Blackout Poetry Experimentation - "Raymond James"

That old paradox of “doing what you love” for a living. Do it for a living and it becomes essential work, can the magic remain - or do the pressures of life flatten one’s passion like an industrial vice? I’ve been writing for a little while now and I absolutely do still feel a spark for every professional project I take on — whether it’s for a client or company, with collaborators, or even just a spec (it’s still written in mind for a market place, after all). I love the work that I do, but it is work. So sometimes, I venture out to find writing that can purely be a means to its own end. Enjoy the process, be surprised by the result, share with friends - share with no one - who cares? Like a sand mandala, it was for the sake of experience. Except unlike a sand mandala, I am deciding to share something here rather than sweep into dust forever.

I’ve always been intrigued by blackout poetry, or “erasure poetry” as the academy calls it. It’s the practice of blacking out words on the page and connecting the remaining words to form a new piece of writing. I first encountered it in a college course, reading Srikanth Reddy’s “Voyager” which involves erasure poetry carved out of Kurt Waldheim’s writing (Waldheim was Secretary-General of the U.N. from 1972-81 and he was a former intelligence officer in Hitler’s Wehrmacht). Reddy’s erasure serves, in part, as an allegory for Waldheim’s selective erasure of his own memories and crimes.

I think I’m drawn to this form because it makes writing poetry seem more limited in a helpful way. Poetry is the most fluid, the most subjective, the most open-ended of all writing forms. It’s terrifying! Erasure limits you to what is already on the page, forces you to decode new meaning from it.

So, I’ve been going through old National Geographic monthly issues (yes, I have a subscription and I love it) - and I’ve been trying to make poems from every page. Not just the articles but the advertisements too. The ads are almost more fun because the work feels inherently humorous or satirical. Here’s one, hope you enjoy:

Raymond James: Life Well Planned (blackout poem from P.7 “Raymond James” advertisement of National Geographic - October, 2023)

Architect. Mentor. Beekeeper.

A life well planned allows you your life.

While you may not be just as unique,

a team of specialists in every field can help you

plan for the dreams you choose to give back

so you can live.

The Very Scary Theory of Stupidity

My wife recently shared this fascinating article by Philosopheasy. “Dietrich Bonhoeffer's Terrifying Theory of Stupidity.” I wasn’t familiar with his work before and it immediately resonated with me. Bonhoeffer was a German philosopher and theologian who was also a staunch anti-Nazi in his time. He makes a critical distinction between “evil” - the conscious choice to do harm with intent, versus “stupidity” which he frames, not as a lack of intelligence, but as the choice to release yourself from critical thinking and questioning. He argues, this is how the majority of a society can go along with evil at its upper reaches. Bonhoeffer made me think of the perhaps more famous Hannah Arendt and her Report on the Banality of Evil. The idea that Eichmann was not some brilliant, arch, self-aware mastermind but instead banal - pompous, unoriginal, ultimately a thoughtless person who would not reflect on any of his choices. His evil was buried in dull familiarity. Both Bonhoeffer and Arendt were famous free thinkers who opposed totalitarianism. It’s fascinating to me that they gravitated to ideas of stupidity and banality as the core buttresses of evil. And by implication, that everyone - all of society - has equivalent moral intelligence. No one is naturally “dumber” than another in this department. All morality comes down to choice and to ignore choice is of course a decision in itself. It’s the easiest choice actually, no matter the context. It’s easy to go along with the currents of your society unquestioningly, to relinquish agency and focus inward. Some people do it their whole lives, others live in hibernation until something happens to force them into a new behavior. Bonhoeffer and Arendt would argue, I think, that to be a truly critical free thinker is the healthiest, safest state of mind. It means you are always ready, engaged with your surroundings, questioning authority, aware of its pitfalls and lies, using your imagination to concept a better culture and a better life for yourself and your family. And most importantly, like a cave man walking through wolf-infested forests, the choice to be aware means you can see danger coming. It was our intelligence, after all, that got us out of the woods in the first place.

2025 in Movies (so far)

We’re about halfway through the year and I wanted to take a beat to look back on the incredible movies that have already rolled out. And for reference, unabashedly sharing my Letterbox here. When Letterbox came out, I instantly became more addicted to it than any other form of social media and to be honest, I think it’s the only healthy social media in existence. For movies, about movies, that’s it. And I seriously need help tracking everything I watch so for me, there is no equal.

Anyways, what’s been good so far?

No surprise here. The first forty minutes are entrancing, a vibrant, fully realized world that honestly I could’ve lived in for the whole film (before vampires and insanity breaks out). Delroy Lindo’s monologue in the car ride (and his improvised song) stunned me. It was a fun and bold “musical” and a complex look at appropriation and American history but above all, brilliant characters who were allowed to shine.

Clean, mean, superbly well-written and concisely crafted spy thriller. I don’t even know what else to say about it. One of the more unique portrayals of marriage I’ve seen in a long time.

It’s not a perfect movie but Danny Boyle, as always, takes some huge swings (both story-wise and stylistically) and I will always love him for that. Raph Fiennes delivers, above and beyond. His performance, like the film overall, is surprisingly more tender and philosophical than adrenalized or terrifying. It’s a movie about damage and family and human nature and while it doesn’t work on all fronts, it will stay with me.

Gareth Evans is one of a kind, no one executes action on such a scale of brutality, thrill, and feeling. I dare say he’s the Sam Peckinpah of our day. And Havoc just allows him to flex his muscles on an even bigger scale with a murderer’s row of actors. Turn off brain and let your jaw drop.

Okay, I admit it. My selection is skewing a little masculine over the top here. But this was just a really fun movie! It was the Animatrix to the original series. They took all that was fun and pure about the original film and experimented with the scope and style in totally new ways. That’s really hard to do, and it was a blast to watch. Also seems like very shrewd franchise planning in the lead-up to the next film’s theatrical release (a lot of backstory work is done here for the next one). I’ll always have a soft spot for my fave alien hunter.

A real fun classic comedy in a vein we rarely get to see made anymore. Excellent showcase for Lawrence Lamont and Keke Palmer and SZA. Here’s to more like ‘em.

Okay yeah, I’m apparently in my violent movie era (never left it, to be honest) but this movie belongs in a category all its own. Less a “war film” and more a documentation of war itself as a visceral experience. Not a narrative about characters, instead a recreation of memory. The deeper you dig into how this movie came together, the more incredible it becomes as a realized feat of filmmaking. I had the incredible fortune to see it at the American Legion Hall in Hollywood with a theater full of veterans, with many of the living members of the SEALs the film portrays in attendance — in addition to the directors and cast. The charge in the air, the respect for what it accomplished, the catharsis - I will never forget the experience. I applaud the film not just on a technical level but it’s true aim to stay neutral, flying in the face of a genre that can rarely achieve neutrality or truth.

Alright that’s all I got for now. Looking forward to what the rest of the year brings (Sovereign, Eddington, She Rides Shotgun, Weapons, and so many more)!

NTS Radio

Just throwing out a brief recommendation for NTS Radio: https://www.nts.live/ - an incredible hub for live radio and handpicked playlists with some of the most eclectic music tastes I’ve encountered yet. And this is coming from someone whose first-ever internship was at the World Music Institute in NYC. Not a humble brag, I swear, I’m just a nerd for global tunes of all stripes, from Tuvan throat singing (Alash, the best) to genre-founding geniuses like Fela Kuti and Tinariwen. These days, I’ve got a particular affinity for surprising mashups like Huun Huur Tuu and Bulgarian Voices Angelite’s collaboration, or the Junun album. So for someone like me, NTS is a dream come true. It’s not built on repetitive algorithms like Spotify (don’t get me wrong, I dig aspects of Spotify, I just wish its AI wasn’t so hegemonic) - instead, NTS reaches into unseen archives and far-reaching corners, its music handpicked by humans with vivid and original taste. Nice to remember that people, not technology, are behind all things.

Proof of Life

Well, it certainly has been a minute. Last time I posted, the strike was lurching to its end. And I’m still proud of what the WGA achieved. But we’re living in a different world. That strike proved to be a pivoting point for the industry. I don’t blame the labor action for what came after, I just think it marked the beginning of a contraction due to macro economic forces and peculiar weaknesses of the streaming business models in TV.

Anyways, I just wanted to post here as a return to form. It’s hard to believe how much has happened since that last entry in 2023! I founded the Veterans Fellowship with the Writers Guild Foundation, we just completed our second cycle. I got a job working in development for the great Tony McNamara. I started co-writing with a brilliant guy, Sean Calder, and we got new reps at Sugar23. Taking out both pilots and features now. I’m still captaining within the WGA West. It’s a strange, ever changing landscape out there but I’m still writing and developing and seeking out new opportunities as old doors shutter for good in this industry and new ones spring up in surprising places. More updates to come.

WGA Negotiations Update

Quick update on the Writers' Strike, for those who don't know, we have indeed returned to the negotiating table for a very preliminary round of talks with the AMPTP. This initial conversation happened on Friday (8/4), after they reached out via their lead negotiator, Carol Lombardini. It was an admittedly rocky first conversation but that was expected.

There are already rumors swirling around - "it'll all be over in 2 weeks!" - to - "this is just a tactic, it's going to go until 2024!" I believe this is good movement and the first step toward a legitimate compromise, but it's probably not worth extrapolating beyond that just yet.

Still, it's the first clear and public contact we've had with the studios since we began the strike 3 months ago. The dialogue is beginning again (and we all know how much writers love dialogue)... So, this update offers a modicum of hope. No, more than a modicum, let's say it's a slug of much-needed optimism added to our morning coffee.

We'll be picketing in the meantime, every day, at every studio lot. Because we are going to remain strong until our membership gets a fair contract - as well as a contract that can provide a successful template for SAG-AFTRA too. We all just want to get back to work at the end of the day.

Keep your eyes out for (hopefully) big updates in the weeks to come!

Poem!

We interrupt your regularly scheduled program to share - GASP - a poem! Hope you enjoy. I wrote this one when I was at the Chulitna Lodge Residency in Alaska (photos of that below).

FEATHERED BUT FLIGHTLESS

Feathered but flightless,

Weathered bright mess,

I hobble from town to town and place,

Hither slither,

Like a string-torn zither.

I’d pull teeth for a living,

But they won’t let me.

I’d sing a song to make you hack,

They won’t let me.

I would flash the world,

Unfurled,

My true self,

Dusty plumage and all.

BUT see me approach.

THEY shut their doors, numbed and profitable.

WON’T you please listen, as if to a creaking tree.

LET the rhyme laden sap slop on.

ME, a foundling chirper, regurgitation,

Hounding, a blur, lurid hatred.

Your best guess?

Feathered but flightless.

Updates: Alaska, Week 11, SAG

As we head toward end of another lap of strike action, Week 11, I figured it was worth taking stock here on the personal and the macro alike.

The strike certainly feels like it’s going to be a long one, especially as we head into the dog days of summer. I, and every writer I know, only hope for one thing today: that SAG-AFTRA decides to go on strike. They can harness the momentum we created and shut the entire industry down until both unions get a fair deal. It’s the most opportune moment they’ve ever had to negotiate, so we hope they take advantage. There have been a lot of scare tactics and cruel articles planted in the trades these past several days, all desperate ploys to scare SAG away from taking collective action. Been tough to read, day in and day out, but the benefit of going to the picket line every day is that sense of grounding and community among fellow writers. So, big news tonight before midnight - one way or another.

Otherwise, I had the great, great fortune to be accepted to the Chulitna Artists Residency in Lake Clark National Park & Preserve, in Alaska. I spent two weeks with fellow artists, across disciplines, including a nature sound recordist, a painter, and a sculptor. No cell reception, no internet, just wilderness and space to write. Truly a dream. I broke major story ground on a new feature as well as new flash fiction that I hope to share here soon.

Here are some of my favorite photos from the journey - hope you enjoy (and consider applying yourself for future cycles!):

A view from the lodge of the garden, boat, and Lake Clark. It was daylight from 5AM - 12AM.

An early morning boat ride across the lake, looking at one of the many mountain ranges in the area.

An adolescent bald eagle in mid-descent.

The midday sun viewed from Tommy Island. A natural arch that made me think of Andy Goldsworthy.

From the summit of little Mt. George. Lake Clark unfurls for miles in the background.

Sunrise, or as close as you can get to sunrise, in June.

Still processing the experience, but will share more thoughts and photos soon.

Science and Entertainment Exchange Article

We’re over 2 months into the strike and a fair guess is that it’ll be at least 3 months long if not more… So I’m taking a little break from discussing that ordeal to share a new article I wrote for the (amazing) Science and Entertainment Exchange. For those unfamiliar, the Exchange puts professional scientists in touch with writers, directors, and producers. It’s an incredible resource for creators who are looking to learn and lend realism and credence to their stories. And did I mention that it’s a totally free service?

Here’s the article - about how writer and producer David Slack used the Exchange, and met with Dr. Chris Ferguson, to help write an episode of Magnum PI. Enjoy!

Strike Week 2

Well, we're done with week 2 of the WGA strike. Here are a few observations from what I've seen as a strike captain and picketer so far.

The local community and fellow Hollywood labor unions (and many executives too!) have been overwhelmingly positive and supportive. From all our neighbors donating coffee and food and honking for the picket lines, to LIUNA and IATSE and SAG picketing with us, to the unwavering Teamsters who have helped us shut down production after production -- it's been amazing, and heartening. It feels like union power is coalescing in a huge way. And we will return the favor when the time comes for our allies.

President Biden weighed in last night to say, "I sincerely hope... the writers are given a fair deal they deserve as soon as possible." So many labor struggles go unnoticed by the media and politicians. I'll admit, we're extremely lucky that people love to talk about Hollywood.

On the flip side, I have heard some folks - many in the media - discuss the writers' plight as a "smallest violin in the world" situation. While it's easy to assume Hollywood writers live in privilege, the majority of our guild - literally thousands of writers - are facing legitimately dire economic straits. We lose our healthcare, are forced to take second and third jobs, or leave Los Angeles as a result of the painfully gig-ified landscape caused by the abuses of the studios. This is truly no light matter for most of us on the picket lines day in and day out.

Who knows when the AMPTP will be willing to return to the table. Historically, the shortest strike was 100 days and the longest was over 5 months. Perhaps the relatively new players like Amazon, Apple, and Netflix believe they can outlast us. To them, I would say this: we were here first and we've done this many times before. We're the ones who write the stories, and we know how this story ends.

Thanks for your support!

In Solidarity,

EE

P.S. All are welcome to join in on the picket lines (LA + NY)! You can find the schedule here. Who knows, you might meet the writer of your favorite show or movie!