April 18, 2003

Today is the day to know that Jesus probably didn't think this Friday was so Good.

Apropos of nothing, I saw something in a recent InStyle special issue that I must share. I can't even come up with a clever introduction for it. Please enjoy: Eminem's high school photo.

Women and politics. It's a winning combination over at Happy Woman Magazine.

If you know my usual haunts, you know that I frequently review books for Popmatters.com. I often choose the books I review pretty blindly, just based on a short description or even the title. As you can guess, a lot of them turn out to be huge stinkers. One of the first books that I reviewed, though, that really got me excited and that I was happy to read, let alone review, was Dogwalker, written by today's interviewee. An inventive, creative writer and the creator of the acclaimed film "How's Your News?", as well as a charismatic performer and O. Henry Award winner, I'm proud to present Arthur Bradford.

The Arthur Bradford Interview: Slightly Less Than Twenty Questions

How did "How's Your News?" come to be made?
Since 1993 I've worked at a summer camp for people with disabilities. I teach a video class there. When I first started we were looking for ways to get everyone involved, people with all sorts of disabilities. We decided to make our own version of a news show. The most popular aspect of these videos was when we took the campers downtown to interview people on the street. These interviews were funny and awkward, but interesting and revealing too. This became the basis for "How's Your News?" We selected the five most enthusiastic campers - men and women with Downs Syndrome, Cerebral Palsy and other disabilities - and we formed a news team and drove coast to coast across America interviewing whomever we met along the way.

Did you have any difficulty obtaining financing for the project?
We got our original funding from the guys who created the TV show "South Park". They had seen some of our early tapes from the camp and offered to fund any future ventures. First we made a short "pilot" where we drove from Maine to NYC. We took that to festivals and after a screening in NY John Pierson, a well known indy film rep, got on board. He and the "South Park" guys split the cost. So the financing wasn't too tough, but I think that was kind of lucky. We found the right people. It wasn't an expensive movie either. More difficult was finding acceptance once the film was completed. Many people were afraid we'd made something exploitative. I understand why they might think this upon hearing the concept and knowing about the "South Park" involvement, but I firmly believe anyone who sees the film would not continue to hold these concerns. The people with disabilities involved with this project, and their families, are very proud of what they've done.

What is in store for the film now? Will it be shown in any festivals? Is it available for rental or purchase yet?
We've taken it to a bunch of festivals: Toronto, Austin, NYC, LA, Amsterdam, Montreal. We brought the cast with us to each screening so they could do the Q&A afterwards. That was fun. HBO/Cinemax bought the broadcast rights and showed it throughout 2002 and into 2003. We're working out a distribution deal for the tapes, but unfortunately they are not yet available. You can check here for info on that.

With "How's Your News?" did you have to deal with what one of my friends refers to as 'the hectic, stab-in-the-back-even in-the-independent-film world' or did some company pick it up and help you with the marketing?
Well, I really stayed away from all that. Maybe if I was more of a businessman we'd have a distribution deal for the tapes now. This movie was never, for us, about making money or creating some kind of stepping stone into the film world. It was a project we thought would be fun and worthwhile. I guess what I've learned is that's a nice attitude to have, but it doesn't really co-exist with the realities of the film world. Filmmaking is a business. I think "How's Your News?" will always be this kind of underground thing because we didn't really look upon it like that. If we ever did seriously take into account money matters I'm afraid it might lose it's charm and become cheesy.

What's the most common question or comment you receive from people who have read Dogwalker?
Oh, I guess people think it's weird. Strange. Everyone always asks about the sex between the narrator and his dog. They want to know if I actually did that. I didn't.

With Dogwalker, did you have the stories already written and put them together under their theme, or did you decide upon the theme and then come up with the stories? Were there any stories that you intended to be in the collection that didn't make it in?
I'd written a lot of short stories and I started noticing that I was using the same narrator in a certain group of them. These stories became Dogwalker. For the most part I didn't think about them all being part of a collection together. Perhaps if I had the book would be better. I wrote a few of the stories after the book was accepted for publication, so those were conscious efforts. The paperback has two new stories, stories which weren't in the hardcover edition.

Looking up Dogwalker on Amazon, you received mostly glowing reviews with some less-than-enthusiastic ones. Do you read these customer reviews? Do the bad ones ever get to you?
I haven't looked at those in a while. I think most of them were written by my friends, those funny people. I'm not too bothered by the fact that some people don't like the book. Sometimes I don't like it either. There's a certain kind of reader, a kind of academic, serious reader, who I know will react negatively to my stories. In a way, I enjoy that these people don't like the book. I've always been a slow reader and I can't stand it when a book seems pretentious or overly complicated. I wanted Dogwalker to appeal to readers like me, people who like a simple story, with unusual characters. I like to keep in mind that Led Zeppelin's first album was panned by most critics. And that's a great album, undeniably good. Not that my book is anywhere near as good as Led
Zeppelin, but you get my point.

At readings such as the 215 Festival, you play guitar as you read excerpts. How do you plan your performance?
I've done a lot of reading in bars and coffeehouses and I think it's important to hold the audience attention in some way. At first, I started playing the guitar as a sort of joke, because I wasn't that good. But I've gotten a little better and sometimes I think the music and the rhythm can help move the story along. I don't do that for every story, but one some of the shorter one I'll come up with a few chords to play after the story has been written. I don't write with a guitar soundtrack in mind. I have written a couple of stories with somewhat violent climaxes so that I can smash the guitar up at the end. I get cheap acoustic ones from a pawn shop.

Speaking of which, is there any expertise to breaking a guitar? I imagine that you or Pete Townsend probably do it better than I could. Have there been any victims of broken pieces?
Well, Pete Townsend's way out of my league. However, I've noticed that wooden acoustic guitars smash much better than the traditional electric ones. They sort of pop if you hit them the right way and the effect is very dramatic and unexpected. Often when I break my guitar people sort of yelp or gasp. They came for a fiction reading and didn't think I would do something like that. The pieces tend to fly into the audience but so far no one's gotten hurt. I'm knocking on wood right now. I did have one really stupid incident where I knocked a hole in the wall of a nice club. I felt so dumb about that. The owner was appalled. He said, "I don't understand why you did that." I had no excuse. It was stupid. Since then I've learned it's not always appropriate to break a guitar.

Even though I went to camp for about ten years, I made for a pretty crappy camp counselor. Based on your experience at Camp Jabberwocky, what do you think makes for a good counselor, and do you think some people aren't cut out for working with people who are mentally or physically impaired?
Well, a good counselor isn't too self conscious. You can't worry about making a fool of yourself. I'm sure you were a fine counselor. A sense of humor is important. When working with people with disabilities you have to really be willing to put yourself and your needs second. On a basic level, you have make sure your camper is clothed, clean and fed before you are. It's a good experience for most people, to let go of your instinct to serve yourself first. It's good for your ego. You can't be real squeamish if you work with people with disabilities. You're going to have to wipe someone's butt and get drooled upon. But those things are good for you too, I believe.

You've spent a good deal of time in Austin, TX, home of many a good writer. How would you describe Austin to a person who's never been and who wants to know why all these people think it's so great?
Oh, I am a big fan of Austin. I'd say go see the movie "Slacker". It changed my life. I basically moved there because of that movie, not just because I liked the world it depicted, but because I wanted to go to the town where such a beautiful collaborative effort could have been made. Austin is a very laid back place. It's always changing and folks often complain about it, but at the heart it remains a mecca for creative, eccentric people. It's very green and hilly and there's a lot of water, not what you'd imagine central Texas to be like. There are many natural springs there and that is the true source of Austin's power.

As somebody who's a writer and a filmmaker, what are some of your favorite and least favorite film adaptations of books?
I like when the film departs from the book in some way. A film can never really be as good as the book, that's just the nature of it. I like "One Flew Over the Cuckoos Nest" because they totally changed the perspective. The book is told from the point of view of the Chief, who is sort of a minor character in the film. Both the film and book were brilliant. One of my least favorite adaptations was "The Basketball Diaries". It's such a great, badass book. The movie is so pale in comparison.

I have always thought sideburns were cute. Can you explain to me, from a man's perspective, the pros and cons of them?
They are pretty simple to cultivate. No fancy shaving maneuvers or anything. Although I'm a big fan of 70s rock and fashion, I think it is a mistake to let your burns get too long - the hair itself I mean, not the actual burns. When the hair gets long and curly it looks sort of goofy. But if you're into that, being the funny guy, then go ahead, grow 'em long and shaggy.

You attended Stanford University's creative writing fellowship and received a MFA in creative writing and film from the University of Texas in 1998. How essential are workshops and degrees in writing to those serious about being authors?
Not essential at all. I attended both those programs because they offered monetary fellowships which enabled me to avoid holding a serious job. I enjoyed some of the classes I took and met some great people, so in that sense it was worth it. I got to take a workshop with Denis Johnson, my hero, so that was great too. The deadlines gave me a needed kick in the ass, but often I would feel like a loser for being sheltered in academia. I'd try to get out into the real world as often as I could. Those writing programs can suck the eccentricity and soul right out of you if you are not careful.

On the "How's Your News" website, it says that the movie is most definitely not exploitation of the mentally handicapped, but do some critics still see otherwise? How do you address them?
The vast majority of people who actually see the film don't find it offensive. I've never been approached by anyone after a screening who was upset about the content. But many people, upon hearing about the concept, assume it's going for laughs at the expense of people with disabilities. I really understand their concerns, but I'd hope they'd keep an open mind and check it out. Some critics have raised questions and I would just like to point out to them that we showed this film to the cast and their families first, and made sure they were happy with it before we released it to anyone. The cast and families are very proud of it, and they should be. Knowing that, I guess I would question anyone who claims the film offends them. What exactly is wrong with it? I'm afraid these people simply believe that people with disabilities are just tragic mistakes who should be kept out of sight and viewed with pity. This is just so wrong. We shouldn't feel sorry for them at all. Humor and laughter are what helps people with disabilities and their friends get through the day. "How's Your News?" is about enjoying the life you've got. And if these people can enjoy life, and they really do, than this makes me happy. Sorry if that sounds sappy. The movie's not that sappy, I promise. We tried to avoid that.

You've said in interviews that you were unsure as to whether you could make it as a writer or not. What day jobs did you hold in the meantime, during that period of uncertainty? And when did you decide (if you have) that you could indeed make it as a writer?
I worked at the Texas School for the Blind and I was a gym teacher for a little while. I've held the usual string of odd jobs, cameraman, juice bar worker, clam digger, that kind of thing. But I was also getting money from the aforementioned University programs while I was working on the book, so that helped. I rarely worked a job full time. Now I don't have a job really. I do some journalism and film work, but nothing that keeps me to a strict schedule. When people ask me what I do I now say "writer" even though I think it's sort of a pretentious thing to claim. But that's how I make money so I guess it's okay. I think I'll need to get another job soon though. I'm running out of money.

What have you read of late that you've enjoyed?
JT Leroy is a fine new writer. I recommend both of his books, Sarah and The Heart is Deceitful above all Things. I recently read My Antonia by Willa Cather and I thought it was one of the best books I've ever read. Jesus' Son by Denis Johnson is a classic. Right now I'm reading this new book of stories by Lewis Robinson called Officer Friendly which I'm enjoying.

What next can we expect from you?
Eventually I finish another book, a novel. It'll be good when I finish it. It's about a group of small rabbits who sail around the world. I think we might put the "How's Your News?" team in gear for the upcoming elections. That should be fun. There's a CD of their music coming out next month. We got together and wrote all these songs. I played bass guitar. The songs are very joyful. Check out our site for info on that.

How does it feel to be the 53rd person interviewed for Zulkey.com?
Wonderful. I enjoyed your questions a lot. I hope I didn't come across as a dumbass.