Wednesday, February 21, 2007

the little Bush that could

Fashion Week Daily reports that Laura Bush, neice to SeƱor Presidente, has "an organic concept of lifestyle branding" in the works. Presently, though, she's focused on the "Feed the Children of the World" burlap shoulder bags campaig coming to amazon.com near you on April 1. Good Magazine did a nice little spotlight on the "Feed" bags in December.

Tuesday, February 13, 2007

you let sublet?


I've been traipsing about with The Sublet Experiment theater crew a lot in the last week. The gig is this: Kindly friends and family have lent the group their living spaces to put on a theater show in their apartment/loft. Relinquish keys, anxieties, etc. Leave while anywhere between a 12 and 30 strangers arrive at your apartment for the show, except on the night(s) you stay to watch yourself. And in that case, pretend you don't live there, prepare to be surprised when the actors drink from your glasses, brush their teeth in your bathroom sink, etc., and restrain from jumping to answer the front door buzzer when it rings.

One of the oddest aspects of the experience is that it really feels like an intimate gathering, a dinner party or a night of charades, rather than public theater. Afterwards, the guests stand around and chat in small groups, gathering coats, scarves and gloves. A cluster of empty beer bottles sits on the kitchen counter, ready to be taken to the recyling crate that sits on the landing outside the door. The home stereo plays softly, and the water runs steadily as someone washes a few dirty glasses—props, and, I wonder, possibly a remnant dish from the host? Would you leave a dirty dish(es) in your sink if the show was coming over?

Next up, after wandering nomadically for nearly six months, changing venues every week, playwright Ethan Youngerman and director Michelle Tatenbaum have found an as-of-yet-undisclosed, semi-stationary venue for The Sublet Experiment for the month of March. After March, who knows? The natives may get restless...