My Obsession with Chambers Stevens

chambersstevens:

Recently I found myself in Ashville N.C. at the Biltmore House.

The Vanderbilt Family had exquisite taste.

Though Henry James said they were loopy.

Which probably explains why they had very few writers or artists as friends.

Those damn artists always tell the truth.

One of the things that struck me was a print of a Rhino on the wall.

Well not really a Rhino, more like a space age Rhino.

When the guards weren’t looking - they have this control freak rule that you can use a camera inside the Biltmore - I snapped a shot of the beast and did some research when I got home.

It turns out that the print was by Albecht Durer.

He created it in 1515.

And here is rub…in his lifetime Durer never saw a Rhinoceros.

A friend had described it and Durer did the best he could to get it down.

I think you will agree he got very close. 

chambersstevens:

Growing up in Tennessee my experience of seeing experimental theatre was extremely limited. But I read everything I could get my hands on. I would read reviews, articles and books on the directors.  Trying to imagine what the productions were like was impossible.

But now I am in Paris. With a backpack and a tent. And the infamous Robert Wilson is only a 20 mile walk away.

Is there any play that can live up to a 20 mile walk there and back?

Long story short, the production was about two hours long. But the script was only half an hour. So the cast repeated the text as they turned ¼ of the way around. In other words we saw the play first from the front, then the left side, then the back and then the right side.

When it was over I couldn’t control myself. I stood on my chair and booed as loud as I could.

Twenty years later I got to work with Robert Wilson and I told him that story. Surprisingly he didn’t think it was very funny.

The Scarlet Witch’s highlight reel.
Set to ‘I’m a Hex Girl’ by the Hex Girls.

chambersstevens:

While the rest of the world is awaiting the opening of The Avengers movie, true comic fans are waiting for the return of Wanda The Scarlet Witch.

Who?

What? You have never heard of her?

The Scarlet Witch is the most powerful comic character ever created. Superman and The Hulk have nothing on her.

 

The daughter of super villain Magneto, Wanda and her brother Quicksilver left the clutches of their evil father and joined the Avengers.

To me, growing up in the south, Wanda seemed like such a modern woman. She was sexy, smart and looked amazing in my favorite color.

Oh and she is a little bit crazy.

In 2006 everything changed in the Marvel Universe and also in mine.

My wife was pregnant with our first child. When he was born I often took the night shift. I couldn’t turn on the television because it would wake him. So I started doing something I hadn’t done since I was a teenager: reading comics.

I picked up a batch at my local comic store and at first I was confused. It seemed every hero I knew was had quit being a superhero. And worse, most of them were happy. Like really, truly, emotionally happy with their new life. They had left the life of fighting super villains and instead were just sitting on the couch with their wife.

How could this be? My life was exactly like that of a Marvel hero. But not in a good way.

But the more I read, the more I started to see that something was wrong in paradise.

Soon we start to learn that The Scarlet Witch has gone mad and warped reality so that everyone receives their heart’s desire.

When everyone regains their memories and confronts Wanda in an epic battle, she performs a spell where 90 percent of all mutants lose their powers. (Basically everyone except the X-Men)

Oh and then she goes into hiding. Never to be seen again.

Years go by. It takes a long time for the Mutuants to regain their powers. And the emotional toil of having everything you ever wanted and then losing it reverberates through The Avengers.

Then in 2010, one of The Young Avengers decides that Wanda is his mother and goes on a search for her.

The Children’s Crusade, as the book was called, was listed as an 8 issue series.

I, like a lot of comic nuts, bought the book eagerly awaiting the return of The Scartlet Witch.

But then months go by before another issue comes out. And then months again before another issue. (Understand that a new Spiderman comic comes out every 2 weeks)

Well it has been a year and a half…and next Wednesday the series will end and it looks like Wanda will return.

Look out everyone. The party is about to start. 

The Jackson 5 perform ABC on Dick Clark’s American Bandstand

The Jackson 5

chambersstevens:

It might not look like much.

But in the early 70’s at one in the afternoon, Gardner Street Elementary was the place to be. 

One o’clock was recess. When all the kids came out to the playground. My neighbors tell me that they too used to walk by the school during recess. Because everyone wanted to see the show.

You see, The Jackson Five were enrolled there. And the story goes that every day they would perform a different song on the playground. Michael, Jermaine, Tito, Marlon and Jackie would all sing a song A cappella. The rest of the classes would clap and beat on the monkey bars to give these budding superstars a basic rhythm. 

And by the end of the number the whole neighborhood would be shaking. Some people even say that Joe Jackson, the father, would park his car next to the school to make sure his sons did a good job. 

Years later Michael came back and dedicated the theatre..”The Michael Jackson Auditorium.”

I walk by the school almost everyday. And sometimes I swear I can hear..”ABC…it’s easy as…1,2,3”

I had to reblog again.
This is just too good.

Oh, so good. 

chambersstevens:

My first story for NPR aired this weekend.  If you haven’t listened to Snap Judgement you are really missing out. My story is “Pomegranate”. Enjoy.

Wow.
…just Wow. 

chambersstevens:

My first story for NPR aired this weekend.  If you haven’t listened to Snap Judgement you are really missing out. My story is “Pomegranate”. Enjoy.

I had no idea Chambers could do this!!!

chambersstevens:

My first story for NPR aired this weekend.  If you haven’t listened to Snap Judgement you are really missing out. My story is “Pomegranate”. Enjoy.