haven't ben blogging

as much
constantly sharing items from google reader -
they are on the right.

blogging from the phone
is fun,
but better for pics than words


anyway, off to sell candy...
yahoo!

so often
i find myself
embracing the moment
fucking the future

excuses for me and for you
hooray!
have a drink
have a smoke
have a little laugh
at a little joke

fiddlin'
while san diego burns
and new orleans drowns
and the ice caps melt
and my friends go crazy
and my enemies get stronger

embracing the moment
fucking the future

amen

The long walk home

Eventually notsuoh

YouTube - $5.15/hour (pilot episode)

YouTube - $5.15/hour (pilot episode)

linklater

The sun

The defenestration unit - tonight - the avant garden - 10 pm - jeffs last gig as a bachelor - his lady plays downstairs at 8 with two sta

Beyond the ‘Zipless Fuck’ With Erica Jong - 10 Zen Monkeys

Beyond the ‘Zipless Fuck’ With Erica Jong - 10 Zen Monkeys: "But one is too wise, by then, to think of it as anything but a zipless fuck. Or a zipless fuck-fuck-fuck-fuck-fuck — and done, because you don't want to be their nurse, and you don't want to be their purse. I did that when I was in my 40s. And you don't want to blurb their book — their bad book."

Coilhouse » Blog Archive » Mondo 2000: Where Are they Now?

Coilhouse » Blog Archive » Mondo 2000: Where Are they Now?:

"So, what made Mondo 2000 so special? It was, in my opinion, the best alternative culture magazine that America ever had."

There were once zines I read all the time...
Mondo 200, ANSWER ME!, etc...

now I just stare at this screen all day.

holly golightly & the broke-offs

don't know where you were last night,
but I doubt it was at rudz.
the show was amazing.
maybe the first time I've teared up in publuic
since my near nervous breakdown
in a james coney island in 2000.
i sat alone,
drinking whiskey
eyes closed
stomping my feet
and singing along.
they were selling a tour only cd,
which I am listening to now.
u missed it.
bad u.

super hero soap opera

tdu - podcasts

Click here to get your own player.

Tdu - tonight - ten pm - avant garden - free

Go see rats!

Rats tuesdays 8pm 13th between shepherd and durham

On break

Art cars at traders village... Tdu soon

The beer cellar

A bathtub full of ice

365 days/365 plays - ornery theatre - tonight - 8pm - the artery - 5401 jackson street - free

Welcome to the new American police state. Papers please?

watch this space

tdu now has t-shirts

watch this space for pictures of hot girls in tdu shirts.

I'm a city mouse. When i take psychedelics i stay in the city. No communing with nature... I talk to the concrete and the cars... The

Vodka tonic by candlelight.

I worked hard today. I deserue a drink.

Ornery Theatre - 365 plays 365 days

hey kids!

doin' my 365 at the Artery Friday night...
8pm

5401 Jackson St, Houston, TX 77004

come on out!

I've got Jennifer Decker, Mark Carrier, Rob Baker, Ayn Morgan and
myself directing
and a lot of the usual suspects (paul, joe, walt, jen, kira, greg
dean) and some relatively new
faces too...

I think we've come up with some interesting takes on the scripts,
and hey it's free!

Kid Ornery

Radiohead lets fans pick price for new album - Boing Boing

Radiohead lets fans pick price for new album - Boing Boing:

"They're only selling it through their website (at least for now), and for the digital download version, they're letting listeners pick their own price for the album - it's literally a donation-based product."

An exciting night of laundry

The Last Bastions Reunion!

Charlie has podcasted the recent Last Bastions show...


The Last Bastions Reunion!

Following the Sad Pygmy set from the previous podcast of live performances from the birthday party for John Muzak at Super Happy Fun Land, I now present the Last Bastions, experimental duo of Charlie Naked and Mike Switzer. The last time we played in public was at Diverseworks for our Houston Residency there in 2003.

Press Release - Ornery Theatre Presents - 365 Days/365 Plays by Suzan-Lori Parks DATE AND VENUE CHANGE

PRESS RELEASE 9/28/07

For Immediate Release

Press Contact: Mike Switzer

832-725-4108 or mike.g.switzer@gmail.com

Ornery Productions Presents:

365 Days/365 Plays

Houston, TX: WHAT IS 365 DAYS/365 PLAYS?

On November 13, 2002 Suzan-Lori Parks got an idea to write a play a
day for a year. She began that very day, finishing one year later. The
resulting play cycle, called 365 Days/365Plays, is a daily meditation
on an artistic life. Some plays are very short, less than a page.
Others last forever.

Over 700 theaters are producing the plays nationally. Including local
groups such as Ornery Theatre, Infernal Bridegroom Productions,
NovaArts, HSPVA, Bobbindoctrin Puppet Theatre, and Strand Street
Theatre.

Ornery Theatre is performing their 7 assigned plays, along with The
Three Constants (short plays that all theatres in the festival may
use), on October 5 at 8pm. The show is "Pay as You Like",
meaning it is free to the public, although patrons are encouraged to
make a small donation to the production. The performances will take
place at The Artery - 5401 Jackson St, Houston, TX 77004.

For more information about this production, please visit Ornery's
website at www.myspace.com/theaddingmachine or call 832-725-4108.

For more information about the 365 days/365 plays festival in general,
please visit the official website at www.365days365plays.com.

What:
365 Days/365 Plays by Suzan Lori-Parks

Who:
Ornery Productions

When:
October 5 at 8pm

Where:
The Artery
5401 Jackson St, Houston, TX 77004

How Much: Free, or pay as you like

Contact:
832-725-4108 or mike.g.switzer@gmail.com

The defenestration unit - tonight - notsuoh - 8pm - free

Disinformation :: The Honesty Of Atheism: 'Everything You Know About God Is Wrong'

Disinformation :: The Honesty Of Atheism: 'Everything You Know About God Is Wrong'

Often we use one of our other labels as a "polite" way of saying we're atheist. For some reason, using the word that best describes our position with regard to the existence of gods is considered in-your-face - rude. Some atheists use these other terms because they don't want to alarm the general public. While I can sympathize, it's clear that the general public wouldn't be so outraged by the word if we’d use it more freely.

While it’s frustrating to have atheism misunderstood and mischaracterized by the religious, to hear it maligned by fellow atheists is disheartening. Much of the trouble in which atheists find themselves can be laid at their own feet, it would seem. Too many insist that atheism requires an absolute certainty or belief that gods do not exist. They prefer the word agnostic, mistakenly thinking it describes a skeptic, a doubter, or a person who just doesn’t know.

The reality is that atheism is the only intellectually honest position a person can take - it is the only logical stance.

crooked house: Beckett for Babies

crooked house: Beckett for Babies: "Beckett for Babies"

you could do worse by yr kid...

Sometimes i want to get saved... But eventually i give up - give in - stop chasing salvation in female form. It is then that i seek out a she-devil - a like-minded mess for trouble and fun.

On break.

The orange show

In a little over an hour the defenestration unit will be playing at the orange show.

We're done

In just a few minutes TDU will be playing at notsuoh

Hammerhead: on lying

Press Release - Ornery Theatre Presents - 365 Days/365 Plays by Suzan-Lori Parks

PRESS RELEASE 9/10/07

For Immediate Release

Press Contact: Mike Switzer

832-725-4108 or mike.g.switzer@gmail.com

Ornery Productions Presents:

365 Days/365 Plays

Houston, TX: WHAT IS 365 DAYS/365 PLAYS?

On November 13, 2002 Suzan-Lori Parks got an idea to write a play a
day for a year. She began that very day, finishing one year later. The
resulting play cycle, called 365 Days/365Plays, is a daily meditation
on an artistic life. Some plays are very short, less than a page.
Others last forever.

Over 700 theaters are producing the plays nationally. Including local
groups such as Ornery Theatre, Infernal Bridegroom Productions,
NovaArts, HSPVA, Bobbindoctrin Puppet Theatre, and Strand Street
Theatre.

Ornery Theatre is performing their 7 assigned plays, along with The
Three Constants (short plays that all theatres in the festival may
use), on October 4 and 5 at 8pm. The show is "Pay as You Like",
meaning it is free to the public, although patrons are encouraged to
make a small donation to the production. The performances will take
place at Pearl Bar, 4216 Washington Avenue.

For more information about this production, please visit Ornery's
website at www.myspace.com/theaddingmachine or call 832-725-4108.

For more information about the 365 days/365 plays festival in general,
please visit the official website at www.365days365plays.com.

What:
365 Days/365 Plays by Suzan Lori-Parks

Who:
Ornery Productions

When:
October 4 and 5 at 8pm

Where:
Pearl Bar
4216 Washington Avenue
Houston, TX 77007
Phone: (713) 868-5337

How Much: Free, or pay as you like

Contact:
832-725-4108 or mike.g.switzer@gmail.com

Madcap - I'm directing this weekend...

This should be a lot of fun...
I'm directing...
so is Jennifer Decker and Johnathan Harvey...
among the writers there is Paul Locklear, Joe Folladori, John Harvey...
Walt is acting, as well as some other faces you'll recognize...

come on out...

Country Playhouse presents "MADCAP 24" …an avant-garde
multi-theatrical event involving a collaboration on the production of
8 original one-act plays by participants from Houston theatre
organizations. The entire process of writing, casting, directing, and
staging this production will take place over 24 consecutive hours,
culminating with a single premier performance at 8pm on August 11,
2007 on Country Playhouse's Cerwinske Stage.

Country Playhouse has gathered writers, directors, and actors from
various Houston Theatre organizations, including:

Brazosport Lil Players
Country Playhouse
Dos Chicas
Fan Factory
Mildred's Umbrella
NovaArts
Ornery Theatre
Shunya Theatre
Theatre Illuminata
Theatre Suburbia
The University of Houston
Town Centre Theatre
Unhinged Productions
and more...
The diversity of groups involved provides opportunities for
entertaining chaos from start to finish. What results will be an
entertaining night of experimental works spanning a wide range of
Houston theatrical styles.

Country Playhouse is located at 12802 Queensbury Lane (in Town &
Country Village) south of I-10W and east of Beltway 8.

Travel time from the inside the inner loop to the theatre is about 30 minutes.

A Google map of the Playhouse's location can be found at:
http://map.countryplayhouse.org.

Tickets are $10 per person and are available by calling 713-467-4497
or online through http://www.countryplayhouse.org.

Tickets are
limited as this is a one-night only performance.

As we intend to respect the artistic integrity of our writers, content
may not be suitable for all audiences.

Country Playhouse is supported in part by generous grants from Houston
Endowment Inc.; Albert and Ethel Herzstein Charitable Foundation;
Texas Commission on the Arts; and the City of Houston through the
Houston Arts Alliance.

YOU can help save Frenetic Theater!

FrenetiCore needs your help. We have had to temporarily close our theater to make necessary improvements. This will leave many local artists without a place to perform in the coming months, so the sooner we can re-open our doors, the better.
You can help! There are two events coming up that will benefit FrenetiCore and the Frenetic Theater. Read on:

'DRINK HOUSTON BETTER' at Poison Girl, this Sunday (August 5th) beginning at 6pm.  Get your drink on while you watch highlights of our past filmic dance performances--plus you can bid on an awesome art auction, buy personalized songs composed by Robert Thoth, get chair-massaged, and eat delicious homemade treats!   All the proceeds will be donated to FrenetiCore. It's arguably the easiest way you can help support the arts in Houston and ensure that your favorite multimedia dance company can continue to perform for you.

'DRINK HOUSTON BETTER for FrenetiCore' Details:
Where: Poison Girl, 1641 Westheimer, Houston, TX 77006.
When: Sunday, August 5th, 6pm until they kick us out.
How much: As much as you want!
For more information: 713.449.8375, myspace.com/freneticore

And...

If you're not a big drinker, but love watching dance, come to 'SAVE FRENETIC THEATER!,' Cassandra Shaffer Dance Ensemble's benefit/dance performance on August 11th (1pm) and August 12th (8pm) at Hope Center. The Ensemble will present an eclectic mix of dance performances (including modern and contemporary dance, ballet, multi-media, and spoken word), and a light reception of food and drink will follow. All proceeds go to the Frenetic Theater. This performance is family-friendly, so you don't need to find a sitter for the kids.

Cassandra Shaffer Dance Ensemble's 'SAVE FRENETIC THEATER!' Details:
Where: Hope Center, 1210 West Clay #26 (Entrance on Van Buren), Houston, TX 77019
When: Saturday, August 11th at 1:00pm; Sunday, August 12th at 8:00pm
How much: A minimum donation of $8.00
Reservations: 832.275.4030 or cassandra@cassandrashaffer.com
For more information: myspace.com/cassandrashafferdance

Hope to see you at one or both of these events!
 - FrenetiCore Dance Theater

---

Luggage? GPS? Comic books?
Check out fitting gifts for grads at Yahoo! Search.

Houstonist: Houstonist Flickr Photo of the Day - sad moon over the axiom

Houstonist: Houstonist Flickr Photo of the Day - sad moon over the axiom

Infernal Bridegroom Productions

Infernal Bridegroom Productions

Infernal Bridegroom Productions closes its doors | Chron.com - Houston Chronicle

Infernal Bridegroom Productions closes its doors | Chron.com - Houston Chronicle

simplify media

i am using simplify media to give my friends and family access to my
music library. set up is fast, and the software is integrated with
apple itunes.
to play my music, download simplify media for mac or pc from:

http://www.simplifymedia.com/welcome.html

once installed, click the 'invite' button and use my screen name: ornery

it's simple, safe and free.

(Everything on their webpage leads me to believe it is legal - until
the RIAA finds a way to get them shut down anyway...but I don't think
individuals are taking any real risks here...been using it for
days...seems safe as well...if my internet connection were a little
more reliable I could tell how well it really works, but I encourage
you to give it a try....)

Mike

simplify media - share yr music library with friends...will be cool if it works as advertised...

i am using simplify media to give my friends and family access to my
music library. set up is fast, and the software is integrated with
apple itunes.
to play my music, download simplify media for mac or pc from:

http://www.simplifymedia.com/welcome.html

once installed, click the 'invite' button and use my screen name: ornery

it's simple, safe and free.

this actually seems like it will be pretty cool, but I won't know for
sure till somebody else I know signs up...

M

so...

at the bar
after the show
feelin' ornery
rather be home
drinking alone
nothing I drink there
so the bar it is
i'd picked up residue
from the negative
energy around me
two good friends
in bad bad moods
eventually had some
good conversation
then remembered
a rumor
a rumor
i heard
a rumor
i tend to believe
a rumor
that if true
means a friend
has actively worked
against me
against my interests
against my artistic life
and then i realized
it was not just
residual badness
reverberating
through my night
but the idea of
betrayal and
pettiness
and with my head
in that vodka filled
and angry place
i proceeded to
let my hostility spill out

if any splashed on ya,
i apologize.

i was not

I was not always the freethinker I am today.

In Jr. High School, at a church lock-in (friend's church - I had stopped going to church already), after a taped seminar about the "evils of rock'n'roll", complete with backmasking and satanism I
actually raised my hand and said something to the effect of,
"I always knew rock'n'roll was bad,
I just didn't know why or how bad."

true story.

I know now that the "evil" of rock'n'roll is its portrayal of a world without consequences. Back in jr. high I was still listening to country music exclusively. There will never be a great rock'n'roll song about a hangover - most country songs about drinking are not about partying, but about hard drinking - drinking alone - drinking to forget -

here I am again
mixing misery & gin
sitting with all my friends
and talking to myself

in the world of rock'n'roll it is always Saturday night. In the country, Sunday morning comes all too soon and it is a reckoning...whether it is Sunday Morning Coming Down or That Word Broadminded is Spelled S-I-N there is a sense of consequences to yr actions - a sense of the cost of being lost.


In high school I berated and lectured my girlfriend when she
got drunk. She snuck liquor out of her parents liquor cabinet
and when she told me I got crazy mad...
I only get that mad now when people take away my whiskey.


have to go to work now -
this post came about because Atrios mentioned
growing up at the height of neo-puritanism,
"Reagan and A.I.D.S.",
and I think often
of how that era shaped me and people my age...
and I don't even have time to go into how
the neo-puritans warped my ideas about sex...

Dark Matter - Thursday Night - Pay what you like, what you can, what you want, blah blah, just come out...

we'd love to see you on opening night...
fr real...
thursday night
8pm
midtown arts center

make the umbrella holder happy and call for a reservation even...
832-418-0973

Mike Switzer
(a.d. and stage manager, Dark Matter)

www.mildreds.umbrella.com

Dark Matter:
Five Gothic Tales of Horror
By Don Nigro

Mildred's Umbrella Theater Company takes a journey to the dark side of
romance this summer with five short plays of gothic horror by Don
Nigro. The plays include:

Lucy and the Mystery of the Vine Encrusted Mansion. An eccentric
comedy that is a "Gorey drawing come to life" in which a girl,
'sixteen and lost', becomes entangled in a tale of her own invention
that may not allow her to return from it sane.

The Malefactor's Bloody Register. A true story of abuse and murder
from the pages of the notorious eighteenth century compendium of
crime, The Newgate Calendar, in which three young girls tell of the
horrors they suffered at the hands of a mad midwife. "One lived, one
died, one was lost. Which is which?"

Higgs Field. Andromeda awakens from a dream about ravens and runs to
Higgs Field, where surreal metaphors of modern physics spring to life
as a Gothic nightmare.

Darkness Like a Dream. A lonely actress cast as a fairy in A Midsummer
Night's Dream leads a man on an eerie journey through a labyrinth of
dark country roads, growing more and more afraid of what will happen
when they stop.

Joan of Arc in Autumn. A young woman speaks about her confused
memories of her life and martyrdom, which now seems like a dream in
which there is much whispering and everything is burning. Perhaps she
is a mad girl found in a brothel; perhaps not.

CONTACT INFORMATION
Contact: 832-418-0973 or email mildredsumbrella@hotmail.com

Who: Mildred's Umbrella Theater Company
What: Dark Matter: Five Gothic Tales of Horror
When: July 5, 6, 7, 9,12,13,14,16, 19, 20, 21
Where: Midtown Art Center, 3414 LaBranch at Holman
Price: Preview Show, Thursday, July 5- Pay What you like
Saturday, opening night party and show- $25.00

Other shows:
$10.00 on Thursdays
$12.00 on Fridays and Saturdays.

Two "pay as you like" Mondays, July 9 and July 16

Dark Matter...who, what, when where and why...

Dark Matter: Five Gothic Tales of Horror by Don Nigro

Mildred's Umbrella Theater Company takes a journey to the dark side of
romance this summer with five short plays of gothic horror by Don
Nigro.

The plays include:

Lucy and the Mystery of the Vine Encrusted Mansion. An eccentric
comedy that is a "Gorey drawing come to life" in which a girl,
'sixteen and lost', becomes entangled in a tale of her own invention
that may not allow her to return from it sane.

The Malefactor's Bloody Register. A true story of abuse and murder
from the pages of the notorious eighteenth century compendium of
crime...

Joan of Arc in Autumn
July 5th-7th, 9th, 12th-14th, 16th, and July 19th-21st

Midtown Art Center, 3414 LaBranch at Holman

Preview Show: Thursday, July 5th - Pay What you like
Click Here For Tickets
Saturday July 7th, Opening Night Party and Show: $25.00

$10.00 on Thursdays

$12.00 on Fridays and Saturdays.

"Pay as you like" Mondays, July 9th and July 16th

so, at the bar tonight with some other folks who worked on the show...
and a flier is handed to someone who sits at our table...
a flier for the show -
it has who, what, when, where and price...
no why?
he asks, "where is the why?"

I thought about it a lot on the way home,
and there are certain whys to see theatre,
and whys to see this show...
here is a drunk and rambling combination of the two...

theatre,
like all art,
holds a mirror
up to you -
if it is good,
and you are willing
to look -
it can show you
not just things
you've never seen,
but things that you
never would have
imagined were there.

It does some other very specific things too -
and I'm still trying to nail them all down,
but I'll tell you this -

you are watching
real people
go through
real things
on stage
and when we fire
on even half
our cylinders
we can give you things you'll never get
once removed
through a screen...

This show
is about
the nature of time,
the relationship
between power
and gender,
the things one might
be willing
to sacrifice
in order to feel
"in control",
the true nature
of the unseen world,
what it means
to hear voices -
to have vision -
and the horrible things
we are capable of -
how we can break
others as we are
broken and all
in the name of the lord
(have no doubt,
the monsters are human,
even if they claim to be
punishing you for your sins...)

and oh yeah,
it's a helluva show...
funny, creepy, unsettling, thoughtful, beatiful, real,
and yes,
entertaining...

and it's cheap,

inexpensive tickets
mean you can take me out
and buy me a drink after...

how's that for a deal?

Kid Ornery

(mike switzer - stage manager and a.d. on Dark Matter)

fist of kong

insubordinations | netlabel for improvised music | insub12

365 days/plays - 7 answers - Bobbindoctrin

drunk blogging

I.

I am
a hardcore
humanist.
what does that mean?
I believe
the question of God
is unanswerable
and therefore
we must
get better
at handling
this shit
ourselves.

to let go
and let God
is simply to let go...
if that is yr choice,
so be it...
but recognize it.

we are all we've got
and we have
to do better.
if you believe God
helps those who
help themselves
then I assume
to some degree
you agree.

embrace the mystery
we don't know
we can't
get on with it

push past it
to what you can do

jesus christ!
that sounds like just
so much more
mumbo-jumbo

but folks,
it's all I've got.




II.


I don't believe in gurus.

I think everybody
knows their road...
some of us
just need
to learn
how to walk.


i don't believe in the mind/body split really,
but i know that, sometimes,
my body
and
my mind disagree
on everything
from tacos
to sex

why is it
that my tongue
and my brain
like things
that make
my stomach
and my bowels
so unhappy?

I'd rather not
even think
about the
disconnect
and connect
between
my two heads.
Thanks.

I don't believe in anything really

I only know what I experience

but my experience says that my actions
have consequences
and so I must accept that as reality,
be it real or not.



III.

I believe that
even I do not
understand
my own actions

one hemisphere
of my brain
tells the other
stories
about why I do things
and these
stories
then justify
other things I do

the stories grow
and become
a history
with patterns
and cycles
and morals

and then
suddenly
yr lost
and
you surprise yrself
yr capable of something
else

and you tell yrself
a new story.


IV.

by the way,
I am drunk and
more wrong than right

and yet,
I say -
take care of yrself,
nobody else will.

i want to be sedated

tonight

going to see these guys:



instead of getting some much needed sleep...

REAL ART (and politics and culture)

REAL ART (and politics and culture)

Stealing and shitty performance are tried and true methods of resistance that date back to slavery, at least. I mean, what can you do when your options are extremely limited? Easy, do a bad job. The sad thing is that a lot of these workers might actually feel a bit guilty about ripping off their boss, about doing nothing while on the clock. They shouldn't. Wal-Mart treats their employees like shit and this is what they deserve.