Your Travalanche Daily Digest for October 4, 2026
16 hours ago
Monday, October 25, 2010
Uranium Madhouse Advisory Board member #2: Dr. Amir Eshel
A little about Amir:
Amir Eshel is Charles Michael Chair in Jewish History and Culture, a Professor of German Studies and Comparative Literature, and Director of The Europe Center at the Freeman Spogli Institute for International Studies at Stanford University. His research focuses on German culture, comparative literature, and German-Jewish history and culture from the Enlightenment to the present. He is currently working on a book about the poetic figuration of historical narratives, and he is also involved in an interdisciplinary project on urban space in Berlin. At Stanford, he has taught courses on German Jewish literature, literature of the Holocaust, modern German poetry and the contemporary German novel.
Before joining the Stanford faculty in 1998 as an assistant professor of German studies, he taught at the Universitat Hamburg (Germany). He is a member of the American Comparative Literature Association, the Association of Jewish studies, the German Studies Association and the Modern Language Association. In 2002 he received the Award for Distinguished Teaching from Stanford University's dean of the School of Humanities and Sciences. He received an MA and PhD in German literature, both from the Universitat Hamburg. He speaks Hebrew, German and English, and has a good knowledge of Yiddish and French.
Amir was a reader on my dissertation on Thomas Bernhard at Stanford, and a tremendous source of guidance and support during that project. I look forward to continuing to work with him on this new venture.
Sunday, October 24, 2010
some thoughts on The Social Network
Why do I say that? Consider the final scene (SPOILER ALERT). The Zuckerberg character is apparently preoccupied, deeply troubled even, about the question of whether or not he is, in fact, an asshole. He asserts to the concerned junior lawyer who hangs around to cluck over him that he is not an asshole, and her rejoinder (more on that below) is an apparent answer to that question. Trouble is, by this point, I had long since ceased to care about the condition of Mark Zuckerberg's soul. The story had been absorbing, engrossing even, but I found myself totally apathetic to the question of whether deep down, Mark Zuckerberg was a good guy or not.
Perhaps the fault for this does not lie with Eisenberg alone, but I think if he as an actor had found a way to care about the people he was eventually to betray, his remorse upon betraying them would have been more real, and, as a result, more palpable. As it was, he seemed troubled, but anguished? Not remotely. Jesse Eisenberg will have to try to hit that mark another time.
If I had to guess, I would speculate that Eisenberg made a judgment, consciously or not, about Zuckerberg that he was "uncaring", so it was hard for him to see that these relationships really meant something to him.
As for the movie itself? It was watchable enough. It did stay with me for a day or two. But I don't think it really showed us anything new. We know about the dangers of ambition and of failing to keep it real when you succeed. And we know people do ass things in their early twenties. (oh how we know...)
And about that ending: Zuckerberg says something to the lawyer like "I'm not an asshole!" and she says something like: "I know you're not. You're just working really hard to be one."
This reminded me more than a little of the last lines of Howard Korder's 1988 play Boys' Life:
Carla: You're not the worst man in the world.
Jack: I'm not, huh?
Carla: No you're not. I'm afraid you're just not. (Pause) But you'd like to be...
Just sayin'.
Saturday, October 23, 2010
more congratulations!
In her own words:
I wanted to let you know that I went on an audition recently for a new play. Right before the audition I kept thinking about what you had said, about staying fully extended, at all times, in the moment, even while the other person is talking. Well, it must have helped me, because I got the part. :)
Congratulations Tyne! Can't wait to see the show!
Friday, October 22, 2010
Uranium Madhouse gets its first Advisory Board Member: meet David Chambers
David Chambers, an
South Coast Rep Associate Artist, is a director,
teacher, writer and producer whose
work has been seen On and Off-Broadway
and at major theatres throughout
the United States. He directed Broadway
premieres of Christopher Durang’s
A History of the American Film and
Howard Korder’s Search and Destroy,
a play which originated at South Coast Rep and for
which Mr. Chambers received a New
York Drama Desk nomination for best
director. Mr. Chambers has served as
director at such theatres as The New
York Shakespeare Festival, Washington’s
Arena Stage (Producer 1979-81
seasons), the Yale Repertory Theatre
and the Guthrie, among others. He is
currently a professor of acting and directing
at the Yale School of Drama
where among other duties he produced
The Meyerhold Project, a collaboration
with the Saint Petersburg Academy of
Theatre Arts in Russia which has performed
in Europe and the U.S. He also
directed South Coast Rep’s Bosoms and Neglect,
The Hollow Lands, Tartuffe, Private
Lives, Old Times, A Mess of Plays by
Chris Durang, The Misanthrope,
Hedda Gabler, The Miser, Going for
Gold, Kiss of the Spider Woman and
Twelfth Night, productions which have
won numerous Drama-Logue and L.A.
Drama Critics Circle Awards. He lives
in Portland and Vinalhaven, Maine
with his wife Christine Vincent and son
Dima. His daughter Jessica lives and
works in the Bay Area.
Southpark does Inception
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