zombie enthusiast). I'll be singing a hilariously embarrassing song that I originally wrote in high school, so if you want to see me get up and stage and humiliate myself, well, that's the place to be. On a less romantic note, this week's Five By Five Hundred entry recalls an encounter with one of my favorite homeless people on the entire planet (yes, I have more than one favorite homeless person). Singing the praises of a confessed former-gang-banger might not seem like the most topical choice for a Valentines Day post, but, well, in light of recent events *cough*Chris Brown*cough*, it makes some form of sense in my warped mind.

"Joe" on FiveByFiveHundred.com

High Infidelity

In doing research for an article I'm working on for Quirk Books, I pulled out my personal copy of High Fidelity (the novel) by Nick Horny. And what do I find inside?

Handwritten song lyrics. Except, it's not my handwriting. And I'm pretty sure I've never lent this book out to anyone to borrow. Eerie, right? And yet, kind of poetic.

So obviously, I laid claim to it (despite the fact that it's, erm, not very good), and turned into a found poem for Five By Five Hundred (which also worked out well because it's been a busy few days, between taking my poor chinchilla to the hospital with a broken arm, and sitting on the "Tweet This?" panel for Arts In America).

"Sonic Death Monkey" at FiveByFiveHundred.com

Excelsior! Stay Tuned, True Believers!

I'm excited to announce that the lovely people at Vagabond Theatre Group like me so much that they've decided to present a my new full-length play True Believers as the next staged reading/public workshop in their There Will Be Words reading series. I've met with the production team once so far, but they seem incredibly enthusiastic about my work (and impressed me with their own comic book/sci-fi/nerdery knowledge, which is of course very important, especially in a piece like this), so I'm looking forward to presenting the latest draft for a smart Boston audience. The reading will take place Thursday, February 9 at Trident Booksellers & Cafe at 338 Newbury Street in Boston. Admission is free, but for a suggested $2 donation (plus Trident serves delicious food and a great selection of craft beers).

And yes, the Cyborg Head of Stan Lee will be in attendance. Hope to see you there!

WARREN ELLIS: CAPTURED GHOSTS Screening

CAPTURED GHOSTS is a brand new documentary by filmmaker Patrick Meaney about Warren Ellis, the "Internet Jesus" himself and one of my personal favorite writers of all time. I'm putting together a preview screening of the film in Boston on January 7, featuring a Q+A with the director. Here's the official blurb:

The film features the most extensive interview Ellis has ever given, and spans his life, from his first memory watching the moon landing as a child, to his recent cross-media success with the film adaptation of Red. Along the way, Ellis's acerbic wit and core belief in humanity comes across like never before.

Complimenting Ellis's own words are interviews with his artistic collaborators, friends and admirers from across all media, including actress Helen Mirren, Director Joss Whedon (Buffy The Vampire Slayer), comedian Patton Oswalt, Adult Film Star Stoya, Musician Claudio Sanchez (of Coheed and Cambria), comics writers Matt Fraction and Antony Johnston, and futurist Jamais Cascio. Ellis's comics collaborators like Marvel Comics CCO Joe Quesada, artists Darick Robertson, Ben Templesmith and Phil Jimenez also provide insight into Ellis's mind and creative workings. The film features numerous ambient interludes that spotlight Ellis's prose and writing from both his online columns and his comics.

And the trailer:

[youtube http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9i3ySdq8b6Y&w=500&h=284]

It's a pretty impressive list of celebrity interviews, if I do say so myself. I saw Patrick's last documentary, Grant Morrison: Talking With Gods (which can be streamed in its entirety on Hulu), which was absolutely fantastic. If that's any indication, then this new Warren Ellis film should be particularly awesome.

If you're fan of science, comic books, the future, the creative process, or Helen Mirren, I'd encourage you to come check the screening! (and if you're hesitant and not at all familiar with Warren Ellis's body of work, here's a particular powerful scene from a book of his called Doktor Sleepless. That'll give you a taste of the kind of mind this man has)

Tickets here! Get yer tickets!

Poetry Out Loud

Poetry Out Loud is a national poetry recitation competition for high school students, encouraging them to explore and perform poetry. The Education department at the Huntington Theatre Company moderates the Massachusetts State Competition (the winner of which go on to the National Finals in DC). Here's a little video I put together about the program: [youtube http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wYqA6Ls5pxs&w=500&h=284]

There's Nothing To Fear — But Fear Itself

Marvel recently wrapped their latest installment of the annual BigMegaUltra Superhero Summer Event, Fear Itself, written by Matt Fraction with art by Stuart Immonen. First of all, I want to congratulate those two talented creators with putting out the first big event book that shipped completely on time, a masterful feat in and of itself (if past event comics are to be any barometer). I realize that writing an event comic is a serious challenge for creators — the nature of such a series requires the writer to blow over the smaller individual character moments (usually reserved for the tie-in books) in favor of dictating the major action of the storyline. The supplementary titles are merely ribs; the main title is the spine of the story, and as such, is expected to present the major story beats with gusto, while still remaining completely self-contained. It is in this regard that, in my opinion — and I'm not just saying this with blind fanboy rage, but an objective mind — Fear Itself failed to make the mark. (Some spoilers abound. Just FYI)

Some personal history: I have a very fickle relationship with Matt Fraction. When he first came on the mainstream comics scene with books like The Order and Sensational Spider-Man Annual (quite possibly my single favorite issue of a comic book ever written in the history of mankind, ever), I thought he was an absolute genius, combining the wild imaginations of writers like Morrison and Ellis, without ever losing sight of the heart of his stories. I still think that Casanova (especially the most recent volume) is one of the most brilliant pieces of post-postmodern literature I've ever read. But somewhere along the line, it felt like Fraction became so obsessed with trying to out-clever and out-hip himself that he lost sight of what he was doing (his Uncanny X-Men run in particular was especially uneven). While I had not been reading his run on Thor, I decided I would pick up Fear Itself anyway, almost as a nostalgic notion for the bromance that we once shared.

Some Fear Itself history: [...]

And therein lay my first problem with Fear Itself. There was really no buildup to this story whatsoever (with the exception of Ed Brubaker's Book of the Skull one-shot, itself branded as a Fear Itself prologue). An event such as this should of course be able to exist on its own, but it seemed like Fear Itself in a vacuum by itself. There was no indication within the ongoing story of the overall Marvel universe that any of this was coming, or that it even mattered. All of a sudden and without any prior warning, there was this new character, "The Serpent," who was apparently the long-lost brother of Odin, Lord of Asgard (despite there being no previous reference to Odin ever secretly banishing his evil brother and rightful heir to the throne of the Gods, at least as far as I was aware, nor any pre-established Norse mythology surrounding Odin's usurpation of the throne). And he was evil. That was about where the character development ended. The Serpent was evil, and when teamed up with Sin, the new Red Skull (who, conveniently, was also evil), they together were...(wait for it)...evil.

Whereas House of M, Civil War, World War Hulk, Secret Invasion, and Siege all explored some degree of moral ambiguity, the initial threat of Fear Itself was...the bad guys are evil, and they are going to do bad things because they are evil. Granted, moral ambiguity eventually came along in the form of Odin threatening to raze the Earth in order to destroy The Serpent before he was able to let loose and wreak havoc amongst the other Eight Realms, but that felt like a fairly minor and quickly resolved plot point. Meanwhile, the bad guys decide to attack the Earth, because they are evil, and that is what bad guys do, because they are evil. Mystical "evil" hammers are dropped from the heavens with no explanation, and end up possessing those who are "worthy" with the evil spirits of some other long-lost and long-forgotten Asgardian demons. Even this is never quite explained; the possession can be understood through context, as well as their allegiance to The Serpent, but why were these characters deemed "worthy?" While I realize that some of these details were reserved for the tie-in books, I still couldn't help but feel slightly cheated. Were The Hulk and The Thing possessed because of their respective pre-existing rage, or other negative emotions? I mean, I guess that makes sense. But as we eventually learn, "fear" is The Serpent's manipulative emotion of choice, not anger/rage.

This brings me to my next problem with Fear Itself: show and tell. Starting towards the end of Issue #3, we are told that The Serpent derives his power from "fear." From that point on, we are simply told that people are "afraid," and that this somehow powers The Serpent. While the soundbytes from news station were a good idea, they felt too distant to me. So much of the press surrounding Fear Itself has discussed how it's a "street-level" story for the "everyman." But having The Serpent, or some newscaster, tell me that "There is fear!" isn't really good dramatic writing; it's telling, not showing, and therefore betraying one of the cardinal rules of writing. So how do you express abstract emotions such fear in a graphic format without simply telling? That was a challenge that Matt Fraction willingly took on, and while I commend him for taking that risk, I can't help but feel that he lost the trial.

Of course, all dramatic writing is built around stakes; if the stakes are high enough, even the smallest story can be justified. In Fear Itself, we were told there were "stakes" — that this was somehow the worst invasion/attack of all time (in the Marvel Universe, no less!) and that mankind was doomed to fail. But at no point was this ever shown or demonstrated (once again, telling and not showing). How or why was The Serpent so much more threatening and destructive than the Skrulls, or the angry Hulk, or the Void? Is it because he was a "God" — once again, one with no back story or previous buildup? Maybe I had trouble understanding why the people were afraid because I was never sure why I was supposed to be afraid. Each and every Marvel event promises mass destruction and a somewhat Pyrrhic victory; why should this be any different?

Most major comic book events utilize the death of some ancillary character in the beginning (or occasionally the end — RIP Janet Van Dyne) of the second act as a way to prove or justify the stakes of the story. In Fear Itself, Bucky, the nü-Captain America, was killed in the third issue*, a Red Shirt Joe Schmoe casualty to prove to the readers, "this shit is real!" While I certainly appreciate the dramatic notion that Sin, the replacement Red Skull, kills Bucky, the replacement Captain America, the act itself could not have felt any more cheap and contrived. BuckyCap (as he is so affectionately known) had never made a single appearance in Fear Itself until Issue #3 when he was killed. For me, this harkened back to Civil War, but at least then, Mark Millar put Black Goliath (Wikipedia link because you had no idea who he was either until he was dead) to some use in the issues leading up to his death in order to add to the weight of his sacrifice. All personal issue with killing off Bucky aside (that Ed Brubaker did an incredible job of bringing back one of the supposed "no-no" dead characters of comic book mythology, and created an incredibly unique and compelling character as result, etc.), his death felt so cheap and forced because it was so clearly a plot device and nothing more.

That brings us to our climactic death scene: Thor, the Norse God of Thunder. In Norse mythology, Thor ultimately slays the serpent Jörmungandr before taking nine steps and falling to his own death; this is one of the many stations of the Norse Ragnarök, the endlessly cyclical death and rebirth of the Gods. So I understand what Matt Fraction was going for, mining a piece of Norse mythology for his story. Unfortunately, we never shown (or dramatically demonstrated) any reason why Thor would die after killing The Serpent. We saw that he was weakened, certainly; but in the final issue of Fear Itself, an outraged Thor certainly seemed to lay the smackdown on his enemy. Why did he have to die, other than to fulfill some ancient prophecy? In most stories involving prophecies (much like those involving time travel), there's some kind of unspoken twist to the prophecy; a character is aware of his own fate, and does what he can to avoid it, but ultimately his actions, however heroic, lead to his demise through some form of dramatic irony. But this was not the case in Fear Itself. Thor defeated The Serpent in what was certainly an exhausting battle and then...he died. Because he had to, because the prophecy said so. Perhaps the stakes, and the emotional gravitas, would have been higher if we had actually seen Thor visibly sacrifice himself to take down The Serpent; instead he just died, because he had to. Which is dramatic, sure, but not dramatic enough.

(Furthermore, there's the issue that Thor is an Asgardian God, one who has seen this cycle of death and rebirth countless times; despite the fact that he was off-the-board of the Marvel Universe and only recently returned anyway, it is the very nature of his being to return to life, thereby further diminishing the dramatic value of his death. As shocking as it was when Loki was killed at the end of Siege, even he was brought back shortly, simply because that is the nature of an Asgardian God)

Finally, I was disappointed by the "everyman perspective" of the series. We saw in Issue #1 how the current economy had affected those who live in Brockton, Ohio, in the shadow of the Asgardian Gods, and while we were introduced to a point-of-view "everyman" character, we were never given enough to invest in him. Even in the final issue, when Captain America mistakes Rick's aid for that Luke Cage — a touching moment, certainly — we ultimately see the Marvel Superheroes saving the day. "As it should be," you might be saying (in which, I would agree with you). Perhaps my frustration here comes not from the context of the story, but from the media/press/interviews around it. As much as I liked seeing the reactions of the man-on-the-street (although again, there was not nearly as much showing as there was telling), reading about the story was about humans, about the everyman saving the superhero when the superhero fails...I don't buy it. The everyman played a major role in the end of Civil War, as well as Norman Osborn's rise to power during Dark Reign/Siege. So it was a perspective we'd seen. As such, the way it was portrayed in Fear Itself was not much different than the way we'd seen it before, and in the end, it was the superheroes, blessed with Asgardian abilities, that saved the day, not the everyman (as is the nature of any superhero story).

That being said, I will commend Fear Itself for its handful of totally badass moments. The shattering of Captain America's shield, and his subsequent lifting of Thor's hammer? Awesome. Resonant. Great. Giant Nazi Mechs smashing things? Yes please! Iron Man's "sacrifice to the Gods" as he desperately tried to get Odin's attention? Knowing a few alcoholics myself, that genuinely made me shiver. Hell, I didn't even mind an exhausted and frustrated Thor calling the possessed Hulk an "ass," or Spider-Man asking Cap if he could leave the battlefront and be with Aunt May when he thought all hope was lost. But overall, a few great moments could not make up for the larger oversights of this comic book mini-series event. In the end, as someone who doesn't regularly follow the Thor/Journey into Mystery/Asgardian stories, the consequences of the storyline still don't feel so far reaching. Even more insulting was the painfully transparent ending to Issue #7, which consisted consisted entirely of teaser set-ups for other series spinning of the ending. Clearly any major comic book crossover event is going to be a vessel through which to deliver new series to readers, but to make that vessel feel so transparent only serves to further cheapen the experience. The story should still be able to stand on its own, with some kind of satisfactory resolution, while somehow informing or enhancing the ongoing universe from which it was birthed. Valkyrie chasing down the mystical evil hammers of The Worthy? Okay, sure. The Battlescars book, with this mysterious "Marcus Johnson" character? The details are still vague enough that I can't get myself interested (that being said, I will probably be picking up Matt Fraction's The Defenders series, if for no other reason than to read him writing Iron Fist again). It seems to me, the ultimate fallout of Fear Itself suffers from "telling instead of showing," much like the rest of the series: there is damage. That is bad. Thor and Bucky are "dead." People are sad. As far as dramatic writing goes, that's not quite the best place from which to launch your next few years' worth of stories.

I'm not saying "I hate you Marvel Comics you raped my childhood I'm never going to read your books!" again, and I'm not saying "You suck, Matt Fraction!" On the contrary; Matt Fraction and I shall gleefully carry on with our emotionally abusive relationship, and I will continue to read Marvel Comics. I merely felt that, from an objective, critical view of storytelling, Fear Itself was ultimately a letdown. It's like when you're a teenager and you get in trouble with your parents: when they're mad at you, it just serves to further fuel your rage, but when mom or dad says "I'm disappointed in you, son" — well, that's when it really hurts. And quite frankly, I'm disappointed in you, Marvel. But that doesn't mean I love you any less.

*The reversal of Bucky's death in Fear Itself #7.1 was awesome and brilliant and something so clearly planned in advance by the ever-scheming Ed Brubaker that I could not have been more giddy to read it. Although, that being said, while I'm excited about the Winter Soldier's new status quo, at the same point, it also further infuriates me in regards to his poorly-played death in Fear Itself.

In Memory

2 years ago today, I lost my oldest friend in life to suicide. For my post on FiveByFiveHundred.com, I decided to look at these two years and how it's affected me. There's not much else to write about that isn't covered elsewhere, but it just serves to remind us that is life is precious, and no one's life "isn't worth it." Even two years later, Mike's death has a profound affect on me every day. Sure, I handle it better now — but suicide never goes away. It never gets better. So think before you act, whether you're experiencing your own feelings of self-harm, or whether your actions might have that affect on someone else. I miss you, Mike.

"The Stage or the Curtain" at FiveByFiveHundred.com

(If you're looking for some more not-so-light reading, I wrote a [fairly abstract and Beckett-esque] play about this as well. It premiered in Hollywood in April of 2010 — too late, of course, for Mike to have ever seen it. But theatre was his only real salvation in life, so maybe somehow, I can keep him alive on the stage, because I think that's how he would have liked it.)

[soundcloud url="http://api.soundcloud.com/tracks/9404866"]

Guest Blog: Chess Motifs

I've been doing some guestblogging for Quirk Books, publishers of Pride and Prejudice and Zombies and that soon-to-be hit Broetry (what you mean, you haven't bought a copy yet?!), and my first post is up today. It's a countdown of one of my favorite character types in pop culture/literature: the Chessmaster, that brilliant strategist who plays 50 moves ahead of the rest of the cast in the story, and always seems to have some grander scheme in mind that we as readers/viewers/audience can hardly even begin to comprehend. And they always know how to manipulate and play the other characters into going along with their plans, whether they realize it or not. We're talking Nick Fury, Ben Linus, Dumbledore, the Cigarette Smoking Man — you know the type. Check out the full list at the link below. Agree? Disagree? Let me know on the Quirk comments!

"Life Is A Game Of Chess: Top Ten Chessmasters in Pop Culture & Literature" at Quirk Books

The Best of All Possible CANDIDEs!

Leonard Bernstein's beautiful score for the Broadway musical Candide was an instant classic — the show itself, based on the novella by Voltaire, was not. Tony Award and MacArthur Genius Grant winner Mary Zimmerman took it upon herself to recreate this musical masterpiece/disasterpiece with a brand new book and a new take on its wonderful music. Following sold out runs at Chicago's Goodman Theatre and Washington, DC's Shakespeare Theatre, Mary Zimmerman's incredible production of Candide officially opens tonight at the Huntington in Boston, and believe me when I say, it is absolutely worth seeing. It's a long show, but it's also one that you'll remember — this is one of those shows that people will be talking about for years to come. Don't believe me? Check this out. [youtube http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vGgq_HZYAs0&w=420&h=315]

CANDIDE runs through October 16 at the BU Theatre on the Avenue of the Arts. Don't miss it!

Thom Dunn the Buffy Slayer

I recently did some blogging for Dark Horse Comics in anticipation of the upcoming Buffy the Vampire Slayer Season 9 comic book / Angel & Faith comic book, both continuing off of the original Buffy TV universe (because as anyone who knows me knows, I am fairly-to-extremely obsessed with the entirety of Joss Whedon's creative output. Man is the most brilliant dramatist of our time, no exaggeration). Check out the link for more of my thoughts on the Buffyverse as a whole — and, oh yeah, a brief anecdote about that time I armwrestled Joss Whedon (and won!).

#MyBuffyLife Guest Blog at DarkHorseComics.com


Me, totally armwrestling Joss Whedon. THAT'S WHAT
YOU GET FOR KILLING WASH, YOU BIG STUPID JERK!

My (Fictional) OKCupid Affair with Lady Gaga

Earlier today, consumer technology weblog Gizmodo.com made a post about accidentally ending up on an OKCupid date with the world champion of Magic: The Gathering.Under normal circumstances, this could be a fairly entertaining anecdote. Instead, Gizmodo.com intern Alyssa Bereznak uses the opportunity to show how much of a terrible, judgmental human being she is, and little more. The first and most obvious problem with this article: how is it newsworthy? The "point" of the story is to illustrate that people often exclude important and possibly dealbreaking details in their online dating profiles, and that we should all be more careful and "Google the shit out of your next online date."

Really, Alyssa? As your article indicates, Jon Finkel was about the only eligible bachelor that contacted on you on OKCupid. Despite his other redeeming qualities — Magic: The Gathering was the ultimate dealbreaker? While I've never been a Magic player myself (as in, regular/collecting player; yes, I've played the game, usually when Brian McGackin talks me into it), I struggle to see how this could be the ultimate, most disgusting and irredeemable sin that an online date could make. Maybe the author wasn't aware that Magic world champions can make upwards of $230,000 per tournament. Sorry, Alyssa — you just lost your Sugardaddy!

The most insulting part of the article is the way she compares Magic: The Gathering champion status to divorce and single parenthood as crucial details that one should be expected in his/her online dating profile. Did you ever stop to think, Melissa, that Jon does not want his championship status to be such an important factor in his relationships? To some people, he's a celebrity (he does have his own playing card, after all) — might that status skew his relationship prospects at all? He's a Magic: The Gathering rock star, and I'm sure there are plenty of geeky groupies out there looking for a piece of his mana. What if Chris Evans was looking for dates online, and decide not to include the fact that he's, you know, Captain America, for fear of meeting online desperate starfuckers and scaring off all of the ladies he'd actually want to date? To prove my point, here's a the exact same story, with a few minor details changed. This time, instead of a Magic: The Gathering world champion, my online date is secretly — well, you'll see.

Earlier this month, I came home drunk and made an OKCupid profile. What the hell, I thought. I'm busy, I'm single, and everybody's doing it. Sure, I'd heard some stories, but what was the worst that could happen?

Two weeks into my online dating experiment, OKCupid had broken me down. It was like the online equivalent to hanging out alone in a dark, date-rapey, drum-n-bass club. Every time I signed on, I was hit by a barrage of creepy messages. "hey qt, iwud lik veru much for me nd u to be marry n procreate." Or "you look strong hehe." So when I saw an IM from a girl named Stefanie that said, "You should go out with me :)" I was relieved. She seemed normal. I gave her my name. "Google away," I said. Then dinner was ready, and I signed off without remembering to do the same.

We met for a drink later that week. Stefanie was short and thin, dressed in garish glam-punk outfit that either looked like it was way too coordinated or scrapped together at the last minute from Goodwill. We started talking about normal stuff—family, work, college. I told her that I was a musician. And then she casually mentioned that she was as well.

"Actually," she paused. "I'm fucking Lady Gaga"

I laughed. Oh that's a funny joke! I thought. This girl is funny! But the earnest look on her face told me she wasn't kidding.

I gulped my beer and thought about the life of a pop star, and the fashion celebrity. After all, I'd taken an Andy Warhol class, too, and as much I was never really into what Gaga was doing, I certainly understood it (or at least, I thought I did). But before I could dig deeper, we had to go. Stefanie had bought us tickets for a drag show in the basement of a seedy leather bar. It was not a particularly romantic evening.

The next day I Googled my date and a wealth of information flowed into my browser. A Wikipedia page! Competition videos! Fanboy forums comparing him to Chuck Norris! This chick wasn't just some professional who dabbled in music at a tender age. She's Lady motherfucking Gaga!

Just like you're obligated to mention you're divorced or have a kid in your online profile, shouldn't someone also be required to disclose any indisputable international popstar status? But maybe to her it was a long time ago? We met for round two later that week.

At dinner I got straight down to it. Did she still perform? "Yes." Strike one. How often? "I'm preparing for a tour next month." Strike two. Who did she hang out with? "I've met all my best friends through the music industry and drag shows." Strike three. I smiled and nodded and listened. Eventually I even felt a little bit bad that I care at all about her career. Here was a gal who had dedicated a good chunk of her life to becoming a prototypical celebrity/popstar, on a date with a guy who fancies dreams of singer-songwriter brilliance. This is what happens, I thought, when you leave things out of your online profile.

I later found out that Stefanie infiltrated her way into OKCupid dates with at least two other people I sort of know, including one of my co-workers. Fathers, warn your sons! This could happen to you. You'll think you've found a normal, edgy indie girl with a job, only to end up sharing goat cheese with genderqueer popstar far too obsessed with deconstructing the popular notions of "celebrity" based on what she once heard in an Andy Warhol class she took at NYU.

Maybe I'm an OKCupid asshole for calling it that way. Maybe I'm shallow for not being able to see past Stefanie's international superstardom. I'll own that. But there's a larger point here: that judging people on shallow stuff is human nature; one person's pop stardom is another person's fingernail biting, or sports obsession, or verbal tic. No online dating profile in the world is comprehensive enough to highlight every person's peccadillo, or anticipate the inane biases that each of us lugs around. There's no snapshot in the world that can account for our snap judgments.

So what did I learn? Google the shit out of your next online date. Like, hardcore.

(5 x 500) x 500 = (7 x 500)

About two and a half years ago, the Internet Jesus himself, Warren Ellis made a post on his website proposing a different approach to (micro)-blogging, flash fiction, and e-publishing. While I'm not sure if the larger project ever took off, it served as a point of inspiration for then-fresh-out-of-college Thom and his need to write with some kind of purpose/frequency/plan. I threw the idea out to on Facebook and Twitter, and gathered a few friends (with some help from Brian McGackin) to begin the first wave of writers and what would become FiveByFiveHundred.com (a name which may or may not have been inspired by one Faith Lehane). Over the last two years, we've gone through a number of different writers (myself and Brian are the only two that remain of the founding quintet), each producing their own unique posts once a week, with the only rule being a 500-word cap. Poetry, flash-fiction, memoirs, serialized fiction; anything and everything (and sometimes very different work by the same writer week to week). We recently hit our milestone 500th post (which Lisa McColgan was not aware of when she submitted a wonderful treatise on her stupid cat, Mephisto, as the 500th post). Around the same time, we lost our Wednesday contributor, Melanie Yarbrough (who is hard at work on larger projects, hence her need to back out), and as we searched for replacements, we realized something: why keep the project limited to five writers? Other than the obvious numeric allusion of the title, we had nothing to lose by adding weekends to our little writing project. The website has received pretty consistent traffic during the week, but more content never hurts, and there are plenty of other talented writers out there who deserve to have their work shown on our humble webspace, plus we had enough interested contributors, so we went with it.

(We toyed for about a minute with upping the word cap to 700, in order to maintain the numeric allusion of the title, but decided to say screw it)

And so, starting this week (well, I suppose, technically starting this past Saturday): Five By Five Hundred now presents seven talented writers, one for each day of the week, each one producing up to 500 words of content on his/her given day. There's lots of great stuff coming out of the site, and with such frequent contributions, there's always something new. So check it out if you haven't already, and enjoy some fantastic flashfiction/poetry/humor/et cetera!

As a jumping off point for you (since there are, well, 500+ posts to weed through already), here are our top 5 (again with the numeric alliteration!) most popular posts:

And here's to five hundred more. People, or posts, I'm not really sure.

(Also this post totally clocked in ~500 words. NATCH. Booyah.)

The Huntington's 30th Anniversary Season

The Huntington Theatre Company, Boston's leading professional theatre company since 1982, is launching into their 30th Anniversary Season this year. Tickets went on sale yesterday for a season that includes Mary Zimmerman's acclaimed production of Candide, the completion of August Wilson's 20th Century Cycle with Ma Rainey's Black Bottom (ironically, his first hit play, and the last that the company is producing), the hit New York comedy God of Carnage (the film of which, directed by Roman Polanski, comes out in November), and Noël Coward's Private Lives, along with three world premieres. I've spent the last few weeks re-designing the Huntington's website to fit with the new 30th Anniversary branding image, and I have to say, I'm pretty happy with the results. Check it out — and while you're at it, maybe treat yourself to one of our shows along the way.

Oh, also? The entire season is going to be presented in SHOCKING REAL-D 3D! [youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=P9rjonTUwW0]