#i had a successful musical theatre themed blog before this actually
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and that has been my burden since i was 14 years old
#i had a successful musical theatre themed blog before this actually#i mean i think it hit like 10k followers so nothing wild but had some heavy hitters#showed up on buzzfeed and the like#started this one in 2017#cannot believe i'm still here#it has been at least ten years probably more
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2011 pt.II
July 1st:
Selena's new film Monte Carlo is officially released in theatres and Justin tweets out his support:
Justin: "Everyone go see @/selenagomez movie #montecarlo in theatres NOW"
*tweet here (x)
July 11th:
Justin and Selena are spotted/joined by fans singing karaoke at Lucky Strike Lanes in LA - one fan tweeted he was partying with the couple.
The two took to the microphone for an impromptu duet of Kid Rock and Sheryl Crow’s “Picture” and shared a kiss after their performance.
Videos later surfaced (x)
July 13th:
Justin and Selena attend The ESPY Awards together held at the Nokia Theatre in Los Angeles.
July 17th:
Justin and Selena crash a wedding in Malibu, California
TMZ reports:
According to our sources at the wedding, Justin and Selena were strolling on the beach when they heard Justin's song "One Less Lonely Girl" playing at the reception -- inside the historic and shi shi Adamson House.
We're told Justin snuck up on some guests -- who predictably OMG'd and LOL'd -- and then hopped on the mic, saying: "We just crashed it. We heard a party so we decided to just come. So let's party."
They only stayed for about 10 minutes to pose for pics -- including some with the happy couple -- and then bolted.
youtube
July 20th:
Justin visits Selena at a Hollywood studio while she rehearses for her upcoming tour
July 22nd:
Justin and Selena are spotted together shopping on her birthday - he posted a photo of the two on Instagram and tweeted:
“Happy Birthday @SelenaGomez gonna be a special day.”
*tweet here (x)
instagram
July 24th:
Selena's We Own the Night World Tour begins tonight in Costa Mesa, California - Justin surprises her at the show and joins the stage to perform Justin Timberlake's Cry Me A River
He later tweets that night:
“@selenagomez u did great tonight. proud of u”
*full performance video here (x)
July 26th:
Justin and Selena are photographed out for lunch at Hooters in Burbank, California:
“Justin and Selena came in at about noon for lunch,”
“They were both really polite and signed a few autographs. They were both super-friendly and made the most adorable couple!”
July 28th:
Justin attends another one of Selena’s shows with friend Sean Kingston in Boca Raton Florida.
He posts a photo to his Instagram wearing her tour merch
*article here (x)
August 2nd:
Rumors began circulating that Justin and Selena may have broken up after a YouTube video went viral declaring that Selena found flirty texts Justin sent to his ex Jasmine - E!News later shot this down
Selena performs in Atlanta Georgia and Justin’s friends Alfredo and Carin attend the show. Justin tweets:
“ATL show @selenagomez love tonight! @alfredoflores and @carinmb are in the building i heard. #Beasts!”
*E! article here (x) / tweet here (x)
August 6th:
Alfredo posts a photo of him, Justin, Selena to Instagram captioned: “swimming with the boys :)” while Justin adds a photo of himself to Selena’s Instagram
August 7th:
Justin and Selena attend the 2011 Teen Choice Awards together and were super affectionate throughout the entire ceremony - Justin danced through Selena's performance of Love You Like A Love Song and cheered her on as she accepted her 5 awards
youtube
August 13th:
Justin and Selena are spotted in an Apple Store in Rosemont Illinois, while she's in town for tour
August 18th:
Justin and Selena attend a pool party and are photographed kissing - Justin also uploads a photo of the two on instagram captioned:
“my babbyyyy”
instagram
August 19th:
Justin and Selena are photographed as they picked up a smoothie from Smoothie King in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania where she performs later that evening on tour
During Selena’s soundcheck performance in Philadelphia, a fan shouts out asking for her phone number, Selena replies:
“I don’t think my boyfriend would like that”
*full video here (x)
August 20th:
Selena had “JB” written on her right hand and “I love you” on her left wrist during her concert in New Jersey
August 21st:
Justin and Selena are spotted walking in Hershey Park theme park, in Pennsylvania
August 23rd:
Justin and Selena are photographed out and about with Alfredo, Ryan and Kenny in Toronto, Ontario
August 25th:
Justin announces that he would be releasing his first Christmas album and second studio album later in 2011 -
His manager Scooter Braun and vocal producer Kuk Harrell confirmed a week later that Justin had collaborated with Sean Kingston and Taylor Swift and had also worked with producers The Messengers.
August 28th:
Justin and Selena attend MTV Video Music Awards together where Selena was a co-host for the pre-show - Selena interviewed Justin in the arrivals hall at the awards ceremony where the two were very affectionate sharing kisses, Selena telling Justin:
'Thank you so much. Thank you for hanging out, babe.'
Justin also hugged Selena onstage as he accepted the award for Best Male Video
September 2nd:
Selena watches while Justin plays basketball and cheers in the background
*video here (x)
September 9th:
Justin talks with Women's Wear Daily for an interview and mentions that he's dating Selena:
WWD: You told one of the kids earlier that you’re still friendly with Selena.
JB: She’s amazing. She’s my girlfriend right now.
WWD: Where do you see yourself five years from now?
JB: [Visibly counting] Well, by 25 or 26, I want to see myself, like, married or start looking for a family. I want to be a young dad. I want to be able to have done what I wanted to do — to be successful, to do a movie or whatever. But if the time is right, I definitely want to be married by 25.
One thing — I’m not looking to get married now.
*full interview (x)
September 10th:
Justin and Selena spotted out for lunch in Las Vegas, where Selena performs that evening - they later attend the shows after-party with DJ Taf
September 14th:
Justin and Selena visit the old-set of Wizards of Waverly Place
September 15th:
Justin and Selena attend “The Abduction” premiere at Grauman's Chinese Theatre in Los Angeles - Selena gets boo’d (?) by fans as she walks the red carpet.
September 16th:
Justin are Selena are photographed having lunch and doing a bit of shopping at a mall in Los Angeles
September 17th:
Justin and Selena are seen arriving to LAX Airport departing to Atlanta - later that evening, they attend Georgia Music Hall of Fame with Usher and Justin performs and was honored with the Horizon Award at the 33rd Annual Georgia Music Hall of Fame Awards.
*article here (x)
September 18th:
Justin and Selena went to watch the Atlanta Falcons play the Philadelphia Eagles at the Georgia Dome. Justin tweeted photos of themselves kissing on the way to the game.
While leaving the game, Selena is filmed slapping Justin, suggesting they may have been fighting
instagram
*full article here (x) full video here (x)
September 19th:
Selena attends The Jay Leno Show where she performs Love You Like A Love Song. Justin came to support Selena and was photographed with her backstage
Selena has a cute interview backstage with Bryan following her performance, Bryan points out that Selena brought Justin:
Selena: “I did. He’s sweet. Everybody’s taking pictures with him right now,”
After her interview, the camera flashes to Justin chatting with Simon Cowell. Before the couple say bye to Simon, Justin grabs Selena’s hip and tells Simon:
Justin: “I’ll look after her.”
*full article here (x)
September 20th:
Justin uploads a photo of him hugging Selena while deplaning a jet onto Instagram.
Justin and Selena are also spotted in the park taking staged photos with 6 babies (?) in which Justin also later uploads to his instagram captioned:
"Brangelina 2.0 hahahahahaha"
instagram
instagram
September 21st:
Justin and Selena attend LA Zoo together
September 23rd:
Selena and Justin are photographed on a PDA filled beach stroll in Malibu California
*Daily Mail article / photos (x)
September 23rd:
Selena and Justin attend Demi Lovato’s concert together held at the Nokia Centre in Los Angeles
After the show, Justin surprises Selena by renting out The Staples Centre arena for a private, exclusive dinner date and movie screening of Titanic:
"The teen supercouple arrived at the empty, 20,000-seat arena, where the lights had been dimmed; on the court floor was a table set for two with candles.
After the meal — steak and pasta, catered by the Lexus club — the couple enjoyed a private screening of Titanic. (The "Baby" singer apparently got the idea from the Adam Sandler flick Mr. Deeds, in which Sandler's character surprises his girlfriend, played by Winona Ryder, with a similar gesture at NYC's Madison Square Garden.)
And TMZ reports that Bieber paid nothing for the big date: The Staples Center comped the evening as thanks for Bieber's recent sold out concerts there."
*UsWeekly article here (x) *justin's tweet (x)
September 25th:
Justin’s best friend Alfredo posts instagram photo of him, Justin, Selena on private jet:
"BOOM BOOM POW! @/JustinBieber @/SelenaGomez -- see the creeper?"
*alfredo's tweet / photo (x)
September 28th:
Selena joins Justin in Franklin Tennessee on the set of his music video shoot for a song off his upcoming Chrismtas album, Under the Mistletoe.
Justin tweets:
“video shoot today for christmas album. #mistletoe”
September 30th:
Justin begins the Latin American leg of his My World Tour, beginning this evening in Monterrey Mexico and concluding October 19th in Caracas Venezuela.
Selena was judging a Disney Channel show with Sean Kingston when she met Ben Baller, the man who made Justin's grill. According to Ben, Selena wasn’t too stoked about meeting him originally, but then she concocted an idea to prank Justin, which he wrote about on his blog:
“Selena says ‘ohhhh I don’t like you! you’re the one who made Justin’s grill huh?’ I said yeah….. does he wear it?’ Selena said ‘YES! he definitely wears it! (stone face towards me) and I’m thinking to myself like damn…. she’s actually really sweet though, I can tell lol… so She says let’s play a prank on Justin…. and I agreed (why not right?) let’s take a pic and then send the guys the pic and under it say ‘guess who’s getting a grill?'”
“I didn’t say it was a joke or anything… a few hours later, I get a text from Justin saying ‘call me’ and I’m like…. damn, he’s gonna be mad or tell me to take it down….”
“He says ‘cmon bro. is she really getting a grill? (I’ve talked to him enough on the phone to know his voice and different sounds, from regular to really happy) and he was definitely concerned like ‘please say it’s a joke’…. so I’m thinking to myself, like damn, I know in the last 3 hours he’s had to have talked to his girl and he had to ask her…. I can’t believe she’s really stringing this little prank along for so long…. she’s really cool for playing the joke for real! haha”
*article here (x)
October 3rd:
Justin was seen looking for Selena in the airport in Rio de Janeiro because there was an issue with her visa.
Selena had some difficulty getting into Brazil because she didn’t have the correct visa
October 4th:
Justin and Selena take a helicopter ride while exploring Rio de Janeiro, Brazil before he takes the stage tomorrow.
An insider tells told Hollywood Life:
'Justin and Selena are staying at the Copacabana Palace in Rio de Janeiro, which is considered to be the most exclusive hotel in Rio.'
'They are staying in a Penthouse Suite which includes one bedroom with a king-sized bed, a living room, a mini bar and two marble bathrooms with a separate bathtub and shower.'
*Daily Mail article / photos (x)
October 5th:
Selena joins Justin backstage before he takes stage and poses for photos, while Justin tells a reporter he calls Selena “Mamacita” during an interview
After the concert, Justin and Selena were seen out for dinner, clubbing at Copa Club and kissing in the backseat of the car on their way back to the hotel
*DailyMail article here (x)
October 6th:
Selena and Justin are spotted by numerous fans around town before Justin’s second show this evening - that night, Selena joins Justin on stage and they perform Selena’s song Who Says together.
Justin tweeted earlier in the day:
"had a lil fun last night in RIO….show #2 in RIO is 2nite….got some very special guests with me 2nite #mistletoe"
*justin's tweet (x)
youtube
October 7th:
Justin and Selena are photographed boarding their plane as they leave Rio de Janeiro
October 9th:
Justin speaks with New! Magazine for an interview and admits he loves Selena but insists they have no plans to move in together because of their busy careers:
"I wouldn't be with somebody if I wasn't in love,"
"Everybody can see she is hot and that's great, but there is so much more to her than that. She makes me laugh and she puts up with my practical jokes. She has really strong family values as well. We were both raised by our moms in single-parent households, and that's given us a lot of the same family values in life."
"At the moment we're so busy, it's pretty much hotel rooms for me for most of the year. She could be in one part of the world and I could be in the other. We are just a young couple who are enjoying spending time with each other. But we both took time off last month and it was just really cool to be able to spend time together and just do normal things like go to the beach and have dinner together."
*full article here (x) and (x)
October 9th:
Justin gives a radio interview with 97.5 Fanatic Philadelphia:
Interviewer: What’s up with you and Selena man?
Justin: Well she’s on tour right now, so yeah.
Interviewer: Is this an official hookup?
Justin: Y‘know, I like to keep some of my private life to myself.
Interviewer: Well it’s already out there.
Justin: I know I mean it’s pretty obvious, but I don’t really like to talk about it.
Interviewer: I got you, you wanna keep it a private relationship - but how’d you swing that? It’s tough to get that break through line.
Justin: Yeah I know, I was pretty shocked myself. She’s very beautiful.
Interviewer: So how’d you make the approach? Did someone put you two together or what?
Justin: We started as friends like 2 years ago, so we were just friends for a long time - that’s how it happened.
October 12th:
Selena tweets a photo she added to instagram, of her eating Tim Hortons in Canada:
“Canada.. I missed you. But @justinbieber misses you more.”
*selena's tweet here (x)
October 17th:
Justin's song Mistletoe, the first single off his Christmas album, is officially released - Selena posted a photo of the song to her Instagram captioned:
“Finally it’s out.. Did y’all buy it?”
October 18th:
Justin performs the last show of his My World Tour this evening in Carasova Venezuela
October 20th:
Selena and Justin are spotted walking around The Forks shopping area in Winnipeg, Canada. Selena has the night off from her We Own the Night World Tour, but has a performance in the city tomorrow.
Insiders confirm that her and Justin are staying at the luxury boutique hotel Inn at the Forks in Winnipeg.
That evening, Justin again rents out an entire movie theatre for a date with Selena -he arranged for a screening room at the SilverCity Polo Park Cinemas to be kept empty so he and Selena could watch Real Steel' in private, and also rranged for pizzas to be delivered to the cinema for him and Selena to feast on during the movie.
A source at the venue said: "They made sure to keep everything really under wraps and private. He was really polite and they both thanked everyone before they left."
Justin uploads a photo of him and Selena in the theatre to Instagram captioned "me and my besty watching a movie"
*full article here (x)
instagram
October 21st:
Selena plays at the MTS Centre this evening in Winnipeg Manitoba, while on her We Own The Night World Tour.
Her and Justin stopped by Winnipeg's D'Arcy's Animal Rescue Centre for a visit and played with the dogs for over an hour - there were rumours that Selena took a pup with her
Justin and Selena are spotted by various fans throughout the day while out exploring Winnipeg, including Tim Hortons, and Speedworld Indoor Kart Track along with friend Ashley Cook
*full article here (x)
October 22nd:
Justin takes Selena to a hockey game to watch his favourite team, the Winnipeg Jets, from a private suite at the MTS Centre wearing matching jerseys with their names emblazoned across the backs. According to onlookers, they spent most of the game kissing and cuddling one another.
After the game, the two physically took to the ice both wearing Jets jerseys - after circling the ice a few times holding hands, Selena didn't skate much at all, preferring to watch Justin take shots at net.
*full article here (x)
youtube
October 24rd:
Selena is in London, Ontario for her We Own The Night World Tour and was seen carrying puppy Baylor around backstage before her concert wearing a Baylor University sweatshirt.
*photo here (x)
October 24th-October 29th(?):
Selena’s tour continues through October 30th in Canada and Justin remains with her for most of the dates - sometime throughout this period, they visited and spent time with Justin's family and are photographed together carving pumpkins and eating pie.
October 25th:
Its been reported that Selena and Justin have adopted a puppy together from D'Arcy's ARC while in Winnipeg, Canada:
“I was told that [Selena] was missing the dogs that she has at home,” the shelter’s CEO told People. “I wasn’t expecting her to adopt a dog while she was on tour.”
*full article here (x)
October 27th:
Justin sat down with Access Hollywood’s Billy Bush while promoting his new Christmas album, “Under the Mistletoe,” and chatted about Selena’s new puppy and their private movie theatre date
Baylor:
“She saw this dog, and she fell in love with it. She was like, ‘I need to have it!’ We just went to the shelter just to look around. Turns out, she brought one home. It was kind of like she just saw the dog, and it kept going to her, I don’t think the dog really likes me that much. I think he’s on tour with her right now,”
Movies:
“If I go into a movie theatre and everyone’s not looking at the movie and looking at us, it’s kind of like awkward, I’m looking at the movie and everyone’s looking at me. It’s like I’m the movie or something.”
*full article here (x)
October 28th:
Justin appears on Jay Leno and talks about Selena - she is in attendance and her and Justin pose for photos backstage
November 1st:
Justin’s Christmas album “Under The Mistletoe” is officially released today - he begins shooting the Fa La La Music video with Boys II Men and Selena joins him on set posing for photos together.
Later that evening, a tabloid story about Justin began circulating online:
A 20-year old woman named Mariah Yeater has filed a paternity suit against Justin on October 31st, alleging that he fathered her child after a brief backstage tryst at Justin’s October 2010 L.A Staples Centre concert. The paternity suit was reportedly filed on October 31st in a California court.
*Mariah Yeater article here (x)
November 2nd:
Justin on appears on On Air With Ryan Seacrest to promote his new Christmas album “Under The Mistletoe” and he mentions Selena's newly adopted dog Baylor
He also later appears on POWER106 FM during his “Under The Mistletoe” promo, rapping an Otis freestyle referencing Selena:
“my girl says I’m perfect she just loves an imperfect person perfectly, personally I think she is perfectly perfect"
Later that day Justin tweets alluding to the Mariah accusations:
“all the rumors...the gossip....Im gonna focus on the positives....the music."
*POWER106 video here (x) tweet here (x)
November 3rd: '
Selena was photographed arriving to LAX Airport in Los Angeles, heading to Belfast to meet Justin, and was all smiles.
Meanwhile, the Mariah Yeater rumours have not settled down whatsoever as the tabloids continue and Mariah continues to give interviews
*DailyMail article here (x) AnythingDiz photos here (x)
November 4th:
Justin gives an interview to Today Show to dismiss Mariah Yeater’s claims and says he's never even met her:
“I would just like to say that none of those allegations are true.”
“I know I’m going to be a target, but I’m never going to be a victim,” Justin added.
“It’s crazy, because every night after the show I’ve gone right from the stage right to my car. So it’s crazy that some people want to make up such false allegations.”
A statement released by Justin’s publicist on Wednesday said his lawyers had not seen the suit reportedly filed by Yeater, but said:
“it’s sad that someone would fabricate, malicious, defamatory and demonstrably false claims. We will vigorously pursue all available legal remedies to defend and protect Justin against these allegations.”
Rumors begin circulating that Selena and Justin have split in light of the Mariah Yeater allegations - late Friday afternoon, it was reported Selena had dumped Justin in the wake of the scandal.
*Today Show article here (x)
November 5th:
Justin and Selena have not split up, a rep for Selena told Access Hollywood and USWeekly on Friday night.
A source close to Justin also shot down rumors of the split on Friday night, telling Access that there was no truth to the rumors and the couple is still heading to Europe together this weekend for the MTV Europe Music Awards in Belfast where Justin will be performing at the show while Selena will be the host.
*AccessHollywood article here (x) UsWeekly article here (x)
November 5th:
Justin and Selena wave to fans as they arrive together at the Merchant Hotel in Belfast, Northern Ireland.
Later that evening, Justin and Selena are later photographed together hand-in-hand arriving at the MTV Voices Dinner.
"Justin and Selena could not keep their eyes off each other for the whole night," a dinner source told Us. "They were very much in love and didn't show any signs of stress or strain in their relationship."
Justin, who was receiving an award for his charity work, tweeted after the event:
"I know what it is like to not have alot...so it feels great to be in a position to #giveback. thanks to everyone helping me"
*photos here (x) UsWeekly article here (x)
November 6th:
TMZ reports from sources directly connected with Justin that he will happily take a DNA test in two weeks when he returns to the United States to prove he is not Mariah Yeater's baby daddy -- and after that, him and his team are going after her in court.
Selena hosts the MTV Europe Music Awards in Belfast, North Ireland this evening while Justin is set to perform at the event. After the ceremony, they attend LMFAO'S after-party and are photographed together at the event
*TMZ article here (x) photos here (x) / tweets here (x) (x) (x)
November 7th:
Justin and Selena are photographed after their private tour of Chelsea FC’s football ground in London on Monday morning
It's been reported that Justin gifted Selena $27k diamond bracelet and surprised her with it just before she took the stage to present at last night’s MTV EMA’s
*full article here (x) photos here (x)
November 8th:
Justin and Selena stop by NRJ Radio station Paris, France for an interview while Justin is promoting his Christmas album
Later that afternoon, Justin and Selena are photographed together hand-in-hand after a lunch date at Paris's L'Avenue restaurant
And that evening they were photographed on a dinner date
*DailyMail article (x) dinner photo (x)
November 9th:
Selena and Justin are photographed shopping while in Paris
Justin posts a photo of him and Selena on Instagram at Disneyland Paris with the caption:
“thank god above for my very own christmas love”
November 11th:
Justin and Selena hold hands as they head back to their car after visiting a television studio in Madrid, Spain
Selena has been joining Justin on his European promo tour for Under The Mistletoe.
Selena tweets that her puppy Baylor is sick and needs surgery.
*full article here (x) tweet here (x)
November 12th:
Selena and Justin are spotted leaving KISS FM Radio station together in London
*DailyMail article (x)
November 16th:
Selena’s music video for Hit The Lights is officially released and premieres on VEVO
TMZ reports thatMariah Yeater officially dismisses paternity lawsuit:
"The suit was quietly dismissed late last week and Mariah Yeater's lawyers, Lance Rogers and Matt Pare, have withdrawn from the case.
As we first reported, Justin not only planned to take a DNA test when he returned to the U.S., he was going to sue Yeater and her lawyers for making a bogus claim. And, as we reported, Justin's lawyer, Howard Weitzman, called the attorneys and informed them a suit was looming.
The paternity lawsuit left Mariah Yeater open to a possible charge of statutory rape, because Justin was only 16 years old at the time of her claims."
*TMZ article here (x)
November 17th:
Justin does the radio interview circuit today while in New York City in promotion of his album Under The Mistletoe:
Justin sits down with 92.3 NY for a radio interview and was asked about Mariah Yeater's claims, getting serious with Selena, and what Usher thinks of them.
They first speak about Mariah Yeater and the texts she sent her friend begging him to erase evidence/text messages that admit her son's dad is someone else, promising to give him a cut of the action when she gets paid.
*full video interview here (x)
Justin sat down for an exclusive interview at the Elvis Duran Morning Show at Z100 Studio where they replayed him an interview he gave back in 2009 saying while he thought Selena was pretty, he didn't *like* her.
Justin, blushing, tells Elvis:
"My life is pretty good right now, and she's just another blessing”
*full video interview here (x)
Justin appears on The Breakfast Club Power 105.1 for an interview and talks about his Staples Centre date with Selena and how that came about
(the interviewers are pretty inappropriate to him the entire time tbh)
*full video interview here (x)
November 17th:
Mariah Yeater sent a text Wednesday to a friend, begging him to erase an incriminating text in which her mom says someone OTHER than Justin Bieber is the baby daddy, and then promising to give him a cut of the action when she scores a payday.
*TMZ article here (x)
November 20th:
Justin and Selena attend The AMA’s together in Los Angeles and walk the red carpet, arriving and departing to and from the event in a white vintage Packard Super 8.
UsWeekly reported Justin serenaded Selena during AMA rehearsals:
"At one point Justin even sang 'I Feel Good' a la James Brown. They were totally adorable. They were snuggling in between takes, and he was serenading her! They look as in love as ever."
Selena and Alfredo were filmed dancing during Justin's performance
*DailyMail article here (x)
November 21st:
Justin and Selena went out for breakfast at iHOP, the restaurant where they were first spotted holding hands last December, with their one year anniversary right around the corner — they smiled for the cameras as they walked hand-in-hand out of the restaurant in Los Angeles.
“Justin Bieber and Selena Gomez had breakfast here at about 11 a.m. They were here for about one hour. They both seemed very happy and hungry. Selena had the double blueberry pancakes and Justin had two fried eggs, two waffles, bacon and potatoes. They left a very generous tip that was double the amount of their bill and said Happy Thanksgiving before they left!”
*full article here (x)
November 22nd:
Justin is photographed in the audience of Taylor Swift’s concert in New York City where he watched Selena and Taylor performing “Who Says” together
*photo here (x)
November 23rd:
Justin appears on The View to promote his album and he talks about Selena
*full video here (x) timestamp 2:33
November 23rd:
Justin appears on The Late Show with David Letterman and talks about Selena
*full video here (x) timestamp 8:45
November 25th:
Justin plays “Who Says” on Sirius XM while he was DJing songs “he was grateful for in 2011” (aired on the 25th)
November 25th:
Justin and Selena spent Thanksgiving in Selena's home town, Dallas, Texas, with Selena's family.
They went to watch The Muppets at the Landmark Magnolia Pictures Theater, after spending Thanksgiving with Selena’s family.
“It was just the two of them, they watched the movie with the general public. They were both incredibly polite and low profile.”
“Not too many people realized they were there because they came into the screening while the trailers were running,” the insider explains. “It was dark and people didn’t see them. When they came to the theatre complex, they were both holding hands. They looked really down to earth and very happy!”
November 29th:
Fans spot and photograph Justin and Selena hugging and walking around in Utah with Jaden Smith.
The three of them were later photographed by fans ice skating at Park City Mountain Resort, which later a staff member confirmed the photo was taken there:
“Jaden was doing some crazy one-legged stuff, I guess he really thinks he is the Karate Kid. They were laughing and joking with each other. Justin joked with Selena and tried to do a doubles routine at one point. It was all very playful. Everyone was in super great moods.”
*full article / photos here (x)
November 30th:
Selena stops to take photos with fans while ice skating, where you can see Justin in the background - the fan later posts it to instagram
December 6th:
Justin and Selena were spotted leaving Los Angeles airport earlier today and landed in Cabo San Lucas, Mexico.
They were joined by Selena’s mom and stepfather Brian and on route to Selena’s friend Shannon Larossi’s beach side wedding ceremony.
*full article / photos here (x)
December 7th:
While waiting for Selena’s friend’s wedding, Justin and Selena hit up the beach in Cabo San Lucas Mexico and were spotted jet-skiing
*full article / photos here (x)
December 8th:
Selena and Justin attend and are photographed at Shannon’s wedding where Selena was one of the bridesmaids - she and Justin were photographed kissing on the beach
*full article / photos here (x)
December 9th:
Justin and Selena got in more tanning by the pool in Cabo before jetting off to D.C for Justin’s Christmas in Washington performance in Washington
*full article / photos here (x)
December 10th:
Justin and Selena are photographed arriving at Washington National Airport for Justin’s upcoming Christmas In Washington performance at The White House - the two stayed for 3 nights in the Presidential Suite at the Four Seasons Hotel
Justin and Selena visit and surprise the kids at Children's National Medical Center in D.C.Washington - Jacqueline Bowens, Executive VP of External Affairs of Children’s National Medical Center tells HollywoodLife.com exclusively:
“The kids loved them! It was a surprise for them. Justin spent quality time with all of the kids, talked to them, took pictures with them and sang to them. These are kids who are suffering from a range of illnesses such as cancer, blood disorders, orthopedic issues. None of them wants to be in the hospital…so they were beyond happy when Justin and the others arrived for their surprise visit!”
December 11th:
Justin and Selena are spotted out and about in Washington D.C before Justin is set to perform for the president.
Later that evening, Justin performs at the annual "Christmas in Washington" taping at the National Building Museum in Washington, D.C. - although Selena didn’t appear in any of the official event photos, she was spotted in the audience and took photos with fans
*full DailyMail article here (x) / full CBS article here (x)
December 12th:
Mariah Yeater’s ex-boyfriend speaks out, saying Mariah lied to seek $50k pay-day. In an exclusive jailhouse interview with RumorFix, Robert Powell says:
“She lied. We were both homeless and living in Oceanside [California] and Mariah was trying to make some quick money.”
So he says she made up the story and sold it to a tabloid for $50,000.
“She just picked him, because she thought he was famous and all and thought she could get a lot of money by telling the magazine Justin was the father. She just saw him as an opportunity to make a lot of money.”
*full article here (x)
December 14th:
Justin and Selena were seen leaving an event at L.A. Live with Ashley Tisdale in Downtown Los Angeles.
*photos here (x)
December 17th:
Justin and Selena attend Power 106 LA's Cali Christmas bash - Justin joined Drake on stage to perform "Trust Issues" during the show.
Selena abruptly left the venue and headed to be with her family after she received news of a family emergency.
*full article here (x)
December 18th:
Selena’s mom Mandy has tragically suffered a miscarriage - Selena has cancelled her concert after her mother sadly suffered a miscarriage. Citing a family emergency, Selena rushed to her mom, Mandy’s, side to comfort her.
*full article here (x)
December 20th:
Justin visits Selena and her mom Mandy in the hospital - the family are in mourning after Selena’s mother reportedly suffered a miscarriage the week prior
*DailyMail article here (x)
December 30th:
Justin and Selena are spotted at Hooters (not confirmed)
December 31st:
Justin and Selena are both in New York for each of their own work obligations where they are set to perform at - Justin performs in Times Square for 'New Year's Eve Rockin' Eve' and Selena joins Demi Lovato for MTV's live New Year's Eve special.
They meet up after each of their gigs for Justin's private NYE Party
*EW article here (x) / NYE party article here (x)
#jelena#selena gomez#justin bieber#jelena timeline#jelena masterpost#taylor swift#demi lovato#jaden smith#alfredo flores#scooter braun#Youtube#Instagram
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Post-Mortem, Sparrow Tour 2018
This was a month that felt like four months. I don’t mean that in a bad way. I mean that in the amazing way that doing all sorts of brand-new things and being very much in the moment seems to slow down time. There are articles written about this phenomena, actually: https://www.psychologytoday.com/us/blog/the-empowerment-diary/201705/how-slow-down-time. According to this article, the reason September went by so freaking meaningfully is that we were bombarding ourselves with Firsts. First big tour in support of Sparrow. First time in a long time heading back to the Northeast and Midwest. First time I had to add an actual keyboard to the list of instruments I bring on stage, and within that one instrument there were dozens of sounds I had to reproduce. Etcetera, etcetera.
We worked hard. I don’t know if it’s readily ascertainable that being in a rock and roll band is tons of work by looking at one. It’s fun work, usually, but has its moments of being very intense. Especially when a new album comes out. There is radio to do in the mornings, interviews scattered during the day, loading in and out of venues, and we added soundcheck meet & greets that meant that once we arrived in a city, we were going to be working from then until show, basically.
It’s so fulfilling, though. I am the kind of person that works hard, all the time. I push and push myself (sometimes for no seeming reason), and am frustrated and disappointed with myself when I don’t get enough done. I would be classified as a “type-A” person, and I don’t mind. But sometimes I’m just working on “things” that I’m not as passionate about. An eight hour day of working on something I’m not emotionally connected to is much more tiring than working sixteen hours a day on something I believe in and care about. Being in JLC is that kind of job.
We needed every second that we had to put this tour together. These new songs are hardto play. There is so much going on in each and every song on Sparrow. Not necessarily more than on earlier recordings, but keep in mind that we never had to re-learn songs after other albums; we had been playing them live forever before we got to the studio and didn’t change them much after. There has always been a “live version” and a “studio version” of early Jump songs.
Not this time. Jay spent a crazy amount of time accessing the original recording files and turning his voice and Ward’s cello parts into samples that I could play on the keytar. While Evan didn’t really want to play to tracks, he add some electronic drums to his repertoire to approximate some of the parts live. Ward brought two guitars on tour for the first time, and Johnny played not only electric bass but a beloved new Moog Phatty. It was complicated, felt a little bit fragile, at first, but once we got the hang of things it was fun.
Hurricane Florence, while not visiting Charleston, still brought chaos to the city. There was anxiety felt wondering whether we’d be hit and how that would affect our practice. Shops and roads started closing down and we made a move so the entire band could be close by in case of flooding. In the end we were very very lucky, but there were still repercussions for us. We were trying to fulfill our PledgeMusic items, to get them sent out before tour, but this didn’t happen because mail basically shut down in NC, SC, and GA. This put us a full week behind, and we spent the rest of the month trying to catch up on many things.
Even in the last few days of rehearsal we were all feeling a bit overwhelmed. We camped out at the Footlight Player’s Theatre and the goal was to have a “listening party”, a final rehearsal before we hit the road, and that night, to be honest, I was not ready. Lyrics weren’t memorized and I had to think way too much about parts and how to play them. We were being hard on ourselves, though, and the response was so encouraging afterwards I didn’t mind spending the rest of that week’s dinner breaks to get in some extra practice so that the songs could feel comfortable.
Once the shows began, a quick weekend to some of our favorites: Charlotte, Atlanta, Columbia, where we were starting to find our groove. Raleigh, though, and the Lincoln Theatre, was a special surprise. It was Sunday, we hadn’t had a day off in three weeks, we were exhausted. It wasn’t the largest crowd we’ve played to, but that show was so much fun. People there were there to have a good time, and it put us into overdrive. Thank you so much, Raleigh.
The next leg was in the Northeast (and DC, where I insulted many a mid-Atlantic inhabitant). We hadn’t been there in fifteen years, but every show was sold out or nearly so, and that made us feel so great. These shows were our first of the City Winery gigs, and they were good to us. Great sound, great food. There were many highlights, for me, up North. We had a duo of ASL interpreters in DC that had mad sign-singing skills, and were more fun to watch than we were. Our show at Le Poisson Rouge made us feel so sexy to sell out such a great place in the Big Apple. Performance-wise, the NYC show was my favorite performance-wise; I felt really “on” that night. The super-intimate punk-rock feel of Union Pool in Brooklyn was refreshing after the lovely but slightly clinical City Wineries. We had to put Wardie in a corner to fit on stage, and many Dirty Dancing jokes were necessary. Our old pal the Mommyheads came to play with us, and they were as good as they were 20 years ago. Lots of our fans came just to see them that night and I didn’t mind at all. We had a lovely evening off with three people that pledged for the album and got to go to a Dr. Who-themed bar with us. The trio couldn’t have been more interesting and fun to hang out with: the professional bassoonist, the research monitor, and the Facebook developer. Loved that evening, and Ward got to show off his hipster Brooklyn knowledge by taking us to great places for dinner and dessert.
And Chicago! My kind of town. Chicago was a big deal for me personally, because I knew that the audience was going to be made up of a lot of friends and family that had never seen the band before, never seen me in that light, literally. I was a little nervous about that show, and I rarely get nervous. I also wanted very much for Chicago to be the show that was 100% accessible to the d/Deaf and hard of hearing. City Winery worked so hard with me to provide CART real-time captioning for all the goofy stuff we said in-between songs. And the captioning of the lyrics was provided by my other passion job, CaptionPoint, built by my wife Lindsay and run by my dear friend Lora. It was even more successful than I had hoped, the captions looked great on both sides of the stage. It was the first time Lindsay had ever been able to fully experience a JLC show; I am sure that our stage patter was absolutely worth the wait.
Wow. As I’m writing this I realize again how relatively short the tour was: after Chicago there were only three more dates. But it felt like we did so much. We saw so many of you, talked to everyone as long as we could and took pictures. The “soundcheck parties” were so fun for us. Seeing everyone again was energizing, to me. I wished at times that I could have spent more time. You said such wonderful, heartfelt things, things that I heard very clearly and appreciated completely. I am honored that this band and music and community has meant so much to you over the years; you mean everything to us. When people told me that they liked Sparrow I knew they were telling the truth and not just making conversation. Nothing could have made us happier. Like I said: fulfilling.
Athens was a highlight: we hadn’t seen the GA Theatre since it burned in 2009. The renovation was beautiful. They managed to keep the vibe of the place while making it all so much…better. But the fans in Athens have always been a special breed and we could have played on the streets if that was the only way to get to them. In the new GA Theatre we didn’t have to.
And finally, the Charleston Music Hall. Our new home. Our new “Dock Street”, a place that just makes us feel like the chamber-pop stars we are. We will see you soon, CMH.
This post is a marathon. If you’ve gotten this far, you must be a fan of the band, so I appreciate it. I want to thank many people for making this tour and this year possible, because…contrary to pop belief, we are not a famous rock band with loads of cash and there were many many donated hours that made this tour work.
Our manager Vance’s sidekicks on the Crew were Nick Stewart, the Ultimate Intern, hazed by his boss into oblivion and seemed to love every minute. He sold you tee shirts this time, but he’s going to be running something big someday. Herbie Jeffcoat, monitors and front-of-house, the sweetest “country boy” (his words, but also true) you could want on your team. Especially funny this time was hearing Herbie converse in his potent Southern accent with the FOH in Boston with a potent accent of his own. Translators were required.
Mike Rogers: what a treat it is to have gotten to know you both as a professional sound engineer and family member. I think that if Dad and your Mom had a reason to work with each other growing up like Evan and I have with you, our families would be closer than they are. Let’s keep working at it.
Alison Kendrick! The person that would be sooo bad at being a ninja because she simply wouldn’t be able to be quiet because life is just SO MUCH FUN and worth every giggle: thank you. Teasing aside, Alison is a complete and utter professional, a doer but more importantly a Problem Solver, and I truly would not have been able to do all the things internet-related without you. Thank you for being a mentor and a real friend. If you’d like to work with Alison yourself, please go to akshouts.com
Our uncomfortably attractive lawyer Gabe Fleet is genuinely fun to hang out with, giving attorneys a good name. Old pal Josh Terry and his amazing team in Maddison and Jen at Workshop Management opened doors that are closed to most people so thank you for helping us walk through them. New friends Sue, Lindsay and Tyler at Stunt Company put us in front of the movers and shakers and some (NPR, Paste, American Songwriter) actually liked what they heard.
Chris Slack, you hold all the archival keys to our kingdom and are dear to us for much more than that. Nate Baerreis and Ed and Val Schooling Brantley made us look so cool, so often. How, we will never know. Thank you.
Thanks to our families who let us be gone as much as we have been, this year. Some of you haven’t experienced not having us around, and I know it was hard, but thank you for being so supportive. We love you.
And Chief “Not-Getting-Paid-What-He’s-Worth” is Vance McNabb, who is still working on this tour two weeks later and won’t be done for a while. There are no ways to thank you, V, except perhaps to find a way to make Sparrow huge so you can get a massive raise and hire tons of people to help you. So, we’ll work on that.
Actually…will y’all please help us work on that? If not for us, for Vance? Thank you. And thank you most of all, for letting us make this album. Sparrow is a beautiful thing to us and we’re so lucky that you wanted to hear it. We are lucky that we got to make it. But it isn’t over, is it? There are ways we can try to keep this machine going, if you are willing. More in another post.
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weekly summaries- viscera
This unit I made notes of all my weekly summaries in a pages document as I went, as I thought it would make it easier at the end of the project to then make the refletive journal. However I did forget to actually post them on my blog. Eventually I will get the weekly summaries right, I mean I only have one unit left at uni and this time I am going to do it one way or another ...
weekly summaries and evaluation below:
Weekly Summaries and Evaluation- Collaboration ‘Viscera’
Week 1
The first week of the project and we had briefing and decided to work together. Currently not sure what to do yet, only that we want to do an anthology. We like the idea of having lots of tiny stories. We know we want to work in a 2D digital drawn style as that is a style we both enjoy working in and are strongest at. The aim for the week is to do some research into different styles and come back to each other next week with some more ideas to brainstorm.
We are also collaborating on a side project currently for Glyndebourne and Norwich theatre. Which is taking up a lot of our time as it is due in in two weeks time.
Week 2
This week we met up and had a brain storm to come up with more ideas to pick from, which were;
1. One word
2. Mental health
3. Reality v expectations
4. Stuff inside stuff
We have decided that we will be making an Anthology themed around one word, to be decided, and we will be animating in 2D drawn animation. We will be playing on the fact that Eszter’s style is all about highlighting the ugly in things and I like to be the opposite and look for perfection/beauty. So this will hopefully create a nice dynamic in the animation. We plan to make several shorts and put them together to fit the one theme. It will be a slightly abstract piece as it has been discussed that the word would be something like, wig or bath mat or spatula. As Eszter enjoys working within the weird and I liked the idea of the challenge.
I am happy that we have processed from the first week and have the starts of an idea, we need to continue the research and narrow down our idea to one specific plan.
Week 3
This week we pitched our our vague idea to Peter and Helen and they suggested we could go with ugly beauty contrast as a main idea. Due to that being our own individual strengths.
Then we had a meeting at the playhouse and decided that expectations vs reality will be the theme of our idea. I wasn’t feeling very inspired by the theme of one random word. It felt a bit boring to me and when we were discussing our idea in lesson Peter pointed out that our styles are very opposite. Eszter loves to show the ugliness in things whereas I look for perfection and aesthetics. So the new plan is expectations vs reality. So we would have my style as expectations and Eszter’s as reality. Which would hopefully create a comical narrative for our anthology. We will use several different scenarios all connected by expectations vs reality.
I looked at Spongebob and when they do the really gross detailed close ups as an expectations vs reality inspo. Research is still the main objective to continue.
We also submitted our Glyndebourne project this week so I am now under less obligations and have more time to spend on the project.
Week 4
Starting from scratch and forming a new idea, when we met we admitted neither of us really liked the idea that much of expectations vs reality. We agreed that it was an idea that could work but it just didn’t excite us that much. So we have come up with a new idea based on a drawing we came up with of a fat man who had a universe inside him. The zoom idea. We will zoom out of things to show different creatures and worlds that exist in other creatures and worlds. With a different scenario/activity in each world.
I have also discovered the work of Sonia Lazo on Behance. Their work is so colourful and the characters are very wacky too which is something Eszter and I are aiming for. The work really inspired me and I would love to create something with the use of all that colour and make it a very bright and bold piece. I usually work in pastel or limited colours but I love the idea of an overly vibrant world.
Aims are to keep researching for this new idea now that we have scrapped the last one. Feeling much more excited and inspired for the project now.
Week 5
This week we had title ideas such as ‘more than meets the eye’ and ‘viscera’. I think that Viscera is the favourite for now as it is an odd sounding word and means internal which is very fitting to our project.
We began creating the schedule for the project and also the script.
Some online inspirations were Ozzy and Drix, a show I used to watch as a kid about a world that existed inside a person and all the things inside the body lived in a city and fought crime. Also the music video for Exxus by Glass Animals was inspiring, the clay world of strange creatures we really liked. We want to show a bunch of abstract worlds and creatures is this is very fitting.
Week 6
This week we have started character sketches and designing the possible characters for this world. I have so far come up with some colourful knitted worms that i like so far. I am yet to come up with anything else I really like. We have discussed doing maybe 3 or 4 different creatures each so I have one of mine and need to think of some others. I have fallen into a hole on Behance and am just constantly scrolling through and finding new artists and animations that inspire me. I have posted quite a few on my blog that have helped me feel inspired.
Week 7
We have refined character sketches and are thinking more on our idea getting closer to finalising the story. We are going to create a grandma who is the home to all these weird and wonderful worlds and creatures. We thought it would be funny to show all these different zooms and unflattering angles on the old woman to get to showing the unusual micro worlds inside. For example my knitted worms will be a zoom in on her jumper. I have another idea for zooming in on her finger tips or her ear wax too.
The plan for next week is to have concept art sketches done to show each other so we can properly combine our ideas into a story.
Week 8
This week the goal was to set a plan for over Christmas break to get work done and do the story board and any final sketches. We have decided that we will each draw our thumbnails for our ideas for the story board and Eszter will put them all together into one story board as she is writing up the script from all the notes and story boards we have shared together. There is also a new idea that we have a grandson character that we discover after a saliva tsunami kiss on the cheek from his grandma as they wait for their picture to be taken.
The goals for over Christmas break:
Eszter- finished story board and script
Me- design board and pre production document
Christmas break:
Week 9, Week 10, Week 11, Week 12
I have made a schedule to organise my final few weeks before submission as I have a lot of work to do on my essay and personal showcase projects. The collaborative project I have put in the final week before submission as it is pre production so the work load isn’t as heavy and I have done all the research part of it, its just the final drawings and type up of stuff left to do, and ideally would need to see people I am working with who are currently home in different countries busy seeing friends and family, so most likely to see them in that week to go over things in person and put stuff together properly.
Next week I will discuss with Eszter where we are in the project and what is left to do before submissions.
I will also have finished colour concept art work finished with my tasks of the design board and pre production document
I became very sick during week 11 and 12 and have lost a fair bit of time to sleeping off a flu/virus type thing with intense migraines. I have been working on designs when I can.
Submissions week:
Week13
This week has been all go and I have completed all the work with some time to spare. I got all my final concepts finished, the design board and pre production document and we even came up with a title image made from our characters spelling ‘viscera’ to put in the pre production document. It was something that came about by chance as Eszter and I were chatting over messenger about our plans and where we were up to with things. I am happy with the progress made this week and with what I am handing in tomorrow.
Evaluation
My evaluation of the project would be that overall it has been very successful. We worked together equally and completed set goals and tasks on time. The idea process did start slowly with us not being too sure what to make and we were also both working on a project for Glyndebourne and the Norwich theatre, which went very well we felt. But this did slow us down in the start of the collaborations project as we had so many things to try and do. Having said that I do think that we finished the project just as well as we would’ve without the Glyndebourne distractions and I am very happy with the idea and work we have done to go forward into production next term. I am excited to continue developing the project and to animate our ideas and watch them come to life.
I have known and been friends with Eszter for the whole of my university experience so I knew I wanted to collaborate with her as we are very like minded people and have worked together in other projects so I know that by working with her we both share the same ambitions and standards of submitting good quality work. I am confident that next term we will be able to achieve the goals and ideas we have started to create this unit and I look forward to seeing where the project adapts to next.
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Grateful Dead Monthly: Capitol Theater – Port Chester, NY 2/18/71
Fifty years ago, on Thursday, February 18, 1971, the Grateful Dead played a concert at the Capitol Theater in Port Chester, New York.
The Capitol Theater was designed by noted architect Thomas W. Lamb. It opened in 1926 as a vaudeville venue and movie palace with a capacity around 2,000. The Cap remained a cinema until 1970, when renovations transformed it into a performance space. Port Chester is thirty-five (or so) miles north and east of NYC, very close to Connecticut, so it was a nice in-betweeen stop for rock acts, including Pink Floyd, Janis Joplin, Traffic, Parliament-Funkadelic, and, obviously, the Good Ol’ Grateful Dead.
The Dead first visited the Cap for a two-night run of A/B sets in March 1970. They returned for a six-night run in February 1971.
In its post about 2/18, the Grateful Dead of the Day blog provided an overview:
These six shows at the Capitol Theater mark a transitional point for the band, which the new tunes partly evidence. The Dead had just come off their most commercially successful year to date with both Workingman’s Dead and American Beauty selling well the previous year, bringing new fans and embodying a new sound. But the boys never stood still musically, and they went into 1971 looking to continue to evolve. Pig was also becoming less and less of a presence in the mix as he played the organ and sang more infrequently. Pig’s reduced role pushed the Dead even further away from the psychedelic sound and deep blues that had been the very core of their sixties sound.
(There’s also some stuff online about the six shows being an LSD ESP experiment. Super heady, and I couldn’t be bothered to investigate much because neither acronym is in my personal bailiwick. If you’re into either/both, check out this website.)
2/18 was drummer Mickey Hart’s last show with the band until 10/20/74. Dennis McNally, GD publicist and author of A Long Strange Trip, writes that Mickey was distraught that his father Lenny, the band’s money manager, had embezzled $150,000, and had to be hypnotized before the show. He returned to California afterwards, and Bill Kreutzmann was the sole rhythm devil for more than three years.
2/18 is famous for debuts – Bertha, Loser, Greatest Story Ever Told, Johnny B. Goode, Wharf Rat, and Playing in the Band. The best song, however, isn’t any of those; it’s not even a song, but rather a noodly section toward the end of the first set’s Dark Star > Wharf Rat > Dark Star sandwich. The Beautiful Jam remains one of the Dead’s most enduring moments, so much so that it was included in the massive five-disc, career-spanning box set So Many Roads. Here’s how the Capitol Theater’s website describes the jam:
The biggest highlight of the night is the “Beautiful Jam” that took place during Dark Star > Wharf Rat > Dark Star. Not only did it set the mood for the night, it set the mood for the year. It encompasses everything that the Grateful Dead was during 1971. From the blissful confidence to the intriguing mysticism, this segment is a definitive moment in Grateful Dead history. When radio personality David Gans played the jam for Phil Lesh in 1997, it brought tears to his eyes. To this day, it is revered by Deadheads across the world – a moment in time that is etched in Capitol Theatre history forever.
YouTube has audio of Phil’s reaction.
And the Grateful Dead Guide blog has a piece about ’71 Dark Stars that breaks down the entire segment in painstaking detail:
The first Dark Star of ’71 is one of the most unusual – for starters, it’s the only Star with Mickey Hart, and the last time we’ll hear him playing that guiro (or ‘scratcher’) in the intro jam. Not only that, but there’s another instrument tinkling like little bells throughout, giving this Star a very distinctive atmosphere. I used to think this was Mickey Hart on glockenspiel (something we’d heard in the 11/8/70 Star) – but it turns out it’s actually Ned Lagin on clavichord! His first show with them had been the Boston 11/21/70 show (where he can’t be heard); now that they were in the area again, he found himself onstage again. (As Lagin said, “I brought my clavichord down precisely to do acoustic music with Jerry. And I sat in the first night…. I did not sit in after the first night because everyone was adjusting to Mickey’s departure from the band… Jerry and I jammed during the days, clavichord and acoustic guitar.” You can also hear him occasionally later in the set, as in Candyman.)
Dark Star comes early, in the first set – the crowd screams when they recognize it. Garcia loses no time after the intro in taking the music to a more ‘mystical’ level with a few carefully chosen high notes. The feeling is calm, meditative – but the jam flows like a liquid surge into a brief burst of ecstasy after just a couple minutes, provoking more screams from the audience. Garcia quickly calms it down for the verse, which he sings very emphatically. (Then Weir completely blows his usual post-verse notes!) Rather than going straight to a space, the band tests the waters for a bit, Garcia trying a couple different approaches as the others drop out. This is where Lagin enters the jam, with some ringing chimes. Garcia finds a high note he likes and stays there (with one delightful peal of feedback). The music slides into a luscious harmonic space (Weir echoing Lagin’s chimes), but Garcia quickly bursts into the Wharf Rat chords, and the others follow – the crowd realizes they’re in another song now, and cheers. This is certainly one of the most dramatic Wharf Rat entrances.
The sad tale of August West unfolds for the first time. Garcia’s singing is strong, and though Wharf Rat has a few rough edges in its first outing, there’s so much conviction in the song, it’s still spine-chilling. (It’s also uncharacteristic for a Dead song, in that Garcia just strums the chords throughout, while Weir plays the melodic part.) The little solo at the end morphs before our ears into a Dark Star space, and with a little twist of the riff Garcia brings us back to the Dark Star theme. The music speeds up, and they start a new melodic jam around two alternating chords. (Many people say this is a Tighten Up jam due to the chord resemblance – but it’s not.) Garcia uses a breathtakingly piercing tone; and his playing is especially ethereal with some swoops of harmonized feedback. But Weir and Lesh also play perfectly in support, the music guiding them, all playing with one voice. The jam goes through several variations, pausing and resuming – once Garcia has had enough, he heads straight to the second Dark Star verse while the audience whistles. As the outro slowly unwinds, everyone wonders what will come next – of all things, Weir starts Me & My Uncle. After this, the band decides it’s time for a break – Weir announces, “We’re going to take a break, and you can watch our dust.”
GD of the Day isn’t too complimentary of Bobby’s vocals in Playing, and calls that song the “lowlight of the evening.” It’s not that bad, tbh. There’s a nice quip, too, in the intro to Greatest Story. Bobby says that “Mickey wants to call this one ‘The Pump Man,’ for reasons of his own.” I had that on a tape recorded from Gans’ Grateful Dead Hour back in college. Always fun to revisit. And the Saint Stephen > NFA > GDTRFB > NFA segment has some satisfying schlap.
ECM did lotsa legwork for this post, including photos of the Taper’s Compendium pages about this show.
(Thanks, buddy. As always, couldn’t and wouldn’t do this without you.)
So, listeners, you have a couple of options. 2/18/71 is now an official release – it’s the live part of the American Beauty 50th Anniversary Deluxe Edition.
Here’s a Spotify widget to just the show.
According to LMA poster ghostofpig, 2/18/71 is the first “Betty Board” – i.e., the first soundboard recording by legendary engineer Betty Cantor-Jackson. Transport to the Charlie Miller remaster HERE.
2/19/71 is also an official release – Three from the Vault.
That one’s not on Spotify. Idk why. It’s not as good, but you can find it, and rest of the run, on the LMA. You lazy hippies will have to figure out how to get there
More soon.
JF
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April 6, 2020
Travel at home
I have always been a passionate traveler, with an insatiable curiosity for new experiences, cultures and sensations. But what also comes with all the titillation is a fair dose of unfamiliar, unsettling, and often challenging new circumstances every traveler must agily welcome if they are to thrive. When you are served dinner with no cutlery in Kalkata, scooping sloppy curry with your hands has to do. When you’re penniless and lose your companion, hours from home in Bangkok’s busy streets, you must ingratitate yourself to the kindness of strangers for bus fare to your hotel. It strikes me that this same flexibility can serve us well as we navigate the unchartered territories of this new nation we all inhabit, called COVID.
But what moves me most as I wander the world is the way in which constant new sensory input elevates my present-minded attention so intensely. My ears delight in a particularly evocative call to prayer in Morocco. My mouth savors the sour sweetness of a Colombian maracuya (passionfruit). And my nose even appreciates the cow dung furnaces on the side of the road in India. It is like meditation in motion. After each journey, when I return home, I set the earnest intention to sustain such sensory focus at home. But as the days pass, this consistently becomes increasingly difficult. However now, with little opportunity to venture much more than metres from our door, we need new strategies to remain sane and stimulated. So, I think we can all benefit from living like tourists at home. I believe there is a science to this. I’ve even coined a term for it. It came from a time when I heard education expert Ken Robinson define the word aesthetics. Associated with beauty, most think of the definition as subjective. But he simplified this by pointing out that the opposite of aesthetics is anaesthetics (that which numbs our senses). So, aesthetics are those things which make us feel. Since this revelation, I have come to call myself an aesthesiologist because I believe that all artists are in the business of making people feel. And this is why I feel that sharing artistic resources on this blog is the best medicine I can offer as we all ride out this crisis together.
So, maybe today you can consiciously pay attention to some subtle new observation each of your senses notice in your environment. The way the light hits your tea kettle at dawn. The call of a returning bird at spring time. The crunch of the potato chips that you’re binging on right now. Lately, I’ve certainly learned to feel extra fortunate that I can taste or smell at all, because my husband completely lost his sense of smell 3 weeks ago. Most have probably heard that this is an alarming and bizarre potential sign of COVID, particularly in people with no other symptoms. So, having come thru full incubation period, we’re at least past the scare that it could have become worse or that he might have infected myself or others with whom he’d had contact prior to quarantine. But he never thought he’d look so forward to the day he could smell my farts again. (Meanwhile, I’m indulging in all the beans and garlic I want)
At any rate, if home sensations don’t tickle you enough, there is always virtual travel. And while that certainly risks inspiring a vicarious longing that may not serve you, for others, it can elicit some of the same wonders as adventures themselves. So, if you’re craving sensory immersion into other worlds, New York Times can help you do this with their 13 recommended travel podcasts.
https://www.nytimes.com/2020/04/09/travel/travel-podcasts.html?action=click&module=Top%20Stories&pgtype=Homepage&contentCollection=AtHome
I know I have certainly spent many days in quarantine wallowing over my screensaver trip photos, longing for a time when I could journey further afield once more. But I have also been swept away by the photographic brilliance of some of the work that the New York Times is featuring weekly, in their World Through a Lens column. Marcus Westerberg’s shots of Zambian wildlife (https://www.nytimes.com/2020/03/31/travel/zambia-safari.html) were particularly emotional for me, having just had one of the most meaningful travel experiences of my life there, last year, when I served as resident visiting artist at a music school in Lusaka. In fact, I arrived exactly one year ago, today, and can’t wait to return to those magical people. A girl has to dream, after all...
April 7, 2020
Creativity at Home
If any of you are variety-mongers like me, seeing only the same person or people, day in and day out, can have you dressing up your spouse in wigs or Hawaian skirts or bear costumes just to mix things up a bit. But largely, I’ve been hearing that many parents and siblings are embracing ways to capitalize on their excessive togetherness. I think it’s why the show Survivor has been so successful all these years. Forced into small spaces and “tribes”, we tend to do whatever it takes to get along with our fellow captives. Cooped up together for days on end, there is no limit to the clever activities some families have created to keep themselves occupied.
This crew took a simple tube and board of wood to create some exercise apparatus that has kept them busy for hours: https://www.google.ca/amp/s/www.cbc.ca/amp/1.5518064
Others are taking vicarious travel to the next level with some Photoshop fun - https://www.nytimes.com/2020/04/07/travel/coronavirus-fake-travel.html
And the most impressive might be this 5-person brood, each with operatic quality voices, who belt out their rendition of One More Day, from Les Miserable.
https://www.bbc.com/news/av/uk-52106893/coronavirus-family-goes-viral-with-lockdown-les-mis-song-adaptation
But, if you happen to be stumped for ideas yourselves, here are a few ways you can kickstart your family’s creativity. A bunch of resourceful theatre company’s have been commissioning playwrights to create short Plays at Home, designed for actors and amateurs alike to perform in their own living rooms. Most are staged for 1-7 humans, with joyful themes, and participants are welcome to share video recordings of their readings.
https://www.playathome.org/?fbclid=IwAR3_Uib1GQV5134ZbF7IEI5F5lpt0HQdxYkd1HtiNeUFws1UKCvVV4_2KEQ
And right here in Vancouver, my friend Vanessa Richards is finding thoughtful ways to engage community in collaborative singing, by sustaining her weekly free choir sessions, now in Livestream, every Wednesday, from 6-7:30. You can check out Van Van Song Society here: https://www.facebook.com/groups/togethersinging/
April 8, 2020
Quarantine Living - Al Yankovic style Some of you may be too young to recognize this reference to our favorite weasly moustached 80’s bard, who humorously bastardized everything from Queen’s Another One Rides the Bus to Michael Jakcson’s Eat It, with his own comic lyrics. But lately, like our Les Miserable family, Weird Al Yancovic’s “wordsquatting” trend is spreading more virally than corona.
This original take on the Beatles, I gotta wash my hands is a classic. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OxOJ7hh3H-I
For more potty humor, I adore this Philipino artists’ no-toilet paper campaign, I love tabo- https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Vzb98tQp53I
And certainly, the most high tech example has come from Vancouver’s own Phoenix Chamber Choir, in their rendition of the hugely popular Queen song, Coronavirus Rhapsody- https://www.cbc.ca/player/play/1720158275935?fbclid=IwAR3gEdqv95oX4KT_W4F4_naJyASRhUaGpr-T56Aux9k4tCStGvow9xgHIQw
April 9, 2020
Reading Respite Endless screentime has probably left many of us fatigued and squinting, with a need for stronger reading glass prescriptions that we can’t fill, because all the optometry shops have shut down. So, these next suggestions are offered with that caveat. However, for me, the tactile experience of a book in my hand can still be a nourishing antidote to digital overload. Often just a page is capable of transporting my body, mind and soul away from news feeds, virus counts, and press conferences.
Never a fan of e-readers, I have always passionately supported my local bookshops. And thankfully, there is a current intiative intended to do the same, at a time when the threat of a certain Capital A behometh taking over global commerce is greater than ever. So, you can actually feed your spirit and your neighborhood bookseller by purchasing any literary craving here. Thanks to the new site, bookshop.org, you can order what you’d like from the local bookstore of your choice, while this company acts as liason. And the fair split allows your local vendor to keep 30% of total profit, when direct sales that are no longer possible for them may have only been slightly more (40-45%).
As far as what to stories to consume at a time like this, it has amazed me how much films like Contagion and Outbreak have had huge resurgences. This tells me that relevance and resonance are key factors in people’s entertainment choices. However, if you’re looking for something that relates to your current circumstances, but leaves you not with more fear, but with actual hope, inspiration, or tools for survival, here are a few better options:
Emily St. Mandel’s Station Eleven is, in fact, a post-apocalyptic tale. But her narrative’s most clever survivors form a travelling Shakespeare troupe, demonstrating the power of art to heal in dire times.
For some existential musing reaped in self-isolation, Thoreau’s Life in the Woods always still provides.
And if the new stressors arising from this crisis find you busier than ever, but you long to slow down, travel journalist, Pico Iyer, in his prophetic 2014 book, The Art of Stillness, makes a strong case for the fact that “in our madly accelerating world, our lives are crowded, chaotic and noisy. So, there’s never been a greater need to slow down, tune out and give ourselves permission to be still.”
April 10, 2020
How Might We Fill This Space?
Never before have Memes, Tik tok or Cat Videos provided such many needed lifelines for people all over the world. But the video that most stirred me to action was this stunning dance collaboration that popped up in my Facebook feed, during the early days of self-isolation, before my first Zoom conference, before I’d seen my first collaborative musical Quarantine Song spoof. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=B3pFxsYPLgU
This global initiative to weave together dance gestures, while performers were entirely physically separate, seeded the idea for a community art and writing project that I have recently started with a few friends.
In an effort to connect artists during this physically distant time, we have launched Spool of Thought. And all artistic contributions are welcome to the thread.
https://www.instagram.com/spoolofthought2020/
On this page, we invite people to respond to the question, “How might we fill this space?”as we adjust to different rhythms of being. The idea is to weave together our thoughts, through the fluid form of cursive writing, in a non-linear narrative documenting this unique time on our planet.
The full instructions are below, for those interested and eager to participate:
1.Using Notes (iPhone) or Evernote (Android) and the digital pen, draw a continuous cursive line from the left to right side of the note (arranged horizontally) and write a word, phrase or sentence that responds to the prompt: How Might We Fill This Space?
2. Save it to your photos.
3. Then,send it by email to: [email protected], and we will add your text to the Spool of Thought Instagram page.
4. Please include your name, your location, your occupation, and your Instagram@ for the caption of your photo.
5. And feel free to share this invite with your community, along with these instructions.
6. Finally, enjoy watching the spool unravel on @spoolofthought2020, as the thread grows, and tag us wherever you choose to share: #spoolofthought2020.
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Kim Namjoon - College!AU
Lemme just say that I love you guys for the attention you’re giving my other scenarios!
Word Count: 2162
Just a note: I imagined all of them as Run era, those hair styles and clothes etc.
and thanks to the porn blogs, hope you’re enjoying these too!
You were a freshman in college majoring in dance and modern literature
Your best friends since middle school Jungkook managed to get into the same college as you so you were both hyped to get started there
He was also majoring in dance but minored in music production
While you didn’t really have an interest in fraternities and all the Greek Life™, Jungkook was set on joining one of the best
Beta Tau Sigma
Being a people-person, he knew a few people in there already
A.k.a some of the most popular boys on campus
These connections got the guy in before pledges started
Even before the year started for that matter
Before your classes started full-time you wanted to go out for a last breath of freedom
Jungkook insisted that you should get to know some of the guys from the frat, and you (somewhat reluctantly) agreed
There ended up being 8 of you all out there just randomly walking the streets and going around parks for the whole day
You met each of them and discovered that they’re all great guys and not complete fuck-boys like movies put them out to be
There was Kim Taehyung a 2nd Year theatre major minoring in art
2nd Year Park Jimin who’d be sharing your dance classes
Jung Hoseok, 3rd Year, another dance major minoring in music production with Jungkook
Min Yoongi, also a 3rd Year, in music production and classical literature
Kim Namjoon, 3rd Year, in music production and theoretical physics
and finally Kim Seokjin, 4th Year, from theatre and biochemistry
When you all felt hungry, Seokjin lead the way to his favourite restaurant
It was a fairly small diner on side street not 20 minutes away from the college and had a 50′s theme
There were jukeboxes on every table, tall red bar stools, leather booths and waitresses dressed in classic periodic dresses
Since they boys had been eating at the place for so long, they knew the staff like family and introduced yourself and Jungkook
All of you managed to fit into a booth in the corner (somehow) but it was tight
You were squashed sat between Namjoon and Taehyung, their heights surrounding you making you feel rather small in comparison
It’s not exactly a bad feeling, you’re just not used to it with it usually being just you and Jungkook eating together
Taehyung recommended some of the meals to the two of you, mainly burgers
When the food comes, it smells greasy, delicious and in no way good for you
Perfect
After a long time of walking around, everyone’s appetites were huge, meaning that the food was practically absorbed by all the guys
After eating, you all started talking about anything that came to mind
You found out that Jin is a semi-successful youtuber by the name “EatJin”
Taehyung was a part-time model for a small chain store in Seoul
Yoongi was trying to save up for a personal studio
Jimin had been dancing for 9 years and met Hoseok at his dance school
And Namjoon was notorious for breaking everything he touched, including people.
“One time in his 2nd year, we were playing beer pong and he picked up a cup that he was about to drink. The cup just literally split in half and got the alcohol all over him”
The boys re-told stories of how Namjoon almost hurt himself or others by destroying something, each one making you and Jungkook laugh harder than the last
By the time they’d finished, Namjoon looked ready to drown in all his shame and you’d finally reached the dorms
Jungkook headed off to the Beta Tau Sigma dorm and you went back to your own that you shared with a couple of other first year girls
They all had the idea of coming here a week early to meet everyone and get used to the area
There was Lisa from Thailand who was the first one you’d met
Dahyun from Seongnam who was kind of shy at first but was warming up to you
And lastly Yoojung, a short, bubbly girl from Guri
They all seemed fun and sweet so hopefully you wouldn’t feel too out of place
All four of shared a small apartment in the largest dorm building
There were four small bedrooms, a living room, kitchen and (thank god) two bathrooms
There wasn’t any food in the kitchen since everyone arrived today so everyone decided on take-out
It was nice to get to know the girls for the night and you all knew that you’d be good friends
Lisa wanted to join a sorority, as did Yoojung: Beta Phi and Iota Omega Iota, respectively
After finishing the take-out everyone headed to bed, there was still some unpacking to do, but that could wait
The week leading up to college starting was fairly uneventful
You hung around with the guys from the frat and the girls but nothing too interesting happened
Unless you count witnessing some of Namjoon’s destructive abilities on an innocent fake cactus
But obviously, a classic welcome to college isn’t complete without a party before the year starts
It was going to be held at the Beta Tau Sigma house, and everybody would be going
No other frats were holding parties that night, not even Epsilon Xi Omega, the second biggest frat and Beta Tau Sigma’s best friends
So in true college fashion, you and your dorm-mates get ready together and prepare for a night of alcohol, dancing and more alcohol related things
You all gather in Lisa’s room since she has the biggest, bringing your makeup and top 3 outfits to possibly wear
after half an hour of deciding you go for a red top exposing your shoulders and collarbones and high-waisted skin-tight black jeans, with some black strappy high heels
Yoojung was almost matching you, but she had a light pink version of a similar top
Lisa opted for a leather and fishnet look, completely covering herself in the stuff, and black combat boots, making her ginger hair stand out
Dahyun had a checked skirt and a white top, showing her, despite being fairly small, long legs
After a group effort of doing make-up, you headed over to the frat house
You were greeted at the door by Seokjin, already with a red solo cup in hand
He lead the way in and you found Jungkook while the other 3 went their own ways
Jungkook was stood with Jimin and Hoseok who both shouted and whistled as you arrived
“Ayy, y/n, looking fiiiiinneee”
Yeah, they’re hella drunk
Jungkook, not so much, thankfully
Yoongi, Namjoon, Taehyung and Seokjin came over to see what the fuss was about and when thy realised it was just you they seemed.... disappointed?
Well just sad that it wasn’t someone to get with
You caught Hoseok winking at Namjoon out of the corner of your eye but thought nothing of it
Just boys being boys
Yoongi poured you a strangely coloured drink into the obnoxiously bright cup and handed it you
“What is this?”
“Does it really matter?”
“Not at all”
“Good because I have no idea”
Before you began to drink, Taehyung stopped you
“Wait! I know something we can do... I learnt it from my British friend: Weeee like to drink with y/n, ‘cause y/n is our mate, and when we drink with y/n they get it down in 8!”
As all of them counted down from eight you poured the alcohol down your throat, not prepared for the strong and sour taste
You got it down by 2, and nearly choked in the process, but the round of applause from everyone around you was worth it
You slapped Taehyung on the shoulder for springing the challenge on you like that but laughed along with them
After you all had a few more drinks, a new song started up and Hoseok basically dragged the boys onto the floor
“Dollar, Dollar, Squandering it all in one day~
Run, Run, I make and waste my own money”
The lyrics didn’t seem all that dance-able, but they made it work
They’re all in sync, the crowd making a gap for them to dance and cheering them on
The chorus kicks in and in true Frat Style™ they throw in a classic: The backpack kid dance
Starting off slow then going again faster with some added moves in between
Even Jungkook knows the dance
He’s only known everyone for a week and here he is, dancing like he’s been doing it for years with them
When the song finished you end with a final round of applause and meet the boys with a group hug
You gushed over how good the performance was as they all reclaimed their drinks
“That was actually amazing, i didn’t expect it to be that good!”
“I could have done better, I’m not a good dancer”
“Namjoon shut up, you’re a great dancer”
Namjoon blushed and turned away at your words, not wanting you to see how that got to him
A song you liked came on after a while so, being a little bit tipsy, you grabbed the guys and started dancing with them on the dancefloor
You didn’t have a choreographed dance like theirs so you relied on your freestyle moves to work some magic
It seemed to work as the guys started cheering as you started dancing with Jimin, both of you rather into it
So into it that you didn’t see Namjoon slink off into a corner with his drink
Your song finished and Jimin pulled you into a hug before letting you go, high on the adrenaline of the dance
After another hour, you’re feeling probably a little too tipsy for your own good, so you head upstairs to a quieter area to sober up a little
You knock on one of the doors to see if anyone was in there
You hear a soft “Come in” from the other side in a barely recognisable voice
“Namjoon?”
He was lying down face first on the bed but sat up as you opened the door
“Oh hey y/n, what are you doing up here?”
Just wanting some fresher air and something a little quieter... you?”
“Yeah same, i’m not feeling the best”
“Oh, sorry to hear that”
You closed the door as you walked in and sat next to him on the bed
“What happened?”
“Nothing too much, just remembered that my destructive powers get incredibly high when i’m drunk and i saw a few things i didn’t want to”
“What did you break?”
“A vase and the taps”
“What? How did you break the taps?”
“I honestly don’t know, I wanted to use them but the head just... came right off...”
You couldn’t help the loud laughter that came out of you but you did nothing to try and stop it
“Hey it’s not that funny!” He said before bursting into a fit of giggles himself
Oh shit that’s very cute, you thought
You lay down across the bed and Namjoon followed suit
His tinted glasses fell at an awkward angle so he threw them off the bed and onto the floor
Surprisingly they didn’t break
You both lay there for a few minutes, relaxing in the quiet hum of the music from downstairs
“Hey, y/n”
“Yeah?”
“Do pigeons have feelings?”
“Namjoon what the fuck?”
“No I’m being serious, they’re animals but they’re also like, the dumbest animals, so would they?”
“Honestly I don’t know, I guess so, but they’d probably only be the basic emotions of fear, happiness, anger & sadness...”
The two of you continued to talk about odd and somewhat philosophical stuff until you realised how close you’d gotten while talking
You and Namjoon were barely inches apart
He saw the close proximity and looked you dead in the eye with a little smirk
“Lookin’ a little warm there y/n”
“Shut up”
Namjoon closed the gap between you two and kissed you
He tasted of cheap beer and jelly shots, but he made it work
You stayed like that, just kissing and enjoying each other’s presence for another half an hour before a slightly drunk Jungkook came looking for you
He dragged the two of you downstairs and you saw that almost everybody had left, just a few people on the sofas and one passed out in the kitchen
Namjoon grabbed your hands before you left and kissed your knuckles, making you promise to see him again before the term starts
Shaking your head at his cheesiness, you accepted his promise and left the frat house, but not before Namjoon slyly winked at you while leaning on the door frame
Hoseok grabbed him by the collar and pulled him inside, waving exaggeratedly at you as you left, making you laugh and wave back
As you headed home you couldn’t help but think about your time spent with Namjoon and his promise...
You had a lot to tell the girls
Hope you enjoyed!!
#Namjoon#hyunglinenetwork#raplinenetwork#bts#bangtan#scenario#college au#whoooooo its scenario day again#rap monster#rap mon
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“Ignorance is bliss ‘tis a folly to be wise”
These words by Thomas Grey referred to the inevitable suffering that resulted from “growing up”, he urged youngsters to stay innocent as long as possible.
But this is no Neverland, here we DO enter adulthood.
I love reading, but I am also a huge movie fan, and in my personal collection I own copies of “The Matrix” and “Pleasantville”. If there are any who have not watched both of these movies, then I would urge you to make a plan to do so. I was recently inspired to write a blog entry based on “Pleasantville”, but I’ve made dozens of false starts with this entry, and the words have not flowed… Then I realised something the other day, “Pleasantville” and “The Matrix” actually share a common theme.
Let me start closer to the beginning of this story;
I’ve been sorting out my life, reducing the clutter, organising those things that I choose to keep. I’m sure everyone who lived in the era of film photography has a box of photo prints lying around? Mine has been with me since the last photos I had taken somewhere around 2001, many of them have been water damaged during my homeless times, and others were of memories that up until recently retained enough painfulness for me to shy away from exposing them often.
But things change, and I’ve got to the point where I don’t mourn the loss of those “good times” as much as I enjoy the memories of them, so I started organising them into collages, and as I did I took photo’s of some of them and shared them with friends on social media.
Many people responded with “you looked so happy then”
I immediately got on the defensive!
It was my self analysis regarding WHY this got me on the defensive that led to this train of thought.
“You looked so HAPPY then…” ;
These days we have a camera embedded in a little device we carry with us all the time, not only that but the pictures it takes are of a high quality, instantly available and free! Back in the Jurassic Era I grew up in, cameras were not always on hand, film was expensive and so was processing that film into prints, and to top it all off, one waited a week for the film to be processed after handing it in at the newsagents or pharmacy. So having a photo taken was an occasion! And you only really took the trouble to carry the camera when there was a REASON to. And no, we didn’t take a photo to show how miserable we were! So largely old photo’s were a record of the good times! This accounts for a proportion of the apparent “happiness”…
In my reality MANY of the “occasions I refer to above were the times spent with my now ex-wife as we progressed from dating, to courtship and into marriage. She and I were separated by 1,100km (700miles) for the first 7 years of our relationship, not only that, but the cult religion she and I were born into forbid dating among those “not yet ready for marriage”; so for much of that time we conducted our relationship in secrecy. We would spend a few weeks together every six months during school vacations, and obviously these were wonderful times as we made up for the months of pining and misery in-between, and we took photos during those happy times to remember them and each other. We didn’t take photos when we cried during farewells, nor of the stress and worry inflicted on us by the punishment from the church elders for indiscretions like “holding hands”. So many of these photo’s were of short periods of intense happiness separated by months of misery and despair.
But, eventually we married, and set up home together, we progressed in our respective careers, we accumulated material possessions, and took full advantage of the glamour and entertainment available to a pair of yuppies in Cape Town during the 1990’s. We drove sports cars and motorcycles, we lived with a sea view, we dined at some of the finest restaurants in the world, we frequented the theatre, the Opera House and the music concerts. We hobnobbed with the rich and the famous, the beautiful and the talented. There was little reason NOT to be happy!
Some people pursue that lifestyle their whole lives, they sail through mild seas and keep close to the shore, where life is easier and safer, and more secure. They come home to the boring spouse and hide the secret lover, they live cautiously and retire comfortably. There is nothing WRONG with these choices, except that these individuals generally lack the imagination to empathise with what the “other people” go through.
I speak from experience here, I used to judge others harshly, as compared to my own frame of reference. I knew a girl who had had an abortion while she was a teenager, illegal back in the puritan “Old” South Africa, she lied to her parents and the authorities and claimed to have been raped by “a Black man”, which of course ensured a legal abortion. My then Wife and I were extremely judgemental towards her and her morals. I would publicly attack smokers whose smoke intruded into my space. I would proudly assert that our Christian morals and stance against blood transfusions made us immune to the AIDS epidemic of the time. I judged those who were unfaithful to their spouses as hypocrites and sinners. I believed that only those of my Religious Sect would be saved from imminent destruction! Those who were not able to pay their monthly bills were wasteful and undisciplined.
When my wife admitted to having had an affair, I felt somewhat less invulnerable to STD infection. When I was comforted by that same woman who had had the abortion and ended up in her bed, I felt less self-righteous. When the divorce blew down the house of cards of my debt-based finances, I felt less fiscally disciplined. When I got hooked on tobacco during a drunken party I felt ashamed of how I shouted at those whose smoke drifted my way. When I ended up in a relationship with a separated, but still legally married woman, I felt hypocritical.
Unlike Neo in the Matrix, I never made the conscious choice to swallow the Red Pill, someone must’ve slipped it into my drink while I wasn’t watching!
“Spirituality” is somewhat of a fad at present, people wear it like a religion and they believe that “Spiritual Awakening” occurs wearing Yoga Pants, sitting in the Lotus Position chanting Ohmmmm.
In my case it came disguised as depression and self-destruction.
For Me, “Spiritual Awakening” wasn’t building a temple in the mountains, it was tearing down and setting fire to everything I owned so that something new could be built on the scorched earth left behind.
I found a major flaw in much of the teachings of The Law of Attraction, it is this concentration on consumerism. Much of the focus of many of the teachers is on Material Wealth…
Actually, maybe that is all as it should be, because again, I must correct my line of reasoning, The Law of Attraction is of itself not about spirituality, it may borrow from many of the practices of Spirituality such as Meditation, and entering into elevated states of consciousness, but at the root of it all, it is about manifesting change in our lives, rather than about embracing change in our lives. Do you pick up the difference? MANIFESTING change is about making a choice as to what we choose, EMBRACING change is about adapting to changes in our lives.
We live in a global society that has manufactured a set of standards to which we are expected to conform. This I guess is what we refer to as our “civilisation”. Consumerism is the central ideology of this global civilisation, and it is imposed upon us from the moment of birth, some may argue that it begins even before that.
The best neo-natal care and nutrition creates physically superior bodies
The best educational toys creates superior intellectual abilities
The best dental care creates an attractive smile
The best juvenile nutrition ensures a pattern of healthy eating
The best schooling ensures qualification to attend the best Universities and Colleges
The best Universities and Colleges ensures superior earning potential
The best Looking, best educated and higher earning individuals attract the best Looking, best educated and higher earning spouses.
The best Looking, best educated and higher earning couples have the potential to breed superior offspring…
The unfortunate results of the rutting of the less privileged start life with a disadvantage…
And how do we show that we are successful in this civilization? By what we own, by what we drive, by what we wear, by whom we mate with.
A year ago, I found myself in a very dark place. I was chronologically in the middle of a conflict with a family member, what started out as a simple disagreement over taking sides in a couple’s divorce escalated as neither of us was prepared to back down. Insults were traded until eventually he struck the blow below the belt that knocked me for the count… He asserted that I am a failure in life, and while I intellectually knew that to be rubbish spouted by an ageing narcissist, I saw myself through his eyes and that was very painful for me.
For some time now I believe that I have seen through this whole Zeitgeist, I see how we are manipulated into what to wear, and how to act, who to have sex with and where to live, what to drive and where to drive to. I came to understand how we are manipulated into religious, nationalistic, racial and cultural divisions so that we can be controlled and played like the pawns that we choose to be.
Once you understand these things, then clothes become something to keep us warm and protected, covering our nakedness because the alternative is legally and culturally unacceptable. A vehicle becomes a tool, a means to travel and transport goods from place to place. A cellphone ceases to be a status symbol, but becomes a communications tool and portable computer. A dwelling becomes a shelter. A life partner is chosen on merit rather than the standards of physical beauty created by the fashion industry.
But this person asserted that I was lazy, that my “messing around building furniture” was not an acceptable vocation, that my vehicles and my appearance are a disgrace. More than that he announced these things on public forums from where I conduct business.
Now as I said before, INTELLECTUALLY I understand that all of what this person was accusing me of was based on his own desperate clinging to the illusion he believes to be reality.
“Those still invested in the illusion hate those who have woken up” – Kim Warner
But my own self-esteem was fragile enough to take this to heart, and I did!
Healing was a slow process because as ones self-esteem is damaged so things collapse, and no matter what we may or may not believe about the Law of Attraction, when we feeling bad about ourselves, bad things seem to happen to us.
Self-Love is not vanity, that was something I had to teach myself ever since my mother and her Cult indoctrinated me to the contrary. No, Self-Love is vital, it it taking care of yourself first because when you give everything to someone else and have nothing left for yourself, then no one is there to help you. Self-Love is taking a vacation so that you become recharged. Self-Love is spending the money to go to the Doctor and the Optometrist so that you can function better. Self-Love is building something beautiful for YOURSELF
Self Love is making Collages out of your old photos so that you can remember the happy times.
This brings me back to those two movies, The Matrix was about seeing through the artificial, superficial illusion that we are conditioned into believing to be real. Pleasantville is about two modern teenagers who are transported back into the black and white world of a 1950’s television sitcom. In Pleasantville, everything was “pleasant” the Fire Department’s only task was rescuing cats out of trees, because fire did not exist, sex didn’t exist, art didn’t exist, not as a form of expression anyway, music was “pleasant”, everybody was “pleasant” to each other and even the weather was “pleasant” all the time, it never even rained in “Pleasantville”.
As these two teenagers interacted with these “pleasant” people they caused a chain reaction. The girl, played by Reese Witherspoon was a stereotypically sexually promiscuous cheerleader, and she introduced the “Pleasantville” teenagers to sex, Tobey Maguire, who played the nerdish boy introduced the citizens of “Pleasantville” to such concepts as art appreciation and taught the Fire Department how to extinguish a fire…
As people were influenced, they appeared in full colour, some were ashamed of this and tried to hide their “colour” behind makeup and clothing, others flaunted it. Life became less and less “Pleasant” in “Pleasantville”, adultery, rioting, fires, mob-justice, segregation all became part of life in “Pleasantville”, but the other side-effect was that people grew, that while life was no longer always “pleasant”, it could also reach heights of bliss and valleys of despair.
The hero of “The Matrix” chose to take the Red Pill, and as a result he was ejected from the comfortable illusion and subjected to the harsh life of a resistance fighter. Like me, the residents of “Pleasantville” never got to consciously choose, but each of them grew exponentially as a person.
I reacted SO defensively to “you looked so happy then”, because that was the bliss of ignorance, not the satisfaction of being fully awake in a world of sleepwalkers.
Go Forth and BE AWESOME
All My Love
Kim
Happiness and the Illusion “Ignorance is bliss ‘tis a folly to be wise” These words by Thomas Grey referred to the inevitable suffering that resulted from “growing up”, he urged youngsters to stay innocent as long as possible.
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2017.08.14 Konchuuger 2 Review!
I was super happy to be able to see the next installment of Konchuuger! I was so ready to be entertained and see what the next stage of their ridiculous tale would me! Also Ise Daiki came back but as a different character so I was wondering if they were going to make fun of that fact!
Official Website here Official Blog here Official Twitter here Press Coverage 1, 2, 3, 4, 5 Video Coverage 1 DVD Purchase here
CAST and CHARACTERS
☆KONCHUUGER Moto Fuyuki as Tokiwa Sou Ebisawa Kenji as Banri Choji Saito Shuusuke as Eiffel Thomas Momose Saku as Tahjima Haruo Suda Maasa as Sakurada Asuka Familia
☆HACHUURUI TEIKOKU Okuda Tsutomu as Snake Shougun Kadoshima Mamio as Tokage Sanbou Yasukawa Junpei as Chameleon Shousa Ozeki Riku as Turtle Gunsou Hori Yuuki as Yamori Shakudan
☆NEO-KONCHUUGER Ise Daiki as Kaminari Mon Saga Yui as Sukaitsu Lily Tanzawa Seiji as Gojyuuno Tougo Saito Kyouhei as Hanayashi Kiichi Fujio Kantaro as Kamiryoku Shark
Kurata Naoki as Bird Kizoku TAKA as Hoshi Atomu Kaide Kousuke as Chef Yamizaki
Ensemble: Mitsuman Kohei, Itakura Takeshi, Ayano Hana and Hagihara Tatsuro
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NON-SPOILER REVIEW Overall: This was a blast! This had lots of comedy in it and was a lot of fun as expected! The bad guys this time were even more ridiculous and I loved how the Hachuurui guys came back and how they worked in the story. Once again MMJ balanced the comedy and the serious meaningful moments very well. Albeit, it's not AS funny as the Saien for the first stage (reviews for these here and here) but it was still enjoyable; some parts dragged just a tad but didn't blemish the stage overall. I am definitely hoping for a 3rd installment in this series and you bet your ass I already preordered the DVD for both this and the saien << they come as a double pack. I really hope Hachuurui come back again in the third one because I want to see my JP is more stuff but only time will tell << I have a feeling they won't come back though. Rating: 7/10
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SPOILER REVIEW
STORY
The story this time is about how a group of people figured out a way to make the same potion as what turned the Konchuugers, and their plan is to take this potion, that should take hundreds of years to turn them, so that they can be the new, hip, better generation after the Konchuuger have gone and passed. BUT, it backfires when the potion works a little TOO well and it only takes a year for them to turn super human. Meanwhile, the Konchuuger decided to go their seperate ways for a bit to go and enjoy life, or to go and figure themselves out now that the Hachuurui gang are a threat to society. BUT because of this new NeoKonchuuger group trying to destroy the Konchuuger and trying to get the Hachuurui team to join them. BUT the konchuuger act fast and try to get to the Hachuurui before the Neo guys do. That’s the main chunk of the plot; who will persuade who over? We also have Tokiwa Sou who is all alone on a rooftop and has become somewhat depressed since the Konchuuger went their own ways and he is at a loss of what to do with his life and that leaves him open to alien prey; specifically a giant bluebird who claims he wants to be his friend. But in actual fact, he has put Joe in a deep sleep and hopes to keep him there with him for all eternity.
PRESHOW
In the preshow, one guy came out cross-dresses on stage just as a kid came into the theatre and said to his mother 'kowaii!! / he’s scary!’ And the guy was so distraught like 'kowai?!??’ We all died laughing but kids being kids, he didn’t realise he’d been overheard nor that he’d just been spoken to xD
On the day I went, they had a special guests who turned out to be the previous Turtle Gunsou; Kosaka Ryoutarou. He ended up helping in the preshow with the crossdresser - who I'm pretty sure was Mitsuman Kohei - explain the 5 rules of the theatre. They explained these rules by doing a skit which was the girlfriend (played by Mitsuman) getting really angry that when they go to the theatre, he plays on his phone, he's loud, and he just doesn't understand what's wrong with it. Eventually he learns and they get all lovedovey. But Mitsuman would push him off his chair and would force to hold hands with Ryoutarou and stuff and he did really well not cracking too much. Ryoutarou is so cute but so damn tall and skinny though!! He looked good! At the end, with the live, they got him onstage and joined in with the ending song xD
THE STORY BREAKDOWN
The first person the Konchuuger try to bring to their side is Yamori and Tokage who have decided to open their very own Neko/Cat Cafe, and just as you would imagine; it was hilarious. The cats ended up being JP, Kurata and Mitsuma in black onesies and cat ears on! I absolutely died when JP walked onstage with freaking cat ears on and doing nyaaaaa and being all cat-like… omg it was so adorable!!! And Kurata was freaking adorable too! I coudn't decide which one I should pay more attention to between them two! There was a moment where JP led on Kurata and pretended to be sleepy or sleeping and it was so cute!!! I didn’t pay attention to what the hell was going on at all in the story when that was happening with them! They were such good cats and so adorable!!!!! And then it got even crazier when Itakura Takeshi came on with this ridiculous cat make-up and he was like the humanoid version of a cat! He was like a mafia boss cat thing. But then Tokage and Yamori managed to tame him and got him to see them as his parents and as his mommy so he joined the rest of the cats and became cute. BUT he first came on from the side door and had this megaphone and he started his sentence but the megaphone was still ringing it's alarm and he couldn't turn it off easily so we all cracked up laughing. Thie battle in this scene was Yamori and Tokage versus Hanayashi Kiichi who’s personality is; everything is done by the book. So he walked on stage with this massive file with all their information and also inside it were lots of persuading and battle strategies and tactics BUT because the Mafia Cat wasn’t part of any of his scenarios and because the Konchuuger (who was Banri Chouji) was so predictable, that he started to go a little insane and was yelling like ‘why won’t these plans work?! Why is it not going as planned?!’ and Tokage and Yamori finished him off before asking him to join their simple little cat cafe which doesn’t have any complicated rules to follow. So he accepts.
Then, they went to Turtle Gunsou who had not only made it as a YouTube star, but also now had his own record label and recording studio. However, thanks to the NeoKonchuuger's melding, most of the artists he had invited for an event that was happening the very next day, backed out, so he has to rely on 3 of the Konchuuger - Chouji, Asuka, Thomas - to replace those artists in the event which ends up being a musical performance. This angers the NeoKonchuugers because the event wasn't supposed to take place so they try and invade during the performance. The musical is quite a hilarious scene. It starts off with a haunted house theme, and then we switch to like a farm girl type of thing. All the while we have Turtle Gunsou at the back with his DJ deck rocking out which was hilarious to see -- I thoroughly enjoyed seeing Ozeki in this role! The sequence goes on a tad too long if I remember correctly, but it was very, very enjoyable! Asuka with her pink farmer and unimpressed face as she gets dragged into doing this musical was hilarious. They had all the audio prerecorded so they just lip synced along which I felt was very Konchuuger-esque for some reason and worked well. So here we see Kamiryoku Shark and Gojyuuno Tougo defeated here. They defeated in the simplest way; they get jealous that the Konchuuger could perform and became a big success. Tougo used to be a fitness trainer and Shark is very athletic and very Jackie Chan like, so Turtle offers them to come work for his company and make it as famous Yoga instructors and stuff; well that wins them over xD.
Finally, they went to JP’s character, Chameleon, who was hanging out at this very fancy bar, by himself, with sunglasses on, and a snake teddy hogging the seat next to him. Whenever he showed up throughout the play, he had this Snake teddy around his neck, and everyone was like 'awwww you miss Snake Shogun!’ but he’d always reply 'no I don’t! Why do you think that?!’, but clearly he does because he’s carrying around a goddamn snake teddy! It was adorable though! I’m pretty sure towards the end he admits he misses Snake Shogun too and then when Snake Shogun finally turns up he’s super happy!! So at this bar he's enjoying a drink and talking to the teddy when NeoKonchuuger Lily walks in and pretends to take an interest in him. Chameleon instantly falls for her and tries to woo her, which she 'falls' for. He asks her back to his apartment, but when they get there, Kaminari Mon is already there and has set up a debate-type room, with three random strangers to be the judges at the back of the room. Unfortunately the debate was somewhat a little difficult for me to follow because Ise and JP spoke so fast so I don't remember what the topics were and this scene ultimately ended up being a tad too long and boring for me. BUT eventually Konchuuger turn up and take to his side a support. The final debate topic, Chameleon got to choose, so he decided on EbiChilli (or MapoDofu); Kaminari thinks this topic is absolutely ridiculous, however, Chameleon goes on to say that the reason why it's so important to him is because he'd always eat Chinese food at the restaurant he and Snake Shogun and the rest of Hachuurui would meet for their evil devising plans. So every time he eats Chinese food, he's reminded of those fun times and he just wants Snake Shogun and the gang back together. This wins over the crowd emotionally, even though Kaminari is just like 'what the f?!' xD BUT it backfires on Kaminari even more, when at this moment Lily cruelly sees the coolness and attractiveness in Chameleon and falls to his side for real this time.
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And then we come to; where the hell is Tokiwa Sou?! Throughout this play between the Konchuuger vs NeoKonchuuger battle scenes we kept jumping back to him on the rooftop. First he's with Snake Shogun, and they dicuss about opening a yakitori place together but even though Sou wants to do it, Snake says he's not ready to just stop what he's doing. Then we meet Hoshi Atomu who's living on the rooftop in a cardboard box and claims to be a cardboard model. During these serious scenes with Snake and Sou, or even just Sou on his own trying to figure out what the hell to do with his life after Konchuuger, we have Atomu just being a complete, hilarious idiot. He also causes stress to the two older men, who sometimes even slip on the cardboard Atomu leaves around. Atomu doesn't have an ultier motive; he;s honestly a sweetie and just wants to cheer them up; even if handing them poorly brewed coffee in a cardboard mug ends up pissing them off instead of making them feel better... which he does on a number of occasions.
I really, really loved seeing Snake Shogun and Tokiwa Sou’s relationship in this one. Even though I’m not sure which parts were reality and which parts were in Sou’s head, nevertheless I thoroughly enjoyed their scenes together and it’s great to see that they’ve definitely become friends even after decades of ‘fighting’ each other. They have this great ‘old man’ dynamic which doesn’t help (in a positive, comedic way) when the new character of the group Hoshi Atomu butts into their scenes with his ridiculous happiness and his god damn 'cardboard idol’ crap, which the two men just don’t want to deal with but he lives on the roof where the two men often have their discussions so it’s more like they brought it on themselves.
Once Snake has gone off somewhere, Sou begins to see a bird who he starts to feel a connection to and what's to spend time with. Unfortunately, the bird may act like he wants to be Sou's friend, but in actual fact, he's manipulated Sou into a deep sleep and wants to keep him there and forever so he's only friends with him. So we get to the climax of the story where, now that NeoKonchuuger have been defeated and only Kaminari Mon is left; the NeoKonchuugers, Konchuugers and Hachuuruis band together to electrocute Sou in order to get into his unconciousness and get him out of the deep sleep before he dies there. Finally, they wake him up. But turns out the bird is also in reality and comes to attack them. He's about 30 times the size of a normal bird but luckily the Konchuugers have a new contraption -- a giant megazord/mecha! It obviously defeats the bird and all three groups are now a happy clappy family. The End.
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Some extra notes:
This time around instead of a Chinese restaurant, the NeoKonchuuger’s base is a family restaurant xD
As usual they had a mini live at the end where they all had fun and sang and danced around! It was a lot of fun as usual!! I was once again surprised at how much of the crowd knew the dance and the song.
THE ACTING
I won’t talk about everyone but just some of them where I feel I had something to say.
Quick note: toooo many IKEMEN in this!
☆KONCHUUGER
Ebisawa Kenji as Banri Choji: Ebizawa still hasn’t persuaded me that he’s good for this role. He’s a nice guy sure, but I feel like all he does as this character is yell, and his voice doesn’t even allow him to yell properly so it sounds very strained and painful.
Momose Saku as Tahjima Haruo: I really liked his Haruo! He was all cute and smiley and yet still different to what Ise and Shimizu had brought to the character. In fact, I think I enjoyed Saku's version of Haruo the most! At the curtain call, Saku spoke about how he really enjoyed doing this role and really hopes he doesn’t get swapped out like the other two were. Which to be honest, I think they should keep it as a running joke that yellow changes every time. We could even have all the previous yellows play someone else just like Ise did! Although I would like Saku to continue as Haruo, I think they've technically three stages in and it's becoming a running joke so they SHOULD swap him out, even though I sort of don't want them to. Also, during the stage, they made a hilarious joke of 'why does the actor for Haruto change every time?!’ and 'why does Haruo ook different every time?' and the whole audience (who had clearly watched the pevious stages) died of laughter. Every time they did subtle throw backs for people who had seen the original stage started chuckling hard.
☆HACHUURUI TEIKOKU
Yasukawa Junpei as Chameleon Shousa: I was totally into JP's character having a funny love interest! I thought it was hilarious! In fact the whole scene starter where he's drinking to himself with his snake teddy and then she comes in and 'takes in interest' in him and he suddenly gets this huge ego, but then she betrays him, but then she ends up actualy liking him and, if I remember rightly, after the debate scene and after Snake Shogun has reshowed up in his life, he walks off with linked arms with Lily while putting on some shades -- it was hilarious! I loved scene this from JP! He's like this awkward, quiet yet funny guy in real life so to see him in this role which is kind of like a dasai-kakkoi-kei/cool but really not cool and totally cringey type character is amazing! I really did love this scene! I will definitely be repeating this one on DVD <3 JP as always is such a good actor and I love how used to his acting style I am and when he does those signature JP things in his acting just make me all warm and fuzzy inside xD I'm not making sense am I! haha
Ozeki Riku as Turtle Gunsou: I totally love this character developement from Ozeki as Turtle in this stage! The whole 'him becoming a music producer and totally rocking out at the DJ deck' was a wonderful sight to behold! He had so much more comedy this time around and his character in arc this is totally entertaining! I really want to see Ozeki in more stuff in the future! I think he's great and got potential.
☆NEO-KONCHUUGER
I'm going to be honest: I didn't really warm up to the NeoKonchuuger. A few of them I got and enjoyed but for the most part, I kind of didn't understand what they were supposed to be and didn't really get any personality from them.I understood the basics of what their characters were like but if we compare how well we got to know Hachuurui in the first stage compared to how we got to know NeoKon in this stage; it's a vast difference. We understood the personalities and comedy and traits of each Haichuurui member pretty much straight away in that first Chinese restaurant scene they had. But for NeoKon.... I felt like they weren't really that developed and didn't have much depth and I really didn't care for them... which is a shame. For me, they're pretty forgettable... I even kind of struggled to remember what they did when I wrote the STORY section above.
Anyway... I'll try.
Ise Daiki as Kaminari Mon: I think my favourite scene for Ise was right at the end when the only way to reach Sou's unconciousness was by using Kaminari Mon's electricity power and electrocute him until their voices reached his sub(?)un(?)conciousness. Ise's character was prettu ridiculous and over the top and I liked his character out of the Neo's the most. I was lucky enough that I was smack bang in the center of all the seats and seating rows so whenever Ise took certain stage to go on a monologue or rant or tangent, his eyes would pretty much be directly starring into mine even though he obiovusly couldn't see me; and he's eyes are amazing. They're slightly crazy - which fit the character - and they're so glarring that you can't look away. He really knows how to hold someone's attention. Of course, during the live, we got to hear his voice and he's great!
Tanzawa Seiji as Gojyuuno Touko: I enjoyed his character too! He reminded me of Taguchi Junnosuke (if any of you know ex-Johnny's members) with the long legs and the adorkableness and just being plain silly while going acrobatic and yoga-like moves all over the place. I thought it was super cute that he just wanted to be a famous fitness/yoga instructor. I liked the colour of his costume too.
Saito Kyouhei as Hanayashi Kiichi: His personality really confused me during this scene when he goes to the cat cafe. When they were in the family restaurant, I just thought 'oh this character is a glasses character: very serious, composed, and not funny' but then in the cat scene he pulled out this manual with all these rules and schemes and we see him very quickly worry and become panicked and it just felt like a little bit of a jump. They should've introduced his manual book obsession in the family restaurant scene beforehand in my opinion.
Fujio Kantaro as Kamiryoku Shark: This one was the one character I really, really did not like. At first he was interesting because he comes onstage with this The Grudge hair and it's covered his face. But then as the stage developes, he pulls his hair back (and the actor kept messing with the hair to keep it out of his eyes which got annoying) and has this weird clown-like makeup and he jumps up on tables and stuff and I'm like; what are you supposed to be? What is your personality supposed to be. I really didn't like him and it's been a while since a character made me so uncomfortable that I actually wish they weren't in it. I just... didn't like him. The actor himself did lots of various roles throughout the play and he did great in the rest of those so wtf was his main character all about? I just... no thanks.
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Kurata Naoki as Bird Kizoku: I was super upset Kurata ended up playing the bird who ended up being the bad guy! I feel for Kurata the moment I saw him in the cat ears and outfit so I wanted him to be good! Also his bird outfit was great! I wish he had had more stage time too. Due to the lack of stage time, it made me think that maybe this was his debut stage; but it’s really not! He's been in Waashi no Host-chan and he was in PuroLand for a bit too. But as expected he is a baby - '97er! And he'll be reprising his role in HostChan next year! I hope he can do a bit more work with MMJ - mhe could've been in Poseidon no Kiba, OR I'd quite like to see him in the next stage or remake of Wakasamagumi if they ever get around to it! I think he'd fit those two stages rather well. OF COURSE I loved him in the cat scene! He was absolutely adorable and I thought 'I want JP and Kurata like this forever please!'.
TAKA as Hoshi Atomu: Hoshi Atomu was absolutely hilarious! I fell for this adorably stupid character straight away! He is absolutely ridiculous! For example, he uses a sheet of cardboard almost like a skateboard and goes around the stage pushing that around. And he has a freaking cardboard house that he lives in on the roof! What the actual?! xD Like I said above, he means well but he just doesn't do it in the right way. And what the hell even is a CARDBOARD MODEL/IDOL?! xD He was adorable! I am looking forward to seeing him ALSO in HostChan next time.
AFTERSHOW
As usual I didn’t check if there was an aftershow or anything special and once again, turned out there was!! It was a hightouch send off with the Snake Shogun team! Which meant I got to high touch Ozeki and JP!! I was super happy, but also super nervous because I’d come from work and it had been raining outside and I probably smelt a little xD but I completely forgot my worries when I went to the high touch!’ Everyone was so nice and smiley!! It was so great!! Sorry Konchuuger but they beat you xD (I got high fives from Konchuuger last time, see here).
And you wanna know the best part about the hightouch this time?! I'm like 99.99999999% sure but(!!!): I think JP remembered me!! When he saw me at the high touch at the end, he kept his hand against mine for ages and he gave me this huge smile and there was a twinkle in his eye that looked he knew/remembered who I was!! So I was super duper happy! Ozeki was really nice too! He was really happy and welcoming ^_^ I think it went: Turtle, Yamori, JP, Tokage, Snake Shogun.
Ahhhh!! I hope I'm right about JP remembering me >.< *dead*
I'm okay...not really...
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And that just about does it! I really hope we get a 3rd stage next year!
#舞台#安川順平#蔵田尚樹#TAKA#須田麻朝#斉藤秀翼#伊勢大貴#butai#stage#stage play#review#yasukawa junpei#尾関陸#ozeki riku#saito shusuke#suda maasa#kurata naoki#ise daiki#ebisawa#momose saku#百瀬朔
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Vacation Rentals And The Real Guest Experience
Over the last few years there has been a lot written about guest experience but pretty much all of it has been written from an owners point of view.
In this article, I blow the lid on the real guest experience and show you how looking at it with fresh eyes can bring you direct bookings.
A change of perception
You may not know this, but I was the first person in the vacation rental space to start talking about guest experience.
Back in 2004, I realised that every bit of marketing that I had done over the previous 10 years had been from an owner/managers point of view. My point of view.
I had a huge aha moment when I realised that I had spent the previous decade telling people WHAT I WANTED THEM TO HEAR.
As opposed to WHAT THEY WANTED TO HEAR.
When written down, this appears as a subtle change in two sentences but this is the most powerful marketing change that I ever made.
The owner's guest experience
Nearly everyone in this business talks about the guest experience as that that is connected to the property.
Some talk about the meet and greet process, some talk about welcome packs and others talk about thread counts, toiletries and cleanliness. Of course, these all play a part of the guest experience but as I said at the beginning of the article, these are all part of the owner controlled experience, NOT THE 'REAL LIFE' GUEST EXPERIENCE.
The real guest experience
Forget about being owners or managers for a moment. Put yourself in the guest's shoes, map out their days and you'll end up with a chart, more or less, like the one below...
This chart will vary a little depending on your location and the type of property you own but it shows guest activity for a 24 hour period.
The biggest segment is of course sleeping (hence the importance of high thread count bedding and great bedroom photos). Once the guests wake up, they'll make coffee and breakfast and generally lounge around. Time spent lounging will vary from group to group, especially if you have large outdoor spaces and a pool. Guests staying at city centre properties tend to head out early in order to see the sights.
Lunch falls into 2 categories - Eat in or eat out and this also varies by location and or mood. Some may have lunch at the property some days but choose to eat out on others.
The SECOND BIGGEST segment is exploring. This obviously takes on many forms from bucket list adventures (theme parks, whale watching, etc.), sightseeing, taking the kids to the beach, hiking, local parks, shopping, visiting museums and much more. The list is endless.
They may then eat out or head back to the property to cook dinner.
This is then followed by a 'what's on' period where they'll go to a bar, theatre show, gallery exhibition, take in some live music or visit a club.
You can play with the percentages and the activities but the actual guest experience will be similar to the above chart.
Around half of the guest experience has nothing to do with the property
Beach and Countryside Properties
City Centre Properties
As you can see from the two charts above, the guests spend around 46% of their time exploring away from beachside and countryside properties and a whopping 59% of their time away from city centre properties. Beach and countryside vacations tend to be more relaxing than city centre breaks. Hence more lounging. If I'm visiting Rome for a long weekend I'm going to look around Rome. I'm not inclined to spend my time looking at the inside of the rental property.
Putting this information to use
The most successful marketing strategies are buyer-driven. Satisfying potential customers needs results in sales. I can't stress this point enough.
Potential guests start with a dream and then start researching their chosen location. It's at this research stage that they start looking to answer important questions. Questions like... What is there to see and do in the area? What's on while we're there? Where can we eat and drink? What can we do with the kids?
They look to answer these questions before they start thinking about where they'll stay.
As a marketer, you can't cherry pick parts of the guest experience and hope to answer all of the potential guest's questions.
Booking a vacation or holiday is potentially a high price ticket transaction and if the buyer has doubts (questions) these doubts inhibit the booking.
You need to satisfy all of their needs in order to gain direct bookings.
The Takeaway...
People aren't coming to your location because you have a place to stay. They're coming to the area because of what there is to see and do. They just happen to need somewhere to stay while seeing and doing those things.
A guests pre-booking experience should reflect their actual experience, not just the property part of their experience.
Remember, they're only going to spend half their time at the property.
If your website and overall online presence reflect the real guest experience you will see higher on-site times, more engagement on social media, more enquiries and more direct bookings.
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Vacation Rentals And The Real Guest Experience
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protean
Today’s post comes to you in three parts. They are each a stream of conscious I had while at rehearsal today. So, my brain kinda functions like this. Yeepieeeeeeeee
good luck
//
“That’s all you can do. Work better every day. Aim to be a better person every day. Improve”
I love when people act weird. I love when people pretend to know what they are doing. I love flexing. Being the best by acting like the best. I love how I can have so many interests. I can do something things. I have so much time, so I need to take advantage of that time. I was conducted last Christmas…
Zamn, joe’s costume. I love it. I love his makeup. He gets into character with such excellence. It is admirable. Of all the roles ive seen joe play, this is my favorite. But everytime I see him in a new role, I love him more and more. His dedication. Good ass shit. This is the first role ive seen when joe’s voice is perfect. He did well as the beast and psedoulous. But fester. Feels like he was born to play that role. What a guy. Lmao I have three papers due this week. What maybe four… yes, it’s actually four. I can write though, so im not intimidated. How could I be? I love putting words to my thoughts. Thoughts are emotion. Thoughts are not words. Thoughts are everything, and this is just one////// JOE IS DANCING WITH THE MOONhis character movement is next level. I love how he holds himself. I love how he walks in his character. I love when HOLY SHIT THAT WAS HILARIOUS. Joe cupped his special place during the moon scene. I have written about the moon just because of joe. He has inspired me. There are people in this theatre who I don’t know. I need to change that. I need to know everyone’s name. I’m working on it. Trial and error. Fuck. I fear getting names wrong. Scared scare scared. Scaring. Scarring. Cutting. Bleeding. Thumping. Pounding. That one edgar allan poe story when the heart is throbbing under the floor board. Shit. I love that story. I did not discover I was an audio learner until this year. Could be to my love of music. I love listen. Could be why I loved when my parents read to me. I listen to podcasts every night before I go to sleep. Im thinking about getting a subscription to audible, so then I could listen to any book I wanted. I could listen to harry potter. I could listen to the name of the wind. I could fall asleep to those stories. I fall asleep to nightvale right now. I wish there were a random episode button. Then I wouldn’t have to choose an episode every night. I would like a random button that would cycle each ep once. I would have to listen to every ep before they would repeat. Music is like math. Doing rhythm is just practicing math sorta. It’s like counting. I need to go now.
//
Blog blog blog. What the fuck? Ive been doing shit all day and I don’t know what to write about. ENDING THE SENTENCE IN A PREPOSITION. So, I need to come up with a topic and incorporate the word of the day. That’s the theme. The word of the day does not have to be the theme, but it can inspire. PLACES WAS JUST CALLED. Fuck that means I need to go again… well, not really because I am not in the first scene. Well, I am, but I’m not. I don’t know if we are running an entire performance now. Drama drama drama. This is showbiz. Shit happens. It’s fast. Organized and unorganized. There is a balance of power. The distribution is different each time. The drama is different each time. I don’t really get involved in the drama. I simply don’t care. I’m here to perform. Not whine about it. To me, it’s like a soccer game. You have a team. Some members are loud. Some are quite. Some are passionate. Some are detached. But everyone is working toward a common goal. We are all connected through one mission: win the game. But, I guess we aren’t really trying to win. I am. I sit by myself and listen to music. I have a warmup routine, and no one is going to change that. I have a mission, and that is to be the best I can be for my team. I give everything. I set myself up for success, which in turn, sets up others.
//
AHH, we are in act 2, and it’s getting crazy. Crazier than you. So, my writing right now feels very bad. Not my best. Im stressed and unfocused. I am thinkning about a show. I am not going to edit this. I guess I’ll just post it. Proof that I was writing while I was homework. Yeah, that’s my #1 homework. Appartnently the thing is to write 500 words a day. That’s where it started, but I have increased since then. I think I have writer’s block, but then I find something to write about. I stayed up an extra two hours last night. I was just editing. OKAY< WE HAVE A PROBLEM. I put Instagram on my computer and it is sending me notifications. I hate receiving notifications from social media websites. Attention sucking. I don’t have time for Instagram likes, twitter retweets, or facebook posts on a group that you really like, but all the good content gets buried by pictures of people. You know when you start a conversation, and you have a general idea of what you want to say? You have a goal, and you think about how the conversation will go. But then, the other person acts like who they are rather than your projection of them. Basically, you start talking and then you don’t convey the message you wanted to convey. Writing is like that too. I want to get to the stage of writing where I can say exactly what I mean. FUCK. That’s so hard. I’m just happy that I have ideas to write. They are protean in nature. I thought about writing a resume yesterday. It’s 10:00pm. Will we get out before 12? Who knows? That’s why I needed to write at rehearsal. Techweek. Crunch week. Whatever week you want to call it. It is stressful and wonderful. I love doing it. I love its protean whimsicality. I love being on stage. I love dancing and performing. I love whispers. I love drama. I love investing. Committing. JOE COMPTON YOU ARE FUCKING HILARIOUS. LA LA LA LA LA LA LA LA LAAAA. This role was made for joe. Zamn. Joe is fester. I love it.
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Creative futures week
Monday 27th February
Creative futures is a 4 day creative conference for students at Glyndwr University.
It’s a diverse mix of talks, workshops and lectures. It was kicked off by Dr Claire Taylor (Deputy Vice-Chancellor) and Professor Alec Shepley (Head of the School of Creative Arts and Professor of Contemporary Art Practice). The opening speeches consisted of the usual welcomes and outlined the benefits that can be had from visiting various lectures and workshops etc.
There was also some encouraging stats given to back up the worth of the creative arts to the economy of Wales. Such as £1in £10 of UK exports are generated through the creative arts, 1.5million people are employed within our industry in the UK. STEAM was also an interesting topic which Alec Shepley talked about. Science Technology Engineering Mathematics or STEM has now become STEAM with the inclusion of Arts, a clear indication that our industries contribution is now being taken seriously at last, as it should be given our contribution to exports and employment. The main Theme of Creative futures seams to be that of collaboration, I hope I’m not by myself in thinking it’s the future (sorry). Any thoughts #creativefutures17.
Collaboration in the creative industries.
A Panel Session with:
Tamara Harvey - Artistic Director of Theatr Clwyd. Alfredo Cramerotti - Director of MOSTYN Gallery & Visual Arts Centre. Gareth Jones - The founder of Welsh ICE, Andy Cheetham – Founded Cheetham Bell in 1992 with partner David Bell. Jo Marsh – Oriel Wrecsam has worked as a freelance artist, curator.
Hosted by Mike Corcoran.
This was an open discussion about the importance of collaboration from the five diverse arts practitioners mentioned above. It was encouraging to hear that the general consensus was that “collaboration is a good thing” be it from a theatre, arts/gallery or commercial perspective. Coming from the same industry as Andy Cheetham I related to many of his observations, and agreed strongly with “never be afraid to work with people that you perceive to be better than yourself”. After all it’s the sum of the parts that makes the whole and everyone learns something from collaboration even if it’s not to work with them again. Andy also made the point, that even when collaborating, someone must be responsible for steering the ship. Or “how many statues have you seen that commemorate committees” to paraphrase Mr Cheetham. That’s why some have the title director (creative director, art director) the clue’s in the name. The art is to create an open and honest, creative environment were everyone feels comfortable enough to say anything. If you don’t bounce the ideas around they don’t get off the ground.
Simon Amor on how to get a job.
Simon’s primary job roll at Qubit is Web design where he designs the UX/Ui of the company site. This talk consisted of the usual and sensible advice given to any creative arts student, work hard, knock on doors, present yourself well, yada yada yada. Simon has only been working for at most 2 years which may well explain why he had some incredibly naive views. One such view was that A.I. created logos were perfectly acceptable and the inevitable future. This just shows a total lack of understanding when it comes to brand. Yes a logo is only a pneumonic for a brands values, but if you don’t care about the logo that represents those brand values what do you care for the values themselves. Short term fly by night ventures please form an orderly queue at Simons (Fiverr.com) Amor’s door. Students deserve better advice.
To be sickened even further visit http://illustrationfriday.com/blog/?s=fiverr
Wednesday 1st March (Dydd gwyl Dewi)
Barry Purves - What is Art?
Barry Purves is a renowned animator and has been involved in stop motion animation for forty years. Amongst his prolific output he’s directed many short films for children such as Wind in the Willows, Rupert Bear and Toby’s Travelling Circus. Barry has also made many films for adult audiences: Achilles, Screen Play, Next, Rigoletto, Plume and Tchaikovsky, they have won awards around the world, receiving Oscar and BAFTA nominations. Barry has also received several life time achievement awards and honorary Doctorates. As you may suspect after 40 years in the creative business this is only the tip of Barry's iceberg, Barry was also involved with Mars Attacks! And King Kong. Barry has written books, he also teaches and leads many workshops in Universities and studios. He’s even directed and designed several dozen theatre productions. You really need to visit http://www.barrypurves.com to understand how much great work he’s responsible for.
Did I find out the answer to the question “What is art?”
No, but I suspect raising the question was Barry’s intention, not to answer it. What I did take from this Keynote Address? I learnt the importance of storytelling and the role of devices within storytelling. One of my favourite examples, was the talking umbrella in Mary Poppins, used as the inner voice/conscience of Mary. There were many more examples from Shakespeare, greek mythology, folklore etc. How devices can be used to create a contract of understanding between the work and the viewer, Barry sighted many examples one being the opening credits of Star Wars.
It tells the viewer up front that this is a fantasy story, come along for the journey. A simple contract of suspended belief is entered and the story can begin. Let the viewer understand the technique it creates an understand and a bond. All of Barry's advice and observation could be well applied whatever your chosen discipline, all art is a contract between the creator and the recipient.
Making Arts Events Happen in Wales
Neal Thompson, co-founder of FOCUS Wales, and conference booker for the FOCUS Wales festival.
Sarah Jones, FOCUS Wales Festival Assistant.
Meilir Tomos, is one of Wales most exciting, intriguing and provocative musicians.
Hosted by Mike Corcoran.
This was a panel discussion which provided some expert advice on setting up and delivering arts events of all kinds. The discussion was conducted bilingually and seamlessly. One point that stuck me, was the observation that most music events are now truly of mixed language, not exclusively Welsh or English in nature. As a first language Welsh speaker I found this very encouraging, I personally believe that Welsh only acts gigs are sometimes insular and don’t encourage an understanding of or desire to learn our beautiful native tongue. For further information on a complex subject that I can’t do justice to in a blog please visit http://www.focuswales.com
A proud and important day to any Welshman and Welshwoman was brilliantly celebrated by a great bilingual set performed by Meilir Tomos, shame it wasn’t a longer set.
Thursday 2nd March
Channel 4, All 4 and the future of On-Demand
Speaker: Thom Gulseven, Tom Jenkins and Laura Rankin
Thom Gulseven, Commissioning Editor of All4 talked about Channel 4’s ground-breaking digital platform. Thom informed us that it was 2016 when the old 4OD site was re named and branded as ALL4. The new site was in response to changing consumer needs and patterns.
The screen above was the basic goal for the new branding.
This was what the new brand was to offer it’s chosen target audience.
Yes I know the slide says brief but I would say this slide was the new brand positioning or proposition.
Thom went on to explain what his job titles (Commissioning Editor) role was to choice content for All4, and that it took him a couple of weeks to get to grips with what this really meant. He had a chat with someone he considered to be a mentor, who advised him that he should simply choose the things that he liked.
This pricked my marketing ears, making me ask the question who’s actually acting as brand guardian at ALL4?. Surely content must be guided by the brands objectives? not just Thom and his fellow Commissioning Editor’s personal tastes, there must be more of a plan at All4, isn’t there? Unfortunately there wasn’t the opportunity for me to ask the question, any views?
Tom Jenkins and Laura Rankin from 4Mashed then finished of the talk.
As it say on the banner 4Mashed bring you the lucky consumer, sweet cartoons every week, in a short form content. One very interesting fact that Tom threw out was that You Tube vales a 4 minute viewing of a 10 minute video higher than a complete viewing of a 3 minute video, I personally find this really intriguing and would love to know more about there reasoning. If anyone know the answers please get in touch. Laura Rankin closed the talk nicely with some insights into her techniques.
Building a brand
Kirsten Hall
This was a solid useful talk with good case studies to back up the worth of brand building. It is the foundations on which brands build success and Kristen at Fogg Associates demonstrated a thorough and clear understanding of why and how to build a brand. Below is an example of some of the work for Warrington Rugby League done by Kirsten.
Personally I wish that more disciplines (illustrators, animators, photographers, etc.) understood what makes a brand and how a brand personality is built. It’s time for creatives to empower themselves with that knowledge. A brand that’s had the input of creative thinking by creative people before a pencil has been put to paper or typeface perused, now that’s a thought Mr Marketing Director.
INSPIRE Closing keynote address
Speaker: Tim Wallace
As you’d expect a well presented slick talk from an experienced pro photographer at the top of his game. This talk also consisted of the usual and sensible advice given to any creative arts student, work hard, knock on doors, present yourself well, yada yada yada, the difference with Tim’s advice was it wasn't interspersed with unsubstantiated bad advice based a blink of an eye career and ignorance. Enough bile.
If there’s one point I’ll take from Tim’s talk it would be “respect yourself and your work”. It’s reminded me to respect my own work, it’s very easy when you've been in the business for as many years as I have, to forget your value, achievements ability.
That’s how to value your work. If you don’t respect it why should others. How do you frame a PDF? Ever said, that PDF felt good, nice weight and texture? It’s made me think.
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