Don’t suck. Come to the Ren Faire.

So Chicago Pride is Sunday, June 28th, beginning at 12 noon at the intersection of Halstead and Belmont (I vaguely remember it having begun there when I last went. Sarah might know.). Anyways. It's fun. I'm trying for a war-party of Therese, Danny and I. I may be able to get Kelley.

We watched Phantom last night. I forgot that the director was on such coke, and that sometimes, Webber should not be allowed to write lyrics. I maintain he occasionally pulls it off with panache, but man, sometimes he brings the pain. Good composer. Cats still killed something inside me. The mouse of my soul, mebee. Why is the guy playing Phantom so aggressively mediocre? Passionate howling- ANGRY mediocre! And I cannot look at Roual (sp?) without being like "Joe Pitt, stop singing! Your Tonys are elsewhere!"

Today, we're watching A Short Film About John Bolton. I've heard so so so much buzz, and am squeeing that Rentertainment had it. They had Word Wars too! I'm so making people watch this with me, I swear, it's better even than Spellbound.

I'm nearing the 400 pg mark on American Gods. Sometimes Laura sounds a leetle bit like Harper, just a teensy teensy bit, and something in Wednesday's discussion about America being the only country that doesn't know what it is reminded me of Louis' monologue at Belize (choice of words there intentional and correct).

Got told by Colin that it was moronic to always insist on reading the play/book before seeing it performed/watching the movie. He made some okay points, but I'm still reading Taming of the Shrew first, because from everything I've heard I think I'll really like it. I'll try his method for something less potentially important.

I named my D&D character in the game Ben begged to play Veare Sprockets! She is a G-nome. Watchout!

Stardust staging was... interesting. I heard a reviewer who really doesn't like Gaimen as a writer describe stardust as ponderously self-aware post-modern naïveté. It worked for me as a novel, but the people in charge of the production decided to go with an embrace of the naïveté. So that was, in my opinion, the wrong choice, but I was willing to go with it, even though it reduced the play to Typical Fantasy. For having made that decision, it was executed pretty well. The High Witch of the Lillum was SEXCELLENT. The girl playing Star was good, the boy playing Tristan was good as well.

They left in one of my favorite lines, "The squirrel has not yet found the acorn that will grow into the oak from which the branch will be hewn to make the cradle of the babe that will grow to slay me." They dropped another favorite, "Had you kept her chained there is no power on earth that could have made me help you. Had Pan himself commanded it, I would not have helped you." I'm paraphrasing there, but something close to that. They significantly messed with the Tree's part overall, in fact, I didn't really like it. The last of my favorite lines, "Wither thou goest," delivered by the star as Tristan drags her to the wall, was delivered somewhat comically, a little flat and harried. I was surprised and disappointed. That line is brimming with her resignation to her love for him, her knowledge that she's about to die. It was treated like "Fuck, I have to run to the gas station for milk? Oh well."

A lot of stuff was played for laughs that shouldn't have been. The ghosts of Tristan's family, for example, were cool in their motion, but more comic relief than necessary. I think they would have been funnier played straight. Lady Una was... I'm ambivalent about her, actually. Ending was rough, but I can't think of a much better one. Well, actually, if they'd used a narrator, or left Star alone on the stage to recount what finally happens, that would have been good, but it would have belonged to another production, one much more serious that didn't abandon the 'self-aware ponderousness' in favor of the fantasy. A good fantasy can be dark, though, and what is the cynicism of the book but the darkness of good fantasy?

When it was good, it was really very good. When it was bad it was foppish.

Some of the audience members made me miss ren-faires. I am going to one this year, I’ve firmly decided. Which and when is up in the air. Anyone have a good one near them? Anyone want to come with? Bonus points if you’ve never been to one before. I so totally have a spare costume you could borrow. C’mon. Don’t suck. Come to the Ren Faire.

Don’t suck. Come to the Ren Faire.

So Chicago Pride is Sunday, June 28th, beginning at 12 noon at the intersection of Halstead and Belmont (I vaguely remember it having begun there when I last went. Sarah might know.). Anyways. It's fun. I'm trying for a war-party of Therese, Danny and I. I may be able to get Kelley.

We watched Phantom last night. I forgot that the director was on such coke, and that sometimes, Webber should not be allowed to write lyrics. I maintain he occasionally pulls it off with panache, but man, sometimes he brings the pain. Good composer. Cats still killed something inside me. The mouse of my soul, mebee. Why is the guy playing Phantom so aggressively mediocre? Passionate howling- ANGRY mediocre! And I cannot look at Roual (sp?) without being like "Joe Pitt, stop singing! Your Tonys are elsewhere!"

Today, we're watching A Short Film About John Bolton. I've heard so so so much buzz, and am squeeing that Rentertainment had it. They had Word Wars too! I'm so making people watch this with me, I swear, it's better even than Spellbound.

I'm nearing the 400 pg mark on American Gods. Sometimes Laura sounds a leetle bit like Harper, just a teensy teensy bit, and something in Wednesday's discussion about America being the only country that doesn't know what it is reminded me of Louis' monologue at Belize (choice of words there intentional and correct).

Got told by Colin that it was moronic to always insist on reading the play/book before seeing it performed/watching the movie. He made some okay points, but I'm still reading Taming of the Shrew first, because from everything I've heard I think I'll really like it. I'll try his method for something less potentially important.

I named my D&D character in the game Ben begged to play Veare Sprockets! She is a G-nome. Watchout!

Stardust staging was... interesting. I heard a reviewer who really doesn't like Gaimen as a writer describe stardust as ponderously self-aware post-modern naïveté. It worked for me as a novel, but the people in charge of the production decided to go with an embrace of the naïveté. So that was, in my opinion, the wrong choice, but I was willing to go with it, even though it reduced the play to Typical Fantasy. For having made that decision, it was executed pretty well. The High Witch of the Lillum was SEXCELLENT. The girl playing Star was good, the boy playing Tristan was good as well.

They left in one of my favorite lines, "The squirrel has not yet found the acorn that will grow into the oak from which the branch will be hewn to make the cradle of the babe that will grow to slay me." They dropped another favorite, "Had you kept her chained there is no power on earth that could have made me help you. Had Pan himself commanded it, I would not have helped you." I'm paraphrasing there, but something close to that. They significantly messed with the Tree's part overall, in fact, I didn't really like it. The last of my favorite lines, "Wither thou goest," delivered by the star as Tristan drags her to the wall, was delivered somewhat comically, a little flat and harried. I was surprised and disappointed. That line is brimming with her resignation to her love for him, her knowledge that she's about to die. It was treated like "Fuck, I have to run to the gas station for milk? Oh well."

A lot of stuff was played for laughs that shouldn't have been. The ghosts of Tristan's family, for example, were cool in their motion, but more comic relief than necessary. I think they would have been funnier played straight. Lady Una was... I'm ambivalent about her, actually. Ending was rough, but I can't think of a much better one. Well, actually, if they'd used a narrator, or left Star alone on the stage to recount what finally happens, that would have been good, but it would have belonged to another production, one much more serious that didn't abandon the 'self-aware ponderousness' in favor of the fantasy. A good fantasy can be dark, though, and what is the cynicism of the book but the darkness of good fantasy?

When it was good, it was really very good. When it was bad it was foppish.

Some of the audience members made me miss ren-faires. I am going to one this year, I’ve firmly decided. Which and when is up in the air. Anyone have a good one near them? Anyone want to come with? Bonus points if you’ve never been to one before. I so totally have a spare costume you could borrow. C’mon. Don’t suck. Come to the Ren Faire.