jmcdaid
@jmcdaid.bsky.social
science fiction writer, folk/filk singer-songwriter, theatre critic, adjunct professor of media ecology. SFWA, ATCA. he/him johnmcdaid.bandcamp.com Opinions mine.
“Seat of Your Pants” composer and playwright Ethan Lipton, discusses adapting Thornton Wilder’s “Skin of Our Teeth” with D.R. Lewis at the American Theater Critics/Journalists Conference. At the Public, opens 11/13. Get tickets now before the reviews hit; this is the best show we’ve seen this season
November 9, 2025 at 3:42 AM
“Seat of Your Pants” composer and playwright Ethan Lipton, discusses adapting Thornton Wilder’s “Skin of Our Teeth” with D.R. Lewis at the American Theater Critics/Journalists Conference. At the Public, opens 11/13. Get tickets now before the reviews hit; this is the best show we’ve seen this season
We have spun the Alamo. Downtown at the Public for the ATCA conference today and seeing “Seat of our Pants” (the musical of “Skin of our Teeth) and “The Baker’s Wife”
November 8, 2025 at 2:15 PM
We have spun the Alamo. Downtown at the Public for the ATCA conference today and seeing “Seat of our Pants” (the musical of “Skin of our Teeth) and “The Baker’s Wife”
I am about to see the future.
November 7, 2025 at 11:37 PM
I am about to see the future.
Joel Kirk of “Discovering Broadway” talks about the importance of supporting artists. “Recklessly invest in the people you believe in.” With ATCA’s Lou Harry, and composer Zoe Saldana.
November 7, 2025 at 8:51 PM
Joel Kirk of “Discovering Broadway” talks about the importance of supporting artists. “Recklessly invest in the people you believe in.” With ATCA’s Lou Harry, and composer Zoe Saldana.
Panel on the new Broadway play “Liberation” at the American Theater Critics/Journalists conference, NY
November 7, 2025 at 6:17 PM
Panel on the new Broadway play “Liberation” at the American Theater Critics/Journalists conference, NY
PCMF: Tonight: The Noperthedron busts open math rock touring their monster debut album ¡No Pasaran! Saturday, Lethal Kinetic Strike unleashes death metal from above. Sunday, Surprise Bidet brings avant-surf chaos of which one must be silent. And don't miss S09.90XA's PCMF debut! Free on the beach.
November 7, 2025 at 2:17 PM
PCMF: Tonight: The Noperthedron busts open math rock touring their monster debut album ¡No Pasaran! Saturday, Lethal Kinetic Strike unleashes death metal from above. Sunday, Surprise Bidet brings avant-surf chaos of which one must be silent. And don't miss S09.90XA's PCMF debut! Free on the beach.
Proverb 75 sez turn those speakers up full blast...
cf: rockhall.com/inductees/wa...
cf: rockhall.com/inductees/wa...
November 6, 2025 at 11:07 AM
Proverb 75 sez turn those speakers up full blast...
cf: rockhall.com/inductees/wa...
cf: rockhall.com/inductees/wa...
ngl teared up a little
November 5, 2025 at 2:55 AM
ngl teared up a little
Proverb 74 reminds you to also consider density altitude.
November 4, 2025 at 12:41 PM
Proverb 74 reminds you to also consider density altitude.
Pirate Cove Music Fest: MÉTÂhÖSĘ deconstructs brand worship with autopoietic agents on Friday; Saturday’s South Carerddd blends cybergrind apocalypse and demented mumbling; Sunday’s Zero Matter rips spacetime on Negative Density Horizon. Bring a towel, a Geiger counter, and something to believe in.
October 31, 2025 at 11:07 AM
Pirate Cove Music Fest: MÉTÂhÖSĘ deconstructs brand worship with autopoietic agents on Friday; Saturday’s South Carerddd blends cybergrind apocalypse and demented mumbling; Sunday’s Zero Matter rips spacetime on Negative Density Horizon. Bring a towel, a Geiger counter, and something to believe in.
Best thing I’ve won in an Interfilk auction: one-of-a-kind Agent Carter sock puppet by Erin Bellavia (used in Via Bella’s Pegasus Concert performance Friday). It has weird hypnotic powers & suggests that you, too, should donate to Interfilk to support filker travel to cons. Do not ignore the puppet.
October 26, 2025 at 4:23 PM
Best thing I’ve won in an Interfilk auction: one-of-a-kind Agent Carter sock puppet by Erin Bellavia (used in Via Bella’s Pegasus Concert performance Friday). It has weird hypnotic powers & suggests that you, too, should donate to Interfilk to support filker travel to cons. Do not ignore the puppet.
I have been a Daily News reader since the 1960s, when my Teamster father-Local 804-would bring the paper home every night. I actually subscribed, out of a stupid notion about saving print journalism. Well. Let me just say, fuck you and your spineless Vichy editorial board.
The Daily News Endorsement: Cuomo offers NYC a path forward while Mamdani peddles hollow promises buff.ly/tHHM3Qj
The Daily News Endorsement: Cuomo offers NYC a path forward while Mamdani peddles hollow promises
Zohran Mamdani’s dithering performance in the final mayoral debate pointed up the ongoing problem with his campaign. It’s a house of cards built on sound bites and laced with antisemiti…
www.nydailynews.com
October 26, 2025 at 3:27 PM
I have been a Daily News reader since the 1960s, when my Teamster father-Local 804-would bring the paper home every night. I actually subscribed, out of a stupid notion about saving print journalism. Well. Let me just say, fuck you and your spineless Vichy editorial board.
Tearing Down The House
(With apologies to the Talking Heads)
Stand back
He’s got a giant backhoe
Too late
He’s chewing up a building
That survived the war of 1812
Tearing down the house
(With apologies to the Talking Heads)
Stand back
He’s got a giant backhoe
Too late
He’s chewing up a building
That survived the war of 1812
Tearing down the house
October 25, 2025 at 5:05 AM
Tearing Down The House
(With apologies to the Talking Heads)
Stand back
He’s got a giant backhoe
Too late
He’s chewing up a building
That survived the war of 1812
Tearing down the house
(With apologies to the Talking Heads)
Stand back
He’s got a giant backhoe
Too late
He’s chewing up a building
That survived the war of 1812
Tearing down the house
Pirate Cove Music Fest time! What a week. Vindictive Prosecution headlines Friday touring behind their multi-platinum album (the number we hear is 7 million) “Motion to Dismiss.” Saturday kicks it up a notch with Cassandra’s Mallet. Expect massive cosplay for their TikTok smash “Maleus Maleficarum.”
October 24, 2025 at 12:04 PM
Pirate Cove Music Fest time! What a week. Vindictive Prosecution headlines Friday touring behind their multi-platinum album (the number we hear is 7 million) “Motion to Dismiss.” Saturday kicks it up a notch with Cassandra’s Mallet. Expect massive cosplay for their TikTok smash “Maleus Maleficarum.”
Now comes Proverb 73 with a generalizable rule from Taskmaster.
October 23, 2025 at 11:50 AM
Now comes Proverb 73 with a generalizable rule from Taskmaster.
An image of a building in ruins just came up in my feed, and before I read the caption, I couldn't tell whether it was Kiev, Gaza, or the White House.
October 22, 2025 at 11:33 AM
An image of a building in ruins just came up in my feed, and before I read the caption, I couldn't tell whether it was Kiev, Gaza, or the White House.
Proverb 72 cannot believe we have come to this point, but here we are.
October 21, 2025 at 1:15 PM
Proverb 72 cannot believe we have come to this point, but here we are.
This is just to say
i have taken back
everything
i ever sent you
in the chat
and which
you were likely
quoting
in a story
Forgive me
you're not a journalist
so it's weird
just letting you know.
i have taken back
everything
i ever sent you
in the chat
and which
you were likely
quoting
in a story
Forgive me
you're not a journalist
so it's weird
just letting you know.
This is actually a perfect meme.
Send this to anyone, at any time, for any reason!
Send this to anyone, at any time, for any reason!
October 21, 2025 at 12:28 AM
This is just to say
i have taken back
everything
i ever sent you
in the chat
and which
you were likely
quoting
in a story
Forgive me
you're not a journalist
so it's weird
just letting you know.
i have taken back
everything
i ever sent you
in the chat
and which
you were likely
quoting
in a story
Forgive me
you're not a journalist
so it's weird
just letting you know.
Latest review up at BroadwayWorld.
Review: WITCHING HOUR SOCIAL CLUB at Burbage Theatre Co
Horror, they say, is a mood rather than a genre. With the right twist, even a romcom can evoke fear and revulsion. And the Burbage Theatre's world premiere of James Lucey's 'Witching Hour Social Club'...
www.broadwayworld.com
October 20, 2025 at 7:32 PM
Latest review up at BroadwayWorld.
The Times still assumes that it's "people in rooms" who make news and that "people in the street" don't. This is the new normal for institutions that depend on a Mad King's largesse for access to those rooms.
Millions march against the fascism the #BrokenTimes is blind to. It now refuses to count their numbers and it muffles their voices in small, BTW headlines. This is not journalism.
October 19, 2025 at 12:31 PM
The Times still assumes that it's "people in rooms" who make news and that "people in the street" don't. This is the new normal for institutions that depend on a Mad King's largesse for access to those rooms.
Karen and I went from the Portsmouth event up to Providence, and it was packed. Just about the most folx I've seen at the State House; the mall was full all the way down to Gaspee Street. We couldn't get close; here's the best shot I got of Rep. David Morales, one of the excellent speakers.
October 18, 2025 at 8:58 PM
Karen and I went from the Portsmouth event up to Providence, and it was packed. Just about the most folx I've seen at the State House; the mall was full all the way down to Gaspee Street. We couldn't get close; here's the best shot I got of Rep. David Morales, one of the excellent speakers.
Big crowd at Turnpike Ave in Portsmouth. #NoKingsPortsmouthRI
October 18, 2025 at 3:30 PM
Big crowd at Turnpike Ave in Portsmouth. #NoKingsPortsmouthRI
Big fun this weekend at the Pirate Cove Music Fest! Friday’s Kavanaugh Stop brings their trademark agitpop, and we expect dancing in the pit. You know their moves from all those videos. We want to see that Portland hop.
October 17, 2025 at 12:30 PM
Big fun this weekend at the Pirate Cove Music Fest! Friday’s Kavanaugh Stop brings their trademark agitpop, and we expect dancing in the pit. You know their moves from all those videos. We want to see that Portland hop.
Proverb 71 reminds us that infosec matters. Don't make things easy.
October 16, 2025 at 8:25 AM
Proverb 71 reminds us that infosec matters. Don't make things easy.
A POEM ABOUT LINE BREAKS
Sometimes
it's just
where a line breaks
that makes
the words
meaningful
like this week i saw
a headline:
French crisis piles
which
sound terrible
until i read the next line
pressure on Macron
and i said
whew
that's much better.
Sometimes
it's just
where a line breaks
that makes
the words
meaningful
like this week i saw
a headline:
French crisis piles
which
sound terrible
until i read the next line
pressure on Macron
and i said
whew
that's much better.
October 15, 2025 at 8:17 AM
A POEM ABOUT LINE BREAKS
Sometimes
it's just
where a line breaks
that makes
the words
meaningful
like this week i saw
a headline:
French crisis piles
which
sound terrible
until i read the next line
pressure on Macron
and i said
whew
that's much better.
Sometimes
it's just
where a line breaks
that makes
the words
meaningful
like this week i saw
a headline:
French crisis piles
which
sound terrible
until i read the next line
pressure on Macron
and i said
whew
that's much better.