Month: November 2006

holy world, I need sleep.

The project’s taking off. I’ve got Hsing Lee of FOCCED working with me; I’ve recieved an interested letter from no less than Michael Parenti; the business plan should be finished to a polish, (minus some numbers I can’t get without an inspection of the property), by late tomorrow night; both a corporation to buy the place and a society to run it should be set up ready-to-run as of Monday; and I went over to Tom Durrie’s house this evening, (the General Manager of the Pacific Baroque Orchestra Society), and was given a history of the theatre from the Save The New York Society, which means less work for whomever volunteers to hit up the Archives. *hint* It contains accurate information up to 1977.

Remember: Heart of the World has a mailing list now. It will be used primarily for sending out calls for volunteers and keeping everyone In the Loop.

In other news, I’ll be working Saturday morning at the Dance Centre, which means that for three weeks running, I won’t have had a day off. Someone needs to make me dinner. I don’t particularly care who.

they both have the same name

Ahmet Zappa is developing Fraggle Rock into a full-length feature film.

It is maddening to be able to write clearly and concisely about the frustrations attached to writing a business plan without having the instant skill to apply the same to the business plan itself. The language is entirely different, if not, possibly, the entire vocabulary. It’s like how I don’t know Dutch, though the alphabet is the same.

Mostly thanks to Warren, Foxtongue.com hits are already nearing 2000 and we’ve only been up for a little over 24 hours. (I expect it to hit 2000 by the time I get up in the morning for work). Thanks to the popularity of the website, we seem to have added a lawyer to the mix of volunteers, a few film-makers, and a neuro-scientist. I’m not sure what we’re going to do with the last one, but I’m more than certain I want to know her anyway. Over the course of yesterday and today, I broke both my mail-boxes with the sheer volume of letters going in and out. I would be amazed, except that I’m more annoyed with myself for not remembering that I kill them every time I’m working on something serious. A mailing list will be set up next, hopefully available as of tomorrow. A nice, handy, not-going-to-count-against-my-limit mailing list.

Also, I need some press releases. Also, still an artist sketch rendition of what the place will look like once we shiny it up and info and archival materials on the New York Theatre.

There’s an english language trailer for “Perfume” available.

Heart of the World (broke my mail-box)

The plan in essence is laid out here: www.foxtongue.com. I’m asking you to forward this as e-mail to absolutely everyone in your address books, to post it to every forum and mailing list you can think of, to carpet-bomb the internet with this pitch. (Even this intro bit, yes). The more people we have read this, the more chance we have to exist. We have three weeks to raise a million dollars. Please, go to.

_________________
Imagine buying a space and starting your own theatre, or your own art gallery, or your own movie theatre, or your own music hall. Imagine being able to host performances of all sorts- giving your creative friends space to perform or exhibit their work. I’ve got friends who are dancers and painters and lighting designers and actors and directors and writers and photographers and cinematographers… it would be amazing to give them a space to create what they dream of, to be seen, heard, and appreciated.

I found an old cinema in Vancouver, built in 1910 and most recently used as a Bollywood house. It used to be The New York, where Neil Young and Sonic Youth once played. And it’s up for sale.

I want to turn it into a 21st Century “multi-disciplinary arts facility featuring inspiring work from all over the globe that recaptures and surpasses its previous glory.” And I want to call it Heart Of The World.

Housed in a classic 300 seat theatre built in 1910, the heyday of theatre, before any “leaky condo” fiasco, Heart of the World is to address the contemporary artistic and creative needs of the constantly evolving geographic location in which it is situated, offering competitive rates and a multi-faceted performance space. Complete with a full sized stage, a balcony with box seats, and a fully functional projection booth, the bones of the space hold limitless promise – able to show films, dance, theatrical productions, acoustic and amplified concerts, and cabaret events. In the foyer, artists both local and international will be able to advantageously display their work, whether it is photography, painting, drawing or sculpture. As a web presence, Heart of the World will offer podcasts of performances, a gallery of streaming video of performers, the chance to chat with featured artists, and up-to-date interviews, reviews and schedule listings.

How to help Jhayne:

So you don’t have money or don’t know what to say- make it short, make it sweet, don’t say anything you don’t mean, and copy-paste pass on the word to your friends/coworkers/contacts.

If you’re contributing a few bucks, your endorsement can be merely, “My money’s worth it.” If you’re willing to contribute time/energy, your endorsement can be “I’d sweep the stage,” or “I’d stuff envelopes,” or “I’d work on the theatre’s electrics crew.” If you don’t think you can do those things, but you want to see this happen for your own entertainment purposes, your endorsement can be “I’d pay to see a performance at Heart of the World.” If you live too far away, but you think this is a good idea, write “I wish Heart of the World were in my city,” or merely “This is a great idea.”

Be honest, and don’t bite your tongue. Feel free to copy and paste, if any of these sentiments echo the words that are not coming from you.

Don’t do this because I’m telling you to, though. Do this because you want to help or because you think it’s a good idea.

Of special merit are local bands/theatre troupes/cinematographers/other performers and local entertainment patrons.

All you have to do is promise to go to a show.

Short and sweet means that potential contributors see more endorsements.

Marc said he’d get us heartoftheworld.ca


Raja Cinema
Originally uploaded by SqueakyMarmot.

THE WEBSITE FOR HEART OF THE WORLD HAS GONE LIVE!

It’s rough still, but I’m continuing to build on it. There should be be more sections by the end of the day. If you’ve got suggestions, lay them on, but keep in mind I have an obscene amount of writing ahead of me, so any suggestions will have to be the sort I can implement within the existing structure.

I still need artist sketches, representations of what the place will look like when we’re up and running. Here‘s a good shot of the exterior as it presently stands. I want it shiny – gray exterior, red highlights, keep the brass.

One of the pages I want to have started by the end of the day is one of Potential Clients. I want letters of support, laying claim to time in the theatre, wanting to show in the gallery, whatever. Just apply to book the space, basically, and do so professionally, and I’ll toss it up.

“Jhayne’s trying to do something incredible here. If you’ve got some spare change, go ahead and donate a little to her cause. If you’d perform at a venue like Heart of the World, write up a little paragraph saying what your artform is, and where you’d come from to work on or perform/exhibit in Heart of the World, and e-mail Jhayne with your endorsement. It’ll help persuade investors. At very least? Check out her site and see what she’s trying to do.” via inktea

for the poppies blossoming on shirts like gunshot wounds yesterday


child soldier
Originally uploaded by Foxtongue.

The Death of the Ball Turret Gunner

by Randall Jarrell

From my mother’s sleep I fell into the State,
And I hunched in its belly till my wet fur froze.
Six miles from earth, loosed from its dream of life,
I woke to black flak and the nightmare fighters.
When I died they washed me out of the turret with a hose.

“A ball turret was a Plexiglas sphere set into the belly of a B-17 or B-24, and inhabited by two .50 caliber machine-guns and one man, a short small man. When this gunner tracked with his machine guns a fighter attacking his bomber from below, he revolved with the turret; hunched upside-down in his little sphere, he looked like the foetus in the womb. The fighters which attacked him were armed with cannon firing explosive shells. The hose was a steam hose.” — Jarrell’s note.

like the sunrise in the morning

To everyone who’s been offering time as a volunteer:

I’d appreciate if you could write me out a list of what sort of hours you have to give and what kind of skills, even if it’s only an offer of four hours a week helping move boxes. Everything counts. If you paint, mention painting, if you have practice handling a till, say so. I’m looking for everything possible.

I’m also looking for people who are willing to stand on street corners and poll people. I need to have numbers I can point people to, and the easiest way for us to do that is stand out on a Saturday and simply ask people walking past. “Hey, we’re starting a new venue in town. I was wondering if you could answer some questions we’re curious about?” Points: Broadway & Commercial, 1st and Commercial, various skytrain stations.

Pollsters, I’d also like if you could hit up the businesses along the Drive while you’re out there and try and find us some allies. If you know business owners or even employees, that’s a bonus. I’m going to be looking up the Commercial Drive Business Improvement people, (as they must exist), and going through the list to try and find people willing to help. Sponsors, etcetera.

If you don’t have the time for that sort of thing, it would even be lovely if you would write me a letter of support, especially if you’re an artist and you can state that you want to either hire my venue or show in the gallery. I’m going to try and find time, somehow, to approach the mayor’s office and get one from him, as well as hit up the local M.P. I think it’s still Lief’s mother, but I don’t actually know. I want to ask the Vancouver Arts Alliance, New Music West, the Jazz Festival, and anyone else you can think of. If you have the time to spare and can take any of that off my hands, I can send you the press release, that would be amazing.

I’ve been given the name of the insurance company I should be using, Shephard Ashmore. I’m going to call them Monday after I talk to Leonard Schein.

The pitch goes out when the website goes live.

FYI: Heroes, that show everyone’s been talking about, completely deserves its hype. It’s boldly scripted, continually inventive and refreshingly funny. Hooray taking back television and not talking down to the audience.

off to sign my potential soul away

While reading over the contract which I’m going to sign with the realtor this morning, I’ve discovered that they’re asking a minimum down-payment of $48,000.00. A number, I was surprised to realize, that with swingland‘s offer and my “escape the country” savings of $10,000, we’ve already got half of. It says, farther down, that will mean paying $3,500 a month in payments, with brings monthly rent/bills to something close to $6000. A number I’d already had assumed and was working the maths for. I’m surprised, I was expecting them to be insisting on more. This is good news. This is manageable. Even if we don’t find a patron before December 1st, in having the theatre, we’ll have extended our fiscal time-limit considerably. We’ll have time to fundraise seriously, hire a grant writer and apply to as much as we can. (Not only do I tend to fit 90% of the requirements for that sort of thing, being young, female, and starting my own business that’s also a cultural venture, I hear NIKE and The Gap are trying to make up for past evils with social and cultural grants).

If the paperwork goes as quickly as the people at the Small Business Bureau promised, Heart of the World Productions Inc. will be making an appointment with a lawyer to properly set up share contracts and etceteras within the next week. Our website, being put together by the lovely and talented Adam Abrams, (the man in the grass skirt in this year’s Fringe Festival advertising), should be up and running by then as well, giving everyone a place to gather and point interested parties to.

A final draft of the pitch will be hopefully finished tomorrow. Willing to send it to your entire address book? I’m hoping for it to be posted to blogs, websites, newsletters, forums, anything. The farther and stronger the word spreads, the more chance we have.

(Watch me wonder if they mis-placed a comma. They must have missed a zero, right? Right. Maybe. If I sign it does it mean they can’t change it after?)

EDIT: Ah-hah. Turns out that the $48,000.00 is a deposit. This makes far more sense. The realtor didn’t send the contract to me until five minutes before I had to leave the house to go meet him, so in my skimming, I missed a paragraph. Ah well, so it means we’re close to the deposit – that’s still pretty damned good for not having yet put out the business plan.