Allison Janney Stars in Science-Fiction Production August 9 in San Jose

From the San Jose Mercury News:
"Imagine a movie that actually depends on cell-phone interruptions and loud, incessant chatter.

For many, that will sound like a reel nightmare, the cineplex equivalent of the Tower of Babel.

At ZeroOne, San Jose's inaugural high-tech arts festival, such a confluence of media represents the future. You, however, can experience it Wednesday night at the Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. Public Library -- or rather, on the library.

``Specflic 2.0'' -- a speculative discourse on the future of libraries -- utilizes MLK's walls and courtyard, multiple projection systems, live sound mixing, radio and Internet feeds, and a cast of five, including Allison Janney, who plays a book searcher in an InfoSphere, where ``book objects'' are accessed telepathically.

Janney, who co-stars with fiance Richard Jenik, said she still has trouble wrapping her mind around the mind-blowing concept.

``Do you understand it? Because I don't,'' said the former ``West Wing'' regular, only half joking.

The idea is to create viewing spaces -- or ``story zones'' -- that envelop the viewer, explained director Adriene Jenik, Richard Jenik's sister and an associate professor of computer/media arts at the University of California-San Diego. Director Jenik's largest images -- almost 40 feet wide by 30 high -- will rival some IMAX screens. Her ``near-future fiction'' unfolds in the year 2030 and brings to mind Aldous Huxley's ``Brave New World.''

``I call it `distributed' or `distracted cinema' because it utilizes cell phones, laptops, radio -- and other popular distractions,'' the director continued. ``It's an alternative to the traditional way of watching movies, where a group of people who are quiet face the same direction and watch something that's linear, time-based . . . has a beginning, middle and end.''

As passersby or those seated in the library courtyard view the unfolding drama, they will be encouraged to ``watch'' in new ways, using devices and various media that have traditionally been anathema to film-going. This interactive cinema, Jenik explained, will ``come at the participant from many directions at once'' and create ``a spectacular story world'' where we can reflect on how our culture is changing and what we are losing and gaining.

Janney, who spent much of a recent San Jose shoot telling her director, ``I have no idea what you just said,'' now senses she's part of something weird and exciting.

``In `Specflic,' I go around talking to this InfoSpherian person, who tells me to look for a book,'' said the actor. ``As I understand it, we're trying to create an environment in which the audience is surrounded by the art. It's terribly visionary, this wild interactive thing. You really have to see it to understand it.''

Janney -- who apprenticed in experimental off-Broadway theater and appeared in Jenik's earlier ``Specflic 1.0'' -- is obviously a whole lot more in tune with cutting-edge cinema than she lets on. She essentially volunteered her time on the new production -- for airfare and the price of a room at the Sainte Claire Hotel.

``It doesn't matter that I get paid nothing as long as I stay stimulated,'' she said. ``After the cancellation of `West Wing,' it was like being dropped off at a bus stop: I had no idea where I was going. So, instead of waiting for the next perfect thing, I decided to try something strange and challenging.''

What ``Specflic 2.0'' has to say about the end of the library as we know it is more prophetic than cynical, director and star agree. In the age of Google and Web surfing, libraries are not being used as they once were. Indeed, director Jenik and her crew couldn't remember the last time they'd visited a library.

``Libraries as we knew them growing up are not going to exist in the future,'' predicted the director. ``The librarians I've interviewed know this; they know that there are new ways to access information.''

Janney's return to a library left her feeling both exhilarated and nostalgic. ``Just being around the books, feeling them and looking at them, made me sad that I hadn't been in a library for so long,'' she said. ``I'm not sure how I feel about doing research now on the computer. In some ways I wish we could go back.''

Lily Tomlin on Tour in California June 2

From the San Jose Mercury News:
"She's still reeling from the cancellation of ``West Wing,'' done in by ratings and star John Spencer's death. She was so impressed by the quality of the drama, she says, she approached the creators about writing her into the show. She eventually took over the role of the president's no-nonsense secretary.

``When the show came on, I was crestfallen that I wasn't in it,'' she says. ``It was one of the few shows on the air that had anything to say. And it didn't hurt that it expressed a political view that I preferred to see expressed. So I immediately tried for a guest spot. I said I could be a lobbyist or something. I never expected to finally end up with a recurring role.''"
***
Lily Tomlin:

Unique Lives & Experiences Series

When: 7:30 p.m., Friday

Where: San Jose Center for the Performing Arts

Tickets: $38-$73

Contact: Events Unlimited at (877) 882-8124 or www.uniquelives.com"

From the Santa Cruz Sentinel:
"Sentinel: About "The West Wing." What was the experience of shooting the last season like for you?

Tomlin: We were all weepy. I had to leave the stage. When I did my last shot, I was turning the office over to the new presidential secretary, and that was the last shot and it was too close to the truth. And I was going to start some ugly crying unless I left. So I had to leave, so I could come back with some kind of dignity. I was really choked up and moved. Unless you were very attentive, you wouldn't have noticed, because they never want us to overplay anything. I had to turn away when I said my last line to her, "Be empathetic, and you'll be fine." And it was really like we were leaving the White House.

Sentinel: To what degree were you clued in on who would win the election in the show?

Tomlin: None, really. For ages, I just assumed it was Jimmy Smits who played Democratic candidate Matthew Santos, and I think most everybody did. But I read an article not too long ago that they had sorta planned Alan Alda, who played Republican Arnold Vinick to win. But we're not told much."

Martin Sheen Supports California Pre-School Initiative in Commercial

From a press release:
"A new television commercial for Prop 82, the Preschool for All initiative, features the voice of Emmy-award winning actor Martin Sheen and begins airing statewide today. Sheen, who has played fictional President Josiah "Jed" Bartlet on NBC's The West Wing since 1999, is backing Prop 82 because it will provide quality preschool to all California children.

The new ad, which will run until Election Day, highlights the broad coalition of education leaders supporting Prop 82, including Senators Boxer and Feinstein, the California Teachers Association, the California Federation of Teachers, the California Kindergarten Association, and groups representing tens of thousands of early educators.

"We Can" was produced by Armour Griffin Media Group. The ad is available online at: http://www.yeson82.com."

A transcript of the ad:
"Yes on Proposition 82
"We Can"
TV :30
(Martin Sheen voice-over)

Our kids can't vote for better schools. But we can.

Every leading education group in California is saying Vote Yes on 82.

So our kids can read better and learn faster.

That's why Senators Dianne Feinstein and Barbara Boxer ...

450,000 California Teachers ... the Kindergarten Association ... principals ... and parents ... all say Vote Yes on 82.

So all our kids can do better in school."

There are also reports of California residents receiving phone calls with a taped message from Martin Sheen urging them to support the initiative.