The Poohbah Speaks
Seems I've gotten behind here lately - time for a double-deluxe entry. Sweet Jedi action.
Halloween was a grand time, as always. A few days prior, Trump, who directed Rocky Horror this year in addition to reprising Frank-N-Furter, sent me a message asking if I'd be involved. Being an obliging fellow, I agreed. What ensued was, at any rate, memorable. All I'm saying is that if you put "Aaron Carpenter Sexy Beast" in the search field of YouTube, something might come up. For that you can thank Big Al Mason.
Afterwards, I ended up traveling to a town in Marshall County called Brewers, founded by Al's family. Interesting talk, as always - we nearly ran out of gas, and I'm pretty sure that would've been the best encounter possible in the Marshall/Calloway hinterland, with us dressed the way we were. Gotta love Rocky Horror.
I had originally wanted to go see the midnight showing of The Woman in Black, which several friends of mine were involved in, but I was supremely tired after my performance and the preparation before it. TWiB is a chilling little English play. It's got a great setup; one protagonist plays the other in a series of scenes about the first's experiences, while the first plays the people he encountered during these. I really liked it; I think it'd be a great radio show too. Speaking of, I might apply at WKMS, the NPR station on campus. I might need a job next semester; we'll see how things go.
After seeing Woman, I ended up going to some more Halloween parties. That's the good thing about having the holiday on a Wednesday; both weekends get parties. My costume at both of these was hastily assembled and somewhat ambiguous: I could've been a crazy Reaganite (who might or might not be homeless), or I might've in fact been an ironic punk rocker. You decide!
Friday night was the Murray Place 904 party, which was a pretty good time. Nothing so expansive as the old days, but who we do have are quality. Matt, Angela, and Katie teamed up and dressed as the three-headed knight from Monty Python. Dan was, very accurately, Nathan Explosion from Metalocalypse. Nate and Kala were the Spartan cheerleaders from SNL, but Nate had the gall to reference Halo with a "117" written on his shirt. What a sack.
The next night was a shindig at Justin Pennington's house, an abode he shares with three other gents, who made invitations of their own. It was an enormous gathering; I wouldn't be surprised if somewhere around a hundred people were there. Unfortunately, this would be the gathering's downfall. When I got there, a girl recognized me from my Rocky Horror performance, which I thought was riotous. After chatting it up with Trump (James Bond, Connery style) and Pennington (The Joker) for a while, the cops showed up. In Bondian fashion, Trump and I spirited out the back door and to his getaway vehicle. No high speed chases, sadly enough.
I've been modeling a little bit lately, the first times this semester. It's been for Maxine and Casey, that deadly power duo of the arts. I'm not exactly sure if any of the resultant pieces ended up in the art auction last week, but if they were I'm sure they were lime green and lovely. During one session, I was reading History of the British Army, Vol XIII, which I'm perusing for a research paper I'm writing. The topic is the detrimental affects of the rank purchase system on the British Army, culminating in the Crimean War. I know, I'm insane: my professor told me the same thing. Anyway, I got into some parts that I hadn't gandered at yet, and found out that some of the stuff in there is hilariously racist. Mostly I'd read about the Crimean War in that book, but once I got into the Sepoy Rebellion in India, things took on a new slant. I think my portraiteers hate me now because I'm such a gigglebox.
Principal photography for The Partner's Tale went down last weekend. Some parts of it were really fun, and others were really taxing. I had to throw myself face-first, downhill into a rocky beach in one shot, and it took about ten takes. My knees didn't appreciate it. We also stumbled across the remains of a field-dressed deer, a stack of organs neatly arranged. We also discovered that I am half-deer, because when Lee, Gibson, and I were walking to the next location, they stopped in their tracks after apparently seeing a hunter about thirty feet in front of us. I didn't believe them, and loudly voiced my skepticism. I'm pretty sure the guy was about to wheel around and shoot me. Some root beer got all fizzy in my backpack, which was disheartening. It also got really cold a few times, which was exacerbated on one occasion by some stage blood. That also made for some interesting looks from people driving by when I walked back to the car. Basically, though, it was a three-day romp in the woods with Trump eating all the jerky before we needed it for scenes, and general good times.
We finished up today, having done a bit Friday as well. We filmed one scene in front of Gibson's apartment, which meant dealing with the public. When a kid skateboarded by while holding a rake, I knew it was curtains for us. After going back to the woods to shoot some b-roll footage, inserts, and a few new scenes, we came across the remains of a deer leg in a tree. I also was running full speed through the woods with a machete and fell, which was a nice near-death experience. Not long after that I ran right past what looked like a clump of bushes, but what was actually more shocking. After turning around, I saw that this was apparently the residence of some eccentric recluse. There were stacks of firewood, and he had fashioned some wood into a shelter with some degree of furniture. I was the only one who saw it, since everyone else was too much of a pansy to come and look at it.
Also this weekend was the third Academic Team tournament of the semester, at Henderson Community College. It was a less than optimal outing for the Murray Div I team. Our Div II squad went 4-2, none too bad. My Div I crowd went a disappointing 1-3. We were beaten by Georgetown, as expected - I'm always fine with losing to them unless it was really close and I feel that I could've pulled us through. This wasn't the case. We beat Eastern by a close margin before going on to play Cumberlands. Usually they've been fairly decent, but somehow this weekend their talent level shot up in a meteoric rise. Some guy whom we'd never seen before was on their team, and he knew about every subject, and faster than anyone else. He was fearsome. I would've been fine even with this, but then came our friends from Ohio. I like these guys, but I'd like to beat them a little more often. We would've at least gotten third had we done so here, a loss that continued to exhibit that any team that I'm on will not win in overtime. As it was a tie game, standard procedure was to ask five questions, with the winning team being the one which gets more of these right. It was 1-1. Next came the sudden death questions, with the first team to get one right winning the game. That team was not us.
I was a little miffed at leaving at 5:30 in the morning to go lose, but we did get fine hospitality. HCC provided some food, which was pretty cool. Asia and the gang (we brought around 12 people, it was a good lot) were a hoot and a holler as usual. Notice, also, that I didn't say that I had to wake up early - Ed and I had stayed up all night, I under the pretense of doing homework. I didn't get nearly as much finished as I should have, but that's the trend right now, I so thought I'd keep it up. Again, courting castration from the College of Education.
Instantly upon arrival to Murray, I started mashing some potatoes. A whole lot of potatoes actually, about ten pounds worth. Twenty one of us gathered at MP-904 for a Thanksgiving dinner - it was really cool. I actually sneaked over there today and ate some leftovers; there was an absurd amount of food. I am a fatty.
Speaking of holidays: the one, the only, the legendary John Spurlin is in Paducah for them. I got a call from him informing me of such, and I'll definitely try to meet up with him over the Thanksgiving break. I don't suppose I've seen him since May or so.
I just read a draft of a play called "Glenna" that my buddy Mr Markgraf is writing...I thought it was absolutely hilarious. Definitely a departure from his previously dark and somewhat bizarre work. It's already scheduled to show for a weekend next fall. I'll definitely be there to see it, although I don't think I'll be auditioning - I'd really love a couple of the roles, but I doubt my life during the fall of '08 will be conducive to theatre.
Not so long ago, my Jeep started acting up. It wouldn't start, and finally Dad, the neighbor and I discovered that I needed to occasionally crawl under it and hit the starter with a hammer. This was learned only after several dollars were spent and several trips made to Auto Zone. It was the ghettoest thing of all time. The jeep started to cooperate more recently, but I had to hammer it twice in two days last week, so Dan swapped vehicles with me today to get in back in Paducah. One of the other times I had to spur her on was after I'd just gone south to get some Marzen (excellent beer) on Election Day. All of my candidates won, so I was glad for that.
I'll also be glad to get some sleep. Peace out, brothas and sistas.
-Aaron
"Y'all want some pancakes?"
-Jemimah's Witnesses
Halloween was a grand time, as always. A few days prior, Trump, who directed Rocky Horror this year in addition to reprising Frank-N-Furter, sent me a message asking if I'd be involved. Being an obliging fellow, I agreed. What ensued was, at any rate, memorable. All I'm saying is that if you put "Aaron Carpenter Sexy Beast" in the search field of YouTube, something might come up. For that you can thank Big Al Mason.
Afterwards, I ended up traveling to a town in Marshall County called Brewers, founded by Al's family. Interesting talk, as always - we nearly ran out of gas, and I'm pretty sure that would've been the best encounter possible in the Marshall/Calloway hinterland, with us dressed the way we were. Gotta love Rocky Horror.
I had originally wanted to go see the midnight showing of The Woman in Black, which several friends of mine were involved in, but I was supremely tired after my performance and the preparation before it. TWiB is a chilling little English play. It's got a great setup; one protagonist plays the other in a series of scenes about the first's experiences, while the first plays the people he encountered during these. I really liked it; I think it'd be a great radio show too. Speaking of, I might apply at WKMS, the NPR station on campus. I might need a job next semester; we'll see how things go.
After seeing Woman, I ended up going to some more Halloween parties. That's the good thing about having the holiday on a Wednesday; both weekends get parties. My costume at both of these was hastily assembled and somewhat ambiguous: I could've been a crazy Reaganite (who might or might not be homeless), or I might've in fact been an ironic punk rocker. You decide!
Friday night was the Murray Place 904 party, which was a pretty good time. Nothing so expansive as the old days, but who we do have are quality. Matt, Angela, and Katie teamed up and dressed as the three-headed knight from Monty Python. Dan was, very accurately, Nathan Explosion from Metalocalypse. Nate and Kala were the Spartan cheerleaders from SNL, but Nate had the gall to reference Halo with a "117" written on his shirt. What a sack.
The next night was a shindig at Justin Pennington's house, an abode he shares with three other gents, who made invitations of their own. It was an enormous gathering; I wouldn't be surprised if somewhere around a hundred people were there. Unfortunately, this would be the gathering's downfall. When I got there, a girl recognized me from my Rocky Horror performance, which I thought was riotous. After chatting it up with Trump (James Bond, Connery style) and Pennington (The Joker) for a while, the cops showed up. In Bondian fashion, Trump and I spirited out the back door and to his getaway vehicle. No high speed chases, sadly enough.
I've been modeling a little bit lately, the first times this semester. It's been for Maxine and Casey, that deadly power duo of the arts. I'm not exactly sure if any of the resultant pieces ended up in the art auction last week, but if they were I'm sure they were lime green and lovely. During one session, I was reading History of the British Army, Vol XIII, which I'm perusing for a research paper I'm writing. The topic is the detrimental affects of the rank purchase system on the British Army, culminating in the Crimean War. I know, I'm insane: my professor told me the same thing. Anyway, I got into some parts that I hadn't gandered at yet, and found out that some of the stuff in there is hilariously racist. Mostly I'd read about the Crimean War in that book, but once I got into the Sepoy Rebellion in India, things took on a new slant. I think my portraiteers hate me now because I'm such a gigglebox.
Principal photography for The Partner's Tale went down last weekend. Some parts of it were really fun, and others were really taxing. I had to throw myself face-first, downhill into a rocky beach in one shot, and it took about ten takes. My knees didn't appreciate it. We also stumbled across the remains of a field-dressed deer, a stack of organs neatly arranged. We also discovered that I am half-deer, because when Lee, Gibson, and I were walking to the next location, they stopped in their tracks after apparently seeing a hunter about thirty feet in front of us. I didn't believe them, and loudly voiced my skepticism. I'm pretty sure the guy was about to wheel around and shoot me. Some root beer got all fizzy in my backpack, which was disheartening. It also got really cold a few times, which was exacerbated on one occasion by some stage blood. That also made for some interesting looks from people driving by when I walked back to the car. Basically, though, it was a three-day romp in the woods with Trump eating all the jerky before we needed it for scenes, and general good times.
We finished up today, having done a bit Friday as well. We filmed one scene in front of Gibson's apartment, which meant dealing with the public. When a kid skateboarded by while holding a rake, I knew it was curtains for us. After going back to the woods to shoot some b-roll footage, inserts, and a few new scenes, we came across the remains of a deer leg in a tree. I also was running full speed through the woods with a machete and fell, which was a nice near-death experience. Not long after that I ran right past what looked like a clump of bushes, but what was actually more shocking. After turning around, I saw that this was apparently the residence of some eccentric recluse. There were stacks of firewood, and he had fashioned some wood into a shelter with some degree of furniture. I was the only one who saw it, since everyone else was too much of a pansy to come and look at it.
Also this weekend was the third Academic Team tournament of the semester, at Henderson Community College. It was a less than optimal outing for the Murray Div I team. Our Div II squad went 4-2, none too bad. My Div I crowd went a disappointing 1-3. We were beaten by Georgetown, as expected - I'm always fine with losing to them unless it was really close and I feel that I could've pulled us through. This wasn't the case. We beat Eastern by a close margin before going on to play Cumberlands. Usually they've been fairly decent, but somehow this weekend their talent level shot up in a meteoric rise. Some guy whom we'd never seen before was on their team, and he knew about every subject, and faster than anyone else. He was fearsome. I would've been fine even with this, but then came our friends from Ohio. I like these guys, but I'd like to beat them a little more often. We would've at least gotten third had we done so here, a loss that continued to exhibit that any team that I'm on will not win in overtime. As it was a tie game, standard procedure was to ask five questions, with the winning team being the one which gets more of these right. It was 1-1. Next came the sudden death questions, with the first team to get one right winning the game. That team was not us.
I was a little miffed at leaving at 5:30 in the morning to go lose, but we did get fine hospitality. HCC provided some food, which was pretty cool. Asia and the gang (we brought around 12 people, it was a good lot) were a hoot and a holler as usual. Notice, also, that I didn't say that I had to wake up early - Ed and I had stayed up all night, I under the pretense of doing homework. I didn't get nearly as much finished as I should have, but that's the trend right now, I so thought I'd keep it up. Again, courting castration from the College of Education.
Instantly upon arrival to Murray, I started mashing some potatoes. A whole lot of potatoes actually, about ten pounds worth. Twenty one of us gathered at MP-904 for a Thanksgiving dinner - it was really cool. I actually sneaked over there today and ate some leftovers; there was an absurd amount of food. I am a fatty.
Speaking of holidays: the one, the only, the legendary John Spurlin is in Paducah for them. I got a call from him informing me of such, and I'll definitely try to meet up with him over the Thanksgiving break. I don't suppose I've seen him since May or so.
I just read a draft of a play called "Glenna" that my buddy Mr Markgraf is writing...I thought it was absolutely hilarious. Definitely a departure from his previously dark and somewhat bizarre work. It's already scheduled to show for a weekend next fall. I'll definitely be there to see it, although I don't think I'll be auditioning - I'd really love a couple of the roles, but I doubt my life during the fall of '08 will be conducive to theatre.
Not so long ago, my Jeep started acting up. It wouldn't start, and finally Dad, the neighbor and I discovered that I needed to occasionally crawl under it and hit the starter with a hammer. This was learned only after several dollars were spent and several trips made to Auto Zone. It was the ghettoest thing of all time. The jeep started to cooperate more recently, but I had to hammer it twice in two days last week, so Dan swapped vehicles with me today to get in back in Paducah. One of the other times I had to spur her on was after I'd just gone south to get some Marzen (excellent beer) on Election Day. All of my candidates won, so I was glad for that.
I'll also be glad to get some sleep. Peace out, brothas and sistas.
-Aaron
"Y'all want some pancakes?"
-Jemimah's Witnesses