Various Stuff 'n' Nonsense
"Consider it your second home..."
On Thursday night after the results show taping, I stayed awake until 4 a.m. working on a children's theatre script I call Lost in TV Land. The play is the story of Ella and Matt, a sister and brother who watch way too much TV and end up trapped in their TV set. Guided by Rory Gilmore of Gilmore Girls, they must pass through several shows, including The Simpsons, The O.C., Friends, and a mishmash of annoying reality TV stuff (including, of course, a brief mention of CI) to get back to the real world.
Last year, when I promised my theatre camp kids that I'd write them a script for this summer despite the fact that I was "retiring" from being their director after four wonderful summers, I had this idea in my head and thought it would be fairly easy to write. What I didn't realize is that my lack of TV watching would catch up with me in terms of characterization and dialogue for the popular-with-da-chirrun shows I chose to include. I mean, I don't watch much TV. I know a ridiculous amount about most shows on TV because I'm an entertainment news junkie and my students talk constantly about these shows in my presence, but the only things I watch on a regular basis myself are The West Wing, Everwood and figure skating. I watch Gilmore Girls on and off, so the Rory dialogue was fine, but man, I was out of my league when it came to the other shows. I had TV addict friends on MSN throughout the writing process and was shooting questions at them right and left. Thanks to foodsthatcan and ninja_sheep for answering some of my very random questions.
Anyhow, I managed to finish the script, and after about two hours of sleep I took it with me to camp to visit the kids, who were exceedingly excited that I was coming to see their July production, a very truncated version of Pirates of the Carribean. I have to say, the play was pretty darned bad - you have to really know these kids and rule them with a firm hand to get a good product out of them - but it was so nice to see my theatre gang again. I worked with some of these kids since they were 7 or 8 years old, and now some of them are getting ready for high school. It's wild.
This is going to sound incredibly cheesy, but man, even after I've left, I love Green Acres so much. There's just so much love there. I stepped into the place and it was like I'd never been gone. I had kids running out the backstage door yelling my name and hugging me, I had stories flying at me from every direction, I had old friends coming by to say hello (fizzybottlecap, Ben and Kevin are still there, even though Kevin insists he's retiring after this year!), my former bosses greeting me effusively... It's real friendship, real loyalty, all of it. The kids that I considered my kids and even some I didn't think cared are still incredibly devoted to me and apparently, the new staff have to listen to them talk their ears off about me as if I were some sort of theatre ghost. Seeing everyone made me forget my lack of sleep and almost made me want to reconsider my retirement and go back next summer. Leon, one of the camp directors/owners and therefore one of my former employers, put it best when he told me to always consider Green Acres my second home. I replied that I already sort of did, because whenever I step into the place, I feel like I'm home.
Hillside Festival
I spent Sunday in Guelph taking in some music at the annual Hillside Festival. Hillside is always fun because the festival is so unabashedly hippie and encourages folk-rock indie music junkies like myself. The lineup was not great this year, especially in comparison to last year's 20th anniversary festivities, but I had fun listening to Oh Susanna (a.k.a. Susie Ungerleider, one of my sister's many musical friends), Jorane, and Jessy Bell-Smith. I also spent way too much money in Guelph's used bookstore and picked up a t-shirt from one of the very bohemian vendors at Hillside that reads, "I am not your princess. I do not need a prince to rescue me and I can write my own happy ending." Awesome. *rock sign*
More Pinko Commie-ness:
While on the hippie/pinko commie train, I ordered some anti-Dubya, anti-Republican buttons from the uber-awesome Two Unemployed Democrats Company. That website rocks, y'all. I was tempted to order, like, everything they had, but settled for five buttons which I wait impatiently for Canada Post to deliver to me so that I may wear them proudly. My favourite one says, "Somewhere in Texas, a village is missing its idiot." BWAH!
Other... Um, Stuff:
The TWoP CI Thread is rumour-ing that Kalan is going to sing With or Without You tomorrow night. The rumour is probably totally unreliable and completely wrong, but gah, man, the mere idea flattens me, dead on the ground. (And in case anyone wants to protest that U2 are Irish and therefore not part of "British Invasion", apparently Ireland is part of Britain in CI rules.)
I love that child too much. :-P
Thanks to foodsthatcan for my rockin' ghetto icon!
On Thursday night after the results show taping, I stayed awake until 4 a.m. working on a children's theatre script I call Lost in TV Land. The play is the story of Ella and Matt, a sister and brother who watch way too much TV and end up trapped in their TV set. Guided by Rory Gilmore of Gilmore Girls, they must pass through several shows, including The Simpsons, The O.C., Friends, and a mishmash of annoying reality TV stuff (including, of course, a brief mention of CI) to get back to the real world.
Last year, when I promised my theatre camp kids that I'd write them a script for this summer despite the fact that I was "retiring" from being their director after four wonderful summers, I had this idea in my head and thought it would be fairly easy to write. What I didn't realize is that my lack of TV watching would catch up with me in terms of characterization and dialogue for the popular-with-da-chirrun shows I chose to include. I mean, I don't watch much TV. I know a ridiculous amount about most shows on TV because I'm an entertainment news junkie and my students talk constantly about these shows in my presence, but the only things I watch on a regular basis myself are The West Wing, Everwood and figure skating. I watch Gilmore Girls on and off, so the Rory dialogue was fine, but man, I was out of my league when it came to the other shows. I had TV addict friends on MSN throughout the writing process and was shooting questions at them right and left. Thanks to foodsthatcan and ninja_sheep for answering some of my very random questions.
Anyhow, I managed to finish the script, and after about two hours of sleep I took it with me to camp to visit the kids, who were exceedingly excited that I was coming to see their July production, a very truncated version of Pirates of the Carribean. I have to say, the play was pretty darned bad - you have to really know these kids and rule them with a firm hand to get a good product out of them - but it was so nice to see my theatre gang again. I worked with some of these kids since they were 7 or 8 years old, and now some of them are getting ready for high school. It's wild.
This is going to sound incredibly cheesy, but man, even after I've left, I love Green Acres so much. There's just so much love there. I stepped into the place and it was like I'd never been gone. I had kids running out the backstage door yelling my name and hugging me, I had stories flying at me from every direction, I had old friends coming by to say hello (fizzybottlecap, Ben and Kevin are still there, even though Kevin insists he's retiring after this year!), my former bosses greeting me effusively... It's real friendship, real loyalty, all of it. The kids that I considered my kids and even some I didn't think cared are still incredibly devoted to me and apparently, the new staff have to listen to them talk their ears off about me as if I were some sort of theatre ghost. Seeing everyone made me forget my lack of sleep and almost made me want to reconsider my retirement and go back next summer. Leon, one of the camp directors/owners and therefore one of my former employers, put it best when he told me to always consider Green Acres my second home. I replied that I already sort of did, because whenever I step into the place, I feel like I'm home.
Hillside Festival
I spent Sunday in Guelph taking in some music at the annual Hillside Festival. Hillside is always fun because the festival is so unabashedly hippie and encourages folk-rock indie music junkies like myself. The lineup was not great this year, especially in comparison to last year's 20th anniversary festivities, but I had fun listening to Oh Susanna (a.k.a. Susie Ungerleider, one of my sister's many musical friends), Jorane, and Jessy Bell-Smith. I also spent way too much money in Guelph's used bookstore and picked up a t-shirt from one of the very bohemian vendors at Hillside that reads, "I am not your princess. I do not need a prince to rescue me and I can write my own happy ending." Awesome. *rock sign*
More Pinko Commie-ness:
While on the hippie/pinko commie train, I ordered some anti-Dubya, anti-Republican buttons from the uber-awesome Two Unemployed Democrats Company. That website rocks, y'all. I was tempted to order, like, everything they had, but settled for five buttons which I wait impatiently for Canada Post to deliver to me so that I may wear them proudly. My favourite one says, "Somewhere in Texas, a village is missing its idiot." BWAH!
Other... Um, Stuff:
The TWoP CI Thread is rumour-ing that Kalan is going to sing With or Without You tomorrow night. The rumour is probably totally unreliable and completely wrong, but gah, man, the mere idea flattens me, dead on the ground. (And in case anyone wants to protest that U2 are Irish and therefore not part of "British Invasion", apparently Ireland is part of Britain in CI rules.)
I love that child too much. :-P
Thanks to foodsthatcan for my rockin' ghetto icon!