I'll be back to your shore before you know it I'm gone

[thorne_scratch]

My God, it's fucking Biblical outside. Our basement is flooding; our backyard is flooding; I have to actually wade to get the mail and I keep getting these urges to gather two of every kind of animal and set sail for the Grey Havens. Or some sort of mixed-up quest, anyway. So, right, radio silence means a tree has hit our house or something. Anyway

Comments

[flidgetjerome]

Anyway, the production itself is just damn cool. I think maybe one of the reasons I liked the choreography so much is that all the dancers really do come across as swans. We had swans living in a pond in a park near us, and man, as anyone who's spent time around them can tell you, swans are graceful but they'e also mean motherfuckers and can be scary as hell. I was once down at the pond throwing bread to the various waterfowl when I saw one of the swans casually lift a wing and just coldcock a mallard duck out of the way of a choice bread crust. And they have no problem with biting you if they feel like it.

I've never seen this production but I have approved of it for over a decade because when it first came out Matthew Bourne did an interview where he basically said he did this because he wanted to reflect how real swans aren't delicate and dainty, real swans are perfectly capable of fucking your shit up. He won my love forever.

[thorne_scratch]

Yet another thing I'll have to make you watch when we're someday in the same zipcode. And yeah, you're totally right, they include that interview on the DVD and it's all so very true. These birds are mean-ass things, and I give a hearty thumbs up.

[zenkatsuo]

There's another type of swan that's less aggressive than the prototypical fluffy swan. Looks like this. It's supposed to give a sort of an eerie hoot. That fluffy type just hisses, I think. They also don't bite, I'm told.

Schadenfreude, is it true english doesn't have a word for it?

Sounds really interesting. Reading this, I realized I don't even know what Swan Lake's about... A gaping hole in my whatsamacallit.

[thorne_scratch]

We've different types of swans all around, I think. The ones I'm familiar with are the agressive sort.

Well, not so much. We can describe it, but I don't think we have a word specifically for it, so we just refer to the German or use, you know, several words or a slightly more vague description. Of course, there's slang.

You should check it out. It's got some interesting history behind it, and the ballet itself has several famous dances in it. High class culture, man.

[zenkatsuo]

The less aggressive swans are less seen, I guess. And less remembered for not having bitten you once.

That's so odd. You're not incapable of feeling it, are you? How on earth isn't there a word? Slang? There's a slang-word for it? Please excuse my poor grasp of english...

I really often forget ballet even exists. I don't even know where I could see it exactly.

[thorne_scratch]

Shit, I'm American. I'm an American in Washington DC. I think it's written in our constitution somewhere that we're legally obligated to take pleasure in the suffering of another. And it's not that we're entirely ignorant of the concept, I just don't think we have a single word for it. Like, you can describe it, saying "pleasure taken from someone else's misfortune" or you can simplify it down with something like "gloating" which isn't specific to the circumstances... But no single word, I don't think.

Wikipedia says that the closest thing we have to an equivalent is "epicaricacy" but I never trust more than half of what Wikipedia says.

[velithya]

That sounds awesome. :)

[thorne_scratch]

It totally is!

[soranokumo]

...w00t.

And honestly, your opinions are quite fun to read. *poke* Stop doubting yourself so much! *pokepoke*

Sadly, the only homoerotic waterfowl I can offer back to you is the ballet dancer who was "turning on the spit" (read: "swinging about and basically horizontal pole-dancing) during one segment of Carmina Burana... and he was not actually supposed to be a swan, but a man (wearing nothing but full-body tights, and they weren't hiding much) complaining about being a swan. A swan horizontally pole-dancing turning on a spit.

...because the gods put him there.

...I know it's supposed to be one huge lament, but in many ways it's also one of the funniest parts of the whole pseudo-opera.

[thorne_scratch]

My opinions vary wildly, and thus I never quite dare to trust them. *hug*

Oh, I take any sort of homoerotic waterfowl. Gay ducks, queer swans, lesbian flamingos, homosexual penguins, uh... Flaming herons? Out and proud albatrosses? Albatrossi? In any case! The Carmina Burana thing sounds cool and I'll have to look into it.

Swan on a spit. That's some nice alliteration there. Hell, the tragic things are often the funniest! It just depends on whose perspective it's from.

I have two enormous favors to ask you. You are well within your right to turn either of them down, but I hope you will hear me out when I find you on IM (after the goddamn storm stops knocking out our signal) and beg.

[soranokumo]

It is the choreography for the production of Carmina Burana performed by the Atlanta Symphony Orchestra (and Chorus!) as well as the Atlanta Ballet. Beautiful production - I'm lucky enough to say that I got to see it my senior year of high school instead of going to prom. I missed their production this last year, but if I'm still in the area for a few years, maybe I'll get a chance to see it next time it comes around...

I'll be on tonight, so long as I am not entirely crazy from things or, you know, been kdinapped by space pirates or some such. Oh, those space pirates. They so crazy.

[thorne_scratch]

I skipped my junior prom for a Smashing Pumpkins rock concert!

If the storms hold off and we have a internet connection, I'll hop on. Otherwise, I'll just email you. One of the things, I just want your opinion and/or info on some music that I got off you; the other has to do with your 1337 librarian skills.

[twigcollins]

Livejournal totally failed me, my friendslist through my regular page stopped transmitting about midway through the 26th. I just spent an hour going through everything from the last two days.

I'm glad you liked this. I'm not too familiar with ballet or even dance as a whole, but I really liked the Prince as a character, and I loved the costumes of the swans.

"Who the hell brings a riding crop to a fancy ball?"

Akio.

Also, now I have this view of Pyramid Head walking around with a giant swan-shaped helmet not unlike the one from MST3K's "Cave Dwellers" episode. I'm sending you my therapy bills.

[thorne_scratch]

Yeah, I'm getting a lot of unsteady jumps with it. It's very weird. And you have such good taste. Now you're stuck with me babbling about swans and the Prince for months

>Akio.

God. Of course. God.

I would apologize for the Pyramid Head thing, but honestly, we both know it would be sort of a hollow gesture. Let me just say you're welcome to hide in my dryer whenever you please.

[twigcollins]

You know, I was thinking more about that Silent Hill/Pyramid Head embroidery thing and even though I'm not so much into the cross-stitch, Pyrimid Head in an arts-and-crafts scenario almost /demands/ it, I think.

"Bless this Mess."

I could do some sort of chibi-Head on a branch surrounded by little birds. Hellbirds.

Or something.

I'll stop now.

[thorne_scratch]

That would be. The most awesome thing. EVER.

Chibi Pyramid Head hellbirds. I can see it already. Wow. AWESOME.