#only musical i know of that involved zorbs

[sanstropfremir]

not kpop but you said you’ve done work in theater/musical theater right? what are some of your favorite shows?

my undergrad degree is in production design, i don't just work in theatre i went to theatre SCHOOL lmao. i did musical theatre for all four years of high school too. my fave musicals are hadestown, chess, phantom, and i looooove the original version of cats. i'm also kinda partial to the lord of the rings musical. and i know it's a mess but you can pry love never dies out of my cold dead hands that show is GORGEOUS. oh and roméo et juilette: de la haine à l'amour. favourite shakespeares are mackers, the tempest, and twelfth night. i've unsurprisingly seen (and read) a lot of plays; a small selection of the ones that were very formative for me are sarah ruhl's eurydice (saw a production that singlehandedly convinced me to go to theatre school), tennessee williams' cat on a hot tin roof (i love this play so fucking much, i did it for my third year directing class), and tom stoppard's arcadia + rosencrantz and guildenstern are dead (read both of these in high school lit class). there's a ton of really small scale stuff that's been very influential on me also, but i won't get into that bc it will either doxx me instantly or no one will know what i'm talking about.

[popmusic101]

Flashback: Live While We’re Young - One Direction

9th October 2017

Well, well, well, turns out Post Malone did manage to hold onto the #1 spot. Just as I predicted (please don’t go back and read my definitely ‘correct’ prediction, just take my word for it). Nice. Good on him - I’m still digging the song and I guess this means other people are too.

So this of course means we’ll FLASH!! BACK!! five years to 2012 - when the #1 song in the country was... yup - those One Direction boys...

I knew this day would come. The day when I would be forced to find words to write about 1D. Nah, that’s not even true. I’ve been looking forward to it. Even though I couldn’t care less about their music, I still find them kinda fascinating as a phenomenon. I haven’t been following too closely recently though. Are they even still a band or did they fall apart after Zayn up and quit? I know they’re all doing solo stuff now and I was actually wondering which former One Directioner would be the first to get a #1 song since I’ve started doing this. As usual I’m too lazy to actually do any research to check if any of them have already achieved this feat. Maybe Zayn if I had to guess? I feel like Harry miiight have got close, but not #1, and frankly I can’t see any of the other three even getting close. *sigh* FINE - I’ll do a cursory check of Wikipedia since I’m sure you’re all dying to know.

Okay: answers. They’re currently on hiatus. Zayn has officially ‘Bye Felicia’d’. Zayn got #1 with ‘Pillow Talk’ back in February. The others have all had singles within the top twenty. That’s surprising that they’ve all done so well, but don’t underestimate 1D fans I guess.

So... One Direction. What is there to say? I’m definitely not their target audience and I don’t have any particularly strong feelings about them (apart from thinking that Louis looks kinda creepy). Despite not paying them much attention I still somehow seem to have learned all their names through osmosis or something though, and I could probably sing along to at least the choruses of one or two of their songs if I heard them on the radio. Yet if you asked me right this second to name one of their songs I don’t know that I could. I feel like previous boy bands from the 90s at least had one or two memorable songs that are strongly associated with the band. Backstreet Boys had ‘Backstreet’s Back’; NSYNC had ‘Bye Bye Bye’; Westlife had ‘Flying Without Wings’; Blue had ‘All Rise’; and Five had... well... they had that “Five will make you get down” song (okay, so I guess I didn’t fully remember that one). But with 1D I really can’t think of a single one of their songs off the top of my head. To be fair though that my be a result of growing up in the 90s when those bands would have made the strongest impression on me (and I should add that if, like me, you were a 90s child and want to relive some gloriously cheesy 90s music videos you should definitely click each and every one of the above links). I’m sure kids today could probably name One Direction songs even if I can’t - I’m just not convinced that they will have left much of a mark on music when we look back in say, twenty years time. What will be the One Direction song that’s best-remembered then? Then again, having said that, who even remembered Five before now? Probably not even the members of Five.

Who?

Anyway: onto the song that I don’t remember anything about.

So, yeah. I don’t even remember any of the lyrics to this - I guess this one passed me by. But basically (for those of you playing at home), the 1D boys have gone camping in some sort of giant luxury tent and now they want to “go crazy, crazy, crazy til [they] see the sun” - said ‘craziness’ includes doing things like swinging on a rope swing (woah! crazy!); four wheel driving (are they insane?!); and zorbing (I can’t even handle the crazy levels right now!).

To be entirely honest, the only crazy thing about all of this is that the sun is out while they are ostensibly doing all these crazy things... I’m not sure if they just can’t see it or whether they’re so focused on being ‘crazy, crazy, crazy’ that they missed it, but it’s definitely out and shining, and so could they just stop please.

Do you think any of them look back on this and feel embarrassed now that they’re five years older and trying to be present a more adult vibe with their solo songs? I sure as hell did some embarrassing things when I was a teenager, but luckily for me no one filmed it and put it on YouTube. Then again, I also didn’t earn millions of dollars as a teen, so jokes on me I guess.

I mean, that’s embarrassing, right? For everyone involved - including the viewer. Or is it just me?

Well, my impression is that the only (and I mean only) reason that this went to #1 is because of who sings it. It’s an entirely forgettable, derivative song, but boy bands always do big business and so... there you have it.

I’m certain this won’t be the last time I cover One Direction on this blog and truthfully I’m genuinely interested to see how their careers progress as they attempt to make it as solo artists. It’ll be especially interesting to see what happens with each of them in another couple of years time, particularly because in the past typically only one previous boy band member makes it big as a solo artist (J.T. and Robbie Williams probably being the most noticeable examples). But, as of now at least, all five 1D boys have done relatively well with their solo work. It’s still early days though and I’ll be curious to see whether that fanbase continues supporting all of them or whether in ten years time we can only remember one of their names.

I for one (direction! har har... geddit?) would be delighted if Harry grows up to be a modern-day Mick Jagger though!

[dominichiranijournalism]

Peas & Glove: The Power of a United Community

Peas & Glove demonstrates how a community came together after a tragic car accident, to turn a negative situation into something positive, with islanders contributing in any way they could to aid Olly’s recovery.  

On the night of the 5th October 2014, Oliver (Olly) Newman pulled out of La Braye carpark in St Ouens (Jersey) and collided with an uninsured driver who was speeding at 84mph, leaving him as a tetraplegic, meaning he suffered a total loss of use of all four limbs and torso. The nature and seriousness of his injuries left him minimally conscious for many months as he was treated at Jersey’s General Hospital.

I had spent a mere two weeks at university in Manchester when it occurred. The heartbreaking news of his accident spread around the Island rapidly and within hours of it happening, my friend’s informed me of that night’s events. When someone explains a scenario like this over the phone, you can not possibly understand the magnitude of how critically damaging the crash had been. It was only in December when I visited him for the first time in hospital that I was able to comprehend the grim reality that Olly’s life may never be the same again.

“In the early days following Olly sustaining such horrific injuries, we were told to prepare for the worst.  I was asked to sign ‘Do Not Resuscitate’ orders and organ donations.  It was pretty dark.  Olly’s suggested recovery was minimal.”

The above account from Paul Newman (Olly’s father) puts into perspective the severity of the accident, upon recalling this time, he further expressed his views by putting a positive spin on the matter in his following remark. “However, and albeit two and a half years later, Olly is starting to communicate with us demonstrating his cognitive and decision making abilities. One of my close relatives recently visited a medium. When asked about him, she said that Olly’s day to die was 6th October 2014. But he didn’t, and there is a reason for that. We don’t know what that is yet but we will at some point in the future and all will become clear.”

When Olly was finally able to travel, he was transferred to a specialist neuro-rehabilitation centre in Surrey called QEF (Queen Elizabeth Foundation) where he now resides. In the wake of the accident, the Peas & Glove organisation was set up in order to raise money for Olly’s rehabilitation. It provided support to all involved as we could collectively focus on its progress which would directly benefit our friend in need.

Fourteen years ago, I had my first encounter with Olly when we were placed together in Jersey Surf School for a week. During the first day, we were sat, a bunch of kids together on the beach wall at St.Ouens enjoying our lunch, until we were rudely interrupted by a passing bee which decided to pester us all sending us into a panic. As we franticly ran around trying to avoid the said bee, Olly picked up a large rock and swung at the bee trying to save us from our terror. When it finally landed, Olly pounced and successfully squashed it leaving us all in fits of laughter. This was the very start of what can only be described as the amazing friendship we share.

In the early stages, Peas & Glove was mainly co-ordinated by Brontey Luxo-Piazza who has worked with many of Olly’s closest friends to establish the charity. She was able to provide her own interpretation of what the organisation encompasses, which is highlighted in the following statement.

“To me, Peas and Glove represents the essence of Olly and is a colourful reminder to us all to look after others and to live each day to the full. ”

Following the creation of Peas & Glove in February 2015, three events have been hosted at ‘The Watersplash’ in St Ouens Bay, one of Olly’s regular hangouts, where he was known and adored by a multitude of people. The first event we orchestrated really put into perspective the vast amount of people who had been moved by Olly’s unfortunate circumstances. A record breaking turnout saw an estimated 2,000 attendees pay tribute to him. The successes of our first event were evident, we were able to provide the community with an entertaining day out for all the family, whilst raising over £22,000 in the process. Despite the lengthy organising procedure, the creativity amongst the Peas & Glove team allowed the event to run smoothly. Activities ranged from live music, graffiti artists, motorcycle stunts, fire performers, face painting, zorb bubble football, a surfboard paddle and much more. This is what defines the organisation as something that is truly unique to Jersey, the event symbolises Olly’s spirit itself. Even the smallest details such as the visual display of colour provided through the sales of Peas & Glove tie dye t-shirts and the smiles of the attendees provided us with great satisfaction. Personally, I have been able to honour Olly by documenting the events on film, therefore the attached videos display each step of our journey.

The charity was originally named after one of his favourite motto’s, his own comedic take on the ‘peace and love’ phrase. However, the event itself was named ‘Permanent Ollyday’, this was formed through his admiration for the musician, Mike Love, who wrote a song called ‘Permanent Holiday’. We managed to get in touch with Mike who was touring Hawaii at the time. We retold Olly’s story to him, he was greatly moved by the work we had been doing. Consequently, he took time out of his busy lifestyle to deliver this personal heartfelt message in honour of Olly.

One of the fundamental reasons that Peas & Glove was regarded as such a success was due to Olly’s character. Brontey explains this perfectly, “After Olly’s accident it was obvious to see that many people had been affected by his accident. From musicians to beach goers, skaters, surfers, school and family friends, it is clear to see that Olly has made a massive impression on the people he has met on his journey and he continues to be loved by so many.”

Throughout the duration of my time spent with the beach community, fancy dress has always been something that was close to our hearts, throwing many parties in all kinds of wacky themes over the years. Hence, when it came to our second event on New Year's Eve (Junglebells), we decided to make it jungle themed due to the fact we had booked jungle legends, ‘Serial Killaz’ to headline the music line up for the event. The inventiveness and co-operation of the team was commendable. Our friends at Blip Productions took the lead on decorating our venue, they provided us with professional standard lighting, creating an atmosphere that surpassed what we had envisioned. The feedback from our clubbers appreciably remarked how amazing the decor that we put together had been, transforming Jersey’s musical playground into our very own jungle. ‘The Watersplash’ team have always supported our cause and provide us with friendly staff that enable the events to run smoothly, this was another sell-out event, meaning donations skyrocketed once again.

By the time our third event rolled around, we were close to £80,000 in donations. A large proportion of this was acquired through appearances at various Island events where we had been allocated stalls to sell our Peas & Glove merchandise. We had now become a recognised charity within the local community, our team was continually growing, finding new and exciting ways to raise money. Subsequent to the earthquake in Nepal, an islander named Sheri Burt set up a scheme in order to help the victims by dancing for 100 days, our team at Peas & Glove joined her on the 42nd day of her project. This demonstrates the strong connection between charities in our community and how awareness can be raised for more than one cause mutually. We also collaborated with ‘Groove De Lecq’ festival, whose proceeds were directed to charities such as ‘Autism Jersey’, ‘Headway Jersey’ and the ‘British Heart Foundation’.

Last summer’s event was actually split into two days, firstly we hosted a club event featuring the popular Drum and Bass artists, ’Pendulum’. The following weekend we held the main Peas & Glove event which mirrored the previous year but on a bigger scale. We especially focused on demonstrating the vast array of local talent that Jersey has to offer. The centre of the promenade was occupied by an outdoor stage and to either side of this were skateboarders and trials bikers, showing off their skills whilst live music blared through the speakers. Throughout the day people flocked in numbers to enjoy yet another incredible day, it’s success drove us over the £100,000 mark, an amount that nobody involved could have ever envisaged.

The outreach that has been achieved not only within our community, but around the world continues to astonish all of us. Islanders who have made a conscious effort to spread Olly’s story have allowed our organisation to grow in places we could never have imagined. Even the smallest contributions such as wearing our t-shirts create further awareness. Personally, a highlight of our journey would have to be when Sparkz from Manchester’s Mouse Outfit and Levelz represented by wearing a Peas & Glove hoody in two different music videos. These videos have acquired hundreds of thousands of views on various social media platforms.

At this point in time, we are able to facilitate specialist treatment that would not have been available to Olly beforehand. He now benefits from the support of a cranio-oesteopath who visits him weekly, this has provided detailed insight into his condition and the improvements he continues to make. With the new advances in technology the money raised has been used to purchase state of the art ‘Eye Gaze’ equipment which will hopefully enable Olly to communicate and control his environment. Recently we have upgraded to a bespoke powered wheelchair which will play a vital role in terms of his mobility. Controls on the chair will eventually help Olly to stand in an upright position independently.

“QEF is a truly wonderful and amazing place for Olly. It provides the best, professional neuro-rehabilitation care that Olly needs 24 hours a day, that Jersey simply cant offer.”

The above statement is from Matt Daly, a close friend of Olly’s who we considered an inspiration to all of us at Peas & Glove. Before Olly’s accident, the pair could regularly be seen spending time together jamming on their guitars whilst Olly beatboxed and sung to the tunes. He recounted Olly as being “a genuine, loving, caring young lad, who would do anything to cheer someone up when they were having a bad day. He could always succeeded in putting a smile on their faces”. We have always had a very close knit group of friends who would spend countless hours enjoying each others company and laughing till the sun went down over the beach. Olly acted as a brother to all who knew him. Matt constantly demonstrates the significance of what that bond means to us through the actions he has taken since the accident. He frequently visits Olly, living in the guest cottage of QEF and devotes months of his time assisting the staff to aid in his friend’s recovery. His experience of the staff at QEF highlights their focus on what Olly can achieve, rather than what can not be achieved. He witnesses the various activities they engage in with Olly, learning how they can specifically improve his condition. With this information he is then able to report any progress back to the group at home.

QEF offers a diverse range of one-to-one support programmes tailored to help improve cognition, communication, physical, social and functional abilities; and vocational skills. Their specialist services are delivered by a highly experienced interdisciplinary team of healthcare professionals. The team is composed of a consultant in rehabilitation medicine, specialist nurses, neurotherapists: physiotherapists, speech and language therapists, occupational therapists, neuropsychologists, a vocational support team, and Art and Music tutors.

Peas and Glove collected an official accolade for our achievements towards the end of last year. Brontey won the ‘Angel of Jersey’ award after being nominated by Caroline Evans (Olly’s mother) for her continued support to the family. She described this as being “a real honour to be recognised and something I cannot wait to share with Olly in the future.” Alongside the award, she was granted with £1,000 which was spent on travel arrangements for a group of Olly’s closest friends to visit him. Everyone who attended spent an afternoon with him at Brighton’s Sealife centre, followed by a music session at QEF the next day. As Christmas was just around the corner, everyone was thrilled to have the opportunity to celebrate with Olly whilst allowing him to be near the pleasant beach environment. The award not only marks yet another milestone in our journey, but also displays the kind sentiment of Brontey and all those who continue to contribute to Peas and Glove at every given opportunity. Without the support of the community, we could never have come this far, therefore it seems fitting to finish with Paul’s summary of our journey.

“Peas & Glove has further introduced me to who Olly was, the life he led away from his family and the love he had for those who he spent time with. Through my involvement in Peas & Glove I have gained access to people I would have never met. I have made new friendships and acquaintances with people I would otherwise never have crossed paths with. I have learned even more about his character and attitude and actually, it made me even more proud of him than I was already - and that was always high anyway.”