Opens in movie theaters, November 18th. Another story of dropouts changing the world.

A recurring plot with the right kind of dangerous consequences?

It’s the last weekend of Seattle Shakespeare Company’s “Wooden O” park performance of “A Comedy of Errors.” You can see the show tonight, tomorrow and Sunday at 7PM in Luther Burbank Park on Mercer Island. The show is open to all and based on donation. With the way the weather is shaping up for the next few nights, you really should have no excuse. Do yourself a favor, grab some wine and cheese, stash the wine in something covered so that the authorities don’t feel the need to crack down on you artsy types in the park, and head on out to catch a little Billy Shakes. Will it help if I promise that you won’t be disappointed?

Jan and I went and saw both of the Wooden O performances this year and they were fantastic. We especially loved the performance at Luther Burbank Park since the venue has amphitheater style grass seating and it is so easy to see the action. This particular interpretation of Comedy has a vaudevillian atmosphere and is a real hoot. Even kids will appreciate the show. If you make it out, let me know how it goes!

Just in time for Tracy Boyd’s guided tour on Friday (see my invitation to TPN fans here), The Seattle Art Museum (SAM) has just announced that they will now allow photographs to be taken from within the main collection halls -something which has always been a strict no-no (just ask my fiancee Jan how sneaky she had to be during the SAM Remix).

There a few caveats (called out in the updated FAQ) that will need to be honored under the new policy:

• Traveling special exhibits will generally not be allowed for photographs
• No flash
• No tripod
• No movie or video cameras

I think this is a great move by SAM to keep pace with the times and I look forward to taking advantage of the policy when I am over there this Friday evening for Tracy’s tour.

The data

I’m going to go out on a limb and guess that the soon-to-be-released iPads coming on April 3rd will include an onboard camera and video chart enabled via iChat [NOTE: I Am wrong. See update at bottom of post]. I think Apple just hinted it very strongly with the commercial that aired during the Academy Awards last night (and which you can view on their website right here). 3 seconds into the commercial, if you focus on the upper bezel, front and center, you will see a camera appear and then disappear in the next shot. I have an image below but if you actually watch the video, you can see it appear and disappear quite distinctly.

So that’s one little data tidbit, but when you look at some of Apple’s other recent actions, I think it gets even more compelling. Let’s start with the SDK. PLCameraController.h shows this:

There are also two icons:

(last two images from iphonealley.com)

And another big one, the iPad replacement parts have a frame with a quite obvious hole for a camera.

And this last one is perhaps a bit too far-fetched but last week we also had notification that Apple was pulling Wi-Fi hotspot detectors from their app store. Not all wifi detection apps were pulled, just the ones that actively scan for spots rather than passive data based on GPS/cell location. Apple claims to be removing them since they rely on “private frameworks.” Makes sense right? What also makes sense is that Apple, on the eve of announcing a major Wi-Fi hog in video chat via their latest device, would angle to limit possible negative press from owners of insecure private networks who would be pissed to have their wireless networks bogged down by people standing outside of the homes and offices iChatting. Like I said, now I’m straying far into the realm of guess-dom.

And one more thing…

So, all of this adds up to the fact that the iPad will have a front-facing camera, it’s just a question of when. I think the ad from Apple last night is a big Lost-style clue that this is coming for launch. For Apple, who already had to change a hastily produced ad showing Flash content to so quickly follow up with a gaffe surfacing a new feature would be too much to believe. I think this is real and it is intentional. Steve is a huge fan of the big surprise reveal. What better way could there be to provide more launch buzz for the iPad than it showing up with video chat on Day 1? Take that, Microsoft Courier!

Boom!

[Updated 3/10/2010]: Apple’s newest SDK is pulling the references to the front facing camera and the icons for support. While this is not an iron-clad indication that they won’t be the camera for launch, it’s a pretty big indication that they they’re not progressively tipping their hand as a I suggested. Hey, when I’m wrong, I admit it.

It’s 1st Thursday and you know what that means – Art Walk! Are any of you going out tonight? What are the “can’t miss” shows and artists you’re excited to check out? Let me know in the comments.

The photo is from a new work hanging on the outside of the burned out Simba’s on 2nd. I hadn’t seen it before and it reminded me of what day it was as I approached work.

I finally make it to NYC for the first time in September and now I need to find a way to get back straightaway for this Tim Burton exhibit from November 22nd – April 26th. The samples shown in the interview look incredible.

New York Mag has a short show preview and a slideshow you can check out on their site.

Burton recently told New York (the interview is forthcoming in the magazine). “It’s like opening up an old closet or something — like ‘Oh! What’s all this crap?’” Old crap it is not [...].

Below is a MoMA teaser spot and then interview with Tim Burton to promote the retrospective. Enjoy.

You'd probably lean against the wall too.

Gonna be in Turin, Italy, any time soon (like before January 10, 2010)? Yeah, me neither, but if I were I’d want to check out the Gianni Colombo exhibit at Castello di Rivoli. Colombo puts the viewer at the center of his art and if the picture is anything to be believed may attempt to cause projectile vomit through an overwhelming sense of dysphoria.

This Turin exhibition thus fills a research-based gap regarding an artist who, particularly as a member of kinetic-art collective Gruppo T (founded in Milan in 1959), radically focused his artmaking on what became an essential design premise: to place the viewer at the center of the work. The resulting pieces are functional “machines” that led their users to perform a series of discrete actions and movements of the body and the eye—beginning with 1959’s Rilievi intermutabili (Interchangeable Reliefs) and Strutturazioni pulsanti (Pulsating Structuralizations).

I actually really enjoy pieces that play with your senses like this. The permanently installed James Turrell Skyspace at The Henry Art Gallery here in Seattle does something similar. The lack of symmetry causes your brain to process the light and sound completely differently. For me, I find I can’t spend too much time inside without dizziness overcoming me. Strange, isn’t it? Something so beautiful can be so challenging to senses that have been lured into a sort of code of comprehension that we all intuitively understand. We actually get sick when the laws of our geometric manufactured landscapes get toyed with.

Have you ever been in one of these pieces of art that play with your senses? What was it? Was it enjoyable or seriously displeasing? I can see this one cutting either way.

Renda Dodge is a Seattle-based author who just published her first book, “Inked” in October. During the month of November, she is participating in National Novel Writing Month (NaNoWriMo) – for the 5th time! Renda is also the South Seattle Municipal Liaison for NaNoWriMo which means she’s helping a bunch of less experienced NaNoWriMo-ers come to terms with their task and then plow through their roadblocks. Hers is a noble calling. She took time out of her very ambitious schedule to talk to The Puget News, and for that I am very grateful.

Hi Renda, thanks a lot for taking the time to be interviewed for “The Puget News.” I really appreciate it, and congratulations on the publication of your first novel, “Inked.”

No problem, and thank you!

So it’s November, which means it’s National Novel Writing Month (NaNoWriMo). How is that going for you so far? Is this your first time participating?

No, actually, this is my fifth year participating in NaNoWriMo. I started in 2005 and have done it every year since. I spend a lot of time in the writing reference section of the bookstore and I came across “No Plot? No Problem!” by Chris Baty, the founder of NaNoWriMo. The book details, in a fun and humorous way, how to succeed with writing a novel in 30 days. I actually happened upon the book in October, and surprise, National Novel Writing Month started less than a month later.

My first year, I did it alone in my home office. I didn’t reach out the huge community, and I’m not ashamed to say that I didn’t hit the 50,000 word goal. I wrote about 24,000 words, but I was so proud of myself. Even after attending college as an English major, I’d never written anything longer than 8,000 words. But, after one month I suddenly had the bones of a story to work with. So, when November 2006 rolled around I was ready to tackle, and “win”.

One of the great things I’ve experienced, and also seen with other writers, is what NaNo does for them. It takes them from someone who really wants to write a novel, to someone who has, and each success is another to build on and learn from.

As far as this year goes, it’s only the 3rd of the month, and I’m a little behind in word count. The goal, of course, is 50,000 words in one month (equal to a short novel – some famous examples of books right around 50,000 are “Fight Club”, “Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy” and “Catcher in the Rye”) and that equates to 1,667 words per day. So, to stay on track I should be at about 5,000 words and I’m at about 2,500. But that’s ok, I’ll catch up.

Spoken with the confidence of somebody that’s done this a few times.

Definitely, 50,000 words isn’t as daunting when you’ve conquered it a few times.

Outside of participating as a writer in NaNoWriMo this month, you’re also serving as the “South Seattle Municipal Liaison.” What exactly is that and how did you get that gig?

Well, in 2007 I contacted the Office of Letters and Light (the parent non-profit for NaNo) and asked what I could do to help. I was offered the position of Co-Municipal Liaison with Amanda Cherry. We thought it was easiest to split the region into north and south, because it’s a huge region. We have almost 3,000 people signed up to participate in NaNoWriMo who list Seattle as their home region, and for the last three years we’ve lead every other city (and even whole states like Maryland) in the regional word counts and in donations. So, here in Seattle we write a lot and we are also generous with our donations – which is an excellent combination.

What I do as ML mainly revolves around cheer leading, running events (such as write-ins – a gathering of writers in local coffee shops for fellowship and word count) and helping people make it to 50,000 words. It’s a volunteer gig, but I have so much fun with it. I have met so many interesting people, and I have been a part of so many people reaching their goals. It’s so worth it.

For example, Monday night the King County Library in Covington I helped them kick of NaNoWriMo by presenting the basics of High Speed Plotting to an entire group of NaNo newbies, several of which went home to start writing immediately. It’s really awesome that I can be a part of that.

I’ve found NaNoWriMo to be one of the few things that can take the solitary task of writing and instantly injects you straight into a very inviting community. Everyone is so supportive.

Moving back to talking about “Inked” for a minute here, what moved you to make this your first novel? Was it sitting there, cathartically waiting to be written, or did it take a lot of time to develop?

Well, I wrote “Inked” as my fourth NaNo novel, but I attacked it differently than I had the first three. For one thing, at that point I had written three full length novels. I had a really good grasp of what worked, and what really didn’t. So I was able to plan “Inked” out and it was really an easy story to write. I deliberately dug deep inside of myself for this book though, and when I came out on the other side I had a very personal story I was proud of. It was the first draft I had ever finished that I was excited to work on. I didn’t want to shove into a drawer and never look at again. The huge difference with this novel is that I allowed myself to pull into my background and experiences to create a character with a very diverse story.

I would say it took awhile to develop, 30 days to write a first draft, however the re-writing, revision and editing process took months. I worked on it for hours a day. I did five full revisions from beginning to end (and that doesn’t count the spot revisions) and I had 10 readers, all who went through it with a fine tooth comb. I’ve lived and breathed this novel for a full year.

The one thing I tell everyone is that the title “National Novel Writing Month” is a little deceptive, you’re not actually going to walk away with a novel that’s ready to publish. What you will walk away with though is a first draft. And that’s like starting with an empty plot of land and building a house in a month. You go from having nothing to a house. However, you still have to finish the walls, pick paint and wallpaper, and furnish the house before you can sell it. It’s the same with NaNoWriMo, but how many people sit around saying “I really want to write a book someday”? Well, NaNoWriMo is that chance.

Well, consider me jealous of your stick-to-it-iveness. I read the first chapter of “Inked” (Editor’s Note: available free here) and I’m compelled to continue on. How will your next work differ from “Inked”? Are you going to stick with similar subject matter or take us someplace totally different?

Thank you! I’m glad the first chapter was intriguing enough to continue on! My current project is a bit different from “Inked” in the fact that, for one thing, I’m writing from a male character’s point of view, and instead of tackling one person’s struggle for identity in current America I’m dealing with a whole household of diverse people as they try to find themselves. I’ve also made a personal pledge to have a few more moments of levity while still tackling some heavy themes, such as modern relationships, drug-use and modern family, because well, sometimes you have to laugh at life, right?

Starting with the assumption that millions of people will read this interview and click over to buy your book, where should they go to do so?

Of course, that’s always the assumption in the digital age of the internet.

The best place to purchase my book is directly from my publishing press and the store can be accessed on my site but it’s also available on Amazon. Or, I’ll have some available for purchase at the reading on November 6th (Editor’s Note: see bottom of this post for more details on the reading). I’m also working on getting it into some independent bookstores in the Seattle area soon.

Thanks again for talking to me. I know you’ve got a really busy month ahead of you and I want to make sure you get your real work done. I’d love to check in in early December and see how things went for you and the other folks you’re helping with NaNoWriMo.

This was a lot of fun, thank you for talking with me. Oh and definitely feel free to check back with me. It’s a really fun journey, and I’d love to let you know where it ends up.

Links:

• Renda Dodge’s website: You can read the first chapter of “Inked,” find out what she’s up to, and buy her book right there!
• Renda Dodge’s blog
• “Inked” on Amazon.com
• National Novel Writing Month (NaNoWriMo)

FYI: You heard her mention her reading but if you’d like a chance to hear Renda read from “Inked”, she’ll be reading at The Hugo House on Friday, November 6th, 2009 at 8PM. Please show up and support Renda’s hard work for her readers and the local art community!

Don't miss this reading!

Um, yeah. I’ll be seeing this. I just hate having to wait until March of 2010.

The new Murakami 2-volume novel is selling fast enough to set records for the publisher in Japan. I wonder how long we’ll have to wait to see this one in the US?

The publisher and Murakami, who rarely gives media interviews, kept a veil over “1Q84,” which can be read as “1984″ in Japanese, after many readers asked not be told about the plot before reading the novel.

[via AFP]