QPORIT

HEADSTRONG is an earnest, effective play about an issue that should be of great concern to every parent and every athlete -- the current studies into possible brain damage from recurring trauma to the brain.-- not just major trauma but also repetitive minor trauma.

(Note: following a discussion of the issues of the play, see below for a review which - Warning! -- will containing spoilers!)

Recent studies have sown suspicion that contact sports like football and even head-banging activities like repeatedly heading the ball in soccer could cause measurable and observable damage to the brain, which cumulatively could express itself in pathological mental behavior.

The play concerns itself with attempts to obtain the brain of a football player who died young after exhibiting behavioral symptoms that suggested he had suffered brain damage.

The current state of medical research is a need to correlate post-mortem studies of a brain with features that might be observable (through specialized MRI's or other brain scanning technologies) while a player is alive.

The most pressing issues are

-- When should a concussion in a professional player prevent them from returning to a game or playing again?

-- What evidence of possible damage to a child’s brain should be sufficient to require changes in the rules of football, soccer, or other sports, or even ban them entirely from schools?

-- To what extent does the value of sports override the possibility of possible injury to the brain?

Following one preview to the play, there was an interesting discussion of these issues with Irvin Muchnick, a leading reporter and writer on concussions in sports & Dr. Annegret Dettwiler-Danspe.ckgruber, Associate Research Scholar at The Princeton Neuroscience Institute.

VIDEOS OF THE POST-SHOW DISCUSSION:
http://ensemblestudiotheatre.org/now-playing/current-productions/estsloan-presents-headstrong/

HERE IS AN ARTICLE ABOUT THE WORK AT PRINCETON:

http://www.princeton.edu/main/news/archive/S31/80/06C59/index.xml?section=featured

HERE IS THE BOOK BY IRVIN MUCHNICK:

Damage to the brain from repeated trauma is known as chronic traumatic encephalopathy (CTE). An organization that is devoted to CTE in football and other sports is the

SPORTS LEGACY INSTITUTE

http://www.sportslegacy.org/

The play is being performed at EST as part of the Sloan Program (which supports plays that "explore the world of science and technology") at the 

ENSEMBLE STUDIO THEATER (EST).

http://ensemblestudiotheatre.org

HERE IS THE LINK TO THE SLOAN PROGRAM AT EST:

http://ensemblestudiotheatre.org/programs/estsloan-project/

Performances of Headstrong are Wednesday through Monday at 7:00pm, matinees Saturdays at 2:00pm and Sundays at 5:00pm through May 13. Tickets are $30, $20 for student/seniors.


To order tickets:

Call 866.811.4111
Click www.ovationtix.com/trs/cal/134 .

Headstrong Post-show discussion with Neuropsychologist Dr. Jill Brooks & Reuters Health Editor Ivan Oransky: Wednesday 5/2

HEADSTRONG is a well acted, well directed, funny, serious, important play.

The play is performed in the signature style of EST, which is straightforward, intelligent, real, and believable.  The simple bare stage of EST is well dressed to convey a believable room in a believable, comfortable home.  EST does not do kitchen sink reality drama, they do dining room reality drama, and they do it very well!

HEADSTRONG is well written from moment to moment with believable, sharp, often funny dialog.  It feels, however, like it could and should be much more rich dramatically.

From the moment the play starts, there is a distraction: the 3 excellent actors sound perfect, but they do not have the physical reality -- not the bulk nor the spunk -- of a very successful pro football star, the wife of a pro football star, or a pro wrestler.

At the end of the play there are some more questions. First, nearly everything in the play seems to have been there just for the purpose of the play.  For example, a morsel dropped earlier, when dad gives his daughter a pair of shoes, is just enough off-kilter that it is too obvious there is more to the story.  And, sure enough, in the final scene, that turns out to be the reveal:  dad is beginning to suffer from memory problems just like those the wife's deceased husband suffered from.

The characters have very little life outside the needs of the play, and where there is some life it is more confusing and contradictory than enriching.  In the first scene this gentleman caller uses persuasive arguments to obtain permission to study the widow's husband's brain.  In the second scene, he says: maybe she was right to refuse. He pressured and pressured her, yet he doesn't believe it himself? He seems more like a hypocrite than a conflicted soul. In the third scene, the widow tells her dad she is moving out of her dad's place.  Then we discover she knows her father is starting to suffer dementia.  It makes her seem cruel. The play has told us nothing about her but a few facts related to her late husband and her child; and it has shown us nothing about her emotional life except that she refused permission to study her husband's brain in scene 1, and -- offstage -- gave permission in scene 2.

As the play is not long and has no intermission, it has room to grow and expand the on-stage portrayal of the life of these characters (outside the single issue that defines the play -- getting permission to study the widow's husband's brain). And it would help, I think, if the physical life of the characters on stage matched the outsize life of pro wrestlers, and pro football champions, and their families.

But even with (and to some because of) its single-minded focus on the importance of studying the brains of football players who have died because of chronic traumatic encephalopathy, this is a play that should be seen and talked about.

Note: (TUE 4/24 10:00 EDT == 7:00 PDT) -- We'll have more information, direct from Seattle, during and after the presentation -- which begins at 10:30 AM today PDT (Seattle time) == 1:30 PM EDT (NY time) Please come back again later for the update!

Note: (TUE 4/24 12:38 EDT == 9:38 PDT) -- There seems to be a public webcast at

 http://www.spacevidcast.com/live/

Here is the latest announcement from Planetary Resources:

Peter H. Diamandis, M.D., Co-Founder & Co-Chairman, Planetary Resources, Inc.

Chris Lewicki, President & Chief Engineer, Planetary Resources, Inc.

Tom Jones, Ph.D., Planetary Scientist, Veteran NASA Astronaut & Planetary Resources, Inc. Advisor

Here is the schedule of events, according to the Museum of Flight where the event will be held:

Schedule of Events

10-10:30 a.m. 
     Media & Guest Check-In – Charles Simonyi Space Gallery

10:30-11:30 a.m. 
     Press Conference

Noon-1:30 p.m. 
     Lunch and 
     Presentations by Tom Jones, Ph.D. and Chris Lewicki

1:30 p.m. 
     Book Signing with Peter H. Diamandis, M.D. and Tom Jones, Ph.D.



ORIGINAL POST April 19:

For just $25 (while tickets last) and a plane ticket to Seattle (or a half-day off from work at Microsoft), you can attend (but will it be streamed?) a presentation (TUE 4/24 10:30 PDT) at the Seattle Museum of Science on the "Future of Space" by

Eric Anderson, Commercial Space Entrepreneur and Chairman of Space Adventures, Ltd.

Peter H. Diamandis, M.D., Commercial Space Visionary, Chairman of the X Prize Foundation, and Author of “Abundance”

and Tom Jones, Ph.D., Veteran NASA Astronaut and Co-author of “Planetology”

According to the program: "A new company will be unveiling its mission to revolutionize current space exploration activities and ultimately create a better standard of living on Earth" 

Reportedly (see the links), the company's investors include Larry Page and Eric Schmidt from Google, and director James Cameron.

And, according to the twitter feed:

@PlanetaryRsrcs

New space venture with mission to expand Earth's resource base & help ensure humanity’s prosperity. Learn more on April 24, 10:30PT  

@MuseumofFlight -

Bellevue, Washington · http://planetaryresources.com

"...expand Earth's resource base..." Does that mean lunar, Martian, and asteroid mining?

Here's a talk by Peter Diamandis at TED (from several years ago):

SOME MORE LINKS TO INFORMATION (AND SPECULATION):

MUSEUM OF FLIGHT

http://www.museumofflight.org/event/2012/apr/24/future-of-space

https://twitter.com/#!/museumofflight

PLANETARY RESOURCES

http://www.planetaryresources.com/

http://www.facebook.com/pages/Planetary-Resources/160940827358574

http://www.youtube.com/planetaryresources

https://twitter.com/#!/PlanetaryRsrcs

HERE IS A LINK TO THE 
KECK INSTITUTE FOR SPACE STUDIES (JPL)
ASTEROID RETRIEVAL FEASIBILITY STUDY

http://www.nss.org/settlement/asteroids/Asteroid_Retrieval_Feasibility_Study_2012.pdf

PETER DIAMANDIS ON WIKIPEDIA

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Peter_Diamandis

NEWS REPORTS (AND SPECULATION)

http://news.cnet.com/8301-11386_3-57416120-76/is-asteroid-mining-in-our-near-future/

http://www.space.com/15336-planetary-resources-space-exploration-announcement.html

http://www.theverge.com/2012/4/18/2957585/planetary-resources-space-exploration-company-james-cameron-google

COLUMBIANA is a terrific film -- The plot is straightforward -- drugs, murder, revenge -- the execution is inventive, explosive, thrilling, often surprising, and always clear. 

Zoe Saldana has killer looks, killer moves (literally), and is drop-dead gorgeous. Her acting is letter perfect.

Amandla Stenberg who plays her character as a little girl (Amandla plays Rue in THE HUNGER GAMES) is amazing, beautiful, and a perfect match for Zoe. The opening sequence ends with a sensational chase that is among the very best of all non-FX chase scenes in all films.

This a a great midnight movie. (And, yes, I just saw it at midnight on STARZ.)

COLUMBIANA is a French-American co-production, with a screenplay by Luc Besson and Robert Mark Kamen, directed by Olivier Megaton (Transporter 3 and many French films).

LINKS

COLUMBIANA ON IMDB

http://www.imdb.com/title/tt1657507/

ZOE SALDANA ON IMDB

http://www.imdb.com/name/nm0757855/

AMANDLA STENBERG ON IMDB

http://www.imdb.com/name/nm3964350/

HERE'S A LINK TO COLUMBIANA:

HERE ARE SOME MORE FILMS OF ZOE SALDANA

The concept (normal -- that is, not glamorous -- twenty-something girls and their friends loose in Manhattan) has terrific potential.

This was not one of SNL's classic shows.  Nothing terrible, but not that much was memorable. It felt like Josh had not that much to do, and what he did seemed not quite written/directed to his strengths.  His best sketch was the last, and he didn't quite get the right tone to make the drunk school teacher on the podium at the prom confessing his affair with a student both scandalous and funny.  


What was scandalous was the number of commercials:

after the music 7 commercials
before Weekend Update; then 7 commercials
before a CNN sketch; then 6 commercials
before a HS sketch and digital short; then an amazing 10 commercials and 5 minutes
before a musical segment; then 5 commercials
before the prom sketch -- which seemed to be cut off before it ended for 4 commercials
before the show ending goodbyes.


a staggering 39 commercials in the last 45 minutes.  (And one of those commercials, GE, also plugs Budweiser -- does that make 40?) It's impossible to develop any comic momentum with so much chaff.



Here's a quick summary of the show:


COLD OPEN -- An amusing reunion of all the GOP hopefuls (wow, there were a lot), as each remembered... "There was a time when I was the front runner," and then all together, "This campaign was the time of my life..." (Romney, Gingrich, Bachman, Perry, Santorum & Cain).


MONOLOG -- Josh seemed a bit worried.  Jay Pharoah came on as Will Smith in MEN IN BLACK 3, but then Josh had almost nothing to say as the young Tommy Lee Jones.


GAME OF THRONES -- If the TV show really has as much sex this year as this sketch claims (GoT directed by a horny teen?) maybe I'll try watching it again, and the hell with trying to understand the plot.

SOAP NET - THE CALIFORNIANS -- A sometimes funny soap parody about Californians who worry mostly about the traffic routes.  For some reason the cast had trouble keeping a straight face.  They seemed to find it funnier than I did.


EMPIRE STATE OF MIND / TOP PARODY ARTIST -- This parody of TV contest shows lacked wit in executing the various parodies. Best line (from JAY-Z) "My songs aren't parodies."

SPIELBERG'S LASER CATS 7 -- Yes, that Spielberg contributed to the SNL Digital Short, in a more sophisticatedly funny episode than those cats normally manage.


GOTYE (pronounced GOteeYay) Musical Segment -- Nice sound. Different. He's been described as something akin to Sting. There's some similarity but Sting seems much deeper.


WEEKEND UPDATE -- On the "Secret Service" Scandal: it should now be called the "Can't Keep A Secret Service". (But, What's the point of the Song Duo segment?) 

CNN PIERS MORGAN SHOW -- Some funny moments: a new Florida law: "An Eye for an iPad." The funniest bit of the whole night was Kim Kardashian.

WOODRIDGE HIGH SCHOOL --  The Slow Motion Hallway, where the cool kids -- and everyone else -- slow down, was the most original, clever sketch of the night.

ANOTHER SNL DIGITAL SHORT -- Gotye was nicely gracious in this gentle parody of Gotye's music videos.


GOTYE Musical Segment 2 -- The SNL mix often leaves the lyric's words incomprehensible underneath the music. Gotye did not allow that to happen here: repeating, loudly,  many, many, many times, "We walk the plank with eyes wide open..."

PROM -- The last sketch is often the most arresting.  PROM had possibilities. Pharoah was hilarious even though (or because?) I couldn't make out what he was saying.  Brolin had the big role (and his biggest scene of the night) as the teacher who comes out drunk and announces his affair with a student.  But his character -- as mentioned above -- never quite found the right note to ice the sketch.  

This was a big night for Jay Pharoah.  Even though he's not listed as one of the regulars, he had solid and funny appearances in several sketches.  He's the new guy to watch.


All in all, I enjoyed the show, except for the excessive commercials.  




Here's some info on the Host and Musical Guest:
 



Josh Brolin is a 44 year old actor, married to the actress Diane Lane; the son of actor James Brolin. Among his most important recent films have been: NO COUNTRY FOR OLD MEN, W, and TRUE GRIT.

He is soon to be seen in MEN IN BLACK 3.

JOSH BROLIN ON WIKIPEDIA

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Josh_Brolin

JOSH BROLIN ON IMDB

http://www.imdb.com/name/nm0000982/

Gotye is a 31 year old singer/songwriter originally from Belgium, born Wouter "Wally" De Backer.

GOTYE ON WIKIPEDIA

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gotye

GOTYE'S HOME PAGE

http://gotye.com/

SNL HOME PAGE

Maggie Siff is a shrew.  In all too many productions of THE TAMING OF THE SHREW, the "shrew" is not a shrew, but just a bit cross with her language, and the play makes no sense: there is no shrew to tame. In this production, Maggie bursts onto the stage in an obnoxious roar.  Katharina is a shrew. It justifies, explains, and humanizes the whole play.

Theatre for a New Audience Presents
 The Taming of the Shrew 
By William Shakespeare
 
The Duke on 42nd Street

-- most often, they emphasize the humanity that Shakespeare gives his character ("Hath not a Jew eyes?");  

-- least often, they embrace the slur ("And if you wrong us, do we not revenge?" ... "Even now, now, very now, an old black ram / Is tupping your white ewe."); 

-- and sometimes, they deny the obvious political incorrectness and try to create an interpretation of the play that enables a politically correct production.

-- less typically, they find a way to finesse the incorrectness of the story.

HERE ARE SOME LINKS TO  
SCRIPTS AND VIDEOS

TAMING OF THE SHREW