Georgie Boy: Fallen Queen of Broadway by Mister Jellyfish

[Snow]

duh, the answer is as always, 42!

[dragonfly Jafe]

Damn you Jelly! The math is making my head want to explode....yet, like watching a train wreck I cannot avoid this question now - one way to approach the answer would be to write a program to simulate say, 1,000,000 trials, then average the numbers of turns each of those 1,000,000 trials took....

[Mister Jellyfish Mister]

We could always rig the game, but that spoils some of the fun. The reason for the importance of this calculation is to capture and hold the attention of the average fucked-up burner long enough for at least half of them to get a payday. I'm honored that y'all have taken such an interest in the equation.

[oneeyeddick]

Underneath it all we are just wannabe math nerds.

[ygmir]

[theCryptofishist]

Underneath it all we are just wannabe math nerds.

And I'm the worst! Never got over the fact taht I wasn't born a talented mathemitition.
Ore a gud spelllllller.

[theCryptofishist]

I have enlisted the help of my father. This is a lot harder than we thought--he can't do this in his head.
He's going to use the "Monte Carlo" method of having the computer try 10 million times and then taking the average.
If he has any questions I'll ask here. He may get an answer without knowing why.

[Mister Jellyfish Mister]

Wow, thanks to you and your Dad, Crypto. Please don't have him go to any great lengths as this is just some numbers for our initial concept layout.

We've welcomed two magnificent new crew members that are robotics specialists-- more news soon.

[unjonharley]

Now that Fishy has the problem well in hand.. Here in another small problem to work on..

How much wood wood a woodchuck chuck if a woodchuck wood chuck wood??

Or in other words..

How much would would a wouldchuck chuck if a wouldchuck would chuck would??

[oneeyeddick]

Sally can suck my seashell.

[Mister Jellyfish Mister]

GWJax and I have chosen the cast upon which he will mold the base face of Georgie Boy. It is that of a semi-famous actor-- can you guess who?:



As for his pet dog, Smoochie Pooch, imagine one of these made into a robotic puppet with a voice like Joe Pesci in Good Fellas:

[Nick Collide]

Arthur's butler, Hobson.

Arthur: Do you know what I'm going to do? I'm going to take a bath.
Hobson: I'll alert the media.
Arthur: Do you want to run my bath for me?
Hobson: It's what I live for.
[Arthur exits]
Hobson: Perhaps you would like me to wash your dick for you... you little shit.

[Nick Collide]

Something from "happier" times...

[Mister Jellyfish Mister]

Good guesses. Want a hint?

[Sic Pup]

'Oh, the pain! Save me, William

[Mister Jellyfish Mister]

... And the prize goes to Sic Pup who correctly guessed it's Jonathan Harris from the original Lost In Space TV series. Congratulations, you've won the pile of silicon fake skin scraps that we sweep off the floor after making the head.

"H-yooooou ninny!".

[Sic Pup]

Awesome! I'll smoke anything..... once.

[Snow]

SO, where is the fire gooinng to shoot out? mouth with those brandy burps/heartburn, or along with the flatulence?

[Sic Pup]

Yikes! ......oh you're asking bout Georgie, aren't you?

[Snow]

Yes I was talking about georgie boy, but when jelly reads that, I'm imagining flames shooting out his ears.

[moonrise]

Math problem ...is it kosher to cut to the chase and call someone at IGT

International Gaming Technologies

Doesn't someone have connections?

They program the slot Machines, someone there will know!


~~~~when he lights a cig, could his Bic lighter malfunction and shoot flames 5 feet high and scare the living hell out of him?~~~~

[Mister Jellyfish Mister]

Good idea. They're a large company but I know a couple Burners who work there. I'll put out a shout.

[1durphul]

Jelly, the robotics are amazing.

Regarding the theme I fear you may be walking an incredibly thin line when it comes to "laughing with" vs. "laughing at" a group that still faces legally sanctioned discrimination. (marriage, military service, no protections at the federal level, etc...) I have been on a few gay related mailing lists that have brought up your art piece out of concern for the negative direction it could take. So it is with that in mind that I embark on the rest of this reply to your OP.

Clearly you have a flare for eccentric characters, and this one shouldn't be any less eccentric. I suggest that you don't make his sexuality the punchline though. Being effeminate is not necessarily a gay trait, and neither is enjoying musical theater. Look at Liza's most recent husband David Gest (hmmm... David Gest... sure sounds a lot like....) Now that is fodder for an eccentric character. In fact, if you look at some of the most successful send ups of gay men, it has been done in the form of a gay man in denial, or a gay man in the closet. Smithers on the Simpsons comes to mind immediately.

If you insist on making the character an out gay man I suggest you research how writers/directors/actors have telegraphed someone or something as "gay" to a gay audience without clueing in the non-gay audience. I've heard this referred to as "the pink window" gays see the pink glass, the non-gay audience just sees the world on the other side.

On a personal note even in San Francisco I get called a faggot for holding my partners hand no less than once a week. In the Castro (gay) district it is very common for somebody in a car to yell "faggot" out the window while driving down Market. And once or twice a month I read stories in the gay newspaper about a gay man who was attacked or killed here in our safehaven for gayness, because he was gay. Black Rock City is full of people from all over the US (and the world), and not all of them have a welcoming attitude regarding gays. Even in BRC a couple years ago I had friends angrily confronted and told that faggots were not welcome in certain esplanade camps. The reason I'm telling you this is so that you don't make the mistake of thinking that gays feel 100% welcome in BRC, and therefore won't mind a ribbing.

I worry less about the adult gay men though, and more about the young, not-yet-out gay boy exploring the city with his parents. He doesn't even yet fully understand his sexuality, and knows only what he has seen on TV, been told by his classmates, or heard adults talking about. I remember when that was me. I was 17, and in my American Political Systems class in a suburban public school of Los Angeles. The teacher for the class was a right wing nut who brought in The Christian Coalition for Family Value's video entitled "The Homosexual Agenda" to show in class. I sat there in my assigned front row seat as the video droned on about the "disgusting sexual habits of gay men" describing the diseases that infest gays, and how they want to rape children. Goebbels would have been proud. I could feel my classmates absorbing this misinformation as fact. I could hear them groaning in disgust at the graphic explanation of mythical sexual acts like felching and snow balling. It felt like all my classmates were disapproving of me directly (even if they didn't know.) I have never been able to live down that class, and I'm in my 30s now. It still makes my angry. I hope someday some now out gay guy finds that teacher, now retired, and beats the shit out of him for every gay kid that he destroyed like he destroyed me that day.

The point is Jelly, depending on how you do this, it could be great, or it could be devastating. You'll get approval from certain segments of BRC no matter which it is. I'll just hope that greatness is what you achieve.

[theCryptofishist]

When I read stories like that, I am so glad that I went to Berkeley schools.

A whole lot of information was missing, true, but there was very little malicious misinformation.

What a horrible thing to have gone through.

[Mister Jellyfish Mister]

Thanks, 1dur. It's good to do a gut-check on this stuff from time to time and I'm grateful for your input. I'm intrigued by "The Pink Window" concept and hope to learn more. Indeed I walk a fine line with the comedic elements of my work. My art sometimes offends, and I'm OK with that as long as I don't fall into the cruel and heartless realm.

I don't know if you're familiar with my previous art installations. I try to feel for the right balance between insult and embrace. With Zsu Zsu and Ein Hammer I tore the French and Germans a new one respectively, yet those who traveled to Burning Man from those countries appeared to enjoy the humor in the self-mockery/ignorance of the outsider's perceptive.

I suppose that's what I'm attempting to glean from this forum is The Pink Window itself. Therefore, please enlighten me-- what are the "tells" in word or behavior that are clearly gay to a gay male but not to most straights? I invite you to look deeply into this project as it progresses for richer elements and thematic relevance.

One thing I don't want to get into is explaining or dissecting jokes. I trust my crew to tell me what's funny and what bombs and that's OK.

[Simon of the Playa]

In the Castro (gay) district it is very common for somebody in a car to yell "faggot" out the window while driving down Market.

sorry, that was me, and it was intended for the bundle of sticks by the side of the road.


again, my apologies.

[Nick Collide]

Since the beginning of your posts, Jelly, I've been under the impression that your theme centered more on the loss of celebrity, which in its way is kind of like the loss of love - only instead of mourning the relatively sudden loss of one intimate relationship, it is the slow disintegration of millions of somewhat less intimate relationships (from fan clubs to groupies, that point could be debated, I suppose) - and that Georgie being (or maybe not being) gay was simply a two-way (ours and his) perspective that is presented to us as he works through his stories, memories, regrets, and beloved songs. However, in reading the posts and responses since then it becomes apparent how easily that theme can be sidetracked by the passionate feelings of your audience about that perspective.

Perspective is a funny thing - a common phrase where I work is "perception is reality" meaning that you can't simply dismiss someone's perception of something because you believe it to be incorrect or even silly - their perception is as real to them as yours is to you. The model for the project is a character that was a collection of attributes that made up his personality - flamboyant, chatty, weak, prissy to the point of being effeminate (add your own recollections here) - that has become over time a stereotype of what "gay" is. Having watched Lost in Space many years ago I don't recall Dr. Smith being "gay" (his alliance with Will being based on him being the only other non-threatening male in the group), he was just a memorable character.

Is Georgie really gay? Will his memories of regret be about the much-admired friend that refused to return his affection or about the string of relationships with beautiful women in his life that just never quite resulted in a marriage? Was his attraction to the musical theater an opportunity to "dress up" or his chance at acceptance? Would either answer define him as gay? Will the "tells" settle the question or just add to the mystery?

I think a satire on society's perception of what "gay" is would be much more entertaining than a satire on being "gay" and as far as your theme goes, it could take Georgie from being a just another wooden character to being a real live boy.

ps. You should change "Naps" on your wheel to "Regrets" because I'll bet Georgie has a lot more of those.

[pinemom]

well said NickCollide!

[AntiM]

I had a colorful Great Uncle George who lived in West Hollywood. Seriously, I did. He wasn't gay, but he was eccentric and unique. Doesn't everyone of a certain age have a bachelor uncle?

[Isotopia]

Loved Lost In Space. Hated Dr Smith character.

Too much of a whiner.
Too grating in a hyper-faggy way.
Too negatively stereotypical.

The Georgie Boy I have in my mind's eye is more like Buddy.

[youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LqQCyAQBgXY&feature=related[/youtube]

or Daffyd Thomas the Only Gay in the Village

[youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7V3b2mrcAKY[/youtube]