that one random adventure (+3 for monday) ep. 6

LVA c/o 98. God, were we ever that young?

"I never had any friends later on like the ones I had when I was twelve. Jesus, does anyone?"
--from the movie Stand By Me

The beauty and curse of social media is being completely connected and available. On one hand, it's great to find that awesomely quippy friend from 5th period algebra class and catch up with them. On the other hand, the creepy stalker kid from third period biology who confesses in his friend request that he's always been in love with you can find you too. What can you do?

I was very lucky in high school to have found friends like Ryan and Alex. In high school, we're all desperately trying to find our identity, that one thing that sets apart from everyone else. Coming out freshman year, I was well on 
the path of being "the token gay guy." Had I not met these two guys, I would have been stuck with that identity the rest of my life. They grounded me. We palled around and my sexual orientation was never an issue with them, which if you think about is pretty amazing in the late 90's. The three of us were inseparable junior and senior year. When we got to college, I would live with Ryan and our friend Eddy in L.A. during breaks. Alex moved to Chicago sophomore year and we roomed together for a semester.

Then life happens. Marriages. Kids. Grown-up shit. Ryan lives in Chicago now and is pretty much my straight husband. I've seen Alex a couple of times going back to Vegas for the holidays, as has Ryan. My interactions with Alex as of late are all on Facebook, as seems to be the fashion. Luddite Ryan has no social media ties, so he goes the old fashioned route and actually calls him.(What?!) So, in some way, the three of us are connected. But the three of us hadn't been together in the same room since 2003, Ryan's wedding. So when I found out Alex was going to be in town to catch the Notre Dame game with his uncles, I was pretty fucking stoked.


Friday night started pretty chill. Pregamed with some 40's as we do and then went to a bar. With my Foursquare check-in, I added a pic of us, which automatically updated to my Twitter and Facebook. Ryan always gives me shit about needing to be so connected all the time. But literally moments after this pic is shared with virtual world, there is a comment:

After getting confirmation that Ryan, Alex, and I were in the same room (a fact that we were all still in awe over), our dear friend and fellow LVA alum Marie Hale Ramos texts me: "Keep everyone there for 15 minutes." No need to tell her where we were, it was detailed in my Foursquare check-in. And as promised, 15 minutes later, we are joined by the beautiful Marie Hale Ramos.

Memories are shared all around. How when Alex first moved here, Marie had moved to the burbs and we went over there for dinner. How Ryan and I ran into Marie at Market Days 2 years prior with her then boyfriend. Now they're married and expecting their first child. And yes, while the immediacy of social media was responsible for this reunion...




...it was the hours of reminiscing over pints face to face that made this night amazing. No one will argue that real life interactions beats social media interaction any day. But as years go by, and with more distance between you, social media becomes the easiest and most convenient route to stay in touch. You just have to be careful not to take those interactions (or your relationships) for granted.

3 things I'm looking forward to the rest of the week

So I'm going to NYC this weekend. God bless those airline miles. Here are a couple of pre-planned adventures.


Theatre

I've waited for a live version of this movie musical since I was 11. Little girls who wanted to be actresses usually cite Annie as their inspiration. For me, it was Newsies. And Stand By Me. So when they announced this would be premiering at the Papermill, there was no way I was going to miss it. 


Geek



So, imagine if geeks had a pride parade, but instead of down streets, it was housed in a convention center. And instead of floats, there were were booths with sweet merch and seriously discounted books. Instead of politicians trying to gain favor, there's an artist alley where two of my favorite artists, Jim Cheung and Joe Eisma will just happen to be. (Update: Joe Eisma will not be there. Sad day.) And instead of drag queens in loud, crazy costumes we have Cos-Players in...loud, crazy costumes. Huh.


Unfortunately, I will have to run out to get to the Papermill right when the Marvel: Cup O'Joe Panel (with Marvel COO Joe Quesdada) will be taking place. Seriously sucks, as this panel is the highlight of every con for me. But then again, I'll be seeing Newsies closing weekend. Epic win.


Adventure/Family

New Year's Eve 2010 with our fellow trouble-maker Squirrel

Over are many years of friendship, Parker and I have had many adventures and caused a whole bunch of trouble. We have taken over a Midwestern town's gay scene for a weekend, been to VIP parties (of which one of us may have hooked up with a congressman once) and countless road trips and adventures on the West Coast. Now that he lives in Manhattan and I'll be in town for the weekend, the Big Apple better watch out.

When I realize my best male friendships (gay or straight) are best realized in threes, it's time to hit the road, before things get inappropriate LOL. Laters.

that one random adventure (+3 for hump day) episode 5

So August 28, 2011 marks the return of "International Read Comics in Public Day", a day for us geeks to hit public transportation, coffee shops, parks and anywhere one can sit and proudly pull out our old trade paperbacks or new weeklies and spread awareness and appreciation for comics. I'm a big fan of a good "(insert cause) day". I cannot even begin to express how geeked out I am by September's Social Media Week, where your's truly will be moderating an event at my awesome day job Catalyst Ranch. The trouble with this particular day I find is...well...I already read comic books in public. Every day. On both ends of my commute.

But the notion reminds me of this one time this past spring. Free comic book day to be exact, reading the awesome  FCMBD edition of AMAZING SPIDER-MAN. Spidey sacrificed his iconic spider sense saving the city (again) in ASM#654 and was training with Shang-Chi (fresh off the pages of SECRET AVENGERS) to better tune his awareness through martial arts.

Lost in my book, I get a tap on my knee. A mini-me (7 if a day) looked up at me with gleaming almond shaped eyes and asked "awr you weading Spidew-Man?" (Swear to God he said his R's like that). His mother was napping next to him.

"Sure am pal" I replied.

"He's my favowite!" His torn up, third hand velcro Spidey sneaks proved as much.

"Mine too!" I replied.

"He's really funny."

"That he is." And so I nudged my book over so he can read with me, letting him turn pages when he'd caught up.

Spidey was off on Avengers mission. No spider sense, P.Parker is off his game.The turn of the page revealed a training scene between Spidey and Shang-Chi. Mini-Me's eyes lit up.

"Who's that?!" He demanded, setting his little finger on Shang-Chi. He could've cared less as I went over Chinese born Shang-Chi's master of kung fu street cred. His eyes remained fixated and he said in the most awestruck voice "He looks like me."

My stop came shortly after, the book remained unfinished between us. "Keep it" I said. "And make sure you ask your mom if you can read more. There's more Shang-Chi coming up in Spider Island." Standing on the platform, looking through the window, I saw Mini-Me flipping to the front of the book and reading it over again.

So yeah, when I read about NRACIPD, I thought "I don't need a day to celebrate this any more than I need the gay pride parade or Asian American Heritage Month. I celebrate these aspects of myself prudly every day." But like meeting an old drag queen who was there at the Stonewall riots, a closeted kid who suffers bullying in silence or meeting Mini-Me seeing himself represented in his favorite comic, its nice to get a reminder sometimes.

Celebrate yourself every day.

Three things I'm looking forward to for the rest of the week

Theatre (& Social Media)

Filament Theatre Ensemble presents a brand new theatrical experiment in partnership with Zaarly, the marketplace that helps you buy and sell with people nearby, Filament will attempt to create a brand new, locally-sourced, world premiere theatrical production in 36 hours. Community members can then share their stuff or their time in exchange for a ticket to the SUSTAIN36 Theatre Project performance which will be performed Thursday, August 25 at 8:00pm, a mere 36 hours after the playwriting process began.

This such an innovative and collaborative event. Following Filament's Twitter feed in every part of the process is pretty fuckin' rad. In the true spirit of Social Media, I read a retweet of the event on the SM side and was pleased as punch that it was a theatre event. A few tweets back and forth between Filament and lo and behold, I'm involved! Your's truly will be there video taping the process and the event as well as live tweeting tomorrow from 5PM on. For other convos happening about the event, search Twitter for #sustain36 and check for my blog/vlog footage on Friday!

For more info click here. If we had you at hello, get your tickets here. Will I see you there?

New Book Wednesday

X-Men Legacy #254
Written by MIKE CAREY
Penciled by STEVE KURTH
Cover by MICO SUAYAN

FINALLY! Someone's going into deep space to save Marvel Girl, Havok and Polaris. About goddamn time!

Family

I've been an uncle since I was one and a half. All of my nephews and nieces have been more like little brothers and sisters. None more so than DJ. In a blog where I open with a story of a mini-me, I am happy beyond belief to close out this entry to say the ultimate mini-me, not only blood family but best friend family, the fourth bertucelli, my little brother Mikey DJ is now in town and here for at least a month. Let the adventures commence!

Til next time!

that one random adventure (+3 for hump day) episode 4

Random Adventure for the Week
(cuz anything can be an adventure)

To say this past weekend was epic would be an understatement. It was epicly epic. Amidst the rowdy and the daydrinking and randomness, God likes to throw in a little message your way. Remember to conncet to people. While we were caught in the rain getting refills of Summer-Double Gulp, the Bertucellis met Gwendolyn and Joseph.




Fifteen damn years. Damn. We should all be so lucky. They've seen some times, you can just see it in their eyes. But burning brighter than that, is their love and devotion to each other. Bless you guys. It was fun and a treat and an honor to meet you.

And I officially retract the interaction slips from episode 2.




Three things I'm looking forward to for the rest of the week


New Book Wednesday

AVENGERS #16

Written by BRIAN MICHAEL BENDIS

Penciled by JOHN ROMITA JR.

Amidst the ashes of what is left of the Marvel Universe and, during the bombastic battles throughout New York, a new Avengers romance blossoms. Thanks for the spoiler in the cover LOL

X-SCHISM #3

Written by JASON AARON

Penciled by DANIEL ACUNA

The event that divides the X-Men in half continues. The teaser pages (and the cover) features my own favorite Bobby Drake (Iceman) and the art looks SICK! Bobby's been getting more page time as of late, which is awesome, but if you can put two and two together, it's pretty obvious who's team he'll end up on by #5, and knowing X-History, it's kinda bittersweet.

Family

Not only is Molly Meacham one of the smartest, most wonderful and talented women I know, I'm also very lucky to call her one of my best friends. We both get insanely busy as she is a dedicated English teacher during the fall and spring and a ingenious touring poet during the summer, so we only get to see each other sporadically. Having lunch with her this Saturday will definitely be the highlight of my week!

Class

Thank God my gym offers (one) bikram yoga class. I definitely need to sweat out some toxins from last weekend.

Til next time...

that one random adventure (+3 for hump day) episode 3

Random Adventure for the Week
(cuz anything can be an adventure)


The crispness in the air and the slight drops in temperature always brings that slight punch to the gut every year, no matter how old I get: it's back to school weather. The dog days of summer are starting to die down. As previously blogged, it's been quite a journey for me since March, but I am very lucky to have a great family of friends to lend a shoulder or just have stupid (drunk) fun with. I don't know what my adult life would be without the Bertucellis and maybe one day I'll blog about how we got the name, but for your enjoyment, here's one of my favorite adventures we had this summer:

Prologue:
What happens when you daydrink, steal scones off of a brunch buffet that you didn't pay for and break a metal bench, just by sitting on it? Your best friend documents the fallout...

Sorry about the aspect ratio. Apparently there's a wrong way to hold a camera phone.

Don't worry, August is still young. And with the upcoming weekend (see the last of my +3) we still have a lot of Bertucelli adventures left for the Summer of 2011



Three things I'm looking forward to this week


Theatre

Family Devotions by David Henry Hwang
presented by Halcyon Theatre at the Greenhouse Theater Center, through September 4th

Chicago theatre's "Summer of David Henry Hwang" has seen the Chicago premiere of Yellow Face at Silk Road, the world premiere of Chinglish at the Goodman and the opening weekend of Family Devotions at Halcyon is the first sign that the summer is coming to a close. One of his earliest plays, Family Devotions examines the foibles of a Chinese-American family living as close to a WASPy life as they can in an affluent suburb of Los Angeles in the early 80's. The extreme religious views of the matriarchs (one of which is played by the imcomparable Mia Park) and the capitalistic fast-talking of the sons-in-law (played by my buddies Gordon Chow and Dwight Egan Sora) clash with the simplistic world views of a long-lost relative visitng from China and makes for some very exciting theatre, including a scene in the second half dealing with an exorcism that I just can't wait to see how ingenious Jenn Adams has staged. On a personal note, it is one of the first Hwang plays I read as a teenage theatre student and really shaped how I view Asian American families in theatre (as well how to orchestrate a large group scene).

More info: http://halcyontheatre.org/familydevotions

New Book Wednesday

Morning Glories #11
Written by Nick Spencer
Art by Joe Eisma

The only non-Marvel book I'm reading. Morning Glories Academy is an institution where "Learning to be an Assassin" is an extra-curricular and "How Not to be Killed by your Homeroom Teacher" is a prerequisite. Can't get enough of the intrigue and mystery of these six teens all coincidentally born at the exact same day and time. This month, we learn more about Ike, the back-stabbing socialite bad boy that everyone loves to hate.

more info: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Morning_Glories

Amazing Spider-Man #667
Writen by Dan Slott
Art by Humberto Ramos

Spidey Island continues. Humberto Ramos (FINALLY) returns to ASM. Shang-Chi looks awesome on the cover. 'Nuff Said.

Street Festival

The best thing about Chicago summer is being able to experience every neighborhood through their street festival. Main street is shut down for booths, booze, bands and awesomeness. You get to really know the character of the neighborhood based on its inhabitants. So what happens for at the street fest for Lakeview (aka Boys Town, the Gayborhood)

Pride part two. And it's eight shades of awesome. Here are some pix from Market Days past

 

And, of course, it's the anniversary for the annual Bertucelli Elephant Ear Eat-Off

Hope to see ya there!

Til next time...

that one random adventure (+3 for hump day) episode 2

Random Adventure of the Week
(cuz anything can be an adventure)

Like most city living folk, I've got a great set of blockers that keep me separated from the rest of the world when walking around. With my ear-buds in while I wear a pair of wayfarers, I'm unstoppable. I'm impervious to the noise and disruptions of this bustling metropolis. And in it's way it's dehumanizing. You cut off any real connection.

The people I try to avoid are the people on the street asking for stuff. Whether they're begging for cash or street canvassing. Street canvassers I feel bad for because they know no one wants to talk to them. Beggars...well I feel bad for the ones who are really in need. But it's so hard to tell nowadays. Ever since I've moved to Chicago, I've had to learn the hard way not to engage them, thus blinders on the moment I step off of CTA. But I've honestly felt bad about just ignoring a human being who is trying to connect with me, whatever their motives. At the same time, I don't have any money to give them.

A month ago, some street kid tried to slip me a piece of paper on the train that I'm sure was asking for money. It's not the first time I'd seen this bit and it won't be the last. But it served as inspiration for a solution to my problem. I tore out a couple of pages from my comp book and scribbled the following:

I kept them folded up in my bag and just waited for the opportunity to give one out. And, as it is with the Bernardo luck, one never really presented itself. Until a couple of days ago. It was a pretty standard day. After my afternoon work out, I thought I'd take a walk through Lakeview because it was a very pretty evening and I hate getting on the train at rush hour. A group of street kids came up to me and muttered something about their basketball team. AH HAH! Opportunity, she's a-knockin'! I quickly held one finger up, interrupting the delegated speaker mid-sentence, dug through my murse and pulled out one of the slips of paper and handed it to him. Judging from how loud they got and how far I had to run, I don't think they liked the message very much.

Maybe it wasn't interactive enough? It was a statement that didn't engage conversation. Maybe it would've gone over gangbusters if it was QR code? In any case, I've restrategized my interaction slips and made them more customizable and interactive for this modern day and age. I feel rather than checking the boxes myself, I'll let them decide for themselves my intent based on my body language and demeanor when giving it over. See, fun, interactive and customizable human interaction. Feel free to use them if you want:

Three things I'm looking forward to for the rest of the week


Event

The lovely and talented Shannon Strodel will be hosting live band karaoke at Mary's Attic! Not only do we get to hear Shannon belt a few songs out of the park, not only does live band karaoke always rock, but there will be some show tunes in the rotation. How rockin is that?

official info:
Mary's Attic (Andersonville)
Sunday August 7th
 LIVE BAND KARAOKE with Shannon and THE JAM starts at 10pm!(after regular MaryOke 9pm)

From hard rock, to 80's to current and even some musical theater- this band's list is ecclectic and just waiting for you to come Jam with them!! Come early and sign up to rock out!!!


Class

I haven't taken dance class in a hot minute. Gonna don the tights and head into ballet tomorrow night. Cravin' some petite allegro.


New Book Wednesday

X-FACTOR #223
Writer: Peter David
Artist: Emanuela Lupacchino

Rahne's baby mama drama is finally coming to close today folks. And thank god for it. Look, I think she's a neat character. She's been through a lot since NEW X-MEN volume 2. When she left X-Factor to join X-Force, it left Rictor all emo and ready to explore um...new possibilities with his long-lost bromance Shatterstar.

Not that their relationship has been a walk in the park...

But they're working things out. Mostly. Then Rahne comes waltzing back in after leaving X-Force..

Things have gotten hella complicated...

And I am just ready for Rahne's baby mama drama to be over. With her baby being birthed in today's issue (and its mystical significance explained) maybe Rictor and Shatterstar can get on with their relationship. Hopefully?

UPDATE/SPOILER ALERT

She didn't have the baby. Goddammit. Hurry up already Rahne!

Til next time...

that one random adventure (+3 for hump day) episode 1

Random adventure of the week

(cuz anything can be an adventure)

Networking events can be fun. So fun in fact that I went to two of them yesterday. Alright, the sarcasm in the second sentence may be lost in translation, but honestly, it's a brave new world I've just entered this past year and have done so very happily. Being in theatre, you're inherently networking every time you're at a theatre related event: rehearsals, auditions, seeing a show, post-show drinks. It's just innate. So actually articulating what "my people" have done informally all along and doing it within a business setting, with topics besides my core passion that interest me, well it's pretty cool.

(Ok, Danny B, where's the adventure?)

So (shortly) the first networking event was a luncheon about social media, specifically utlizing Google+. It was very cool to meet some leaders in the field and share experience with people who attended for the education. Met some very cool people, had some delicious lunch. And started my campaign to give "circle" a secondary verbal definition. You're welcome Google.

The second was an invite from one of my best friends Mikey for a networking event in his field. No real connections or interest, but I thought, "Part of my job is Client Liaison, there's an opportunity for me to practice the trigger-happy draw of my card I've learned to master at these shindigs." Alright, mainly it was the fact that the invite went something like "Ooooh Danny, want to get some free food and booze with me on Tuesday?" And really, who can say no to that.

Now, though you won't see me on an episode of A&E's INTERVENTION any time soon, I do love an open bar. And I was already in networking mode, so I was ready on the draw with my card. Except nobody came to talk to us. We milled around. We mingled a bit. But everyone stayed very cliquish, talking to their co-workers, barely making any connections. Weird, right? So we just kept going to the bar. Made friends with the service staff. Went back to the bar. Made fun of those woman's shoes. Went back to the bar.

So finally, we just sat there and drank, like it was a regular weekend for us. The snarkiness of "You could build a tower from your collection of Miller Lite bottles" from the dowdy girl next to us went <PING><PING> right off the judgement shield. We started naming people and I realized they were the archetypes of any networking event (besides regular attendees):

The Wannabee Queen Bee who would stop to say hi to you for a second before being "pulled off" in another direction, throwing one-hand clap waves to those she passed by like beads at Mardi Gras. More often than not, they're not as important as they think. (is my Heather Chandler/Regina George showing?)

The "I go to your things all the time, you HAVE to come to this one with me" Significant Other: 'Nuff Said.

Mr./Ms. Break Into the Industry: usually a person who is (sadly) displaced by this economy and is looking for their next opportunity. They'll do anything to break into this industry. ANYthing.

The Tracy Flick: their place of employ is better than your's. Or that other person's. And you know that thing you just said? It's wrong. Here's the correct answer.

And those guys who can only make it through this event is by taking full advantage of the open bar: little loud, little obnoxious, but one hell of a good time. Just ask the black ladies sitting at the table next to us. They were hooting and hollering along right with us until the bitter (drunken) end.

Special Guest Star of the evening:
The Math Teachers from the "Find Mr. Hall a love interest scene" in CLUELESS.

Favourite quote of the night:
"He's not gay, so stop trying to find him on Grindr"

Anywho...

three things I'm looking forward to the rest of the week

Show

Modern Conversation CD release party at Jerry's in Wicker Park

Friday, 7/29 9:30P-12:30A; $7 cover gets you in AND a copy of the CD

Modern Conversation kicks ass. Simple as that. Their sound is a fusion of folk, jazz, and alt-country which makes for an awesomely diverse sound. David Courtenay's soulful songwriting, Jackie Rada's rockin the keys, combined with that they all just vibe so well together and have such a great time playing together. And they're pretty easy on the eyes too ;)

You gonna join me? http://goo.gl/55QoP

Movie

So I'm kind of a movie buff. I like gritty indie films as much as Oscar bait as much as much as cheese rom-coms as much as epic comic book movies. There's no real rhyme or reason to what I will or will not like. I love to see movies for the experience. And I'm kind of a DVD hoarder.

When the poster for COWBOYS AND ALIENS was released, I was like "What the fuck? Is this gonna be another SNAKES ON A PLANE?" But then the trailer came out. And it just looks plain awesome.

Besides the intrigue of "Who is this mysterious stranger (Daniel Craig)?" and the blow 'em up awesomeness of cowboys with pistols fighting off lazer shooting alien ships, the thing I most appreciate about this movie is it's transperency. It's fucking called COWBOYS AND ALIENS. That's what you get. It doesn't try to hide who it's target demographic is (hi naked Olivia Wilde in the trailer). It's not trying to win any major awards or invite serious intellectual debate. It's about cowboys. And aliens. If you go in looking to be moved like you were in BREAKING THE WAVES or BLUE VALENTINE, then I've got some magic beans to sell you. It's fucking called COWBOYS AND ALIENS. And I'm fucking excited to see it. Anyone else gonna see it?

New Book Wednesday

AMAZING SPIDER-MAN #666

Writter: Dan Slott

Artist: Stefano Caselli

Am I the only one who's noticed the glaring similarities between Spider-Man and Buffy the Vampire Slayer? Not that I'm complaining: they're both my superhero icons. But since the Straczynski run of ASM, with the introduction of Ezekiel and the concept of Spidey being part of a long line of men imbued with the totemic powers of the Spider, asking "What if the spider was meant to give you your powers before it even became radiated?" ("Into every generation a slayer is born.." anyone? Bueller?) there's been a huge correlation between the two. It makes sense really: at the heart of both heroes are ordinary people with extraordinary abilities and powers. It's what they do with it because of who they are at the core is what makes them heroes.

So when Marvel announced that the next big Spidey event "Spider-Island" would feature everyone in Manhattan suddenly possessing Spider-Man's powers, I couldn't help but think of the series finale of BtVS  where (okay seriously, if you need a SPOILER ALERT for this 8 years after the fact, we need to sit down for a little chat) Buffy shares her power with all the Potential Slayers, making them all Slayers (and putting Buffy at a slight identity crisis for the Season 8 comics from Dark Horse). Again, not a criticism. In fact, it makes me uber excited (love how Shang Chi and New Madame Web have been slowly woven into this arc over the year, pun intended, lol) Just very excited to see how Peter Parker reacts to it all.  Are you?

Til next time...