|
|
:: menu
:: bio
::
diary :: shows
::
buy crap
:: reviews :: audio :: video :: gallery :: auctions :: links :: contact | ||||
|
|
|
|
|
| |
SHAPPY'S ONLINE DIARY:
Thursday, May 08, 2008
My niece and nephew have gotten so BIG!! 
And Luke is a t-ball champ now?! What has become of my young nerdling?!
Time to schedule a visit! Bring him back to NERD SIDE!!
posted by Shappy at 12:21 AM
Sunday, April 27, 2008
RVSP for the NYC-Urbana Finals on FACEBOOK! CLICK HERE!!
posted by Shappy at 8:58 PM
Wednesday, April 09, 2008
Great news for my pal Ernie Cline!
'Fanboys' scribe's 'Thundercade' gets pickup
By Leslie Simmons and Borys Kit
April 8, 2008
Lakeshore Entertainment has picked up "Thundercade," a comedy spec from "Fanboys" co-writer Ernie Cline.
Lakeshore's Tom Rosenberg and Gary Lucchesi are fast-tracking the project and producing it along with Cline's manager, Dan Farah of Farah Films.
"Thundercade" follows a video game junkie facing a midlife crisis who learns that a young punk had broken a record he set as a teen. He and two lifelong friends embark on a quest to reclaim his place in video game history and win the world's ultimate gaming championship, Thundercade.
Cline, a self-proclaimed lifelong video game addict, said he was inspired to write the screenplay by his nephew, who would trash talk him while the two played Xbox games.
"I fell in love with the idea of pitting older 'classic arcade era' gamers from the '80s against teenagers -- the Atari 2600 generation vs. the Xbox 360 generation," Cline said.
A spotlight has been cast on Cline's "Star Wars"-themed "Fanboys" because of a public dispute with the Weinstein Co. and filmmakers over competing versions of the film and whether it will see a theatrical release. Supporters of "Fanboys," including the "Star Wars" fan club known as the 501st, staged demonstrations at screenings of the Weinstein Co.'s "Superhero Movie" in March to protest the latest version.
Farah's producing credits include "Armored," from Screen Gems, wihch is in postproduction.
Cline is additionally repped by attorney David Feldman.
posted by Shappy at 1:41 PM
Friday, April 04, 2008
GREETING from glamorous ALBANY, NY!!
Where Shaptowicz ROCKED the Neil Helman Library on the campus of the College of Saint Rose -- what what!
Actually, it was a really great gig -- especially with what we worried would be an overly quiet library crowd! -- and we got to lecture in two of Dan Nester's classes to boot!! I was looking quite PROFESSORIAL!! NICE!
And the Albany press was oh so kind to us:
ALBANY TIMES-UNION
ST. ROSE CHRONICLE
And speaking o' poetry, our poems are slowing going up on the WNYC website (as well on the air) so check them out here:
MY STUFF:
http://www.wnyc.org/news/articles/95873
CRISTIN'S STUFF (poems forthcoming):
http://www.wnyc.org/news/articles/95905
And "I AM THAT NERD" is on INDIEFEED today, while Cristin was interviewed for the BEST AMERICAN POETRY BLOG. And WORDS IN YOUR FACE got reviewed in the School Library Journal.
Next on the schedule: the NEW YORK COMICON's NERD SLAM, the BPC's own Leticia Viloria's wedding and a gig at THE KELLY WRITERS HOUSE in PHILLY!!
YAY for National Poetry Month!
posted by Shappy at 11:12 AM
Monday, March 24, 2008
QAPARHA!!!!!
My pal ERNIE CLINE has a big article written about him in the latest issue of WIRED!! The online teaser for the story includes the above pic of him and me DUKING IT OUT with our lirpas on the set of FANBOYS!!!
Check out the whole article here:
http://www.wired.com/entertainment/hollywood/multimedia/2008/03/ff_fanboy_ss?slide=1&slideView=4
SAVE FANBOYS!!! posted by Shappy at 8:02 PM
Thursday, March 20, 2008 Hey everybody! I'm still trying to write up our tour diary (updated below). Cristin and I have been busy! We recorded for NPR yesterday and I did Rev. Jen's show as well! Just wanted to let everyone know that my pal Ernie Cline is in the new issue of WIRED which just hit stands! It's got the whole FANBOYS saga within! Also, Ernie tells me we might have a picture on the on-line version of WIRED so keep checking their webpage! posted by Shappy at 4:12 PM
Saturday, March 08, 2008
GReetings from sunny California! Just 2 gigs left in the Shaptowicz 7-Year-Itch Tour! So far everything has been going great! No major mishaps or unpaid gigs and that's really all a touring poet can ask for! Here's a brief overview of the tour so far-
DAY 1-NYC to Chicago! Of course there were delays at both airports! We circled Detroit for 2 hours! It made for quite a time crunch as I was headlining at the Lincoln Lodge that night! We made it there eventually and got an awesome dinner! COA got her first veggie skillet breakfast of the tour and I got fish & chips! Got to see Jason Fever and Jon and Geary from the old way back when and when we got there we ran into an old college buddy of mine Lisa Samra! Crazy! The set went pretty well despite the shortness of it. Who knew a headliner only gets 10 minutes? I got paid which paid for dinner and my pal Tom Robb gave us a lift to our first crash pad which saved us a few bucks! We stayed with my old boss from Chicago Comics (Eric Thornton) and his new doggie pal Vincent who took quite a shine to Cristin!
Day 2-GIRL SCOUT COOKIES!!! We lugged our stuff to stow at Quimby's while we attended Louder Than A Bomb youth slam at Colombia U. Brian at Quimby's warned us of aggressive Girl Scouts up the street. About 2 blocks away we could hear the Girl Scout screaming at the top of her lungs at traffic-GIRL SCOUT COOKIES ARE THE BEST COOKIES SO PLEASE BUY OUR COOKIES! She was really loud and aggressive and scared Cristin. I thought she was doing a great job but I didn't have enough money to buy cookies on me. I did buy some later in Oakland. Cristin hosted a youth slam bout and I read "I AM THAT NERD" to a receptive teen crowd. We got sushi and picked out books and zines we wanted at Quimby's. We had a light turn-out for the event but it was a friendly bunch. Greg Gilliam and his lady showed up, Eric Kirsammer (owner of Quimby's and CHicago Comics) arrived, Tom Robb and even Jason Pettus put in a cameo but didn't stick around. Liz and Joe were real sweet and fun to hang with. I had a few PBR's with the gang and we went to Hollywood Diner for a late meal before crashing at Greg's!
Day 3-SO WHAT!-Showed for more hosting duties at Louder than a Bomb only we got there late cuz I got the times wrong. We did get to see Slampapi Marc Smith give a great show for the kiddies. We also hooked up with Joel Chmarra who was our new host family for the tour. I ended up hosting a late bout then we hauled ass to the Green Mill which was about how I remembered it. Cristin was nervous since she had never featured there before. It went great! I got to jam with the band just like old times! Made good money from the door and had mexican food next door!
Day 4-Hosted semi-finals for Louder Than A Bomb then got to Chicago Comics to rummage around for nerd gold. Got a couple of t-shirts, a book of Shatner paintings and a bunch of zines and mini-comics. On a whim I stopped by Quake Collectibles because I knew they closed on a weird day. Good thing I did cuz they were closed the net day! I ended up procuring a Charlie Tuna lamp from 1970 and a Chicken of the Sea mermaid doll still in the box! Later we shuffled off to the Funky Buddah for the Mental Graffiti 10 year anniversary show which was loaded with talent and lots of old faces from my Chicago days. Our feature was pretty solid and high energy and we sold some books. A group of Republicans hounded me after the show and said I'd converted them to the other side! Ah, the power of poetry!
Day 5- Had brunch at an egg-themed joint and looked around an antiques store. Later we saw our pal Beth Lisick on Rachel Ray! We headed out to Lake County College for our last Chicago gig. Had Chicago-Style pizza before the show with Joel, Robbie and Sully and had lots of laffs coming up with ideas for an Anis Mojo-Johnny calendar. The SpeakEasy Ensemble opened for us and then later cheered us on for one of our best sets of the tour.
Day 6- Early flight to San Fran! Our host, Krystal Ashe, picked us up, got us fed and got us to the Bezerkley Slam at the Starry Plough. Cristin met a guy who came out based solely on reading WORDS IN YOUR FACE! Bucky Sinister came out and read before we went on. Good set, long night!
Day 7-Drove into San Fran and did a little shopping around Haight/Ashberry. I went ape at Amoeba Records and found lots of awesome cheap DVD's, we hit some thrifts and Cristin found her book in the Anarcist Bookstore! We drove over the Golden Gate and had sushi for dinner. Crazy gig at Tourettes Without Regrets and then an after party at Krystal's where I played Wii bowling for the first time with Christian Drake til the Wii hours of the morning!
Day 8-Finally! A day without a gig! We go to IHOP on my dime then get ingredients for COA's pumpkin chili which we share at a poet's potluck later that night at C. Ellick's place.
Day 9-
posted by Shappy at 5:28 PM
Thursday, February 28, 2008 Happy Birthday to me! We had my traditional b-day dinner at Telly's Taverna! 3 years in a row! I had to get an eye exam today cuz my old glasses are falling apart. I got dialated and despite my crappy vision, I've got healthy eyeballs! Cristin and I are getting ready to hit the road for our Seven Year Itch tour! I'll try to update from the road as much as possible! Cristin and I also plan to draw a comic diary! Wish us luck! And check out our tour dates on www.booktour.com just type in our names! Also, there's pictures of us in TimeOut Chicago! Hooray! posted by Shappy at 12:05 AM
Wednesday, February 20, 2008
from Stop Darth Weinstein on MySpace-
WHY DARTH WEINSTEIN MUST BE STOPPED!
Last year, a bunch of Star Wars fans got together and made the greatest Star Wars fan film of all time - FANBOYS. It's a movie about friendship and what it means to be a fan. FANBOYS was made with the help of hundreds of Star Wars fans and 501st members, who loaned their time, costumes, and collectibles to the production. (The creators of Stop Darth Weinstein were among them!)
Now that the film is finished, the Weinstein Company, the studio who controls the film, is trying to change the plot of the entire movie SO THAT IT RIDICULES STAR WARS FANS!
For some reason, Harvey "Darth" Weinstein thinks FANBOYS it will make more money of it mocks its target audience.
But this time, he clearly doesn't know who he's messing with. Let's see how he likes having the Rebel Alliance put the smack down on him.
Our goal is organize a BOYCOTT OF ALL WEINSTEIN COMPANY FILMS by every Star Wars fan on the planet, unless they release the original version of FANBOYS.
To find out how you can help, please read the rest of our blog or visit:
http://beam.to/stopdarthweinstein
MAY THE FORCE BE WITH US!
posted by Shappy at 7:11 PM
Monday, February 11, 2008
Just heard that Roy Schnieder just passed on so I put on 2010 as a tribute!
So, the AWP conference was a big hit! Not only did Cristin do great on both of her panels but we had AWP related events at the BPC all week long which provided lots of tip$! Good thing too because I made the mistake of sitting down for breakfast at the Hilton and it was like $28 for eggs, bacon and toast! Lesson learned! Anyhoo, it was a blast having Robbie Q in town for all the egghead fun! We checked out the book fair and I got some stuff from the McSweeny's booth where Cristin tried to get the guys to kiss me for her amusement! The Soft Skull 15th Anniversary panel?reading was cool and our panel was lots of fun! Here's what our pal Victor Infante had to say on his LiveJournal-
*The "20 Years of NYC Poetry Slam" panel was brilliant. It was the Bad News Bears of panels, in all the good ways. It was lighthearted and funny, and with Shappy killing microphones, Daniel Nester spilling water and Reggie Cabico imitating Sharon Olds. (He also did Tina Turner during the deadly dull CUNY reception, for which I thank him.) It looked like it was going to be a little on the ramshackle side. And it was, but then it crescendoed with a round of poetry, which took the fun, light panel and made it something transcendent. Amazing stuff, and further proof that while, OK, the academic conference has a lot going for it, you still want to hang with the slammers while you're there.
We also managed to sell 5 copies of WORDS IN YOUR FACE afterwards! I'm a born bookseller!
After the panel we went for drinks and calamari (which is ironic since I bought a book on giant squid that day) and then we went to a Painted Bride Quarterly party and then home for Chinese take-out. We sent Mr. Q back after an early breakfast at Neptune's (where all 3 of us ate for $28) and we watched pre-Super Tuesday news shows and watched the Super Bowl which was super.
We voted on Tuesday and had a smaller than usual crowd for Urbana. Who knew folks would stay glued to their sets watching election results? Wednesday Cristin performed at Comedy vs. Poetry which was a hoot and we stayed after for Theater of Fools and Cristin cut hair. I worked 2 huge shows in a row on Thursday and Friday. Saturday we took a nice long walk and relaxed. Today we had a big Urbana meeting and then dropped by to catch up with Susan Rice.
Thanks to Shanny Jean and Roy for the Star Trek The Motion Picture soundtrack.
There is new Urbana video up on YouTube of the anniversary show!
Check out ernestcline.com for some awesome blogs about FANBOYS from the writer of FANBOYS himself!
also- This Tuesday is the book release party for THE LAST AMERICAN VALENTINE at the BPC! CHeck out upcoming shows for info!
posted by Shappy at 12:37 AM
Monday, January 28, 2008
Gotta a busy week ahead! We have guests all week long! Shanny Jean & Robbie Q! Shanny's in to feature for Urbana tomorrow and Robbie Q is in for the AWP conference that's happening all week long. I, of course, am working through most of the action, but, I'm on a panel with Cristin, Rich Villar, Tara Betts and Regie Cabico on Saturday. (see upcoming shows for details).
The Rev. Jen show was a blast and it looks like we'll all be back next month! Had a great weekend with Cristin enjoying our "down-time". We watched Brokeback Mountain as a Heath Ledger memorial. very sad stuff. I guess that's all for now!
posted by Shappy at 5:58 PM
Monday, January 14, 2008
First things first!
Happy Birthday to my MOM! 
Seen here with me and Cristin on Xmas 2007!
She got a grant she applied for and raised over a thousand dollars at the church rummage sale! She also is flying out to California to help with her friend Barb's wedding! Later this week the Seasholtz and Aptowicz families are having dinner together in Florida!
In other news, I'm in Playboy this month! There's a sneak peak of the FANBOYS script on page 18 with a picture of ME in-between Seth Rogen and Dan Fogler in my Star Trek uniform! It's pretty amazing and the Seasholtz name appears 11 times! It's created quite a stir around the BPC! I promise we'll scan the article here later...
And as promised HERE IT IS!
I'm also featured in a new poetry anthology called The Last American Valentine! Derrick Brown put it together and it features a lot of my slam pals including Cristin! We'll be having a big book release party for it on Feb. 12th at the BPC as part of Cristin and Amanda's Cute Boy Slam! You can order the book here.
And speaking of Feb gigs, I'm going to be on panel for "Words In Your Face" with Cristin at this year's AWP on Feb 2nd! For more info on AWP, click HERE and for info on a contest where you could win a FREE copy of "Words in Your Face," click HERE!
Got to see the Asylum Street Spankers this weekend at the Barrow Street Theatre! The show is called "What? And Quit Showbiz?" and it's a hoot and a holler! I took a posse from the BPC and we all had a blast! It's in town until Jan. 20th so check it out if you get a chance!
Next week I'll be playing a roach and the tooth fairy in Reverend Jen's Really Cool Neighborhood on Wednesday night at the BPC at 8pm. Check it out!
And lastly, here's proof that today's kids can love vintage ornery muppets! 
Thanks Cristin's brother Kevin's FAVE childhood stuff animal, Oscar the Grouch, which Cristin recently rehabbed herself, and now Kevin's son Cian LOVES it too! Hooray for good taste in babies!!
So far, 2008 has been pretty freakin' great!
posted by Shappy at 5:48 PM
Monday, January 07, 2008
This looks about right!
92% John Edwards
91% Barack Obama
88% Hillary Clinton
88% Chris Dodd
81% Joe Biden
78% Mike Gravel
78% Bill Richardson
77% Dennis Kucinich
44% Rudy Giuliani
35% John McCain
28% Mike Huckabee
28% Tom Tancredo
26% Mitt Romney
17% Fred Thompson
11% Ron Paul
2008 Presidential Candidate Matching Quiz
posted by Shappy at 2:17 PM
Monday, December 31, 2007
Shappy New Year!
So, here we are, the last day of 2007! For me, it was a year of ups and downs. Things were shaky at the BPC at the beginning at the year and there was a lot of shift changes and staff changes. But now, one year later, things are looking really good for the club and for me at the club. There is a new opportunity coming up this spring that I'm pretty excited about, so 2008 is looking pretty good work-wise.
My book project for 07 sort of fell apart. I am putting out a chapbook this year and I'm still working on typing up everything and finishing a manuscript this year. My computer kicked the bucket this year, but I'm determined to get a new one in the next month. All I need is a new tower/hard drive. I also want to try and write a new performance ready poem every month. Also, I should blog more.
Cristin and I are hitting the road this year-I'll have all that listed on UPCOMING SHOWS soon.
Christmas was awesome! Spent a week with Mom and Dad in Florida and had all kinds of fun! We went to the flea market and I found a bunch of DVD's and a new pair of shoes. Cristin hit the motherlode and scored a bunch of Sillisculpts for $5! I found a Big Boy bank and a statue of Crackle from Rice Krispies, an Evel Knievel doll and a bag of Star Trek figures. I also got the Marvel Vault which is an awesome book covering the history of Marvel Comics with lots of mementos inside! Thanks to Cal and the Seasholtz clan!
We spent New Year's cat-sitting and got to walk to the BPC for the midnight kiss! It was nice to be amongst friends! Now we are back in Astoria and it's freezing outside!
We have lots of movies to watch and plan on bunkering down this weekend!
posted by Shappy at 3:30 PM
menu | bio | diary | shows | buy crap | reviews
audio | video | gallery | auctions | links | contact
www.uncleshappy.com
shappy@uncleshappy.com