Hi guys,
Hey! How many of you have heard of that fantastic play ENRON? You know, that play about the scandal written by Lucy Prebble? It's set in 1990's Texas. (Mostly in the 90's). Of course, for you older people, you know who the hell ENRON was. But as for young people? No clue, since they were probably just little kids by the time the scandal hit. That includes me. I only knew about it from looking up stuff on the internet.
It was a big success in the West End (In London-who knew a play written by a British Playwright about Americans could reach such success)-but it flopped on Broadway, surprisingly enough. Not that audiences didn't like it, but it premiered at the wrong time. The 2008 financial/housing crisis was still going strong, Wall street was being occupied...not really a good spot to premiere a play like that before. Then the goddamn New York Times gave a hostile review to it, and ms. Prebble was fucked. Then, it got closed after just 15 performances...I think now would be the time to give it a re-try.
George Clooney, however, noticed the potential for a movie version of the Play-and soon he snatched up the rights to it. People were excited about this, but then it was announced that it wasn't very likely that they would get the original UK cast back on board for the movie. A couple of the people in the West End were not very happy with this-Rupert Goold said that it pissed him off that he didn't get involved in the movie production and that he expressed dismay over the play being snatched up by Hollywood producers. A bunch of other people were not happy with it too-one including Phillip Hedley, and the other whatsername. But Clooney truly loved the play and Lucy Prebble is writing the screenplay, so I wouldn't get too worried.
I have a heavy feeling that this will be a cult movie. I mean, a lot of cult movies originally bomb at the box office and then get a devoted fan following. And let me tell you, this sounds a bit like Fight Club meets American Psycho meets Wolf of Wall Street. I mean, satire of corporate culture and plenty of unlikeable characters? And dark comedy to boot? I think so.
And also, I'm pretty sure Mr. Clooney will do very well with this. Smiley face.
See you guys later!
Friday, January 29, 2016
Thursday, January 28, 2016
My Old Man's B-Day-My Thoughts and a Little story
Hi Guys,
Here's a little thing on a lighter note for ya. My dad just had a B-Day on Tuesday. January 26th. My old man turned 48 this year. His date of birth? January 26th, 1968. His full name is Christopher John Morris (he goes by the nickname of "Chris" around his friends). One year before woodstock, when Nurses still wore caps on their heads and rock music (Beatles, baby, Beatles!) gripped the nation's youth of that time (Old enough to be grandparents now, eh?). He has two older sisters, each with now-college aged kids. Patrice (the eldest, born in 1958-her birthday is in either April or May), and Jean (born in 1965-wink, in September.) My mom was also born on that same year. April 15th, to be exact. My grandmother was just 23 years old when she had her.
My parents were children of the 70's in New Jersey-you know, disco, classic rock, Watergate, blah blah blah. (I'll tell you more when I get to it). It was pretty much an awesome time to be a kid then, let me tell ya. My parents both grew up in Catholic families- Mom's was large (she was the eldest out of a total of 6 sisters and 1 brother- Holy cow.). They were both teens in the 80's (the age of embarrassingly big hair and of John Hughes' Movies), since they both graduated high school in 1986. (They both went to single-sex Catholic Schools. Mom's was Holy Angels (which all of her 6 sisters went to). Dad's was Bergen Catholic). Dad was captivated by the New-Wave sub-genre-still is now. Dad, like many other people, also loved MTV (back when it actually showed Music Videos). Mom and Dad had a brief encounter at the high school prom-but they didn't fall in love until much later. In the late 80's, my parents met by chance or by sheer coincidence-they were both at a party held by one of Mom's friends, Lynne. Dad brought two of his childhood/adolescence friends along, Keith and Rob. Story is, Dad really wanted to impress some girls at the party, so he pretended that he was a master of the piano (which he wasn't). So, as he continued to play piano (or at least try to) one pretty girl caught his eye. Her name? Maura Monaghan. So, they started talking to each other-which was the part of a long story.
In October of 1991 (In the age of Grunge, Nirvana, and Plaid shirts), my parents got married after dating for quite a while. There are many funny stories about the wedding that my parents could tell you, including a confused Cousin Beth or whoever her name was showing up dressed in cutoff jeans and a T-Shirt and how two of the best men ended up at the wrong place at the wrong time.
My Parents moved quite a lot in the 90's. You can ask my mom about it, she'll tell ya. Then, in 1998, a miraculous thing had happened. Mom found out she was pregnant with her first kid. At that same time, my Parents already had a lot of nieces on my Dad's side (Those college-age kids that I was telling you about? 3 of them were little kids back then). At that time, my Mom's side of the family was experiencing some sadness-let's just say it involves a sick great-uncle and leave it at that. So, my Mom's side really needed some good news to cheer them up. After that, they moved in November of 1998 to the first house I lived in as a kid. And the kid was originally supposed to be Born in April, but some mild complications had occurred and my Mom needed to give birth to the kid via through I think a C-section. And, lo and behold, the kid finally entered the world on March 10th, 1999. Who was that kid, you may ask? Well, none other than your author. (My full name is Flannery Hope Monaghan-Morris. I'll tell you more about how me and my siblings got named in the first place). Two years and 9 months later, on December 19th, 2001 (Just 3 months after 9/11...Ouch.), their 2nd child, another girl, was born. Her name was Quinlan Claire. (As for the story of how my Brother came along, I'll tell you in a later post). We got a dog named Seamus, a Soft-Coated Wheaten, when I was either 5 or 6 years old. He's still alive and kicking, by the way.
Now, as Mom can't really have dairy anymore, I'd really like to bake Dad a Birthday Cake on his Family B-Day Party. Everyone who knows me says I'm an excellent cook and baker. I have a huge sweet tooth as well, and I pick recipes that everyone enjoys.
Mom got some mini-Cupcakes from that famous NYC chain bakery, Crumbs for Dad's B-Day on Tuesday. He also opened some gifts. I remember going to that place a couple times as a kid. I loved the huge cupcakes there. Mmmm...Delicious.
And, here's to say, Happy 48th birthday to my Old man. Here's to hoping that you will live longer than David Bowie and Alan Rickman. Love ya! Bye!
Here's a little thing on a lighter note for ya. My dad just had a B-Day on Tuesday. January 26th. My old man turned 48 this year. His date of birth? January 26th, 1968. His full name is Christopher John Morris (he goes by the nickname of "Chris" around his friends). One year before woodstock, when Nurses still wore caps on their heads and rock music (Beatles, baby, Beatles!) gripped the nation's youth of that time (Old enough to be grandparents now, eh?). He has two older sisters, each with now-college aged kids. Patrice (the eldest, born in 1958-her birthday is in either April or May), and Jean (born in 1965-wink, in September.) My mom was also born on that same year. April 15th, to be exact. My grandmother was just 23 years old when she had her.
My parents were children of the 70's in New Jersey-you know, disco, classic rock, Watergate, blah blah blah. (I'll tell you more when I get to it). It was pretty much an awesome time to be a kid then, let me tell ya. My parents both grew up in Catholic families- Mom's was large (she was the eldest out of a total of 6 sisters and 1 brother- Holy cow.). They were both teens in the 80's (the age of embarrassingly big hair and of John Hughes' Movies), since they both graduated high school in 1986. (They both went to single-sex Catholic Schools. Mom's was Holy Angels (which all of her 6 sisters went to). Dad's was Bergen Catholic). Dad was captivated by the New-Wave sub-genre-still is now. Dad, like many other people, also loved MTV (back when it actually showed Music Videos). Mom and Dad had a brief encounter at the high school prom-but they didn't fall in love until much later. In the late 80's, my parents met by chance or by sheer coincidence-they were both at a party held by one of Mom's friends, Lynne. Dad brought two of his childhood/adolescence friends along, Keith and Rob. Story is, Dad really wanted to impress some girls at the party, so he pretended that he was a master of the piano (which he wasn't). So, as he continued to play piano (or at least try to) one pretty girl caught his eye. Her name? Maura Monaghan. So, they started talking to each other-which was the part of a long story.
In October of 1991 (In the age of Grunge, Nirvana, and Plaid shirts), my parents got married after dating for quite a while. There are many funny stories about the wedding that my parents could tell you, including a confused Cousin Beth or whoever her name was showing up dressed in cutoff jeans and a T-Shirt and how two of the best men ended up at the wrong place at the wrong time.
My Parents moved quite a lot in the 90's. You can ask my mom about it, she'll tell ya. Then, in 1998, a miraculous thing had happened. Mom found out she was pregnant with her first kid. At that same time, my Parents already had a lot of nieces on my Dad's side (Those college-age kids that I was telling you about? 3 of them were little kids back then). At that time, my Mom's side of the family was experiencing some sadness-let's just say it involves a sick great-uncle and leave it at that. So, my Mom's side really needed some good news to cheer them up. After that, they moved in November of 1998 to the first house I lived in as a kid. And the kid was originally supposed to be Born in April, but some mild complications had occurred and my Mom needed to give birth to the kid via through I think a C-section. And, lo and behold, the kid finally entered the world on March 10th, 1999. Who was that kid, you may ask? Well, none other than your author. (My full name is Flannery Hope Monaghan-Morris. I'll tell you more about how me and my siblings got named in the first place). Two years and 9 months later, on December 19th, 2001 (Just 3 months after 9/11...Ouch.), their 2nd child, another girl, was born. Her name was Quinlan Claire. (As for the story of how my Brother came along, I'll tell you in a later post). We got a dog named Seamus, a Soft-Coated Wheaten, when I was either 5 or 6 years old. He's still alive and kicking, by the way.
Now, as Mom can't really have dairy anymore, I'd really like to bake Dad a Birthday Cake on his Family B-Day Party. Everyone who knows me says I'm an excellent cook and baker. I have a huge sweet tooth as well, and I pick recipes that everyone enjoys.
Mom got some mini-Cupcakes from that famous NYC chain bakery, Crumbs for Dad's B-Day on Tuesday. He also opened some gifts. I remember going to that place a couple times as a kid. I loved the huge cupcakes there. Mmmm...Delicious.
And, here's to say, Happy 48th birthday to my Old man. Here's to hoping that you will live longer than David Bowie and Alan Rickman. Love ya! Bye!
The GOP and Fox News-And Donald Trump.
Hey Guys,
*Sigh* The news. Jesus, will they ever leave us alone for once?!?!?!?. And about Donald Trump-dear sweet mother of god... Can't we just ignore what he says? He's racist, sexist, and a disgrace to us Christians. Honestly, why did he even enter the race to begin with????? Things would be a whole lot easier if he hadn't come in. And it would be so much easier if the San Bernadino and Paris Attacks never happened. (We could have prevented it or someone could've, but no. No one did anything.)
Me and my Parents (along with my sister) are very liberal. Mom, in particular, even more so. So she understands what I feel about this whole crisis. I know a whole bunch of people who plan on moving to Canada if he gets elected (I doubt it, but the whole damn world never seems to listen. Seriously, the possibility of Trump winning a landslide election? He's not very popular with general election people, who tend to lean more on my side.) Does Trump even know anything about foreign or domestic policy? Nope. He doesn't. He probably doesn't.
And don't even get me started on Cruz...That guy is very unlikeable. I mentioned that in a previous post, My mom knew someone who knew him. And roomed with him. And he was very much unlikeable, even in those days.
And FOX News. They are not helping us at all. I have nothing against conservatives if they are really nice people, but FOX News. Ugh. I really wish that they would just...go away for once. Have the right-wing extremists ever learned anything from the failed Barry Goldwater campaign? No. Not that much at all. Thank god Trump is planning not to participate in the next debate. Because, if you follow the news, FOX News makes up all those debates (or a large majority of them). What happened to all the decent, sane, moderate Republicans? Where did they go? Most of them have already dropped out, or are probably planning on doing so. And...god...enough with the I-S-you know what crap. We don't need to hear anti-Muslim and Refugee rhetoric over and over again. It's the Iraq War all over again...
And honestly, his followers have been misled by his campaign. Will he "Make America Great Again"? Hell, no. He ripped off that campaign phrase from Reagan. And why aren't these comparisons to Hitler hurting him? I am clueless, let me tell you. But anyway, to you Trump followers, I am not meaning to offend you, but...here's the truth. Your "hero" is not what he says to be. And honestly? He's insulting everyone-but it is endless who he has offended. If you are next on his list, let me warn you, don't be surprised. Rather, just stop clinging to him. And our country's not in as bad of a shape as you think they are. We are actually, minus the entire arab affair stuff, in pretty good shape. So please...take my words into consideration sometimes. I don't use twitter or Facebook, so this is my way of telling you so.
*Sigh* The news. Jesus, will they ever leave us alone for once?!?!?!?. And about Donald Trump-dear sweet mother of god... Can't we just ignore what he says? He's racist, sexist, and a disgrace to us Christians. Honestly, why did he even enter the race to begin with????? Things would be a whole lot easier if he hadn't come in. And it would be so much easier if the San Bernadino and Paris Attacks never happened. (We could have prevented it or someone could've, but no. No one did anything.)
Me and my Parents (along with my sister) are very liberal. Mom, in particular, even more so. So she understands what I feel about this whole crisis. I know a whole bunch of people who plan on moving to Canada if he gets elected (I doubt it, but the whole damn world never seems to listen. Seriously, the possibility of Trump winning a landslide election? He's not very popular with general election people, who tend to lean more on my side.) Does Trump even know anything about foreign or domestic policy? Nope. He doesn't. He probably doesn't.
And don't even get me started on Cruz...That guy is very unlikeable. I mentioned that in a previous post, My mom knew someone who knew him. And roomed with him. And he was very much unlikeable, even in those days.
And FOX News. They are not helping us at all. I have nothing against conservatives if they are really nice people, but FOX News. Ugh. I really wish that they would just...go away for once. Have the right-wing extremists ever learned anything from the failed Barry Goldwater campaign? No. Not that much at all. Thank god Trump is planning not to participate in the next debate. Because, if you follow the news, FOX News makes up all those debates (or a large majority of them). What happened to all the decent, sane, moderate Republicans? Where did they go? Most of them have already dropped out, or are probably planning on doing so. And...god...enough with the I-S-you know what crap. We don't need to hear anti-Muslim and Refugee rhetoric over and over again. It's the Iraq War all over again...
And honestly, his followers have been misled by his campaign. Will he "Make America Great Again"? Hell, no. He ripped off that campaign phrase from Reagan. And why aren't these comparisons to Hitler hurting him? I am clueless, let me tell you. But anyway, to you Trump followers, I am not meaning to offend you, but...here's the truth. Your "hero" is not what he says to be. And honestly? He's insulting everyone-but it is endless who he has offended. If you are next on his list, let me warn you, don't be surprised. Rather, just stop clinging to him. And our country's not in as bad of a shape as you think they are. We are actually, minus the entire arab affair stuff, in pretty good shape. So please...take my words into consideration sometimes. I don't use twitter or Facebook, so this is my way of telling you so.
Sunday, January 24, 2016
The GOP and Sarah Palin- and the Election of '08.
Hi People, Hey! It's me again. And though I am busy studying for midterms... There's one thing that has been on my mind lately.
Let me tell you, The GOP...jesus christ. Why doesn't the goddamn media ever take a break from reporting about that? The general election is a long way away. Yet, the media won't stop reporting about Cruz or Trump. I mean, we've already heard the same damn thing over and over again. When more "news" comes up about them, I'm like "Really? This again? Calm down.". There are reasons why you shouldn't always be trustfu-ah, fuck it. I'll tell you about it later.
Nothing has changed since the Bush administration. Nothing at all has changed in that party. Bush, mind you, was a terrible manager at foreign policy-his controversial decision to send troops to Iraq has left us in a mess with some parts of the Middle East ever since. He has also led us into a recession, and everyone pretty much hates him. In fact, I think he created disillusionment among the Republican Party. His controversial legacy is still felt with us-the fact that his younger brother, (who actually looks older than him.), Jeb, is currently running for office right now isn't helping matters either. And it looks like the right-wings have learned nothing from the loss of Barry Goldwater in '64, at all. My mom knows someone who has a friend that legitimately roomed with Ted Cruz in law school. He says that Ted Cruz is actually a legitimate a-hole in real life.
Oh, and let's get onto Sarah Palin. Her endorsement speech of Trump... dear god, it is the most unintentionally hilarious and worst endorsement speeches ever given. Just look up a video of the speech in question. Trump himself looks at times to be holding back laughter (just barely) or looks very confused as in "What the fuck is she saying?". And the way that she's dressed...really? She looks more like she's going to a party than an actual GOP conference. And this is why no one probably wants her to be a running mate with someone...God forbid if the nominee picks her to be his running mate, because we all know what happened last time...
Let's go back in time a little, to the election of 2008. I was 8 years old (by the time the general election ended the time the election occurred, I was 9)and I was in the third or fourth grade. Though I was too young to understand what the hell was going on, and me and my family (then at the time just consisting of me, my then-6 year old sister (she turned 14 in December of 2015) Quinlan, my parents, me, and our dog, Seamus) were relatively unaffected by the world around us, the adult world that my parents inhabited was in conflict. The U.S. had entered a big recession as a result of Bush's presidency, the housing market had a crisis, and people were fed up with the Iraq War. Bush, by the time he left the presidency, was very unpopular (still is now), with pretty much everyone. John McCain (the Republican nominee) did not originally want Sarah Palin as his vice president, originally. He wanted someone with more experience. His adviser looked up an interview with her and hired her based on her speaking skills showcased in the video. The campaign people soon came to regret the decision. Sarah seemed a bit crazy at times, and didn't know anything about foreign or even domestic policy. She also seemed to swing in between being a fantastic public speaker to a laughable one. The fact that her daughter, Bristol, then a teen, got pregnant during the campaign and gave birth to a kid, causing many to question her reliability and trustworthiness, didn't help either. There were a whole bunch of other factors, too, but I won't get into that (I will, once I write my review of that fantastic HBO original movie, Game Change. I plan on owning it on DVD once.). So, she was one aspect I think of the whole reason why McCain had lost.
I think the presidential candidates should bear this incident in mind before they can choose a running mate. I mean, we should have learned from that screw-up once or twice. Yeah. That's it, I guess.
Let me tell you, The GOP...jesus christ. Why doesn't the goddamn media ever take a break from reporting about that? The general election is a long way away. Yet, the media won't stop reporting about Cruz or Trump. I mean, we've already heard the same damn thing over and over again. When more "news" comes up about them, I'm like "Really? This again? Calm down.". There are reasons why you shouldn't always be trustfu-ah, fuck it. I'll tell you about it later.
Nothing has changed since the Bush administration. Nothing at all has changed in that party. Bush, mind you, was a terrible manager at foreign policy-his controversial decision to send troops to Iraq has left us in a mess with some parts of the Middle East ever since. He has also led us into a recession, and everyone pretty much hates him. In fact, I think he created disillusionment among the Republican Party. His controversial legacy is still felt with us-the fact that his younger brother, (who actually looks older than him.), Jeb, is currently running for office right now isn't helping matters either. And it looks like the right-wings have learned nothing from the loss of Barry Goldwater in '64, at all. My mom knows someone who has a friend that legitimately roomed with Ted Cruz in law school. He says that Ted Cruz is actually a legitimate a-hole in real life.
Oh, and let's get onto Sarah Palin. Her endorsement speech of Trump... dear god, it is the most unintentionally hilarious and worst endorsement speeches ever given. Just look up a video of the speech in question. Trump himself looks at times to be holding back laughter (just barely) or looks very confused as in "What the fuck is she saying?". And the way that she's dressed...really? She looks more like she's going to a party than an actual GOP conference. And this is why no one probably wants her to be a running mate with someone...God forbid if the nominee picks her to be his running mate, because we all know what happened last time...
Let's go back in time a little, to the election of 2008. I was 8 years old (by the time the general election ended the time the election occurred, I was 9)and I was in the third or fourth grade. Though I was too young to understand what the hell was going on, and me and my family (then at the time just consisting of me, my then-6 year old sister (she turned 14 in December of 2015) Quinlan, my parents, me, and our dog, Seamus) were relatively unaffected by the world around us, the adult world that my parents inhabited was in conflict. The U.S. had entered a big recession as a result of Bush's presidency, the housing market had a crisis, and people were fed up with the Iraq War. Bush, by the time he left the presidency, was very unpopular (still is now), with pretty much everyone. John McCain (the Republican nominee) did not originally want Sarah Palin as his vice president, originally. He wanted someone with more experience. His adviser looked up an interview with her and hired her based on her speaking skills showcased in the video. The campaign people soon came to regret the decision. Sarah seemed a bit crazy at times, and didn't know anything about foreign or even domestic policy. She also seemed to swing in between being a fantastic public speaker to a laughable one. The fact that her daughter, Bristol, then a teen, got pregnant during the campaign and gave birth to a kid, causing many to question her reliability and trustworthiness, didn't help either. There were a whole bunch of other factors, too, but I won't get into that (I will, once I write my review of that fantastic HBO original movie, Game Change. I plan on owning it on DVD once.). So, she was one aspect I think of the whole reason why McCain had lost.
I think the presidential candidates should bear this incident in mind before they can choose a running mate. I mean, we should have learned from that screw-up once or twice. Yeah. That's it, I guess.
Wednesday, January 20, 2016
Tom Stoppard- My Love For Him-& Julie Taymor
Hi Everybody,
I'm sorry I haven't posted in the last few weeks. It's just those goddamned midterms, you know... and I have to finish my National History Day Paper tomorrow for my AP US History Teacher, Mr. Scott. It's on the 1964-1965 World's Fair. But that has nothing to do with this post right now.
Hey- have you guys ever heard of the playwright Tom Stoppard? No? Well, you should know him. He's friggin awesome. His works are friggin awesome. He's a big name back in the West End and here in America, among geeks like me and playwrights. Proud pop-culture and theater geek, whoo! I own a copy of his trilogy of plays set in pre-Stalinist, Tsarist Russia, called "The Coast of Utopia". Can't wait to read it. Oh, he's not only done a shit ton of plays, he's also done screenplays, radio plays, television scripts, operas, and he's also a novelist. He's also a director, too. Oh, and he's also an outspoken human rights activist and an anti-Marxist. He's also won Tonys and Oscars, and I think he was even nominated for some Emmy awards. That's a sign of awesomeness, people. Did I also mention that he is so badass that he actually got a knighthood from the queen. Not kidding people. Holy shit. A. fuckin'. knightdom. And two years before I was born as well (Born in 1999. March 10th, to be exact. His birthdate is July 3rd, 1937). I asked him to legitimately come to my school to give a talk to the kids via through his agents, yet they won't respond. Jesus. (Oh god, I might be coming off as a tad obsessive to the point of stalkerdom here. I'm sorry, Mr. Stoppard, if you are reading this, I am a genuinely nice gal. Sorry.)
See, my love for him began with this play called Rosencrantz and Guildenstern are Dead. I discovered it through via looking it up on the Internet. This wasn't the 1st play Mr. Stoppard did. But it was the one that caused him to become a star, when it premiered in August 24th of 1966 at the Edinburgh Festival, when the Beatles were in their heyday. He was just 29 years old. However, an earlier form appeared in 1964 as a one-act play, titled Rosencrantz and Guildenstern Meet King Lear (whatever the hell happened to that one-act play, I don't know.). Stoppard must've been, what, 24 or 25? Christ, that's young. Nowadays, he's old enough to be a grandpa (and, in fact, he might have kids that are grown and have kids themselves already. Or just knocked up their girlfriend or got themselves knocked up or something). But anyway, I stumbled across the movie on Amazon. I watched it, and the first few minutes in, I was hooked. How many times have I watched that movie? I have no clue. I invited my dad to watch it with me one night, but he fell asleep during it (not of boredom, but out of tiredness), and I was pretty much the only one watching it. I was absorbed throughout. That movie premiered on September 5th, 1990. So that means last year, the movie had its 25th anniversary. Wow. It doesn't feel dated, not at all. The cast (especially the two leads) is/are awesome. The script is badass. What more can I say. Why the hell it wasn't nominated for Best Picture and Best Adapted screenplay (alongside Best Director for Stoppard) at the Oscars, I don't know. Maybe it was because of the fact that the movie didn't get a worldwide release and was limited here in the States? Yeah. Could be a factor.
And I'd love it if he would do a script for a movie or something with Julie Taymor. Who is she, you might ask? I'm doing my final Film Studies project about her. She's very well known in the Theater community for the broadway production of The Lion King (which is still going strong after all these years) as well as many others, including the infamous mess that was/is Spiderman: Turn Off The Dark (That show had potential, what with Bono and the Edge as collaborators and an awesome soundtrack and pretty damn good leads. But Taymor got a little too carried away, I guess... which explains why they had so many screw-ups that led to those record-breaking number of reviews and the accidents involving the actors on the flying wires.) She's also many other things, including a composer, a screenwriter, former puppeteer, costume designer, director, head of a production company, production designer, blah blah blah... her films are feasts for the eyes, and the visuals/production design are pretty gorgeous, if not a bit trippy and psychedelic at times. I think she would be a great collaborator for Mr. Stoppard to work with, since he's not unfamiliar with trippy sequences (Ahem...Brazil anybody? In February of last year, the movie celebrated its 30th anniversary. I watched that film in its entirety in my Film Studies class. He wrote it with (Terry) Gilliam and other people, yeah, but still. Weird as fuck, but also crazy awesome, like Mad Max: Fury Road.). They would work pretty well together, I guess. I think they should make do with Darkside, since that is pretty much the most Taymor-esque thing Stoppard has ever done. And Taymor has already done a musical jukebox film (Across the Universe, that was one of the most wicked (in a good way) uses of Beatles music in any form of media ever.), and since Pink Floyd is one of the most theatrical classic rock bands in the world. From England, too, hells yeah!
Oh, and if you guys are wondering, the movies I used for my Final Project were Titus, Frida, and The Tempest. Titus came out the year I was born. It bombed at the box office. (If you have ever read the play, you could see why.) Could be considered a cult film, even if it is based on Shakespeare. No, scratch that, pretty much all of Taymor's movies are very culty. I love her. A lot. I watched that movie on New Year's Eve, and let me tell you...the movie was weird. Probably the most trippiest Shakespeare movie ever to be filmed. It's also one of the most entertaining and awesome. Yep. Really is.
Also, guys, I hope you've had a really nice day and hope to see ya soon! Bye!
Friday, January 1, 2016
My Childhood and NYC (Specifically PJ Clarke's)
For as long as I could remember, New York City was a part of my life. Even before my (not-biological) brother Jack came into the picture. In fact, I can proudly tell you that I lived there for 5 years before I came to live in Pelham (my family lived there from the time that I was 9 years old and my (biological) younger sister, Quinlan (Quin for short, born in December of 2001) was 7 in the mid-to-late summer of '08 to the summer of 2013, when I was 14 years old and Quin was I think around, what, 11 years old (My brother Jack, that I told you about, is adopted and has a late June birthday, and he's currently 4 right now, was around then so he might have been 2 years old by then)? That's an accurate guess, I guess. Let me tell you, It was an awesome place to go visit (and live in) as a kid growing up during the 2000's in New York. Well, minus the 9/11 part (Stupid Islamic Extremists!) for you older readers. Ok, maybe I didn't live in Times Square, but this was what it was like when me, Quin, and my Mom (Maura) and Dad (Chris) moved to the city in the summer of '08. Hell, I was even born in NYC- Mt. Sinai Hospital was where I was born in during the year of 1999, specifically on March 10th. My birthdate fell on a Wednesday that year, and next (well, it's close enough to say this) year, I will turn 17 years old on that date. My younger sister, Quin, was also born on a Wednesday in NYC- her birthdate is December 19th, 2001. That was the same year that 9/11 occurred, shortly two months before my sister's birth. Ouch.
When me and my sister were really young, like starting around when we lived in Mount Kisco (a suburban town in which we lived in when we were just a family of 5, from the summer of '04, when I was 5 years old and Quin was 2 years old, to the summer of '08, when I was 9 years old and my sister was 7 years old), we often (well, it got less and less amounts of time when we moved to NYC) visited my Mom whenever we got the chance to. You see, she works as a lawyer at this law firm called Debevoise and Plimpton. She did/does work at home at some times, though. She mostly does briefs, and doesn't really get that much cases. Back when we lived in Mount Kisco, my mom took the train, on days that she went to the city, to work. It was a pretty damn long commute for her (In fact, one of the reasons why we specifically , but me and my sister were OK with it, for the most part. Both of my parents worked back then, as my dad was a printer at this printing company called Brady Palmer (he ranked high in terms of job position(s)- he quit by the time I was a 14-year-old Freshman in high school, mostly because he found a lot (not all, but a lot) of the people to work with were, in my words (though he did not say this) to be "fucking assholes"). Me and my sister, on days that I (or she) did not have school, would go to visit my mom with our babysitter. Shortly before that, we would meet her for lunch at the original location of P.J. Clarke's. It's a really old place, established back in the late 1800's, and it was visited by many famous people in the past. Me and my sister would often order a plain burger or the mac and cheese with orchiette pasta (we ordered it without the peas and bacon that came with it). It was soooo good! They also (Still have it) had a jukebox (not kidding, a legit jukebox) that you could press the arrowed dials to flip around the catalogued CD collection they had (it ranged from all sorts of eras and genres) and hit numbered buttons to select the song you wanted from a specific album (you had to pay for it in actual US dollars to get the song played, if you wish to know). Me and my sister got a kick out of that thing, and we thought it was the coolest shit to ever fucking exist. Well...now we haven't been to PJ Clarke's in a while, so yeah. Now, in 2016, I vow to go back there. As well as get a social media account. Which I don't have. Shit, I better get my life together. Here's a picture of the location and its exterior, If you want to see it.
Now, expect me to talk a lot more about my childhood, teen years, and New York City in upcoming posts. I don't know how to write this conclusion, so let me just say...bye!
When me and my sister were really young, like starting around when we lived in Mount Kisco (a suburban town in which we lived in when we were just a family of 5, from the summer of '04, when I was 5 years old and Quin was 2 years old, to the summer of '08, when I was 9 years old and my sister was 7 years old), we often (well, it got less and less amounts of time when we moved to NYC) visited my Mom whenever we got the chance to. You see, she works as a lawyer at this law firm called Debevoise and Plimpton. She did/does work at home at some times, though. She mostly does briefs, and doesn't really get that much cases. Back when we lived in Mount Kisco, my mom took the train, on days that she went to the city, to work. It was a pretty damn long commute for her (In fact, one of the reasons why we specifically , but me and my sister were OK with it, for the most part. Both of my parents worked back then, as my dad was a printer at this printing company called Brady Palmer (he ranked high in terms of job position(s)- he quit by the time I was a 14-year-old Freshman in high school, mostly because he found a lot (not all, but a lot) of the people to work with were, in my words (though he did not say this) to be "fucking assholes"). Me and my sister, on days that I (or she) did not have school, would go to visit my mom with our babysitter. Shortly before that, we would meet her for lunch at the original location of P.J. Clarke's. It's a really old place, established back in the late 1800's, and it was visited by many famous people in the past. Me and my sister would often order a plain burger or the mac and cheese with orchiette pasta (we ordered it without the peas and bacon that came with it). It was soooo good! They also (Still have it) had a jukebox (not kidding, a legit jukebox) that you could press the arrowed dials to flip around the catalogued CD collection they had (it ranged from all sorts of eras and genres) and hit numbered buttons to select the song you wanted from a specific album (you had to pay for it in actual US dollars to get the song played, if you wish to know). Me and my sister got a kick out of that thing, and we thought it was the coolest shit to ever fucking exist. Well...now we haven't been to PJ Clarke's in a while, so yeah. Now, in 2016, I vow to go back there. As well as get a social media account. Which I don't have. Shit, I better get my life together. Here's a picture of the location and its exterior, If you want to see it.
Now, expect me to talk a lot more about my childhood, teen years, and New York City in upcoming posts. I don't know how to write this conclusion, so let me just say...bye!
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