#and two weeks of Dance For The Stage at arts camp later that same year

[eastberlin]

At rehearsal last night we majorly reworked a couple dance numbers and now I need to find some poses with rhythmic movement to do during one bit and I'm up on the balcony which has a railing so I have made the executive decision to steal from Hey Big Spender.

[jknerd]

DISNEY AU: George “Goofy” G. Goof

Full Name: George G. Goof

Other Names: Goofy (stage name, commonly known around the world), Mr. Goof, Goofball (by Mortimer and Pete), Georgie (by his wife and Sylvia)

Schools: Mouseton Elementary School (graduated), Acme Middle School (graduated), S. Symphony High School (dropped out), Walt Disney University of Performing Arts (3/4 years completed)

Occuaption(s): Comedian, Actor, Performer, Socialtainer, Performing Arts and Entertainment Instructor of Oswald College of Arts/Music/Sports (temporary)

Residence: Spoonerville, Ohio

Family: Glory B. Goof (wife; deceased), George G. Goof Jr (son), Maxine Goof (daughter), Gloria Goof (granddaughter), Debbie (niece; in-law), Walter P. Goof (grandfather; deceased), Benjamin Goof (father; deceased), Sylvia M. Goof (girlfriend->wife)

Relationships: Michael “Mickey” Mouse (best friend), Donald Fauntleroy Duck (best friend), Mina “Minnie” Mouse (friend), Daisy Amelia Duck (friend), Horace Horsecollar (friend), Peter Pete (neighbor), Peg Pete (old friend), Glory C Goof (first love->wife), Clarabelle Heifer (friend), Sylvia M. Goof (second love->wife)

Likes: Driving, sports, movies, his performances making people happy, spending time with his family, games, camping, parties, dancing, singing

Dislikes: His own clumsiness, heights, loneliness, Pete’s inconsiderate behaviors, rudeness, Donald and Mickey bickering, Bradley’s father’s lack of affection towards his own son

Abilities/Talents: His creativity of comedies, great singing and dancing skills, hidden intelligence, cooking, baking

George G.(Gustaf) Goof is is globally famous entertainer and celebrity alongside Mickey Mouse and Donald Fauntleroy Duck. He is also a widower of Glory B, and father of two children; George Jr. and Maxine Goof. Through his debut with Mickey and Donald, he was most popular entertainer as he occasionally stars in films, series, variety shows and sitcom, mostly well-known for his slapstick moments. However, despite being “goofy”, he has managed to hide his family from the public until Maxine’s college years. 

Despite his current demeanor, his teen years were troubled; seen riding his motorbike in rebellious phase and had strained relationship with his family. However, his stunt tricks were recognized by Disney Studio workers and they recruited him as new member alongside Mickey and Donald. Although attended college of performing arts, he only completed 3 years as through these days he met Glory B who later become a mother of his child. Leaving college, Goofy focused on his job in entertainment to provide a lot for his new family. However, he felt fear of his family exposed to the public and dangers. He had George Jr as firstborn, and years went by he had Maxine as next child. Maxine’s mother Glory passed away a day after her birthday from the car accident on the way home with a gift for her daughter, causing Maxine to stop asking for anything in every birthday. As Goofy was being busy throughout Maxine’s childhood, he was thankful of his son for being with her but at the same time felt he is failing as father. Especially, when Maxine said she didn’t want the world to know she and him are related. Due to his absence in every parent-teacher days, Principal Mazur suspected that Maxine might go through parental neglect and privately called Goofy with advice to get involved with her life more as real father. Realizing how he have missed the time spending with his children—especially Maxine—, Goofy decided to set out the 2 weeks family road trip, but struggled to understand what teenagers enjoy. With Mickey, Donald and his son’s help, Goofy planned out every location she would like with no people bothering her. However, he didn’t know she had a date with Rox and inadvertently had her canceled their date. Later, his son fixed this straining relationship by reserving a ticket to Maxine’s favorite singer’s concert where Goofy can use this opportunity to get on stage with his daughter to meet him. At the concert stage, he shook hands with Powerline as it was revealed the singer has been Goofy’s big fan. The trip has made Maxine understand the true purpose of why Goofy worked as entertainer.

Years later, Goofy and Pete were holding party for their kids as they were leaving for college. While being happy for his daughter’s future campus life, he couldn’t help feeling depressed of him being only person in a house as George Jr already graduated and went to university to study laws out of state and Maxine would be in Oswald College. Days later, the head of Disney Studio was launching next show with Goofy as a temporary instructor of the campus for the subject “Entertainment Business” and “Performing Arts”, located in Oswald College. He happily accepted as he thought he could get to see his daughter more. This naturally caused the entire campus to know Maxine is a daughter of globally famous celebrity. While Maxine wasn’t bothered with this anymore, she felt discomfort that Goofy was always trying to be part of her daily routine. So, she tried several attempts to get him off of her campus life, eventually ended up Goofy having a girlfriend; Sylvia Marpole the campus’ librarian.  Soon, he encountered Bradley Uppercrust III the rival of Maxine for X-game competition. While worried of his daughter, he was supported by Sylvia who has given him an advice to let Maxine handle things on her own as she is growing up. Meeting Bradley’s father, Goofy’s concern grew when he learned of the Uppercrust controlling or meddling with his son’s life. When Maxine discovered of Bradley’s father’s plan, she asked her father to join her in X-Game competition, which Goofy accepted. Later, at the X-Game triathlon, Bradley’s father’s scheme nearly cost lives of his son, his son’s teammate Tank, and Goofy’s daughter. With George Gr and Goofy’s help, they were saved and Maxine won the competition.  As Bradley conceded defeat and collapsed from the use of drug by his father, Maxine and Rox took him to infirmary as Goofy angrily called out on his father for not only getting Maxine and Tank into huge accident but also nearly killed his own son for his ambition. However, he respected his daughter’s choice in keeping this discovery for themselves as it could damage Bradley’s campus life, even his graduation. After the show’s finale, Goofy leave the college but starts new romance with Sylvia. Occasionally, he would call his daughter to make sure she’s doing well in rest of her college years.

Though in every vacation his daughter have, she would help Goofy in House of Mouse duties as he works at the kitchen and would be seen supporting her when Maxine has to go up onstage to perform. In one of recent variety shows called “Exit Man”, he is elated to have Maxine starring frequent guest stars. Although he makes sure she won’t get stressed over her life involving in world of entertainment, Goofy continuously helps her. Recently, Goofy and Sylvia got married.

[peace-coast-island]

Diary of a Junebug

Rock and roll the night away!

What better way to escape than getting lost in music? Headphones on, thoughts off - nothing like some good bops to help get you through the day.

KK Slider's been looking into expanding his musical repertoire so he's been playing around with different genres in hopes of creating a brand new sound. And that's how rock and roll night came to be!

Joining us on this musical adventure are Sonja, with her siblings Robbie and Tiffy, and cousin Bubba. It's been ages since Daisy Jane and I have last hung out with Sonja so it's nice that she and her fam dropped by for a visit. I've hung out with Robbie and Bubba a handful of times while this is the first time I've met Tiffy.

Sonja's been meaning to stop by the camp for a while but life has gotten busy. She also wanted her dad and stepmom to come along too but then something came up so they were unable to make it at the last minute. Same thing for her grandma, though to be honest, camping isn't really her thing so it's probably for the best that she didn't come.

Old Thelma Lou may come across as a cantankerous old lady but she really is a nice person once you get to know her. Underneath that rough exterior is a protective, dedicated, and tough mother figure who wants what's best for you, even if she kinda has a hard time showing how much she cares about you. We video chatted with her before the concert and she's still the same old Thelma Lou, keeping an eye on her children, grandchildren, and their friends in her own unconventional ways.

We also chatted with Buzz and Skeeter, both who are doing well. The reason why they weren't able to join us at the camp is because Skeeter's pregnant again. She and Buzz were going to have a boy last fall but there were complications and the baby was stillborn. So far things are moving along smoothly, but to be safe, Skeeter's on strict bed rest. In about four months, Sonja, Robbie, and Tiffy will have a little sister!

Sonja has been busy working on her graphic novel, which she plans to release in the fall. She's a freelance graphic designer and illustrator, known for posting relatable and funny comics online. I love her art - it's got a sketchy and loose style that's sorta minimal yet super expressive. When I got into digital art, I took some inspiration from Sonja's work by using pencil brushes for line art and the gouache brush for coloring.

After working in the studio for hours on the book over the past several weeks, Sonja felt she could use a change of scenery - which was the main reason why she wanted to come to the camp. She also wants to get back into using traditional mediums like painting so she brought along some canvases and paints. The great outdoors is perfect for finding inspiration when you're in a rut!

Robbie runs a fix-it shop in Elmstown with two of his friends. His specialties are clocks and anything that has a lock thanks to his grandma and dad - Thelma Lou likes collecting clocks and Buzz's a locksmith. He's the reason why the family saves so much on repairs - Robbie and his friends can pretty much fix anything! Elmstown is pretty far but I'm keeping his business card in case I need something fixed like my computer since that'll be more cost effective than sending it to the store where I'll probably get overcharged.

It's a good thing we have Robbie here to help KK Slider with the equipment. He had some old amps and guitars that he'd been meaning to get fixed but since they were custom made, it's hard to find parts that need replacement. Thankfully, Robbie never leaves home without his toolbox and with his magic, we were able to improve the stage setup.

Bubba's still living with Thelma Lou, though he's in the process of moving out to his own place. He's not leaving Rayetown though, just moving to the other side of town so he can be closer to the post office. Along with delivering packages for the citizens of Rayetown, Bubba's also a drummer and occasional lead singer for The Cogwheels, a local band that regularly performs at the Chili Bowl.

Thelma Lou and Bubba have a sweet relationship. He's the oldest of the Harp grandchildren through Thelma Lou's daughter. His parents pretty dumped him on Thelma Lou's doorstep when they moved halfway across the country, which wasn't very nice of them. His mom and grandma have a stormy relationship so that explains why Thelma Lou's kinda overprotective of him, and in return he respects her a lot. Recently though, Bubba and his mom have been keeping in touch sporadically - thanks to Uncle Buzz and Aunt Skeeter. As for his dad though, since he walked out on his mom, he hasn't heard from him in years, which he feels is probably for the best.

And there's Tiffy, the youngest (so far) of the grandchildren. She's seven and a half years old and likes to sing and dance. This is her first time being away from home for a couple days so she's pretty excited about it. Plus, she gets to spend time with her siblings, something she always looks forward to since they live far from home. By the time she was born, Sonja and Robbie had already long moved out of Rayetown. Up until Tiffy came along, Sonja and Robbie rarely visited home, a deliberate choice that they both kinda regretted but at the same time felt it was necessary.

Tiffy's looking forward to the new baby - and she's absolutely certain that things will work out this time. She was really bummed about what happened with her brother, especially since she always wanted a little sibling. Buzz and Skeeter had been trying for years to have another kid - they didn't have Tiffy until about six years into their marriage - and that was after being told many times that they missed the boat. It's a good thing they didn't give up or else Tiffy wouldn't be here today!

While helping KK Slider set up for the concert, we also went sightseeing outside the camp. Now that the weather's warming up and the sun's staying out longer, we can venture further out. The first place we went was the mountains, where Sonja was inspired to pull out her canvases and paints. She's been working on landscapes and backgrounds so it was the perfect opportunity. Since she had a lot of fun doing that, I figured we could do the same in other places outside the camp like the woods or the meadows.

As they were testing out the equipment, KK and Bubba were jamming out while Tiffy danced. She definitely inherited Buzz and Skeeter's dance skills! Tap dancing and ballet are her favorites and she definitely wants to branch out to other forms of dance. Her parents are looking into more dance classes for Tiffy, which she's excited for. One of the reasons why she's looking forward to having another sibling is so she can have a dance partner in the future. Imagine, Tiffy and her little sister, dancing together!

Later, Robbie joined in on the jam session, playing the bass. Apollo, Static, and Cherry joined in as well, and before we knew it, all of them were writing new songs that eventually became the setlist for the concert! Sonja later got into the jam session after Daisy Jane showed her around the cabin and her studio. I sense a collaboration between the two in the near future...

Around 5 we finished setting up for the concert and began preparing for a barbecue dinner. By the time all the food was set up, it was time to rock and roll! I have to say, KK and the campers really outdid themselves with the stage setup. It was a mix of performances by KK Slider and jam sessions by us. The concert was an awesome experience!

In the span of one hour, Bubba and KK wrote Road Ode. KK came up with the intricate melody that's a perfect fusion of his signature sound along with elements of classic rock. Bubba came up with the lyrics, taking inspiration from his relationships with his mother and grandma. Easily one of the highlights of the night.

Apollo sang lead on a number he co-authored with KK Slider titled Old Man Blues. It's a bluesy rock and roll tune with a catchy guitar riff that's stuck in my head as I write this. The light show visuals really add to the vibe of this song, elevating it to another level.

Static and Cherry performed Heavy Metal Ballad as a trio with KK Slider - another song that was just finished today. The song was actually three different compositions that merged into one. Cherry has been playing around with a cool heavy metal beat for a while. She had a good thing going on but had trouble turning it into something, so she put it aside in hopes of finding the right spark to kick it off. Static came up with lyrics for the chorus, originally through a little ditty he called Lightning Muses. And like Cherry, he had something but couldn't figure out what direction he wanted to take it. Then along comes KK Slider, who saw the potential in these two wildly different compositions. Somehow, with his verses and additional melodies, he created an instant hit!

In an unexpected surprise, KK Slider got Daisy Jane and I on to perform a new KK original as well as a couple songs from Lilac and the Cadillacs. The new song, Sky Blue Twilight, is a collaboration between me, Daisy Jane, and KK Slider. It was something we came up with a while back, and I had almost forgotten about it until today. I'm pretty rusty from songwriting but working on this piece was pretty fun! I really should get back into writing music...

Sonja, Robbie, and Tiffy also joined Bubba on stage for another new song, titled All That Rock 'n' Roll. Tiffy sang lead vocals with Sonja on the keys and Robbie on bass. Along with being a fantastic dancer, Tiffy's a great singer! I filmed the whole thing for Bubba so he can send it to Thelma Lou, Buzz, and Skeeter. I have to say, KK Slider and Bubba make a great songwriting team!

Another fun song is Violet Blaze, an upbeat rock and roll tune by KK Slider, Candi, Kabuki, and Spike. KK Slider really outdid himself on that guitar solo! With riffs like that, there's no other song fitting to be titled Violet Blaze. What one can't put into words, music expresses it - one just has to listen and feel.

And of course, in between the new songs were KK Slider classics, but remixed. It's amazing how changing up the genre can give well known songs a fresh makeover! That's what I love about KK Slider's music - the versatility. In terms of reinventing his sound while staying true to himself, I'd say KK Slider succeeded with flying colors!

Aside from Tiffy and the early risers, the rest of us have been rocking and rolling way past midnight. I'm still a bit buzzed from the concert, which just ended less than an hour ago, so I'm gonna unwind for a bit before going to bed.

[missguomeiyun]

I’m back from Korea

I feel like October didn’t happen at all .. but at the same time, it happened & it happened too quickly =/

I was away for 2.5 weeks in Korea, & then when I came back, it was a mini series of night shifts so I practically did nothing. .. & by the time I realized it, it was Halloween & I was working evening shifts so I didn’t go out. O_O it has been 1 crazy month. But November is here now, & things are returning back to normal: my vacation withdrawal is over, & I have some “normal” combo of shifts, & it’s time to say bye-bye to the hot weather. It’s gonna be great~

Okay, let’s be real: I’m never “over” a Korea trip lol the other day, I was really craving that budae jjigae. The struggle was real. So I made it for lunch ^^

For my 1st return post, I’ve decided to keep things simple & just share a brief summary of my 2.5 week-long trip with you!

Day 1-4: I stayed at my usual Seoul home, Namsan Hill Hotel. I was unable to book a longer stay at this place =( These 1st few days, I revisited some places in Seoul: Namdaemun (for hand-cut noodles called “kalguksu”); Sinchon/Ewha Womens Univ area/Hongik Univ area for shopping & ; Gyeongbokgung area for Tongin Market & some art museums; Insadong/Samcheongdong/Bukchon Hanok Village for some relaxing strolls around traditional Korean housing. Some new places I went to include:

- a cafe called “Kopi Han-yak-bang” (lit. trans.: “coffee Korean pharmacy”). Look it up! It’s super cool! The owner believes coffee has a healing power, just like traditional herbal medicine, so the cafe is like a vintage herbal medicine shop/pharmacy. It feels as if you’re entering a movie set rather than a cafe.

- The Skyfarm for brunch! Pretty place with amazing view of Seoul.

- Seongsu area for industrial warehouse cafes. It was a valuable & memorable experience bcos Seongsu used to be an area for large factories (making of leather products & shoes, & car-fixing shops), but it’s revitalizing & the large factory spaces are now being converted to hip coffeeshops. Many of which do collabs with local/emerging artists & fashion designers so there’s lots of artsy things to see in these coffeeshops.

- Seoul Forest. There’s like a picnic area, some basketball & tennis courts, walking trails, etc. .. I had a convenience store goods dinner in the picnic area, & watched the sunset there.

Day 5-8: I moved over to Savoy Hotel located in the heart of Myeongdong. It’s ~15min walk away from Namsan Hill Hotel. Great location but also quite loud. My options were slim when I was booking stuff, & I needed to stay close to Seoul Station bcos I arranged 4x 1-day trips! I didn’t realize it at first but then I was like, “I have 4 back-to-back day trips right now.” I was essentially out every day from like 0700h to 2100h.

Trip 1: Paju~ for Heyri Art Village & Provence. I have been to these places before & really liked it so I went back, esp Heyri Art Village. After the day trip, I met up with 2 of my coworkers for K-BBQ in the Hapjeong area.

Trip 2: Jeonju~ I only went to 1 place in Jeonju & that was the Jeonju Hanok Village. It was raining all day that day. However, it was still very enjoyable. The village was a beautiful place, & under the rain, it looked even more picturesque.

Trip 3: Incheon~ for Incheon Chinatown & Wolmido, which is an island connected to Incheon via a highway. Due to its close proximity to China, Incheon became a major port for trades back in the day, & the Chinese immigrants basically settled here, hence it’s the largest Chinatown in Korea. I met up with my friend Ji Yoon in Chinatown & we spent some time catching up.

Trip 4: Gangneung~ For the annual Gangneung Coffee Festival; its title was “Voices of Coffee” this year! It was held at the Gangneung Olympic Ice Arena. I can’t recall how many shots of coffee samples I had that day, but it was a lot. I also went to the Anmok Coffee Street, which is a line of cafes along Anmok Beach - all the cafes face the beach so the view is pretty. Even more so on the day I went bcos it was cloudy =]

Day 9: remained in Seoul today. Went to the Seoul Botanic Garden, which opened its doors in May 2019. Very pretty displays~ Huuuuuge space too. It was like Telus World x Muttart Conservatory x Devonian Botanic Garden. Lots to see, & if you go, allot more time for yourself here. & then in the evening, I camped out by Yeouido Hangang Park for the annual Seoul International Fireworks Festival, which was named “Life is Colourful” this year. So many ppl! I was expecting that before going but it was beyond my imagination. It was truly an experience- the streets were blocked off for pedestrian traffic & literally, it took like 10mins to move 5meters after the show as over! Then at the subway station nearby, there was a bottleneck, where apparently the capacity inside the underground station was reached so we needed to wait outside the exit.. . still, it was fun!

Day 10-12: 1 way train ticket to Busan. Yes, train to Busan ;) I was safe though hehe Busan was beautiful! In hindsight, I should’ve spent more time here but . .. NEXT TIME! I went to BIFF Square & Gukje Market, which was like across from my hotel, Stanford Inn Busan. Gamcheon Cultural Village was super cute; although I would hate being a resident there =/ The Busan Int’l Film Festival was happening then, & I visited the Expo & Convention Centre for the film market. Can’t go into the exhibition, but that whole area was filled with ads/posters of BIFF - it was a big deal! It was cool to witness such a big event & to experience the sheer scale of it. I then went to Shinsegae Centum City, which is the largest shopping complex in the world.  Haeundae Beach was also cool. I went on a cloudy day & it was awesome! That same evening/night, I checked out the Jagalchi Fish Market, which is the largest seafood market in Korea. It has 7 floors total, with 3 underground parking levels :O On the last day, bcos I only had the morning available to do stuff, I had Busan fish cake for breakfast & strolled in BIFF Square again.

*Note: I actually hit all the things on my itinerary EXCEPT for the Busan Museum of Art, which was closed on Mondays =( but the security guy let me in to see the lobby bcos he knew I was a tourist. Thank you!

Day 13-17: Flew from Busan Airport to Jeju Airport. I used more time than needed for the whole process- turned out foreigners have their own line at the Busan Airport, so it’s faster than locals. There’s also a domestic terminal & international terminal, so from arrival to being checked in & through security.. . it took less than 25mins. It was great! In regards to Jeju, I did the following:

- stayed in Jeju City for the arrival afternoon/evening, with my hotel being Astar Hotel. Had a street food dinner at Dongmun Market; they were having this night market/festival event so a bunch of street food stalls were open from 7pm-midnight. Smelled like heaven haha

- I did my 1st hike ever on Hallasan Mountain, specifically the Gwaneunsa Trail, & I reached the peak. It was.. . hard. I can’t say I particularly enjoyed it; however, it has proven to me that I am a land person, & I belong in museums, cafes, & street walking lol. Look up the details of the trail! Was it ambitious of me to go on this for my 1st hike ever. .. without any hiking gear? I went with what some ppl would consider gym shoes, a hoodie, leggings, & a backpack with water, juice, kimbaps, 2 bananas, 6 mandarins, & some snacks (cheese crisps & pineapple cream-flavoured crackers).

- The day after the hike, my legs were still okay. But it was my glut that was starting to get sore XD I went to Osulloc Tea Museum & Innisfree Jeju House. The aesthetics <3

- Went to Black Pig Street for black pig bbq. I was hoping a restaurant or two was taking solo-diners & thankfully, the 2nd restaurant I asked did! I ordered pork neck instead of pork belly - it was quite tender & kinda chewy, actually. Later that evening, I went to the Tamra Cultural Festival 2019. It was neat~ There was an outdoor night market, as well as a stage for cultural dance/play/music.

- Jeju Island is actually quite small, & it takes approx. an hour from 1 side of the island to the other side. Thus, for my 3rd (full) day, I went to the Jungmun (Jeju City is north of the island; Jungmun is south coast) & visited the Yellow Cafe, Chocolate Land, Ripley’s Believe It or Not Museum, & Yeomiji Botanical Garden.

- From Jungmun, I took a local bus to Lee Jong Seop Street in Seogwipo, the next city over. The street is very pleasant & chill, with artwork along the street, coffeeshops & eateries, as well as little gift shops. Totally my thing! It reminds me Bukchon Hanok Village in terms of vibe, but minus the traditional housing look. The Seogwipo Olle Market is nearby, & is a great place to buy Jeju souvenirs. The pricing, I heard/read, is cheaper than Dongmun Market in Jeju City - it is true! There are also less tourists here, which was what made it enjoyable for me, personally.

- Only the morning on my last day was free for activities bcos my flight to Seoul was early afternoon. I visited the area around Jeju City Hall, which was ~20min walk from my hotel. It was a very leisurely morning, where I sat down & enjoyed coffee at Coffee Finder & had a build-your-own-ramen bowl at a place nearby. The architecture of Coffee Finder was unique; it used to be a 2-floor house, with like a driveway/sidewalk. But the ummm first floor ceiling/second floor flooring was knocked down so there’s a “hole” in the middle of the cafe. The cafe has very homely vibes as the placement of tables/chairs are in what was (at one point) rooms of the house. It’s open but also you can get some privacy at the same time.

Day 17-18: Back to Seoul, & stayed at Namsan Hill Hotel~ Itaewon is a must! I need to go to Passion 5 every time lol. & I also revisited the Leeum Samsung Museum of Art bcos I like it. & then I had my last day as a “free” day, where I didn’t plan ANYTHING. I’m a very intense planner & when I go on trips, I literally plan to the minute haha & guess what, I ended up in Hongdae. Honestly, it’s my kinda place. Sadly, the transportation situation there isn’t convenient for the rest of my itinerary, or else I would choose a hotel that’s in the vicinity. I nearly spent 2.5 hrs at Coin Su Noraebang haha I realized that if you score high enough, time gets added to your paid time :O I can’t let that go to waste =P

There ya go, Korea 2019!

PS: I haven’t decided what/how I’m gonna go about posting my trip. .. There are wayyyy too many photos & it will take me a million yrs to write/upload. Perhaps expect unexpected Korea posts scattered between my regular posts :P I will, however, share with you the coffees I’ve had in Korea. I tried diff ones, from franchise to small local cafes, adventurous flavours & the typical black Americano. I didn’t have any poor experiences but there was 1 particular one that I will likely never order again - tbh, I should’ve expected it but I still went for it anyway *shrugs* so I guess it was all my fault haha ok, I’ll ttyl~!

[moonlightmadnessreviews]

It Chapter 2, and The Importance of Patience in Modern Horror Cinema

“For 27 years, I’ve dreamt of you. I’ve craved you. I’ve missed you!” We saw the release of the final trailer for IT Chapter 2 last week, and Pennywise’s words really struck a chord with me. This is a story about a monster who sleeps for 27 years, reappears amidst a great tragedy in the town of Derry, Maine and brutally feeds on the town’s children. They then return to the sewers to sleep, hungry as they might be, satisfied knowing that in another 27 years there will be a new batch of children to devour. Until they come in contact with The Loser’s Club, there is no sense of urgency for them, there is no rush. There is only patience. Much like the patience film making siblings Andres and Barbara Muschietti have displayed putting what is considered to be one of Stephen King’s most ambitious works onto the big screen. It’s that patience that helped IT Chapter 1 and will likely help the upcoming sequel.

Many of us grew up watching the original IT miniseries, released on TV in 1990. That miniseries was broken up into two parts in which we followed the Loser’s Club through their encounters with Pennywise The Dancing Clown (Tim Curry) as children, and their eventual return to Derry, Maine as adults. It is interesting to note that the series was split into two parts for the sake of time, not to separate the story of them as children and the one taking place 27 years later. After all, each part ran for about 2 hours with commercial time. This format stuck fairly close to Stephen King’s novel IT, released in 1986. At the time, this was King’s longest and most ambitious work and the constant bouncing between time periods was part of that. On the page, it was fairly easy to follow these time jumps and it certainly flowed nicely, keeping you engaged through out. However, when put on the screen, the story of the adult Losers Club paled in comparison to that of their childhood experiences.

IT 2017 spent much of its time in gestation, awaiting the day it would be unleashed upon audiences. In fact, the beginning stages of the production date back as far as 2009. Originally, the film was to be directed by Cary Fukunaga of True Detective fame, and would star Will Poulter (And his god damn eye brows, here we go again), of this year’s Midsommar, as the titular boogie man. The script underwent a number of rewrites as the director wished to update the story and inject some bits of his own childhood. The studio was pushing for a more conventional horror movie while Fukunaga wanted to venture out of the box of horror and dip into much of the same art horror style that was on display in season 1 of True Detective. Eventually, both Fukunaga and Poulter would leave the project.

Enter the film making duo of Andres and Barabara Muschietti. The siblings were known for their 2013 effort Mama, with Andres, or Andy, acting as director and writer and his sister Barbara sitting in the producer’s chair. After taking over for Fukunaga and rewriting his script, they set about making sure the studio was clear that this would once again be a two part project. Fukunaga had floated the idea initially, as it would allow ample time to dive into each character’s backstory and traumas, while also separating the time lines. With this laid out, the Muschietti’s were on a mission to find their Loser’s Club and Pennywise. Bill Skarsgård would take over for Poulter, and the Losers Club would be rounded out by Jaden Martell (Bill Denbrough), Finn Wolfhard (Richie Tozier), Jack Dylan Grazer (Eddie Kaspbrak), Chosen Jacobs (Mike Hanlon), Jeremy Ray Taylor (Ben Hanscom), Sofia Lillis (Beverley Marsh), and finally Wyatt Oleff (Stan Uris).

With such a large ensemble cast of child actors, the Muschiettis knew they would need to work on building a team dynamic, allowing the actors time to build actual friendships and camaraderie that would come across on screen as genuinely as possible. As shown during special features on the Blu-Ray and digital release, the Loser’s Club took part in a summer camp of sorts, getting to know one another while also getting into the mindset of 1980s children. The time spent laying the ground work helped to create a dynamic between the Losers that is certainly one of the film’s highlights, harkening back to movies like Stand By Me and The Goonies, as well as Netflix’s Stranger Things, which had premiered in the summer of 2016. We were seeing friends rallying together on screen because most of the cast was, and still are, friends off screen as well.

The efforts of all involved made for one of the biggest horror releases of 2017! Whether facing down bully Henry Bowers (Nicholas Hamilton) or Skarsgård as Pennywise (An absolute standout performance, honoring Curry’s performance while making the character very much his own, displaying great physicality and commitment to the role), the Loser’s Club managed to make us root for them every step of the way. Jaden Martell in particular elicited a heart wrenching performance in his portrayal of grief and guilt over the death of his brother Georgie (Jackson Robert Scott). The Muschiettis also showed patience and restraint with the marketing for their movie. They could have drowned us in images of Pennywise throughout the entire trailer, and though his image was posted everywhere by fans in the months leading up to the release, we got just enough to leave us wanting more. This isn’t always the case with big studio movies, which helps IT Chapter 1 in standing out.

Too often these days, we see a studio rush through their process to set up a sequel, or an extended universe, for a quick payoff. The DC Extended Univeres and Universal Studios’ Dark Universe are prime examples of putting the cart before the horse, trying to establish a shared universe the likes of the Marvel Cinematic Universe. They become too preoccupied with catching up that they forget to simply make good movies, ones that fans would care to see again and ones that would build to the exciting crossovers fans really love. Where Marvel’s MCU has been so successful is building a universe since 2008 with individual films on our main hero’s and then culminating in big cross over events, much like the way Chapter 1 spent time to get us excited for the return of these characters in Chapter 2.

All of these elements have now laid the groundwork for IT Chapter 2, hitting theaters September 6th*. By reworking the way the story is told, Chapter 1 handling the children in the 1980s and Chapter 2 showing them as adults in 2016, we were given enough time to care about the film’s large ensemble cast. We are invested in their story and we are even, at times, rooting for Pennywise. The patience and care with which this retelling has been handled is proof positive that even a big budget studio horror movie can work its pacing to leave us hungry for more. I’m just glad we didn’t have to wait 27 years to see the sequel come to light.

*The adult Loser’s Club will be portrayed by James Macavoy (Bill), Jessica Chastain (Bev), Bill Hader (Richie), James Ransone (Eddie), Isaiah Mustafa (Mike), Jay Ryan (Ben), and Andy Bean (Stan). Bill Skarsgård will reprise his role as Pennywise the Dancing Clown.

[aggresivelyfriendly]

~Who Names The Colors~

Chapter 29-Willa and the Magic Hour

Hi Lovely People! I broke my laptop yesterday(I swear I’m clumsier than Mr. Styles, yikes) so today’s chapter is late! I hope it’s worth the long wait....

I am so grateful to @dirtystyles for lots of things, the beautiful banners and this week especially the youtube playlist of a live Harry Styles by Harry Styles in HQ.

@nocontrolforlouis makes these bitches comprehensible!

And last, but never least @bleedinglove4h is today’s kween-she knows why(WHO THE FUCK IS KAREN)!

Also-thanks @gucci

"Harry!" She stage whispered. Jo needed enough volume to get him to look up, but was afraid to disturb his visitor.

He was seated on the steps of a country estate that had been converted to some sort of museum. They were both such dorks, that the thought of living out some Austen fantasy appealed to them. Must be why they worked so well. It was why they had chosen to make their way there on day three of Lake Country life.

Zoe had had different ideas. When she had zoomed through the art hall, the official gallery, like a Tasmanian devil, or at least, like a child whose mother had never taken her to a museum, Jo decided they had better try out of doors until she was a little more tuckered out; and that they should take Zoe to a museum. She was a bloody artist for fuck's sake, as was her boyfriend, and her daughter had never been into a museum, gallery, or even her studio very often. Zoe was only 3, but it still seemed a huge oversight. One to be remedied. Once they let her run wild they could try the gallery again. Hopefully she would let Harry carry her.

Outside, Harry had encouraged Zoe to play a game of tag with him, which had turned into hide and seek. From the smoothness of the transition, Jo suspected their outings to the park went similarly. She was behind a pillar when she heard an excited high-pitched squeal.

"Look at the tiny piggies mummy!" The noise might have been the animal, but Jo suspected it was her kid. Not the goats nearby. Zoe was beside herself and had no concept of her own volume. So the piggies in question had quickly scuttled off to their unhappy, grunting mother.

It was funny, or it seemed to be to the man accompanying them, who was bent over at the waist cracking up at Zoe chasing the piglets and then being chased by the mother pig. Zoe found it funny too, and had giggled then about faced and chased down the pig who squealed and ran away. It looked like an innocent version of Benny Hill, without all the misogyny. Jo's smile was unsinkable.

Zoe had set off to find the scuttling pig and babies and Harry had gone the other direction. Since her boyfriend was ostensibly an adult, Jo want after Zoe.

The duo had subsequently found the lambs and spent a good deal of time watching them. Jo then found out how to get Zoe to calm. Holding little ewes on her lap. She held still and whispered. It seemed to have a compounding effect. As Zoe sat with the lamb on her lap trying to be calm for it, she got calmer and calmer.

That seemed to be the effect this little escape to the Lake Country was having on all of them.

Harry certainly looked calm.

He was lounging in baggy trousers on some steps near a fountain. The day was sunny with that cool warmth of early summer, hinting at heat, but only flirting with discomfort. Harry looked like the daydream he was. His head was cast back and his eyes were closed, sun woshipping. This was probably why he didn't seem to notice the kid, the literal baby goat at his elbow. The sun on his face and the kid at his elbow was too bucolic to miss.

Jo had snapped a picture and then immediately tried to quietly get his attention. She imagined the picture would be cute, but that Harry would actually like to experience the magic moment for himself.

He needed it, he had been off since Jo got home on Sunday evening.

When she and Zoe got back from Bath almost a week ago, Jo'd texted Harry to let him know they were nearly home and safe.

He'd been in the kitchen when they got in. The kettle was bubbling and he had a piece of toast out for Zoe. Jo tried not to give her fruit this late in the evening due to the sugar and had recently had to slow down her cheese consumption. Otherwise, her Stilton bill would be ridiculous. Toast it was lately. Harry had adopted the new rule, because he used to have strawberries out for her. Zoe's favorite.

"Hey baby. Tea?" Harry had greeted her with the question. She expected him to hoist the kettle and grin, but instead he walked over to her and wrapped a hand around her and buried his face in her neck.

He breathed her in and held on. "Miss me?" was what she asked. Jo figured she'd get the actual reason for his affection soon. Once they were ready for bed, and wrapped around each other and the few fetters he kept on his tongue were loosed. He loved to whisper in the dark.

He just nodded into her neck and held her tighter. Her arms came up around him in response. Shoe would wait him out. That night though, he hadn't been chatty. The love he'd made to her had been slow, reverent and almost nostalgic, which troubled her. Harry'd insisted they lay on their side, and he'd held her hands the whole time. He'd spoke I love you's against her skin until she couldn't keep her eyes open.

The next day, Harry and Jo hurried about to get the car packed and ready for their trip. The night before, cuddles and a movie on the couch had seemed a wonderful idea, until the morning presented all the things left to do. The small tent, one of Zoe's very own, for the second half of the trip, after Jo had her fill of room service, was easy to pack. Getting the two-person she had stashed in the attic, was not the same. She'd fought the spiders and won though.

It was still one in the afternoon before they got on the road, and stopping for lunch and later, ice cream, meant they had an hour to get in their hotel room, get dressed and deliver Zoe to the in-house babysitters the inn had, to make their reservations. Jo was nervous, but Harry reminded her of all the reviews she'd read. Plus, it was her idea, a date, out in the world, for his graduation.

Harry loved to have her on his arm, and the black dress she'd surprised him with was cut lower than usual, and his eyes lingered and loved the extra inches all night. He'd been more interested in visually devouring her than the French food on his plate.

The lucky thing was that Zoe was asleep when they went to pick her up. And she'd stayed like that on Harry's shoulder up the stairs. The little girl had stirred when she was laid down, "Mummy!" had been called and feet kicked, but Jo only had to lay with her for ten minutes to get her back to dreamland.

His touches had lingered that night too, she was wondering if he should take a picture of her collarbone for all the studying of it he'd done.

"Are you going to paint it?" She'd asked when she couldn't stand his pace any more, was rubbing her thighs together and pulling his hair at the roots.

"I might, but I think I've just decided it's my favorite part of you.

Jo was still deciding her favorite parts of him when they settled in at the lake. It had taken hours to make camp and Zoe was invigorated by the air. She may as well have wings.

It was really late by the time the three year old fell asleep. The moon was full and brilliant overhead, so bright it kept her up. Zoe had been riled beyond belief. Harry had spent much of the day bear hunting with her and Jo found that she just had to sit back and laugh as they re-enacted the song several times over. Zoe delighted in the tunnels they found and that Harry would slither under fallen trees with her, no matter how dirty he got.

They were such a sight, and the facilities so far away, Jo was at a loss.

"You're such messes! How will we ever get you clean?" She picked through Zoe's ever growing hair. It was thick and growing in waves, her baby curls cut, but the texture still gorgeous and thickly wavy. The color has changed too, darkening. It would lighten with the summer sun though. Jo recalled Harry's baby picture from his senior year of college slideshow. He'd once been a blonde too. Jo sighed wistfully at the similarity and then laughed at herself for even considering such a thing.

If they found a surrogate, in a few years, what would their children look like? How long would they stay blonde? Or would genetics surprise them both. Her wandering mind was called back to Harry answering her question.

Harry laughed at her, "That's easy enough to fix!" And he shucked off his t-shirt and Zoe's dress and carried her down to the water. They splashed and Harry threw her over and over.

Zoe's giggles were fitful and loud and carried. They sailed on the air straight to Jo's heart.

Before she could help herself, She took of her own cover up and ran down to meet them.

Zoe swam back and forth between them until Harry declared her proficient in freestyle, backstroke, and improving on her breath stroke.

Then they had had foil packed potatoes and roast. The energy Zoe took out of the s'mores Harry made them had her bouncing for several hours. "Mummy dance with me!" She'd called as she flitted like a nymph around the fire and Jo had got up and ran to her.

They fire danced like lost boys.

Zoe had dropped 20 minutes ago. Talking a mile a minute then not at all. Jo was sure she was just as tired, and she was laying in the sleeping bags Harry had zipped together when she heard him calling her.

"Jo, c'mere, I want to show you something." He sounded like he was near the water, his voice echoed off and bounced like waves.

She realized why when she got outside- he was exactly as she expected him to be, his feet being lapped at by the gentle lake waves. Jo was just in hi cuts and a plaid, so she followed suit and came to him on the shore, she needed his body heat anyway.

"What did you want to show me?"

"The moon, my Eve." He circled behind her, hooking his chin over her shoulder and pointing to it. "Do you feel the pull?" He looked at her sideways.

Jo looked from the alabaster orb in the sky to the pearls of his teeth. "Yes, but not to the moon." Harry was her little bit of Eden.

"Good." He smiled and walked her to where her knees were just covered before sitting at her feet.

He mouthed over the cotton of her underpants until she squirmed before pulling them to the side. It was almost better through the fabric, almost.

"Harry," her neck was already rolling back from the licks he was giving her lingual crease, he'd switched between the two. And despite her words, her feet had widened to accommodate him and her swelling center's attraction.

"What if Zoe comes out?" She found the power to say. Protest was too big a word.

"Let's turn around. You can tell her you were bathing. But she'll sleep."

And he gripped her ass and bathed her with his tongue, and she was baptized by the moon and his love more than the water.

She still bit her palms to stem her cries, even if the woods and water would be the only ones to hear them. He dove deep into her and drew out her happiness. When he told her she gave him a taste of Eden too, she believed it. This was paradise. And it might be where she got to stay. She'd sacrifice to do so. The cost wasn't counted yet.

It was the most carefree he had been since they arrived. The weight he wore cast off into the lake like a net.

The next morning, she woke up to chirping birds and Harry awake and smoothing hair off her forehead. She'd nodded off the night long before she heard the scruff of his feet together. Jo was tired from camping and romancing. From a family vacation; the first she'd ever had like it.

Times were lean when she and Ethan had been alone against the world. They had mostly only gone to London or to the sea if she could scrimp together the funds. Then, she took him to Spain once. To Barcelona and Madrid and finally Mallorca the first summer she was at the university. His eyes liked to bug out of his head at the girls on Spanish beaches. He was in his first flush of manhood.

He was a real man now. Or so she told herself when she had moments of concern about her relationship with Harry. It scared her still that being with her was giving something up. For both of them.  We're you o my doing something right if in love if you were scared out of your wits sometimes?

He looked like he thought so too this morning. His tender brow was creased and he had weights on his tongue. But love filled his eyes.

"What's it, lover?" She scrapped together her courage and asked for the first time. She'd been hoping to stay in Nirvana, but avoiding a thing didn't make it go away. The morning light was soft, light and he was beautiful. It wasn't harsh or abrasive. That would have been more fitting.

Jo had been letting herself believe. The fall for him had been undeniable. She hadn't so much let that happened as been unable to stop it, like stemming a tide. Believing in their future though, against all of their obstacles, that she had let happen. As each dominos stacked against them had fallen away instead of on top of them and he had thrust more options into her hands, made more promises, shared more hope, she'd decided they may be able to do it. That people would accept them, even Ethan, if they saw them together. They were at their best when loving each other. Jo liked herself better with him.

Even as she opened herself up and ran into possibility, she'd always been waiting for a stone to fall the other way though, on top of them, or between them to divide.

Harry's face looked like he had the stone to drop. It was especially cruel today. After the week in the Lake District. She knew something was wrong when he had come to her after she got back from Ethan's, but she hadn't pushed and was excited about the trip she had planned for his graduation celebration. She wanted to have the escape with him.

But pretend time looked over.

He waited a long beat to answer and traced her face with his eyes.

"I got into a fight with my mum." He swallowed, "A few hours before you came home on Sunday."

"What about?" Jo asked, though she knew the answer.

He swallowed.

"About me?" She supplied and he nodded.

He sat up and pinched his lip. Jo took it as a good sign that he didn't turn completely away from her. "She asked me flat out. I'd gotten into it with Gemma and was talking about her boyfriend being a wanker when they left. I don't like him. He's not good enough for her. That is so clear to me. It's also why she missed my graduation." He swallowed.

"It hurt your feelings?" She put her hand on his arm.

"Yeah, she didn't want to come without him. So she missed my graduation. And I told her I was disappointed and she told me I was spoilt and didn't know what it was like to be in a relationship, so I couldn't know why she wanted him to come with her. And that she came later." He sighed. "I told her I did know what it was like. And that it would have meant a lot to me." Harry picked up her hand. "They left when I said I didn't like him, in front of him. My mum looked so frustrated at me."

"I'm sorry you fought with your sister, but you said you fought with your mum?" She was a little confused.

He bit his lip. "I was ranting a bit, about Gemma and Kip, stupid name, and how Gemma made horrible choices in men. And my mum said something, under her breath like, about me not having the right to criticize someone's love life." He breathed loud. "So I asked her what that meant, and she point blank asked me if I was sleeping with you."

Jo's breath caught. She knew Anne knew. The way she was, so guarded and watchful, it was clear-plus, mum's intuition.

"And I, well, I'm." He tried to get out.

"You're a terrible liar." Jo admitted.

"I tried, a bit, but she didn't believe me. I didn't want to lie anyway. And then she, well she started in on you. And how she couldn't believe that you'd be so predatory. And I...." he hung his head. "I told her it wasn't like that. That we weren't sleeping together, but in love and that I chased you and you tried really hard to leave the attraction be. Ran like the wind, but that we were like magnets, or the moon and tide or something and she scoffed."

Jo felt miserable for him and her. "How'd you leave it then?" She was wondering how long until he chose his relationship with his mum. Like he should. They were so foolish to think they had a chance if anybody knew about them.

Harry was nothing if not a surprise.

"I told her I didn't want to fight. And that she didn't know about us, but that I was serious about you." He looked at Jo then. "I kissed her head and told her I loved her and respected her but that you were my choice, and she could accept it, or not, but I'd appreciate the chance. And I left."

Jo rubbed his shoulders. He loved his mum. Was a mumma's boy. "Have you, have you spoken to her?"

"No, I wanted to talk to you." He turned to her. "I'm not sure you are ready, but can we please," he blew out a breath. "Can we please go talk to her when we get back?"

"How long have you been waiting to ask me about this?" She squeezed his shoulder. "All week? Love, we're supposed to share things that are heavy, the load is lighter across two backs."

"I, I know, I just thought." He looked down then up. "You had these plans, for us, for me." He bit his lips into his mouth like he was trying to button the truth in. "And you're always so scared, of just this, and it's like you thought. Not like I did. I thought my mum would trust me."

"She does Harry." Jo put her head on his collarbone. "She doesn't trust me."

"She will, when she sees us together. I know it." He was hurt, but always so certain. "On the way home, I'll text to ask if we can have a meal together." He rubbed his hands up and down her back to comfort them both. "Where would be best love? Our place, a restaurant? Neutral ground?"

Jo thought about it, "I want to say in public, so emotions won't get too strong. But, maybe we should give her home pitch?" Jo bit her lip. Harry must have been able to feel it, because he pulled back and looked at her and used a thumb to release the tortured flesh.

"She just needs to see that you're what makes my world spin round and round." Jo gulped. Yeah, he made her twirl madly.

"For how long?" Jo croaked. This was the part that made her heart sink to her belly and beat fast at the same time. When, where, what would be too much?

"What do you mean?" He smoothed her hair back.

"How long until people staring at us, and your mom being mad, or not having a relationship with her, or me wrinkling up, how long until I fall off your axis?" Jo, well, she'd recovered before, but wasn't sure she could this time. Just 17 days felt like torture.

"Jo!" He breathed and wrapped his thumbs around her ears, lifted her head to him. "I love my mother, but you are my choice. And she loves me, and we want a relationship, so she will have to learn to respect us, our future." He looked frustrated but cracked a grin, "and has anybody looked sideways at us this week?"

"No, I guess not." She cocked a glance at him. "Harry, I don't want to ruin your relationship with your mother." Jo shook her head. "I don't want to even change it!"

"Change is..." he rubbed his forehead against hers. "Like time, it's not going away. She and I will be ok. I will be ok if we are." He sighed. "And you act like this is temporary for me, but I've told you. Right, I want your tomorrows. Stop waiting for me to leave and be with me!" It was one of the most brutal tones he had ever taken with her. "Do you want me?"

"Yes, you know I do." Jo closed her eyes and sealed her promise with a breathy kiss.

"Then let's enjoy this day in the sun." They both looked at the muted light through the tent. "Or the mist, and go home."

"Ok. When will you talk to your mum?" Jo untangled herself from him and stood. Zoe was quiet in her tiny tent, but Jo wanted to see her face.

"When we get home. I'll call her." He sighed and then found a well of happiness she supposed. "I'd really like to spend a day with you ladies here, where it's beautiful and not worry about anything." He dimpled at Jo and she loved all of his parts, even the ones he didn't like so much, the ones that needed attention and validation frequently.

"I think that sounds lovely. How do you want to start, graduate?" She scrunched her nose at their inside joke.

"Well, Mrs. Robinson," they both laughed under their breath at the joke she'd started the day they got to the country. "Since there is no pool for me to lounge in, I think I'd like to just lay here with you and stay warm until the nymph comes to find us."

"Done." She lay down and opened her arms to him. His hair lay in curls on her chest and the color was similar enough to her own that could see herself as lady Godiva, hair to cover her revelations. That would be a funny picture, maybe she'd pitch it to Harry when he was stuck next time. The joke painting prompts usually led to something amazing.

"One more serious question?" It was easier with his face buried in her armpit. "How long will you be able to go without talking to your mum?" She wondered how Ethan would fair in this scenario.

"Not long, and she probably won't cut off communication, it's not her style. But she will be quietly disapproving and you'll be uncomfortable when we see her, maybe always." He nuzzled in. "So I'm hoping we win her over. You're charming." It tickled when he talked there. "See, I've got you giggling!" He looked at her and smoothed her hair back while she smiled at him. He just kissed her sweet and lay back on her chest and wrapped his arms around her. They stayed like that until the light brightened.

Jo looked out across the field to where Harry and Zoe were playing tag and finished setting up the drinks they'd gotten from the only grocery store seemingly for 20 miles. She was amazed that Zoe was in such a mood. She'd woken up grumpy, harrumphing into their tent complaining about being hungry and cold. Jo had pulled her into her arms and used her hands to create friction on her miniature biceps.

Then they had gotten up and around and made a store run. Zoe was not excited about hanging nearby her mother and kept taking off for the end of the aisle, the next aisle, the meat counter. Thankfully, the store was small, a collection of seven aisles and Zoe was loud, plus there were two of them to keep track of her. She was constantly afraid of the looks she and Hary may garner. In such a public place, but both here and at the restaurant the first two nights, when they'd stayed in town, there had been none. Harry's 'I told you so' smile could only be kissed off his face.

In any case, she and Harry were able to keep Zoe in eyeline, and get the picnic shopping. Jo had been sad it was their last day, well sad about reality intruding, mostly.

It felt like time though, when Zoe had a fit in the middle of the tiny grocery store because there was no Tesco brand juice. It wasn't Tesco, so of course there wasn't, but that was not a sufficient reason for Zoe. Jo loved her tenacity, but somethings were simply not possible right in the moment. When she was like this, there was no comforting her. In a few minutes, she would pick herself up, fold into Jo and in an hour she'd say sorry. But right now her emotions were too big for her little body and surely her vocabulary.

Her fits had gotten better as she got older once they had rounded the six month mark on three. That stopped Jo cold. Then so had she and Harry. Six months. That was both a tiny amount of time, and a life changing chunk.

She walked over to Harry then. He was a few feet away, and Zoe was not quite finished Jo could tell by the tenor of her cries. He rose his eyebrows at her.

"We've been together six months." Jo looked up at him, in a day old t-shirt because he hadn't packed adequately and his skinny jeans, hair scraped up in a bun.

"I know." Harry looked confused by her outburst, and she glanced round. People were probably staring, the five people in the general store. Maybe at Zoe, maybe at her, usually at Harry.

She didn't care.

Jo planted her mouth against him and kissed him for god and Cumbria to see.

His smiles for the rest of the day shone like a mega watt bulb, Like the ones the photography students used for over exposure. Made sense, that's what he wanted and what they would get, exposure, openness. It was a desire he alluded to or named often. The first dinner they went to her held her hand conspicuously and sat next to her. Mine.

The food was ready, and she was just about to call them to eat the picnic, but when Jo looked up, Harry was looking back at her. The hills around him were bright green, and his eyes were glowing kelly at her. The food would wait.

Jo got her legs under her and the feeling of the wind rushing passed her face, Zoe's fleece slipping through her fingers, and Harry catching her when she thought she'd gotten away was like freedom. Being let out of a gilded cage. One she had put herself in.

It would be alright. They'd make it, she told herself, while she watched him drive them home. Home he called it. She wasn't ready to move him in, but, "Will you keep your place while you're abroad?"

"Haven't 100% decided I'm going abroad." He glanced at her before checking Zoe in the backseat where she colored, and then back to the road.

"What percent are you at?" Jo missed him already, and they had six weeks to fill if he went. He had to go.

"Odds are 85 in favor."

What's the other 15?" She knew the answer.

"The other 15 will miss the creases on your face in the morning so much that I'll get kicked out for painting only them." He reached for her hand. "But I was going to move my stuff to mum's. Figure it out later, might as well save the money, or use it to see Canada, ya know."

"What if you moved it into my place? And we figured it out when you got back, if it and you should stay there." Jo lurched forward. "What are you doing?"

The car pulled onto the slim shoulder and he put the car in park and liked to pull her over the gear shift with his hands on her face.

"Are you asking me to move in with you?" He spoke against her mouth.

"Sort of. In 8 months time." She tried to shrug, but he kissed her again. Fill of emotion, but no tongue until Zoe laughed and a car honked.

"Then yes, I'll shack up with you." He was giddy.

"After Montreal!" She said

"Or Venice."

They were both so excited they were vibrating. The hours until Zoe went down felt long and Jo put lavender oil in the bath and on the soles of her feet to gentle her to sleep.

Harry was waiting at the foot of the stairs. "Harr-" he cut her off with a lip lock that felt like he'd thrown away the key and jumped her onto his hips. He was full of desire, but not the kind she was used to, the charge that made it nearly impossible to stay away from him, or not kiss him, or stop watching him work his hand over his cock.

This felt like a brimming, an effervescence, where champagne spills over the lip of a beautiful piece of glass because someone was too excited to pour carefully.

Her bedding wrapped around her and she sighed at the soft landing. His naked chest rolled her t-shirt against her stomach and his hands pulled it over her head. She'd quit her bra when they got home and he quit working her neck when he got her breasts free. He was moving fast and she expected him to keep at it. But then, he stopped. His hurry evaporated in the warm room and he inched up the temperature by slowing his pace to a snail's crawl. Not an inch of her bust or belly or pelvis went untouched. The soft trials of his fingertips, the touch that made her gasp every time, was enough to set her skin on edge and her pores to open. She was sweaty by the time she was begging.

He started to move lower, pulled her plaid pants from her hips and mouth descending into the v her legs made.

"No, need you inside, Harry!" She'd reached between their damp skins and clutched his velvety cock. Too ansty to please, she stroked once and collected the precum, before notching him into the seam of her body.

"Fuck!" They both gasped and her hand slicked the cum onto his bottom lip to lick off with him a moment later.

The rock and rock roll of him into her was giving her a fever. "I'm burning up, lover." She swore repeatedly.

"I'll cool you down, baby. Just hold on." Harry trailed a hand up her hip to grasp her shoulder underneath. The round roll of his hips had her reeling like a topspun ball.

Jo cast her head back, the first time she had broken eye contact with him since they began it seemed and called his name. "Har-Harry!" He groaned in response and when she opened her eyes again, his green didn't catch her focus, not like it did always, but the yellow light near her door.

There stood her son. And his body was backlit, like he was a ghost.

"Ethan!" Jo startled.

Harry must not have heard her where his head was buried in her neck.

'You're fucking my mum?' she expected Ethan to yell, but instead his voice was wet and thin, it amazed her she could hear it over Harry's groan of completion.

"Har-Harry," his voice hit a familiar hitch, "how could you do this to me?"

[annistonmabel]

meet anniston mabel

Anniston Mabel was born to be a star and a star she was (and is.)

She was born in Seattle, Washington to Anne and John. Her parents were young. Her dad was 24 when she was born, and her mom was only 20. 

One day, when she was two years old, she went with her mother to the grocery store to pick something up for dinner. Her father arrived to their small house from work. He had parked the car, grabbed his things from the front seat, and fainted as soon as he stepped out of the car. Anne found him when she pulled into the driveway. He was unconscious and unresponsive, but he was breathing. After a week on life support, John’s family made the decision to take him off and let him die peacefully. 

Upon the completion of an autopsy, it was found that John’s drug habit and undiagnosed heart condition had been at war with each other. If his heart wasn’t going to take him, the drugs would. If the drugs didn’t, his heart was a ticking time bomb anyway. He was only 26. 

Anniston and Anne faced the world together for the next few years, mostly alone. They moved back in with Anne’s parents, and Anniston watched her mother go through lousy man after lousy man. 

Anniston spent every day at daycare or preschool or school, and every summer enrolled in various camps. She wasn’t home much, but she loved her mother. 

She was enrolled in a summer performing arts camp when it was discovered that she had a big voice in such a small body and she loved the attention of being center stage. 

She took acting classes and dance classes and voice lessons at the theater for years. When she was ten, her grandmother took her to a casting call in New York City. She got three call backs to be in a revival of Annie. 

She booked the job. 

After a few months of being the one and only Annie, her voice was tired and Anniston was ready to go home. 

So she did. 

About a year later, her grandmother took her to a casting call for Matilda on Broadway. 

She booked it. 

She was one of four girls who played Matilda at the time, but she was special because she got to do the Friday and Saturday night shows, and everyone knew those were saved for the most special girls. 

She didn’t go home after her run, though. She stayed in New York City with her grandmother. Her mother flew in and out to see her, and her grandfather would call. But for years, it was just Anniston and her grandmother in New York. 

From Annie to Matilda to Tuck Everlasting to Fun Home. When she was sixteen, she booked Dear Evan Hansen as Zoe Murphy playing across Seymour (one of Nora’s old foster children) as Evan. She was young, and this caused quite a stir in the theatre district. However, she had graduated from high school through a fast-track homeschool program and she was dedicated to the craft. 

Her grandmother, however, became very ill during the run of the show. She had to return home to Seattle, and Anniston was legally declared emancipated. She was able to stay in New York, and there she stayed for another year in her role as Zoe. 

Anniston even did a few NYC-based procedural shows, like SVU and New Amsterdam. 

All in the same week, Anniston had auditioned and booked the official Broadway production of Heather’s as Veronica, her grandmother died of lung cancer, and her mother overdosed on the same drug her father had been using. 

Grief became too much, she could not go into rehearsals, and she booked a plane ticket back home. Grief was too much for her grandfather. He allowed her to stay to plan the double funeral, but as soon as their bodies were in the ground, she was out. 

She couldn’t return to New York. The lights had gone down on the Great White Way for Anniston, and she had no where to go. 

She had Seymour, though, and Seymour had Nora. And into Nora’s house she moved. 

Anniston just turned eighteen. She’s moody and broody, a little, but she can be the sweetest girl in the world. She does enjoy being the center of attention and loves an audience of any size--and listen, she’ll do just about anything for a bit of attention. She has spent so many of her formative years being paid to be someone else, so she doesn’t quite know who she is. She still loves performing, and wants to find a way to continue to do that in a small town like Brooksville.

[the-next-miss-american-trash]

Junior year of highschool, i remember seeing the top 50 of our school be introduced during the graduation ceremony. I saw my friends go up there, and i was suddenly hit with the grievance that i should have been up there. I would have been up there. With my friends, feeling some sort of pride. But depression killed me academically. So much so that i cried, and my mom thought it was out of fear that i wouldn't graduate.

Come my graduation, and as I'm sitting through the ceremony, through pictures, i felt absolutely empty. There was nothing special about it. It wasn't a celebration of me completing school and starting a new chapter of my future. I was hollow and empty. And eventually i swiftly made up my credits in summer school and got the stupid dingy diploma.

But i was angry with the education system and i was angry at myself. Disappointed in myself. Sad for myself. I couldn't fathom a college education, if i was still in a depressive funk, and would/could fail myself immediately because of my bad habits i formed. I lied, said I'd have a gap year then go. Then two years. Then my older sister semi-convinced, mostly enforced i go and enlisted me- because I'm a person who won't do anything until forced to do it.

I tried for two weeks. It felt good at first, and then i missed my first assignment. And then, i missed a class. And then outside stuff made me break down, and i missed more classes and more assignments. When i finally got encouraged by my sister again to try, i returned to a class to find that i was cut from it. The teacher was brutal and she meant it. This killed me. Eventually, i dropped my drama class as well. And i completely avoided anything dealing with school.

Then the problem with jobs. I couldn't dream of a career that was actually sustainable. I couldn't see a future for so long, just things i wished for. I couldn't get into tv, i wasted 1k on a stupid entrance fee, only to find out we couldn't do the follow up stages that would have me travel even farther, as a fucking kid of course i was stupid. Theater was frowned upon by my parents, you know, the kind of frowned upon where they were like "we support you, but is that really going to make you money? We really want you to follow your dreams, but our circumstances are leading us to homelessness and-" yadda yadda that's another story, but it's what my mind got stuck with. And all this experience i got in high school from devoting my passion to the arts doesn't really qualify me for anything "normal". At least, i never felt qualified.

When i was 15 i did a summer job. Just one summer. I was mentally well at the time. I did janitorial service, and did okay. Hated waking up early. Terrified me when the woman in charge of me began sending me to do stuff on my own, trying to get me to build initiative. I managed decently well. Being the baby of the group of volunteers. Then the summer was over. I don't remember anything about financial handlings, or realize that i should have kept records of me actually working. So unfortunately, i can't actually use it as reference or proof that i have experience working.

But anyways, i remember hating waking up early so much, the anxiety that i felt every. single. morning. doing my runs. That it instilled a fear of working in me. A fear of responsibility. Then come a few summers later, i try the program again. They had an option to look for jobs in theaters, only to tell me they meant to get rid of that ages ago. So i said just put me in butt fucking whatever. I get an interview for some desk secretary call answering person job- i don't know what the fuck it was- but the moment i learned that i would have to answer phones calls, and that i lied about some skills i had that invariably led me to landing the job and scheduling the Monday i was supposed to come in, i freaked out. Panicked, i pulled the same trick as always and just ghosted. Never showed for the job. Avoided any calls. And said i was no longer interested in the program. My social anxiety was peak at this time.

AND THEN, sprinkled about through the years i volunteered as a cabin leader for science camp (i think a total of four times?), and my friend started working there. They mentioned i work there too, and the idea actually appealed to me. I legitimately saw myself working there, I'm playful with children, i love nature, I'd be working with my friend so i wouldn't be alone. Did the interview, went really well, sometime after they sent a confirmation email! They just needed me to confirm when I'd like to start.

And then all my insecurities came crashing down on me.

I remembered that the only reason I wanted to be cabin leader was to go back to science camp and experience that magical feeling i had as a child when i looked up into the stars, when we'd sit around a candle in the dark, when we danced and sang and the wonderful food and games. I wanted to be the child. I remember my first group of girls were great, but then i remembered the anxiety of not knowing where to go sometimes, or the time i couldn't get a group of collective kids to calm down and i felt anger and a loss of control instead of patience. I remembered, in my final time being there and being in charge of boys- thinking i could handle it- that on the first night i couldn't get them to sleep so i slumped at my bed and dissociated until a guy showed up and they were quiet in an instance. And then later on when i was getting fed up because they wouldn't line up to go out for breakfast, i realized my screaming at the boys made one of them cry, and that i was doing this all wrong. I quickly switched it up to a softer tone, a more cooperative one, and they calmed down.

I came to understand that while I'm a playful person, and an understanding one when it comes to kids, i am by no means able to take care of them. So what would happen if i let my anger and impatience get the better of me? I don't want to scare the kids, or give them a bad experience.

And i also came to understand that i can't say no. When my friend reassured me that'd it'd be okay to decline- this one night we hung out at another friend's house- but i should at least respond to them, because i had gotten several emails by then asking for confirmation. And as i stared at that laptop screen, overwhelmed with the desire to want to be better, to take on responsibility, but overpowered by the fear of it, of not being good enough, of saying no, i broke down in tears.

My friends had never seen me break down before, so i think they were justifiably worried and scared, because i couldn't speak, i couldn't move, couldn't type, couldn't stop crying. We just left afterwards i think. And i think sometime after, i just answered as generically as i could and declined.

And since then, I've become terrified of doing the same damn thing. Because while my mental health has improved slightly, I'm still no better. In fact, I'm even worse when it comes to that stuff. I'm terrified of starting commissions because I'm terrified of what i don't know how to do. I'm terrified of getting retail or food jobs because of social anxiety. Im terrified of jobs with less social contact because I'm scared of having to only rely on myself and not seeking out help. My self esteem for even applying is below 0. I've lost my ability to even be a reliable person, the one thing i had going for me that i didn't want to be. I don't want to get a job because I'm the only person available to actually babysit my nephews, but i don't even want to do it anymore! And if i don't, my parents will have to, taking them away from looking around for places to live because we might have to leave again for the 3rd time in a row in the past five years! Because both my sister and her husband work, so they need someone. and then because we can't afford rent, we can't afford a house, my dad lost his job, I'm not working, my mom can't work, my little sister works food,my brother needs stuff for highschool, I'm fucking losing my mind being dead weight!

And STILL. Despite ALLLLL this. Despite ALL the motivational talks, the teary eyed talks, the serious talks. Nothing. Motivates me to work. To do school. To do something. Well, maybe only one, and i ruined that chance. To go see my boyfriend. The one good thing to happen to me. That i want nothing more than to get better for. And here am I am, still not doing anything.

I gave up years ago. How am I supposed to take back my life now.

[l-a-r-r-yspellslove]

The 5,000 Question Survey - Part One

1. Who are you? Hi, I’m Ronda. 2. What are the 3 most important things everyone should know about you? one - I try to be as non-judgmental as possible. two - I say fuck a lot. three - I like to make stuff and bake stuff and write stuff and draw stuff. 3. When you aren't filling out 5,000 question surveys like this one what are you doing? Reading, watching tv, writing, making stuff, working on puzzles, babysitting my niece. 4. List your classes in school from the ones you like the most to the ones you like the least (or if you are out of school, think of the classes you did like and didn't like at the time). art, french, theater, math, uhhhh history, science. From high school, like 10 years ago :/

5. What is your biggest goal for this year? uhhhh to be more financially responsible. I’ll have less money once my niece starts kindergarten in the fall and that means I need to spend less and figure out other ways to make money. 6. Where do you want to be in 5 years? Fuck, I don’t know. The future gives me anxiety. Like, major anxiety. 7. What stage of life are you in right now? The I’m completely fucked up and don’t know where this is going stage. 8. Are you more child-like or childish? Child-like. 9. What is the last thing you said out loud? “She said they were having a weiner roast.” 10. What song comes closest to how you feel about your life right now? Girl - Maren Morris or Don’t Let It Break Your Heart - Louis Tomlinson 11. Have you ever taken martial arts classes? nope. 12. Does your life tend to get better or worse or does it just stay the same? mostly the same. Pain days are worse. Energetic days are better.  13. Does time really heal all wounds? As a spoonie, I say no. 14. How do you handle a rainy day? Well, rain tends to trigger a migraine, so I spend it in bed or wishing I was in bed. 15. Which is worse...losing your luggage or having to sort out tangled holiday lights? Losing your luggage. 16. How is your relationship with your parents? I have a good relationship with my mom, I think. We get along and all. My dad, on the other hand, I don’t talk to much. I feel like as I’ve gotten older, I’ve realized more how things that happened when I was a kid affected me. And he used to yell a lot and I’d hide in my room and cry. So. Yeah. Will you miss them when they are gone? I’m sure. 17. Do you tend to be aware of what is going on around you? Sometimes 18. What is the truest thing that you know? Life isn’t fair. 19. What did you want to be when you grew up? uhhh, when I was really little I remember wanting to be a teacher. Later, I wanted to be a translator. I remember at one bible camp I thought I could learn obscure languages and translate the bible for them. When I was in college, I started to realize I wanted to be a writer I think, but I majored in Marketing because it seemed like a safer option and I was too far into a business degree before I realized I hated business. And yeah, so I minored in English Lit. And that degree hasn’t ended up doing me any good because I ended up applying for disability not too long after graduating college. 20. Have you ever been given a second chance? I can’t think of a specific instance, but I’m sure I’ve been given many. 21. Are you more of a giver or a taker? Giver. 22. Do you make your decisions with an open heart/mind? Try to. 23. What is the most physically painful thing that has ever happened to you? a Chiari headache. 24. What is the most emotionally painful thing that has ever happened to you? when my grandpa died. 25. Who have you hugged today? no one. It’s Saturday and I’ve been home alone most of the day. 26. Who has done something today to show they care about you? I can’t think of anything today. My mom did some of my laundry yesterday, so I guess I’d count that. And H is always doing sweet little stuff. 27. Do you have a lot to learn? Always 28. If you could learn how to do three things just by wishing and not by working what would they be? Coding - I mean, I know little things, but if I could be like a computer whiz, it’d be great. Mastering photoshop - Same as above, basically. and uhhhhmmmm, maybe like knowing every language or at least every major language fluently?

29. Which do you remember the longest: what other people say, what other people do or how other people make you feel? How they make me feel. 30. What are the key ingredients to having a good relationship? Communication, trust, consideration. 31. What 3 things do you want to do before you die? A - have a meaningful romantic relationship B - impact someone’s life in a significantly positive way C - travel around Europe 32. What three things would you want to die to avoid doing? A - running a marathon B - living completely alone in the world C - reading After and its series 33. Is there a cause you believe in more than any other cause? equal rights 34. What does each decade make you think of: The 19.. 20's: flapper dresses 30's: idk like the depression? 40's:the war? WWII? 50's: poodle skirts and Grease 60's: idk, ummmm, yeah, i got nothin’ 70's: totally blanking 80's: lots of colorful clothing and big hair? was that this decade? 90's: childhood, Friends, friends, elementary school 2000′s: junior high, high school, graduating high school

10′s: college, the decade that America voted orange scum into the presidency

20′s: hopefully the decade that America votes better

35. Which decade do you feel the most special connection to and why? I feel like this is such a 90s kid answer, but I guess the 90s because it was before everything started drastically changing so much. Like, technology and stuff. 36. What is your favorite oldie/classic rock song? Old Time Rock and Roll the kinda music just soothes the soul. I reminisce about the days of old. With that old time Rock and Roll. 37. What country do you live in and who is the leader of that country? USA, orange scum. If you could say any sentence to the current leader of your country what would it be? Eat dirt and die trash. 38. What's your favorite TV channel to watch in the middle of the night? TVLand it used to be before the age of netflix and streaming and such 39. What Disney villain are you the most like and why? is the Cheshire Cat a villain? Because I want to answer him, because he has no direction and is terrible at giving directions haha 40. Have you ever been a girl scout/boy scout? I was a girl scout from kindergarten through 7th grade. 41. If you were traveling to another continent would you rather fly or take a boat? Fly 42. Why is the sky blue during the day and black at night? I dunno. Something to do with the sun. 43. What does your name mean? Grand 44. Would you rather explore the deeps of the ocean or outer space? Outer space. 45. Word association What is the first word that comes to mind when you see the word: Air: water Meat: balls Different: same Pink: fluff Deserve: reward White:clouds Elvis: hair Magic: sparks Heart: filled Clash: titans Pulp: fiction 46. If you could meet any person in the world who is dead who would you want it to be? Walt Disney 47. What if you could meet anyone who is alive? Harry Styles 48. Is there a movie that you love so much you could watch it everyday? Frozen and Frozen 2 and all of the Toy Story’s 49. You are going to be stuck alone in an elevator for a week. What do you bring to do? enough food for the week I assume is included. Laptop, ipad, a few books, chargers for laptop and ipad, a sudoku book, yarn and crochet stuff 50. Have you ever saved someone's life or had your life saved? I don’t think so.

51. Make up a definition for the following silly words... Fruitgoogle: verb. To search the web without aim. Ambytime: noun. The time at which to amble around. Asscactus: noun. A prick who knows and doesn’t care that he’s a total prick. 52. What was the last thing you made with your own hands? Crochet dress for my niece. 53. What was your favorite toy as a child? I remember this big semi truck that I loved a lot. 54. How many TV’s are in your house? Four 55. What is your favorite thing to do outside? I don’t like going outside, tbh. I guess I’d say swimming, though. And I don’t really like to do that much, sooo 56. How do you feel when you see a rainbow? Happy 57. Have you ever dreamt a dream that came true? Oh yeah. 58. Have you ever been to a psychic/tarot reader? Nope. 59. What is your idea of paradise? An endless library filled with every book, tv show, movie, musical, play in existence with and super comfy chair and an endless supply of whatever food I could think of wanting. 60. Do you believe in god and if so what is he/she/it like? God is love.  61. Do you believe in Hell? Everyone carries a little piece of hell around inside of them. 62. What one thing have you done that most people haven't? uhhh crocheted an entire blanket? 63. What is the kindest thing you have ever done? I have no idea. 64. Are you a patient person? Some days. 65. What holiday should exist but doesn't? Reading day. 66. What holiday shouldn't exist but does? Columbus Day 67. What's the best joke you ever heard? fuck, i don’tknow 68. Where is the most fun place you have EVER been? Disney World, duh. 69. Is your hair natural or dyed? dyed but my roots are showing terribly because my hair grows so fucking fast. 70. Do you have any deep dark secrets or are you pretty much up front? I’m fairly upfront, but not many people know I write fanfic, especially don’t know that I write smutty fanfic haha. 71. What is under your bed right now? A lot of storage stuff and my suitcase that is also storing blankets i believe 72. If you were in the Land of Oz would you want to live there or go home? I don’t think they had WiFi, so I’m gonna say go home. 73. If you drive do you frequently speed? Just a little 74. What is the world's best song to dance to? Best Song Ever hahahahahahaha 75. What song was on the last time you danced with someone? I cannot remember the last time I danced with anyone or by myself. I don’t really dance much. Maybe high school prom lol or maybe ZTA formal 76. Do you prefer Disney or Warner Brothers? Disney 77. What is the first animal you would run to see if you went to the zoo? penguins 78. Would you consider yourself to be romantic? yes 79. If the earth stopped rotating would we all fly off? i don’t think so? 80. What is the one thing that you love to do so much that you would make sacrifices to be able to do it? write 81. If you (and everyone) had to lose one right or freedom, but you could pick which one everyone had to lose, what would you pick? the right to own/use a gun for anything other than hunting wild animals. and only the animals that you’re supposed to be allowed to hunt like deer and stuff. 82. If you had to choose would you live on the equator or at the North Pole? There isn’t even a place to live on the North Pole, is there? What kind of question is this? I will answer the South Pole because that’s where people do live (scientists but still) and there are penguins.

83. Would you rather give up listening to music or watching television? oh god. Don’t make me choose. 84. What do you think makes someone a hero? I think hero is more of a verb than a noun. And putting others’ needs ahead of your own. 85. What cartoon would you like to be a character in? Frozen. 86. Name one thing that turns your stomach: like, seed pods or whatever they’re called that have all the uneven little holes and stuff? I don’t even know what they’re called exactly but the give me the fucking heebiejeebies 87. What was the last thing you paid for? Yarn 88. Are you a coupon clipper? Sometimes 89. Get anything good in the mail recently? I finally got Louis’s CD that was included in my concert ticket purchase today. 90. Which would you rather take as a gym class...dancing, sailing, karate, or bowling? bowling 91. In Star Trek people 'beam' back and forth between different places. What this means is they stand in a little tube and their molecules are deconstructed and sent to another tube somewhere else where they are reassembled. Only problem is when the molecules are deconstructed the person is dead. When they are put back together it is only a clone that has all the dead person's memories. So... Is the person who gets beamed the same person on both ends? Technically, it’s a clone, but clone’s are the same person basically? So no? But soft of? 92. What insects are you afraid of? Bees, wasps, anything that has a stinger. 93. If you could print any phrase on a T-shirt, what would it say? Dude, this is 2020, you can totally print any phrase you want on a t-shirt. I’m currently contemplating a Golden Girls shirt, though. Either ‘Picture It Sicily 1922′ or ‘Eat dirt and die trash’ 94. What's the most eccentric thing you have ever worn? I wore a rainbow tutu to pride? Does that count? And my hair is currently blue, so I feel like probably that. 95. If you could pick one food that you could eat all you wanted but it would have no effect on how much you weigh, what food would it be? OREOS 96. What are your parents interested in? uhh, my dad watches a lot of tv and my mom likes to craft and hoard crafting supplies basically. 97. Have you ever caught an insect and kept it as a pet? I had a caterpillar that I kept and was disappointed when it turned into a moth. Have you ever caught and tamed a wild animal? No. 98. What is more helpful to you, wishes or plans? Wishes 99. When do you feel your life energy the strongest? when i’m writing 100. You are spending the night alone in the woods and may bring only 3 items with you. What do you bring?

phone (with flashlight and a full battery), sleeping bag, and water

[amaliaonly]

Introspeksi One: Iman 2015

1. MCMS

So the first Introspeksi (jeng jeng jengggg). How did Introspeksi all started? Let’s start with MCMS. So every University have its own student clubs and activities. MCMS is one of the student clubs in SIM that is catered to the Malay Muslim student body/community in SIM. Back then (2014) MCMS niche or the so called popular events was either FBC, Islamic Gift Economy (IGE), Cultural Day or Dikir Performance. We didn’t have any theatre production for one of its events since MCMS was formed. So one of my seniors who was in the 8th Executive Committee, Brother Yoda (not his real name) has proposed to the school and initiated the idea for MCMS to have its own theatre production under it. Looking at other Malay Cultural groups from other universities (NUS, NTU/NIE, SMU) they have their very own theatre production. Our strongest cultural activity back then was Dikir Barat where we performed every time the school has Open House or when we have outside events that we participated or other events that needs a Dikir performance. Through Dikir we found that there is a pool of our MCMS members that is interested in Cultural events.

 2. Why Introspeksi came about?

Thus after much proposals/discussions/suggestions/voting’s and workings among the 8th Executive Exco and members of MCMS during that term we thought that maybe having a theatre production can be used as one of its medium events that can use to attract more members to join our club. So firstly Introspeksi was formed/raised or brought up because there was an interest back then from a Dikir Performance to have another niche Cultural Event.  Also another reason why Introspeksi was formed was because we used to have a Dikir Instructor Mr X (not his real name and nope this is not Abang Mok either). So Mr X is (to me) a theatre activist/arts educator who has made works in the Malay media/arts industry. He has made involvement in the Malay theatre scene. He and Brother Yoda thus has discussions about having another event under Cultural programmes besides Dikir and he is willing to contribute in helping build its foundation. I am not really sure what other real discussions/issues among the both of them but the thought and idea of Introspeksi and how Introspeksi should be came from both their ideas. Thus due to the discussion both of them have Introspeksi was formed. I may missed out some other reasons or some things on how Introspeksi was brought up but these two reasons are the reasons that I know off. If you want to find out more DM me to find out who Mr X and Brother Yoda is so you can contact them and ask them more information about it.

3. The foundation and works leading to the building of Introspeksi. (Feb-May)

Having a theatre production with most of the students having no prior experience or knowledge to organise was one of the things that we all were but most of us are a risk taker in which the term we always use back then was “Go je”. So Brother Yoda along with his partner built their committee. The sub-committee was made up of Ex-excos from the 8th Executive Committee, other senior members from other subcomms events, our Dikir Barat members, friends of Brother Yoda and also new faces that joined MCMS. (Okay sorry side track abit) Okay so each event is usually under the term of an Exco Group. So the first Introspeksi was an event under the 9th Executive Committee in which I was part of the excos as Honorary Secretary (just to be clear even if it’s under the 9th, the idea of Intro was formed since the 8th term. It’s just that it was only able to be executed under the 9th term). So every Exco term during our first meeting we have this thing call Calendar of Events where we plot events that we plan to organise throughout our Exco term and who should oversee those events. So Introspeksi was plotted in September and overseeing that event was the Cultural Department and my VP Cultural back then who was the APD of Intro. So yes guys, we have a VP and an Exco herself that leads Intro and I am not sure why now NO EXCO can lead Intro in the future or even be part of it. Eh wait.. Chey kidding actually I know why let me elaborate if I have the chance later on. But heyy even my APD during Ziarah was exco lehh. Ok sorry let’s move on.

So Brother Yoda and our VP Cultural back then thus set out to officially kick-start Introspeksi in February 2015. Okay so one of the things we planned out and should start doing having no experience is to go out and learn from others, take part and also attend and watch a lot of plays. I was so excited that MCMS will have its own theatre production and I was all out in helping the two of them. So the first thing I remember that came knocking on my door was an audition from NUS Pentas. Somebody from NUS texted me to join NUS’s production and I was super excited and kanchiong of course. So I am not sure why but I remembered texting Brother Yoda asking permission if I can join Pentas while doing Intro at the same time. Then he replied me this one message that I will always remember. It goes something like “Rumah sendiri boleh sapu kenapa kena sapu rumah orang lain? Sapu rumah sendiri dulu kasi bersih” something like that. He told me to be patient first as there are plans for us Intro team to join a bigger production.

Ok wait..this is it GENTARASA 2015, a national production. Okay so I think why our team was involved in Gentarasa was because Mr X was one of the directors taking over Gentarasa that year so thus while some of the Intro comm joined the Gentarasa Committee as SMs, sponsorships and marketing, I took part as Cast. Thus we were part of the Gentarasa 2015 team from Feb till May. Long story short while doing Gentarasa I remember we have to do fundraising selling flowers and me juggling exco, exams on top of having back to back rehearsal during that May period was really kerja gila. And also because of Gentarasa that is where I met and reconnected back with ABANG MOK (woohooo!) So AbangMok was part of Gentarasa 2015 as Cast also. I didn’t know he was part of cast as he came pretty late I think in late April. So we were preparing for a press release for Berita (the 8pm news at Suria) at Goodman Arts Centre. I was backstage (mind you we have to dance in front of a lot of important people and I was also dancer guys) feeling nervous and want to cry cos it was close during exam period and I was super stress out. Then I saw a familiar face. This tall man came in the back stage sitting and boy I came up running to him and I say ABANG MOK!! Then I hug him and we catch up a bit and I was surprise to hear that he will be acting also then I told him that I want to cry and I was super stress then he hug me and boosted my confidence. Hais Abangmok ;’) This is fate guys I tell you cos the next few years is history ;’) Abang Mok has been my Instructor since MI days and to see him again after years and then do great things after Gentarasa really is fate that it’s meant to be.

4. Introspeksi 2015: IMAN (after May)

So after Gentarasa was over we held our first audition during puasa period in June. I auditioned along with 5 others. Then came Aishah baby along with 2 more guys. Thus in total including myself we had 8 cast members for the 1st Introspeksi. 1 guy from cast had to drop out of cast due to commitment (I was super sad lah. Nasrul if you’re reading this I hope you’re doing good Brother. It’s been a long time.) For Introspeksi we had Mr X and Mr Y, the best duo partners that came in as both our Directors and Scriptwriters. A lot of challenges came while doing Intro. The same script problem every year, low commitment, MIAs, lack of funding and sponsorships. I wasn’t sure of how the play will turn out because firstly we know there is our usual devise play that we will performed then suddenly we will have a group of dancers that will come on board that will perform with us as well. This is where in the dance group there was Nana, Dinie, Tutik and not forgetting Amalina! While doing Iman, we had Pesta Raya and also FBC to do. Was yup crazy busy. So while my time in Iman I observed how my seniors did their work. I thought to myself if this event have a good turnout and the outcome is good it needs to be continued to next year and Introspeksi shouldn’t be let off as a one-time thing. Thus that spark my interest during my rehearsals days in Iman to continue Introspeksi and being the PD next year. I didn’t really share this with people and all I did was just to continue observing the works, how things are being done and just help Iman in every way possible.

For Iman, I had a great time with my casts and most of my scenes was with Brother Qayyum, a very talented person indeed (go check out his works guys at Qayyumrocks, amayyzingg). I was his Boss in the play and he was the Main cast. There was a scene where both of us was supposed to shake hands hahaha and then he told me nicely with respect can I not hold your hands (this I respect you Brother). So apart from being his Boss I had another role that I had to play which is colleague to Aishahbaby. So in order for people to not be confuse with the roles I played, the other role I had to be an Indonesian and speak in Bahasa Indo.

One of the challenges I know we faced for Iman is that we wanted to postpone and pushed it back because there was some problems with the higher ups and there were talks about bringing AbangMok in. We have never had any combine trainings also and did our first combine rehearsals the week before bump in ;’). Thus you can see that Nana, Dinie and Amalina and I we have never talked or acknowledge each other during Iman. Tutik and I have cos we have known each other since FBC Camp. That was how segregated we all are and awkward to each other even till show day but look at us now hehe.

Some of my memorable memories from Iman besides Gentarasa was during Raya meeting that’s where we all see people coming together and of course bump in. Okaylah to be honest there was not much because of a series of things that had happened but let it be I and those involved and Him who shall know what had happened in Iman let it stay in Iman. Oh and Nizam was part of Crew too! Iman was the only Intro that had a full guys team as Crew and really like Abang2 (berg berg and tall and big haha) and I remember one of them smoke (okaylah I think this was ecigg) at the back stage and I was like ok Bro you do you! For food sponsorship during Bump in with got Kawkaw Burger yawww!! Sedap gilzzz.

All in all there were both good and bad moments during Iman. While I enjoyed my time in Iman with my cast mates, with some of the subcomss and of course my fellowship of the 9th there were some things that I disagree with the workings of Iman. There were A LOT of restrictions by some groups and ya lah some things I disagree that I just have to bury it deep down cos I was still learning back then. Oh do you know I was being kicked out of the PAT during bump in hahaha ;’) Okaylah I was just being told off to get out of the PAT by the higher ups (my fault my fault you correct I wrong chey. Okay I know I’m sometimes a nuisance too heh). Introspeksi Iman would not have happened without Brother Yoda and his team. They are the ones who make Introspeksi possible and making it happen with A LOT of uncertainties and risk to overcome. I hope Brother Yoda and the VP Cultural back then is doing great now. I will never forget the work and dedication you guys have put in to Intro 1.

Thus that was how Introspeksi 1 was formed.

Stay tuned to what happens next after Introspeksi 1……………….(jeng jeng jeng)

Dream, Believe and Make it Happen People!

Fitri Amalia.

[herecomesthesonshine-blog]

Week One: Remember That One Time Our Tire Passed Us On The Road?

Week one is DONE! (dat rhyme tho)

One thing before I get started: I literally just sat down to write this based on some notes and stuff I took on a word document over the week. None of it is edited so there’s probably huge grammar and spelling errors and trust me, I wish I had the time to go over this and edit it and make it better. I will probably look at this tomorrow and cringe.

TL;DR Training is awesome I feel like I was busier as a theatre major My shoulders hurt Our tire flew off our van and down the road So many new friends I got to pet a dog Jesus Jesus Jesus

:)

First off, this week has been invigorating and, in such a good way, exhausting. I’ve met so many people whose names I have surprisingly remembered and Jesus is so evident. He is SO everywhere.

Speaking of the man upstairs, I tried to start my week with some church but ended up listening to a sermon online and man, that sermon totally encompassed what this whole week was going to look like.

Scott Rogers, AKA one of my favorite speakers from Cornerstone, spoke on Palm Sunday awhile ago about being relational at church. I wasn’t in big service that day so I decided to go back and watch it. Basically it was about how the reason we love our home church is because of the people there. The worship could be decent, the pastors could have really good sermons, and your children’s ministry could be a big party, but all churches have places where they come up a little short for people. What makes people love church is the people who love them while they’re there. They ask them about their lives, remember the details, and will ask about them later on. They’ll offer to sit with them and invite them to a Sunday BBQ right after and let their kids play together. IT’S ABOUT PEOPLE.

So lo and behold, this week was about the people. I met so many of them and they’re all wonderful. I made the decision Sunday night to be intentional, to get out of my shell that I crawl into because I hate hate haaaaate big groups of people (small groups up to 6 are cool), and to just try to live a life of LOVE. One of my favorite books of all time is Love Does by Bob Goff and I wish I had brought it with me. I really wish I had. I need some of the inspiration that man gives.

So anyway, training is great. There’s the usual things like how do you discipline a kid, how do you report suspected child abuse, and oh by the way never be alone with a camper where others can’t see you or hear you. Normal, working with kids stuff. Then there’s the fun aspect of learning chants and cheers and dances and opening your mind enough to rip up your cool card. Kids love it when you’re not trying to be cool. And I love that Sonshine pushes for that because CAMP is for the CAMPER. Ugh. Amazing.

Quick side note: Everything is humid and I’m dying. My body is just a bubble of sweat that I reside in. I have no skin, it’s all sweat. Everything is sweat. WHY did I have to come from a dry desert?

Quick side note #2: Living with 12 - 14 girls is difficult because you have to get used to the rhythm of calling shower times and figuring out which sink you’re going to brush your teeth at when there’s only 3 between the bathroom, kitchen, and upstairs powder room.

So training day two! This day was interesting. On the way to camp, while in this shady looking van, it starts to feel a little funny as we’re going down the road and then everything shakes as the rear left tire makes a noise that we assume is just a blown out tire. CUE TAHJ who yells “Oh my god! LOOK at our TIRE!!!” Prompting all of us to look out to the right to see our tire passing us up on the road as we slow down. Reaction: Shouting and panic laughter and Shaylee saying, “TAYLOR, TAYLOR! WE HAVE TO GET THE TIRE BEFORE IT HITS SOMETHING!” Taylor, by the way, ran down the street to get that tire out of a bush/tree/I-didn’t-actually-look-at-the-plant. 

We may have missed out on coffee that morning, but I got to meet and pet a dog so it was worth it. 

We did camp stuff all day in groups with a Head Counselor that basically is supposed to introduce camp to us. Luckily enough my group was almost all returners so I had a lot of people introducing me to camp. Ya girl got a little sunburnt, but it already tanned over. I got to talk about theater during lunch and found out my new friend Connor works in technical positions at a college theater nearby! Cool dude. This was also the day where we talked about reporting a suspicion of child abuse which I honestly cried a little about because it breaks my heart. I can’t even imagine. Y’know?

I also got to teach a game to the group of people I was with that day which I ended up getting a DLP for (describe, label, praise) and that was pretty sweet. I always knew I would fit in with a camp vibe but being affirmed is nice too!

It’s interesting to hear how tired people all. Being ridiculously busy this last year of school from 5 in the morning until midnight most nights was a lot worse than the schedule they have us on here. Granted, a lot of this is more physically demanding, but I don’t feel stressed yet. YET. I said yet.

On day three I got to find out where I’m placed (besides my art specialty camp) and I am in Explorers otherwise known as X-Life otherwise known as 1st and 2nd grade. I am not a group counselor and am instead “admin” while I’m not at specialty camps. I’m a extra body for the HCs to use as needed and wherever needed. To be honest, this job totally works out with who I am a person for all of you who know that Acts of Service is a love language that I am great at dishing out (yes, I’m tootin’ my own horn [beep beep]).

Throughout the rest of the week I also auditioned for skit team (and made it - holla!) and got to do some training for my specialty camp!

So the company that Sonshine is partnered with for arts related things is called Mainstages. They’re based out of New York City and the guy helping us out is named Ryan. He’s awesome. He gave me a binder full of fun games and a lot of ideas and a BAG full of FUN. Like I literally have an elephant puppet under my bed right now. And a rubber chicken. And a bunch of other fun stuff. I’m stoked. And nervous. it’s fine, I’m fine, it’ll be fine. Jesus is the one who put me here and I know he’s preparing me for it!

I get a big room at the specialty camps location, Bethel. It has a couple TVs and a small stage and a curtain and SO much SPACE. I have so many ideas. I got to meet all the wonderful people from this Bethel Church and they gave everyone part of specialty (Bethelty) camps a gift of just little snacks to get us through camp and they’re so, so nice. In fact, pretty much everyone in Maryland is nice. Where am I?

I also got to go do pool training with the people for our specialty camp and made some friends in those people as well. I get lots of questions about what I’m going to do in life since I’m graduated and about my tattoo. I ask a lot of questions @ internationals because I suddenly feel uncultured when they’re around. Whoops. Sorry, America.

I have gotten to do a lot of camp activities and make some really good friends in my explorer group! I think they’re all going to be good, good friends of mine.

Training week ended with a small “service” at Bethel. It was very worship based and I honestly had so many emotions and maybe almost cried at the end because the guitarist started playing the instrumental for How He Loves as the service ended and all my feelings from back when Ashley died came flooding back. I really wish I brought her memorial bracelet with me, but I know it would have ended up being ruined at some point while I’m here.

But anyway. Today, Saturday, was family camp day where we got to meet some campers and their families who wanted to come tour the camp and do activities and meet the staff. It was fun! I love this age group so far! I then got to drive the not-so-sketchy van as we (me and the Rutherford girls) got to go to Walmart and Giant and McDonalds for a Saturday night of shopping. I spent too much money. It’s fine (you keep telling yourself that, Becca).

I just want to end this a small appreciation bit. I am... so incredibly blessed. The way God has used me and the way he continues to use me is something incredible to me. The other night me and a handful of the girls stayed up until midnight talking about controversial subjects and how some Christians treat people and how people should be treated and where we stand on some things and it was so cleansing for my heart. I love hearing people’s thoughts and their feelings and their lives. The opportunities I’m being given at camp in just being able to serve and being able to share my passions about art with kids along with my passions about JESUS at the SAME TIME is so wonderful. I am in awe at how this all is working out. 

Praise the Lord, guys. Praise the Lord.

[flossinginthesunshine]

Cambodia: From Pain to Pride

The year is 1975. There has been a civil war raging in the countryside of Cambodia for five years between the weak monarchy in power and the communist regime known as the Khmer Rouge. The monarchy was made up of mostly educated and wealthy Cambodians working in the government/military, while the Khmer Rogue base was predominantly farmers and rural villagers. On April 17, 1975, the Khmer Rouge overthrew the monarchy and took control of the capitol, Phnom Penh.

Over the next four years, two million people were killed under the Marxist leader Pol Pot and the Khmer Rouge. In a dramatic effort to force Cambodia back to the Middle Ages and create an agrarian utopia, one-fourth of the population was tortured, starved and murdered. Intellectuals were the target. Cities were emptied. Currency was abolished. 

We spent a day at the S-21 jail in Phnom Penh, learning about the horrors of just one of hundreds of torture camps in Cambodia during this time. 

Communication to the outside world was completely cut off. One Swedish photographer and his team were invited into the country, and Pol Pot put on a grand show for them… making it seem as though everything in Cambodia was picture perfect. The team returned to Europe and reported to the rest of the world that there was nothing to worry about in Cambodia, and that Pol Pot was a beloved leader taking care of his country.

Meanwhile, 17,000 prisoners were being tortured and killed in the heart of Phnom Penh. Only twelve people who entered S21 survived. 

The Khmer Rouge were eventually overthrown by the Vietnamese in 1979, but the horror would live on in the lives of Cambodians for generations to come and the effects of the war are easily visible today. When you spend time in Cambodia, you’ll quickly notice that you don’t see many old people; it’s rare to see someone over the age of 60 out and about. The U.N. continued to recognize the Khmer Rouge as the governing body of Cambodia until 1991, even though they were no longer living in Cambodia and were hiding in exile in the hills of Northern Thailand. Pol Pot wasn’t brought to trial until 1997, and only then was he sentenced to house arrest where he died a year later.

If any of this intrigues you, I recommend reading First They Killed My Father -- one of the only first person accounts of the genocide, told from the perspective of 5-year-old Loung Ung. She was separated from her parents and six siblings and sent to a child soldier camp, miraculously survived the war, and eventually made her way to America where she began telling her story to anyone who would listen. 

In my research on Cambodia, I came across this quote from Joseph Mussomeli, a former US Ambassador to Cambodia: 

“Be careful because Cambodia is the most dangerous country you will ever visit. You will fall in love with it and eventually it will break your heart.” 

I couldn’t describe the feeling any better. In many ways, our time in Cambodia was like other the SE Asian countries we’ve visited -- markets, temples, beaches, and bungalows -- but what made us feel more connected to this special place was the people. Despite the tragedies they’ve endured in quite recent history, they have the friendliest attitudes and most positive outlook on life. While it continues to be one of the poorest nations in the world, the people have fully embraced tourism as their fastest growing industry and exude hope and optimism with every interaction. 

And with that, I’ll leave you with these photos + captions of our four glorious yet heart wrenching weeks in Cambodia:  

Angkor Wat: The Largest Religious Monument in the World

First up was Siem Reap, a charming city home to Angkor Wat - the largest religious monument in the world. We spent two days exploring the Angkor Archaeological Park, which spans over 400 acres of Cambodian jungle. 

Originally built as a Hindu temple in the 12th century, Angkor Wat was converted into a Buddhist temple in the 14th century, and served as the capital of the Khmer Empire through the 15th century. At it’s peak, the complex was home to 1 million people (!!) making it the largest city in the world until the Industrial Revolution. Today, it’s protected as a UNESCO World Heritage Site, welcoming several million visitors per year.

Watching the sunrise with 1,000+ fellow travelers. 

Garrett and Sarafina (who we met in Laos) traveled with us throughout Cambodia, making our time in this lovely country that much sweeter. 

According to inscriptions, the construction of Angkor Wat involved 300,000 workers + 6,000 elephants, and took over 30 years to complete to it’s current state. However, it was never fully completed and no one knows exactly why... 

The faces of Angkor Wat, otherwise known as The Banyon. Two-hundred and sixteen faces make up the only Mahayana Buddhist shrine in the Angkor Wat complex. The faces are said to belong to the Bodhisattva of compassion, who has mastered the soft smile. 

The Khmer architecture was shaped to express the Hindu vision of the relationship between nature and humanity... creating a strikingly beautiful dichotomy between crumbling stone and thriving forest.

10 Days in Otres Beach 

Next on our list was Otres Beach. We arrived in the port city of Sihanoukville via a 12-hour overnight bus from Siem Reap and walked straight to the beach to find a home. We snagged a private bungalow at Sea Garden Guest House for 10 USD per night. What sold us was the large vegan menu, real coffee and the fact that they delivered your food straight to your beach chair. The employees at Sea Garden were all fellow travelers, working a few hours a day in exchange for free food and lodging.

W quickly learned that Otres Beach moves at it’s own pace and attracts and a very unique type of long-term traveller. We heard this line time and time again: “I planned to stay for 3 days, but now it’s been 3 weeks.” Soon enough, we were saying the same thing; we planned to stay 3-4 days and finally left after 10.

Our days were nearly identical to our week in Goa, India... morning runs, afternoons spent reading and tossing the Frisbee, sunset yoga and reiki and evenings playing trivia next door. The guesthouse next door had a small library that rented books for $0.25/day and boasted a huge collection of Beat authors (Kerouas, Ginsberg, Kesey). If we didn’t have a 30-day visa, I think you’d find JJ still reading at the beach six months later. 

Otres Beach is around 3 miles long, with a large stretch of sand splitting the guesthouses and spanning 1.5 miles of emptiness. Ten years ago, this stretch was full of bungalows just like ours, but they have since been torn down by the Cambodian government to make room for new Chinese development.

The properties on Otres (including our beloved Sea Garden) have already received their eviction notices, and will have to vacate their land sometime in the next three years. Maybe that’s why people stay Otres so long... because they know this hippy paradise of cheap vegan food and unobstructed sunsets is coming to an end very soon. 

One night, we decided to venture out from the safety of our beach and check out a sunrise party in the jungle called Kerfuffle. This jungle rave happens every Wednesday night, and doesn’t kick off until 2am. In an effort to get nearly a full night’s sleep, we went to bed at our normal time (9pm) and set our alarms for 2am, hopped in a tuk-tuk and got to the rave around 2:30am. We boogied until sunrise, making it back to our beach for a nap around 7am. 

The set-up was reminiscent of a music festival... with a DJ stage, Ferris wheel, tree-house behind the dance floor and lights twinkling in the trees. At one point it started pouring down rain and we all huddled underneath one of the carnival rides until the DJ started playing again. 

We’re unable to capture the highlight of Otres Beach in photographs, because it involves seeing the ocean glow. The coast of Cambodia is known for it’s bio-luminescent plankton that glow a bright green color when disturbed. All you have to do is swim out into the ocean in the middle of the night (one of my worst nightmares) and make a lot of movement. After a few minutes of splashing around in the dark, JJ said “look down.” And there it was... thousands of glowing green stars moving with our bodies underwater. It was magical and we spent hours mesmerized by how cool our planet is. 

After swimming with the plankton, it was finally time to leave Otres. Our minivan to Kampot picked us up right on time and then made one additional stop to snag another round of passengers. We pulled up to a nearby hotel and the driver got out of the car to help the guests with their bags. However, he forgot one minor detail of putting on the parking brake... and the van started rolling forward, heading straight for the hotel pool. JJ and I stared at each other in horror while the driver nonchalantly made his way back to the van, put it in park and laughed uncontrollably. He then went back to get the bags and the van started rolling forward AGAIN. This time we jumped out of the van, landing safely on the ground and refused to get back in until the driver promised not to leave his seat. 

Oh SE Asia... always keeping us on our toes. 

Kampot + Kep

We spent the next week exploring the waterfront towns of Kampot and Kep... living in tree houses, eating very mediocre crab and tasting the “world famous” and incredibly over-hyped Kampot pepper (ever heard of it? neither had we).

 . Cambodia in the clouds. 

Funky bathroom art: say hello in your language :) 

What may appear to be a peaceful sunset scene is in reality a fleet of Vietnamese fishing boats that have encroached upon Cambodian waters using illegal fishing practices (electrified nets) to steal the catch of the day. The police department and fishing authorities have very little control, which has led to a vigilante war between the two fishing communities and caused nearly irreversible ecological destruction.

Once a charming coastal town frequented by French vacationers, Kep is now trying to regain it’s status on the backpacker trail as the place to go for fresh crab. Twenty-five stalls line the beach with signs proclaiming their fish superior to all the others. While the flavors were quite underwhelming, watching these two play with their food more than made up for it. 

Rabbit Island: More Hammocks Than People

As if our time in Cambodia hadn’t been relaxing enough, we retreated to a tiny island off the coast of Kep for a few days. What we found was more hammocks than people, the best curry of our entire trip, and lots of Vitamin D.

Forever chasing cairns.

Phnom Penh: Our Favorite Big City in SE Asia

This city blew us away with it’s sense of community, vegetarian food, and booming infrastructure. At one rooftop bar, we counted 40 cranes on the horizon. The smells, sights, sounds, markets, and nonstop dodging of motorbikes reminded us of India, and we quickly took a liking to it. 

Cambodia (especially Phnom Penh) is known for it’s knock-off name brand shopping game. You can get anything from iPhones to Levis to designer bags… and we dedicated an entire day to exploring these markets. JJ hit the jackpot at this little air conditioned store where these five Cambodian women dedicated two hours to finding him the perfect pair of paints. He walked out with three new pairs, all perfectly tailored to his body, for a whopping $32.

In the heart of the market, just when you think you may pass out from heat exhaustion... you’ll find Mr. Al Bounnarith, who makes the self-proclaimed (and rightfully so) “best iced coffee in Phnom Penh.” He started this venture right after the Khmer Rouge in 1980 when coffee was a foreign concept to Cambodians, used all of his profits to care for his sick mother, and now spends his days entertaining travelers and leaving us feeling refreshed and WIRED. 

Finding good, cheap, vegetarian food in SE Asia is difficult... so we were thrilled to find a spot with $0.50 pumpkin juice, $1 fried mushrooms, and $2 veggie noodles. Naturally, we ate here four times in three days. 

If I could capture the essence of modern-day Cambodia in one place, it would be at the Olympic Stadium. Ironically, Phnom Penh has never hosted an Olympics... but nevertheless, our hotel was just a few blocks from here, and we read online it was a good place to run. Little did we know it was also home to the number one place to work out in the city. We went running there twice, once in the morning and once at night... each time marveling at the sense of community radiating from this place. There were street-side market vendors selling fruit and fried noodles at every turn, sand volleyball games, paralympics events, tennis matches, Taekwondo tournaments, zumba classes, and hundreds of people just hanging out. We were the only westerners there both times, and we loved it. 

Photo courtesy of Google. 

Towards the end of our time in Cambodia, we met a fellow traveler who shared our love for the country and had spent way more time there than our 30-day visa would allow. As we said goodbye to him, he left us with this: “The best places in Cambodia have yet to be discovered.” 

So my advice to you is... go to Cambodia! Embrace it’s history. Let your heart break. Support the local economy. Exchange smiles with every person you cross. Discover those undiscovered places. 

We can’t wait to go back one-day soon.

Cheers,

Camryn 

[blackkudos]

James Earl Jones

James Earl Jones (born January 17, 1931) is an American actor. His career has spanned more than 60 years, and he has been described as "one of America's most distinguished and versatile" actors and "one of the greatest actors in American history." Since his Broadway debut in 1957, Jones has won many awards, including a Tony Award and Golden Globe Award for his role in The Great White Hope. Jones has won three Emmy Awards, including two in the same year in 1991, and he also earned an Academy Award nomination for Best Actor in a Leading Role in the film version of The Great White Hope. He is also known for his voice roles as Darth Vader in the Star Wars film series and Mufasa in Disney's The Lion King as well as many other film, stage, and television roles.

Jones has been said to possess "one of the best-known voices in show business, a stirring basso profundo that has lent gravel and gravitas to" his projects, including live-action acting, voice acting, and commercial voice-overs.

As a child Jones had a stutter. In his episode of Biography, he said he overcame the affliction through poetry, public speaking, and acting, although it lasted for several years. A pre-med major in college, he went on to serve in the United States Army during the Korean War before pursuing a career in acting.

On November 12, 2011, he received an Honorary Academy Award. On November 9, 2015, Jones received the Voice Arts Icon Award.

Early life

Childhood

James Earl Jones was born in Arkabutla, Mississippi on January 17, 1931, son of Robert Earl Jones (1910–2006), an actor, boxer, butler, and chauffeur who left the family shortly after James Earl's birth, and his wife Ruth (Connolly) Jones, a teacher and maid. Jones and his father reconciled many years later. Jones was raised by his maternal grandparents, farmers John Henry and Maggie Connolly. His parents were both African-American, and he has said that he also has Irish and Native American ancestry.

Jones has described his grandmother, Maggie, as "the most racist person I have ever known", thus forcing him to develop his own independent thinking. His grandmother was of African-American, Cherokee and Choctaw ancestry.

At the age of five, Jones moved to his grandparents' farm in Jackson, Michigan. He found the transition to be traumatic, and developed a stutter so severe he refused to speak. When he moved to Brethren, Michigan, a teacher helped him overcome his stutter. He remained functionally mute for eight years, until he entered high school. He credits his English teacher, Donald Crouch, who discovered he had a gift for writing poetry, with helping him end his silence. Crouch urged him to challenge his disinclination to speak. "I was a stutterer. I couldn't talk. So my first year of school was my first mute year, and then those mute years continued until I got to high school."

Education

After being educated at the Browning School for boys in his high school years and graduating from Brethren High School in Brethren, Michigan, Jones attended the University of Michigan where he was initially a pre-med major. He joined the Reserve Officer Training Corps, and excelled. He felt comfortable within the structure of the military environment, and enjoyed the camaraderie of his fellow cadets in the Pershing Rifles Drill Team and Scabbard and Blade Honor Society. During the course of his studies, Jones discovered he was not cut out to be a doctor. Instead he focused on drama at the University of Michigan School of Music, Theatre & Dance with the thought of doing something he enjoyed, before, he assumed, he would have to go off to fight in the Korean War. After four years of college, Jones graduated from the university in 1955.

Military

With the war intensifying in Korea, Jones expected to be deployed as soon as he received his commission as a second lieutenant. As he waited for his orders, he worked as a part-time stage crew hand at the Ramsdell Theatre in Manistee, Michigan, where he had earlier performed. Jones was commissioned in mid 1953 and reported to Fort Benning to attend Infantry Officers Basic Course. He then attended Ranger School and received his Ranger Tab (although he stated during an interview on the BBC's The One Show, screened on November 11, 2009, that he "washed out" of Ranger training). He was initially to report to Fort Leonard Wood, but his unit was instead sent to establish a cold weather training command at the former Camp Hale near Leadville, Colorado. His battalion became a training unit in the rugged terrain of the Rocky Mountains. Jones was promoted to first lieutenant prior to his discharge. He then moved to New York, where he studied at the American Theatre Wing, working as a janitor to support himself.

Film and stage career

Early career

Jones began his acting career at the Ramsdell Theatre in Manistee, Michigan. In 1953 he was a stage carpenter. During the 1955–57 seasons he was an actor and stage manager. He performed his first portrayal of Shakespeare’s Othello in this theater in 1955. His early career also included an appearance in the ABC radio anthology series Theatre-Five.

Stage roles

Jones is an accomplished stage actor; he has won Tony awards in 1969 for The Great White Hope and in 1987 for Fences. He has acted in many Shakespearean roles: Othello, King Lear, Oberon in A Midsummer Night's Dream, Abhorson in Measure for Measure, and Claudius in Hamlet. Jones played Lennie on Broadway in the 1974 Brooks Atkinson Theatre production of the adaptation of John Steinbeck's novella, Of Mice and Men, with Kevin Conway as George and Pamela Blair as Curley's Wife. He received Kennedy Center Honors in 2002.

On April 7, 2005, James Earl Jones and Leslie Uggams headed the cast in an African-American Broadway revival version of On Golden Pond, directed by Leonard Foglia and produced by Jeffrey Finn.

In February 2008, he starred on Broadway as Big Daddy in a limited-run, all-African-American production of Tennessee Williams's Pulitzer Prize-winning drama Cat on a Hot Tin Roof, directed by Debbie Allen and mounted at the Broadhurst Theatre.

In November 2009, James reprised the role of Big Daddy in Cat On A Hot Tin Roof at the Novello Theatre in London's West End. This production also stars Sanaa Lathan as Maggie, Phylicia Rashad as Big Mamma, and Adrian Lester as Brick.

In October 2010, Jones returned to the Broadway stage in Alfred Uhry's Driving Miss Daisy along with Vanessa Redgrave at the Golden Theatre.

In November 2011, Jones starred in Driving Miss Daisy in London's West End, and on November 12 received his honorary Oscar in front of the audience at the Wyndham's Theatre, which was presented to him by Ben Kingsley.

In March 2012, Jones played the role of President Art Hockstader in Gore Vidal's The Best Man on Broadway at the Schoenfeld Theatre. Earning Jones a Tony nomination for Best Performance in a Lead Role in a Play. The play also starred Angela Lansbury, John Larroquette (as candidate William Russell), Candice Bergen, Eric McCormack (as candidate Senator Joseph Cantwell), Jefferson Mays, Michael McKean and Kerry Butler, with direction by Michael Wilson.

In 2013, Jones starred opposite Vanessa Redgrave in a production of Much Ado About Nothing directed by Mark Rylance at The Old Vic, London.

In 2014, Jones played the role of Grandpa in the comedy "You Can't Take it With You" at the Longacre Theatre, Broadway.

On September 23, 2015, Jones opened in a new revival of The Gin Game opposite Cicely Tyson, in the same venue where the play originally premiered (with Hume Cronyn and Jessica Tandy): the John Golden Theater. The play will have a limited run of 16 weeks.

Film roles

His first film role was as a young and trim Lt. Lothar Zogg, the B-52 bombardier in Dr. Strangelove or: How I Learned to Stop Worrying and Love the Bomb in 1964. In 1967 Jones portrayed a surgeon and Haitian rebel leader in The Comedians.

His first starring film role came with his portrayal of boxer Jack Jefferson in 1970's The Great White Hope. For his role, Jones was nominated Best Actor by the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences, making him the second African-American male performer (following Sidney Poitier) to receive a nomination.

In 1974, Jones co-starred with Diahann Carroll in the film Claudine, the story of a woman who raises her six children alone after two failed and one "almost" marriage.

Jones also played the villain Thulsa Doom in Conan the Barbarian, "Few Clothes" Johnson in John Sayles' Matewan, the author Terence Mann in Field of Dreams, the feared neighbor Mr. Mertle in The Sandlot, King Jaffe Joffer in Coming to America, Reverend Stephen Kumalo in Cry, the Beloved Country, Raymond Lee Murdock in A Family Thing, and Vice Admiral James Greer in The Hunt for Red October, Patriot Games and Clear and Present Danger, among many other roles.

Voice roles

Jones is also known as the voice of Darth Vader in the 1977 film Star Wars and its sequels The Empire Strikes Back (1980) and Return of the Jedi (1983). Darth Vader was portrayed in costume by David Prowse in the film trilogy, with Jones dubbing Vader's dialogue in postproduction because Prowse's strong West Country accent was deemed unsuitable for the role by George Lucas. At his own request, Jones was uncredited for the original releases of the first two Star Wars films, though he later would be credited for the first film in its 1997 "Special Edition" re-release. As he explained in a 2008 interview:

When Linda Blair did the girl in The Exorcist, they hired Mercedes McCambridge to do the voice of the devil coming out of her. And there was controversy as to whether Mercedes should get credit. I was one who thought no, she was just special effects. So when it came to Darth Vader, I said, no, I'm just special effects. But it became so identified that by the third one, I thought, OK I'll let them put my name on it.

Although uncredited, Jones' voice is possibly heard as Vader at the conclusion of Star Wars: Episode III – Revenge of the Sith (2005). When specifically asked whether he had supplied the voice, possibly from a previous recording, Jones told Newsday: "You'd have to ask Lucas about that. I don't know." More recently, Jones reprised his voice role of Vader for the character's appearances in the animated TV series Star Wars Rebels, and the live-action film Rogue One: A Star Wars Story (2016).

His other voice roles include Mufasa in the 1994 Disney film The Lion King and its direct-to-video sequel, The Lion King II: Simba's Pride. Archive recordings from the film would later be used for the English version of the 2006 video game Kingdom Hearts II, since Jones himself did not reprise the role. He more recently voiced Mufasa in the 2015 TV pilot movie The Lion Guard: Return of the Roar.

In 1990, Jones performed voice work for The Simpsons first "Treehouse of Horror" Halloween special, in which he was the narrator for the Simpsons' version of Edgar Allan Poe's poem "The Raven". In 1992, Jones was often seen as the host on the video monitor at SeaWorld Orlando, in Florida, US. He also voiced the Emperor of the Night in Pinocchio and the Emperor of the Night and Ommadon in Flight of Dragons.

In 1996, he recited the classic baseball poem "Casey at the Bat" with the Cincinnati Pops Orchestra, and in 2007 before a Philadelphia Phillies home game on June 1, 2007.

He also has done the CNN tagline, "This is CNN", as well as "This is CNN International", and the opening for CNN's morning show New Day.

Jones was also a longtime spokesman for Bell Atlantic and later Verizon. He also lent his voice to the opening for NBC's coverage of the 2000 and 2004 Summer Olympics; "the Big PI in the Sky" (God) in the computer game Under a Killing Moon; a Claymation film about The Creation; and several other guest spots on The Simpsons. Jones also lent his voice for a narrative part in the Adam Sandler comedy Click, released in June 2006.

Jones narrated all 27 books of the New Testament in the audiobook James Earl Jones Reads the Bible.

Television roles

Jones has the distinction of being the only actor to win two Emmys in the same year, in 1991 as Best Actor for his role in Gabriel's Fire and as Best Supporting Actor for his work in Heat Wave.

Jones portrayed the older version of author Alex Haley, in the television mini-series Roots: The Next Generations; the GDI's commanding general James Solomon in the live-action sequences of the video game Command & Conquer: Tiberian Sun; and widowed police officer Neb Langston in the television program Under One Roof, for which he received an Emmy nomination. He also appeared in television and radio advertising for Verizon Business DSL and Verizon Online DSL from Verizon Communications.

Jones appeared in the 1963–64 television season in an episode of ABC's drama series about college life, Channing, starring Jason Evers and Henry Jones. He appeared on the soap opera Guiding Light. He portrayed Thad Green on "Mathnet," a parody of Dragnet that appeared in the PBS program Square One Television.

In 1969, Jones participated in making test films for the children's education series Sesame Street; these shorts, combined with animated segments, were shown to groups of children to gauge the effectiveness of the then-groundbreaking Sesame Street format. As cited by production notes included in the DVD release Sesame Street: Old School 1969–1974, the short that had the greatest impact with test audiences was one showing bald-headed Jones counting slowly to ten. This and other segments featuring Jones were eventually aired as part of the Sesame Street series itself when it debuted later in 1969 and Jones is often cited as the first celebrity guest on that series, although a segment with Carol Burnett was the first to actually be broadcast.

He has played lead characters on television in three series. First, he appeared on the short-lived CBS police drama Paris, which aired during autumn 1979. That show was notable as the first program on which Steven Bochco served as executive producer. The second show aired on ABC between 1990 and 1992, the first season being titled Gabriel's Fire and the second (after a format revision) Pros and Cons.

In both formats of that show, Jones played a former policeman wrongly convicted of murder who, upon his release from prison, became a private eye. In 1995, Jones starred in Under One Roof as Neb Langston, a widowed African-American police officer sharing his home in Seattle with his daughter, his married son with his children, and Neb's newly adopted son. The show was a mid-season replacement and lasted only six weeks.

From 1989 to 1993, Jones served as the host of the children's TV series Long Ago and Far Away.

In 1996, James guest starred in the CBS drama Touched by an Angel as the Angels of Angels in the episode "Clipped Wings". In 1998, Jones starred in the widely acclaimed syndicated program An American Moment (created by James R. Kirk and Ninth Wave Productions). Jones took over the role left by Charles Kuralt, upon Kuralt's death. He also made a cameo appearance in a penultimate episode of Lois & Clark: The New Adventures of Superman and has guest-starred on such sitcoms as NBC's Frasier and Will & Grace, CBS's Two and a Half Men, and the WB drama Everwood. His voice is also used to create an audio version of the King James New Testament.

In 2009, Jones guest starred in the Fox medical drama House, M.D., in season 6, episode 4, entitled "The Tyrant", as a brutal African dictator named Dibala who has fallen ill. The dictator had made threats of ethnic cleansing against an ethnic minority, the Sitibi, and the team deals with ethical issues of treating a potential mass murderer.

In 2013-14 he appeared alongside Malcolm McDowell in a series of commercials for Sprint in which the two recited mundane phone and text-message conversations in a dramatic way.

Jones appeared as himself on the season 7 episode of The Big Bang Theory entitled "The Convention Conundrum".

Personal life

Jones married American actress/singer Julienne Marie in 1968, whom he met while performing as Othello in 1964. They had no children, and divorced in 1972. In 1982 he married actress Cecilia Hart, with whom he had one child, son Flynn Earl Jones. Hart died on October 16, 2016, after a one-year battle with ovarian cancer.

In April 2016, Jones spoke publicly for the first time in nearly 20 years about his long-term health challenge with type 2 diabetes. He has been dealing with diabetes since the mid 1990s; he uses Invokana to help manage it.

Awards and nominations

Other awards

1985 Induction into the American Theater Hall of Fame

1987 First recipient of the National Association for Hearing and Speech Action's Annie Glenn Award

1991 Common Wealth Award for Outstanding Achievement in the Dramatic Arts

1992 National Medal of Arts

1996 Golden Palm Star on the Palm Springs, California, Walk of Stars

2011 Eugene O'Neill Theater Center Monte Cristo Award Recipient

2012 Marian Anderson Award Recipient

Wikipedia

[biofunmy]

Boys Will Be Swans: ‘What Is That Show, and How Do I Do It?’

In “Swan Lake,” an evil magician transforms a beautiful princess into a graceful swan, an image now intimately linked to the idea of classical ballet itself. When Matthew Bourne’s version first appeared, at the Sadler’s Wells stage in London in 1995, it turned this story on its head. Instead of the white swan as an image of purity and femininity, Mr. Bourne created a corps de ballet of bare-chested, fiercely alluring male swans, and an unhappy, repressed prince who falls in love with their leader.

At the time, Mr. Bourne’s overtly theatrical approach in “Swan Lake” was unusual in contemporary dance. It combined high drama and ribald comedy, and evoked social and sexual politics in a contemporary royal family. It was also an immediate hit with audiences, despite the homoerotic relationship — noteworthy in the ’90s — between the prince and the Swan (and his alter ego, the Stranger).

“Swan Lake” moved to the West End in London a year after its premiere, had a four-month run on Broadway in 1998 (winning Mr. Bourne two Tony Awards, for directing and choreography), and has been performed all over the world for more than two decades. It returns to New York City Center Thursday through Feb. 9.

Did this “Swan Lake” help to change perceptions about young men dancing? While girls are generally encouraged to take dance lessons, boys who want to do the same — especially when it’s ballet — have long faced hostile questions about their sexuality, bullying from peers and opposition from parents. (Even recently, Lara Spencer, a host on “Good Morning America,” laughed at the idea that Prince George of England was planning to study ballet; a significant outcry ensued, and she apologized.)

Mr. Bourne said that when he choreographed “Swan Lake,” he hadn’t set out to alter ideas about men in dance; but he was conscious of wanting to create something for a group of men that “had beauty to it, that played a part of expressing a different kind of masculinity.”

Speaking from Washington, where he was rehearsing, he said he had been surprised by the strong reactions to the piece. “Before ‘Swan Lake,’ there were often gay elements in my work, or homoerotic relationships, and I never thought about it as a problem,” he said. “But it’s when you take something so iconic and change it; that image of the woman in a white tutu and point shoes is so imprinted, and here you had a man taking that place.”

Aside from its gender reversal, what was important about “Swan Lake” was that “it returned the dramatic male dance performance to center stage,” said Luke Jennings, a former dance critic for The Observer in Britain. Mr. Bourne’s work appeared “at the point when male dancing was more and more riveted on technique and tricks,” he said. “But here, you needed the old-fashioned business of charisma, drama, acting, understanding, pacing and nuance.”

Mr. Bourne’s “Swan Lake” also helped to bring more men into dance by offering a true-to-life range of physical types and personalities to emulate, said the former Guardian dance critic Judith Mackrell. “If you were funny or weedy or magnificent or strange, if you were a guy who weren’t sure how your body or personality fitted into the dance landscape,” she said, “here was something for you.”

Mr. Bourne said that his ballet, along with “Billy Elliot” — which featured a short segment from the Bourne “Swan Lake” — gave opportunities to male dancers and provided different types of role models, which dance on television does in a similar way now.

“The swans have always been a different way for young men to express themselves,” he said. “I think there are a lot of guys who wouldn’t go to a classical ‘Swan Lake’ and identify with the prince in white tights. But many of them who see this show think, I would like to do that.”

Four dancers, all British, in the troupe touring “Swan Lake,” spoke about the place of the work in their lives. (Interestingly, none experienced much prejudice when they began to dance, perhaps because of what Ms. Mackrell called “the ‘Billy Elliot’ effect.” And one of them wasn’t born when the piece was created.) Here are edited excerpts from conversations with them about why they were drawn to the work, Bourne boot camp and what it’s like to be a swan.

Matthew Ball, 27 (the Swan/the Stranger)

I went to see “Swan Lake” when I was about 8, and it really cemented the idea of a male dancer in my mind. In traditional ballets, which I had seen, the man is mostly a foil to the ballerina. To see male dancers perform as a group, in a corps de ballet setting, but with great power, grace and sensitivity, was awe-inspiring.

It was around that age that it really clicked for me that I wanted to dance, and I went to the Royal Ballet School when I was 11. “Billy Elliot” was a big thing, and there was quite a supportive atmosphere around me going from my school.

I’m with the Royal Ballet, but I really wanted to do this role, because it has an amazing amount of acting leeway. You can be masculine and otherworldly, and also a gate-crashing troublemaker. In ballet, it’s usually the women who get those different dramatic ideas and conceits.

I had performed Siegfried with Natalia Osipova as Odette/Odile in the classical “Swan Lake” about four months before working on this version, and I remember watching her animalistic qualities in that part, and the way she combined delicacy and power. I try to explore something like that, in my own way, in this part.

Max Westwell, 33 (the Swan/the Stranger)

I was 11 when I saw “Swan Lake.” It completely blew me away because of the storytelling. It wasn’t using classical mime, which is the way ballets told stories, and it made sense and was funny. It was the first dance work I had seen that made total sense in the way a film made sense to me. You could follow the story easily, and it wasn’t overacted or stylized, which narrative dances can often be.

It was also really different in the way it showed the men. The Swan-Stranger figure was beautiful and controlled, but also just really cool. He comes on in leather trousers and terrorizes everyone; at 11, I was like, He’s the one!

Of course at the time it was shocking and controversial. There was a lot of talk about it being a “gay Swan Lake,” and I remember my parents talking about it pushing boundaries. But that seemed cool and different, too.

I think it was really the pure masculinity and level of testosterone onstage that I was interested in. Even the way I play it now is not as a relationship between two men; it’s between a man and a bird, an ethereal savior creature.

It was fascinating to learn the swan material. The company does a boot camp when all the new guys learn the materials and the motifs. We even watch videos of swans. You go through an awkward phase when you don’t feel at all like a swan, but like a deranged dragon.

Will Bozier, 28 (the Swan/the Stranger)

I first saw a bit of Matt’s “Swan Lake” when I was about 7, in the film “Billy Elliot.” There is that final scene where you see the male swans and then Adam Cooper, as Billy, does that huge leap across the stage in slow motion. I remember coming out of the film and saying to my mother, “What is that show, and how do I do it?”

I didn’t catch the whole show until some years later, but I had the same response: When you see 15 men onstage together in those swan sections, it’s really a powerful image. We used to talk about this “Swan Lake,” watch clips of it.

When I was younger, I wanted to do everything. My training was classical and contemporary dance, and I also danced in musicals after I graduated. I always knew that one day I would work with Matt and do “Swan Lake.”

The choreography is very demanding, very physical, and you need to do a lot of outside training for stamina and stability. The movement is very grounded, it really involves using your plié and your breath — we jump a lot. It takes quite a long time to get used to it and get it into your body. And then you also play the Stranger, so you have a big difference there in terms of acting.

Andrew Ashton, 22 (ensemble)

When I was about 6, I became obsessed with “Billy Elliot.” It’s a cliché, but true. There was that shot of Adam Cooper jumping at the end, and I was fascinated by that. I was completely enthralled, and I started watching Matthew Bourne’s “Swan Lake” over and over again on YouTube. I had seen the ballet version, where the women are in the forefront, and to see this very male, contemporary, dramatic version, that maybe one day I could be involved in, was enthralling.

Luckily for me, one of my teachers heard about Matt’s “Lord of the Flies” project, which gets local boys in each city they visit to join the cast of the production. Later I did a Swan School, where about 20 guys who have just finished their training, do two weeks working with Matt and Etta Murfitt, working on the technique and taking acting classes.

For me, what was major was to realize that this kind of work existed, and that the dream of being an expressive man onstage was possible.

Sahred From Source link Arts

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[terryquinnblog]

BAPTISM

His days of envy were over. Or would be by the time this night had run its course. For years he’d watched great singers perform in the concert halls of Boston, Washington, Chicago, New York City. Listened daily on the radio. Had friends who strode out regularly before audiences and sang – whether opera, madrigals, Off Broadway, jazz, gospel, cabaret or pop. He burned to do what they were doing. Above all, to sing the choral masterworks of his gods. The music of Mozart, Britten, Mendelssohn, Ravel. The tenor line in a requiem mass, a sublime Bach cantata.

At the age of 67, three years before this night of his coming out as a singer worthy of a stage, he’d told himself he had in abundance the will and passion that were called for. All he lacked were the skills. He didn’t read music for voice. He’d never sung harmony from a score. And though he had a good ear and could certainly carry a tune, his voice was not trained. He vowed to himself that by the time he turned 70, in the summer of 2015, he would be able to do, in his own way, what his soprano friend Elizabeth, his bass friend Sandy, his baritone friend Paul were all doing – entertain in public as a singer of art songs, arias and great choral pieces.

Throughout the first two of those years, he trekked each Tuesday afternoon from his Brooklyn apartment to the far west side of Manhattan, where Richard Gordon, the vocal coach he’d been referred to, conducted one-on-one voice training sessions in his fourth floor walk-up. And for a year and a half after that, he took beginner, then intermediate, then advanced sight-singing courses at the Lucy Moses School in Lincoln Center. He attended a music theory boot camp and workshops on rhythm and intervals, bought dozens of song scores, hired accompanists for at-home practice sessions, learned tenor parts via YouTube rehearsal files. By the summer of ‘15, he’d researched the New York chorus scene as well and had summoned the nerve to schedule two September auditions: one for a Presbyterian church choir in Brooklyn Heights, another for a 60-member chorale in the Tribeca neighborhood of Manhattan.

Now it was August and he felt he’d go crazy if he couldn’t escape his sheltered practice environments and at last get out in front of an audience. What did it matter that he wasn’t, and wouldn’t ever be, Domingo? He sounded good to himself and to his teachers. He could pick up a score and start singing, undaunted by varying time and key signatures or dynamics and tempo markings rendered in Italian. He felt confident of holding his tenor line in four-part harmony arrangements. Best of all, he had a safe, low-pressure debut date in mind – the Seventh Annual Upstate Salon in Unadilla, New York, a town in the western foothills of the Catskill Mountains.

For the past six summers he’d been producing this series of living room soirées. He, his wife Jane, and eight to ten of their local friends, for the most part writers and artists, assembled on a late-August evening each year to cook and share a gargantuan dinner, then exhibit, recite and otherwise perform for one another. Edmond, a lifelong painter, always displayed a dozen or so of his latest oils. Alicia, the event’s host and a published poet, read a selection of her nature odes and short prose pieces. Diane, a writer who lived in nearby Oneonta, did the same. Charlie, a nationally known sculptor, photographer and crafter of hilltop aeolian harps regularly gave multi-media presentations. Edmond’s wife Kaima showed her pottery one year and performed modern dance another. Charlie’s wife Martha showed the fabrics and baskets she wove and sold at regional markets. Others played music or delivered dramatic monologues.

What he himself had brought to each of the earlier salons was a one act play – sometimes one he’d written, sometimes a classic piece of comedy he admired. He and a couple of the other guests would present script-in-hand readings, following a brief run-through while the dishes were being scrubbed up. He would show, too, whatever figure drawings and portraits he had done that winter and spring. But as if in the throes of the proverbial itch, he determined to change course entirely at this seventh gathering ... and sing.

He’d packed five song scores for the car trip up from Brooklyn. His plan was to ask Alicia to accompany him on piano and to let her choose a piece from among three show tunes and two opera arias. But on the night of the salon, he learned that her vintage upright was out of commission. No major setback, he decided. What he was looking for here was only a test, after all, the sort of manageable trial likely to provide him some seasoning. Fine, he would go a cappella. And he’d sing not some straight-ahead ballad from Carousel, or even the more forgiving of the two classical numbers he’d brought along, but rather the most challenging of the arias he had prepared at Richard Gordon’s studio: La fleur que tu m’avais jetée, the Flower Song from Act Two of Bizet’s Carmen.

“As Jane knows, and as a few of you may be aware,” he announced once his turn to perform had come and he stood in the center of that ring of friends, “I’ve been taking a serious approach lately to solo and choral music.” Smiles of anticipation throughout the room, for who doesn’t like live singing? And Jane, being Jane, beamed in encouragement. This was all good; he felt at ease. “Here’s something I hope you’ll enjoy.” He passed out sheets on which an English translation of the lyric was printed, waited as his audience looked them over, and began.

He knew not to think when he sang, simply to lose himself in the ghost world of the song and let the joy of self-expression quicken his blood. Yet even as the first few measures of the aria flowed from him like liquid – as softly, as richly as he’d hoped, in fact – he could not help but bask in the fierce attention of these friends he’d known for more than twenty years. Their open faces, their eyes widened in lavish good will. Not a movement in the room, not a sound other than what a broken Don José was saying to Carmen ... that he had kept with him the blossom she’d tossed through the barred window of his prison cell ... and that, though the petals had withered over time, they’d never lost their fragrance.

It would occur to him later that if he’d somehow been obliged to finish singing right there – three or four lines in – strange as that might have seemed, all would have been well. But La fleur is a five-minute aria. One that spans two octaves and climbs to a high b-flat at its climax. And a mere two minutes into the journey that is that song, he felt his breath control begin to falter. It happened at the phrase “et de cette odeur je m’enivrais ...”, the last note of which must be sustained at high volume.

This was troubling. As Don José, he was singing of being intoxicated by the flower’s scent, and so by Carmen’s love. But he couldn’t quite support the note long enough to ensure its full emotional effect. And a shortness of breath, he knew from experience, begets anxiety. Which itself can lead so easily to wavering pitch and wobbly vibrato and graceless phrasing and cracked high notes that make you yearn to be done, to be elsewhere. Worst of all, momentary losses of memory can come along and ratchet up one’s fears to the level of terror – what lyric comes next? – and threaten to bring the music to a mortifying halt.

One scant phrase from the end, that happened. For when he sang: “Et j'étais une chose à toi ... ” (“I once meant something to you”) and took a stab at that treacherous b-flat on toi, he could not for the life of him remember the aria’s final four words. Here was an instant of unvarnished panic ...... until he did remember, with immense relief, that Don José himself pauses at this very moment, before singing whatever it is he sings.

He took that opportunity to scan the faces of his salon audience, every one of which was turned toward the carpet that adorned Alicia’s floor. Every one except Jane’s. And that was all he needed – not to save this fiasco but at least to finish up with “ ... Carmen, je t’aime!”

There was clapping, yes, it being unthinkable not to applaud at all after someone has performed for you. And each discrete token of appreciation stung him. Each word, brave smile, upturned thumb. Until, after forever, everyone moved on to the coffee and cordials that traditionally concluded their salons. And as he tried to recover, a barrage of thoughts and feelings assailed him. Each registered only for an instant, but so searingly that he knew he’d be revisiting that thought, that feeling, often enough in the days and weeks to come. For now, though, denial was the ticket. He shook off the initial wave of shame. Rejoined the party.

So much to acknowledge and learn from, he eventually found. The shock to his system drove him back fifty-one years to a judgment his first French professor, Emile Telle, pronounced on him in sophomore year of college. “You are good at all of this, Monsieur Quinn,” that crusty Parisian said with a grin. “Yes, yes, very talented. But you are also proud.” The man had played heavily on the guttural French ‘r’ in voicing that final word, thereby freighting his utterance with the heft of prophecy.

It was true, he admitted a day or so later in a bout of self-analysis. He’d never mastered the virtue of humility. And surely pride had gone before his fall at the event in Unadilla. So be it. They’d all gotten past the awkwardness quickly enough. And he knew now what he must do in the run-up to his chorus auditions the following month. Stay focused on the goal. Keep practicing. Do his best to get his head and ego back in order.

[talhaghafoor2019-blog]

Summer Latin Music Festivals Offer Music And Opportunity

This year we mark our annual summer Latin music festival show with an accompanying deeper dive into the reason some of these festivals exist: lack of inclusion on the big summer festival stages.

Listen to the podcast and read how the Latinx community is dealing with representation in the music industry.

There is a growing musical movement underway, fueled by the same spirit of confronting exclusion that launched female-led music festivals like Lilith Fair in the late 1990s, this time focused on and powered by Latinx musicians. As a response to under-representation on major summer music festival stages and the lack of summer gigs in general that include Latinx culture, festivals like NuevoFest in Philadelphia, Afro-Latino Fest in New York City, RuidoFest in Chicago, Viva! Pomona in the Los Angeles area and Los Dells near Madison, Wisconsin have all popped up over the last several years

In June, the Kansas City-based band Making Movies wrapped up its very first run of a travelling collective of bands they call Carnaval. Though not on the massive scale of Lilith Fair, these game-changers feature an invigorating mélange of Latin grooves and Latin fusion.

The members of Making Movies created their annual Carnaval as a Kansas City, Mo. based mini-fest four years ago; this year it featured nine acts and two local youth performances. Along the way they had an idea: If the big, mainstream summer music festivals were not going to hire them or the bands that they invited to K.C., then they would take their music directly to Latin music fans in 21 U.S. cities.

But when Making Movies began the traveling version of Carnaval in Boulder, Colo. in May, there were not a lot of people to witness history in the making.

"When we started the tour, we played to smaller crowds of 100 or more people," says band member Diego Chi. "But by the time we got to Pomona, Calif., three weeks later, 700 folks were singing and dancing their hearts out with us. The celebrating could be heard for blocks outside the venue."

Carnaval actually began as an answer to under-representation in the Kansas City music scene: Making Movies had better luck getting gigs by promoting itself as a rock band without mentioning its brand of Latin fusion. So it set out to change things. What started as a homegrown youth music camp, with invitations to SoCal Latin alternative bands Ozomatli and Las Cafeteras to come teach, soon grew organically into a carnaval, a Latin carnival.

"It became like a jam session of like-minded musicians, then community organizations started to show up" giving the band the idea of mixing music and social activism, says Diego Chi's brother and band mate, Enrique.

Blending "folkloric performances alongside innovative international artists," they enlisted Latin Grammy-winning artists Alex Cuba and Flor de Toloache to join Making Movies and Las Cafeteras on the inaugural tour this year, and added other bands on the road.

For Enrique Chi, 21 cities is just the start.

"For me the big dream is to make it a national tour next year and create music that really fits our spiritual, musical path ... and integrate the tour more effectively with community and social justice organizations."

Social justice and cultural awareness are also at the heart of Brooklyn-based Afro-Latino Fest.

"There wasn't anything that could bring together Afro-Latinos in the community from across nationalities," says Director Amilcar Priestley, whose wife, Mai-Elka Prado Gil, founded the festival in 2013.

Priestly says identity is an essential topic because even within the Latinx community, those who have roots in the African diaspora can feel marginalized.

"There are a lot of people who don't know what Afro-Latino is. People often want to pigeonhole you, and say, 'You are this but you are not that. You are that but you're not this.'"

The first Afro-Latino Fest set up music and vendors by a subway station in 2013 to attract passers-by.

"Many engaged in the event," said founder Prado Gil in the lead-up to this year's festival, held July 13-15 in Brooklyn. "Last year the maximum of 500 people attended the conference and the concerts sold out with 1,300 people. This year we expect 1,500 for the concert, 500 again for the conference, and 800 to 1,000 for our first full film festival."

An awards ceremony included a posthumous award to Afro Brazilian activist and politician Marielle Franco, who was assassinated earlier this year.

"More are coming into their own and identifying as Afro-Latino," says Priestly. "The conversation about Afro-Latinidad has exploded, here in the U.S. especially, and we're at an important time. I think we've been fortunate to be a bit ahead of the curve in the conversation and how it pushes forward."

A short drive down the New Jersey turnpike the same weekend as Afro-Latino Fest, NuevoFest has been moving the needle on inclusion and integration in the City of Brotherly Love. Since its launch six summers ago, the annual Latin music festival has drawn a healthy cross-section of Philadelphians to the one-day free concert.

It was founded by Marángeli Mejía-Rabelland Rahsaan Lucas of AfroTaino Productions in association with NPR member station WXPN's Latin Roots program. The acts have ranged from traditional to alternative Latin music.

According to Mejía-Rabell, "We went from 50 guests in our first year, consisting of mostly locals, to 1,500+ guests throughout the event's duration, and a lot are coming from out of the city: New York, D.C., Maryland, New Jersey, Virginia and the outer Pennsylvania burbs."

"Here's what I think is problematic with major festivals," Mejía-Rabell says. "My perception is that sometimes people take the concept of inclusion very lightly; like with a Band-Aid approach. I'm not saying that every time it's malicious, but I think it's taken for granted, like a quota they gotta meet: 'Let me throw in a Latino act. Or let me throw some color in there.'

"This is not something you can fake. With those who [approach] it with a clear intention and respect — mindfully and with integrity — you get to see a different outcome; a different kind of investment."

The lesson for mainstream curators: Develop trust and relevancy with the Latinx concert-goer.

"You have to make an insightful investment in building relationships with content creators, with programmers, with artists and planners to curate experiences" Mejía-Rabell says. "Never compromise the integrity and what needs to happen to meet that criteria [for Latinx audiences]."

It's a lesson that has seemingly been learned and applied in Chicago, where Ruido Fest was developed outside the Latino community. It's a partnership between Chicago-based production company Metronome Chicago, corporate event producers StarEvents, who organize the once-grassroots punk-rock enterprise Riot Fest, along with Eduardo Calvillo, a Latin alternative promoter and the founder of the Chicago radio show Sin Anestesia.

The June festival, now in its fourth year, features top Latin alternative acts and a new focus on developing stronger local talent. Metronome Chicago owner Max Wagner says its debut attracted some 25,000 thousand festival-goers over three days to the heavily Mexican American community of Pilsen. He says the next year drew 30,000 and then 35,000 last year, with a projected increase of 10% for 2018.

"You're smart to work with people who live and breathe that art," says Wagner, who works with Calvillo to curate the line-up.

"Latin Americans are no different than other Americans. They have broad interests in tastes in music and culture. Sometimes they have a connection to Spanish and sometimes they don't .... It's important to have the fan's perspective. We want to be relevant and important and a cultural touchstone for our niche audience," Wagner says. He adds that "a burgeoning local scene should, in the long run, help to create more opportunities for those same artists in mainstream venues."

On the outskirts of Los Angeles, Viva! Pomona, held in August, is becoming a destination for emerging Latinx artists. The bilingual festival was founded by skateboarder Rene Contreras seven years ago in association with local nightclub The Glass House. It began with Contreras' desire to "bring people to the burbs" with punk bands and no budget and quickly blossomed into an international multi-genre Latin music exchange that "graduates" bands into the indie market.

Contreras says he launched it on a cover charge basis. "It started off with 14 local bands in three stages and took over the block in downtown Pomona. Like 400 people showed up." By the second year talent bookers and artists were contacting him. "Some bands offered to come on their own dime with only a guarantee to play – just to have that platform." Since then City Hall has allowed him to use its main stage, and the festival has doubled in size. One turning point he describes seeing is "when the opener would move up on the lineup; like an ecosystem to headline the show."

Contreras curates the show, books the bands, and markets everything. "The biggest challenge is the process," he says. "It's like a triathalon."

Contreras was doing such a good job at curation that two years ago the mega-mainstream summer festival Coachella Valley Music and Arts Festival took notice of his upstart festival in Pomona and hired him to help them reach out to Latin musicians. They also decided to create a mini festival in April called Chella featuring four Latin music bands for the local Indio, Calif. community. It drew 4,000 people, "primarily Latino and largely farmworkers ... from grandmothers to kids."

"If done right, Latin music in major festivals is a must and it's important to the U.S. and the world," he says.

The five days of panels, workshops, networking and deal-making attracts thousands of industry people, bands from the U.S. and throughout the Spanish-speaking world as well as international media.

There are also numerous concerts and performances that feature hundreds of Latin alternative artists around Manhattan's clubs and theaters, plus major concerts in Brooklyn in conjunction with summer-long Celebrate Brooklyn concert series and SummerStage in Central Park.

Two years ago, the LAMC, Nacional Records and Cookman's management company came under the umbrella of Industria Works, an artist development partnership. Industria Works General Manager Jennifer Sarkissian, who oversees LAMC now, says it takes time build a presence. She helped put together the first Supersónico festival in Los Angeles a few years ago. "It sold out, so we did it again and it sold out again, so we'll be bringing it back this [fall]. It's exciting to see more Latin-focused fests around the country. And I think LAMC helped pave the way for that."

Sarkissian says she'd also "like to see major festivals featuring more lineups with Anglo and Latin artists side-by-side."

Among major mainstream festivals, South By Southwest (SXSW) is the only festival that has been significantly increasing it's Latin music presence. Thanks to Latinx curator Alicia Zertuche, it kicked off the festival season this year featuring some 200 Latin music artists — its largest booking yet — out of some 2,000 artists overall.

"The audience is there for that," Sarkissian says. "The time is right. That's the world we live in now."

So, until those bigger stages become more diverse, these festivals offer lots of music for long time fans and adventurous new comers as well.

Copyright 2018 NPR. To see more, visit http://www.npr.org/.