Happy 2013 Everyone!

Another year another nickel!

Another humbling experience. Again my New Year's has started off with me being alone- like the past year. If this is how it's going to be in all of 2013 you can count me out! Loneliness is no fun. =( New Year's, for me though is about wrapping up time. I lived last year. I did things. I feel a sense of accomplishment. I win.

In case you were wondering here is how my New Year's went down;

-My neighbors thought it would be fun to give me a heart attack by blowing up their fireworks at 10 pm and right now at 1. THESE ARE NOT NEW YEAR RELATED TIMES YOU TEENY BOPPERS!  I absolutely loved it when you scared my freaking face off!


- I drank THIS;

It is really good once you add honey. And Splenda. Lots of Splenda. I feel that I should be concerned about my Splenda intake, but I'm not. Truvia is not good so I shall stick with the poisonous Splenda and live with my life choices.

-Gangnam Style!!! on television, thrice times!


PSY is a happy little man with awesome dance moves!

- I got sad because Dick Clark is no more and Seacrest will never be him. Seacrest is ok but RIP DICK CLARK!!!



-Carson Daly had Emmy Rossum host with him. That was a neat surprise.

- I drew pretty pictures!!! With crayons. Yeah, my night has obviously been pretty wild and crazy! I am now

thinking of drinking a DIET COKE (le gasp!) and about how fun falling over the fiscal cliff shall be. Bright

new happy year everyone!

New Years 2013!!!

Just wanted to wish everyone out there a very happy New Year's!!! Do any of you have any plans? Are you in time square right now waiting for the ghost of Dick Clark to make an appearance? I would really love to know!

This year (kind of like last year) I'm just vegging out by myself and waiting for the ball to drop in Time's Square. For some reason I always end up alone on New Year's Eve and I have absolutely no idea why. I would just like to point out that I am not opposed to going to a type of New Year's swarve where I can dress in sequins. Someday it will happen though, someday. ;)

And I have yet to make a resolution this year. Maybe it should be become more independent but for some reason I feel independent enough. So I guess my New Year's Resolution will be Follow Your Heart because the swallow in Thumbelina told me to, although this isn't really a resolution to ANYTHING...

^Oh Thumbelina, I shall review you and some more hilariously awful movies next year. And by hilariously awful I mean I love them, but for different reasons than you probably do.

But anyways, hope everyone has a fun and safe New Year's! Remember, alcohol and fireworks do not play well together and shooting a gun in the air is not the same as shooting off fireworks.

Les Misérables Review!

Let me start this off by saying that if you have not seen this movie yet, please do so now. Right now. Even it's it is 1 in the morning, go. Get your butt off the computer or your iphone and see it!!! Invite your neighbors as well. I shall wait for your return.

Now that that is out of the way, be warned, this review will contain SPOILERS. So if you failed to listen to the above suggestion tis your own fault if you are spoiled, not mine.







Review Time!
So without a doubt I knew that this movie was going to be fantastic. I stayed away from the reviews online so as not to have their opinion influence my thoughts. This is now my 2nd favorite movie of all time, but Les Mis has always been my 2nd favorite book and stage production so it really doesn't surprise me that this is now my 2nd favorite movie. I seriously cannot say enough good things about it. However, I am a little bit more impressed with the stage version but that is no reason to diss on this film.  In fact everything Tom Hooper directed completely did the stage production justice and for that I applaud him. The only people I cannot see enjoying this movie are musical haters and people without a soul or people who love everything about Will Ferrell. (No, I am not apologizing for that last statement.) That is it.

Now I apologize to my readers ahead of time if this just kind of bounces around and all over the place but I am hoping that you understand what I am trying to say. Before we begin here is what Les Miserables is for those who have no idea. Les Miserables is a French novel written by Victor Hugo (the same dude who wrote The Hunchback of Notre Dame) in 1862. The novel was turned into a musical in Paris in 1980 where it ran for 3 months in the Palais des Sports in Paris. After being translated into English, it opened in the West End of London on October 28, 1985 where critics loathed it but fans loved it. The Broadway production opened on March 12, 1987 and was nominated for twelve Tony Awards, and won eight.

Now onto the movie version!

The actors
Hugh Jackman (Jean Valjean aka 24601)- Give him an Oscar. And an Academy Award. And everything. Wonderful, wonderful performance. I cannot even fathom seeing any other film actor as Valjean. He did so well and I am just extremely proud of him in this role.



Russell Crowe (Javert)- I want to give this man a hug, truly I do. He was phenomenal and I have to say that he was the one that surprised me the most. And I am so tired of reading comments about his portrayal of the character and how bad he did. To those people; you know nothing of Javert! Javert is a hard role to portray considering it's complexity and I would like any one of you asshats who are complaining about his performance to do as well as he did. Oh that's right, he got the role and you didn't so you can't prove anything so let us shut up about it and stop hating on the Crowe. Considering that Crowe is not a professional singer, he kicked major ass. His Javert was amazing and for the first time I felt that he was indeed, a human and anyone who disagrees can go jump off a bridge! Truly Crowe was one of the highlights of the film.

Oh and here's a little fact that a lot of people missed in the theatre; when Javert falls in the water you can hear a cracking noise. Pretty sure that was the sound of my heart breaking.='(



Colm Wilkinson (Bishop of Digne)- For those who don't know, he is THE FIRST Jean Valjean. Having him play the Bishop is the best decision ever made ever. Great performer and he did fantastic as the Bishop. I was so happy that he makes an appearance at the end of the movie as well for he is the character that pretty much had the most significant influence on Valjean the most.What was really cool was that throughout the movie the silver candlesticks were shown.


Anne Hathaway(Fantine)- Oh Anne Hathaway, you were so amazing! After I Dreamed A Dream I was tempted to not applaud. She was just incredible in this role. She played the character so well and I thought that she was absolutely astonishing.Her scenes were the ones I found to be some of the most heart wrenching to watch and when a scene or actor can get that reaction out of you, they are doing their job. I am really REALLY wanting Anne to win an Oscar for this, she is deserving of it more than anyone this year.



Amanda Seyfried (Cosette)- She did wonderfully. I knew by the trailer that she was a great choice but her voice completely fits the role and she sounds like a little song bird! At the end you could really feel her characters love for her father as well. I really dislike all the hate Cosette's character get's though. Sure, in the musical we don't get to know a lot of her back-story but if you read the book you might come to appreciate her more. By the way, I absolutely loved the hat she wears! =)



Eddie Redmayne (Marius)- Good casting choice. THANK GOD HE IS NOT NICK JONAS. I've only ever seen him in one other role and this was something new to him and he succeeded and almost made me like Marius a little. ALMOST. Still hate him though but at least in the movie he seemed to feel something when Eponine died and didn't just go (2 seconds later) I HAVE MY LOVER COSETTE'S LETTER! I LOVE HER! without even acknowledging Eponine's death. One thing I really wanted to see that they didn't add in (though probably not his choice) was having Marius throw a rock up to Cosette's window and have her shut it then sing "I'm doing everything all wrong!" during A Heart Full of Love.

ABC Members- Every single one of them did an amazing job. Aaron Tveit (Enjolras) really surprised me and I have to say his portrayal of the character is right up there with Ramin's. Unlike the stage version I actually felt somewhat attached to his character and felt some pretty strong emotions when we didn't see him again until the end.


Samantha Barks (Eponine)- Truly the star of the cast. I knew she wouldn't disappoint. Eponine is one of my dream roles and I have been a huge fan of Samantha ever since the 25th Anniversary concert. Even on film she is the best.


































Sacha Baron Cohen and Helena Bonham Carter (The Thenardiers)- I loved them both so much! Most hilarious characters in the show and they got that across very well. I wish they would both receive a lot more credit than they have been given. Truly Helena and Sacha are now my favorite takes on the Thenardiers.


 Daniel Huttlestone (Gavroche)- I loved him so so so much! As soon as he jumped into the carriage I'm just like "You're gonna go far kid." Loved him so much! I knew he would die but that didn't make it any less sad. When Javert put his medal on him I almost lost it.


Isabelle Allen (Younger version of Cosette)- What a great little actress/singer she was. I was so surprised to find out that this was her first time appearing on film, she did so great. I'm literally rooting for her to be in more films, I thought she stole the show.


Natalya Angel Wallace (Younger version of Eponine)- Looked so very similiar to Samantha Barks it was unreal. Although it's a small role she made it her own. "Eponine, come my dear, Eponine, let me see you. You look very well in that new little blue hat!"


Sister Simplice AND Sister Perpetue- BOTH OF THEM were in the movie. I was so very happy when I saw both of the sisters even if in the musical they seem to play a small role and usually only one is on stage. But the movie gave homage to the characters which I liked a lot.


The Extras- You could not have this movie, nor this show at all without the extras. Well done to all of them and a special shout out to Frances Ruffelle who played a whore!




The Music:
Every single song was done in good taste and is deserving of ravenous round of applause. Although a lot of the lyrics were switched around and some of the songs cut shorted (such as A Little Fall of Rain) it is not really that big of a deal and you won't pick up on it unless you are a huge fan of the musical (like myself.) 

Work Song/On Parole- This starts the entire musical out and get's you ready to experience this rollercoaster of a story. However this is not my favorite version of the two songs. Great change in lyrics, but not my favorite version.

Valjean Arrested, Valjean Forgiven- I cannot even begin to describe how wonderful this scene was. I adore Colm Wilkinson as the Bishop so much.

What Have I Done?- Hugh Jackman did an exceptional job during this song. The emotion he put into it was so great that for a second I believed that he was the real life version of Jean Valjean.

At the End of the Day- We are taken to the year of 1823 in Montreuil-Sure-Mer. Fantastic scene. I read that some people were complaining about the extras and how their whispering was unnecessary but it was wonderful and fit the scene beautifully. We meet Fantine and learn that she is working to pay for her daughter after some worker snatches a letter out of her hand because she has no respect for privacy and needs to know every single thing that goes down in Fantine's life. Honestly it felt a little like bullying when the other workers surround and quetsion her.  Monsieur Madeleine aka Jean Valjean comes in to break up the fight, sees Javert then flees as Fantine is thrown out onto the street. Wonderful performance by Hathaway here. 

Lovely Ladies- I was honestly not a fan of the 10th or 25th anniversary's rendition of this song. However the movie does it fabulously and we get to see Fantine get her hair cut/ have her teeth pulled which is truly heartbreaking.

I Dreamed A Dream- This is what will get Hathaway an Oscar, for this song alone.

Fantine's Arrest- The scene where we see that Valjean truly is a changed man.  Breathtakingly beautiful this scene was.

Who Am I/The Trial- Jackman did such a wonderful job with this song, although the close up on his face kind of bugged me for a minute.

Come to Me (Fantine's Death)- CRY CRY CRY CRY CRY!!!! We get to see a type of spirit representing Cosette at this point in the film and it just breaks my heart to know she's not going to make it. Jackman also takes this scene to a whole new level with his character, which is good considering he has became an honest man.

THE CONFRONTATION- By far my absolute favorite song in the entire musical. And they did it splendidly... WITH SWORDS.

Castle on a Cloud- Isabelle Allen is a talented little girl and her version of Castle on a Cloud has to be one of the best that I have ever heard. And of course Madame Thenardier's part was purely evil but I couldn't help but love it because Helena was singing and I'm a huge fan of hers.

Master of The House- I have had this song in my head for days. It was done so well and had everyone in my theater laughing. Why is it that the catchiest song has the one with the worst morals in lyrics?

The Bargain/The Thénardier Waltz of Treachery- Everyone nailed this scene! This is basically how it went down;
Thenardier- (hand gesturing) Come here
Cosette- (shakes head) No
Thenardier- Come on I NEED MORE MONEY. 
Cosette- No no. That's quite alright.
Thenardier- Please pretend that we love each other.
Cosette- NO.
Thenardier- GIRL GET OVER HERE!
Cosette- Fiiineee...

Probably one of my favorite parts of the movie!

Suddenly- This was a new song that they added in for the film and although it is a really nice ballad it was not necessary. Maybe I need to listen to it again to get exactly what he was singing about and maybe I'll learn to love it.

Stars- Oh my God it was soooo freaking good! And I loved how at the end it went into a huge instrumental and we were taken to Paris, 10 years later.

Look Down- Probably my 3rd favorite song of the entire musical. Loved it lots! However I missed the beggar woman and Madeline!

The Robbery/Javert's Intervention- This was a great take on it! I loved how each character seemed to have aged through the years as well!

Eponine's Errand- I am so happy that they didn't cut this scene! "Little he knows, little he sees."

ABC Café/Red and Black- HUGE round of applause for our Barricade Boys! Red and Black is another song that has been stuck in my head for days now and it's not really one of my favorite songs.

Rue Plumet/In My Life- Such an emotional song and I think that every single person carried it out well. 

A Heart Full of Love- <3 Wonderful. There really isn't much more to say about it.


The Attack on Rue Plumet- AHHHHH! It was sooo sooo good! I've always loved this little tune!

On My Own- I shall admit that it blew me away. A bit different than the stage version (not as much belting) but still really fantastic. I want her to win an award so bad.

One Day More- This song was just filmed amazingly and I really can't explain how they did it but it made the song seem more umm realistic? I'm not sure what word I'm going for here but it was good.

Do You Hear the People Sing?- Yes and they were great! I loved how they filmed this scene as well. Completely took me by surprise.

Building the Barricade (Upon These Stones)- Pretty good, although I wish Eponine would have delivered the letter, but can't have everything I suppose.

At the Barricade (Upon These Stones)/ Little People- LOL. I love Gavroche so much in this! But I've always liked Javert as well so it always sucks when they find out he's a traitor and tie him up! Oh and it sucks when Eponine get's shot as well. ='( Besides Gavroche, not a really happy song for some people!

A Little Fall of Rain- No idea why they had to cut this short. Not cool Mr. Hooper! But still, it was quite good.

Night of Anguish- Valjean, at last! You arrive at the barricades! 

Drink With Me- I really am not fond of this song but the way it was filmed gave it something, although I'm not sure what.

Bring Him Home- Fabulous, fabulous, fabulous. Jackman brought it home with this song!!!

The First Attack- Valjean releases Javert. Not really a great song but it is needed for development.

The Second Attack" (Death of Gavroche)- I cannot express how much I wanted to cry during this. WHO SHOOTS  A KID?!?!? Bastard! You could truly feel Grantaire's sadness during this scene.

The Final Battle- This was done beautifully. Toward the end about five or six end up in the attic with Enjolras. The soldiers are downstairs and shoot through the ceiling and suddenly the boys drop dead and Enjolras is left completely  alone. There’s fear and a pounding heart as the soldiers come up and surround Enjolras, and you can see it in his eyes that he knows this is it. And then Grantaire makes his way up the stairs, and takes his place beside Enjolras to die. 

Javert's Suicide- Beautiful. Simply beautiful. I HATED IT! Why does he have to die?!?!? Overall though, it was executed in a beautiful way and we actually get a deja vu experience to Stars when he was walking on the edge of the building.

Turning- They cut out 99% of this song as well. It made me sad because I really enjoy this song a lot.

Empty Chairs At Empty Tables- Redmayne sang it really well but I think they could have added more to the scene.

Every Day- This was breathtaking. But I really REALLY dislike Marius as a character. 

Wedding Chorale- Great scene, always love how Marius punches Thenardier. Surprisingly this is the part where everything becomes clear to Marius! *gasp.* 

Beggar's At The Feast- Liked it better on stage but this was different and I somehow appreciated it.

Valjean's Death- Crying tears!Fantastic and heartbreaking. Amanda’s reaction to the death of Valjean is so tragic and believable. Fantine coming to retrieve Valjean’s soul is beautiful  And  Eponine isn't there. Yeah, I kind of wish that we could have had that cool harmony with Fantine, but that's okay. Instead, Valjean’s spirit walks out of the church where he died to the waiting Bishop, who joins in singing “to love another person is to see the face of God” and it’s just literally the most perfect way to end the Epilogue.

Do You Hear the People Sing? (Reprise)- Great way/ song choice to end the show with. Bravo!


Basically, to sum this review up the movie should win everything.  EVERYTHING. And Tom Hooper included the convent in the film which was only in the book. Hooray climbing the wall convent scene! What really impressed me the most though is that every person sang live, no movie has ever done that before and you can definitely see that making that small change really payed off. Basically this is a one million and a half movie out of 10 in my ratings. Go see it!

Happy Holidays!!!

In case I do not get a chance to post this tomorrow, I just wanted to wish everyone a very Merry Christmas! And if Christmas is not your thing then I just want to wish you a very belated and happy Chanukah and early Kwanzaa! 

For me this week has been quite stressful but in the end I think it will pay off. Tomorrow I get to go to my cousins house for holiday celebration times and today it has been snowing non-stop.

Santa (aka Father Christmas) is heading to Mauritania right now and It's A Wonderful Life is playing on television.  I can only  assume that tomorrow is going to be awesome.

Again, thank you all for being so awesome and a happy holidays to each and every one of you!

Arrogant People In Their Field of Work

Sadly there will always be people like this, whether you are a musician or a pastry chef. However, I was really upset to learn that one of my friends who I met in the last play the college performed, who was really excited to be going to a convention, got to meet one of her favorite favorite voice actors and he ended up being a complete jerk.

This just makes me sad. I've read stories online about this voice actor either being mean or being completely nice and for her sake I was hoping it was the latter. Sadly when my friend was in line for an autograph she told him how she loved his work, only listed 2 shows he was in (her favorites), and he went on a tangent about how those were shows he did a few years ago and that she should know him from his other work and not just said shows. The guy in line behind her apparently brought his brother (who didn't know who he was) and this went down; "It's NOT ACCEPTABLE to go to a panel when you don't even know who I am. It's disrespectful to the fans who know my name and couldn't get a seat and it's disrespectful to me as well." Um arrogant much? I'm guessing this kid will not be watching any of the shows you voice in now dude. I realize that he was probably a little offended because the kid didn't know who he was but you have to realize that maybe these people are just now getting into animation or anime and don't necessarily know everything about the characters and who voice them yet.

But really, being mean to your fans is not cool considering they are more than likely the reason you are at the convention and continue to get work in the first place. Alright, so this guy is pretty good at what he does and has voiced a ton of great characters in popular shows but he is not the best and needs to realize that. Sure, everyone is bound to have a bad day but being mean to your fans or the people who made it possible for you to come to the convention center is not cool and I really hope he realizes this is not acceptable behavior. The fans are already nervous enough meeting someone who's work they really enjoy and to have this person be arrogant and mean to the people who admired him for so long just sickens me.

I also learned that he has a tendency to be flirty with some of the girls at the conventions he goes to. I have no idea if that rumor is true or not but because I have no first hand experience with this I'm going to assume that it is false. I would actually like to meet him one day just to see if some of these stories about him being a jerk are true. I am really hoping that they aren't but with some of the stories I've heard about him, including what my friend told me, I'm not so sure. 

However, I have to give the man a little credit, some of his fans do tend to be a bit fangirlish and that can make anyone mad after awhile, however they are still supporting your career and although they may come off as a bit high strung, that's no excuse to flip out on them. Sure, we all have bad days but it would be wise to channel that into something positive rather than "OMG YOU ARE ANNOYING AND DON'T KNOW WHO I AM! GO HOME LITTLE MISSY I HAVE NO TIME FOR THIS! RAWR!!" 

Now I have met only a few voice actors in the past;
Tony Oliver- I took an adventures in voice acting class with him in Chicago when I was just starting to get into voice over, and I have to admit that I wasn't very good. He was a super, super nice guy though and definitely knows a lot when it comes to voice over. He had a ton of kickass stories too and was willing to help everyone out and give pointers which was very much appreciated! Overall he was just a cool guy and I was really happy that I had a chance to meet him.

Olivia D'Abo- Ok, so I didn't really meet her, but my friend went to Motor City Comic Con last year and he had her call me up and say hi and sign an autograph for me. Super sweet lady. My friend said that she was really excited to be there and that she was 'happy' to know that her voice work is as well received as her screen work. 

Tiffany Grant- Neat lady and very talented. I didn't get to go to her panel but I was able to talk to her in the conventions' hallway for a few minutes and she gave me a few pointers on voice acting which I really enjoyed so I gave her a hug. Lol! Professionalism!!!

Michelle Ruff- I cannot say enough wonderfully wonderful things about her. First and foremost she has and will probably always be my favorite voice actress. I went to Lansing just to see her panel and afterwards I was able to get an autograph and picture with her. (Well not really a picture considering the girl in front of me who was supposed to take it had it on VIDEO. GRR. One day a picture will happen though!) And she was just the most awesome, nicest, coolest, person I have ever met and I am still really grateful for the experience. 

So based on my meeting voice actors experience, it seems to me that 99.9% of them are not evil fan hating jerks. So I'm not going to let one guys jerkocity ruin the reputation of the career and no matter what you read online, if you get a chance try to meet the people you really want to no matter what anyone says, more than likely they will be swell people to meet and if they aren't then you can at least inform others that may like the person as well  that they tend to have bad day mood swings so be cautious when awaiting the meet and greet.

Acknowledgement

This post is just going to be me ranting about my major in college. Feel free to avoid if you'd like. =)


First and foremost I don't want to sound like an immature jerk in this post, totally not my intentions. However this is something that has really been hurting me personally for a few months now and I feel that I have every single right to acknowledge and write about what is going on at my college when it comes to me being a theatre major and how I do not find these things okay.

1. Being cut from 90% of my classes' student film- I cannot even begin to express how upset I am about this.   I freaking worked my butt off and you cut me. True, I realize a lot of actors get cut in Hollywood and I need to learn to deal with this but this is a community college. Nobody is a true 'professional' yet. Stop acting like a big shot and cutting people out of the damn film just so you can look better. I could understand if I was out of character or my presence wasn't needed but I am just really hurt that my class would cut me without giving me a reason as to why it was necessary. I really did not think I did a horrendous job.

Not to mention Mr.Pumpkin Patch keeps gloating about how HE was the director when he did not direct us what so ever and (sorry to say) sucked at his job. I personally had to take over (along with the editor) to make sure our  film got completed on time. But of course whenever our teacher was watching the class film our movie Mr. Pumpkin Patch tried to look all important on his ipad and try to tell us what to do when alls he did any other time was just sit there and take credit for ideas that weren't even his.

2. Having my head cut off- No, not Sleepy Hollow style. But on my colleges' website at the top of the page is a picture of a  theatre production I was in earlier this year. Every single person is on stage except the 5 foot nothing me because my head is cut off in the picture. I have had a few people ask me if I have ever been in any productions at college (yes...) and when I list that show a few people told me that I was lying because I wasn't in the picture on the website. 0_O. Yes because it is so much fun to lie about productions you were not in! *head desk.*

3. Understudies get no credit- True statement, but I am not going to dwell on this one.

4. Not necessarily college but that lovely theatre where I got cut from Sweeney Todd- They are holding auditions for the awesome rock musical, Next to Normal. Let us take bets. Who says the girl who played Mrs. Lovett will be getting the role of Natalie or Diana? Actually, let us not take bets, she already has the role even if she hasn't auditioned yet. WHAT FAIRNESS this will be to the other 41 ladies auditioning. I really just want to go to the theatre and hand out cupcakes to the girls who will be cut no matter how wonderful they are. ='(

Suspensions

I was talking to a girl on facebook last night who's a senior in high school right now. Apparently she just got an in school suspention for wearing a skirt like this;


Now I can understand if the skirt was way too short or if she was wearing a tank top or going "Hey guys check out how sexy my legs are!!! You should totally bang me!" but she wasn't. I just fail to see how this type of skirt or really any article of clothing, would call for an in school suspension. I can see something along the lines of 'go home and change/find something in the lost and found to cover yourself up with' but being suspended for wearing a skirt is just beyond idiotic.

The rest of her story goes that some girls who hate her guts for no reason told some male teacher that what she was wearing was a 'distraction' to their learning so said teacher takes her down to the office where for the rest of the day she had to copy down the school rules regarding dress code and has an ISS tomorrow. I am curious as to what dress code she broke by wearing this. Just because she wanted to wear a skirt and not jeans she get's an ISS thanks to some insecure girls who were just jealous because she looked better than them. I swear that this has just got to be the most idiotic reason for a suspension that I have ever heard.

Then again my high school did have a tendency to suspend people for stupid reasons, apparently much hasn't changed since I left. I was a good kid in high school but because some girl threw a punch at me first and I defended myself by slapping her in the face I got suspended for fighting. The cool principle at the time thought it was hilarious though, my mom was also laughing her butt off when she came to pick me up as I was crying. The principle didn't want to suspend me but according to the 'school handbook' she had no choice. But despite that being suspended for defending yourself against someone who could harm you is stupid. My mom always said that if someone is to throw a punch at you first you have every right to defend yourself because if you don't people will just think it's okay to hurt you. Truer words have never been said.

But getting back to this girl having an in school suspension tomorrow, I told her to debate this. Go into the school, bring the skirt in, ask where in the handbook it says she cannot wear it and why. If that fails, point out a person wearing something 100 times worse and debate the system again. She has no reason for being in ISS. CLOTHING should be the least of the schools problems at the moment. If someone wishes to dress like a street walker then more power to them.

End of The Semester!!!!!!

The semester is over!!! I now have a few weeks off to do funtastical things like bake cookies and wrap Christmas stuff and everything else I have not been able to do because of college class things! I really did not think that I was going to be able to make it through this tried to murder me semester but I did with only one mental  breakdown. Hooray!!! I actually have a few drafted posts that I have been meaning to complete so stay tuned for those.

So the end of the fall semester, in Shakespeare I had to listen to too people read their way too many depressing sonnets. I am getting so tired of people in my college thinking that sadness and love and death and sickness are the only official topics that you can write about. Sure, they are all meaningful and what not but I am just tired of hearing them. Nobody cares that your black soul bleeds when a thousand nails go through it. NOBODY. So to show these little neanderthals that it's possible to write something, anything other than sadness and deep heart reflecting poetry, I wrote this poem;

The hippo was cold.

He crossed the road.

To the sea.

To have some tea.

The tea was good.

In da hood.

In the home.

Of the Rolling Stones.

"To England!" the hippo cried.

The bat flew in the night sky.

The hippo was to take a bride.

But in England he was to hide.

For he enjoyed all of his lies.

That put him undercover near the seaside.

Writing is fun! This wonderful poem shall win many awards! 

But honestly it is much better than 99% of the deep meaningful poems members of my class write which kind of scarred me for the rest of the day. Apparently it IS possible to be a sad panda at 9:00 in the morning!

After Shakespeare I had to go to my music class and sing infront of people. As in people that are not in my class. I got lucky though considering we did not have to sing in the classroom but rather in the auditorium. The stage has always been my safe zone as crazy as that may sound. I went 4th and out in the hallway before I was to go on one of the guys in my class tried to calm me down considering I was pacing and talking to myself like a crazy loony toon. When I went onstage my nerves subsided and I have to say that I thought that I did really good with the first song. The second song everyone had to sing has had everyone stressing all year so of course that was not my best piece but I sang it without crying this time so I call it a success. Everyone in my class did super good with the exception of the lady who went after me who scolded me in the hallway to take this SERIOUSLY. Um just because I am talking to myself that does not mean I am not being serious OK LADY! But she was completely singing a different class song than everyone else. I would not have been surprised to hear her start singing Gangnam Style halfway through the performance, but sadly that did not happen.

After everyone was finished my teacher gave me a hug and told me and two other people in the class that he was proud of us three specifically (after the other kids left to go eat cookies and what not.) That kind of warmed my heart a little. He said that I still need practice (true statement) but apparently I was the person who improved the most this semester and never failed to impressed him. 0_0 I was not expecting that but I can honestly say that it was the nicest thing that I have heard all year. 

After class I handed out my little cookies (gave at least 10 of them to the most awesome lady in my class) and then went to Kohl's and got my mom some earrings for Christmas considering hers fell apart a few days ago. Overall it was a great end of the semester. Only one more semester to go which I am extremely nervous about but I shall make the most of it.

News

What on God's green earth is going on with this world?

This week alone:

Riots in Lansing (which is quite close to where I live.)- Union members, please think about the repercussions of your actions. Beating people up and ruining a hot dog vendors workplace is not cool and just make you seem like horrible, disrespectful,  people.and doing these types of things hurt your cause and make your opinions on the matter irrelevant. For anyone out there who saw this, please do not judge the firefighters, police officers, and other organized and peaceful unions by the actions of these morons. Bills do not get overturned because of violence and riots. Common sense. 

Today police had to use pepper spray on a few people, and you know what? I have absolutely no problem with this. If you are trying to attack a police officer or start throwing things at them to get your point across, you deserve to get blinded for a little while. Reverend Charles Williams II also threatened our governors daughter and we are just now hearing about it. Quoted this reverend below;

"Just know one thing, Rick Snyder: You sign that bill, you won't get no rest," Williams said. "We'll meet you on Geddes Road. We'll be at your daughter's soccer game. We'll visit you at your church. We'll be at your office.Because Michigan workers will not take it laying down by any means necessary!" 

Again, this is a reverend. The bar for that calling has apparently been lowered. Way to represent the LORD Mr. Williams. And in this state soccer moms have every right under the sun to kick your ass if you pose a threat. Stand your ground law, read up on it. My deceased grandfather, a union worker, would be so ashamed of these people.

Oregon Mall Shooting- The worst part is that the families and friends of  Cindy Yuille and Steve Forsyth,  are going to suffer every time the holidays role around because of this. You do not go into a mall and start shooting people. By the way, I am tired of hearing people try to defend this murderer by saying that he's crazy. Stop trying to excuse him for his vicious actions by giving him a mental disease he may or may not have had.

North Korea Rocket- I'm not 100% informed of what's going on with this but South Korea and Japan are not amused and that's a bit concerning.

22 children stabbed in China- And an elderly woman. This woman was obviously used for a 'practice round' and that is just sick. Thank God none of them were killed but still, stabbing children is not okay under any circumstance. Exactly what could an eight year old child have done to you to deserve this? Nothing. I'm not happy that the kids were injured what so ever, but it is a relief to know that they are alive and that the gunman is in custody. However I think it is going to take a long time for these children to feel safety. What is sad about this is that a lot of people in the world are overlooking this story because it is a bit farther from home.

Newtown, Conneticut-

It is appalling that any individual would open fire in an Elementary School. Twenty children are dead because of him, six adults also passed during this attack. There will be no justice for those families as means of a court ruling and that seriously just makes me want to tear my hair out in frustration. These parents, these grandparents, these family members, are going to have to bury their child and will have to take back the Christmas presents that their child wanted from Santa. The little ones who lived know by now that their friends or favorite teacher didn't make it. Alls these children did was go to school. This article pretty much sums up my reaction:
http://www.theonion.com/articles/fuck-everything-nation-reports,30743/?ref=auto
And then we have these wonderful detectives who have had to pick up these childrens bodies and tell the parents that their child did not make it. I cannot even imagine the sadness they have gone through these past few days. As of right now a ton of workers at the school are being described as heroes for what they have done to save these young lives, I am very proud of them and hope that their acts of bravery are not forgotten.

As for the asshat, this is going to sound harsh but at the moment I am going to say that he doesn't deserve a funeral. I say throw his body in a ditch and burn it.


And I know a lot of you out there are talking about gun control at the moment, but please just stop. This is not the time for this discussion, give it a week or so. These families need to mourn, not listen to your opinion on guns right now. 

I basically made this blog post because I feel that these stories are being kept quiet by a small majority of  people like you and me because nobody wishes to talk about them. Obviously these stories need to be told or nothing is going to happen to stop things horrendous things like this from happening. 

However I am grateful that many of you have taken part in giving your sympathies and sharing your thoughts  when it comes to these events. You may not realize it but every voice counts, including yours (unless you say something stupid that does not have anything to do with any of these news articles. Nobody wants to buy your insurance, thank you.) 

In conclusion, this has just been a tough week for America. Give everyone you see a hug or tell them to have a super sparkly day, it may help.

Theatre Presentation Day

Tonight was the first showing of my class's movie. Well, not just that considering every theatre class presented something to show off their work this semester. However, I have to say that I found our film the best, even if I was only in it for 5 seconds because Mr.Pumpkin Patch and the editor cut me out of 90% of the scenes. (Another post regarding this will be made.)

Our class's horror movie trailer was shown to start the night off which everyone really seemed to like, and then the class had to go onstage to present our film. A lot of people were cheering for me when my name was said as I walked onstage so that was pretty cool. Our teacher (aka the college's theatre director) then told Mr.Pumpkin Patch to give the audience a brief overview about what the film was about and the idea behind it.  He just couldn't help himself, he had to explain to everyone what an important role he played by being the 'director' of this film. 0_o I still do not understand how he directed anyone, yet he got all the credit.  I swear it took him at least 10 minutes to talk to the audience. Please just sit down and stop talking, I don't want to stand here for another half hour while you explain the movies non-existent emotional concept! Let the movie speak for itself! It's supposed to be a comedy!!!

Finally he stopped speaking and our movie was shown where I found out that I was cut and Mr. Pumpkin Patch had a few more scenes added in. I have to let it go though, I am not responsible for this and I need to learn and accept that.

The acting classes at the college (which I have already taken) did plenty of Christmas skits, some directly from movies such as Charlie Brown and Groundhog Day. The actors on stage then recited the monologues they memorized. Word to future actors; swearing profusely does not make the scene more dramatic. Dying, death, suicidal thoughts, and jail time are also  not the only dramatic topics in the world. Afterwards I made a promise to myself that if a monologue was ever needed I am going down the classical route or comedy route and will hopefully never have to settle for a dramatic reading about my fake mothers death and how it torments my inner soul.

After the acting class was through the theatre club at my college presented some short skits onstage, and I felt a little better considering the club (which I mentioned before how I wasn't allowed to join because I was just an 'understudy') had only two girls in it. TWO GIRLS out of TWENTY SIX people. I may be wrong about this, but something tells me that the club's president is quite sexist when it comes to letting females join which is really a shame and something that should not be happening in this day and age. The skits were somewhat funny and a bit memorable but nothing that I would ever pay money to see again. 

The boss of the theatre department at the college sat infront of me and my mom and before the show began. She is one of the nicest ladies I have ever met in my life and I just feel really grateful that I have gotten to know her. We were talking about theatre along with being cut and the roles we would love in Les Mis and she strongly urged me to audition for the fall musical considering she can see me as a few characters in the production. (It's The 25th Annual Putnam County Spelling Bee) Of course I was already planning to audition but I found it really nice of her to say that to me along with how she enjoys seeing me on stage. Warms my little heart when people say nice things like that to others. 

After the show I started speaking to basically everyone from the other acting classes and told them that they did great (which they really did with the exception of 1 or 2 people) and some of them even thanked me for coming to see the show. That kind of hurt a little considering I was IN the show, sadly just not in any of the stage aspects of it, but okay. But in the end it was a new thing going on at the college and I bet next year's will be even better. 

I Am Finished With Today

I am done, done, done! I finished my power point although it kind of sucks because people were over my shoulder 99% of the time that I was doing it and I simply cannot work when people are behind me and OBSERVING. But none the less it is finished and I get to present it tomorrow infront of the class for a grade. I'm positive that I am not the only one like this but does anyone else get really bad anxiety before they have to present something like a project in front of other people? I can do theatre stuff all day long but when it comes to giving out information to others or singing I tend to get extremely anxious.

But besides my little power point being completed I did end up going to the music concert presentation today. I made a mistake though; Porgy and Bess are going on the 13th, today was just a community band concert type thing which I must say was better than the band we had at my high school. The theatre was filled with a ton of people so I ended up sitting in the 5th row next to two older ladies and a woman owho was about 90 years old sat down next to me. The 90 year old woman ended up falling asleep on my shoulder (I pushed her over. She was kind of in my personal space.) And one of the two elderly ladies that sat next to me ended up being a 'band' mom. Imagine "HIT THE C SHARP DANNY! C F A FLAAAT" going on throughout the entire performance along with a foot tap, singing the words to some Christmas songs hardly anyone knows the words to, and chanting along to the music DADUMDADUMDUM!!!!" If anything I have some interesting things to write about for the paper on this.


Other than those two exciting things happening today, I am now sitting here swirling my tea with a candy cane and watching some documentary on Magnus Pyke and am trying so hard not to laugh. He was a crazy crazy dude.



I think all that I have left to do is watch The Amazing Race finale tonight and then probably start having a panic attack before I present tomorrow. Wish me luck! 

Singers Will More Than Likely Have Plenty O Nuttin' and that is NOT Plenty For Me

Tomorrow is going to be a long LONG day for me. And not long in an amusement park kind of way. I have to get a lot of my stuff written out so I can place it on a power point tomorrow for my Shakespeare class, and then I have to go see a musical performance at my college so I don't get 25% of my grade knocked down for my music class.

I learned today that this performance is more than likely going to make me cry tears, LITERAL TEARS. I am actually crying on the inside right now and am still trying to wrap my head around the fact that newly trained singers at the college are going to be singing some songs from The Gershwin's Porgy and Bess. If you have no idea what Porgy and Bess is, it is an opera that first appeared on Broadway in 1935 and has been revised quite a few times. In 2011 it appeared again on Broadway starring Audra McDonald as Bess and one of my all time favorite Broadway stars, Norm Lewis, as Porgy. The production ended in September of this year and the production has won numerous awards for a good reason. I really wanted to see the production but unfortunately I live nowhere near New York. =(

But continuing on with my story, the college has untrained singers singing Porgy and Bess. I hate to say this but in no way, shape, or form, will this be good. Sure, I haven't see it yet but I know two of the singers who will be portraying both Porgy and Besssss. One is a white girl who is my age and is only in the class for a credit because advanced piano or whatever it's called was not offered this semester. Now I'm not being racist what so ever but for some reason I cannot see a white female portraying Bess, I simply cannot. In my opinion the entire musical makes a strong statement about the isolation and prejudice so deeply embedded in our culture still today. Yet it the show does it in a very subtle and very effective way, without hammering audiences over the head to get the point across.  Porgy and Bess portrays something that is still seldomly acknowledged about life during that time period. 

However it is not for me to say what type of person will be portraying Bess, if the caucasian piano player can sing Summertime without damaging her vocal chords I can only say good luck.

As for the guy who's going to be singing as Porgy, he is a nice guy but considering he has absolutely not commitment to either theatre or music (as he made clear with a previous theatre show I was in where he either didn't show up to rehearsals and when he did, he showed up about an hour late) he will not qualify as the next Norm Lewis. His voice is alright but needs some work. 

 But that is not the biggest issue here and I do not want to turn this into a debate about racism or color blind casting for a singing performance.

The biggest issue for me is exactly how the hell are amateurs going to pull this off? To sing any song from this musical and not make it not sound mediocre is going to be a problem. I'm sorry to say this but it is hard to imagine a college kid pulling this off without the musical experience. 

I am being brutally honest with everything I am saying here because I absolutely do not want to see these songs get slaughtered. I love these songs immensely and to have them get screwed with may just put another dagger into my soul. 

I Am Going To Jail After I Graduate High School! 8/

On Wednesday I had a chance to speak to my lovely criminal justice teacher that I took a class with about a year or so ago. He has to be one of the coolest guys that I have ever met. He asked if I still wanted to work in law enforcement and sadly I had to finally tell him that I technically never really wished to be in law enforcement but just took the class because I am incredibly interested in the field. He said that I was one of his better students that he has ever had but completely understood why I took the class. He recommended that I go to this little school assembly in my village today and listen to a police man talk about his experience on the job. If anything I could learn something from it so what the heck, I decided to go.

I checked in to the school office and because the ladies there loved me they let me and a few other people attend. Most of the people checking in with the office were around my age so I could only assume my past law enforcement teacher was using this assembly as some type of extra credit. 

We all walked to the gym where the little cretins of our future were already packed together and we took our seats on a stair next to some crazy high school spirit kids who continued to give us questionable looks throughout this entire thing. A lot of the people with me started taking out their notebooks and a pen and awaited our guest speaker. Yep, they are totally doing this for extra credit. 

Mr. Police officer finally stepped into the gym and greeted us with a "HELLO STUDENTS!" Obviously people continued to speak and police officer man did not enjoy this. "You all are being disrespectful to this  police veteran!" Veteran? Wait a minute, I thought you were just retired, but alrighty then.

For the next 30 minutes this guy continues to spout off nonsense to these kids;
"IF you smoke cigarettes at this age our police enforcement will lock you up and you will go to jail FOREVER!!!!"
"IF you go to a cafe and the waiter puts a foamy heart in your drink then he is likely a criminal!"- This makes no bloody sense! Is the foamy heart poisonous? 9 times out of 10 it is not!
"Handcuffs are comfy!"- Said this to a girl in a serious fashion. This girl was put into the handcuffs as an example and handcuffs are most certainly not comfortable! She got out of them. He did not appreciate her showing him up.
"Police, firemen, ambulance drivers, and members of the FBI are not allowed to have caffeine!"- WHAT? If you work for the FBI I am almost positive some of those people survive off of caffeine considering some of them never sleep!
"If a police car is behind you and NOT flashing his lights you still need to stop." 
"We always use our tasers on CRIMINALS."
"Police always have the right of way when it comes to either us or an ambulance!" - I asked him a question regarding this, he chose to avoid me. I asked him again twice and he chose to avoid me. I finally had to scream out my question and have at least 20 other kids back me up so he could answer. No, he just told me to ask after the assembly was done. I told him that everything he has been spouting off was a lie and that he needs to stop lying to these kids who already have trust issues with law enforcement. He told me that I had no respect and that a high school girl like me should be grateful for learning these types of things so that I don't get locked up before I graduate. 

I wasn't going to let it go that easily but I was curious as to what lies he was going to tell us next. After the assembly I asked him wtf he was talking about like he instructed me to do and he just said "Have a nice day girl!" 

Alright that's it. I just emailed my past criminal justice instructor and asked him how the hell this guy got into the field. He emailed me back about an hour ago stating that "He was in the field for 12 days. Got fired after he hit another police car for going too slow on the highway and after drugs were found in his possession. I thought you would find the assembly informative of what NOT to do if nothing else." 
Okay, this makes a ton of sense! Thank you past criminal justice instructor. I think I might have to FIND YOU on Wednesday to discuss this imbecile of a person! I just found it sad that some of our police officers do not understand the very laws they have sworn to uphold. However I have a ton of respect for the ladies and gentlemen who go into this field and who abide by the laws and don't do silly things. 

NO.

It is final exam week!!!! Or at least that is what is going to be happening on Monday and Wednesday, not to mention the theatre classes and whoever they invited will be sitting their butts down in the theatre seats so people can show off their monologues and students films on Thursday during this first annual theatre event.

I am getting incredibly worried about our film. On Wednesday we had to shoot a whole bunch of scenes considering we won't have much time next Wednesday because everything has to be put together and ready to go. Our 'director' aka Mr. pumpkin patch and the guy who is going to be editing this all together decided that it would be fun to leave all the actors inside the theatre completely clueless while they went to go film mr.pumpkin patch's segment. Not going to happen. I found them outside filming and my exact words were "What can we film while you guys are doing this?"
Mr. Pumpkin Patch "Well >other guy< if the official cameraman for this film so you all should wait for us to return.

We have 2 other Ipads to record on and this other guy is not the "official" cameraman. The camera has been going from hand to hand for weeks now. I am officially taking over before I have to throw you down the stairs you are recording on.

So I go back inside and tell everyone that we are going to be recording some others guys segment then moving on to the other girls.
"Hey didn't Mr.Pumpkin Patch want this character filmed INSIDE?!?!?" asks one of the guys who never talks unless he needs to.
Me: Yeah well we established that his character is a fan of the earth and recycling and is an official tree planter so I have no bloody idea why he wants it to be filmed inside. We're filming it over here in this grass area where some trees are.

So we record this guys part 3 times and finally get a great recording when Mr.Pumpkin Patch comes over to me and starts explaining why this needs to be filmed INSIDE. His only notable reason was because he wanted it that way. I told him too bad, it's recorded and we are using this.

After this was noted Mr. Pumpkin Patch pretty much told me that I was not to be trusted so he had me go be a 3rd eye for another one of his scenes which I had absolutely no problem with. The guy I recorded before was the cameraman this time and he actually did a wonderful job! While we were filming  in the hallway some lady goes over to us and asks  exactly what we are doing. "Filming for the theatre event that's happening Thursday."
Come to find out this nice lady has done some film recording for student films and worked a camera for the cancelled television show Detroit 1-8-7. So of course I asked her if she could give us some input on camera angles and how we could record this part better and what not. She gave us a lot of great advice and I learned a ton from her about recording in 10 minutes. Mr. Pumpkin Patch finally notices this lady after we had to shoot him 18 different times and asks who she was. She explains that she was just giving us some advice on camera work and stuff and Mr. Pumpkin Patch completely flips out.
"This is supposed to be a STUDENT FILM for >insert class name<  YOU are not a student of this class so we really do not want your input."
Me: "Shut up she's helping!"
Him: "You're supposed to be the third eye, NOT HER!"

The lady leaves after wishing us luck for the film and me and the other girl in this class were the only ones to thank her. I am still at a loss as to how I haven't managed to punch this guys eye out yet. One day more, one day more to put up with him and not go to jail for assault.

Afterwards we finally get to my part and I learn that they have decided to cut out my lines because we didn't have enough time to include them. Normally I would be incredibly pissed about this but yes, we were running low on time and at this point I could have cared less. Someone painted my face and we managed to record my part in one take. I have no freaking idea how good it was but the official 'cameraman' was having ADD issues and freaking out on everyone so I just accepted it and moved on.

Now as always there will be one unreliable jerk when it comes to the acting world, no exception when it comes to a college acting class. One of our 'actors' shows up 45 minutes late and forgot his costume. This almost caused me to forgot my patience but instead we decided that he can be filmed rather quickly on Wednesday before class and if he shows up late he's getting recast and I will feel nothing if that happens.

Other than my theatre class though I also had an exam for music on Wednesday. I know that I did quite poorly. If I received something other than an F or D I shall buy myself some licorice. I asked my music teacher if students could go to the workshop on Wednesday for a grade. His response.


"Unless you are singing you do not get CREDIT!!!! However if you wish to see fantastic singers--"
Oh okay. No credit. Later.

Overall Wednesday was long but I got a lot of stuff done. It is now 12:31 am and I have yet to even start my idea for a power point that I have to present on Monday for Shakespeare. Time to start getting my priorities in order. Until I write again tomorrow, buh bye!!!

Story of Music

Today was an interesting day for me. I had to sing my horrible little solo song for a grade in front of my music class. I was already having a stressful day before that considering I just had a quiz in my Shakespeare class, but as soon as I stepped into the music classroom my confidence level, which I was trying hard to maintain before singing, was shot.

"You are getting a point marked off!" says my lovely music teacher. "Same goes for you >other girl<!!!"
"OK why are we getting marked down before we even perform?"
"Because you are wearing jeans and that is not suitable performance attire!!!!!"
What the hell? You think I don't know this? This isn't a dress rehearsal and we aren't performing for other people. This is basically a learning round so we don't suck when it comes to be that time. And I dressed pretty nicely today and had to pin my lacy black t-shirt jacket thing in the front over my pink tank top to make it look acceptable for THIS REASON. And I was wearing silver flats. I looked presentable for the occasion and I felt quite pretty without my makeup! Stupid man.

After this everyone had to wait outside to go into the practice room with our accompanist who is a really sweet lady but I cannot understand a damn word that she says when it comes to how to . "Sing in an A minor instead of an A flat. This is CDACB!" Umm what? I don't understand your terminology!!! I don't read much music either and I really have no intentions of learning how to do so. The Sound of Music and their learning musical process is all I need unless I start to take up an instrument, and even sometimes people play by ear.

But this accompanist spent around 1 minute or so with each of us (yeah that helped a lot!) and then we were told to go back into the classroom so we could be judged yet again on how goodly/poorly we sang! Each student had to pick a number 1 through 10 and lucky me, I got numero uno! I had to get it over with eventually though right? So mr. music teacher is lecturing everyone else about proper stage presence and who knows what else as I am standing there waiting to go sing. During this time I realize that the other girl in jeans is going to be recording everyone's performance on her cellular telephone. I am almost positive you have to get a consent form to do that and I most certainly did not give my permission for recording of any type. FINALLY my teacher sits down, I state my name and all that fun stuff, then the accompanist begins to play. Now I realize that I can't read music but I am 100% positive that she effed me over! While practicing with the music teacher and another lady not once have I had to hit a note all the way up HERE and I was also not too keen on her slowing down the tempo. Doing so screwed me over completely. Not to mention there is a lyric in this horrendous song that goes "You might as well be made of wood" and she played that melody 5 times and it made me sound like a broken record player. After the 3rd time I just stopped singing and did a little dance. The music teacher was NOT AMUSED and started writing down notes in a very angry fashion!!! I finished the song though and had to listen to everyone else (with the exception of 3 others) do great. I got the comments back from the students for the performance and all of them said that I did great! LIES. I did terribly! I fell flat on some notes and I couldn't get the pitch right thanks to the crazy piano lady! I would have rather people told me the truth and say I did poorly than have read a bunch of lying comments.

Then the piano lady comes up to me afterwards and is like YOU DIDN'T SING THIS PART IN THE RIGHT KEEEEEY. What are you rambling on about this time crazy piano lady? I was like the next Sarah Brightman today... from the depths of musical hell. =P