a man, a plan, a canal, palindrome!

some jokes and thoughts about each of these topics AND MORE

dear friends, family, fans, fellow folks,

i’m grateful that you’re here.
thank you for choosing to be here with me.
and now, for some funs, all inspired in some way by the famous palindrome, “a man, a plan, a canal, panama.”

A) a man:

a movie that features two men only speaking about the Bechdel test.

if you’re not familiar with the Bechdel test, let me (a man) quote wikipedia for you: “The Bechdel test also known as the Bechdel-Wallace test, is a measure of the representation of women in film and other fiction. The test asks whether a work features at least two women who talk to each other about something other than a man. The requirement that the two women be named is sometimes added.”

alison bechdel is a cartoonist whose work i love and it is in her work that the term originated. i just learned (thanks, wikipedia) that she credits the idea to her friend liz wallace and to virginia woolf.

right now, my idea for a movie that features two men speaking about the Bechdel test is only an idea. perhaps this newsletter is actually the first draft of that movie, because it features one man (me, i am the one man) thinking about the test. and now that i’m thinking about it further, perhaps it would be better to create an all-female reboot of my movie. so, if there are any women out there that want to run with the idea, it’s now up for grabs!

my only question now is, if two women are in a scene speaking about the Bechdel test (which, as we have seen, “asks whether a work features at least two women who talk to each other about something other than a man”), does that scene pass the Bechdel test itself? does speaking about the Bechdel test itself pass the Bechdel test?

B) a plan:

"what's your ultimate plan?"
"death"
"i mean before that"
"life"
"any more specifics?"
"getting out of this conversation real quick?"

some people love having a plan.
and sometimes, I’M one of those some people.
in fact, my very name (myq kaplan) ends with “a plan.”
though i don’t know if that was part of the plan.

C) a canal:

a man, a tea, a canal, a manatee.

i thought this was a very cute manatee in a tea, so that’s why i’ve shared it here.
i hope you like looking at cute animal things sometimes!
if you do, i’ve got an internet to sell you!

D) palindrome:

a disc jockey who
loves palindromes
AND being virtuous
named “DJ WWJD.”

just in case you’re not familiar with the concept of a palindrome, let me (a man, am a) quote wikipedia for you again: “A palindrome is a word, number, phrase, or other sequence of symbols that reads the same backwards as forwards, such as madam or racecar, the date and time 12/21/33 12:21, and the sentence: ‘A man, a plan, a canal – Panama’“

i think one of the reasons that palindromes are so satisfying is that if you KNOW something is a palindrome, then you know how it’s going to end as soon as you’ve started. there’s a PLAN. (in fact, you can’t spell palindrome without “plan.”) and knowing how something is going to end is actually quite a rare thing in life.

though, even if we don’t know HOW a given life will end, we do know (or have a pretty good idea) THAT it will end. so, life itself is a sort of palindrome: nothing, something, nothing. or… everything, this specific life, everything again. like the life of a wave: whole ocean, SPECIFIC WAVE, back to whole ocean. so, if you’re the sort of person who likes having a plan, rest easy! the plan is underway! under-WAVE, even. (and if you’re the sort of person who DOESN’T like having a plan, good news, there’s still quite a bit of mystery along the way. great news for everyone!)

and that’s most of my plan for today! now, what about YOU?

1) how are you doing ? how are you feeling? what’s new and good with you?
2) does speaking about the Bechdel test pass the Bechdel test?
3) do you love having a plan? or do you feel otherwise?
4) how do you feel about palindromes or cute animals? have any favorites?
5) how are you doing NOW?

and that’s ALL for today! now, for some information about FUTURE todays!
in the form of dates where i will be doing standup in the near future:

NOW: the Edinburgh Fringe Fest!
9/9: Brainerd, MN
9/10: Duluth, MN
9/13: Chippewa Falls, WI
9/14: Eau Claire, WI
9/15: International Falls, MN
9/17: Janesville, WI

and THAT’S all for today!
thank you so much for being here.
much love to you and yours and all!

PS one final fun thing! this short clip of my standup from my Dry Bar special has more than a million views on youtube and almost a million views on instagram, which is pretty fun and exciting and makes me feel good. if you want to add to those views, feel free! and if you want to view the whole special, go to this link and use the promo code “MYQKAPLAN” when you sign up for a monthly subscription and you’ll get a month for free!