Videos (plural!) of the Week – George Larkin – Playright; Rob Stone – Burn Victim

So you get two videos for the price of one this week.

A. Reading List!

First, meet George Larkin, playright, producer and filmmaker. Few people have as broad and deep a background in literature as George; Deerfield Academy, Yale University and the Shakespeare Institute in Stratford-upon-Avon (where he worked with the actors of the Royal Company!) The depth and breadth of knowledge shows. His hilarious play Dead Lawyers, a send-up of both Agatha Christie mysteries and pettifoggers everywhere played at, ironically enough, The prestigious Lark Theatre in New York (no relation:)
George worked in independent film in New York City where he was the head of development and post production supervisor for producer Dean Silvers. Of the five films they worked on, three went to Sundance, with “Spanking the Monkey” winning the Audience Award there. Combined, they also were selections and in some cases award winners at the Cannes, Berlin, Avignon, Hamptons, and New York Gay & Lesbian Film Festivals.

Now George is tapping into Iraqi writers to produce a documentary film and play exploring how the Iraqi intelligentsia and literature community see their daily lives. Certainly not a piece to simply “Bash Bash for bashing Bush’s sake,” the varied view of the people, from supportive to frustrated shows that there are not just black and white or red vs. blue issues at work, but large social implications and problems that have no easy answer, but certainly can be overcome by lifting the human spirit. “There isn’t as much rage as there is curiousity as to why we’re still there” Larkin writes. “For the past four years, I’ve been getting in touch with writers and artists in Baghdad and getting their stories about what’s going on now. We’ve heard from our media, government, pundits, and even soldiers, but we’ve heard almost nothing from the Iraqis themselves. I’ve gotten amazing stories of life there, both fiction and non-fiction, of kidnapping, robbery, murder, and forbidden love. They’ve also written to me what it was and what it is now like to be an artist there, and how dangerous that was and still is. I just wanted to let them speak for themselves.”

Here’s a link to more information on The Iraqi Writers Project, a.k.a. The Baghdad Prom. And here’s the Video of the Week. Enjoy and call or write George for a copy of his work.

B. Chumps, Lunkheads, Dingbats

From Literary Lion-in-Training to Lunkhead-in-Training…,and Lord knows ESPN likes their people deep fried in stupid oil…or in this case Capascin Oil…so here he is…fresh off a four year stint as a dumbass college kid…it’s Joe vs. The Volcano, ESPN’s Rob Stone vs. Bhut Jolokia, the World’s Hottest Pepper.

Dr Bosland: “That’s the worlds hottest chile pepper!”

Stone: ***CRUNCH! CRUNCH!***

Dr. Bosland: “A million Scoville Heat Units!”
Stone: “Mmmmph,” ***Crunch***…What does that mean?”
Hat Tip to Awful Announcing for telling us what it means: “Dagger! Five to six hours!”

Five to six hours!

Brilliant. Now can we give some to Berman? Perhaps every day of Masters Week next year?