So classes start tomorrow. About to really take the plunge into senior year. I find myself feeling multiple feelings about this, most of them positive, so I don't think I should go into the complaining. Last year of college, quite possible the last year of schooling I'm ever going to have. Good. Ness.
I think classes starting mean I should do things like get to sleep at a reasonable hour and get organized for tomorrow.
........Do I have to? This may actually be a bar night.......
So now, as I go to do some organizing and planning and things of that nature, I leave you with a video I hope makes you even half as happy as it makes me. I present to you, for your viewing enjoyment, Marcel the Shell With Shoes On:
Monday, September 6, 2010
Friday, September 3, 2010
Sigh....
So I do not have internet in my apartment right now. Apparently the router got reconfigured somehow. It's also apparently an easy problem to fix, we just need someone who knows how.
This lack of internet in my life has confirmed, once again, how addicted I am to the technological wonders I have grown accustomed to. A few days without the constant ability to check my e-mail, go on facebook, check out websites I enjoy, and even (damn.....) see twitter updates, makes me go crazy. But at least this week, I can defend that.
My thesis is auditioning in less than a week and I need to be constantly connected and available online because people are asking me for the script, setting up meetings, asking me questions, and needing to forward documents and things. Not to mention my constant research and making of documents and going through things I need my computer for. So you know what, so what if I'm addicted to constant internet and technological communication and need to be able to access my e-mail 24/7. So what. I'm very thankful of the fantastic and amazing abilities that the 21st century have provided me, and I am going to use them as much as I see fit, thankyouverymuch.
Off to more meetings. Three more today. I just wanted to blog to try to get my internet fix for at least an hour or so. Peace.
This lack of internet in my life has confirmed, once again, how addicted I am to the technological wonders I have grown accustomed to. A few days without the constant ability to check my e-mail, go on facebook, check out websites I enjoy, and even (damn.....) see twitter updates, makes me go crazy. But at least this week, I can defend that.
My thesis is auditioning in less than a week and I need to be constantly connected and available online because people are asking me for the script, setting up meetings, asking me questions, and needing to forward documents and things. Not to mention my constant research and making of documents and going through things I need my computer for. So you know what, so what if I'm addicted to constant internet and technological communication and need to be able to access my e-mail 24/7. So what. I'm very thankful of the fantastic and amazing abilities that the 21st century have provided me, and I am going to use them as much as I see fit, thankyouverymuch.
Off to more meetings. Three more today. I just wanted to blog to try to get my internet fix for at least an hour or so. Peace.
Thursday, August 26, 2010
Way Over Yonder in the Minor Key
I'm fully and totally underway into Thesis-land. This trip is going to be long and difficult and quite exciting. But I'm so excited.
Since it's possible there may be people who are reading this who don't know about my project (unlikely, but possible) I'm gonna do a quick rundown of the show/copy what I wrote in the audition notice for the actors to read...
The Diver is the 2008 collaboration between Irish playwright Colin Teevan and Japanese playwright, director, and actor Hideki Noda. The story follows a woman held by the police, thought to be guilty of murder. However, this woman mentally believes herself to be various characters from traditional Japanese stories and plays. She leads investigators on a journey through her mind as they try to discover the truth behind her actions. This blend of a contemporary murder case with traditional Japanese Noh Theatre creates a beautiful and poetic fusion of styles that has led to a complex and multi-layered journey into Japanese classical theatre and modern psychiatric theory.
So as a directing major, I'm going to be directing the show in my school's Video Studio, a space made for multimedia use. I'm doing the project as a joint project with my friend Matt Glenn, who is a music technician/audio engineer/sound designer extraordinaire. Link to his blog here. If you do some scouring, you can find some of his work from past shows we've worked on together too. Some really sweet stuff.
So for the last couple months, I have been reading, researching, watching, thinking, stressing, and obsessing over this project. The script is beautiful and powerful, and I have been working with designers and technical minds, and soon will be working with actors as well. It's easily the most ambitious project I have ever taken on. So. Excited. and So. Terrified.
So auditions are in about two weeks (actually two weeks from today....) and I couldn't be more excited. And all those problems I know are around the corner, I stick my tongue and middle finger to. So ha.
In other news, it's Sher Watts Spooner's birthday today. Happy Birthday, Mama!
And now, for pure fun for fun's sake, I leave you with this because I have been doing all the Muppet quizzes on Sporcle the past couple days. And who doesn't love the Muppets:
Since it's possible there may be people who are reading this who don't know about my project (unlikely, but possible) I'm gonna do a quick rundown of the show/copy what I wrote in the audition notice for the actors to read...
The Diver is the 2008 collaboration between Irish playwright Colin Teevan and Japanese playwright, director, and actor Hideki Noda. The story follows a woman held by the police, thought to be guilty of murder. However, this woman mentally believes herself to be various characters from traditional Japanese stories and plays. She leads investigators on a journey through her mind as they try to discover the truth behind her actions. This blend of a contemporary murder case with traditional Japanese Noh Theatre creates a beautiful and poetic fusion of styles that has led to a complex and multi-layered journey into Japanese classical theatre and modern psychiatric theory.
So as a directing major, I'm going to be directing the show in my school's Video Studio, a space made for multimedia use. I'm doing the project as a joint project with my friend Matt Glenn, who is a music technician/audio engineer/sound designer extraordinaire. Link to his blog here. If you do some scouring, you can find some of his work from past shows we've worked on together too. Some really sweet stuff.
So for the last couple months, I have been reading, researching, watching, thinking, stressing, and obsessing over this project. The script is beautiful and powerful, and I have been working with designers and technical minds, and soon will be working with actors as well. It's easily the most ambitious project I have ever taken on. So. Excited. and So. Terrified.
So auditions are in about two weeks (actually two weeks from today....) and I couldn't be more excited. And all those problems I know are around the corner, I stick my tongue and middle finger to. So ha.
In other news, it's Sher Watts Spooner's birthday today. Happy Birthday, Mama!
And now, for pure fun for fun's sake, I leave you with this because I have been doing all the Muppet quizzes on Sporcle the past couple days. And who doesn't love the Muppets:
Saturday, August 14, 2010
It's hot today...
Haven't blogged in a while. Let's try this again.
I've just been doing a lot of hanging in Ann Arbor lately, so there hasn't been much new to report. Let's see where this post takes us.
For a few years, I have been avidly against getting a twitter, but in the last week I realized that so many people I know have them. And that there are a few very entertaining celebrities that I could follow and be entertained by. So maybe it's time I broke down and got one. The most important step is to think of an Awesome with a capital A twitter name with which to tweet with. Obviously is has to have something to do with "Spooner" since that's what I've come to identify with the most in the last few years. And come on, it's the best name ever. Like, ever.
I've been watching a ton of this British TV show called Never Mind the Buzzcocks. I remember my sister showing it to me a few months ago, but I recently discovered again that there are tons of episodes on youtube. It's a quiz show about music, and features comedians, musicians, and random people answering questions about music. It's one of the funniest things.... ever. In all honesty, there's only about 5 minutes of actual question answering, otherwise it's them just hanging around and making jokes about each other. In the latest season, there are guest celebrity hosts, and two main team captains, Phil Jupitus the comedian (whom I love) and Noel Fielding from The Mighty Boosh (whom I LOVE). Before, Simon Amstell was the usual host, and Bill Baily was one of the team captains. If you don't know, all of those people are hilarious. Here's part one of one of my favorite episodes, especially if you know anything about Doctor Who:
If you get the chance, go watch the entire episode cuse it's great.
In other news I bought Janelle Monae's The Archandroid today. Incredible. Really, as fantastic as each individual song is, it really should be listened to in total order by itself. This album is Suites II and III, and Suite I is on another album, but it really should be listened to all together. It's a fantastic album. It's odd, I've bought more actual physical CDs this year than I have in the last 5 or 6 years combined. and I've bought about 3, just this summer. Besides The Archandroid, I HIGHLY recommend B.o.B Presents: The Adventures of Bobby Ray by B.o.B. It's incredible. I must say my favorite song is Magic featuring the always fantastic Rivers Cuomo, who's the lead singer from Weezer. The song is just.... awesome. And the whole album is fantastic.
There's nothing like listening to an entire album as a whole when the artist really is fantastic and doesn't just have talent song by song.
Random fact of the day:
For a few years now, I've wanted to buy a banjo and teach myself to play. If you have any leads, let me know.
To end the day, I leave you with one of the most fantastic scenes from a great movie, The American President. My frustration with the way the American government is being handled by both prominent political parties recently is growing to utterly ridiculous. Especially over very important human needs like benefits for the unemployed and the fireman who were injured on September 11th and the stupid incompetent people who don't think those people deserve them. With the utterly ridiculous crap is being thrown around, the lies that are being told, and the lack of balls of intelligent people to stand up for what's right, we need and Andy Sheppard to come in and smack some sense into people. America isn't easy. So fight for it. The American President is on my list to rent from the library this week. Go watch it. I'll take any other recommendations for movies this week if you get them.
This isn't a spoiler, it just makes the ending that much more utterly fantastic when you watch the whole movie.
Somewhat uneventful blog post, but it's a fairly chill Saturday afternoon and I've been not doing much but sending businessy e-mails and reading and working. And watching Never Mind the Buzzcocks. So there. Sue me.
I've just been doing a lot of hanging in Ann Arbor lately, so there hasn't been much new to report. Let's see where this post takes us.
For a few years, I have been avidly against getting a twitter, but in the last week I realized that so many people I know have them. And that there are a few very entertaining celebrities that I could follow and be entertained by. So maybe it's time I broke down and got one. The most important step is to think of an Awesome with a capital A twitter name with which to tweet with. Obviously is has to have something to do with "Spooner" since that's what I've come to identify with the most in the last few years. And come on, it's the best name ever. Like, ever.
I've been watching a ton of this British TV show called Never Mind the Buzzcocks. I remember my sister showing it to me a few months ago, but I recently discovered again that there are tons of episodes on youtube. It's a quiz show about music, and features comedians, musicians, and random people answering questions about music. It's one of the funniest things.... ever. In all honesty, there's only about 5 minutes of actual question answering, otherwise it's them just hanging around and making jokes about each other. In the latest season, there are guest celebrity hosts, and two main team captains, Phil Jupitus the comedian (whom I love) and Noel Fielding from The Mighty Boosh (whom I LOVE). Before, Simon Amstell was the usual host, and Bill Baily was one of the team captains. If you don't know, all of those people are hilarious. Here's part one of one of my favorite episodes, especially if you know anything about Doctor Who:
If you get the chance, go watch the entire episode cuse it's great.
In other news I bought Janelle Monae's The Archandroid today. Incredible. Really, as fantastic as each individual song is, it really should be listened to in total order by itself. This album is Suites II and III, and Suite I is on another album, but it really should be listened to all together. It's a fantastic album. It's odd, I've bought more actual physical CDs this year than I have in the last 5 or 6 years combined. and I've bought about 3, just this summer. Besides The Archandroid, I HIGHLY recommend B.o.B Presents: The Adventures of Bobby Ray by B.o.B. It's incredible. I must say my favorite song is Magic featuring the always fantastic Rivers Cuomo, who's the lead singer from Weezer. The song is just.... awesome. And the whole album is fantastic.
There's nothing like listening to an entire album as a whole when the artist really is fantastic and doesn't just have talent song by song.
Random fact of the day:
For a few years now, I've wanted to buy a banjo and teach myself to play. If you have any leads, let me know.
To end the day, I leave you with one of the most fantastic scenes from a great movie, The American President. My frustration with the way the American government is being handled by both prominent political parties recently is growing to utterly ridiculous. Especially over very important human needs like benefits for the unemployed and the fireman who were injured on September 11th and the stupid incompetent people who don't think those people deserve them. With the utterly ridiculous crap is being thrown around, the lies that are being told, and the lack of balls of intelligent people to stand up for what's right, we need and Andy Sheppard to come in and smack some sense into people. America isn't easy. So fight for it. The American President is on my list to rent from the library this week. Go watch it. I'll take any other recommendations for movies this week if you get them.
This isn't a spoiler, it just makes the ending that much more utterly fantastic when you watch the whole movie.
Somewhat uneventful blog post, but it's a fairly chill Saturday afternoon and I've been not doing much but sending businessy e-mails and reading and working. And watching Never Mind the Buzzcocks. So there. Sue me.
Saturday, August 7, 2010
Things I'm loving right now
I'm loving so many things right now, so I feel like I'd give a big taste of the best things.
Again, Akira Kurosawa- Go rent one of his movies. I have three more from the library, and will have more soon. Fun fact, the movie The Hidden Fortress was one of the biggest influence on George Lucas for Star Wars. Awesome. You can tell just by watching it.
Janelle Monae- This fantastic woman is one of the greatest musical artists I've heard in a long time. Her music is great and catchy and funky and fun on the surface, and then you realize that all of her songs are deeply emotional, and then you realize that she's made two concept albums of the story of a messiah-like android in a science fiction world called Metropolis. Her music videos have also surpassed even Lady Gaga in craziness and weird stories and absolute beauty. The music video for Tightrope started a new dance craze and has made me want to wear a tuxedo all the time, Many Moons showed a world of this crazy Metropolis android auction, which I'm still working to understand, and then there's this:
I don't think I could love her more.
Samurai Jack- This show was on Cartoon Network years ago, and I had remembered catching glimpses of it when my family got cable when I was in Junior High. However, a couple summers ago when I got my wisdom teeth out and had nothing to do but lay on the couch and watch movies and television, I got a couple DVDs from the library. It is the most incredible thing I've ever seen. The animation is BEAUTIFUL and the use of color and light make it extremely cinematic. Plus, it's funny as well as exciting. The basic premise is that this samurai warrior from many years ago stood up to fight Aku, a shape shifter who basically is pure evil. Before the warrior could finally defeat him, Aku sent him forward in time to the very distant future where Aku has taken over the world and robots, strange creatures, and people, are all trying to live. The samurai gets the name Jack and goes on a quest to defeat Aku and return to his own time. The action and violence is really exciting. It would probably not have been a show for kids if Jack had't been annihilating and chopping up humans instead of robots. A bunch of episodes are posted online, and I highly recommend it if you get the change to see it. Here's the second episode:
Ann Arbor Michigan- need I say more? It's also been beautiful the last couple of days, which helps.
This picture: pure happiness
The California Supreme Court's Overturn of Proposition 8- This is a fantastic step in equal rights for all people. My favorite part of the decision is the judge's well-constructed argument that marriage is not something that is entered into as only a means to have kids, which was a big argument that marriage should only be between a man and a woman. There is no test for your child-bearing potential when a a couple gets their marriage license, so how can it only be applicable to a man and a woman, and how can it not be prejudiced to not allow a same sex couple to enter into that union? (I thank Alan Cumming's blog for highlighting this part of the ruling. He put it so well I stole that last sentence)
Buffy the Vampire Slayer and Angel -
No, scratch that
JOSS WHEDON IN GENERAL- This man is nothing short of genius and if you have never heard of him or seen any work that he's done as a writer, director, or storytelling mastermind, I am sorry you have unknowingly led a sad life up until now because whatever he puts his name to is amazing. I say that I'm loving him right now just because my roommate Kacie and I have been watching the 6th season of Buffy and I'm getting into season 2 of Angel, but I have been a fan for many years now. Firefly is the most incredible show ever to be on television, and he's done so much good he can't be passed up. Genius. Joss Whedon is also going to be co-writing and directing The Avengers movie. Couldn't be more excited.
Also, while I'm in mind of Buffy in terms of things I'm loving right now...
Spike-
yummy....
I think this blog just turned into a 14-year-old girl's blog. Posting pictures of hot guys. What's wrong with me...
And finally, Blogging- This is starting to get really fun. Maybe one day I'll even have people who read this...
Again, Akira Kurosawa- Go rent one of his movies. I have three more from the library, and will have more soon. Fun fact, the movie The Hidden Fortress was one of the biggest influence on George Lucas for Star Wars. Awesome. You can tell just by watching it.
Janelle Monae- This fantastic woman is one of the greatest musical artists I've heard in a long time. Her music is great and catchy and funky and fun on the surface, and then you realize that all of her songs are deeply emotional, and then you realize that she's made two concept albums of the story of a messiah-like android in a science fiction world called Metropolis. Her music videos have also surpassed even Lady Gaga in craziness and weird stories and absolute beauty. The music video for Tightrope started a new dance craze and has made me want to wear a tuxedo all the time, Many Moons showed a world of this crazy Metropolis android auction, which I'm still working to understand, and then there's this:
I don't think I could love her more.
Samurai Jack- This show was on Cartoon Network years ago, and I had remembered catching glimpses of it when my family got cable when I was in Junior High. However, a couple summers ago when I got my wisdom teeth out and had nothing to do but lay on the couch and watch movies and television, I got a couple DVDs from the library. It is the most incredible thing I've ever seen. The animation is BEAUTIFUL and the use of color and light make it extremely cinematic. Plus, it's funny as well as exciting. The basic premise is that this samurai warrior from many years ago stood up to fight Aku, a shape shifter who basically is pure evil. Before the warrior could finally defeat him, Aku sent him forward in time to the very distant future where Aku has taken over the world and robots, strange creatures, and people, are all trying to live. The samurai gets the name Jack and goes on a quest to defeat Aku and return to his own time. The action and violence is really exciting. It would probably not have been a show for kids if Jack had't been annihilating and chopping up humans instead of robots. A bunch of episodes are posted online, and I highly recommend it if you get the change to see it. Here's the second episode:
Ann Arbor Michigan- need I say more? It's also been beautiful the last couple of days, which helps.
This picture: pure happiness
The California Supreme Court's Overturn of Proposition 8- This is a fantastic step in equal rights for all people. My favorite part of the decision is the judge's well-constructed argument that marriage is not something that is entered into as only a means to have kids, which was a big argument that marriage should only be between a man and a woman. There is no test for your child-bearing potential when a a couple gets their marriage license, so how can it only be applicable to a man and a woman, and how can it not be prejudiced to not allow a same sex couple to enter into that union? (I thank Alan Cumming's blog for highlighting this part of the ruling. He put it so well I stole that last sentence)
Buffy the Vampire Slayer and Angel -
No, scratch that
JOSS WHEDON IN GENERAL- This man is nothing short of genius and if you have never heard of him or seen any work that he's done as a writer, director, or storytelling mastermind, I am sorry you have unknowingly led a sad life up until now because whatever he puts his name to is amazing. I say that I'm loving him right now just because my roommate Kacie and I have been watching the 6th season of Buffy and I'm getting into season 2 of Angel, but I have been a fan for many years now. Firefly is the most incredible show ever to be on television, and he's done so much good he can't be passed up. Genius. Joss Whedon is also going to be co-writing and directing The Avengers movie. Couldn't be more excited.
Also, while I'm in mind of Buffy in terms of things I'm loving right now...
Spike-
I think this blog just turned into a 14-year-old girl's blog. Posting pictures of hot guys. What's wrong with me...
And finally, Blogging- This is starting to get really fun. Maybe one day I'll even have people who read this...
Tuesday, August 3, 2010
In which I change your cinematic life!
Ok, maybe this won't change any lives, but there is some really exciting stuff. To me anyway.
Through out the past 24 hours, I have watched all 3 1/2 hours plus several hours of bonus features of Akira Kurosawa's Seven Samurai. I have been a big fan of Kurosawa after seeing Throne of Blood and Ran, and have been wanting to see Seven Samurai for a couple years now. And it was quite fantastic. One of these days, I'll write a little more about my growing fascination with Japan and especially Japanese art forms. The play I'm about to direct for my thesis is based in Japanese Noh Theatre. So besides for just my own personal enjoyment, I've wanted to watch a lot of Kurosawa for the influence Noh has on his films, especially the jidaigeki films, which were films that took place mostly during the Edo era, the kind of heyday of the samurai.
Not only did this film change Japanese cinema and the way it was produced, it changed how all cinema was shot and edited and created. The film is beautiful, entertaining, and technically a masterpiece. What was also great, is that the version I rented from the fabulous University of Michigan Askwith Media Library was a three disk special edition version, with tons of fantastic bonus features.
Watching little featurettes about the making of the film and interviews with Kurosawa about his career were some of the most inspiring things I've experienced lately. Not only as a director of some truly fantastic work, but as a writer and a leader, Kurosawa was an artist. I have been especially nervous lately, not only about the thesis, which constantly is on my mind, but about a lot of writing which I will be doing soon in classes in both playwriting and creative writing, mostly short stories. I used to write a good amount, but have not in many years. Watching Kurosawa, as an artist who did... well everything from cinema to writing to painting to all sorts of technical work on his films, was extremely inspiring.
I hope, if anyone reads this, that you go out and watch a Kurosawa film. I am a huge fan of Throne of Blood, a chilling retelling of Shakespeare's Macbeth in Edo Japan, but really any film is good.
There was one quote that I'll end with tonight, because I really must get to sleep. Kurosawa said this to help writers, but I feel like it applies to many things.
The first thing they teach you in mountain climbing is to never look up. When climbing a mountain it is best to just always look in front of you, climbing little by little. It's only when you look up and see how far you are from the top that you get frustrated.
Through out the past 24 hours, I have watched all 3 1/2 hours plus several hours of bonus features of Akira Kurosawa's Seven Samurai. I have been a big fan of Kurosawa after seeing Throne of Blood and Ran, and have been wanting to see Seven Samurai for a couple years now. And it was quite fantastic. One of these days, I'll write a little more about my growing fascination with Japan and especially Japanese art forms. The play I'm about to direct for my thesis is based in Japanese Noh Theatre. So besides for just my own personal enjoyment, I've wanted to watch a lot of Kurosawa for the influence Noh has on his films, especially the jidaigeki films, which were films that took place mostly during the Edo era, the kind of heyday of the samurai.
Not only did this film change Japanese cinema and the way it was produced, it changed how all cinema was shot and edited and created. The film is beautiful, entertaining, and technically a masterpiece. What was also great, is that the version I rented from the fabulous University of Michigan Askwith Media Library was a three disk special edition version, with tons of fantastic bonus features.
Watching little featurettes about the making of the film and interviews with Kurosawa about his career were some of the most inspiring things I've experienced lately. Not only as a director of some truly fantastic work, but as a writer and a leader, Kurosawa was an artist. I have been especially nervous lately, not only about the thesis, which constantly is on my mind, but about a lot of writing which I will be doing soon in classes in both playwriting and creative writing, mostly short stories. I used to write a good amount, but have not in many years. Watching Kurosawa, as an artist who did... well everything from cinema to writing to painting to all sorts of technical work on his films, was extremely inspiring.
I hope, if anyone reads this, that you go out and watch a Kurosawa film. I am a huge fan of Throne of Blood, a chilling retelling of Shakespeare's Macbeth in Edo Japan, but really any film is good.
There was one quote that I'll end with tonight, because I really must get to sleep. Kurosawa said this to help writers, but I feel like it applies to many things.
The first thing they teach you in mountain climbing is to never look up. When climbing a mountain it is best to just always look in front of you, climbing little by little. It's only when you look up and see how far you are from the top that you get frustrated.
Sunday, August 1, 2010
Something fun for the day
My friend Gavin showed me this video about a year ago, and I love it, so I thought I'd share.
It's the first time I'm trying to embed a video, so let's see how this goes.
Hope those random people who may come across this enjoy it!
It's the first time I'm trying to embed a video, so let's see how this goes.
Hope those random people who may come across this enjoy it!
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