#So they do that and the first scene rnds

[glitterhoof]

anyways a doodle i drew of a scene me and my scene partner had written in two days

[just-another-wren]

my dreams recently have both ended in an awesome like. music video thing and I'm sad cause I can't figure out how to do them

[mammalsofaction]

HUMAN PERRY AU BACKSTORY

I've been having a lot of thoughts lately about Human Perry headcanons as I read a bunch of fic and rewatch phineas and ferb. You know you're hitting the nail on the head when scenes from a fic you might never write dog your every waking step and haunts your dreams so, I thought putting it on paper will help.

A lot of fics like to suggest that Perry's full name is Peregrine, which is understandable, but ever since I've rewatched 2D and found out their first name for him was actually Bartholomew my life was never the same. So Perry's actual name is Bartholomew. But nobody actually calls him that least of all himself.

FAMILY RELATIONS

-I really like winding headcanons that Perry is Ferb's biological mom's BROTHER, which honestly makes so much sense as to why both he and Ferb have green hair. Here are some add-ons that may get depressing;

Ferb's mom was Eve, or Evelyn. Her codename was E, for Echidna...because egg-laying mammals native to Australia. They were both orphans, and attached to the hip. They were each other's partner in crime.

-They were scouted for OWCA one day, bc the agency liked picking up kids with potential as young as possible. So Perry and Eve were trained for the agency since the start (which is why Perry is such a good agent at what seems to be a young age)

MY HEADCANONS FOR OWCA

-Owca is a largely independent authoritarian enterprise with branches all over the world. They aren't the only ones, obviously.

-OWCA also prefers training agents as early as they could. Sometimes that entails scouting talent. Sometimes that means taking in kids of employed agents. Either way, this means OWCA has elementary and high schools that are more akin to militant training camps. It's not cruel. The kids are well cared for and well fed, but OWCA prioritized competency, obedience and discipline.

On every level of OWCA recruitment, training and employment, there is a fedora, and band to mark whichever level you are on the totem pole.

1) Middle school kids are given a bandless fedora.

2) High school kids (soon to be graduates) are given a white band

3) Fresh graduates, training into full employment, are Yellow Bands. Here you start being assigned to full branches, and trained by field work professionals. Think OWCA Files.

4) It's fairly easy to graduate from Yellow Band into a Purple Band. Purple Bands are largely refereed to as Junior Agents, but that's not quite accurate. Purple Bands are the highest reporting authority in any division that ISN'T FIELD WORK. The OWCA Tech, Clerks, RnD and Science Divisions all have Purple Bands to signify they are fully employed, or Superior Officer. Pinky has a Purple Band.

5) It's VERY DIFFICULT to graduate from a Purple Band to a Black Band, not least because there IS NO PREDETERMINED TEST. Black Band agents are Superior Agents, only one level below Division General. There's no telling what could turn you from a Purple to a Black, because the agent has to prove unwavering obedience and faith to the agency in dire circumstances. It's saying "I am willing to do anything for the Greater Good."  Often it entails a death of some sort. OWCA often says Black is the band soaked in blood. Black Band agents have licenses to kill. It's why Black Band Agents are few and precious far in between.

6) After a black band, and you live long enough to retire, you can choose a bunch of things. Most agents choose to become Division Generals or Branch Managers: think Major Monogram. They're basically glorified "Guy in the Chair". Some agents choose to become educators, in which case they are given White Fedoras. White fedoras arent exclusive to black bands though; there are plenty purple band white fedoras. In fact most educators are purple band white fedoras.

-Perry's Black Band Event was Eve's death

-At the time of Eve's death, she had already been married to Lawrence. Ferb was barely a year old, maybe 10 months old?

-Lawrence was told it was a car accident: drunk driver. Truthfully it was a mission gone wrong, involving an underground child trafficking ring, and she stayed behind to give them all the chance to escape. She didn't have the chance to escape when security explosives around the building detonated, and she got caught in the crossfire. Perry had to leave her behind.

-This is why Perry refused to get a partner btw, aka his Lone Wolf tendencies come from.

-In the aftermath, OWCA agents approached the family to give them their condolences, and offer to take Ferb into the fold. For the first time since Eve's death, Perry practically lost it. He didn't hurt anyone, he's much too professional, but he knew Eve didn't want Ferb to get wrapped up in OWCA, and for good fucking reason. Due to their training, neither he nor Eve had much of a childhood, and he refused to subject Ferb to the same kind of life experience.

OWCA was NOT happy. Things were tetchy for a while, at least until Perry was approached by Major Monogram. Francis had a wife, and a son, and he understood where Perry was coming from. He suggested taking a permanent residence in Danville, which was his branch division. It was more stability than Perry ever had working in England, where he and Eve was originally stationed, and it was easy enough to come up with a work-related story to convince Lawrence, who was more than ready enough to leave the house where he and Eve originally lived.

-It was after moving did Lawrence meet and fall in love with Linda.

Edit; I've decided to change Ferb's bio mom's name bc I found something that fits better to me :) She's Eve now

End Backstory.

[consanguinitatum]

David Tennant's Obscure Performances: His Involvement with Read Not Dead (pt 1) - Edward III

A lot of you are aware that for the better part of a decade I've done research on David's early Scottish theatre work (80s/90s). I've found a ton of info and am in slooooow development on a podcast aimed at sharing my discoveries. But not ALL my research lands squarely in those years. I've learned about plenty of DT's theatre projects which fall outside of the years my podcast covers. So it occurred to me - since I'm not planning to do a podcast about those years, why not share some interesting tidbits? Let's dive in! By January of 1999, David was living in London and beginning a two month run at the Almeida's Albery Theatre as Pavel in Vassa (a comic portrait of a powerful iron-willed matriarch who sees her family destroyed by the very values that she seeks to preserve.) So he was busy, yes? Not busy enough, apparently, because he agreed to join thirteen other actors to do a one-off staged reading of a play often attributed to Shakespeare as a co-writer - called Edward III.

David in rehearsal as Pavel in Vassa: Scenes From Family Life, 1999

Edward III was part of a series of performances the Education Department of Shakespeare's Globe Theatre had been doing since the early 1990s called Read Not Dead (heretofore referred to as RND). Their website has this to say about their mission: "Read Not Dead is a multi-decade project run by Shakespeare’s Globe, one in which we plan to perform every single ‘unknown’ play that has survived in print, from the accession of Queen Elizabeth I in 1558, to the closing of the theatres in 1642. Some plays from history deserve to be read, not dead." (By the by, RND is still active today! I encourage you to read more about their mission and the plays they've performed by going to the Read Not Dead website.) Performing in an RND play was a unique challenge for an actor. RND performances were staged readings, so actors didn't do the traditional rehearsals. Instead, they received scripts only a few days ahead of the performance. The project's website explains it like so: "The rules of the project have always been simple, experimental, and completely unique. Whilst approaching one individual play, the group does so within one single day. In the morning, the company meets for the first time and throughout the day they work with a Director and experiment with props and costume. Often music is also composed within the short time-frame, too. By the afternoon, the play is put up on its feet and presented as a script-in-hand performance to a live audience." Additionally, most RND plays were performed on Sundays (traditionally the only day off for most performing actors in the theatre circuit, this made the full day's preparation possible.) These challenges almost certainly appealed to David for a number of reasons: 1) it was a one-off performance with a tight schedule, 2) we all know how he feels about Shakespeare, and 3) the Globe! When an opportunity came for him to play a role in or around that great structure, certainly one imagines he sprung at the chance! So on 21 February 1999, David played the role of Edward, Prince of Wales (aka the Black Prince) at the Globe Theatre Education Centre/Inigo Jones Theatre. The performance was on a Sunday - that day, the group met at 10a for a run-through, and at 3p they went onstage. It was directed by Clive Brill (who - fun fact - has since worked with David on many things, including the radio dramas The Order of Release, The Island, Murder in Samarkand, The Purple Land, and the two part Afternoon Play series Stevenson in Love). Now for a treat. Want to see a page from the programme? Ask, and ye shall receive! (Thanks and credit to the Shakespeare's Globe Archive for the digitized programme, which you can see in further detail here.)

This performance was recorded, and I've actually listened to it! (sadly, the audio is only of the first two acts - for some reason, Acts 3 and 4 are missing.) I found it quite well done, especially considering the short amount of time the company of actors had to rehearse. You can listen to the recording of the performance and others from the series, as the recordings are archived in the Globe Archive and Library in London. Access to the archive is available by appointment only for professionals and academics affiliated with institutions of higher education.

Now.....some astute DT fans might be aware that while Edward III was the first time DT worked with the RND project, it wouldn't be his last. Very true! He was to go on and work with the project three more times. We'll explore those in more detail in future posts.

[rndyounghowze]

Why I Can Only Write For Digital Theatre From Now On

By RnD

I remember when lockdown had just started. I, like many writers with a lot of free time on their hands, started writing a new play almost immediately. It was a small two-hander set in a world where a nuclear winter had fallen on the planet and the US was instantly plunged into an Arctic tundra. Our two heroes had to send videos back and forth because a rogue group of terrorists had started blowing up 5G towers and cutting communications between the two coasts. I was inspired by memories of when Dana and I spent three years in a long distance relationship and letters from the Civil War. However, after a month I threw it to the side and haven’t written anything new in a few years. Why is that? Well for one my made up hellscape was getting too real because of the current events of that time. Two, we started reviewing a lot of digital theatre.

As we started watching and reviewing shows and talking to the artists that had been making these first lockdown performances I put aside the plays I was writing and started taking notes. It was like a bell went off. I thought back on some of the past plays that I was so proud of. One play with two characters facing front speaking directly to the audience. Another with two characters that are completing a viral challenge while another is talking to their dead girlfriend. Both of those could have been actors speaking into Zoom windows and nothing would have changed. My graduate thesis was a beginning scene and an ending scene with middle scenes that could be told in any order that the audience wanted. That would be perfect for a website or a livestream! It seemed that I was writing digital theatre well before the pandemic hit without knowing it. All I needed to do was watch as many plays as possible. It took me all three years before I felt that it was time for me to start dusting off the work and writing again. It wasn’t just the shows though, it was another feature of Indie Digital Theatre that makes it perfect for me.

Indie Digital Theatre is one of the few places where I don’t have to fit into a “traditional” schema. I can walk into the digital space “identity first” and fill it with the intention to reach an audience that looks like me. I am a Genderfluid, Disabled, Mentally Ill, Sexual Assault and Trauma surviving artist that wants to write that identity into every one of my stories. The more I look at Non-Profit Theatres where the leadership and Board doesn’t look like me, or disabling buildings where my audience can’t get in, the more I want to write for in-person theatre’s “forgotten audience”. I want the audience that can’t sit still, talks back at the performers, or can’t afford tickets. I want all the people that in-person theatre calls a “problem”. These are the exact kind of audiences that digital theatre is poised to welcome with open arms.

I can’t go back to putting my shows into open submissions or blindly trusting a toxic system where I know that I can’t trust the system to reach those people I yearn for the most. Now before you start writing those angry comments I know that there are a ton of lovely in-person companies that are doing the good work and engaging new audiences. I also know that there are some companies putting out digital theatre that isn’t honoring our community. However, when you’ve seen even a glimpse of the promised land you can’t go back to the world that you just left. I want to hand pick the people I work with and know that they share the same vision that I do. That is one of the best features of the Indie Digital Theatre Scene that has warmed our hearts the most: so many small groups are popping up based on similar values and goals and are ready to make a radical change.

I don’t know how this conversation ends, in fact this is only the beginning. I want to create storytelling pieces for children. Digital Menus where audiences pick from many scenes just to create a unique timeline that never stays the same night after night. I want to create pieces that are never the same, have competing narratives, and let the audience have the power. I want to create things for children and their families. Frankly, I want to create plays that are bigger than a stage, bigger than just one building, or even bigger than just one region. I want to create work that looks a lot like what I have been seeing online. More importantly I want to build the kind of communities that I see online. Communities built out of identity, honesty, and equity.

[kotodama-clan]

• OOC Information •

We are a heavy-RP FC located on Mateus with an Eastern theme. However characters of all types are welcome. Foreigners even have the ability to undergo a ceremony, in time, to become regarded as blood family to the clan. This stems from the Clan’s history of accepting all into their ranks if proven worthy.

Our estate is located at Shirogane, Ward 14, Plot 7. The Carbuncle’s Cup cafe and bookshop is located in the Lavender Beds at Ward 4, Plot 4 and is open to the public on Thursdays at 7pm CST.

COMPANY LAYOUT

Daimyo: Dain Kotodama*

Kodenbushi (legendary samurai): Narisada Ikeda *

Generals: Tatsu Kotodama *, X’zhai Kotodama *

Head Diplomat: Vivisha Visha*

Head Tactical Officer: Enqu Gosaqu *

Head Medics: Mizuki Kotodama, Zen Ares

RnD Lead: S'ueli Val'streea *

Samurai Trainers: Dain Kotodama, Narisada Ikeda

Shinobi Trainer: Tadanori Toshimitsu *

Twelve-Road Enterprises Liaison: Eadwynn Cloude

(*denotes an officer)

OOC EXPECTATIONS

•    Respect first. We’re all here to have a fun time, let’s make sure everyone feels welcome.

•    Zero tolerance for bullying/harassment.

•    Remember the line between you and your character and try to mitigate emotional ‘bleed.’ This can lead to misunderstandings.

•    If you have a problem with another member, reach out and try to resolve it. Play nice. If this isn’t an option or one doesn’t feel comfortable, please contact leadership (pink and blue names in Discord) so we can help.

•    If you have ideas/suggestions, feel free to float ideas to the FC leadership.

•    Please remember to tag your alts in the FC short notes! Many of us have altisis and it helps everyone keep track of one another.

•    Most of FC leadership are day workers and only free in evenings, leading to most of our events occurring at that time. In the meantime not all social events have to be arranged by officership! Go out and have a party night, a study session, or even a PvE splurge. Invite everyone to have some crazy good times!

IC EXPECTATIONS

•    Respect first. We’re all here to have a fun time, let’s make sure everyone feels welcome. (Hey look, this is repeated twice, I wonder why!)

•    Remember the line between you and your character and try to mitigate emotional ‘bleed.’ This can lead to misunderstandings. (Oh look, another repeat!)

•    If there is an RP going on in an open space, be courteous enough to poke in a /tell or FC chat if it’s okay for others to enter. It may may seem finicky, but another presence could interrupt a specific scene.

•    Not all characters are goody goody two-shoes and this is completely expected. However it’s a courtesy to check in with your partner if there’s any worry about character bleed affecting someone outside the scene

•    We are a lore-adherent FC. Though there are parts of canon lore that leave vagueness and are open to interpretation, please be welcome to feedback.

•    For anything involving healing, make sure coordination is done ahead of time between healer and patient. Some instances are life-changing arc for a character, let’s help folks make it go as planned.

•    If you’re struggling to involve your character or have ideas for a personal arc, ask about to see who may be interested! If you wish for an officer to oversee events, we would love to assist where we can.

EVENTS AND NOTICES

All events will be listed a week in advance in the #ooc_schedule page in the FC Discord. Updates and notices will be in the #ooc_notices channel.

Server events that we host will be in the #event-planning, if you’re interested in lending a hand.

TL:DR: If you have questions/comments/suggestions, always feel free to bring them up. If something’s broke, we can’t fix it if we don’t know.

Event Types:

MSQ: Our main story arc for the FC. This usually takes place over a few month’s time and consists of both combat and non-combat events.

Contracts: Posted on our Contract Board in Discord, these are open to any and everyone to post for any type of event. Usually these are limited to a certain number of people so a DM isn’t overwhelmed.

Server Events: This can include the Carbuncle’s Cup or any other holiday-themed things we do to promote the FC. 

DISCIPLINE AND/OR REMOVAL FROM THE FC

•    The FC operates on a ‘three strike’ policy except in extreme cases. You will get two warnings from an officer. A third strike constitutes the leadership convening to decide if it is time for a removal from the FC.

•    Instant removal issues include harassment, unwanted advances IC or OoC, poaching attempts, or pressing for unwanted ERP/undesirable RP despite being told ‘no.’

•    Issues that may cause officer intervention include misbehavior at public RP events (you represent the FC), uncorrectable attitudes that extend beyond your character (aka being difficult just to be difficult), and talk of sensitive issues in a public forum whether it’s FC chat or Discord. These are just a few historical items and don’t encompass every scenario.

•    The examples above are not intended to be an exhaustive list and we reserve the right to add rules as necessary and as benefits the FC as a whole.

As I’ve stated before. We are here to have fun. Let’s treat each other with respect. If there are issues please bring them up. Officers are in regular contact with one another and we can choose how to help if it’s wanted. If there is a private issue you wish to keep with one of us, that can be done as well. This should be a fun safe place for all folks.

On that note…we are NOT an 18+ FC which means there is the possibility of minors within our Discord and FC. Keep that in mind. For those that enjoy ERP, you take it on at your own risk but ERP will not be tolerated in public FC spaces such as the estate, FC grounds, and the bookshop. Your private room is acceptable. 

[aurmgoldau]

Non-Story Post - A  Bigger Project?

It started with a question to @ookaminoki in one of our chat: “Do you want to try making a visual novel? It’s simpler than most games and you might find it interesting.” (I can’t recall exactly what was my reasoning back then, but it was something about “trying” and “interesting” and--of course--her artworks are gorgeous, which some kind of “requirement” for visual novel.)

She vaguely said “yes” back then and since I couldn’t immediately come up with the deal (she works with illustration commission, not game assets which has different detail), I told her to choose what kind of story she wanted for the visual novel.

And her answer was:

“Do you think we can use the kids’ team as the VN story?”

It really got me.

I didn’t tell her that I would work on it immediately, but some of you probably already know that “some ideas bug me so much, I’ll end up scribbling and making something out of it”. (That’s the brief history of how this blog came alive.)

I worked on the story outline and before I knew it, I already opened Notepad++ after created a new project in renPy.

It started back in October 2016 and we agreed to announce this project today.

Maybe this is the craziest thing we ever pull in our life. But let’s jump in and see where things going, shall we?

Because I heard that’s how RWBY was started. By doing it, with or without approval and see where things going.

So, eh, an overview about the project.

STORY

The story takes place after Mei’s comeback to Beacon, after the incident with Cinder Fall. When team AURM is in mission, the team leader of one of the teams they work together goes berserk and attacks his own teammates. Team AURM manages to incapacitate him.

The accident brings concern to the school authorities and, suspecting substance abuse in school grounds, the academy order a check-up for all students. Ulm’s result comes up as positive even though he insists that he never takes any unknown drugs.

Finding this as strange, Mei takes her own initiative to look up information regarding the “Golden Apple”, the doping believed to strengthen its user Aura and Semblance capability. Her search lead the whole team AURM to the shadiest part of Vale, the grim truth of Schnee Dust Company RnD division, and both old friend and enemy of team RWBY.

CHALLENGE

As everyone in the RWBY fandom know, RWBY series is very well known for its action-packed scenes. The development team behind RWBY Grimm Eclipse--IMHO--successfully bring this aspect to the game.

And how should we preserve it in visual novel form? Can we?

Well, I said to myself, MAYBE we can.

My plan so far is to adopt the QTE from Wolf Among Us to a certain extent whenever battle scene ensues.

I’m going to be honest here and say that I’m not entirely satisfied with the canon story so far. :( I have my own idea of what could be interesting and I’ll try to bring it in the VN, which is another challenge for me because neither ookaminoki nor me are native English speaker ...

Although I won’t make it full-text like Lifeline, I plan to adopt how important choices are from Lifeline series.

(Btw, please keep the expectation in moderation and don’t hope a game in a scale as big as Danganronpa ... :’v I almost broke down in tears when I watched Danganronpa trailer because it’s really polished)

HOW FAR HAVE YOU BEEN PROGRESSING?

Writing: currently part 5 of 8-9 parts (approx. 40,000 of 80,000 words)

Character Sprites: on going, 0/4 (tentative; 1 character has about 3-7 expression)

Background: ???/??? (currently using placeholder images)

SFX: ???/??? (currently using common creative SFX asset)

BGM: ???/???

Some Screenshots (up to approx/ 1 hour before I posted this):

VERY EARLY DEMO OF THE VN

You can download it here. (Windows, Mac, and Linux; if I’m not mistaken)

Please don’t panic if there’s error; it’s not your fault! And it’s only part 1 for this very early demo.

How Are You Going to Work On This?

Plenty of iterations. Since the visual novel is separated into several parts, we iterate our writing/editing, drawing, polishing and testing one part at one time. After we’re somewhat satisfied with the result, we move to the next part.

Many references and discussions. Both of us had taken our first step into the “uncharted land of visual novel making” and--well--we discuss many things and look up references to make sure of how things worked.

A lot of past midnight work. Because we both work. :))

RELEASE PLAN

Platform: Windows (maybe Mac and Linux too)

Date: mid-June 2017 (just hope I didn’t overestimate my own skill when picked this date)

Price: Are you crazy? This is a fanproject, which everyone told me it’s illegal. :)) Selling it probably will make me ended up in jail without warning. Welp. $0 aka FREE

Distribution: Tumblr and itch.io.

END OF POST

WAIT! DOES IT MEAN THE STORY POSTED IN THIS BLOG WILL BE HALTED TO UNKNOWN TIME?

... I’m so gonna be hated if I do that, right?

There will be story updates, but they’re mostly one-shots. You can also suggest/request story ideas. If it’s passable, I’ll do it. :P (We DO have Ask box, guys! :)) )

Alright, then. Thank you for bearing with my long post. :D

[wendytenkate-blog]

The benefits entailed in a membership at a student association

In 2016, student associations were repeatedly mentioned negatively in the news. In particular, the reputation of G.S.C. Vindicat, full the Groninger Studenten Corps Vindicat atque Polit, was harmed. At the beginning of the current academic year a news item was published about the so-called ‘banga list’. Due to these kinds of messages student associations have been given a bad image. But what exactly are the benefits of membership? Through this blog I would like to tell you something about the student life and all the benefits that it entails.

Student associations in a bad light A news-site in Groningen, called Sikkom, received an anonymous message containing a strange file with concerning content about 22 female members of G.S.C. Vindicat. The file, intended to spread among the male members of the association, consisted of photographs, phone numbers and student houses of the female members. All the girls were given a ranking from one to four stars. The list, which resembled a notorious ‘banga list’ was spread by strangers on the Internet.

The University of Groningen (RUG), Hanze University Groningen and student association Vindicat wrote in a message on their website that they distance themselves from the recent events at the student union. Internal measures were taken and the creators of the list were suspended.

However, it did not stop there. There was a lot of commotion in media and the student associations had their compatriots angered. Heated discussions on the Internet, on television and within the student life itself followed. In less than a month a second incident took place at Vindicat which was not very fortunate for them. An apprentice member of G.S.C. Vindicat had been addressed so roughly during the hazing that he was hospitalized with head injuries. There are similar reports about hazing in Amsterdam, by the Amsterdamsch Studenten Corps (ASC).

Source: https://www.powned.tv/media/1180/teranbulan_gr.jpg?anchor=center&mode=crop&quality=80&width=1024&height=576&rnd=131068450440000000 Much incomprehension The Dutch population turned against student life and many people did not understand why one would want to be a member of a student association. Many people got a negative image of the associations. Hazing was not / is not humane. Why would you want to throw your life away with a membership? In popular view, there are only disadvantages.

I understand their thoughts. Negative news spreads quickly and a negative image or negative reputation is the result. I don’t agree at all with what happened during the hazing, but there certainly is another side to the story. The image the media creates of the student life is negative and the positive side of this life is not named in the articles.

Source: http://www.hpdetijd.nl/wp-content/uploads/2015/04/ANP-22966787.jpg

My experience with student life I am going to take you on a journey through my experiences as a student. Through this blog, I would like to point out all the benefits that are entailed in a membership. The student life consists of more than drinking beer in the clubhouse in the hours that you don’t study. Not everything is about the hazing and tasks for freshman students. You learn a lot within the four walls of a clubhouse. You make new social contacts with whom you will enjoy the rest of your life and norms and values are important. The benefits of student life and student associations should be mentioned more.

When I was 17 years old, I made the first contact with student life. While I was doing intermediate vocational education, my friends from high school started their studies at colleges or universities. Because of this I was regularly found in the infamous student cities of the Netherlands. I went to parties, took my first steps in student houses and became acquainted with all the odd manners of student culture. I thought it was all really weird, but I think this was mainly because I was not part of it at that time. I liked to have a beer with them or to go to a party in the clubhouse, but to be a member of an association? No, that was not for me. No way.

Source: https://images.nrc.nl/OIxhq1Tr3W36msU6-DaujMpBtjc=/1280x/s3/static.nrc.nl/spoetnik/files/2014/07/minerva.jpg Exploring the student life during the orientation week Eventually, a few years later, I went to study in Leiden. I was really looking forward to start at the University of Applied Science and was actually truly curious about student life. I assumed that it was not for me. But when the summer approached I became more curious. Leiden, a real student city. Should I be a member of a student association? What are the activities for students in Leiden anyway? And are the associations also approachable for students from the University of Applied Science? There was only one way to find out. I had to experience the orientation week for new students in Leiden, the EL CID. A week in which you get to know the city and the college or university but where you also become acquainted with student life and all the associations that Leiden has to offer. As I travelled to Leiden, my only thoughts were that students were strange. And how did they all manage to study and be a member of a student association? I was dying to find out.

I've had a great week and I fell in love with the city and student life. How could people not love this life? Such nice people, amazing parties and activities for all kinds of people with different personalities. Students associations, sports clubs and even a club where they play board games.

I didn’t become a member of a student association that week. At that moment I thought I couldn’t combine a busy membership with my study. However, I have signed up to be a member of a student orchestra called S.M.G. Sempre Crescendo, the oldest subdivision of L.S.V. Minerva, full the Leidse Studenten Vereniging 'Minerva'. An orchestra where the members rehearse with a beer next to their music stand and the weekly get-togethers last until the early morning hours. There are unwritten rules, the so-called ‘mores’. You quickly manage to remember those during your membership. At the beginning, I thought all the rules were quite crazy, but as we speak I am completely entangled in the strange subculture.

I still enjoy the rehearsals every week with great pleasure, also the subsequent get-together. I’m even often found at the clubhouse on other days during the week as well and I’ve joined several committees. I have also lived in a student house, with roommates who are members at the other major student associations of Leiden, which makes me visit the other student associations regularly. There are a lot of things outsiders don’t know about the student life and that’s why I also think that the positive side of a membership needs to be highlighted.

The wrong impression Not only the previously mentioned news reports have drawn a false picture of what happens in the lives of students. Also in the television series ‘Feuten’ is greatly exaggerated. Many students were not pleased with the production of the series produced by the youth broadcasting BNN. The scene from the film ‘Soldaat van Oranje’ is also cited during a discussion.

All very entertaining, but the 'regular Dutchman' now thinks we're a bunch of disordered people without decency and respect for each other during hazing and other activities with freshman students. We students are more than that. The positive side of student life should be highlighted more and this blog will hopefully give more information about what is really going on in the life of an active member of a student association and what benefits the membership entails.

Source: http://www.flameshots.nl/wp-content/uploads/2015/01/Feuten-2_Martijn-Lakemeijer.jpg

The benefits of a membership at a student association Being a member of a student association involves more than living in a student house, drinking lots and lots of beers and wearing a nice suit or dress during daily activities. There are many benefits to mention.

First of all, it’s much fun to join an association. You should be able to relax when you’re not studying and the associations provide that opportunity. Convivial evenings at the club, many activities and trips in which you can participate and there are almost always events to go to. Your social life unfolds in full speed!

You get to know new people very quickly and your network will be expanded significantly in a short time. Increasing your network can be very beneficial for the rest of your life - and it also brings you lifelong friendships. Especially if you are new to a city, it is not only nice to make friends quickly or even find a room with the help of your connections but also after finishing your study a large network is convenient. For example in finding a job.

During a job interview, your membership can also work to your advantage. More and more companies are looking at how much experience you have gained during your studies with extracurricular activities instead of only looking at your study program. The fact that you can combine your study with a membership and extracurricular activities says a lot about your personality and motivation. According to research by TNS NIPO on behalf of the Volkskrant, over two thirds of the most influential people in the Netherlands have been members of a student association.

Secondly, you can develop tremendously. You can join committees within the association and, for example, organize parties, manage the bar, write for the almanac or even provide some more politically oriented activities. If you are really ambitious, then perhaps a place within the board could be something for you. You can develop skills that you would not normally think of, you expand knowledge and gain new experiences which helps you to unfold and enriches your career.

Several studies show that members of student associations or students who have lived in student houses often achieve better academic results than non-members. The people around them will always stimulate them to study properly. The students study together, they encourage each others and good results will be rewarded at the student associations, for example by offering you to join committees.

It is also remarkable that many associations engage in a collaboration with the municipality. For instance, A.L.S.V. Quintus from Leiden organizes an annual event called ‘The Museum Night’ and is engaged in developing a plan to solve the bicycle and litter problem which the city is facing at the moment. There is regular consultation between associations and municipalities in all major student cities and this brings advantages to both parties.

What is also important to point out, is that not all members are preppy and typical frats. There are lots of student associations in the Netherlands, in all kinds of forms, which you can join. In Leiden alone there are more than 20 different associations. Take a look at the associations which you are interested in and don’t be afraid of hazing or tough first year. Remember that you are not alone. Lots of new students are all sitting in the same boat. Hold on a bit longer. It's all worth it. The benefits are for the rest of your life. All benefits I’ve just mentioned. Keep that in mind.

Basically, when you join a student association, your student life will be an experience you will never forget, accompanied with a lot of benefits in the future. 

Your college years are the best time of your life. It is therefore important that you fully enjoy it. Be aware of all the parodies that have been made about the student life and just laugh at it. When you’re a member of a student association, you know better. It is quite okay to laugh, which I would certainly recommend. Therefore, I will conclude this blog with two humorous videos about the student life, played by the men of Jiskefet, a humoristic and foolish television series from The Netherlands.

I hope the image of student associations is more positive thanks to this short blog and that the benefits which a membership entails now are clear. I’m a proud member and I have the most amazing time living in my student house. I wouldn't miss this for all the gold in the world!

[miruna-craciunbcu]

Stop Motion

WHAT IS STOP MOTION?

Stop motion is a type of animation where an object/person is moved a small fraction between photograped frames in order to create the illusion of movement. Clay figures are often used in stop motion due to their easy way of moving and positioning. Motion animation using clay is called clay animation or clay-mation.

HISTORY

Stop motion animation has been around almost as long as traditional film-making. Back in the day, this idea of making inanimate objects move was something new and exciting for movie producers, taking advantage of this technique in order to make amazing movies or clips. Yet, not only inanimate objects were used, but also people, puppets,clay figures and paper figures !

STOP MOTION NOWADAYS

The process of making the famous movie ‘Coraline’ (2009) began in the year 2000, being one of the most complex and beautiful stop motion movies ever made so far, reason why it is also called ‘The biggest smallest movie ever made’. Here are some interesting facts:

everything was made by hand ;

for the forest of cherry blossoms, the producers used popcorn ;

998 dogs were used to make the movie theatre scene, which was 28 seconds long ;

a drawer FULL of faces just to make a one-dialogue scene ;

5 miles of gold thread for a 5 inch wig ;

3500 flowers that light up ;

some more BTS for Coraline ;

BTS #2 .

WHY ?

Yet, having so much technology around us nowadays, some may wonder why people are still choosing to do clay-mation movies when 3D animation exists? There are 2 proper answers for this: 

1. Some directors, just feel more comfortable with stop motion. Mostly, it's because that's what they studied or how they made their first film. Some directors have worked as animators, maybe in stop-motion or 2D — a great example for stop motion is Tim Burton.

Other times, it's a strategic decision. A lot of film critics, consumers, festivals etc love stop motion and consider it the purest form of animation. So making a stop motion might get you more exposure and maybe more awards then 2D or 3D.

One thing is for sure: regardless of the style (stop motion / 2D / 3D) the team is always very passionate about what they are making and the craftsmanship — you have to be, otherwise you will never finish the film. So if you see a film that is stop motion or 2D or 3D, for sure the director, producer, animators, everyone decided “this is the best art-form to tell this story” — passion is what makes a great films (not money).

2. There are a lot of animators that have never made the transition from 2D or Stop Motion to 3D — for various reasons. Given how expensive 3D animations have become (over 50 million per film), a good producer might be able to make a higher quality film for less using stop motion.Leaving salary aside, just consider the cost of materials and tools. For digital animation: 200+ computers (workstations), plus the render farm, plus software licences, plus servers, production apps, internal pipeline etc. so even before you add the salary you already have a huge expense for each person on the team, sometime higher then the salary of a mid level animator — in fact, more then 1/3 of the team is going to be doing what is nothing more then technical support (riggers, physics and cloth TD, pipeline, scripting and RnD, rendering, shader development). With stop motion, what you pay is what you get.You might say: stop motion helps “feed a lot of starving artist” — both financially and artistically.

HOW TO DO CLAYMATION

In order to experiment with claymation and make some short videos, I started researching the process on YouTube in order to see what equipment should I use, what materials and what technique. Here are some simple tutorials I could find about this made by Howcast (click on titles):

Claymation Basics 

How to Create a Clay Character

How to Make a Wire Puppet 

How to Create Clay Scenery 

How to Animate Water 

How to Animate a Clay Face 

Puppet Animation Basics 

More tutorials here .

SOFTWARE & APPS

iStopMotion and Dragon Frame for PC ;

PicPac, Stop Motion Studio and iMotion for phone .

PIXILATION 

pixilation - a technique used in film whereby the movements of real people are filmed or edited in such a way that they appear to move like artificial animations .

[2dudesgethitched]

"Ducks, Bears & The Autumn Chicken: An Imbrogio Clots."

(This is a letter by our good friend’s father Tee. It vividly conveys living with Cancer and the love of a family. It serves as a reminder of the frailty of life, the beauty of love and that good ribs are hard to find. Hold your dear ones close, time’s slipping from us all.)

Good Afternoon, all, It’s been a bumpy road since the last Update.  I think we left off after chemo #4, and to begin with, it was a tougher week than normal directly after a chemo, so instead of going home on next Oncologist update Wednesday I went to ER, what I now call Wicked Wednesday, probably one of the worst days in this whole ordeal, but more on the prior week first before moving on to Wicked Wednesday.  Despite it being a bad week directly after a chemo, there were some nice moments sprinkled hither and yon.  One was a bowl of big gorgeous strawberries.  I decided to have one, anticipating it would be a disappointment with my present weird taste buds in full monte, so to speak, but instead they were divine, but I only ate one.  When I think of strawberries, I think of my visits this time of year to my lady friend in Laguna.  She goes to a local farm that grows organic fruits and vegetables.  And, during strawberry season there are racks and racks of fresh, plump, bright red, juicy, sweet strawberries.  We bring back several little baskets and gorge ourselves on strawberries galore.  Am I exaggerating, Christyne? But back to Calabasas, where Eric, who’s never made a bad meal, that I’m aware of, suddenly, his food isn’t working for me, I’ve discovered that I like bland food, and bland is not one of Eric’s fortes.  Like here at the hospital which normally gives me no pleasure had mashed potatoes today, Hallelujah, lots of nutrients and calories, and devoid of anything the least bit exotic, plus, I have no fears mashed potatoes will not be able to slither past my golf ball, or maybe it’s a ping pong ball now, we’ll know next Wednesday how I’m reacting to the treatments.  Anyway, one meal stands out from that first week, Eric made a Japanese breakfast: Rice, Seaweed, Ginger, and two eggs over easy.  It was quite tasty, but not too tasty to disrupt my full monte taste buds.  But, besides my thoughts on food, I decided I needed to soak in the jacuzzi.  It was very pleasant while I was soaking in there, all alone, letting the jets push me around at their whim, willy nilly, to and fro, I was in paradise for awhile, but by the time I got back to the apartment, my energy had failed me big time, I was barely able to up the stairs, take off my trunks, and drop my wet towel on the hall floor leading to my (and Fox’s) bedroom, I was just totally zonked, I climbed in my bed and slept for the rest of the evening.   That was Monday, and then Tuesday I felt worse, then on Wicked Wednesday I was totally out of it, as much as I remember I was refusing food and water and other good stuff.  All I wanted to do was sleep.  So, Sylvie and Eric decided to take me to West Hills ER, where this crazy year began with the first staph infection.  But, this time it was a bit of a mystery.  it began horrific and ended not so bad, much better than the other way around.  I was in a bit of a haze, nurses and doctors, and Sylvie and Eric swirling around me and faint voices which seemed serious, most of which I didn’t hear well enough to determine the drift in conversation.  One of the first tests they did was a chest x-ray, and soon after that Sylvie was at my side sobbing globs of unhappy tears.  My recollection is that they had discovered in the chest x-ray that I had a punctured esophagus, which would have been horrific at this time in my treatment, heck, at any time.  We had a half hour it must have been between this moment and the results from a Cat-scan that they decided to do, to see if the chest x-ray lied like you know who, or was as trustworthy as our mothers.  During that time Sylvie was desperately reaching out on her trusty cell phone, to here phalanx of cancer experts and had discovered that Dr. Chao at City of Hope was the very best esophagus surgeon far and wide.   When the results came back they’d determined it was fake news, no perforated esophagus, but I had some major infection going on somewhere, and some of the possibilities seemed just as bad as a perforated esophagus.  So, the night wore on, they had me on three different antibiotics, plus a catheter to measure urine flow, with the thought I might have bladder cancer.  They wanted to take me upstairs to the hospital, but we had to wait for a room.  Sylvie and Eric waited until they got me one, around 2am.  Once they got me out of that hard flat gurney, and into a soft form fitting bed, I hit the pillow and was out for the night. After a solid night of sleep, I was a Spring Chicken the next morning, well, maybe an Autumn Chicken, still not up to snuff, but a whole lot better.  I cold sit up, walk and talk.  When the doctor came in I knew my name, birthday, and what the day’s date was.  Plus, I inadvertently transmitted an important piece of information that the doctors hadn’t know the night before, which was that I was getting that miraculous shot that boosted my white blood count.  That is why the doctors thought I had some voracious infection, but it was just my super duper expensive shot.  So, if the ironious high white count was not a high infection, what was it?  I had a bit of nausea, some acid reflux, a drippy nose, a hacking cough and even a return of my childhood asthma.  But, the basic problem seemed to be that I was dehydrated.  So, I asked some nurses, visited the web, and determined I needed from six to eight cups (8 oz) of fluids per day.  Sylvie has set that at two of my big 24 oz water bottles, one 12 oz Gatorade, and two Ensure’s, the latter being mostly for nutrients and calories.  So, finally on Friday the hospital ejected me, no rejected me, hold on let me take a deep breath and gather my thoughts, I’m not the young buck I used to be, if I ever was … they discharged me.  The nurses were gorgeous, prettier than any group of nurses I think I’ve ever had, and extremely nice, supportive, knowledgeable, and efficient.  I hated leaving those wonderful nurses, hovering over me every now and then.  And the Ultrasound was great too, no longer is it done with ice cold goo, but at last they use warm goo, what nice new pleasure.  Anyway, they finally discharged me, I was surprised that I’d arrived in my pajamas and house slippers, but that’s all they had, so it must have been.  It was late by the time we got home, but it was nice to get some cannabis and my trusty C-Pap machine.  I slept like bear deep down in a winter snow bank. I started writing this on the day after Wicked Wednesday, and it’s now back to Wonderful Wednesday, our folo up meeting with Dr Shankar, and chemo #5, or as they call it End Chem rnd #1.  But, Sunday, just a day after my discharge I was back at our old friends in ER.  This time I was in excruciating pain in my urethra and bladder.  It began innocently enough at about 3am Sunday morning.  Suddenly I couldn’t pee, I had the urge, but nothing arrived on the scene.  So, I just kept pouring down the water.  But by 7am, I realized that the more I drank the more my bladder filled up, and the more painful it all became.  By the afternoon on Sunday, Eric and Sylvie were getting stressed out that I wasn’t drinking or eating, and was having a cycle of pain periods that became more frequent and agonizing.  So, back to ER.  The doctor had told Sylvie that there was probably something obstructing my bladder entrance to the urethra.  So, we toyed with the possibilities, the most likely being some problem with the gallbladder, which could be a major problem in our progress.   The first thing I did when we got there was request a pain pill, which Sylvie reminded me was the first time in all this imbroglio over the last year-plus.  But, the pain was getting worse and I was getting less motivated to bear with it.  The did some other things first, which seemed machiavellian at the time, but there was a good reason.  The last thing they did was shove another catheter down my gullet, I mean my urethra, and about half way down, suddenly, I mean instantaneously the pain evaporated, no that’s too slow, it vanished, like a magicians coin, in his hand one minutes, and then wham, it was no where to be seen.  That’s how the pain disappeared, like magic.  Turns out there was a blood clot no bigger than a grain of quinoa couldn’t make it through the uretra, so it just sat there, not letting anything else get through, then suddenly this catheter emerges with a bright shiny face and an opening larger than the urethra, it pushes the blood clot aside, and before it can even reach it’s final destination, the clot has floated down the wide open spaces of the uretra into a tube that then receives the stored up fluid in the bladder.  The nurse showed us the clot floating along the tube, happy as a clam.  And, I had just got the closest thing to my first medical instant cure. So, the Cancer Adventure continues, with chemo #4 being by far the worst two weeks in this adventure, sorta like plowing through the tangle jungle vines and overgrown greenery, then coming to an opening that looked out on a white sandy beach and an expanse of crystal clear blue/green water, and a sky to match.  I suppose I should tell you my thoghts of pain in my past before getting to the good stuff.  When I was a pre-teen a neighbor kid dropped a chisel on one of my toes.  That hurt, it hurt a lot, although it passed once my mom sopped up the blood on the driveway and wrapped my toe and some soothing ointment in gauze, but I still have a toenail that is split in two.  But, the other one that I thought of happened in Dallas, where a small crew, of which I was the cameraman, was wrapping up after a long day shooting a factory operation of a client of John Theile, the producer/director.  No, I didn’t get gobbled up by a piece machinery, but later as we packed up, and ready to getting in the car to a Texas bbq.   John was going to be sitting in the passage seat, and I was to be sitting behind him, as a true gentleman he held my door open for me, but with sluggish movements by both of us, he slammed the door closed before I was able to remove my fingers from the door jam, I too being sluggish to see it coming and pull away my hand sooner.  But, the door closed first, slamming mainly on my big middle finger, and it hurt so bad I couldn’t utter a sound, I was in shock I guess.  When the sound man saw what had happened he yelled at John to open the door back up.  When we were finally able to confiscate my fingers from the door jam, my middle finger had taken up the form of the door jam.  It looked awful, but no bones seemed to be broken, no blood had emerged, and I was no longer feeling any of that agonizing pain, just a kinda pulsating ache and a tender bunch of fingers. We had a very tasty Texas bbq, pork ribs as I recall, at the time thinking they were the best pork ribs I’d ever had.  But that was years before I tasted Eric’s out of this world pork ribs, the megastar of pork ribs.  But, in Texas I think it came with bbq’d corn, chunky corn bread, and watermelon.  It was good, I slept well, and by the next morning my finger looked like a normal finger and the pain was almost negligible, reddy for our second day of shooting. Anyway, to get back to Sunday evening returning from ER, Eric had marinated and barbecued a duck, with a barbequed melange of bok choy, oyster and enoki mushrooms, and baby corn, and a glaze Eric made from the duck liquid, orange juice, and other flavors, heated and stirred patiently into a thick sauce poured over the duck and rice.  So, Sunday evening was the beginning of a couple of great days.  I’ve had more energy, and I stay up longer, and my appetite seems to be somewhat restored as well.  And Eric made a luscious duck soup with remaining duck carcass, and several exotic kinds of mushrooms and other veggies.  I had it Tuesday morning for the first time topped with a couple of soft boiled eggs.  It looked and tasted beautiful.  So, Monday and Tuesday were pretty darn good, napped a bit, but also worked a bit on my computer.  Tuesday evening we went into the local urgent care to remove catheter number two.  But, that night I was able to tinkle at all.  I was afraid I had another blood clot mucking up the works. So, now it’s Wednesday, time for our consultation with Dr. Shankar, back from a relaxing Baltic voyage.  He was a bit concerned about all my ancillary problems, some might be side effects, some may not.  But he wanted to get to the bottom of it before we preceded with the chemo, which may not start until tomorrow now, maybe later.  Also, the Cat scan they did in West Hills was not the Cat scan he ordered, so we have no news about how I’ve reacted to the chemo.  Soooooooooo, I’m back in the hospital, St. Jo’s this time.  They’ll be doing a new Cat scan, and several other tests, the most serious is an MRI to see what, if anything, is going on with my spine, which could be a major problem, or nothing.  Oh, and I got a third catheter in less than a week.  Ow.   I guess that’s enough for now. Oh wait, we had an early lunch at my favorite ramen restaurant, while we waited to get a bed at St. Jo’s.  I made my own, pork broth with fresh ginger, butter, poached egg, seaweed, and chicken wonton. IBut, now, ’m having my Cat scan shortly, so I think I’ll just lay back and relax.  I have three images today.  One is what I looked like when Sylvie said I looked like Nick Nolte after a drunken barroom brawl, then another equally unflattering image of me In West Hills hospital after Wicked Wednesday, and last is Eric’s bbq’d duck with barbecued veggies, boy, that was good.  Well, my hospital lunch just arrived, just the opposite of Eric’s cooking,  tah tah, tee tee

[rndyounghowze]

Hard Reset: What's Changing For RnD?

We were able to take what we learned from the last 200 reviews into a plan for the future. #digitaltheatre #rndyounghowze

By RnD

Mckee City, New Jersey

As you may have noticed our blog went on a one-month hiatus. Why was that? We may not have been doing a lot of work that you could see but behind the scenes there has been a whole lot of hustling. We took the month to scour a year’s worth of data, lessons, and audience input to see where the blog needs to go from here. We have revamped everything from how we do reviews, how we make money, how we help our readers, and what plans we make for the future. It all starts with how we do reviews.

First things first we are spreading reviews all over our platforms! Looking over all our data we’ve found that readers responded well to mini-reviews on Instagram. We’ll still have reviews and critiques on our blog too. Lastly we hope to resume our monthly “Reviews and Drinks'' series and other video reviews once we have secured more funding. Right now we’ve pulled everything back because it's not financially feasible to do as many reviews as we used to.

As much as we love doing what we do without some funding it's going to become impossible to do things the way we want to. That's why we’ll be reaching out to sponsors, talking more about our Patreon page, and other great services we want to bring to our readers. We’ll be talking about our business plan, our sales goals, and our plans for the future and we want your input. Our readers are the center of our business so we want to make sure you folx are along for the ride.

We are accepting review requests! If you need a primer on how to get reviewed go here.

If you don't follow us on Instagram go to IG: @rndyounghowze and see what's going on

[rndyounghowze]

Hollywood Fringe: Proper Use Of Fourth

By RnD

#disclaimer This is part 4 of a #sponsored collab between RnD and Theatre Asylum. We have been compensated for space and promotion on the blog. Everything we say about a show is our own opinion and Theatre Asylum does not know what we’ll write in advance.

Spaces Between Us + Satori

Despite being visually interesting we found it very hard to find something to latch onto. It is very hard to watch performers at the height of their abilities giving it their all and still feel that disconnect. We believe that if there was a better delineation of ideas and themes we would have been able to follow along more closely. The premise of this piece deserves to have much more support to become a fully formed piece.

Check Them Out Here

Queer: Drag, Drugs, And A Tick Tock Clock

This show had one of the better camera setups we’ve seen. The next thing we would ask Jair Bula to do is to play to the cameras more. We applaud the clear and impactful direction by Juliette Jeffers. This was a show with a clear arc and a dramatic texture. Now we would ask for more energy and vigor from Bula so that his delivery can break through the camera and bowl us over at home. It was very hard to connect to his technically sound performance,

Check Them Out Here

Gold Baby

The biggest thing that we would ask of them is to speak up so that the camera can hear them more properly. This is one of the larger cast comedy troupes we have ever seen. That’s why it is surprising that such a big troupe didn’t seem to fill the whole stage. Also, each cast member didn’t get their moment to stand out so we could tell one from another. People think comedy troupes are about players coming together but it’s also about giving individuals time to shine. We didn’t see any of that here.

Check Them Out Here

Egg

For the most part, we were surprised by the humor and dance numbers. When you see dozens of solo performances in a year it’s very hard to be surprised. Elaborate costumes and an impactful sound design delivered a wonderful show. It was fun, well done, and we’d love to see something from this performer again.

Check Them Out Here

Lies, Anger, and Forgiveness

She owned the stage and we were drawn into her story. Hearing how her smoking was sort of a metaphor for dealing with family and other broken relationships was a more personal way of talking about addiction. The biggest downside of listening to her story was that we couldn’t tell which was based on real-life and which were fantasy. There’s one part where we reference her father dying and then she’s calling him in the next scene. For a great story, it’s a bit confusing that we couldn’t keep the threads straight. Other than that it was a very well-done performance.

Check Them Out Here

No Matter Watt

The first thing that we would say is FEWER SONGS! All of the songs blended to the point that none of the songs “popped” for us. Choreography by Soda Persi saved the blending by making sure there was visual interest onstage. We can’t tell when or where we are and we have no clue if that is even important. We could have seen much less onstage and had a more effective show.

Check Them Out Here

[rndyounghowze]

Hollywood Fringe: The Second Batch

#disclaimer This is part 2 of a #sponsored collab between RnD and Theatre Asylum. We have been compensated for space and promotion on the blog. Everything we say about a show is our own opinion and Theatre Asylum does not know what we’ll write in advance.

Easter Bunny

We are really big fans of solo horror but this didn’t feel like it. There is a style of solo performance that is the redemption or cautionary tale arch. Someone who was terrible served their time and is redeeming themselves through art. However since this rapist ONLY talked about stalking and rape something felt off. Little did we know that this was because the production team was trying to do a very progressive horror but we mistook it by a lot and thought this guy really did time. No elements of horror (suspense, changes in tempo, jump scares) were present. In a future performance we would love to see these elements added in so we don’t make this mistake.

Check Them Out Here

Definition Association

My biggest complaint is that this script marched out the tired dichotomy of the ghetto and the uppity middle-class people. I am tired of the trope of the nerdy black man acting “corny”. As much as that dichotomy bothers us, Ma’at showed us some threads that they had more in common than not. The main thing is that I wish that we could feel the tension between these two couples. This play seems to have a lot of nuggets of awesomeness in it from intersex identity to hazing in fraternities to sexual assault. However something must have gone horribly wrong in the version that we saw. It was so hard to hear that we each had to take turns holding the phone up to our ear. The best play in the world is going to have an uphill battle in a hybrid performance if the online audience can’t latch onto it.

Check them out here.

A Love Song

One thing that this show did perfectly was define the digital space. We know where the prisoners are in their cells and in their minds based on design conventions the directors established in the first ten minutes. Answering these questions and making these concrete definitions (and never breaking them) is how one creates a performance that is unassailable. We especially have to give a shout-out to the extremely poetic language. This play talked about sex, sexuality, and imprisonment in a way that was beautiful.

Check Them Out Here.

Pink Star

Pink Star was queer and sparkly and amazing and we loved every minute of it! We’re starting to think that Brazilian theatrical comedy is designed to overload the senses. It gives us too much to look at, too many characters, too much story. This show is almost designed to overload you. I have to shout out the overly elaborate costumes and make up designs. The plot took a backseat to the visual delight of this saccharine sweet sparkle overdose as if to distract you from the disgusting reality of the story.

Check Them Out Here

Toshanisha: The New Normals

This show proves that digital theatre is poised to help the Global Majority invade the Western Theatre world. What resonates so much in this show is music and language. Then almost immediately there are touching stories and gripping images. Then almost immediately there are sketches and comedic scenes. Then almost immediately there is a ritual memorializing the toll this pandemic has taken. Theatre is supposed to look and sound like the region it comes from. It shames the idea of an industry standard “American Theatre”.

Check Them Out Here

[rndyounghowze]

“Needs” Challenges The Idea That Ability And Artistry Are The Same

This @pghfringe offering is an honest and generous look into performance and disability.

By RnD Young-Howze

Pittsburgh Fringe

Review 233

I have been disabled most of my life. I don’t think I know a world outside of disability. Since high school forward the whole world told me that my disability (Tourette's Syndrome) was going to keep me from being an artist. Throughout college I ran from it and ignored my body and the warning signs that there might also be something worse going on in my life. When I was diagnosed with dystonia I had a real moment where I thought, “this is it, this is the end of my career before it even started.” This is why we need more artists like Tom and Amanda in our lives. In their performance art film “Needs'' they explore the unique collaboration that they have to have even getting Amanda to the toilet.

I know this story that Amanda and Tom are telling. When I was younger I knew it from taking care of my Mom with MS and my Grandfather with Parkinson’s. I also know it a tiny bit on the other side of the relationship from having Dystonia and Tourettes. I have had the experience of lifting someone off the floor and also the experience of being the one on the floor. This is the air I breathe and that’s why it makes me so happy that they took this very honest and generous look into Amanda’s life. This is something that we need in the world for a myriad of reasons.

We definitely wanted more Amanda! We felt that she could have carried more of the show solo if she wanted. Tom was a very generous scene partner but we want to know what Amanda would have created without anyone else involved (I guess you still need a camera person but you get the idea). At first we thought this was Tom telling his story and that Amanda was just a supporting role. However when Amanda started talking on her own it just clicked with us.

Sometimes artists with disabilities have a tendency to just disappear. The theatre world that worships ability and “triple threat” culture doesn’t provide many opportunities for these wonderful creators with limitations to interface with it. The saddest thing is that Amanda has to be vocal not just for herself but for others. The absolute horrible realization is that she would be just another artist with a disability that can’t seem to get traction if she didn’t create these things for herself. There is this almost unconscious need to keep artists with disabilities out of sight lest we remind the “normal” arts world of something it doesn’t want to realize. We have to do things to stay visible and remind them that we exist and that we are capable and compelling artists.

This documentary makes Amanda visible. This is her reclaiming space in the theatre. This is her flexing her creative muscles as an artist and speaking her truth. This documentary is her putting herself out there for all the world to see. I’m glad that Amanda did this. I don’t know if we would have heard this story any other way. So the fact that she said “this is my story and I’m going to tell it” was a huge statement. I can’t wait to hear more statements from her in the future.

Check Them Out Here

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Susan Cinoman’s “Period Piece” Draws First Blood With 36 Storytellers and 12 Performers

@periodpieceplay Gave us a wide range of stories on a topic that is usually just seen as “lady problems” @susancinoman @kcdirector

By Dana and Ricky Young-Howze

Los Angeles, California

Venmo: @rndyounghowze

Review 224

We were prepared to let this night of short plays about periods pass us by. Period Piece conceived by Susan Cinoman was a hot commodity with a rolling list of performers every night that spanned the space of three weekends. Try as we might we couldn’t get permission to the first or the third nights. Then we got an invite from Kristina Wong, one of the performers in the show, who came through for us right at the buzzer. While we didn’t get to see all three weeks we came in with certain expectations. None of those expectations came out with us after the show. This team of theatre artists led by Director Karen Carpenter went on to wow us in every single way. Let’s start from the beginning...

Better Than Elephant Dung

By: Jacquelyn Reingold

Reingold set the tone by having a super tampon to start the night. Geneva Carr is someone who has been on our radar for a bit and the way she made the character both relatable and funny was a real feat. It makes me laugh even now to think that the one thing that The Man of Steel can’t handle is the thought of period blood. It served to highlight the frailty of toxic masculinity in a fun way.

Cramps Services

By: Maria Elena Rodriguez

This was the first time we saw Kristina Wong acting in a show that wasn’t hers and it was so fun! It showed the kind of range and comedic talent that makes her one of our favorites. The play highlights the fierce dedication and technical knowledge needed to supply every person that menstruates with the products they need to just get by. This is usually a world that is invisible to the cis males of this planet. I love the way they lifted the veil. Using the backdrop of buying for craft services was genius. The hierarchy of chips to pads is something I wasn’t ready for.

Prayers To Menstruatia

By Destry Spielberg

One can often define their period by things that they can’t do. Can’t wear what you want, can’t go out where you want, the pain! It was really great to find a writer that was willing to put these things in the context of a new found freedom. Finally able to go out during the pandemic then hit by the period gods. However if feeling powerful and beautiful is embraced nothing can stop you. Destry explores the things that have been gained at the end of the pandemic and it is more than water weight.

Waiting on Womanhood

By: Ngozi Anyanwu

I really resonated with this one. Bleeding must mean death. If it doesn’t you must at least be punished in some way by the patriarchal system. The part I really resonate with is that being a woman means being watched with all these eyes on you. Candace Boahene gave us a remarkable performance that packed a lot of heart into a very small space. Ngozi created a scene that gave us the perspective of another culture in the capsule of a young student wondering about the future. Growing up could prevent her from doing and being all this young girl could be. It was important to put in to context periods globally.

Day 22

By Rhiana Yazzie

Kimberly Guerrero is very funny yet very frank in this piece. Not many people see their period as their friend. For some people it may be their oldest friend. No matter what you think you definitely do notice when it’s missing. Thanks to Yazzie for shining a light on how hyper aware people who menstruate are about any and all things period.

Way More Scary

By: Nicole Lynn Evans

Add this to one of the subjects that we didn’t think were going to be covered during the evening. Ricky’s mom is in a chair and was raised to be very proactive and proud about periods. This was very familiar and very cathartic and honest. Nicole Lynn Evans spared nothing from her straight and to the point take on the issue. When we talk equality and rights our disabled people often get left behind. Periods add another layer to that. We need to be open and honest about periods and disability to make change.

Zooey Deschanel Wants To Save The Cows, And I Want To Know Why My Abdomen Hurts

By: Jaimie Jarrett

We loved seeing a trans period moment. Jaimie Jarrett was killing us with lines like “trans is just a fun way to misspell trauma”. As two beings that fall under the trans umbrella we really appreciated it. In fact we were really expecting a lot of “bleeding equals female” in the night. I’m so happy that this show went out there and got the perspective of all people who menstruate and talked about the PTSD and the physical and mental toll dealing with this can have on them, on us.

Glorify! (the messy parts)

By: Christina Anderson

Sometimes plays need to bring up chicken dung to get their story across. Adriane Lenox took us wonderfully from rescuing a wedding dress from period blood (that’s a horror story and a half) to bringing us a charming story about throwing crap. We love seeing Black female professionals onstage and we are so grateful to have seen her.

A Really Good Lubricant

By Lally Katz

Now all of us know that sex and periods are fabled far and wide to be mutually exclusive. Others think you have to make a mess to make it any fun. Carissa Kosta sold this monologue of a woman walking that knife edge of not wanting to disappoint a potential lover but also really wanting him to leave. The part that gave Ricky chills up their spine was Kosta saying “thank God” at the end. The last thirty seconds of the play told the entire story. It was really one of the strongest of the night.

Flash Of An Eye

By Elaine Romero

Ricky has known some gymnasts and thinks that they are the most serious athletes alive. Carmen Carrera struck all of the notes you get from a gymnastics coach: dead serious, brutally honest, but also supportive. Romero painted us a great picture of a world that showed us the dark side of what most people call a dainty world. Stuff like using Tampons to keep uniforms clean, describing the massive changes going on in young athlete’s bodies, and even addressing the superstitions of their parents show that this is a different and crazy world than what we see on ESPN.

Interview With A Punk Goddess

(A fable 4 bloody sisters everywhere)

By Caridad Svich

I had no idea what a punk goddess is before but now I’m wondering where I can sign up. Caridad Svich made being a bloody beautiful monster seem so cool! Lauren Patten nailed the piece. You have a woman in a job interview which should be one of the worst places to get a period. Instead she flips the script and becomes a powerful being who tells people what she wants and that they’re going to give it. Amazing writing.

All The Shades Of Red: 13, 35, 45, 46

By Sarah Ruhl

We can’t even begin to tell you anything about miscarriages. We don’t even have the vocabulary and the language to talk about it. Sarah Ruhl pulled back the curtain on this dark and intimate world. Jessica Hecht was the perfect person to act as our handhold through the different moments of a life and how periods fell into it. Sarah Ruhl showed how our lives can be marked by these weird red milestones, the toll they can take on us, and how we look on the other side.

It’s a shame that we still need to have a feminist equality conversation around how humans bleed. That fact that this is a touchy subject for some, intimately personal for others, and a thing to be reviled by the patriarchy in the twenty-first century is atrocious. We’re so glad that these artists came together as one to address all the different intricacies around this issue. Every piece of this night was unique and different. In our experience it has been rare where we see a showcase with each piece centered around a theme and it does not hit the same monotone note every time. I was expecting a lot of “I am bleeding hear me roar” but it wasn’t that. In fact it hit a lot of different notes. We were so afraid that it would not encompass the whole spectrum of people who menstruate and it did. We were so shocked and relieved. Here’s to a show about periods and blood exceeding our expectations.

Check the Project Out For Yourself Here

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Sons of Liberty by Cris Eli Blak Brings Elegance To Devastation

No seriously where in the world has this guy been all of our lives!?! @BlackTheatre_CU

By Ricky and Dana Young-Howze

CU Black Theatre Ensemble

Venmo: @rndyounghowze

Review 195

I grew up in a military town in Tennessee and saw first hand what the war in Afghanistan and Iraq did to soldiers and their families. I also saw thousands of people displaced by Hurricane Katrina pour into my town and heard their stories of losing everything. I was in high school at the time and fancied myself a playwright. I think that I tried at least three times before I graduated to put pen to paper and write about the devastation that both war and nature had done to these people. I quickly gave it up. My heart was in the right place but I just didn’t have what it took at that time. Then Cris Eli Blak sent us one of his plays “Sons of Liberty”. As I was writing notes the first thing that I could think of was “I was there”. I saw this first hand and he’s describing it as if he was right there next to me. It’s a thought that has stuck with me and might stay a while.

The writing in Sons of Liberty is very good and the dialogue is on point. It flows very well and each character has their unique way of speaking. I did notice that Blak relies heavily on the audience finding out about a character by telling us about them through other characters. I was missing those moments where a character tells us what they’re about by how they do things. We don’t always learn by how people describe themselves. The best characters are revealed through what they do.

The plot unfolds smoothly but it is a little wooden sometimes. Everything moves so slowly and has plenty of activity but little action. In a play, everything a character does should advance the plot with action. A decision is an action, a nod is an action, even just words are action. A few scenes had characters talking and doing things but nothing was revealed or unfolded at all. Whenever something did happen it was like a breath of fresh air.

Why does it seem that I am so harsh to Blak’s work? I’m shoving with love because he is so damn good. The flow of dialogue that seemed so natural to him would have tripped so many up. The family tumult that is coming to a head in the storm? That is a poetic juxtaposition of two kinds of heartbreak. With a more polished, shorter, version of this play, I would tell him to submit to the Kennedy Center or SETC. I have colleagues who have won both and I know that the heart of this dramatist’s text is already there. He just needs to show us as much story in action as he does in dialogue.

I want Blak to keep sending us plays from now until eternity. I feel like this artist is one to watch. He has all of the spirit that I want to see in a young playwright and I wish we had a million more just like him. Please follow the link to see this show. And then go find him on Instagram and Facebook to see what he’s up to next. I would want to see where he is in ten years.

Check the Show Out For Yourself Here

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