decoy hunches's New Writeups

The Conversationalist (event)

2013-04-01T20:38:21Z

The Conversationalist is a drama which Hugo Ball wrote with Bertolt Brecht in 1923.Â

Ball originally intended the project for film but ended up staging it as a play. No theatre company was interested in hosting the production, so the only performance was done in the streets, simultaneously in Berne and Berlin. The exact size of the audience remains uncertain, although Ball did record that the general reception was "mixed" in his diaries.

The Conversationalist remains an important work as it was the first script to be written entirely for non-human actors, prefiguring cinematic achievements such as The Adventures of Milo and Otis. And, like Milo and Otis, the animals which Ball and Brecht employed ruffled some feathers. The original script called for a horse to be used, and later a mule. But since the plot involved animals conversing with humans by means of the telegraphâtelegraph offices typically being…

Michael Aurbach (person)

2013-03-24T01:15:43Z

Michael Aurbach is a contemporary sculptor and educator who explores death, secrecy, and critical theory using mixed media such as plexiglass, archeticural design, and industrial lab equipment.

His work is at once playful yet always alreadyÂ a very serious challenge to the audience (or spectator or viewer or patron or interpreters) to exercise their imagination for the purpose of decoding the array of signs and symbols which are the raw materials of Aurbach's oology of contemporary life (or stasis or death or (non)existence or being). Many of his more recent pieces are highly intricate Rube Goldberg machines with labels such as Essence of Derrida or Extract of Foucault.

As an art student in Kansas during the late 1970s, he noticed that the language used to describe art creation seemed preoccupied with violence and death (executing pieces of art, shooting photographs, hanging…

INMEDIARES: a Quest in the middle of things (thing)

2013-03-07T15:08:02Z

INMEDIARES, then this is the Quest for you!

Acceptable Quest topics include but are by no means limited to:

application (and explication) of the literary device of in media res (as the term is known in the absence of scriptura continua) in both traditional and film narrative
medians: both as a concept in statistics and in urban planningÂ
the Equator and Prime Meridian
facts, fiction and/or verse pertaining to midnight, midday, middle age, middle class, middle brow, middlings, mid-airs, mid-brains, mid-engines, Middle C, Mid-Atlantic, Middle England, Middle East, Middle America, Middle Earth, Mid Glamorgan, Middle Europe, midlands, Middle School, middy, middle finger, middle ear, middle man, Middlemarch, midterm, middle nameâmidpoints & midsections of all kinds are encouraged! (but bid you please, no midden!)
truncated retellings of

…

Phoning It In (event)

2013-03-02T13:51:02Z

"Phoning it in" is an expression for a thing which is generally done half assed.

The implication being that an individual cannot be damn well bothered to make a personal appearance at a given function when a show of support (whether actual or merely representational) is requested or required. Instead of appearing in the flesh, one instead sends one's regrets by telephone as a sort of token gesture.Â

While there are a few instances where phoning it in may be a legitimate or understandable course of action, the expression is generally considered to be pejorative.

In the age of conference calls and call centers, phoning it in may be used to simply refer to a person on the phone whose attention is somehow divided or compromised.Â

The exact origins of this expression are unknown, but it is likely that it was coined by someone involved in the theater community. After the telephone became ubiquitous, the joke amongst stage…

Spadework (review)

2013-03-02T01:15:33Z

Spadework is a noun used figuratively to mean "routine or difficult preparatory work". The original (and more obvious) meaning, of course, refers to "work done by digging with a spade".

Sometimes the word is separated into two words but the earliest recorded usage of the compound word is from 1778. It is, of course, entirely possible that an earlier usage remains buried.

As a metonymy the word is a not part of common speech outside of politics, punditry, or academia. The term is still used in its original sense within gardening manuals.

Since the mid-20th century or so, users of the word spadeworkÂ as a political term risk being perceived as a racistâmuch like those who use the word niggardly. During Barak Obama's 2008 campaign for US presidency, Hillary Clinton, being his contender-at-the-time for the Democratic ticket,Â was roundly lambasted for a highly-pub…

Neem (thing)

2013-02-28T23:58:36Z

A fast growing tree native to Bangladesh, Pakistan, and India, Neem is a hardy, drought-resistant plant with many medicinal uses. the Neem tree grows well in sub-tropical areas. The scientific name for the plant isÂ Azadirachta indica. In Iran the name for this plant means "Cherish".

The leaves and flowers of Neem are edible. Sometimes they are prepared in a special way (either pickled or boiled with tamarind fruit) to reduce their distinctive bitter flavor. Consuming the young leaves is more common. Neem is a popular vegetable in Cambodia and surrounding areas.

Neem produces fruit which is used to extract an oil. The seeds are also used to produce this oil. This oil is considered something of a panacea in the Ayurvedic and Unani medicinal traditions. Neem is anthelmintic, antifungal, antidiabetic, antibacterial, antiviral and both a contraceptive and sedative. Neem consumption is considered to…