#i know a lot of people who work in film and theatre locally so it wouldnt even be that hard to like get this shit produced....

[mspiggy]

the worst part about wanting to make original art is dragging myself away from my other hobbies like writing fanfiction i will never post and scrolling tumblr during work hours

[invisibleicewands]

Michael Sheen: Prince Andrew, Port Talbot and why I quit Hollywood

When Michael Sheen had an idea for a dystopian TV series based in his home town of Port Talbot, in which riots erupt when the steel works close, he had no idea said works would actually close — a month before the show came to air. “Devastating,” he says, simply, of last month’s decision by Tata Steel to shut the plant’s two blast furnaces and put 2,800 jobs at risk.

“Those furnaces are part of our psyche,” he says. “When the Queen died we talked about how psychologically massive it was for the country because people couldn’t imagine life without her. The steel works are like that for Port Talbot.”

Sheen’s show — The Way — was never meant to be this serious. The BBC1 three-parter is directed by Sheen, was written by James Graham and has the montage king Adam Curtis on board as an executive producer. The plot revolves around a family who, when the steel works are closed by foreign investors, galvanise the town into a revolt that leads to the Welsh border being shut. Polemical, yes, but it has a lightness of touch. “A mix of sitcom and war film,” Sheen says, beaming.

But that was then. Now it has become the most febrile TV show since, well, Mr Bates vs the Post Office. “We wanted to get this out quickly,” Sheen says. With heavy surveillance, police clamping down on protesters and nods to Westminster abandoning parts of the country, the series could be thought of as a tad political. “The concern was if it was too close to an election the BBC would get nervous.”

I meet Sheen in London, where he is ensconced in the National Theatre rehearsing for his forthcoming starring role in Nye, a “fantasia” play based on the life of the NHS founder, Labour’s Aneurin “Nye” Bevan. He is dressed down, with stubble and messy hair, and is a terrific raconteur, with a lot to discuss. As well as The Way and Nye, this year the actor will also transform himself into Prince Andrew for a BBC adaptation of the Emily Maitlis Newsnight interview.

Sheen has played a rum bunch, from David Frost to Tony Blair and Chris Tarrant. And we will get to Bevan and Andrew, but first Wales, where Sheen, 55, was born in 1969 and, after a stint in Los Angeles, returned to a few years ago. He has settled outside Port Talbot with his partner, Anna Lundberg, a 30-year-old actress, and their two children. Sheen’s parents still live in the area, so the move was partly for family, but mostly to be a figurehead. The actor has been investing in local arts, charities and more, putting his money where his mouth is to such an extent that there is a mural of his face up on Forge Road.

“It’s home,” Sheen says, shrugging, when I ask why he abandoned his A-list life for southwest Wales. “I feel a deep connection to it.” The seed was sown in 2011 when he played Jesus in Port Talbot in an epic three-day staging of the Passion, starring many locals who were struggling with job cuts and the rising cost of living in their town. “Once you become aware of difficulties in the area you come from you don’t have to do anything,” he says, with a wry smile. “You can live somewhere else, visit family at Christmas and turn a blind eye to injustice. It doesn’t make you a bad person, but I’d seen something I couldn’t unsee. I had to apply myself, and I might not have the impact I’d like, but the one thing that I can say is that I’m doing stuff. I know I am — I’m paying for it!”

The Way is his latest idea to boost the area. The show, which was shot in Port Talbot last year, employed residents in front of and behind the camera. The extras in a scene in which fictional steel workers discuss possible strike action came from the works themselves. How strange they will feel watching it now. The director shakes his head. “It felt very present and crackling.”

One line in the show feels especially crucial: “The British don’t revolt, they grumble.” How revolutionary does Sheen think Britain is? “It happens in flare-ups,” he reasons. “You could say Brexit was a form of it and there is something in us that is frustrated and wants to vent. But these flare-ups get cracked down, so the idea of properly organised revolution is hard to imagine. Yet the more anger there is, the more fear about the cost of living crisis. Well, something’s got to give.”

I mention the Brecon Beacons. “Ah, yes, Bannau Brycheiniog,” Sheen says with a flourish. Last year he spearheaded the celebration of the renaming of the national park to Welsh, which led some to ponder whether Sheen might go further in the name of Welsh nationalism. Owen Williams, a member of the independence campaigners YesCymru, described him to me as “Nye Bevan via Che Guevara” and added that the actor might one day be head of state in an independent Wales.

Sheen bursts out laughing. “Right!” he booms. “Well, for a long time [the head of state] was either me or Huw Edwards, so I suppose that’s changed.” He laughs again. “Gosh. I don’t know what to say.” Has he, though, become a sort of icon for an independent Wales? “I’ve never actually spoken about independence,” he says. “The only thing I’ve said is that it’s worth a conversation. Talking about independence is a catalyst for other issues that need to be talked about. Shutting that conversation down is of no value at all. People say Wales couldn’t survive economically. Well, why not? And is that good? Is that a good reason to stay in the union?”

On a roll, he talks about how you can’t travel from north to south Wales by train without going into England because the rail network was set up to move stuff out of Wales, not round it. He mentions the collapse of local journalism and funding cuts to National Theatre Wales, and says these are the conversations he wants to have — but where in Wales are they taking place?

So, for Sheen, the discussion is about thinking of Wales as independent in identity, not necessarily as an independent state? “As a living entity,” he says, is how he wants people to think about his country. “It’s much more, for me, about exploring what that cultural identity of now is, rather than it being all about the past,” he says. “We had a great rugby team in the 1970s, but it’s not the 1970s anymore and, yes, male-voice choirs make us cry, but there are few left. Mines aren’t there either. All the things that are part of the cultural identity of Wales are to do with the past and, for me, it’s much more about exploring what is alive about Welsh identity now.”

You could easily forget that Sheen is an actor. He calls himself a “not for profit” thesp, meaning he funds social projects, from addiction to disability sports. “I juggle things more,” he says. “Also I have young kids again and I don’t want to be away much.”

Sheen has an empathetic face, a knack of making the difficult feel personable. And there are two big roles incoming — a relief to fans.

Which leads us to Prince Andrew. “Of course it does.” This year he plays the troubled duke in A Very Royal Scandal — a retelling of the Emily Maitlis fiasco with Ruth Wilson as the interviewer. Does the show go to Pizza Express in Woking? “No,” Sheen says, grinning. Why play the prince? He thinks about this a lot. “Inevitably you bring humanity to a character — that’s certainly what I try to do.” He pauses. “I don’t want people to say, ‘It was Sheen who got everybody behind Andrew again.’ But I also don’t want to do a hatchet job.”

So what is he trying to do? “Well, it is a story about privilege really,” he says. “And how easy it is for privilege to exploit. We’ve found a way of keeping the ambiguity, because, legally, you can’t show stuff that you cannot prove, but whether guilty or not, his privilege is a major factor in whatever exploitation was going on. Beyond the specifics of Andrew and Epstein, no matter who you are, privilege has the potential to exploit someone. For Andrew, it’s: ‘This girl is being brought to me and I don’t really care where she comes from, or how old she is, this is just what happens for people like me.’”

It must have been odd having the prince and Bevan — the worst and best of our ruling classes — in his head at the same time. What, if anything, links the men? “What is power and what can you do with it?” Sheen muses, which seems to speak to his position in Port Talbot too. Nye at the National portrays the Welsh politician on his deathbed, in an NHS hospital, moving through his memories while doped up on meds. Sheen wants the audience to think: “Is there a Bevan in politics now and, if not, why not?”

Which takes us back to The Way. At the start one rioter yells about wanting to “change everything” — he means politically, sociologically. However, assuming that changing everything is not possible, what is the one thing Sheen would change? “Something practical? Not ‘I want world peace’. I would create a people’s chamber as another branch of government — like the Lords, there’d be a House of People, representing their community. Our political system has become restrictive and nonrepresentational, so something to open that up would be good.”

The actor is a thousand miles from his old Hollywood life. “It’d take a lot for me to work in America again — my life is elsewhere.” It is in Port Talbot instead. “The last man on the battlefield” is how one MP describes the steel works in The Way, and Sheen is unsure what happens when that last man goes. “Some people say it’s to do with net zero aims,” he says about the closure. “Others blame Brexit. But, ultimately, the people of Port Talbot have been let down — and there is no easy answer about what comes next.”

[journey-to-the-attic]

eeee okay!! i was gonna ask about the actor au i know its from ages ago but im a sucker for that kind of au 😭 thinking about the cast all taking care of each other on set and stuff and everyone is ik's biggest hypeman/woman, after all shes carrying the whole show on her back. ik falling asleep mid-scene and belphie carrying her back to her trailer and telling off the directors for pushing her... beel sneaking her snacks on set just in case.... mammon and ik making each other crack up while theyre trying to film........

i do have a soft spot for this genre of au, especially since here the actors just get to be regular people... allow me!! (this ended up being more au framework than cast interactions so feel free to ask for more of those haha)

okay so quick refresher on what i'd previously established: jtta is a show, and everyone's an actor in it

for simplicity's sake, they all have keep their names, and the character they play within the show is just named for their sin/role

so lucifer's character's is Pride, mammon's is Greed, so on for the other brothers - diavolo is The Prince, barbatos is The Butler, etc

of the brothers, in this au, only beel+belphie are still twins, and satan+lucifer are cousins, but the rest aren't blood-related

now starting to add some stuff...

diavolo's already very well-known before being cast, he'd be the Big Celebrity Name that draws in people

they're all from varying backgrounds - lucifer used to be a concert pianist, solomon was in stage magic, asmo's an idol, satan and simeon were both in theatre, luke started out in local pantomimes and got scouted, etc.

of everyone, simeon, levi, ik and luke are regarded as 'newbies' to showbiz

ik and luke because they're young, though luke has more acting experience (ik got called to audition purely by chance so this is her first role)

simeon because he came into acting from having been a nurse, which doesn't really prepare you for the job

and levi because this is his first role, his previous work has always been on practical effects and such (so he ends up being the most nervous in interviews)

before being cast in the show, lucifer and mammon were already acquainted - lucifer was mammon's mentor when he first got into acting, so they're under the same agency (they get called 'double threat' because they tend to appear in the same productions)

satan and lucifer are fairly distant emotionally, but they aren't on bad terms, they just had different trajectories in life before both ending up in acting

(satan starts a faux-rivalry with lucifer to prepare for their roles as wrath and pride feat. all the baggage from obey me, and it turns out they're actually very good at annoying each other in real life)

everyone has the same base personalities - mammon is still loud and impulsive, levi is still self-conscious but passionate, diavolo's still cheerful and confident

but with some elements softened (for example, barbatos isn't a super dedicated butler who literally lives to serve diavolo, he's just a good friend of his)

partially because the different setting means there's a different sort of social hierarchy, partially because they're all humans who lived mundane human lives and experienced a lot less trauma

e.g. lucifer is still fairly formal, stern, and not exactly cuddly, but he's much softer by default, has less sophisticated speech patterns, and has a higher tendency to joke around with the others

before they start filming, they get the cast to spend a few weeks together to get a feel for their chemistry

the seven 'brothers' click fairly quickly, but it takes a bit longer for the purgatrio to do so because for some reason simeon and solomon can't STAND each other in the beginning

it's so bad at some point that they almost consider recasting, but then one night they get drunk together and suddenly they're best friends the next day

ik's probably under a lot of pressure, since she's completely new to all this and is now expected to shoulder basically the whole show

diavolo and barbatos would be the quickest to take her under their wing

but ik is a little (a lot) intimidated by her new co-star, given that diavolo is like a ss-tier celebrity (as is asmo, solomon (though he's less mainstream and more cult-following), and lucifer to some degree

so at first she gravitates towards levi instead - who is similarly new to the scene, and not too busy arguing with solomon like simeon

and since levi's also spending time with his 'brothers', at that point ik gets pulled into the group

it's only after getting used to lucifer that ik can graduate to just accepting diavolo's support without freezing up

anyway by the time filming starts the entire rest of the cast has agreed: ik must NOT be bullied by the directors, we are going to make her first acting job go as SMOOTH as possible

there's actually a bit of an issue where they film scenes from earlier in the season before the characters have actually bonded in canon, but because ik's already formed a very strong bond with the 'brothers', their acting ends up being too familiar

the scene will call for pride to very haughtily look down his nose at the lost kid (ik's character name) and say something scathing, and instead lucifer will look at ik with the Gentlest eyes and deliver the line with entirely the wrong vibes

they're still actors at the end of the day though, so once suitably scolded they do know to ignore their real life relationships and play the roles as directed

one time ik accidentally breaks a prop mid-scene, which mammon notices before the directors can, so he grabs it and makes it look like he did it instead (he gets a reprimand for not being careful, but nothing otherwise. even so ik feels so bad that mammon has to distract her with card game)

later they figure out what happened while reviewing the footage, and when they go to ask mammon about it he's like "yo you stay QUIET about this, understand?!!"

beel is ik's designated hide-behind person when she gets nervous/uncomfortable in interviews, while belphie is the designated deflect-the-questions or tell-the-interviewer-to-fuck-off person

[discluded]

I am trying to take P*nd's words with a pinch of salt and you have to leave room for understanding with translations but this whole it's not a Y movie think....is really doing a disservice to not only to his own argument by labeling Y movies/series as limiting/ bad but also seems insensitive towards his own actor's work who worked hard to show a nuanced relationship that had very real emotions for the characters who were as open as the characters felt they could have in that setting. It kinda feels like we are back to square one with everyone fighting about whether this movie will have romance and whether MA will be each other's love interest (which from the way the actors played in seems very much present only for the director to come out and say they are not a couple)

Hi!!!

Okay, your skepticism and criticism is valid, but I think there is a little more context as well. Let's take a look at Mile's speech from yesterday at SF Cinema.

I’m going to make a speech*… that actually, to be straightforward, Thai films have lots of potential, but it’s a shame that the proportion of Thai films that people should come see is only about 10% of all** (the films being shown)… 10 in 100 is very little na krub. I want to increase the proportion to like 50%, 70%, 80% if it’s possible… right? And most importantly, Man Suang is a film that I believe everyone can watch. When everyone can watch it, some might be curious as to… take it this way, the comments from the behind (the scene) to me said that ‘It’s at least worth watching it’ and they feel that ,hey, they profit from the happiness of some moment in the film and that’s all, krub. So I want people to spread (the news) word of mouth. If you want someone to be happy while watching a movie, show lots of love to Man Suang, and most importantly, I thank everyone who came by and I feel like they are the voice (of promoting this film). I’m making a speech very seriously na… many voices that help talk, help present in social media, really thank you, and please show lots of love to Man Suang na krub, thank you krub. [translation] *Mile making a joke about how he's always talking like a politician, and also referencing the current political climate in Thailand **Mile referring to the issue of the major cinemas in Thailand not showing local films but only blockbuster films causing Thai films to not make money and subsequently lose their funding

A little more context: the two major distributors of films in Thailand are SF Cinema and Major Group, along with a smaller group of independent Thai cinemas. Usually one of SF Cinema and Major Group will show Thai films, but not both. In terms of Man Suang promo, the Thai fans themselves said it was rare and good work that the team got both film distributors to show Man Suang while still being a smaller/new company, and that the independent theatres also agreed to show it. I believe that's partly what the Man Suang Roadshow is meant to do, because they know that their own presence will draw fans to theatres.

Remember, one facet of soft power includes making domestic products more appealing to citizens compared to imports, which sounds like a major issue for Thai cinema right now. If Man Suang can revitalize interest in Thai cinema beyond just their film too, I think MileApo will have achieved some of their goal with this project.

But back to your overall comment, one of the challenges of BL/Y series is that it's still stigmatized as a genre.

I'm wondering now if people thought Mile's acting was bad because they primed themselves to think that actors doing BL/QL series were bad at acting :/ And oftentimes, the skills to get into one of these positions isn't very high, which is why some actors will use it as stepping stone in their career in Thailand, and why so many solo fans expected Mile and Apo to part ways as an acting pair after the success of their first project because they feel like MA "relegated" themselves to doing a BL series. There is still a lot of stigma against LGBTQ people in Thailand, even though it's one of the more progressive Asian countries.

So Pond, as the Exec Producer, Director, and owner of BOC is between a rock and a hard place. They both want to reduce stigma of queer storytelling but also promote Thai cinema. Also, calling back again to this:

I don't think most people think of CMBYN as a BL. In fact, it, alongside Carol, are considered one of the best romantic dramas* of all time. (*mostly western/english films) And that's without the qualification of queer romantic drama, etc. etc.

So I'm going to give Pond a little bit of a break here. Also, this user also reminded me Man Suang was supposed to be three hours long? I thought I hallucinated Apo said that, so we gotta wonder what happened to 1/3rd of the film. I hope the director's cut makes it to streaming like the way La Forte did

[rynfinity]

Tag people you want to catch up with/get to know better

Tagged by: @illwynd - I know I said I was going to sit it out but I decided to give it a go after all. Thanks! I have a whole lot of nothing to report but I’m reporting it anyway.

Last song: the last thing I listened to on purpose, in full - as opposed to whatever came up on the car radio driving back from the grocery store last night, which was Garbage’s #1 Crush - was Ice Paper’s 心如止水 (Talking to the Moon).

Last film: no idea. The only local movie theatre I liked gave up the ghost during the pandemic and I’m… tired… of how what I might want to watch is spread across so many streaming services (didn’t we move away from cable to escape this?). I guess my personal golden age of cinema is gone.

Current/last read: between work, art, and life, I’m so behind… trying and failing to catch up on friends’/other favorite authors’ fanfic across a few fandoms, mostly.

Currently watching: nothing has quite caught my eye. Apparently I am still a serial monogamist when it comes to visual media and fandom, lol.

Current obsessions: besides the usual ND issues? 😂 And getting better at art? I’m still stuck on aspects of Kinnporsche, especially VegasPete, which is kind of unfortunate as the fandom has been through a lot and is splintered/angry/still in shambles/largely moved on. The brain wants what it wants, though, and there’s nothing to be done for it.

Tagging (if you feel like it!): @3cheers4alex @portraitoftheoddity @sunshinesanctuary @weeheilandcoo @minorfamilysupremacy @kerrikins @khaotunqs @bitacrytic and anyone else who sees this and wants to join in.

[coldrubies]

Notes on TÁR!

I was very excited to see Tár because I love:

Classical music

Orchestral conducting

Seeing people at pianos

Seeing people make notations on staff paper

The promise of seeing these things is more than enough to lure me into a movie theatre.

Not relevant to my excitement was:

Moral panic

I did not go in with a feeling that the movie would have interesting things to say about holding people accountable for abuses of power. This is not because I have anything against Todd Field, whose directorial/writing work I'm not familiar enough with to pass that kind of judgment. I just feel that it is a tough needle to thread, and I would have been pleasantly surprised to see it done right, and I always reserve the hope of being pleasantly surprised. I was not—not by that—but there were still things I appreciated.

BLACKWING CAMEO

That was a nice flourish of affection for the romance of composing in analog mode: the sight of a box of Blackwing pencils in LT's pencil vault. I did not get the chance to see if she had any Alpheus Music Writer pencils (LB's brand).

I would love to watch anything—documentary, affectionate feature film—about the heartache involved in being devoted to dead stock pencils.

A FAIR AMOUNT OF ORCHESTRA

The strongest feeling with which I emerged from my experience of watching Tár was that someone out there needs to win my heart by declaring themself the next Frederick Wiseman and make me a four (plus!) hour documentary that just follows the administration of a major symphony orchestra. The meetings! The committees! The sections! The drudgery! The paperwork! The tuning up! The rehearsals! The commuting! The work-life balance! The negotiations! The board! The fundraising! The music programming! Everything! This is what I want. For my money, there could have been way more orchestra.

MEETINGS IN RESTAURANTS WITH DARK PANELED WOOD WALLS AND WHITE CUPS AND WHITE TABLE CLOTHS

I did not need quarantine to teach me that there are few luxuries more poignant, significant, and comforting to me than a fancy place to get coffee, but the mere sight of people in a restaurant I'd like to be in is enough to move me to tears. The German locale specifically beat hard on the strings of my heart dedicated to Café Sabarsky.

THE RUSSIAN CELLIST

It's not my movie. Somebody else made it, it's done. But if my take had been solicited, I would have concentrated a lot more time and tension into the part of the plot that engages with the young Russian cellist who is so familiar with the games inherent in her field that she takes them on readily and with naked disdain.

VINYL GRIPES

New classical recordings should all be issued on vinyl and they never are.

PANGENDER JUILLIARD STUDENT

I cannot think of another movie I've seen in a theatre where a character has to, under duress, articulate their identity as something not-cis, and I was touched by how much the performer in the role shows that it sucks. The reactionary fantasy seems to involve a college student screaming the qualities of their identity that an unknowing authority figure ought to know, while the reality is that it is the worst thing to have to introduce and always feels like it is crawling out of you in a way that is mortifyingly unimpressive because plenty of people do not need to articulate their identities, but we do. At the same time, I did not love the scene and question its relevance. I guess that it did demonstrate LT's penchant for dying on a hill, but I am not convinced that the use of the straw man did not utterly mute the point that this character cannot meet anybody on their own terms but will mandate the terms until everybody turns over or flickers out.

(Was the scene filmed at Juilliard? It captured the building's steepness.)

INTERTIORS

I love the apartment LT shares with her family and the studio. There did not need to be any more action in this movie than somebody noodling at various grand pianos trying to manifest what they hear in their head. Of course, Cate Blanchett was great at it.

LENNY B!!!

This man had no boundaries, and his ghost winks at a way messier, more playful, more irony-soaked movie for how he endures as a platonic ideal of success. Also, the Young People's Concerts are definitive, lovingly documented proof of how engrossing it is just to watch an orchestra do what it does. I hope people who see Tár invest in the DVD sets.

[only-mildly-evil]

you know the effort being made to keep antisemitism out of irl pro-palestine activist spaces is really so beautiful and i wish people who call anyone antisemitic for being anti-zionist could see it. i remember when our local indie theatre did a screening of the movie israelism which is a movie by jewish people that's really made for jewish people (absolutely great movie btw you can watch it for free here: https://kinema.com/events/israelism-worldwide-rental-tdqdt3) and there were people protesting outside the theatre, at the entrance of which our local chapter of independent jewish voices was handing out pamphlets to the people going in, and so a group of counter-protestors. mostly members of the local graduate students' union, who probably weren't even going to see the movie themselves, formed a ring around the entrance to protect the people handing out pamphlets. they didn't start fights or anything like that (there might've been an altercation further down the line, i heard shouting and i can't confirm who started that, but i'm pretty sure it was between a protestor and someone going to see the movie, not a counter-protestor), they just stood there. and you know i really thought, these are people who would hide us in their cellars and toolsheds. these are people who are willing to protect jews, and yeah, in this case unfortunately it's mostly from other jews and i hate that our community is like that, but i really think the people who claim palestinian activists only care about the welfare of jewish people if they're anti-zionist have never met a palestinian activist irl. i have seen palestinians patiently explain to people who identify as zionists how zionism hurts them, sometimes even palestinians who aren't professional activists or movement leaders at all. a lot of prominent anti-zionist jewish people i've met irl or heard of online have said "i used to be zionist but then i met palestinians and people who cared about the palestinian cause and they explained to me how it was a harmful ideology". at this same screening, there was a questions panel with several ijv organizers and the producers of the film and one palestinian activist said she drew inspiration from her anti-zionist jewish comrades, to which one of the organizers replied that they drew inspiration from palestinian activists. i'm spending a lot of time worried about being ostracized from a community that i only just got involved in because of my activism, but i'm a lot less worried knowing that within and outside of that community there are people who are so much more accommodating and forgiving than anyone who tries to work against them could ever imagine. yes there are people who use the movement as a cover for their own anti-semitism and yes there are people, mostly online, who will sometimes parrot antisemitic rhetoric, but the vast majority of anti-zionist and pro-palestinian activist spaces don't just support but also actively try to protect the jewish people in the movement. i firmly believe that when there is a free palestine from the river to the sea there will be many people working to ensure that all jewish people who want to live there can do so safely and with equal rights.

[grinchwrapsupreme]

i'm not saying this to make any sort of point but as someone who works in canadian theatre, the wga strike is going to have an interesting effect on live entertainment too, like i know multiple people who have lost their jobs or will lose their jobs soon because so much american television is produced here and obviously the iatse union is standing with the wga which it should and i also know that when film crew are out of work like this they often turn to theatre because it's a different local of the same union (and a lot of them started in theatre) and they wind up pushing permits out of work because film crew are usually members which means they get first dibs on all calls even if they don't have much live entertainment experience and even though attitudes in theatre and film are VERY different. And i really really hope the wga gets everything they want, they deserve that and more, but i also hope it happens quickly before young iatse permits get priced out of this city and we get into into another situation like the one right after the pandemic

[bebagerie]

I worked at an arts camp over the summer and most ppl working there were artist ranging from backstage theatre, actors, film, pottery, animation, fashion, glassblowing, weaving, there was a guy doing his phd thesis on paper making and he brought along massive sheets he’d made so that he could make books with them for everyone. and like yeah a lot of them didn’t like art school the most or went yeah my industry’s kinda shit but also they were all so thrilled to talk about their work and the cool projects they did in school(ages were from 18 to 60s like this is a wide range of ppl) and so many of them had fantastic stories about their time. two of them(animation and pottery) met at school and got engaged and she makes him vases and stuff based on his characters when she needs to destress and just do something. i watched 5 guys make a giant deathstar out of glass at like 1 am bc they could. a fashion major made a quilted jacket and started talking about how it gave her an idea for her senior year project. there was about 200 of us(i was one of the only STEM ppl) and they were all so happy to be doing art. some of them did other things for work and only rediscovered their love later on and others knew they’d wanted to do it since they were 5 but all of them were so thrilled and even when they complained about proffessors and portfolios they also encouraged every kid that asked to do it and apply and go to art school. this is kinda rambly but figured you could use some good artist stuff and good luck on the portfolio

THIS. ABSOLUTELY THIS.

I’m so heavily pro-art-school, I’ve dreamed of it since I was a kid and I was lucky enough to take part in a local art school’s program for pre-college kids to take classes and live on campus for three weeks which only solidified my love for that environment. I’m So Excited to get to go to art school after I graduate and everywhere I plan to apply I’ve researched extensively, I know the courses and I know the opportunities alumni have gotten, and it genuinely frustrates me so much to see people who take art school for granted, don’t use their resources there and then complain about being set up for failure later. (Or attend a program expecting more than it really offers without proper research, etc) This is rlly sweet to hear and it’s exactly the kind of environment I love to be around, being around other creatives is genuinely so refreshing and it’s always nice to hear people being positive about their outlets and experiences

I’m very much one to encourage the hell out of every single young artist I get the opportunity to speak to, I run art stations at my summer camp and I looove to see what kids are making, it’s so frustrating for me to see grown adults who had a personal bad experience with art school discourage so many younger folks from pursuing their dreams

[pynkhues]

I don’t know much about that industry but I don’t understand sn**k’s attachment to Rabbit. Like why she was in it

Why was she in Run Rabbit Run? I think plenty of reasons.

I think when she and her agent were pitched the project, it probably felt like a really exciting film.

It's the debut screenplay of a really 'hot' Australian author, Hannah Kent, who wrote the enormously internationally successful Burial Rites, as well as The Good People and Devotion (which are all dense historical fiction novels, which is a part of why I was suspicious of such a vast genre switch for screen which was basically confirmed for me when Kent said she doesn't watch horror) and the second feature of a really 'hot' Australian woman director, Daina Reid, who's worked extensively on really 'good' genre TV - The Handmaid's Tale, The Shining Girls, Romper Stomper, The Spanish Princess, Offspring.

That is, on paper, a really exciting creative team! I can see why her agent would recommend it and why she'd think it was going to be something that's more than what it is as a film.

I also think it probably had both personal and strategic benefits for her since she's moved back to Australia. The first one's pretty easy to see, I think - she's from Adelaide originally, Run Rabbit Run was shot in Adelaide / South Australia. Shooting a movie there means she gets to stay for a longer period of time and spend time with the friends and family she has there.

A lot of actors take jobs in their hometowns for that reason - a sort of working homecoming, as well as a way to support the industry you originally came from. A friend of mine who's a theatre director has actually just accepted a job directing a play back in her hometown pretty much for that reason exactly. It's a level below what she'd normally do, but she's really looking forward to spending a lot of time with her Dad around the play as he had a health scare not too long ago and this gives her the opportunity to spend three months there.

The strategic benefit is speculative, of course, and a bit more specific to the Australian industry, so bear with me as I try to explain it, haha.

Each state here has their own screen agency, and these screen agencies play an enormous role in funding and supporting local production, while also attracting overseas production with specific local advantages. Queensland for instance, my home state, sells itself on its beaches, Warner Brothers' large studio, and the fact they have some of the biggest water tanks for shooting underwater sequences in the Southern Hemisphere. It's why things like Aquaman, Pirates of the Carribbean and every mermaid show you've ever heard of are shot there.

Because they are state funded though, these films and tv shows have state talent quotas attached to them. In other words, they have to have a certain amount of both Above the Line Talent (these are producers, directors, writers and principal actors), and Below the Line Talent (all crew, extras, stunties, craft services, etc.) that are considered as being 'from' that state.

These quotas are designed so that interstate and international productions can't just ship in crews or whole casts from interstate or overseas, and effectively makes them invest in local talent.

But what local talent means can vary a little.

Using myself as an example, I'm from Brisbane, so I automatically qualify as local talent for Screen Queensland, but I live in Melbourne, which doesn't actually mean I automatically qualify as local talent for VicScreen. To qualify, I had to live in the state of Victoria consistently for two years, and be able to supply evidence of that, which I can, and is why I am now on the talent registers both in Queensland and Victoria.

For Sarah, she's from South Australia, but she also lives in Melbourne, which means she's considered basically a talent asset for both the South Australia Film Corporation (which funded Run Rabbit Run), and VicScreen (which interestingly enough actually was involved in developing Run Rabbit Run). Her last Australian productions were Winchester (2018), The Beautiful Lie (2015), Oddball (2015), The Dressmaker (2015) and The Secret River (2015), all of which are VicScreen, meaning they were all filmed in Melbourne / Victoria (which makes sense! Melbourne has a much bigger industry than Adelaide).

With her moving back to Australia, and moving back with the status that means she's always going to be a principal actor, I think it makes sense that she'd want to strategically show that she can qualify as Above the Line Talent in both Melbourne and Adelaide. It shows her off a bit as supporting her home state's industry / remembering her roots, but also makes her appear as available / accessible for filmmakers there and the state's funding body.

Given she's heading to London's West End again for theatre too, I think it probably was a pretty smart strategic move to sort of stake such a local claim like that before she goes international again too.

[lovepollution]

EMMY®-winning Canadian Luke Kirby Rings The ‘Bell’ as an Agoraphobic Southerner and Amateur Detective in PANHANDLE [x]

Canadians are used to dealing with raccoons, coyotes, beavers, and even polar bears from time to time. But in the new series PANHANDLE, the character played by EMMY® Award-winning actor Luke Kirby has a pet alligator. So how close did Kirby, a Canadian, get to a live alligator during the filming of PANHANDLE, which debuts Thursday, Oct. 6 at 9 p.m. ET on CTV Drama Channel? This would seem to be the reason that stunt doubles were invented. “You're not wrong,” Kirby said, “A stunt double was very important and integral to this assignment. I did, however, get fairly close to our dear little alligator friend, while keeping the right amount of distance. I didn't want my smell to rub off too distinctly. So I never spent too much time alone with it. I wanted there to be other options around.” Speaking of options, PANHANDLE is an intriguing one for viewers seeking a show that’s part mystery, part comedy, part drama, and part ghost story. It allows Kirby to display all his considerable skills, alongside co-star Tiana Okoye (THE GOOD PLACE). Following a family tragedy five years ago, the eccentric and agoraphobic Bellwether “Bell” Prescott (Kirby) hasn’t left the decaying, once-magnificent Florida property he shares with his mother. When Bell discovers a dead body in his azaleas, he suspects it might be connected to the previously mentioned case that impacted him personally. Bell, who has been working as an armchair detective from the comforts of his own garage, pesters the only cop left in their bankrupt town - Cammie Lorde (Okoye), known locally as the “speed-trap queen” - into helping him investigate. Of course, neither of them has the authority to do so, but thus begins their unlikely, tense, and often amusing partnership. Example: at one point Cammie complains, “I do not have time to run around playing Nancy Drew.” To which an exasperated Bell replies, “Nancy Drew was far more talented than you - and she was a fictitious child from the 1930s.” “I love brutally honest characters,” said Kirby, who won his EMMY® for his role as legendary comedian Lenny Bruce in THE MARVELOUS MRS. MAISEL. “I mean, they're hard to contend with in reality, for sure. Although I will say that some of those people sometimes have been my saviour. Just because something is painful to hear in the moment doesn’t mean it’s entirely wrong to tell the truth. And I like that about Bell. There's this kind of dying-breed aspect to this character, which I wanted to relish.” If Bell is a dying breed, the state of his Southern estate certainly reflects that. “There is great satisfaction, I think, derived from watching a once-thriving thing kind of have to change,” Kirby said. “It’s an empire robbed of its theatre. And Bellwether is the arbiter of this crumbling empire. He has to now contend with reality, which means, getting back to being a person in the world, with people. For generations, his family probably didn't really have to do that, but now he’s the one burdened with that responsibility.” Bell can be overcome by a lot of things in PANHANDLE, both real and imagined. To be blunt, he gets woozy and falls down a lot. So how is Kirby handling that from an acting perspective? “I’m doing better, thanks for asking,” Kirby said. “There's a price to pay, I will say that. I’m still working on it, and just trying to get as much sleep and rest as I can, floating in the pool, massages, whatever I need to do. When I first read the script, I thought there was room for that kind of physicality, and that it would be really fun. And then, of course, on the fourth day you start to think, ‘what have I done?’ And you know, time chips away. None of us becomes more limber as we get older.” Just stay limber enough to keep one step ahead of the pet alligator.

[allthemusic]

Week ending: 8th August

And we're steadily working our back towards "real time", relative to me writing this post :) Summer is properly underway, and this week's songs are (thankfully) a far cry from the mopey drag we got last week - I love a summer hit that actually feels summery, and I think both of these probably count?

Island in the Sun - Harry Belafonte (peaked at Number 3)

Look at the title and artist combination, right there. You know exactly what you're letting yourself into, here - and sure enough, it's a calypso tune about life on a sunny Caribbean island, complete with cheery flutes and some low-key marimba (?) work. Add in a strummy guitar and some vaguely African drumming, and you've got an incredibly chill island vibe already.

Except the lyrics aren't content just to wax lyrical about how lovely the island life is and be done with it. Sure, we've got lines about how All my days I will sing in praise / Of your forest, waters / Your shining sand. But we also get a focus on the hard work that it takes to live there, and the sense of ownership that that creates for Harry, the sense of the island being willed to me by my father's hand, a place where my people have toiled since time begun. It's Harry's island, because it's him and his people who've really put the work into it - and still are doing so, going by lines about Harry's heavy load and his sweat falling to the earth. He joins a cast of characters cutting cane for their families or going out to fish - hard, honest workers, out to tame and tend the island.

You could absolutely do some sort of post-colonial reading of this, of the poverty that the locals seem to be living in, and of Harry's defiant insistence that it's his people's island, that it's a place and a work that's worth taking pride in, despite it all. And you also see the pride in the culture and musical traditions that have sprung up there, especially in the verse where Harry sings about how I hope the day will never come / That I can't awake to the sound of drum / Never let me miss carnival / With calypso songs philosophical. Caribbean music - and calypso, in particular - is portrayed as something profound and worthy of celebrating, even as Harry moves to the US and pursues a career there. It's cool stuff.

I should also mention here that the song is from a film, also called Island in the Sun. And honestly, it sounds pretty awesome - it's about various interracial relationships, and how they all play out on a fictional West Indies island called Santa Marta. Harry's in the film, playing an ambitious young union leader, hence the focus on work in the song, who falls for the widow of the former heir to a local plantation, as one of the many plot threads. And when I say many, I mean it - scanning a synopsis, there appear to be four romances, a murder and subsequent investigation, multiple reveals about key characters' parentages, a whole lot of political campaigning and at least one attempted suicide. So yeah, I'd definitely watch that.

In the film, Harry romances a character played by Joan Fontaine, and apparently she got threats from the KKK as a result. The film wasn't shown throughout parts of the southern US, and the filmmaker eventually had to step in to say he'd pay the fines of any theatre-owner who got in trouble for showing it. So yeah. Definitely a cool film, in a way that makes me like the song considerably more, too. It's going to be a tough one to beat, for sure...

Lucille - Little Richard (10)

Ah. Right.

Gosh, did this song really only make Number 10 in the UK? Further proof that the record-buying public in the UK can have some real dodgy taste, because this song is a certified banger. Words like iconic are overused when talking about music, but if any song merits them, it's this. It's just *chef's kiss* perfect!

The whole song's insistent, driven along by this bass ostinato that just hammers away at this one rhythm, shifting it up a bit occasionally, enough to give the song momentum. Honestly, it sounds like something the Beatles will be getting a load of praise for in about five or six years. Which is almost certainly not a coincidence - heck, they apparently covered the song. Still, it's awesome to see this sort of riff-driven approach a few years "ahead of schedule".

This riffing, combined with the gun-shot drumming, the hammering piano notes and Little Richard's yowling, screeching delivery, gives the whole thing much more of a striaghtforwardly "rock" feel than you'd expect. It's got all the rock and roll hallmarks, sure - we've got a bluesy chord pattern, a blink-and-you'll-miss-it bit with those rock and roll triplets and even some sax for good measure - but overall, it just feels heavier, a bit more aggressive.

And in among all of this, Little Richard, performing like only he seems to be able to, rough and scratchy by turns, then high and squealy, the ends of his lines ticking upwards with a sort of camp abandon. There's a reason that Little Richard's songs always have a bit where the backing drops out and just lets him sing for a line or two - his vocal style and random screaming vocalisations are just that interesting and weird, they easily become the song's star attraction.

Lyrically, it's straightforward, but a bit more emotional and anguished than your typical rock and roll song, with Richard basically begging his wayward woman to come back to him, imploring her: Oh Lucille, please, come back where you belong. It's a straightforward story, and Richard doesn't jazz it up in poetry, or anything. You don't come here for fancy lyrics, you come here for Little Richard selling the emotion of it all. And that he does, line after line after line. As I said at the start, iconic.

I almost feel sorry for Harry Belafonte in this match-up, because I really did like Island in the Sun. But pitted against Lucille, there's really only one song I can pick as a favourite, and it's not Harry's.

Favourite song of the bunch: Lucille

[flashvintage]

Cris Miró

New Post has been published on https://flashvintage.co.uk/2024/05/22/cris-miro/

Cris Miró

Cris Miró (16 September 1965 – 1 June 1999) was an Argentine entertainer and media personality with a brief but influential career as a top-billing vedette in Buenos Aires’ Revista theatre scene during the mid-to-late 1990s. Miró began her acting career in the early 1990s in fringe theatre plays and later rose to fame as a vedette at the Teatro Maipo in 1995. For years, she hid her HIV-positive status from the press until her death on 1 June 1999 due to AIDS-related lymphoma.

As Jorge Perez Evelyn in the ’70s, Cris was also a travesty celebrity in Argentina. She caused a media sensation and paved the way for the visibility of the transgender community in local society. Nevertheless, her figure was initially questioned by some members of the burgeoning Travesti activism movement, who resented the unequal treatment she received compared to most trans people. She is now regarded as a symbol of the Argentine 1990s.

  In the late 1980s, Miró met theatre director Jorgelina Belardo at Bunker—a popular gay club in Buenos Aires—who asked her to join a theatrical production group that Belardo had formed with Juanito Belmonte. Belardo became Miró’s close friend and artistic director, while Belmonte worked as her press agent. Working with them, Miró made her fringe theatre debut in the plays Fragmentos del infierno—based on a text by Antonin Artaud—and Orgasmo apocalíptico, which focused on sexuality issues more explicitly. Before her career as a vedette, Miró made film appearances in Fernando Ayala’s Dios los cría (1991) and Luis Puenzo’s La peste (1992), based on Albert Camus’ novel of the same name.

In 1994, Miró went to a casting call at Teatro Maipo, one of the most important venues in the Buenos Aires revue theatre scene (in Spanish teatro de revistas), a widely popular genre at the time. She only presented herself as a female once on stage, performing a strip tease to a Madonna song. Producer Lino Patalano immediately cast her as a vedette for his show Viva la Revista en el Maipo, which premiered in 1995 and quickly made her a celebrity. Miró appeared on Mirtha Legrand’s famous television program, where guests have lunch with her and are interviewed. That broadcast is now infamous for the uncomfortable questions that Legrand asked Miró, such as her dead name or if “it bothers you that people know that you are a man”. At that time, questions like these were common to transgender guests on television but are negatively assessed in retrospect.

  Legacy:

After gaining popularity as a vedette, Miró became a national media sensation for the perceived gender-bender aspects of her image and is considered a symbol of the postmodern era in Argentina. As the first Argentine travesty to become a national celebrity, she has been considered the “first trans icon of the country”. Miró’s presence meant a change in the Argentine show business of the era and popularized transgender and cross-dressing acts in Buenos Aires’ revue theatrical scene. As such, she is regarded as a symbol of the social milieu of the Argentine 1990s and an icon of the decade. She paved the way for other Argentine travestis and trans women to gain popularity as vedettes, most notably Flor de la V, who described her in 2021 as the “first trans [person] that the public recognized as an artist” and a “shooting star that lasted only a short time on earth [but] will continue to illuminate the way forever.” In an interview with Revista NX in 1997, Miró reflected on her impact:

I am very grateful for what is happening to me, and this has helped open doors for other people. (…) But I do not forget many people who were there and tried, who worked a lot and continue to do so. This regarding the commercial circuit. But it was also important because of all the prejudice that existed around travestis, who were related to [street prostitution], or with the transformistas (…). I think that in a few years these beliefs changed a lot. I do not claim all this myself, but I do know I did my bit because the doors were opened to me, and I always said that those open doors were also going to open for other people and that was the most important thing. [The arrests and torture of travestis] give me feelings of horror. I feel sorry for these things that happen in the country, although this reality occurs in other places. (…) … I have also experienced those abuses. Going down the street and having problems with the police, with other people; being at the doorstep of an apartment waiting for a taxi to come and being afraid that a patrol car will come and take me away. Some years ago I thought I was never going to live this Argentina of achieving rights or respect. For example, that a transsexual is given her documents in accordance with her sexual identity. But everything has a cost. There have been many travestis who are no longer with us, who are imprisoned, who are taken into custody daily, all so that today other people can walk more freely on the street.

Miró’s rise to fame in the mid-1990s was a watershed moment in the visibility of transgender identities in Argentine society, as it increased the visibility of the transgender community in the national media scene and opened a debate about their marginalized living conditions.But, although the rise to the celebrity of Miró happened in parallel to the political organization of travesties and the visibility of their activism, she never took part in the movement; she was initially criticized by many of its members, who resented the unequal treatment she received compared to the neglected travesty prostitutes.[3] They also criticized Miró for embodying the “patriarchal mandate” that trans women should look like an idealized vision of “the perfect woman”. In this sense, she evidenced the desire of thousands of men for the new travesti bodies, with anthropologist Josefina Fernández claiming that: “the exchange that Cris Miró makes while living from her job as a vedette, as a body inserted in a market, does not differ from the exchange that a [travesti street prostitute] is forced to make to survive.” Reflecting on her death, feminist scholar Mabel Bellucci argued in 1999 that Miró’s acceptance was an attempt by “the system” to try to show that there was not so much discrimination, presenting her as “the exception to the rule” and encapsulating her in a role that prevented her from creating ties with her [travesti] peers. She wrote: “If this had meant a greater democratization of the travesti movement she could have achieved a greater recognition of rights.” Biographer Carlos Sanzol reflected in 2016:

Cris was somehow both a “beneficiary” and victim of machismo. A beneficiary because she represented the model of “womanhood” that the imaginary of misogyny seeks: the femme fatale, the objectified woman. And a victim because the macho discourse excludes everything that is far from the canon of virility. Seventeen years after her death, these values still persist in Argentine society with their worst facet: femicides.

A portrait photograph of Miró is displayed since 2019 at the Museo Casa Rosada as part of the exhibition Íconos Argentinos (English: “Argentine Icons”).

Her death is featured in the plot of Camila Sosa Villada’s 2019 award-winning novel Las Malas. The novel’s trans main characters mourn her, regarding her as “the Evita of travesties.”

In June 2021, an Argentine producer announced that a biographical television series on Miró was in the making, potentially released via Netflix the following year.

[spectaculardistractions]

From Francisco Rabal

Madrid, 14 May 1982

Dear uncle, Although it’s been a while since I wrote you a long letter (I’ve sent postcards), do not think I have forgotten you, I get regular news of you through our mutual friends, most recently from Juan Estelrich, who told me you were in good shape and fine humour, and that you sent your always affectionate greetings to this nephew of yours. A few days ago, the Madrid ABC published a preview in two parts of your memoirs, Mi último suspiro. I was really touched by your fond memories of me and laughed at the jokes you played on Fernando and other friends. I can’t wait to read the whole thing in Spanish, which Plaza and Janés have announced will be out soon. I was thinking of sending you copies of the ABC with you on the front cover, but I only have one copy and I imagine someone will already have sent you them. If not, let me know and I will.

I also read a few days ago that Juan Luis was in Madrid as a jury member for a Fantasy Film Festival. As there was no sign of him, I went looking and we managed to coincide. He was overwhelmed with endless screenings, talks etc. I spent an afternoon with him and then didn’t see him again, but we were very happy to meet up, and he seemed to be on great form.

I finished an action film last Saturday, co-produced by the Americans and in 3D for a change. Before that I was in La colmena by Camilo José Cela. There are not many films, or many good films, being made in Spain. It’s all dominated by the multinationals, but I get by, and with the children provided for and financially independent Asunción and I have no real problems. I’ve just been asked to do a stage production of King Lear and I think I’ll take it. It would be on at open-air theatres around Spain in summer and then, from October, in Madrid.

My daughter Teresa is having great success with a children’s musical and they’ve bought a huge marquee for 2,000 people that they can put up wherever they like, in local squares or parks all over the place, and it’s making a lot of money. She’s going to make a film now, splitting the finance with a distributor. She didn’t have children and adopted a new-born baby, who’s now two. My son Benito is still working as an assistant director and hoping to be able to direct independently soon, he has no shortage of work. From him, I have two other grandchildren: Paquito, seven years old, and a girl of nine months.

María Asunción is very well and very happy, because I’ve been leading a peaceful and austere life for a while now. That’s right, uncle, I very seldom go out at night, hardly ever drink, and my life is generally healthy, sensible and very calm. I’m telling you this because I know you’ve sometimes worried about my other more ‘fun-loving’ life. Although reports on that were somewhat exaggerated…

Damián is still working as an actors’ agent, doing quite well. His health is also good, although he should stop smoking. I should too, of course, but I’m just the same in that respect, smoking away.

So, uncle, I’ve told you, broadly-speaking, my most important news, so you are not missing out, and although I know you are now a reluctant letter-writer, I would be very pleased to get a few lines with your news and news of Aunt Juana, to whom I send much love.

With love from Asunción and my lot, and a big hug from your nephew, Paco

Jo Evans & Breixo Viejo, Luis Buñuel: A Life in Letters

[bergens-adventure-tours]

Week 4: March 6th – 12th, 2023 // Rocks on Rocks on Rocks UPDATED March 20, 2023

This week has been such a fun one! I really made an effort to disconnect more and really focus on being present, cutting down my screen time and moving my body.

During the week, I spent my time in Hobart at Alissa’s place, hanging with Sam and Annie a bunch, getting more stuff together for the van, and exploring around town. The theme for this week though was for sure rock climbing. I got into climbing during university with some friends, and have loved it since the start, but I’ve been out of it for a good couple of years due to injuries and general life stuff. It no longer became a priority for me, so actually investing time into and having people better than me to climb with has been so motivating! I had met people back in Canada that helped re-spark the love just before I left, and I’m so thankful to have some great people out here to keep that going.

I got out to the climbing gym a couple times with Sam this week and some of his friends, and we got to see Reel Rock 17 in a little local theatre! If you haven’t heard of Reel Rock and are looking for some quality inspiration and adrenaline films, I highly recommend checking them out. They’re an annual film festival that goes around the world showcasing 3 new independent climbing short films. They’re so beautifully filmed and cover such an arrange of topics/teachings/lessons that can apply to anyone, anywhere. https://reelrocktour.com

This past weekend was also SUCH a turning point and eye opening experience into climbing. Sam, Annie and I drove out to Coles Bay for some outdoor trad climbing and oh my goodness I had the best time. I’ve spent most of my time bouldering in gyms, so getting to explore outside was such a game changer. You feel a different level of connection with your body and sense of self getting to be outdoors. There’s also a whole new level of adrenaline that really forces you to step out of your comfort zone, trust your body, and trust your climbing partners.

This week also involved a lot of connecting with new people on travels - ranging from middle age married couples making the most of their time between work to Aussie’s taking a year off work to some Brits exploring on the same Visa to a NSW Nomad living off his bike for months. These interactions always remind me + reaffirm why I love this lifestyle. You meet such incredibly interesting, kind and inspiring people who are also going through the process of stepping outside of their comfort zones and really connecting with themselves, from such an array of backgrounds and lifestyles. There’s comfort in knowing and interacting with those who are going through similar journeys to you, and a reminder that these journeys are for everyone, whenever you need and want it.

I have SO much more to share, but I’ll be keeping this weeks post shorter as I’m currently typing this on my phone at a random beach off the highway on my way to Port Arthur’s; I’m in the process of sorting out a fix for charging laptop and camera on the road so photos are a bit limited this week, but I have some that I’m REALLY excited to get up and show you all. I’ve been out of service pretty much since Saturday and will be continuing my trip in and around Port Arthur’s for some camping and hiking, where I imagine service will be limited again, so might be a bit before I get some proper stuff up.

Stay passionate and curious, Hunter♡

03/12/2023

[karenmillernet]

The Author

Lord, do you really want to know?

Oh, all right.

I was born in Vancouver, Canada, and came to Australia with my parents when I was 2. I think. Dad’s an Aussie, Mum’s English, go figure. Talk about Fate and Destiny. But three passports come in handy.

I’ve always lived in Sydney, except when I didn’t. After graduating with a BA Communications from the then Institute of Technology (now University) a few years ahead of Hugh Jackman, dammit, talk about rotten timing, I headed off to England and lived there for 3 years. It was interesting. I worked for a bunch of nutters in a community health centre and got the sack because I refused to go do EST with them (you stand in the middle of a circle and thank people for hurling verbal abuse at you for your own good, they said, and then were surprised when I said no), was a customer services officer for DHL London (would you believe at one time I knew every single airport code for every single airport in the world, off by heart?!?), got roped into an extremely dubious life insurance selling scheme (I was young and broke, need I say more?) and ended up realizing a life-long dream of working professionally with horses. After 18 grueling months I woke up, and came home.

Since then I’ve done customer service in the insurance and telecommunications industries, been a training officer, PR Officer in local government, production assistant in educational publishing, taught English and Business Communication at TAFE, been a supervisor and run my own sf/fantasy/mystery bookshop. Money for jam, there! I also managed to squeeze in a Master’s Degree in Children’s Literature from Macquarie University.

I used to have horses of my own, and spent lots of time and money showing, breeding, training and judging, but then I came off one time too many and so a large part of my life ended.

When I’m not writing I’m heavily involved in the Castle Hill Players, my local community theatre group, as an actor, director, prompt, stage manager (but not all at once!) and publicity officer.

I’m a story junkie. Books, film, tv ... you name it. Star Wars, Star Trek, Babylon 5, Battlestar Galactica (the new series), Stargate, Firefly, X-Men, Buffy, Angel, Supernatural, The Professionals, Forever Knight, Due South, The West Wing, The Shield, Sandbaggers, Homicide, Wiseguy, The Shield, The Closer ... and the list goes on. And that’s just the media stuff!

I love music. While writing I listen primarily to film soundtracks, because they’ve been written primarily to evoke emotional responses in the listener. This helps access emotion during tough scenes. Plus, the music is pretty. At least the stuff I listen to is. Favourite film composers include Hans Zimmer, Alan Silvestri, James Horner and John Williams. Vocalists I enjoy are Josh Groban, Russell Watson, Sarah McLachlan, Simon and Garfunkel , Queen, The Moody Blues, Steeleye Span, Meatloaf, Mike Oldfield ... anyone who can carry a tune, basically.

In short, I’m an only child with an overactive imagination, 3 dogs, 2 cats and not enough hours in the day. I don’t drink, smoke, or do enough exercise. I make periodic stabs at eating properly. Chocolate is my besetting downfall.

So that’s me. You can wake up now ...

Article Source: https://www.karenmiller.net/the-author