We ride by waves that you ought to try

[sovay]

Today contained a surprising amount of running around, mostly because the MBTA all but literally fell over. Tomorrow will contain even more running around, but in that case it's because spatch and I are taking the train to New York so that I can be interviewed either very late on Wednesday night or very early on Thursday morning on WBAI's Hour of the Wolf. Tune in and listen to me read and answer questions! If I have to live with this gutting insomnia, I'm going to make it work for me.

I don't understand what governs Amazon rankings, but earlier this evening Forget the Sleepless Shores was hovering at #136,392 overall but #82 for "Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual & Transgender Books," which made me happy. I don't want to drive myself crazy, but of course now I want to know how it gets to #1.

I really enjoyed this review of a Bob Fosse film festival, especially the descriptions of Damn Yankees (1958), Cabaret (1972), and Sweet Charity (1969).

I have seen some movies I would like to write about, but see above under gutting insomnia.

Comments

[thisbluespirit]

so that I can be interviewed either very late on Wednesday night or very early on Thursday morning on WBAI's Hour of the Wolf. Tune in and listen to me read and answer questions!

Aw, good luck! I am sorry about the ever-continuing insomnia, though. :-/

[sovay]

Aw, good luck! I am sorry about the ever-continuing insomnia, though.

Thank you on both fronts!

[shewhomust]

Thank you for the vicarious Bob Fosse festival. I did not know he had made 'THe Little Prince', and would love to have seen it, however terrible...

[sovay]

Thank you for the vicarious Bob Fosse festival.

You're welcome!

I did not know he had made 'THe Little Prince', and would love to have seen it, however terrible...

I saw it as a child and I'm not convinced it's that awful. Almost the only things I remember about it are Wilder's Fox and Fosse's Snake, and I remember almost nothing of the latter's song (except that at some point my brain mixed it up with "If You're a Viper") but a great deal of his dancing, so whatever Fosse was doing, it worked.

[kore]

Fosse is not the best delivery method for his own genius, meaning he’s not as good a dancer as he is a director or choreographer.

No real argument there, but it's a total cliche to say Fosse couldn't dance well, and I am super >:-( at that person dissing the snake dance because uhhh he didn't look good to her? "He’s a little too tan, his BluBlockers are a little too tinted, and his hair and beard are so fakely dark that they are Grecian Formulaic. He’s also wearing way too many heavy black layers, considering the sun exposure, and, frankly, he’s a bit of a bummer in a bowler hat." WHAT ABOUT THE DAMN DANCING. And whatever "charted" is intended to mean, you can't look at Fosse moves -- including All that Jazz -- and not see Jackson. (Did Jackson "steal his moves" from Fosse, of course not. But Jackson was really Broadway-conscious, and Fosse owned Broadway, which this person doesn't seem to get until they did a "deep dive into the seventies," whatever that means. They read some library books? Because I was born in 1970, and I remember my best friend and I trying to do Fosse routines when we were kids.)

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eUTEhEPONgc

And All That Jazz is my fave Fosse movie too, but she just says "shimmering and glib and grandiose, and it still leaves me gutted" and then there's two paragraphs entirely unrelated to the movie.

Gwen Verdon herself says "Bob often talked about his limitations, as a dancer. But if you look at film of Bob dancing, I mean, you keep thinking 'What are the limitations?'" at the start of this clip (which includes the justly famous Kiss Me Kate scene he choreographed for himself)

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2SkYdsvgOpw

[sovay]

And whatever "charted" is intended to mean, you can't look at Fosse moves -- including All that Jazz -- and not see Jackson.

I took it to mean something like "can be traced."

But Jackson was really Broadway-conscious, and Fosse owned Broadway, which this person doesn't seem to get until they did a "deep dive into the seventies," whatever that means. They read some library books?

It's the other way around, I think. She grew up with Fosse as default Broadway: "It wasn't until I took a deep dive into the aesthetics of the early seventies that I realized how irreverent he was." It is normal not to appreciate the groundbreaking qualities of something until you can see what it was breaking ground from. She was born in 1978; her deep dive was always going to have to involve research.

And All That Jazz is my fave Fosse movie too, but she just says "shimmering and glib and grandiose, and it still leaves me gutted" and then there's two paragraphs entirely unrelated to the movie.

She may have trouble writing about it because she loves it so much. There are certainly several movies I love that I've never written about for much that reason, either because they were formative (Splash) or because I just loved them (Psycho).

[selkie]

How exciting. May your nocturnal tendencies only come in handy. Also let us know if it's archived/streaming for those out of wavelength.

*bounces at you* INTERVIEW INTERVIEW YOU ALWAYS GIVE GOOD INTERVIEW

[sovay]

May your nocturnal tendencies only come in handy. Also let us know if it's archived/streaming for those out of wavelength.

Absolutely! Thank you!

[a_reasonable_man]

A cousin of mine, the author of 8 books, whose latest book he self-published on Amazon (that way, he gets 75% of the cover price on each sale), tells me that a key to rising in the rankings is to get a lot of five-star ratings. Come on, Taaffe fans, get to it!

Then there's Amazon advertising, which gets the book bumped up the search rankings for keywords, or to be displayed next to similar books. My cousin, who's advertising his own book, tells he only pays when someone actually clicks.

[sovay]

a key to rising in the rankings is to get a lot of five-star ratings. Come on, Taaffe fans, get to it!

Fingers crossed!

(I don't know if I can game Amazon advertising. I may just ignore that part.)

[gwynnega]

Being on the west coast, I should be able to listen to your interview rather early in the evening!

I am sorry you're still dealing with the insomnia.

[selkie]

I hope it's going to be available streaming at... an hour at which I am coherent.

[sovay]

I hope it's going to be available streaming at... an hour at which I am coherent.

I believe I am in the archives, but there also turned out to be a video component which I did not know about in advance, and that's on Facebook.

[sovay]

Being on the west coast, I should be able to listen to your interview rather early in the evening!

If so, I hope you enjoyed!

I am sorry you're still dealing with the insomnia.

Thank you.

[gwynnega]

I enjoyed it a lot! I couldn't figure out how to view the Facebook video, but your readings were great, as were all the movie discussions.

[sovay]

I enjoyed it a lot! I couldn't figure out how to view the Facebook video, but your readings were great, as were all the movie discussions.

I'm really glad! Thank you! Yay!

[asakiyume]

My oldest daughter's been dealing with insomnia. I feel like there should be a secret club of insomnia sufferers... I feel like you probably would fight crime and/or adjust timelines.

Congratulations on the interview! That is fabulous! And may Forget the Sleepless Shores' "Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual & Transgender Books" rating continue to rise!

[sovay]

I feel like you probably would fight crime and/or adjust timelines.

We might as well use our powers for good . . .

Congratulations on the interview! That is fabulous! And may Forget the Sleepless Shores' "Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual & Transgender Books" rating continue to rise!

Thank you!