Monday, September 30, 2013

Biology And Group Projects

It is 4:32 am here at the moment. I am sitting here drinking lemonade Crystal Light, watching YouTube videos, and of course writing this blog entry. In all honesty I can't sleep after the night I had.

In class today the kids kept asking the teacher to go back on the PowerPoint. They all need to start realizing that when they do that the teacher goes even faster to try and cover all the information in the one and a half hours we have. So I decided it would be smart to inform them all that they can read the list of things on the Powerpoint on page 271 of our book. That was obviously a mistake considering the condescending lady who sits next to me then said that I didn't need to be such a smart@ss b**ch about the whole thing. Well excuuussse me, princess!!  I THOUGHT I WAS DOING EVERYONE A FAVOR.

After class we had lab and in order for me and condescending lady to complete the lab I had to go weigh something on a really scale. I asked this lady to finish reading the directions then fill up 4 tubes with the water that was in a jar at our table. Easy enough right? Not for her! I'm weighing the thing on the scale when she comes over and this is how everything went down;
Her: We need stock solution for this. (*fills one tube with stock solution.)
Me: NO! I gave you one job! ONE. Read the freaking instructions then fill a tube with WATER. You have done neither. I dislike you greatly. It's not that much of a daunting task to read directions. I leave for 2 seconds to weigh something and you almost completely screw over our experiment! But no, let's not do the experiment the way it's supposed to be done, let's yell at me about how I don't know what I'm talking about, make me stop what I'm doing so I can show you the directions you were supposed to read that are written in the book. These directions show you that I'm right! *Head desk, head desk, head desk.*
Oh and when you're yelling at me I would prefer if you spoke English!
Her: "Ain't no book tell bout wader' in solution."
Me: YES IT DOESSS!
Her: I be tellin' you right now stock sol. is what we need be usin.'
Me: NO IT'S NOT! If you were paying any sort of attention you would be aware that we already did that part 10 minutes ago!
Her: Fine. You go show me in book where says wader. I don't see no wader solution in da book. You ain't right.
Me: YES I AM.
Her: Then why you not show me where you right bout this? Ya know what do the wadder part yourself you know so much!
Me: Ok I will!

And I did. And I did it correctly. Then my teacher lectured me for "taking over" and not including the condescending lady in our experiment. Because that's a fair judgement to make.

Then about 5 minutes before class let's out I find out a jolly fact that I have to do a group project/presentation with this lady and the wheelchair guy. I can see this going badly. I'll come up with an acceptable idea and I can already hear her saying; "YOUR dea' aint not good as my dea'!" I'm supposed to graduate after this class. If I listened to anything she said I'd be totally screwed. I really do not want to work with these people. Group projects. More like let me snap everyone's neck to the left in a fast motion.


Sunday, September 29, 2013

Musical Week!

I'm not entirely sure where this idea for a musical week came from, but apparently it is over now so I only got to do the first part of it. Sad face. =( If anyone knows where this idea started I would love to give the original poster their well deserved credit for their awesome idea!

As you all may know I am a HUGE musical theatre fan and tend to love every 9/10 musicals you mention or throw at me. So naturally I decided to get into the festivities and join the party by blogging about one of my favorite things in the world.


1.  What musical did you pick to "spotlight" this week and why?
I decided to spotlight the fantastic musical of Jekyll&Hyde  by Frank Wildhorn. I decided on this musical because surprisingly not many people have heard of it and I feel that needs to be changed. The story-line strays a bit far from the book but overall I believe that it is a musical everyone needs to see at least once in their life.
I also decided to spotlight Jekyll&Hyde because I don't believe anyone has done this musical yet. I would have done Sweeney Todd but that would have made the musical I picked a predictable choice.


2.  How did you discover the musical you picked (hereinafter referred to as "your musical")?
I first discovered this musical when a place around my area was going to put on a performance of it and I got some free tickets to the show. Being the natural theatre nerd that I am, I went on YouTube as soon as I relieved the tickets, started listening to the soundtrack, and was blown away by everyone's character in the original Broadway performance.


3.  If you had to pick three favorite songs from your musical, which ones would they be?
Murder, Murder
Facade
Dangerous Game

Murder, Murder

4.  What's your least favorite song from your musical?
Confrontation. And only because I felt that Jean Valjean and Javert have a better song going between the two of them is Les Mis. Jekyll&Hyde's Confrontation is good, but it doesn't make me want to shout the words to random people on the street like Les Miserables Confrontation does.

5.  Who are your favorite characters (choose up to three)?
Lucy
Everyone in the ensemble
John Utterson

I don't feel that the last two don't get as much credit they deserve.
Jekyll and Utterson 2013 Broadway revival
Utterson (on the right)

6.  Which versions of your musical have you seen/listened to, and which is your favorite?
I've seen a high school production of Jekyll&Hyde. I also saw the original Broadway version on YouTube along with the David Hasselhoff version which was actually pretty good. As for listening, I've heard Jekyll&Hyde in Concert which was absolutely amazing. I also recently heard the 2013 Broadway Revival which I did not particularly care for.
Photo Coverage: Jekyll & Hyde in Concert
Concert version. Kate Shindle, Rob Evan, and Brandi Burkhardt

7.   Is this your favorite musical of all time?  If not, what is?
No but it's in my top ten. My all time favorite shall forever be Sweeney Todd with Les Miserables and Evita coming in a close 2nd and 3rd.

8.   Which cast album/musical soundtrack in your collection do you listen to the most?
That's a hard question to answer considering I listen to musicals practically every week. I'm not really sure what one I listen to the most but Jane Eyre the musical has been on repeat lately. It saddens me that Marla Schaffel (Jane) has not been seen much since her 2009 off-Broadway performance in Enter Laughing. She is, and will always be, one of my absolute favorite Broadway performers.

Jane Eyre: Musical 

9.   What is your favorite costume from your musical?
I don't believe any of the costumes remain the same from musical to musical. However, I do love this dress Teal Wicks is wearing as Emma Carew.



10.  If you could change anything about your musical, what would you change?
How about not killing Lucy off? Or not casting Constantine Maroulis as the lead? Just because you were on American Idol does not mean you should star on Broadway! Yes, he did star in other theatre shows previously but I was just not a huge fan of that casting choice and think they only cast him and Deborah Cox because they are known names meaning more people would come to see the show. Grrr...

11.  Which role(s) would you most like to play in any musical, if you had the opportunity to do so on stage?
***Mrs. Lovett- Sweeney Todd

Eponine- Les Miserables, because it's such an unpopular role. LOL.

Jane Eyre- Jane Eyre

Madame DeFarge- A Tale of Two Cities

Eva Peron- Evita

At this moment in time though I'd just like to be on stage. In any production, even *shudders* Cats.


12.  If you could choose one performer to play any part in your musical, who would you choose and which part would you have them play?
I think James Babour could make a great Jekyll/Hyde, he has that kind of menacing barritone voice that makes you shut up and listen. And if I could choose another person for any role, I'd want Natalie Toro to play Lucy.

13.  Do you consider yourself a musical theatre fan in general or do you just like a few musicals?
Not at all. I despise musicals oh so much...



Just kidding. =)
I've loved musicals ever since I saw The Wizard of Oz when I was 3 years old.


14.  Are you tired of the word "musical" yet?
Nope. In fact I think it should be used more often in the real world in every conversation. "Have a musical day!" should be a thing.

15.  Turn your music playing device on shuffle (or utilize Pandora if you don't have one) and tell us the names of the first three show tunes that come up-- no cheating!  How do these rank on your favorites/most-listened-to list?
Mou Hitotsu no Chijou DX version- Bleach: Rock Musical. If you have never seen the show then they probably don't know what I'm talking about. It's a Japanese musical based on the show "Bleach" and honestly I listen to the songs a lot. This song has a total of 16 singers singing in it, making it the longest version in all the musicals. There are 8 musicals in total.
- The original titled, Rock Musical Bleach
- Saien
- The Dark of the Bleeding Moon
- Live Bankai Show 001
- No Clouds in the Blue Heavens
- Live Bankai Show 002
- Live Bankai Show 003
- Shinsei (different cast with the exception of Rukia who is still played by the talented Sato Miki.)
Even if you're not a fan of the show and even if you don't speak the language you should check them out. I didn't even really watch Bleach a whole lot until I saw the musicals and I was honestly surprised by how good they were. If anything most of the songs are quite catchy!

The Attack on Rue Plumet- Les Miserables 10th Anniversary
I love love LOVE this song. However I prefer the 1985 version with the beginning lines of  "'Parnasse, what are you doing. So far out of our patch?" but it's practically impossible to find a good recording of it. I wouldn't say this is the best Les Mis song but it's still pretty great.

God That's Good!- Sweeney Todd, 1979
This is my jam! I listen to this A LOT. 
Toby! THROW THE OLD WOMAN OUT!!

Wednesday, September 25, 2013

Cupcakes Are Made and Class Has Started

I'm sure you all have realized this but I have obviously not been on here in quite some time. Apologies and cupcakes to all!

However college has started back up again and because this is the last class I ever have to take I feel that it would be a good idea to focus mainly on studying at this moment in time so I can go on to do bigger and better things. But just so everyone knows, to make everything clear, I'm not dead. If you thought I was dead you were wrong.

But I am taking biology. OooooO
To get everyone up to speed, here is how my class has been;
The first day when I got to biology I got yelled at by my teacher for being late, outside the classroom even though it was 5:20 and the class doesn't start until 5:30. Nice. My classroom has about 48 kids in it and only a few of them have left since day number one. The kids who left only did because my teacher said;
"IF you are majoring in biology, you need to leave this room now and join Biology 102!!!!!!"  and practically scared them all off. But it made sense to do that considering when you signed up for this class it stated at least 15 times how you should not be taking this if you are majoring in biology. Twits. But after the first day the teacher has been extremely nice and has even given everyone a chance to take a retest because according to her, about 85% of  the class did not do very well and that percentage probably includes me. Hooray retests!

Then there are the people in my class. I am THIS CLOSE to snapping. On Mondays I have lab which lasts from 7-9. Class is from 5:30-7. The teacher put me in a lab group with a guy in a wheelchair and a condescending lady who is ALWAYS right. That is extreme sarcasm. She knows absolutely nothing! And they argue with each other constantly and neither of them know what they are talking about when it comes to any topic in life or about science! Example;
Lady: Man H20 is carbon.
Guy: WTH sista! H20 is most definitely NOT carbon. It's helium!
Lady: Yo let me tell you why H20 is carbon brotha!
*they both start yelling at each other about their wrongness leaving me to do all the work myself, meaning we are always the last ones out of lab.*

Not only do these two think they are my best friends ever since lab, but they think its fun to sit by me in class now as well! NO.



Usually they sit next to me but today I was in the middle of them throughout the entire class period! UGH.
"But why don't you not like these kind village folk?" you may ask. Here are my many reasons!

1. They think that just because I look 13 years old they can boss me around. That does not work for me.
Examples;
Last Wednesday the 40 year old guy in the wheelchair told me that after class I would be driving him to Red Lobster. HAHAHAHA. I don't think so. And the sad thing about this was that I wasn't even the first one he tried to do this to! Here is how the entire conversation went
Him: What you doing after class?
Me: Going home.
Him: You's got a car
Me: Yes.
Him: You're spoiled! (This isn't the first time this guy has said that I'm spoiled, which I don't understand. By his standards living in a house makes me spoiled. Right.)
Me: It's not really my car, me and my mom actually share one. (Why am I trying to explain myself to this idiot?)
Him: Dats cool. You taking me to Red Lobster right now.
Me: WHAT?!?!?
Him: You heard me.
Me: My moms picking me up today.
Him: She can drive us to Red Lobster. (Like hell that was going to happen.)
Me:  No. I have stuff to do. Bye.

I have only been in class with this guy for 5 days and he has now earned a 95 on the creep-o-meter. And I doubt if he was going to pay for the lobster or the biscuits or whatever else you can get from Red Lobster. Truth be told, I've only ever been there once in my life so I'm not very familiar with the menu.

But is this a new thing in today's day and age? The whole "Let's tell people what they're going to do so I can get what I want" thing. Because I don't like this one bit. You will not score that way you little mooncalf! I also don't like the fact that a 40 year old man was asking me for a ride to Red Lobster, but that's a different matter we won't get into today.

Then on the same day the 40 year old condescending lady tells me to go print her paper. Seriously. Not a "Hey do you have a second to do this?" or "Can you do me a favor?" just "Go print my paper." I'm sorry, but are your legs broken? Is that the reason you cannot walk down to the library? Or is your finger fractured so that you are unable to hit the print button? No? Then do it yourself. Lazy girl. I don't care if you're 4 or 40 nobody should think they have the power to boss me around or do their biding, because they don't.

This condescending lady is also irritating in the way that she talks to herself during class! Everyone will be writing like some crazed maniac and she'll just sit there reading the sentences aloud while writing them down. Or she'll say that "she don't understand this" as if I can solve that problem! She also told me that I write too fast, and I kind of have to because the nitwits in my class who keep telling our teacher to "go back" on the power point and have yet to learn that she goes 1000 miles faster on every other slide when you ask that! STOP ASKING HER TO GO BACK ON THE POWER POINT!

On Monday we had to take a test in this class. And you know what makes taking a test an absolute funtastic time? Sitting next to the condescending lady who fakes hyperventilating then continues mumbling how "I ain't know that answer" while tapping her pencil and looking over at my test for the answers. She even asked me once for the answers, who does that? Too bad our teacher handed out a different test to every other student you naive simpleton.

Then today the wheelchair guy asked me why I was using a marker to take notes with. I have been taking notes with a marker for days now. DAYS. It helps me write faster...
But apparently that's not a good reason because he then laughs, throws my marker on the ground and says that "All normal people use pens," and hands me a pen. I should have slapped him. But because I'm not Scarlett O' Hara I settled for calmly picking up my marker and continuing to write.

Everyone else in the class is fine with the exception of a few people who always speak up about their medical problems like "My doctor said I have acid reflex. Is that the same as polyprotic acid?" Yes. Yes it is. Sit down. But questions and statements like this are made every class period. Our teacher is not a doctor and I'm sure she could care less about your medical problems.

Hopefully I'll be able to blog more in the coming months!  I’ve got a few posts in the works so expect some more activity very soon. 



Sunday, September 8, 2013

Women. Opinions. Wrongness.

I usually don't like to rag on people, especially acting companies or people in the performing arts because that is unprofessional and makes me look bad and would make me look even worse if someone I know in one of those areas happened to find my blog.

However I must get something out there that I have been holding in since I was cut from Sweeney Todd; that theatre company is completely bogus and if you aren't a certain person (specifically a certain person who's always cast, and only about 12 of the same people are cast in each production) and want to learn something I recommend staying away from this company. That's right, it's BAD REVIEW time.

Essentially this "theatre company" has their cast already decided before the auditions. I didn't go to the audition for the play despite the fact that I am absolutely in love with the book and could have easily nailed the lead character (Miss Jo) because the character is pretty much me in real life. This was the play in case you are curious;


But because I have been to this theatre and am aware of their bullshit ways I decided to audition for my colleges play. I won't be getting cast in that but at least I had a fair shot. However the announcement for L.W.  came out first and being a naturally curious person  I read half of the script beforehand. I didn't particularly care for it considering most of the scenes had absolutely nothing to do with, and were unrelated to anything in the book. And they left Freidrich out! Who is Jo supposed to marry? Laurie? Then what about Amy, did Jo just kill her after she burned her manuscripts? Ah. So much wrongness in so many pages. I hope someone in power points that little detail out.

But another way we can go about bad reviews is by just looking at the cast list and seeing no new name! I predicted who was going to get cast the day I heard of this and by jove I got most of them right. The girl playing Lovett is playing Jo. What a big shocker there. Oh wait, no it's not considering she plays the lead in every show just because the piano guy (the stage manager for this production) is banging her mom. True statement.

Like I said, I don't like writing stuff like this because it just makes me sound like a judgmental crazy actress jerk, but it's difficult for me to just sit here and say nothing when I don't agree with what is happening with this. In the theatre, the area we all live close by to or in only has a select few opportunities to perform and pushing people out without a second thought and without truly looking at anyone's talent besides the people you closely know makes me upset in so many ways. That is why I'm writing this, not because I'm jealous, but because I simply cannot NOT write about something which I feel is wrong and if nobody speaks up about something they don't like, then how can a change happen?

Saturday, September 7, 2013

My Latest Audition

Well I was cut. Again. I auditioned for my colleges fall play where there were only seven characters, two being females. At least 30+ people auditioned, meaning I only got to be on the stage twice, reading two times, about 3 lines each. The director called my house today and said that they would not be needing me for the play. Shocker. I should be used to this by now but I don't think this will ever get any easier. The director also told me that I could be an understudy and to email them if I was interested in that, of course I'm interested in being an understudy. Too bad the understudy was cast about 10 seconds after I sent my email. However now I can focus on my biology class and not have to worry about memorizing lines. Yeah, big fun there. I guess it just sucks because this is my last year of college and I wanted to go out with a bang, but of course nothing ever happens the way I want it to and I should finally just accept that.

After I graduate I am planning on going to Chicago to take some acting classes and find an apartment. But that requires money which I will have to make by getting a job. Usually people hire everywhere before Christmas so I will probably be able to get right on that. I've also been looking into some acting classes I can take in Ferndale so maybe I will start there before heading to the big city with it's high crime rate.

But I guess my audition wasn't a total loss. I learned some things.

1. Read for everything and every character. ALWAYS. Even if you know you don't fit one of the characters read them if you have the opportunity to do so. I didn't have the opportunity because of all of the girls auditioning for the two parts, but maybe I should have been more pushy in order to read for everyone.

2. Screw people! Seriously, don't give anyone the chance to outshine you. Don't think "Oh this girl has never auditioned before so let's not raise our hand so we can read for this character. I made that stupid stupid stupid mistake and look where I am now.

3. People are talented. I was intimidated by two of the girls there who I thought were shoe-ins for one role. Turns out neither of them got it. I need to remind myself that I am just as good as these people, I tend to forget that a lot.

4. People like to copy others in obvious ways. And the director will think they are clever because they didn't notice you doing the exact same thing beforehand. If the script does not say GASP and you gasp then be prepared for someone to steal your idea. I was seriously so close to kicking this girl in the face who copied me but several things held me back.
A. She seemed nice
B. She was paying attention unlike the director. Kudos for that.
C. Pretty sure she could have kicked my ass.
Yeah, it's supposed to be flattering when people copy you, and in a way I guess it kind of is. Just don't copy me. Or do it during the audition. If you must steal, steal subtly. And for the record, this girl who copied me got cast. Joy.

5. People will try to give you "tips" on how to not suck. These people are auditioning just like you and if their tips worked then why on earth are they telling you, their competition about them? Unhelpful wankers. Unless they are someone in a position to cast, don't listen to them.

6. It is okay to cry after an audition. Actually, I'm not sure if that's true. But I did about 10 seconds after I left the theatre and I felt a little better. I guess I was crying because I thought I made stupid, amateur mistakes and felt like I was not going to get cast, I turned out to be right but crying never hurt anyone.

7. Wear appropriate clothing. Good God, I don't care if this is a community college or an audition for Julliard, you should wear something nice. I saw a guy wearing only a baseball jersey and droop jeans to the audition. This is the guy who got the male understudy. That should not be the norm. And if wearing baseball jerseys to anything besides a baseball game ever becomes the norm I will begin questioning society's choices.

8. If you love theatre memorize a monologue. Any monologue. Because you'll sometimes learn at 1:30 am that you need one for tomorrow's audition then you'll be like "screw the rules!" then when all the other theatre majors bring one you will look like a complete freaking unprepared moron and life will suck because you have no more stage time and will have to pursue the thug life because nobody loves you enough to tell you before 1:30 in the morning about a freaking monologue. Oh and if a director wants all theatre majors to perform a monologue it would be best to advertise that somewhere other than at the bottom of a poster in small print which is located in only one area on campus. I started class a day before the audition and that poster was nowhere near the science building.


That's pretty much it. I'm hoping that maybe I will be able do some backstage stuff because the more I can learn about theatre the better off I'll be in the long run.

Friday, September 6, 2013

Let's Steal Some Songs!

Or not. Why is every singer and their brother stealing songs in this day and age? Or I'm sorry, "covering" a song sung by some old 60s/70s/80s/90s/ early 00's singer/group. Write your own lyrics you thieving people!
I was flipping channels today when this song came on Disney;
Now don't get me wrong, I actually like this song. I even watched the movie and thought it was kind of cute. What's not cute is the fact that they say this song was written FOR THIS MOVIE when I remember the same damn song from years ago.
Yeah. Her cd came out in 2000 and I remember the first cd I ever received after the Spice Girls was her single of Another Dumb Blonde. The song isn't that old! What the heck?


Then there's this;
It says this is a cover. Well it's a terrible cover!

This is the original. Which I find 100 times better than Jai Paul's version for I can understand what she's singing.

Other terrible covers:

Funkytown covered by Pseduo Echo. Originally sung by Lipps Inc.

Taxman covered by Rockwell. Originally sung by The Beatles. Yes The Beatles were wonderful and this isn't a complete disaster but I'm tired of people trying to cover their songs. You will never be as good as them. Ever. Stop.

An even worse version of a song by The Beatles covered by Big Time Rush, who are actually a good band -but they are not The Beatles.


This is Halloween covered by Marilyn Manson. Love the song and respect the guy, just not this remake of the Burton/Disney movie classic.

Don't Stop Believing covered by the Glee cast. Originally sung by Journey. I have never seen Glee but the song was good maybe the first and second times I heard it, then it got annoying. It is so annoying that it continues to annoy me because it still continues to play. I am posting Journey's version of the song because that is the one you should be listening to.

I'm Eighteen covered by Creed. Originally sung by Alice Cooper. I found this to be a really bad cover of a really good song. 

These Boots Are Made For Walking covered by Jessica Simpson. Originally sung by Nancy Sinatra. This song sucks either way but Simpson took it to a new level. A level which should have just stayed on the ground floor. She  oversexualized this song when there was no need to do so.

Now don't get me wrong I enjoy some covers of songs. For example this;

Big Yellow Taxi covered by the Counting Crows featuring Vanessa Carlton. A lot of people dislike this version and prefer Joni Mitchell's but to be fair I wasn't even aware this was a song sung by Joni Mitchell until they covered it and I like it only a little better.



Lady Marmalade covered by Christina Aguilera, Lil' Kim, Mya, and Pink. Originally sung by Patti LaBelle. I thought it was a great cover and although I wasn't a huge fan of Moulin Rouge all of the music in the film was wonderful.


Jolene covered by Mindy Smith. Originally written and sung by Dolly Parton. Dolly Parton is even in the music video. Mindy Smith was, and still is, fantastically talented.


A Great Song Done and Covered by Great People:

Original: I Will Always Love You- Dolly Parton
Cover: I Will Always Love You- Whitney Houston


Any other covers bad (or good) I didn't mention please write down in the comments below.  Thank you and have a nice day! =)