#And then you sit in the theatre and get hit with 20 minutes of monkeys screaming and yelling at and hitting each other

[timogsilangan]

hi vic I'm watching 2001 a space odyssey for the first time and I figured I'd let u know because I know thats ur guy :) ok the apes are angry now I'll have a review later

LETS FUCKING GOOOOO‼️‼️‼️ when i watched 2001 before reading it i was shocked that it opened with monkeys LOOOOL

[americanegg]

egg’s digestible guide for attainable rides: cyberpunk 2077

(cheap to mad expensive) post then later a (free quest cars) post

Car Model >  €$ (Fixer). All details about each are my own experience. Location of vehicle by district and waypoint.

(Reminder that if you’re short on eddies you can do Gigs, Sidequests, and “Assault in Progress” mini quests to get rich and level up.)

1. Thorton Galena G240 > €$ 13,000 (Regina)

Rusty hunk of junk but functional, especially after your car gets bodied in the beginning of Act 2. Located in the garage of your apartment building.

2. Makigai MaiMai P126 >  €$ 14,000 (Wakako)

Small. Super fucking small but decent and could turn into a red bullet on the highway at the cost of absolutely no control on your turns. Located in the southern part of Charter Hill, Westbrook sitting neatly in a small parking lot.

3. Mahir Supron FS3 >  €$ 16,000 (Reyes)

Sort of van type situation but compact. Cheap and definitely made of plastic. Like it says that in the lore. Located East from Hargreaves St waypoint in Arroyo.

4. Chevillon Thrax 388 Jefferson >  €$ 17,000 (Padre)

It’s a smooth ride, I’ll give Padre that. Long in length and takes years to turn with but it’s not made for street racing so it’s still decent for traffic and looking like a corpo. Located directly South of the Pumping Station waypoint in Wellsprings.

5. Villefort Columbus V340-F Freight >  €$ 19,000 (Dino)

Another van-type situation with plenty of seating. Could drive your kids to soccer with this one and get there in one piece. Average vehicle overall but can go 210mph if needed. Located SouthWest of the Downtown Central waypoint and sitting in a parking lot.

6. Thorton Galena “Gecko” >  €$ 21,000 (Dakota)

Found in the Badlands this is a great choice for rocky roads at 100mph. Go crazy and go stupid outside the city with this bad boy. Shred rubber and whatnot. Be wary of turns and speed in rocky areas as you can make as much airtime as a dirtbike on a ramp! Located SouthWest of the Old Turbines waypoint in the Eastern Badlands.

This is where Street Cred Level will come into play along with your pocket full of eddies:

(cred = streetcred level)

7. Kaiba Kusanagi CT-3X >  €$ 22,000 > 12 cred (Wakako)

Right after Jackie’s Arch, this is my favorite ride in the game. She’s sleek, perfect for bypassing traffic, and very well-designed. Located in an abandoned parking lot in Japantown, Westbrook directly NorthEast of the Skyline and Salinas waypoint.

8. Archer Quartz EC-L R275 > €$ 29,000 > 12 cred (Regina)

Another great set of wheels for burning rubber and kicking up sand in the Badlands, if you have the eddies for it. Located South of the Offshore St waypoint in Northside and immediately next to a Neutralize the Perps mini quest.

9. Chevillon Emperor 620 Ragnar >  €$ 32,000 > 12 cred (Dino)

First of the heavy duty SUV you acquire at 30k eddies. Didn’t drive this one very much since I’m a small and sleek kinda dude but if you need to ram a taxi or show off to your video game girlfriend your chunky ride, here is the car for you. Located in Corpo Plaza SouthWest of Arasaka Tower waypoint or NorthWest of Reconciliation Park waypoint.

10. Villefort Cortes V5000 Valor >  €$ 37,000 > 12 cred (Padre)

If you want to look like an asshole you can check this one out. Pretty much a bougie limosine type situation. Long car so long turns my guy. Located in Wellsprings, Heywood sitting in a parking lot West of Berkeley & Bay waypoint. 11. Thorton Colby C240T (aka Thorton Colby C125) >  €$ 39,000 > 20 cred (Regina)

Vehicles to pick up your gf/bf and go to a drive-in theater with? This one. Smooth ride with plenty of seating to do you know what at said drive-in theater definitely not watching Bushido 3. Located Northside, Westbrook South of the Docks waypoint in a small parking lot in front of the Ded Zed clothing store.

12. Thorton Colby CX410 Butte (Green) >  €$ 43,000 > 12 cred (Reyes)

Imma be honest... I’m a slut for Thorton car models. This one is straight up satisfying to my ears and eyes. Located in the parking lot of PieZ waypoint in Rancho Coronado, Santo Domingo.

13. Thorton Colby “Little Mule” >  €$ 49,000 > 12 cred (Dakota)

Truckin and fuckin around the Badlands? This is definitely the car for you!  Located near the Sunset Motel parking lot in the Eastern Badlands.

14. Quadra Type-66 Avenger >  €$ 55,000 > 20 cred (Dino)

Remember those Need for Speed games? No? Well imagine it for a second and look at this preem ride. Got that image in your mind? Now look at your wallet. Located West of Metro: Republic Way waypoint tucked under the Empathy club building.

15. Quadra Type-66 “Jen Rowley” (aka Quadra Type-66 640 TS)  >  €$ 58,000 > 20 cred (Reyes)

If you haven’t noticed, Quadra Type-66 are very good at designing cars that make you look like you shred these streets since you were a babe. Like, Baby from Baby Driver would fuck this ride up, you know it choom. Located West of Kendal Park waypoint in Rancho Coronado, no more than 2-minute walk away.

16. Villefort Alvarado V4F 570 Delegate >  €$ 62,000 > 20 cred (Padre)

Another Limo! I’ll be honest, six wheels on a car this low is crazy but Villefort always finds a way. This is the ride you’d drive to your corpo apartment to go pick up your corpo wife so you can take your corpo ride to a nearby corpo restaurant and only drink Spunky Monkey in a wine bottle. Located directly West of the Palms View Way waypoint in The Glen.

17. Herrera Outlaw GTS >  €$ 62,000 > 30 cred (Dino)

Limousine type body but god damn if it ain’t gorgeous to look at. A real sexy piece of wheels, this one. Located in Corpo Plaza, North of Ring Road waypoint. 

18. Quadra Type-66 “Javelina” >  €$ 73,000 > 30 cred (Dakota)

God am I a fan of rides that pick up hefts of sand and dirt? Yeah, I am. Do I love how this car looks? Absolutely. As a Nomad V, is this one of the sexiest rides you can get? ABSO-FUCKING-LUTELY. Located in Southern Badlands near the Protein Farm waypoint.

19. Mizutani Shion MZ2 >  €$ 75,000 > 30 cred (Regina)

Not gonna lie, this is the car that occupies my headspace every time I boot up Cyberpunk. Maybe it’s the name, maybe it’s the design, maybe it’s the car I would take to my honeymoon, idk. Located in the same garage as the Thorton Galena in Little China, Watson.

20. Quadra Type-66 “Cthulhu” >  €$ 76,000 > No cred requirement (Regina or Sampson)

Condition to receive for free: Sparing Samson in “The Beast In Me” side quest

Okay other than Beast which is a chonky beast this one is a very speedy beast with classic racecar features but bulky armor. The wiki literally says this ride has 666 horsepower so you KNOW this shit is gonna slap as soon as you get in and hear that engine, dawg.  Can be found in Little China, Watson in Megabuilding H10.

21. Brennan Apollo >  €$ 94,000 > 30 cred (Padre)

If you thought Jackie’s ARCH and the Yaiba Kusanagi was sexy boy you will not be disappointed. Smaller and more compact but a speedy on the highways and countryside. Side Effect is you’ll look like the coolest pizza delivery driver in Night City. Located in Vista Del Ray, Heywood a short walk away East of Delamain HQ waypoint. 22. Mizutani Shion “Coyote” >  €$ 115,000 > 20 cred (Dakota)

... Look at her. Just... just look at her. Look at those wheels, that build, the spoiler, look at her! I would own so many Hot Wheels and have her in a display case alright. Like, you know what you’re signing up for at 100k eddies for Dakota. Like this car that was originally used for scooting around the city was LITERALLY modded for the Badlands. As a Nomad this is a must-have. Located in the Eastern Badlands, North of the Sunshine Motel waypoint.

23. Thorton Mackinaw MTL1 >  €$ 128,000 > 30 cred (Reyes)

The most SUV that ever SUV’ed in Night City. Reyes calls you for this one and shit, it’s new, it’s spotless, it’s a shiny new car, and trouncing down Badlands, the streets of Kabuki, Pacifica, name it. This beaut does go maximum of around 150mph but with how big this bad boy is, it can charge through the highways but be wary of how you turn corners! Located around the block from the Red Dirt Bar waypoint to the East in Arroyo, Santo Domingo.

24. Quadra Turbo-R 740 >  €$ 129,000 > 30 cred (Wakako)

TURBO-TASTIC ride. Again, of racecar design, you can almost smell the 1980s nostalgia from the picture alone. Located in the Dynalar building/waypoint in Charter Hill, Westbrook.

25. ARCH Nazaré >  €$ 138,000 > 40 cred (Wakako)

Writing this guide up to this point I have discovered that Old Lady Wakako knows what “fucking nova” means because all the cars she offers are fucking bangers so of COURSE she would offer an ARCH bike like this bumblebee badboy. You can see all the fun bits in and around the bike to know what you’re getting into so expect some hella smooth sailing. Located on the way TO the Drive-In Theatre in the lot of the Gig: A Shrine Defiled. South of Drive-in Theatre, North Oak, Westbrook.

26. Rayfield Caliburn (White) >  €$ 157,000 > 40 cred (Dino)

Dino actually coming in clutch with this last call for vehicles he offers. Like, I had to look up what “hypercar” meant to logistically know how hype this car makes me every time I hit the gas. At high speeds the engines purr like a cat, which is a whole other satisfying experience after driving hunks of junk. Located West of the Corporation St. waypoint in Downtown, City Center.

27. Rayfield Aerondight S9 “Guinevere” >  €$ 225,000 > 50 cred (Wakako)

Um... so... this is- this is the last car from Wakako. I haven’t even gotten to the point of being able to afford this... this... work of art. I can only imagine, with the Rayfield brand, that it’s better than the Caliburn. Which I don’t even think that’s possible but once I buy it I’ll let you know. Located North of the Columbariam or directly West of the North Oak Sign waypoints in North Oak, Westbrook.

Yo, if this guide helps you or makes your day or think it’s absolutely genius or dogshit don’t forget to like/reblog! Share with your friends!

Free Vehicle Post coming soon!

Images from gamesatlas.com, cyberpunk.fandom.com, & game-maps.com

[pierrotdameron]

Dafne Keen does not much look like Lyra Belacqua, at least not as Philip Pullman describes her in His Dark Materials. In Northern Lights, the first book of the trilogy, she is “like a half-wild cat”, with dirty fingernails, green eyes and grubby blond-ish hair. Keen, who is half British, half Spanish and lives in Madrid, is darker and is already the master of an intense glare, as anyone who saw her alongside Hugh Jackman in the Wolverine swansong Logan will know. When we meet, in a London hotel, she has the self-possessed cool of a total pro, even at 14. But there are plenty of Lyra-esque flourishes that make it obvious why she got the part.

She was almost 12 when she finished filming Logan. She had heard about the BBC/HBO adaptation of His Dark Materials, then in its early stages, and sent in an audition tape. But she didn’t hear back. “I thought, never mind, I’ll just carry on with my life,” she says. “Which is when I got stung by the jellyfish.”

The production team had finally replied, asking her to make another tape. Keen was on holiday in Puerto Rico. “I thought, right, I’m going to have a chilled-out swim and then I’m going to get ready. I suddenly felt this thing on my face and then it started stinging and then it expanded all over my face. I ran to my mum and I went, ‘Mum! Is it really red?’ My mum went, ‘No it’s fine.’ And then she went, ‘Oh no, it’s not fine.’” Her face was red and swollen but she had to do the tape. “So my audition is with a jelly-face,” she smiles.

The next step was to meet Ruth Wilson, who plays Mrs Coulter, one of the best evil characters in children’s literature. “I was sitting in the waiting room with 20 other girls,” Keen remembers. “I was thinking, oh god, they’re all blond. I don’t physically look like this character, and these girls all do. I went in, shook hands with Ruth, and five minutes later, she looked at me and said, ‘You know, you have the same eyebrows as me.’” Fans of the books will know that this is a big thumbs up. Days later, she began rehearsals, with Wilson and puppets. In Pullman’s books, people have daemons, an animal manifestation of their “inner self”, which lives alongside them. Because the daemons on screen are CGI, the actors shot their scenes with puppets to make their interactions as authentic as possible.

When Philip Pullman writes, he isn’t trying to bring down the church, he’s bringing down the system

Naturally, Keen is practised at describing what her own daemon would be, were this world to have daemons in it. “Mine is quite easy to figure out, because it’s what everyone called me on set. Everyone calls me Monkey.” In the books, daemons change form until their human reaches adulthood, when they settle as one fixed animal. Keen particularly liked hers as a pine marten.

We meet the morning after the world premiere of His Dark Materials, which was the first time Keen had watched it. “Everybody had seen it apart from me! I’m really busy filming season two, so I had no time to watch it. I had Philip Pullman right next to me, and I was like, oh god! But I think he liked it.” Did he offer his approval? “His wife came up to me and was really lovely and was saying I was the perfect Lyra. I was really happy to hear that.”

Keen had not read the trilogy before she auditioned. “Now I’m a massive, massive fan. As soon as I read the books, I knew this was a good message to the world, and it’s important that we have stories about young girls, because there aren’t many,” she says. At the premiere, Jack Thorne, who wrote the screenplay, likened Lyra to Greta Thunberg. Though she does not know it, the future of the world rests on Lyra’s shoulders, and she has to fight tooth and nail to defeat the forces that wish to suppress free will and independent thought. Keen approves of the Thunberg comparison. “I am genuinely in awe of that girl.”

There have been various adaptations of His Dark Materials over the years: a Radio 4 series, a play at the National Theatre and the 2007 Hollywood attempt, The Golden Compass, with Nicole Kidman and Daniel Craig. It was supposed to be a trilogy, but only the first was made – and Pullman’s theme of an abusive authoritarian religious body was watered down almost beyond recognition. The television series seems more comfortable with its source material, and its Magisterium, the governing body of the Church, is portrayed as a fascist regime.

In 2007, the Catholic League called for a boycott of The Golden Compass, despite the religious references being excised, and the Vatican also denounced the film and Pullman’s writing. Keen had seen it – was she aware that this new version might be controversial, given the backlash the movie attracted? “I thought that was sad, but I understand why they had to do it,” she reasons, diplomatically, of the decision to soften the book’s themes. “But I think people are reading too much into it. When Philip writes about the Magisterium, he’s not bringing down the church, he’s bringing down the system.”

Keen was born and raised in Spain and is bilingual. Her mother María is Spanish, and as well as being her acting coach is also an actor, as is Keen’s father Will. He has a part in His Dark Materials, as Father MacPhail, part of the Magisterium faithful. “He is terrifying,” says Keen. “He always plays bad people. I don’t know why because he’s so nice. I genuinely think it’s because he’s bald and has green eyes.” She practically grew up in a theatre rehearsal room, because of her parents, but she thought she would be a biologist, like David Attenborough. “Then I found out you have to study biology, and to do that you have to study maths, and I went, mmm no, I’m not doing that. I hate maths so much, you can’t even imagine.”

A friend of her mother’s was making a short film, and needed a child for it, so Keen gave acting a go. She loved it. She did a series in Spain, The Refugees, alongside her father. (“He was playing my evil father, yes. Always got to give it the psychopathic twist.”) She picked up an agent, who put her forward for Logan, and she got down to an audition with Jackman. “In the waiting room, once again, there was this perfect LA beautiful blond girl. I was just, like, a small, scrappy Latin girl. I always think it’s not going to work out for me, and then it went really great.” She auditioned with Jackman, then asked if she could try again, only this time she said she’d like to improvise the scene. She was 11. “My heart was beating big time,” she says. “I thought, I’m just going to dive in and ask them, and they loved it, so I was lucky.”

Jackman remembers the audition well. “[Director] Jim Mangold looked at a lot of actresses for Laura. When he told me about Daf, I was hopeful, but when we tested together, I was blown away,” he says over email. “She was every inch Laura. When Jim asked her if there was anything more she wanted to show us, she said, ‘Can I improvise?’ That’s the actor that got the part and who you see on screen.”

“Hugh is the nicest human being,” she grins. “I used to call him the human jukebox because he was always singing. Lin does the same thing.” Lin is Lin-Manuel Miranda, who plays Lee Scoresby in His Dark Materials. He got Keen tickets to see his smash-hit musical, Hamilton. “Two VIP Lin-Manuel Miranda guest tickets. I felt like such a diva.” On set, she would find herself singing the songs from it, but was too shy to sing when he was there. When Miranda had finished shooting, they all went for a meal to see him off. The bartender recognised him, and put My Shot on the stereo. “Me and Lewin [Lloyd, who plays Roger] were like, we’re not throwing away our shot, we’re singing this song.” They all joined in. “I’ve got videos of me and Lin singing it.”

Right now, Keen is preparing to go back to Wales to film season two, which loosely adapts The Subtle Knife, the second book in the trilogy. The third season, which will take on the astonishingly ambitious The Amber Spyglass, may take a little longer to pull together. Still, she is happy to live as Lyra for a while yet. She has taken plenty of her away from the experience already. “She taught me to speak up. Be bold, be brave, be yourself. Don’t follow rules, because rules can be useful, but they can be very stupid and pointless,” she says – sounding very much like her Lyra herself.

[hayesit]

matt’s 2019 year in review

here it is! and it’s late because i had other/better things to do (and procrastinating), was recovering from hangovers (also procrastinating), and recovering from being sick (procrastinating).

i’ve been doing these year in review posts since 2016, so here is my fourth installment. every year i look back through my google calendar, my camera roll, and my bullet journal as a gratitude exercise and to chart my own development as an adult. 

here is my spotify wrapped 2019!

the beginning of this year was off to a good start: i met two friends that i know through the internet! i met my friend riley when she visited boston (i met her through a mutual friend and through overwatch league twitter) and my friend jimmy that i’ve known for…. 6 or 7 years (?!) through tumblr and designed the logo for me and alex’s late podcast, hardly tea, may she rest in peace. 

i moved dorm rooms in between the fall and spring semester, and once again i was not happy with where i lived. i lived with 4 rando’s that i was placed with and the 5 of us barely even talked with each other. my direct roommate i saw for only two weeks, and for the nights he slept over in the bed (that he was paying room and board for) and had the worst snoring humanly possible that not even earplugs could kill (video below). i hardly slept while he was there and roamed the halls of riverview suites like a ghost due to the anxiety i felt about my lack of sleep (we love a vicious circle)! he disappeared after those two weeks without notice and i lived in fear of him returning for the rest of the semester (which he didn’t), but returned to my normal sleep schedule. 

that semester was my first semester of full-time grad school. i got a poor grade on an assignment that had a note from the professor that said she knew i could do better and it hit me how much different grad school is from undergrad and how much more effort and dedication it requires. after crying in my professor’s office, my work ethic has improved since then, but it’s not anywhere near where i’d like it to be (more on that later). 

now to more positive things for the spring semester: i met some friends that semester both ~on and offline~ that made the semester far more bearable AND i did however truly pop off in every last one of my powerpoint presentations for class. i looooove making powerpoints and just fuckin telling jokes about my research topic and have ppl tell me that they are looking forward to my presentation & that i should teach college classes :)!

me and 4 friends had a social group in which we’d drink and play board games and forget about the board game and drunkenly talk shit called cabam after all our first initials! i always looked forward to that and dug the group chemistry a lot.

during this semester i grew a   “ beard “, otherwise known as i chose not to shave just to  “ see what would happen “ (praythatitfilledin). sorry about that!

the overwatch league was something that i had to look forward to watch every week and i had my experience enhanced through sideshow and avast’s unofficial companion streams, which guaranteed lots of laughs. i have bought tickets to two boston home games in 2020 which i am very excited about! analysts have predicted boston to be in 20th place this year (there are 20 teams) but i’m still excited for the 2020 season anyway!!

i can’t have a year-in-review of 2019 without mentioning game of thrones. due to the show’s final season being undeniably weak, i enjoyed the camaraderie with the other people that watched thrones during those six weeks. i haven’t thought about the show or its universe for quite a while, unfortunately. i truly was quite into the world of westeros, but the weakness of the end of the story cheapened the journey of each of the characters, in a way. such a shame.

while i got my diploma in december 2018, i walked across the stage of umass lowell’s tsongas arena with my bachelor of arts in psychology (and minor in theatre arts). it wasn’t as emotional or triumphant of an experience and just felt weird, considering i had already gotten my diploma and was going to remain in the clutches of rowdy the riverhawk as i am staying for my masters degree in applied behavior analysis/autism studies. i brought a ceramic monkey to graduation. it didn’t have any symbolism, but i just wanted to see if they’d stop me (which they didn’t)

 this summer was better than most summers of mine go, i hung out with alex nearly every weekend, got my very first iphone, and got a data plan. the combination of these three things got me back into playing pokemon go, an unexpectedly fun pastime! went on lots of walks!

my favorite day of summer was going to a lake with alex and our friend gianna, who i grew closer to after meeting her during macbeth last year. fond 2019 memories with gianna include: doing simulation patients with her, watching movies with her and alex, and the halloween party. what a great gd person and a great gd friend! big fan and eternally rooting for her. 

fire emblem: three houses came out on the switch in august and is, without a doubt, my game of the year. there’s truly so much to love about the game: the world, the characters, new changes made to the series, things that were gone but returned, interesting micromanaging, and best of all, how huge my brain feels when playing it. 

i got a 6-week summer job as a paraprofessional at an extended-school-year program for children with developmental disabilities at a preschool in haverhill which taught me a lot of lessons, such as: i hate cleaning shit off of children.

then i had feelings that didn’t make much sense for about a month! whoops!

my full-time job i currently have is working at my old high school as a behavior specialist. i provide consultation and work on programs to lead to more appropriate behavior in students, primarily ones with developmental disabilities. so far it’s been fairly rewarding, some days are more challenging than others, some days are a lot of sitting in meetings, and some days are a lot of running around. some days there is not much to do at all, which has its obvious upsides and downsides. working at the high school isn’t something that i want to do forever, but it’s a good place to start with. i’m definitely learning a lot and there are a lot of benefits to working here. sometimes i can work on my grad school work (which is all online until the 2020 summer semester) which is definitely huge. and my commute is either a 15 minute walk or 3 minutes if my mom drives me! 

a ~complex~ thing about working in my hometown is that it makes the most financial sense to live at home because it’s so close to work. this is my first time living at home full-time since high school and i’m not enjoying that part too much. most weekends i visit alex in lowell, but being stuck at home with no car (going to retake the license test in the spring when the ice melts!) and having to go to bed so early definitely hurts. sure, i have what is likely the lowest amount of expenses i’ll ever have in my life (no car-related payments, no rent, no groceries), but i feel landlocked. i feel like a teenager with minimal freedom, which is in part because my mom doesn’t quite understand yet that i’m a 22 year-old that should have a lot more freedom than i do now. the most i really do on weekdays after work gets out (2:30p) is go to savers with my mom if it’s tuesday (senior citizen day), maybe go for a walk if it’s nice out (which for most of the school year, it isn’t), or be on the computer watching bon appetit videos and playing overwatch, fire emblem, or pokemon, eat a bland dinner at 6, go to bed at around 9:30. sad! truly not a situation that i want to be trapped in that much that much longer!

i think the best and most important part of this year was becoming closer with alex. as i mentioned before, we see each other most weekends, to our great benefit. our living situations have flip-flopped, with me living at home and alex living in an apartment near campus, which in both similar and different ways have taken their respective tolls on us. having each other while going through changes and stagnations in our lives has been immeasurably important. thank you alex for providing a place to be myself other than my own head. thank you for being my best friend. 

now i come to the thing that i’m most excited about for 2020. not 2 suck my own horn but i have cobbled together a fuckin dream team of five friends (me, alex, chris, kelly, and molly). the two times we have all gotten together it has been so satisfying in such a wonderful and otherworldly way that i am filled to the brim of happiness being around them. the craziest thing is that i met chris and kelly through twitter! TWITTER. and they’re real-ass people and my real-ass friends! i haven’t been so pleased with something in my life like this for so long and it feels so good to have adult friends that i have chosen rather than friends by circumstance. it’s truly a crime that we can’t see each other more often, but we already have a day picked out for the next time we all do something together. feeling emotional writing this paragraph bc i love me gd friends so much!

there is a lot of uncertainty about this new year for me. i sure as fuck don’t want to live at home more than i have to but don’t know where to go, my practicum class starts for me this summer which means i’ll most likely have to change jobs (fine by me, but will be exhausting), i recently began my search for therapists and hope to find one soon to help me ~unpack things~, my thesis begins in the fall semester and i don’t know what to do for it, and i’m not 100% dead-set on working in special education. it’s been hard transitioning from living on campus and going to school full-time to the life i have now. 

[kkmooandmonkey2]

Annie The Musical Review

  Annie The Musical

Annie the Musical is a brand new set and cast for Miss Hannigan is none other then Miranda Hart, if you have seen her shows you will see her as the gentle giant Miranda that has you crying with laughter.

I’m so curious to see how Miranda can pull a Miss Hannigan, Originally played by Carol Burnett in the 1982 film, could taking on the drunken character be hard for Miss Hart? THIS would be a different side to her we haven’t seen thus far. I’m laughing about her lusting and complete mess ups of her life where everything is ‘such fun’.

Annie was set in America during the Great Depression in 1930’s in New York, where an orphanage for girls is the centre of the film, And a little red head girl called Annie.

Annie’s luck soon changes when she is picked to spend Christmas with the known billionaire, Oliver Warbucks. As Warbucks and his employees begin to fall in love with the feisty young girl, Miss Hannigan and her cronies hatch a plan to snatch her away and get some fortune of their own.

Annie is currently playing at the Piccadilly Theatre, built across three levels, with a capacity that holds just over 1,232 within the auditorium. Split over the Stalls, Royal Circle and Grand Circle; there is a seat to suit every budget.

I was so lucky to get to sit in perfect seats thank’s to Boxoffice

I was also impressed they do Orditorium where you can order sweets and drinks and get it delivered to your seat.. thumbs up for that one!

Back to Annie, I had Team Rockefeller, with Leading girl Ruby Stokes, I was blown away by this young lady’s voice and ability to capture Annie, she transferred that so well to the audience. Her credibilities of being in the UK tour The Sound of music which I have seen, HERE

I can see this being a top-rated show.

The girls were so good and worked fluidly with each other, the choreography in Hard Knock life was hard hitting using the metal buckets and scrubbing brushes.

I must have seen the film over a billion times, this has to be an all time Favourite movie and seeing it on stage made it even better.

Miranda Hart was fantastic AS Miss Hannigan, I was waiting for her to do the normal ‘Miranda, (stop talking face audience and just start talking to the audience.) I do think if she acted a little drunker she would have been just as good as Carol Burnett. Daddy Warbucks played by Alex Bourne was spot-on. All actors were amazing and They’re all so talented!

Creative director Nikolai Foster and the production team brought the show to a whole new level. The clothing, setting the scene was simply fantastic all the work that goes into the building of the stage, props the costumes, hair and makeup just amazing work.

It really is a Must see !!

my rating would be 5/5

Annie is being shown at the Piccadilly Theatre from June 5th, 2017 and will play until January 6th, 2018! Show running time is 2 hours 20 minutes, including an interval.

my rating for ANNIE would be 5/5

Annie is being shown at the Piccadilly Theatre from June 5th, 2017 and will play until January 6th, 2018! Show running time is 2 hours 20 minutes, including an interval.

BOOK YOUR TICKETS WITH > BOXOFFICE <

*DISCLAIMER  please note I was given the amazing chance to review Annie for an honest opinion, it was AMAZING !

Annie The Musical Review was originally published on Kk moo and monkey too our journey through Autism

[lorrainecparker]

We don’t often think about exhibition … until it goes wrong

One item of filmmaking and media production that people don’t often talk about a lot is the exhibition of the projects many of us work so hard to produce. I experienced a case really bad exhibition recently when I went to attend a Fathom Event at local Regal Cinema. Theatrical presentation is that one place we all strive for yet we have the least control when it comes to the presentation.

It’s an exciting opportunity to get to see ones work on the movie screen (especially when you don’t work in theatrical).

If you’re not familiar with Fathom Events they are “live event” type movie productions that are shown in theaters all around the country in a partnership amongst a number of theater chains. They show things like sporting events; operas are a common one you often see a preview for; there are special event movies and documentaries and a lot of concerts. I had the pleasure of editing a recent documentary on comedian Chonda Pierce which was shown as a Fathom event. There was a premier screening on April 25 as well as an encore presentation two weeks later. I was at NAB when the premiere happened so I was excited to get an encore on Tuesday May 9.

Spend a night with @chondapierce in her new film Enough for a special encore presentation on May 9th only. Tickets: https://t.co/JIhd8sXfBH pic.twitter.com/dEBPoRSq1u

— Fathom Events (@fathomevents) May 6, 2017

When talking about the exhibition one wants perfect screening conditions for the film that they have directed, edited, DPed etc. Hopefully that includes comfy seats, pleasant temperatures, optimal sound and good picture. It’s funny to talk about exhibition in this modern world because so much media is consumed on cell phones and touchscreen devices but I don’t think people think about the perfect viewing experience be it in a well-equipped home theater or an actual movie house. This particular screening began with no picture as in the screen was black and we could hear a rather muffled audio playing in the theater speaker. I knew when the promos were over and the movie began because I could hear the opening score but still no picture. I left the theater and asked first employee I saw to check the problem and restart the picture. She said that they would do just that. After a couple minutes the picture turned on but the sound was still terrible. After a several more minutes of not restarting the picture I went back out on the same poor soul that had to experienced my wrath to tell them that things were still screwed up.

Hey @RegalMovies your Hollywood 27 theater in Nashville has screwed up their Fathom event tonight. No picture then bad sound.

— Scott Simmons (@editblog) May 10, 2017

After another 10 or 15 minutes of the movie playing I could see someone up in the projection booth attempting to do something and something did happen. The production stopped. There were several attempts to restart as the Fathom Events promo began playing over and over but it still sounded terrible. After about 20 minutes of this the theatre management came in and announced that they would be unable to show the production because one of the amplifiers in the theater had been blown. Apparently they had shown a Bollywood movie in this smaller theater at some point prior and “those loud Bollywood movies” were never meant to be shown in a theater that size. The Bollywood movie was so loud it “blew the amp.” Why no one monitored that is beyond me but I guess with 27 screens you just program everything in and let it go.

Back behind that glass I could see someone actually trying to fix the screening.

I immediately wondered how many other movies they had shown in the theater with the blown amplifier since it sounded like this other screening was at least the day before. A Fathom Event plays off a file so I had assumed it would be easy enough to move the showing to another screen since the Theater has 27 of them. But according to management, complications around the business side of Fathom Events means they’re unable to ever move a Fathom Event from one screening room to another. I made several attempts to reach out to both Fathom Events and Regal Cinemas by their Twitter accounts letting them know what had happened but I got no response at all. To the credit of the theater they did offer full refunds (which of course they should’ve done since the Fathom Event tickets are nearly $20) as well as offering vouchers for any other movie any other time including special events and RPX screenings. The people running the theater, and it has to be very thankless job, were very sorry about what had happened but their hands really seem to be tied as far as having another screening. They were unsure if they would be able to make up this particular screening at a later time.

At least we weren’t the only ones having problems with this Fathom Event.

The problem with the audio was a very muffled sound with the music bed actually being listenable but the dialogue was very muted. If you listened really close you could kind of understand the dialog and I was amazed by the number of people in the theatre that seemed to want to watch the production even with the bad sound. I think that speaks a lot to the subject matter and fans of the artist as opposed to people just willing to watch bad exhibition.

Hey @fathomevents the @RegalMovies Hollywood 27 in Nashville screwed up the Fathom screening tonight. Thought you might like to know

— Scott Simmons (@editblog) May 10, 2017

As the editor I wanted the best screening conditions possible. I often think about poor directors and cinematographers in the modern era who do their best to attempt to bring beautiful, cinematic images to the screen only to have them viewed in suboptimal conditions. I once chatted with a friend who hated the movie There Will Be Blood and I couldn’t understand why he hated it so much. Come to find out he watched the entire 2 hour and 38 minute movie on his phone on an airplane. There’re a lot of movies I can think about that is not properly viewed on your phone on an airplane and There Will Be Blood is right at the top of the list.

But back to the screening in the theater; box office numbers seem to be up over the last few years even if tickets sales are trending down but theaters owners and exhibitors are becoming increasingly frustrated with Hollywood. There continues to be a push to lower the theatrical window or to even have movies released in the home at the same time they’re released in the theaters … but for a higher price. The consumer wants this but the theater owner does not. You can do this today if you’re will to pay up.

To continue to have success at the box office theater owners and exhibitors need to continue to offer up a premium experience to those of us willing to pay + or – $20 per person to go to the theater. A number of “innovations” have come along in recent years that helps with that: a premium viewing experience, dinner and booze, reserved seating and kicking out cell phone users are a good start. I think that most of us that go to the theater would be fine with phones being allowed as long as the movies are identified as such and we can avoid them at all costs. But beyond the viewing experience among those kinds of movie distractions it’s the filmmaker who cringes most at the idea of a jungle gym inside the theatre or talking when everyone else is trying to watch the movie.

There were a lot of $20 refunds and Regal passes given out after the screening. The theatre also let anyone at the Fathom event go see another movie that night and get free refills on their concessions. At least the inconvenienced crowd didn’t seem too upset at the inconvenience.

Back to the actual projection of the image to the screen. That is something the viewer can’t do anything about. We sit at the mercy of the theater management and some kind of almost-projectionist sitting in the booth manning a hard drive. Best we can do as theatrical consumers is complain loudly to the theatre when the exhibition goes wrong. Ask for refunds, call the theatre chain, hit them up on social media. And what the theatre chains can do is respond and reply and let the consumer know they are doing what they can do keep the customer returning to the movie house.

Also @fathomevents your survey monkey site won’t let me use the “other” option to express my frustration with this @RegalMovies screening

— Scott Simmons (@editblog) May 10, 2017

I tried to complain to Fathom via their Customer Experience Survey Monkey form that was advertised on-screen before the event began, but that was a bust both on mobile at the screening and on the desktop afterwards.

You know Fathom if you’re going to provide an Other category you should probably at least provide a button for Other so we could continue the survey after choosing Other … I mean … Other was my answer!

Regal doesn’t even have a category on their Send Us an Email contact form for projection and screening issues.

I never heard a reply back from either Regal Cinemas or Fathom Events after tweeting to them about the bad screening experience. Others have had similar experiences and from the several Fathom Events I’ve been to over the years it’s the ones with problems that stick out in my mind. Both Regal Cinemas and Fathom Events could take a page from some of these companies about how to handle customer service on Twitter. I guess I should have tweeted to Regal Problems instead but somehow I don’t think that’s an actual Regal Twitter account. I guess I’ll send this little rant over to them via their contact forms.

The post We don’t often think about exhibition … until it goes wrong appeared first on ProVideo Coalition.

First Found At: We don’t often think about exhibition … until it goes wrong

[postmodernnomad]

Sunset Boulevard - A (re)View from the Balcony

In mid-February on a spontaneous visit to New York for the President's Day Weekend, I woke up at 6 am to take the PATH train into mid-town. The last time I had woken up that early to be in Manhattan was for the 90th Macy's Day Parade just a few months earlier and that time they at least had the decency to throw me a parade. Today, instead, I was meeting two friends to try and grab rush tickets to see "Sunday in The Park with George", the critically acclaimed revival that was at the time still in previews. To our dismay, by the time I had arrived (a good 20 minutes before my compatriots coming from Hamilton Heights) there were already 50 people in line; far more than enough to fill the first two rows for the matinee and evening performances that day. So instead, we turned our attention towards another big-hitting revival by an already massively famous composer that recently landed on Broadway with a big headliner - "Sunset Boulevard". At the Palace Theatre, we planted our lawn chairs across from the Times Square TKTS line and waited, determined to see at least one show today and not pay premium prices. As you may have guessed, we were successful and the wait was worth it to secure a $41 ticket in the Rear Mezzanine. These are my thoughts.

This incarnation of Sunset Boulevard began in the West End of London and has now moved to Broadway to be Lord Andrew Lloyd Webber's fourth show running on Broadway concurrently; joining "School of Rock", the recent revival of "Cats", and of course the long-running "Phantom of the Opera". Notably, this production stars Glenn Close ("Guardians of the Galaxy" (2015)) in a Norma Desmond-esque return to "where she belongs". Being of a younger generation and not having grown up with Broadway on my pop-culture radar I feel like I really miss the significance of this heralded return. I am most familiar with Ms. Close's film career, but I acknowledge that is probably a result of my generation so I can't really count that against anyone. More on Ms. Close's performance later.

"Sunset Boulevard" is an adaptation of a 1950 noir film of the same name. It takes place in the golden era of Hollywood and shares the same self-obsession, making countless jokes about and nods to the industry, especially how hard it is to get a job and make money in Hollywood. Ultimately the story follows struggling writer Joe Gillis (Michael Xavier) who befriends and becomes begrudgingly involved with the aged, but legendary film star Norma Desmond (Close). It is a tragic story of an out of touch actress that wants to return to the spotlight of her 20's despite now being in her 50's and having been long forgotten by the cruel and fast-paced world of Hollywood. With some dramatic twists and turns, the story was most predictable but still provided a couple surprises towards the end. One thing is clear in this production, though, it's not about the story. With a 41-piece orchestra featured prominently front-and-center on stage this production feels more like an over-staged concert of "Sunset Boulevard" than a true revival. The performances are all admirable, Fred Johanson has an unbelievable vocal range and an ominous presence as Max von Mayerling, Norma's right-hand man, and butler. Siobhan Dillion plays the cute and bookish Betty Schaeffer well, but with little memorability. Michael Xavier also gives a fine performance as the charming Joe Gillis. Most audience members will remember his costume at the top of Act 2 when he is poolside in his tight speedo; even going so far as to take it off teasingly under a towel wrapped around his waist. Most of the audience seemed to really get a kick out of that tease, but I couldn't stop wondering where they hid his microphone as I couldn't see his any wires or his hairline from way up in the rear mezzanine. The ensemble, many with featured roles and named characters, have a relatively easy job on this one, being in a few massive group scenes, but otherwise settled off stage for a majority of the show.

However, as is clear by some of the marketing of this show, only one thing matters in this production; the music. This is represented in two parts, the first being Glen Close's practiced and perfected performance as Norma Desmond. She is as marvelous on stage as the hype around the show makes her out to be. Her scenes are a masterclass in acting and her voice soars along with the score. Having attended performance number 6 out of 8 for that week I was surprised to not detect any hint of exhaustion in her voice. It is true that Ms. Close embodies Norma Desmond but thankfully maintains her relevance and talent. She will not be tossed aside as her character has. The next focus of this production is the massive orchestra mentioned above. I can only assume with so many musicians on that stage - the largest on Broadway to my knowledge - I can only assume someone was trying to make up for all of the musicians that "In Transit" didn't hire. The music is simply beautiful; at most times rich and flowing, but also sometimes subtle and supportive to the action on stage. The problem comes when the only thing happening is the music. At times the direction by Lonny Price at times felt sparse as there were many moments with nothing happening on stage while the orchestra continues it's underscoring, including a very confusing and underwhelming attempt at putting a car chase on a unit set. It is obvious that the massive and repetitive score is a weight hanging on the neck of the production as it tries to drive the scenes forward. However, with such names involved, I can only imagine the battles that would break out if any mention of cutting that score came up. 

Technically the show was nothing to write home about. The unit set, comprised of staircases to nowhere in particular and platforms that acted as various locations, was lackluster. The set tried to replicate the look of an abandoned Hollywood studio while also being flexible enough to change to Norma's mansion, but failed to do either most of the time. The lighting design was nothing notable, utilizing projections of and old movie footage to set the time period, but it never really drove the plot or added anything of real value. I feel that I must give a shout-out to the props artisans, though. There were two props in particular that stuck out to me because they must have taken a massive amount of time and money to build, but got a few seconds of stage time. The first is a full-bodied life-like Chimpanzee; I'd like to imagine that instead of it being bought (because where would one buy such a thing) that it was molded and the hairs put in by hand. I thought it had to only be a bust with a fake body because it was covered by a sheet until an ensemble member grappled with the stiff corpse and lifted it, giving the audience a peek at the monkey's full moon. The second prop that caught my eye during it's 30 seconds on stage was the full and fully operational antique car that Max drives across the front of the stage with Norma and Joe in the back seat. This gorgeous automobile - a short, but important part of the narrative - must have been a huge burden on the budget to only be used once. Truly these are both purchases fit for the endless coffers of Norma Desmond (or Really Useful Group in reality). An honorable mention goes to the floating body that hangs, uncovered in front of the proscenium, for the entire show starting from the first scene. Even during intermission the dense black show curtain - without any logo or projection - is marred by the petrified body in a brown suit. From where I was sitting he could be seen the whole show and his feet even poked into a couple scenes.

Overall, if you are unfamiliar with "Sunset Boulevard" and want to add it to your collection of Playbills or are a fan of Glenn Close and/or Andrew Lloyd Webber's music go see this show, but I'd say sitting in the Mezzanine for $50 is perfectly fine. Thanks to the sound design and modern amplification you won't miss any of the music or dialogue and after all, that's why this production exists.