Friday, July 04, 2003

 

This is Scene 2, Section 2 of "Nothing To Do Without You."

Click here for For Scene 2, Section 1.
Click here for For Scene 1.

UPDATE: Scene 2 can now be found in its entierty at the link above for Scene 2, Section 1. Forgive the newbie blogging errors. I blame my years with Jack Daniels.

posted by Dan 5:56 PM
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Blogger is complaining about my post length. So until this gets figured out, I present Scene 2 of "Nothing To Do Without You" in sections. This is section one.

Click here to read Scene 1 first.

Nothing To Do Without You (Pt. 2, Sec. 1)

(A restaurant. There's two exits, one to the hotel, one to the bar. A hotel phone hangs on the wall.

KATHLEEN sits at a small table for two. She eats a grilled chicken salad. An empty martini glass sits next to the plate. KATHLEEN is dressed for success: dark blue office jacket and skirt, black pumps, hair pulled back. She's collected.

RICK enters. He's wearing a suit as well, a green one, and he carries a manila folder. He's eager.

KATHLEEN and RICK are played by the same actors who played ETHA and DREY in Scene 1.)

RICK
Ms. Leone? I saw you speak today -

KATHLEEN
Hi.

RICK
Hi -- in the Hartford Room. Rick Whitetell, I work at Rivercrest Solutions. I have to tell you, I was really really impressed with what you had to say about the future of polymorphic bimomials.

KATHLEEN
You're the only one, apparently.

RICK
You know, everybody at this con talks data compression, but when you bring up polymorphic binomials, people get this look in their eye. You'd think a hotel full of maths and ITs wouldn't be such neo-luddites, but what you said about isolated propagation of polymorphic binomials, man, it got me going, really excited, really really pumped.

KATHLEEN
Mm. I'm glad I was able to do something with my life, Rick.
(She goes back to eating her salad.)

RICK
I've uh...I've been testing a few models based on the Beijing refractory theory. Would you -- I would really like if you...?
(He offers the folder to her. KATHLEEN finishes chewing a bite of salad. She takes a napkin. She wipes her mouth. RICK still offers the folder. She sets the napkin in her lap. She takes the folder and opens it. During the following, she flips through the contents, a few large photographs.)
I was especially intrigued by your discussion of refraction in binomial data compression. Your analogy. The one about the red chair and the yellow chair. The chair that harms, and the chair that pleasures, then harms. I thought, "This sounds familiar. But what are the odds?" But as anybody who's done the research on polymorphics knows, the unlikeliest day is the one where nothing unlikely happens. Then I heard in your speech that certain lilt, that sense of false self-deprecation. It's an unlikely thing that I'd meet you, but here you are.
(KATHLEEN closes the folder.)
Hello Drey.

KATHLEEN
I've forgotten your handle.

RICK
Forgive me if I have trouble believing that.

KATHLEEN
Give me a hint.

RICK
I'm not gonna give you a hint.

KATHLEEN
Oh pretty please.

RICK
In the screenshots. Look in the screenshots.
(KATHLEEN opens the folder.)

KATHLEEN
It was..."ee"..."ee"- something?

RICK
Etha.

KATHLEEN
Right. Pretty name.

RICK
I worked hard on her.

KATHLEEN
Yeah, most cyber-trannies go for something fabulous like -- I don't know -- "Ebonox."

RICK
Etha wasn't a tranny.

KATHLEEN (looking at the pictures:)
You even went easy on her boobs. Very restrained.

RICK
I worked hard on her!

KATHLEEN
Okay. (Pause as RICK stares at her, waiting.) Manners. Please sit down.
(She closes the folder.)

MORE...

Part Three to follow...

posted by Dan 5:44 PM
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Tuesday, July 01, 2003

 

Not Ready For Oxygen Network

Very funny exchange at ProsecutingBigamy. Permalinks don't work, so scroll down to June 17th. Here's a teaser:

Me: There's no way her boobs are real.

Mom: How can you tell?

Me: I just can. It's a gift.

Mom: You can't possibly be my child.

posted by Dan 2:09 PM
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Monday, June 30, 2003

 

Nothing To Do Without You (Pt. 1)

[NOTE: This is the first scene in what I think will be a three-scene piece. I'll post the second and third scenes this week, along with the source article. As always, feel free to email comments.]

SCENE 1

(A room. Two exits, one a door, the other into a hallway. Sparse furnishing, but all bright, colorful pieces. A vase of flowers sits on a table. In one corner, there are a yellow and a red chair.

DREY sits at the table, reading a book. He’s wearing all black. His long coat fits over him almost like a robe. Underneath, he has the outfit of a minister, minus the collar.

A knock at the door. The knocker, ETHA, enters without waiting for a reply, but she stops when she sees DREY. Behind her, we hear fairground carnival noise, and see flashes of colorful She looks like she stepped out of a Rossetti painting; billowy dress, necklace, red lips. She carries a full shopping bag.)

ETHA
Am I early?

DREY
Come on in.

ETHA
Is this the...?

DREY
What’re you looking for?

ETHA
The...

DREY
Yeah?

ETHA
I think I got the wrong room.

DREY
No no. This’s the room.

ETHA
No I -- I think I must’ve mixed up the address.

DREY
No, you’re just early. Nobody else logged in yet.

ETHA
This is the - ?

DREY
What’re you looking for?

ETHA
I’m looking for the -- there was a public banner.

DREY
Right.

ETHA
On the blue board.

DREY
Right. That was me.

ETHA
Okay.

DREY
You’re the first one in. I appreciate your enthusiasm. I wasn’t sure if anybody would slide in. Frankly, I expected to be alone tonight.

ETHA
Oh.

DREY
I thought I’d put something up on the blue board, you know, just put my little flag out there. I figured, what the heck, can’t spend every night on the dune buggy track.

ETHA
Oh yeah, I did that.

DREY
It’s all right, the first fifty times.

ETHA
I know. I did the flight chasm for a month, now I’m sick of it.

DREY
Yeah. Still, I never thought I could compete.

ETHA
Well, your picture was very cute.

DREY
Heh. I never thought I would get anyone’s attention with my little banner.

ETHA
Why don’t you ask me to sit down?

DREY
Sorry. Manners. Please sit down.

MORE...

SCENE 2 to follow...

posted by Dan 3:48 PM
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