Why has it been so long since I last updated my blog? Is it because, every time I tell myself that I will, I always end up with even less motivation than before. Or do I just have no motivation at all?
It's the same with my coursework. Usually I'm keen to do it, and enjoy it. But this holiday it's just been a chore. I've only got one thing on my mind... The school production of 'His Dark Materials'.
I've just realised that it's been so long since I updated that no-one will have any idea what I am talking about...
My drama teacher has decided to put on a production of Philip Pullman's 'His Dark Materials'. It will be performed in January/February and the auditions were held a couple of weeks before the end of term. I did a general audition for an adult part (having read the books, I find the adult characters much more interesting), and then got a call-back. I had to do another audition as Mrs Coulter, with my drama teacher giving me advice as I went along.
Before the auditions, I didn't have any particular part in mind that I wanted. But after the second audition I realised that I was desperate for the part of Mrs Coulter. I mean REALLY desperate.
I assumed that I would find out whether or not I had the part by the time the summer holidays rolled around, given the number of lines that some of the actors will need to learn. But all I got was a message from my drama teacher telling me that we would find out some time in September.
It's been so frustating not having any idea of where I stand in this. Inevitably, it as led to me sinking back into my old worrying about my weight. I've been eating the same kinds of foods I was about a year ago (which basically consists of simply cereal and humous), whereas a couple of months ago I had begun to eat things like cheese and chocolate again. Now I can't even stand seeing people eating them. I've been standing infront of the mirror analysing how much my stomach sticks out. Even though I have been eating less, I still feel fatter than before.
It doesn't help that Nicole Kidman is going to be playing Mrs Coulter in the film. How do I know that my drama teacher isn't sitting at home thinking that he was stupid to even call me back for an audition because I'm too fat. Maybe he'll change his mind, if it was ever even made up in the first place.
What have I done this holiday? Went on a week-long creative residential, which was amazing but now I keep thinking that it can't have been real it was so much fun. And then I spent a week in Wales with my family, which was not inspiring in anyway.
I've started a new novel, it seems to be going OK.
But I can only think about His Dark Materials, and getting back to school.
Sunday, 19 August 2007
Thursday, 26 July 2007
Beckett Part Two
Sorry, I'm evil for leaving it so long!
Part two of the ArtsAward update.
The main thing I was scared about was blinking.
The people doing 'Play' were also very nervous, because one thing could disrupt their entire performance, as rhythm is very important. I was then suddenly struck by another fear- falling asleep due to the rocking! And also falling out of the chair, or my feet falling off the footrest (not quite sure how that would happen).
When 'Happy Days' was being performed by Ophelia, Gracie put more powder on my face and hair and then during 'Play' we just waited on the other side of the door. We couldn't really hear what was going on, and we couldn't see anything so I had no idea if it was all going ok.
Then it was time for me and Gracie to go on stage. Even though it would be just me performing first, Gracie deided to stand in the shadows behind me to enable a quicker and smoother change-over half way through- so it could almost be incorprated into the play.
It was going very well, I did the pause, said 'More' in a good voice and (I think) managed to do the entire first part rocking in time without blinking. When the recording got to 'Time She Stopped' I stopped the rocking chair and waited my pause before saying 'More'. But then part one of the recording started playing again, rather than part two. I was quite thrown off, but managed to continue (admittedly, the rocking motion is the same for all the parts) but I think I may have said 'Time she Stopped' in the wrong place by accident, and I blinked once or twice so it wasn't very good at all.
Then it got to the time when I was supposed to change places with Gracie. I realised that I had to make a choice; stay on longer for part two, or change and let the play continue from part three. I chose the latter, because otherwise the performance would have gone on for a long time, and also because I thought I heard someone say the word 'Change' from behind me (where all the technical stuff was taking place). Looking back, I suppose the person who said 'change' could have equally been saying 'don't change' but at the time I just acted on impulse. So then I stood in the shadows behind the rocking chair for ten minutes whilst Gracie did her part, then we left the stage and went back into room 105.
I was very disappointed that it had gone wrong because I had been convinced before the performance that I'd mess up and I did end up saying 'Time she stopped' in the wrong place. I was trying not to cry but of course I ended up crying (as usual) when Dan gave me a hug. I was told that the technical error wouldn't be marked against me as it wasn't within my control, and as long as they had the recording of my voice and the recording of me in the rocking chair then they would assess me on those, but it still felt like a mistake on my behalf.
Looking back, I'm still quite disappointed I didn't do as well as I could have done, but there's not much I can do about it now and at least I got to wear a cool costume (we did look scary)!
Part two of the ArtsAward update.
The main thing I was scared about was blinking.
The people doing 'Play' were also very nervous, because one thing could disrupt their entire performance, as rhythm is very important. I was then suddenly struck by another fear- falling asleep due to the rocking! And also falling out of the chair, or my feet falling off the footrest (not quite sure how that would happen).
When 'Happy Days' was being performed by Ophelia, Gracie put more powder on my face and hair and then during 'Play' we just waited on the other side of the door. We couldn't really hear what was going on, and we couldn't see anything so I had no idea if it was all going ok.
Then it was time for me and Gracie to go on stage. Even though it would be just me performing first, Gracie deided to stand in the shadows behind me to enable a quicker and smoother change-over half way through- so it could almost be incorprated into the play.
It was going very well, I did the pause, said 'More' in a good voice and (I think) managed to do the entire first part rocking in time without blinking. When the recording got to 'Time She Stopped' I stopped the rocking chair and waited my pause before saying 'More'. But then part one of the recording started playing again, rather than part two. I was quite thrown off, but managed to continue (admittedly, the rocking motion is the same for all the parts) but I think I may have said 'Time she Stopped' in the wrong place by accident, and I blinked once or twice so it wasn't very good at all.
Then it got to the time when I was supposed to change places with Gracie. I realised that I had to make a choice; stay on longer for part two, or change and let the play continue from part three. I chose the latter, because otherwise the performance would have gone on for a long time, and also because I thought I heard someone say the word 'Change' from behind me (where all the technical stuff was taking place). Looking back, I suppose the person who said 'change' could have equally been saying 'don't change' but at the time I just acted on impulse. So then I stood in the shadows behind the rocking chair for ten minutes whilst Gracie did her part, then we left the stage and went back into room 105.
I was very disappointed that it had gone wrong because I had been convinced before the performance that I'd mess up and I did end up saying 'Time she stopped' in the wrong place. I was trying not to cry but of course I ended up crying (as usual) when Dan gave me a hug. I was told that the technical error wouldn't be marked against me as it wasn't within my control, and as long as they had the recording of my voice and the recording of me in the rocking chair then they would assess me on those, but it still felt like a mistake on my behalf.
Looking back, I'm still quite disappointed I didn't do as well as I could have done, but there's not much I can do about it now and at least I got to wear a cool costume (we did look scary)!
Wednesday, 11 July 2007
Beckett Performance
I've taken a while to update on this for the simple reason that I've needed time to calm down and think it over.
It went well, and it also went not so well. I went round to Gracie's house at 4 o'clock, with all the things we'd need such as my costume (Gracie had hers- after a wednesday rush arund every charity shop in eastbourne in search of a black dress), the powder for our faces and the recording. We decided to aim to be at school by quarter to six, as we needed to be there by six at the latest. We changed into our costumes, and then Gracie did my hair by putting water in it, pulling it into a bun (painful) and then putting powder in it to make it look grey. Then she did the same to her hair, and it came out looking more grey because my hair is too dark to turn properly grey. We put powder on our faces to make ourselves look paler, which was quite dificult to do because I either ended up not looking pale enough, or looking like a ghost- neither of which was the desired effect. But we finally managed to get it right. Gracie then attempted to put eyeliner on me but it didn't really work so we decided it would be better not to bother incase it made me blink during the performance. I was also a bit worried about the powder because it made me sneeze and I was scared that I'd sneeze or blink in an obvious way during the performance because of it.
Getting ready actually took over an hour, and then we had a run through by playing the CD and just practising not blinking. I found that if I didn't wear my glasses or contacts then I was able to unfocus my eyes which resulted in me needing to blink less. I also managed to perfect saying 'Time She Stopped' in all the right places. We picked up Gracie's footrest for the performance and ot to school by 5:40. Some other people were already there getting ready so we didn't have to do very much except put the footrest in the performance area- seeing it all set up was rather terrifying.
Then at six o'clock Mr Sibley told us how the evening was going to run, and we looked at the running order on the board... and saw that we were last! Seeing as one of the themes in 'Rockaby' is death and the end, then i did seem fitting that we would be going last.
During the first half we got to sit in the audience area and watch 'Rough for Theatre' by Sam and Ben, 'Footfalls' by Tashi (which also had a lot of recording in it), 'Endgame' by Ben and Jo and Ben and Eve and then by Dan and Tom and 'Catastrophe' by George, Abi and Lewes. They were all really good and looked professional with all the lighting. There was also a whistling sound from where the wind was hitting the roof and windows, it was all pretty atmospheric!
Then there was an interval, and in the second half I had to stay in room 105 to wait for my performance time.
I got quite nervous whilst waiting. The main thing I was scared about was blinking...
Find out more tomorrow!
It went well, and it also went not so well. I went round to Gracie's house at 4 o'clock, with all the things we'd need such as my costume (Gracie had hers- after a wednesday rush arund every charity shop in eastbourne in search of a black dress), the powder for our faces and the recording. We decided to aim to be at school by quarter to six, as we needed to be there by six at the latest. We changed into our costumes, and then Gracie did my hair by putting water in it, pulling it into a bun (painful) and then putting powder in it to make it look grey. Then she did the same to her hair, and it came out looking more grey because my hair is too dark to turn properly grey. We put powder on our faces to make ourselves look paler, which was quite dificult to do because I either ended up not looking pale enough, or looking like a ghost- neither of which was the desired effect. But we finally managed to get it right. Gracie then attempted to put eyeliner on me but it didn't really work so we decided it would be better not to bother incase it made me blink during the performance. I was also a bit worried about the powder because it made me sneeze and I was scared that I'd sneeze or blink in an obvious way during the performance because of it.
Getting ready actually took over an hour, and then we had a run through by playing the CD and just practising not blinking. I found that if I didn't wear my glasses or contacts then I was able to unfocus my eyes which resulted in me needing to blink less. I also managed to perfect saying 'Time She Stopped' in all the right places. We picked up Gracie's footrest for the performance and ot to school by 5:40. Some other people were already there getting ready so we didn't have to do very much except put the footrest in the performance area- seeing it all set up was rather terrifying.
Then at six o'clock Mr Sibley told us how the evening was going to run, and we looked at the running order on the board... and saw that we were last! Seeing as one of the themes in 'Rockaby' is death and the end, then i did seem fitting that we would be going last.
During the first half we got to sit in the audience area and watch 'Rough for Theatre' by Sam and Ben, 'Footfalls' by Tashi (which also had a lot of recording in it), 'Endgame' by Ben and Jo and Ben and Eve and then by Dan and Tom and 'Catastrophe' by George, Abi and Lewes. They were all really good and looked professional with all the lighting. There was also a whistling sound from where the wind was hitting the roof and windows, it was all pretty atmospheric!
Then there was an interval, and in the second half I had to stay in room 105 to wait for my performance time.
I got quite nervous whilst waiting. The main thing I was scared about was blinking...
Find out more tomorrow!
Friday, 6 July 2007
Arts Award
Last Tuesday (yes I've been lazy again)
I turned up to drama club today expecting to be able to practise 'Rockaby' with Gracie. I bought in the rocking chair that I will be using, and it has been put in the garage until it is needed for the performance/dress rehearsal. However, Gracie wasn't at drama so instead I helped Dan practise his plays (he is doing part of Endgame) because his partner wasn't there. I played the part of the servant 'Clov', as Dan is going to be performing as 'Hamm', the blind master. I enjoyed rehearsing with Dan, because I hadn't really seen him rehearsing before so it was good to look at the play.
We then all watched Becky, Sam and Ophelia perform 'Mother Figure' which is about two bickering neighbours going to visit the Mother who lives next door. She treats them like children, which causes them to bicker and then make-up in a very childlike way (basically, they become more childlike as the play progresses). It had some very funny moments, and they will be performing it to the public next wednesday (out Beckett pieces are on Thursday). I am starting to feel quite nervous, because we can't really practise until we have the CD.
This Tuesday
Gracie was at the rehearsal today, but we still don't have the CD so we read through each other's lines whilst the other practised rocking in time (quite difficult considering the rocking chair is still in the garage). We found that it wasn't too difficult to get the timing right, but it was more difficult not being able to blink. I need to practise just sitting and not blinking, and also making sure that I am completely focused on one point, because I found that I ot distracted quite a bit. The main problem seems to be that when I deliberately try not to blink, I always seem to end up needing to blink more. I have decided that I won't wear my glasses or my contact lenses during the performance, as doing so enables me to unfocus my eyes, so I dont need to blink as much. And I am allowed to blink when I am rocking backwards (as my face is only in the light when I rock forwards).
I also bought in my costume, so that Gracie has an idea of what the dress needs to look like. Its black velvet and its got a high lacy neck and these glittery bead things. I'm also going to put sequins on it, as that is what is stated on the costume description.
I turned up to drama club today expecting to be able to practise 'Rockaby' with Gracie. I bought in the rocking chair that I will be using, and it has been put in the garage until it is needed for the performance/dress rehearsal. However, Gracie wasn't at drama so instead I helped Dan practise his plays (he is doing part of Endgame) because his partner wasn't there. I played the part of the servant 'Clov', as Dan is going to be performing as 'Hamm', the blind master. I enjoyed rehearsing with Dan, because I hadn't really seen him rehearsing before so it was good to look at the play.
We then all watched Becky, Sam and Ophelia perform 'Mother Figure' which is about two bickering neighbours going to visit the Mother who lives next door. She treats them like children, which causes them to bicker and then make-up in a very childlike way (basically, they become more childlike as the play progresses). It had some very funny moments, and they will be performing it to the public next wednesday (out Beckett pieces are on Thursday). I am starting to feel quite nervous, because we can't really practise until we have the CD.
This Tuesday
Gracie was at the rehearsal today, but we still don't have the CD so we read through each other's lines whilst the other practised rocking in time (quite difficult considering the rocking chair is still in the garage). We found that it wasn't too difficult to get the timing right, but it was more difficult not being able to blink. I need to practise just sitting and not blinking, and also making sure that I am completely focused on one point, because I found that I ot distracted quite a bit. The main problem seems to be that when I deliberately try not to blink, I always seem to end up needing to blink more. I have decided that I won't wear my glasses or my contact lenses during the performance, as doing so enables me to unfocus my eyes, so I dont need to blink as much. And I am allowed to blink when I am rocking backwards (as my face is only in the light when I rock forwards).
I also bought in my costume, so that Gracie has an idea of what the dress needs to look like. Its black velvet and its got a high lacy neck and these glittery bead things. I'm also going to put sequins on it, as that is what is stated on the costume description.
Saturday, 30 June 2007
Arts Award
A long overdue update.
2 Weeks Ago
Not many people turned up for rehearsal today. This resulted in Mr Sibley and the cast of Palach (me included) to come to the decision that we'd have to call off the performance. It's disappointing because I spent the week learning my lines, and I really like the play. However, it makes sense because if people didn't show up today then it is unlikely they will come next week (due to work experience) and the play still needs a lot of work before it's ready to perform. There may always be another opportunity in my life to take part in a performance of Palach, and if that does arise and I am playing the part of the Mum then I will be well prepared!
So, instead of running through Palach, Gracie and I recorded the script for our Beckett performance (we are doing 'Rockaby', which is pretty much entirely recorded). This ended in arm ache, due to the fact that the person who wasn't reading was moving their arm every four seconds to indicate to the other when to speak! I did it wrong the first time, and I forgot to do the voice. But someone (fortunately) interupted the recording so we had to start again. Under most circumstances this would have been annoying, but given my bad performance it made me very relieved.
The recording is not done, and all that needs to be done is to put the pauses and echo effects into it. I am not sure when this will be done.
2 Weeks Ago
Not many people turned up for rehearsal today. This resulted in Mr Sibley and the cast of Palach (me included) to come to the decision that we'd have to call off the performance. It's disappointing because I spent the week learning my lines, and I really like the play. However, it makes sense because if people didn't show up today then it is unlikely they will come next week (due to work experience) and the play still needs a lot of work before it's ready to perform. There may always be another opportunity in my life to take part in a performance of Palach, and if that does arise and I am playing the part of the Mum then I will be well prepared!
So, instead of running through Palach, Gracie and I recorded the script for our Beckett performance (we are doing 'Rockaby', which is pretty much entirely recorded). This ended in arm ache, due to the fact that the person who wasn't reading was moving their arm every four seconds to indicate to the other when to speak! I did it wrong the first time, and I forgot to do the voice. But someone (fortunately) interupted the recording so we had to start again. Under most circumstances this would have been annoying, but given my bad performance it made me very relieved.
The recording is not done, and all that needs to be done is to put the pauses and echo effects into it. I am not sure when this will be done.
The Best Day of My Life
I thought I'd blog about the best day of my life, which was the Thirsday just gone.
I went with one of my friends (Dan) and my drama teacher to collect a school award. We went it my drama teacher's car and it was the best thing I've ever done. On the way there I was sitting in the front naviating, and Dan was listeneing to is music in the back so me and my drama teacher just talked. We talked about Brecht, and then I told him about Jenny (my companion) and he seemed to understand, which is weird because I've never told anyone about Jenny before today (she lives far away). What was even more surprising was the fact that he seemed to understand, and we beleived that similar things were real. And we listened to some music but there wasn't but good stuff on the radio. We talked about how nice it would be to do a parachute jump. It was the best conversation I've ever had. (He even told me that Noddy the cartoon character is asexual!)
We got to the venue early, so he bought us a coffee. I told him it was my first coffee and he laughed and then him and Dan talked whilst I just drank. Then Dan went to the loo and I smiled at my drama teacher and said that this was my first coffee and that it was like a rite of passage. He just looked at me and told me that he was glad it was a rite of passage that he was taking me on.
The actual award thing was boring, nothing happened.
he journey back was amaazing. I was in the back because Dan was navigating but he got us lost so we were cruising through Brighton with the windows down listeneing to Sugar Babes 'push the button' really loudly. It was so funny. Then it turned out he also had 'Fuck It (I don't want you back)' on his ipod so we listened to that (its a british song, if you haven't heard it search it on yahoo or something) and we were all singing along really loudly and it was the best moment of my life.
Now I can't stop drinking coffee (I didn't get to sleep until three in the morning last night) and I have set the Eamon song as my myspace music. I've also changed all the music on my ipod, a lot of it is now songs we listened to that day.
Since then I have started a book thing. Its not like a diary really, but in many ways it holds the emotions that many people's diaries hold. Its just quotes, things that people say and some things that I say. Here's some of the stuff from that day:
In Costa: "How do I drink it? Do I just pick it up?" (Me- about my coffee)
"Yes." (Dan and drama teacher)
"What? All of it?" (me)
In the car on the way back: "This is perfect, I wish we could drive like this and listen to music forever" (me)
"You'd get bored" (drama teacher)
"I swear I wouldn't!" (me)
In the foyer at the award place: "They took Noddy of air." (Dan)
"Why?" (Me)
"Because it was racist" (drama teacher)
"I could have sworn it was because Noddy slept with Big-Ears!"(Dan)
I went with one of my friends (Dan) and my drama teacher to collect a school award. We went it my drama teacher's car and it was the best thing I've ever done. On the way there I was sitting in the front naviating, and Dan was listeneing to is music in the back so me and my drama teacher just talked. We talked about Brecht, and then I told him about Jenny (my companion) and he seemed to understand, which is weird because I've never told anyone about Jenny before today (she lives far away). What was even more surprising was the fact that he seemed to understand, and we beleived that similar things were real. And we listened to some music but there wasn't but good stuff on the radio. We talked about how nice it would be to do a parachute jump. It was the best conversation I've ever had. (He even told me that Noddy the cartoon character is asexual!)
We got to the venue early, so he bought us a coffee. I told him it was my first coffee and he laughed and then him and Dan talked whilst I just drank. Then Dan went to the loo and I smiled at my drama teacher and said that this was my first coffee and that it was like a rite of passage. He just looked at me and told me that he was glad it was a rite of passage that he was taking me on.
The actual award thing was boring, nothing happened.
he journey back was amaazing. I was in the back because Dan was navigating but he got us lost so we were cruising through Brighton with the windows down listeneing to Sugar Babes 'push the button' really loudly. It was so funny. Then it turned out he also had 'Fuck It (I don't want you back)' on his ipod so we listened to that (its a british song, if you haven't heard it search it on yahoo or something) and we were all singing along really loudly and it was the best moment of my life.
Now I can't stop drinking coffee (I didn't get to sleep until three in the morning last night) and I have set the Eamon song as my myspace music. I've also changed all the music on my ipod, a lot of it is now songs we listened to that day.
Since then I have started a book thing. Its not like a diary really, but in many ways it holds the emotions that many people's diaries hold. Its just quotes, things that people say and some things that I say. Here's some of the stuff from that day:
In Costa: "How do I drink it? Do I just pick it up?" (Me- about my coffee)
"Yes." (Dan and drama teacher)
"What? All of it?" (me)
In the car on the way back: "This is perfect, I wish we could drive like this and listen to music forever" (me)
"You'd get bored" (drama teacher)
"I swear I wouldn't!" (me)
In the foyer at the award place: "They took Noddy of air." (Dan)
"Why?" (Me)
"Because it was racist" (drama teacher)
"I could have sworn it was because Noddy slept with Big-Ears!"(Dan)
Sunday, 17 June 2007
Life Realisation
I want to travel, I don't want to be in any one place for too long.
Nowhere is home
I belong to the world
Nowhere is home
I belong to the world
Saturday, 16 June 2007
ArtsAward and Shores of California
Arts Award Diary Update for Tuesday 12th June
Tonight Joe and Pete weren't at drama club, so we couldn't really do a proper rehearsal as we have done previously. Instead, Tom D played the part of Dad and Tashi the part of the Priest. It was quite strange doing some of the Mum/Dad scenes with Tom, as I've become accustomed to doin them with Pete, but it did give me a good chance to practise my lines (I had been learning quite a lot of them over the week)and it also meant that Mr Sibley could teach me 'The White Cliffs of Dover' (I'm obviousley completely uncultured, not knowing that song), which I need to sing in one song.
It's only two more rehearsals before the performance now! It seems like no time, and I'm still not entirely sure what kind of costume I need to wear, I suppose it can't be too complex otherwise we would have been told already, hopefully it won't take too much effort.
The first thing tat we did at rehearsal was watch Tom M and Rebecca practise their opening 'Romeo and Juliet' scene, with added gushingness, and that took quite a while to run through, and then we turned to my monologue, which I've pretty much learnt, though when I learnt them I didn't have someone singing 'We'll Meet Again' right behind me, which proved to be slightly distracting.
Hopefully next week Joe and Pete will be at rehearsals, its really fun doing the improvisations with Pete, especially as I've never really done any scenes with him before this.
May have to consult Gracie about make-up and hair for the performance.
On A Non-ArtsAward note, much has been going on these past few days. I watched the Dresden Dolls 'Shores of California' video, which is brilliant. I've also brought a copy of 'Lollita' which I have been inspired to read after finshing 'The End of Alice', and I have also ordered a copy of 'A Photographer's Life' by Annie Leibovitz, which I've wanted since it came out but have only just earned enough money for. I can't wait till it arrives in a weeks time! I love Annie Leibovitz, and I'm desperate to see all the amazing photographs of Susan Sontag.
Tonight Joe and Pete weren't at drama club, so we couldn't really do a proper rehearsal as we have done previously. Instead, Tom D played the part of Dad and Tashi the part of the Priest. It was quite strange doing some of the Mum/Dad scenes with Tom, as I've become accustomed to doin them with Pete, but it did give me a good chance to practise my lines (I had been learning quite a lot of them over the week)and it also meant that Mr Sibley could teach me 'The White Cliffs of Dover' (I'm obviousley completely uncultured, not knowing that song), which I need to sing in one song.
It's only two more rehearsals before the performance now! It seems like no time, and I'm still not entirely sure what kind of costume I need to wear, I suppose it can't be too complex otherwise we would have been told already, hopefully it won't take too much effort.
The first thing tat we did at rehearsal was watch Tom M and Rebecca practise their opening 'Romeo and Juliet' scene, with added gushingness, and that took quite a while to run through, and then we turned to my monologue, which I've pretty much learnt, though when I learnt them I didn't have someone singing 'We'll Meet Again' right behind me, which proved to be slightly distracting.
Hopefully next week Joe and Pete will be at rehearsals, its really fun doing the improvisations with Pete, especially as I've never really done any scenes with him before this.
May have to consult Gracie about make-up and hair for the performance.
On A Non-ArtsAward note, much has been going on these past few days. I watched the Dresden Dolls 'Shores of California' video, which is brilliant. I've also brought a copy of 'Lollita' which I have been inspired to read after finshing 'The End of Alice', and I have also ordered a copy of 'A Photographer's Life' by Annie Leibovitz, which I've wanted since it came out but have only just earned enough money for. I can't wait till it arrives in a weeks time! I love Annie Leibovitz, and I'm desperate to see all the amazing photographs of Susan Sontag.
Wednesday, 6 June 2007
A Blog in the Absence of Anything Good on TV.
Its been a busy month, and also a stressful month. I've had so much coursework to do, and just before the half-term holiday I completed a twenty-page Shakespeare essay, only to be told today that it's not right! I'm probably going to find myself redoing it, ontop of revising for my Maths GCSE, learning a German essay by heart, revisin for my final Chemistry GCSE, learning two scripts for my drama As assessment, writing 6 essays on Prohibition for my History coursework, and an English Language essay for coursework. And all of this is due in less than a month. I really feel like I'm going to have a breakdown. When my English Literature teacher told me it was no good, I really just felt like bursting into tears. My self-restraint saved me a lot of embarassment. I can't believe that a few weeks ago I was considering doing English Literature at college, I reckon it would just about kill me. So that's a definite no-no! School is really getting me down at the moment, especially the pressure of everything being piled on me at the end of the year. I've always been sceptical about people taking gap-years before going to university, but I have to admit the idea is looking increasingly appealing. There's so many places I want to go, like Boston (and whilst I'm in the USA, I'd like to see Eric's band play) and Jerusalem and I would also like to go back to Amsterdam.
Although this is three years away, it is providing me with a lot of comfort, not to mention nice day-dreams during English Lit!
On JUne 28th, I am going to collect a performing arts award for me school, which involves spending an hour with my drama teacher in his car whilst we drive up north. Its a scary prospect, I didn't know him at the beginning of the year, but over the past few months have found myself falling increasingly in love with him (and let me tell you, it's very scary to feel attracted to a distant, bald, middle-aged man!!!!!!!!!!). Obviousley, I know its just 'teenage-hormones' and no WAY am I planning on humiliating myself or my ego by trying anything I would regret at a later date. Still, the day itself should be good, and definitely exciting.
I've put a photo of me in my profile (the guy in the picture is my new friend-from-Surrey called David) but I'm considering taking it down. I like the internet because you can judge on who someone really is, not wat they look like.I'll leave it up for a few days, and then decide what to do. It may seem like a big fuss over a photo, but it's significance does me a lot to me.
Anyway, I'm going for a walk and then I'm going to do another History essay, before retreating to my room to listen to 'Girl Anachronism' whilst I wallow in the fact that I am an academic FAILURE!
Good times!
Although this is three years away, it is providing me with a lot of comfort, not to mention nice day-dreams during English Lit!
On JUne 28th, I am going to collect a performing arts award for me school, which involves spending an hour with my drama teacher in his car whilst we drive up north. Its a scary prospect, I didn't know him at the beginning of the year, but over the past few months have found myself falling increasingly in love with him (and let me tell you, it's very scary to feel attracted to a distant, bald, middle-aged man!!!!!!!!!!). Obviousley, I know its just 'teenage-hormones' and no WAY am I planning on humiliating myself or my ego by trying anything I would regret at a later date. Still, the day itself should be good, and definitely exciting.
I've put a photo of me in my profile (the guy in the picture is my new friend-from-Surrey called David) but I'm considering taking it down. I like the internet because you can judge on who someone really is, not wat they look like.I'll leave it up for a few days, and then decide what to do. It may seem like a big fuss over a photo, but it's significance does me a lot to me.
Anyway, I'm going for a walk and then I'm going to do another History essay, before retreating to my room to listen to 'Girl Anachronism' whilst I wallow in the fact that I am an academic FAILURE!
Good times!
Arts Award Update
Two week update coming up. Because I've been lazy and haven't updated in ages.
(This one is from before the half-term holiday)
This evening I found out that I will dfinitely be playing the part of Mum in 'Palach'. I'm quite pleased, as I managed to learn quite a lot of the lines when running through that part last week. Everyone is going to be playing the same roles as they were last week.
We were practising in the hall, with the other two groups practising in the drama studio. We ran through a scene in which several conversations are taking place at the same time. Mum is talking to Boy about someone setting fire to themselves, to Girl about washing her hair and dates, to the Priest about leaving children in a burning building, and occassionally to Dad about random things like 'What brand of biscuits should I buy?'. Its very confusing, but hopefully it will work.
Tom will be playing Boy, who has the most lines to learn, but he wasn't at drama club this evening so Mr Sibley read through his lines when we were practising the scenes.
Dan, Tom D, Tashi and Jo are playing many parts in Palach, and today they put together part of the play, which is like a news bulletin, only it is about different wars in History (for example, Dan reading 'We Shall Fight on the Beaches' bu Winston Churchill). We then ran them one after the other, and it seemed to be working.
Hopefully Tom will be here next time.
Drama clubs have now changed from 6-8 to 5:30-7.
(This update is for yesterday- 5th June)
Drama started at 5:30 today, and as Tom was here this week we went straight into rehearsing. This week we were all in the drama studio, which meant we had to practise on the stages in room 106, which resulted in having much less space than we did last week. But we managed to sort it out and run through the same scene as we did last week, only this time with Tom reading Boy. Because the rest of us knew the scene quite well, we were able to un through it fairly quickly, and then me and Pete (who is playing Dad) had to practise a scene in which we both talk about our childhoods and how we met at the same time. Its difficult because Pete's monologue is much longer, but we have to finish them at the same time.
Then Me, Rebecca, Pete, Tom and Jo P (Mum, Girl, Dad, Boy and the Priest) had to practise the final, which is also similtanious speeches. All I can say is it needs a lot of work, so I've decided that's the main thing I'm going to practise before next Tuesday (apart from trying to learn lines in general)
I have found out that the date of the performance is July 3rd, which is not long away!
(This one is from before the half-term holiday)
This evening I found out that I will dfinitely be playing the part of Mum in 'Palach'. I'm quite pleased, as I managed to learn quite a lot of the lines when running through that part last week. Everyone is going to be playing the same roles as they were last week.
We were practising in the hall, with the other two groups practising in the drama studio. We ran through a scene in which several conversations are taking place at the same time. Mum is talking to Boy about someone setting fire to themselves, to Girl about washing her hair and dates, to the Priest about leaving children in a burning building, and occassionally to Dad about random things like 'What brand of biscuits should I buy?'. Its very confusing, but hopefully it will work.
Tom will be playing Boy, who has the most lines to learn, but he wasn't at drama club this evening so Mr Sibley read through his lines when we were practising the scenes.
Dan, Tom D, Tashi and Jo are playing many parts in Palach, and today they put together part of the play, which is like a news bulletin, only it is about different wars in History (for example, Dan reading 'We Shall Fight on the Beaches' bu Winston Churchill). We then ran them one after the other, and it seemed to be working.
Hopefully Tom will be here next time.
Drama clubs have now changed from 6-8 to 5:30-7.
(This update is for yesterday- 5th June)
Drama started at 5:30 today, and as Tom was here this week we went straight into rehearsing. This week we were all in the drama studio, which meant we had to practise on the stages in room 106, which resulted in having much less space than we did last week. But we managed to sort it out and run through the same scene as we did last week, only this time with Tom reading Boy. Because the rest of us knew the scene quite well, we were able to un through it fairly quickly, and then me and Pete (who is playing Dad) had to practise a scene in which we both talk about our childhoods and how we met at the same time. Its difficult because Pete's monologue is much longer, but we have to finish them at the same time.
Then Me, Rebecca, Pete, Tom and Jo P (Mum, Girl, Dad, Boy and the Priest) had to practise the final, which is also similtanious speeches. All I can say is it needs a lot of work, so I've decided that's the main thing I'm going to practise before next Tuesday (apart from trying to learn lines in general)
I have found out that the date of the performance is July 3rd, which is not long away!
Saturday, 12 May 2007
Other Stuff
Still drama related, but not arts award related.
I got back the results from my end of year practise GCSE's; 2 A*s (in History and Science) 4 As (in English Language, Maths, German and Citizenship) and 1 B (in RE). Strangely, my English Literature result wasn't on there (but as I've got A*s in al my coursework I'll assume its that) and also to my annoyance my drama result was missing. I'll have to hunt those down on Monday. Overall I am quite pleased with my results, especially German and English as so far we have only done half of the course. I was disappointed, but not surprised, with my RE result as I only found out we had a test on the day so I couldn't revise. And we do still have a year before the actual GCSE's, so hopefully these results will get me into the courses I want to do at the local sixth form college.
For my final drama assessment I have to do a performance of Samuel Beckett's 'Rockaby'. I'm not sure how I feel about this, as I have done really well so far in drama so I cannot really understand why Mr Sibley had given my a play in which all the speaking is pre-recorded and all I have to do is sit in a rocking chair for a while. Some people have got really challenging ones that look really exciting. I'm alsoon my own as opposed to in a group, which I suppose when I think about it I'm quite pleased about, although the only other two people on their own are people who normally rely on others to do work, whereas I am much more committed.
But on the otherhand, I'm terrified that this might be Mr Sibley's favourite Beckett play, and he gave it to me because he thought I could do it best (not that there's much to do best) it's tearing me apart trying to think of what his intentions were for giving me that play. Maybe I should just ask him, but that's not really done.
I'm going to see Spiderman 3 tonight, which I'm loking forward too. I've seen Spiderman 1 but not Spiderman 2, so I'm going to have to try and figure out what's going on it.
I watched an episode from the new series of NCIS last night, and I could swear that I've seen it before. I can't think where though, and I can't work out why as this is the first time the series has been broadcast on Channel 5 and I don't have FX (the other channel whic shows more recent series). This is now also bugging me.
I got back the results from my end of year practise GCSE's; 2 A*s (in History and Science) 4 As (in English Language, Maths, German and Citizenship) and 1 B (in RE). Strangely, my English Literature result wasn't on there (but as I've got A*s in al my coursework I'll assume its that) and also to my annoyance my drama result was missing. I'll have to hunt those down on Monday. Overall I am quite pleased with my results, especially German and English as so far we have only done half of the course. I was disappointed, but not surprised, with my RE result as I only found out we had a test on the day so I couldn't revise. And we do still have a year before the actual GCSE's, so hopefully these results will get me into the courses I want to do at the local sixth form college.
For my final drama assessment I have to do a performance of Samuel Beckett's 'Rockaby'. I'm not sure how I feel about this, as I have done really well so far in drama so I cannot really understand why Mr Sibley had given my a play in which all the speaking is pre-recorded and all I have to do is sit in a rocking chair for a while. Some people have got really challenging ones that look really exciting. I'm alsoon my own as opposed to in a group, which I suppose when I think about it I'm quite pleased about, although the only other two people on their own are people who normally rely on others to do work, whereas I am much more committed.
But on the otherhand, I'm terrified that this might be Mr Sibley's favourite Beckett play, and he gave it to me because he thought I could do it best (not that there's much to do best) it's tearing me apart trying to think of what his intentions were for giving me that play. Maybe I should just ask him, but that's not really done.
I'm going to see Spiderman 3 tonight, which I'm loking forward too. I've seen Spiderman 1 but not Spiderman 2, so I'm going to have to try and figure out what's going on it.
I watched an episode from the new series of NCIS last night, and I could swear that I've seen it before. I can't think where though, and I can't work out why as this is the first time the series has been broadcast on Channel 5 and I don't have FX (the other channel whic shows more recent series). This is now also bugging me.
Arts Award Update
OK, so its a few days late, but I've been very busy so I'm going to pretend that that's a valid excuse.
On Tuesday, we began to look at scripts that we are going to perform for the final performance at the end of te year. About half the class (including me) looked at a script called 'Palach' which was written to be performed on four seperate stages at the Open Space Theatre in London. It says that it can be performed on one stage if some adaptions, but I think we are planning on doing it on four stages.
Different scenes are performed similtaniously on the seperate stages, which means the audience stand in the middle and can choose where to look at different points in the ply (I am of the view that the audience should be placed on spinny-chairs as that would be far more comfortable). This has the result that, although the script is very thick, the play is actually not as long as you would imagine, due to the fact that much of it is going on at the same time.
On Tuesday, I was playing the part A Mum, and I looked at two scenes. One scene included A Mum, A Dad, A Boy, A Girl and A Priest, all standing in a line and having a converstaion with themseves. Only one person would speak at a time, which would mean that it sounded as if they were having a strange conversation.
The other scene I looked at just involved me and Pete (A Dad) doing a repetetive morning routine whilst repeating what we are doing (eg saying coffee coffee coffee whilst I give him his coffee) we would repeat this morning routine for about seven minutes. Every third time the routine had been repeated, Pete would sing a funny song and do a funny dance. This scene then changed into going through the normal arguments and reconcilliations of a married couple, but we were only speaking in advertising slogans (albeit very out of date slogans) which resulted in me and Pete (and everyone else!) translating it as inuendo.
Other scenes include A Priest singing the lord's prayer whilst performing a striptease and A Girl and A Boy performing a scene from Romeo and Juliet. It should be good when we perform it, especially when we get to throw the juggling balls over the heads of the audience.
Although I was acting the part of A Mum on Tuesday, that more more to assess our suitabilities for roles, and I'll be finding out who I'll actually be playing on Tuesday. I'm looking forward to it very much. I would quite like to be given the part of A Girl, but as I haven't really read much of A Girl's script, I'm not sure why I made that decision. I don't really mind which part I get as long as the end result is brilliant!
One group were looking at a play called 'Between Mouthfulls' which was about two couples that attend a restaurant (set on two seperate stages) and a waiter who has to serve their food. WE didn't get to see all of it, as the group had not finished blocking it (it's quite a long play) but Mr Sibley has told us that it conspires that the couple's lives are intertwined (I can't remember the details, something to do with affairs and colleagues) so I'm looking forward to finding out more on Tuesday. Emma was really funny in that!
The final group was looking at a play called 'Mother Figure'. Becky was a mother, obsessed with caring for her children, and when her bickering neighbours pay her a visit, she treats them like children. This had some very funny results, most notably when Becky asked Ophelia if she's like a drink, when Ophelia says yes, Becky asks if she's prefer 'Orange Juice or Milk'. Although the neighbours find her strange at first, as the play progresses they become more and more immature. They had blocked the whole pay, and it was very well done.
On Tuesday, we began to look at scripts that we are going to perform for the final performance at the end of te year. About half the class (including me) looked at a script called 'Palach' which was written to be performed on four seperate stages at the Open Space Theatre in London. It says that it can be performed on one stage if some adaptions, but I think we are planning on doing it on four stages.
Different scenes are performed similtaniously on the seperate stages, which means the audience stand in the middle and can choose where to look at different points in the ply (I am of the view that the audience should be placed on spinny-chairs as that would be far more comfortable). This has the result that, although the script is very thick, the play is actually not as long as you would imagine, due to the fact that much of it is going on at the same time.
On Tuesday, I was playing the part A Mum, and I looked at two scenes. One scene included A Mum, A Dad, A Boy, A Girl and A Priest, all standing in a line and having a converstaion with themseves. Only one person would speak at a time, which would mean that it sounded as if they were having a strange conversation.
The other scene I looked at just involved me and Pete (A Dad) doing a repetetive morning routine whilst repeating what we are doing (eg saying coffee coffee coffee whilst I give him his coffee) we would repeat this morning routine for about seven minutes. Every third time the routine had been repeated, Pete would sing a funny song and do a funny dance. This scene then changed into going through the normal arguments and reconcilliations of a married couple, but we were only speaking in advertising slogans (albeit very out of date slogans) which resulted in me and Pete (and everyone else!) translating it as inuendo.
Other scenes include A Priest singing the lord's prayer whilst performing a striptease and A Girl and A Boy performing a scene from Romeo and Juliet. It should be good when we perform it, especially when we get to throw the juggling balls over the heads of the audience.
Although I was acting the part of A Mum on Tuesday, that more more to assess our suitabilities for roles, and I'll be finding out who I'll actually be playing on Tuesday. I'm looking forward to it very much. I would quite like to be given the part of A Girl, but as I haven't really read much of A Girl's script, I'm not sure why I made that decision. I don't really mind which part I get as long as the end result is brilliant!
One group were looking at a play called 'Between Mouthfulls' which was about two couples that attend a restaurant (set on two seperate stages) and a waiter who has to serve their food. WE didn't get to see all of it, as the group had not finished blocking it (it's quite a long play) but Mr Sibley has told us that it conspires that the couple's lives are intertwined (I can't remember the details, something to do with affairs and colleagues) so I'm looking forward to finding out more on Tuesday. Emma was really funny in that!
The final group was looking at a play called 'Mother Figure'. Becky was a mother, obsessed with caring for her children, and when her bickering neighbours pay her a visit, she treats them like children. This had some very funny results, most notably when Becky asked Ophelia if she's like a drink, when Ophelia says yes, Becky asks if she's prefer 'Orange Juice or Milk'. Although the neighbours find her strange at first, as the play progresses they become more and more immature. They had blocked the whole pay, and it was very well done.
Tuesday, 1 May 2007
Arts Award
I am currently working towards the Duke of Edinburgh Arts Award formy drama at school. And as part of the award, I have to keep a diry style thing of what we do at drama club, as proof of our efforts. I'm just going to type mine up on here, and if that's not ok I cn copy and paste it into a word document!
1st May- Drama Club 6-8pm
Today at drama club, we discussed what we'll be doing performance-wise for the rest of the year. We are no longer going to be peforming at the Brigton Festval, due to the fact that we do not really have anything to show to an audience- let alone 40 minutes worth of stuff. I think everyone was agreed that it would be better to do nothing than to scrape together something that was rubbish. We're planning a performance in July, a mix of our Beckett work as well as stuff from drama club.
The first thing we had to do was to devise a piece of drama that showed the morning routine of a couple who had been married for so long that everything was done automatically, with the husband being dependent on the wife. I was with Sam, and out performance went as follows:
Alice: (As Sam walks in quickly) Morning
Sam: Morning
Alice: Paper (passes him paper as he passes)
Sam: Paper (sits down)
Alice: Toast (passes him toast)
Sam: Toast (eats)
Alice: Butter (passes him butter, then takes it back automatically as he pushes it away)
Sam: No
Alice: Orange juice (puts glass on one side of Sam, then walks past him. He drinks the orange juice as she is passing and then places it on the other side of himself. Alice proceeds to pick up the glass and wash it up)
Alice: Tea?
Sam: Tea
Alice: (She gives him is tea and proceeds to sit down, but he stands just as she is sitting, and she sits on his empty seat) Bye
Sam: Bye (He walks towards door) Bye Kids!
We could only use limited amount of speech and actions.
We then had to put together a performance of a newly married couple, and the only dialogue we could use was slogans from adverts (this should be interesting for Eric- yet more british-ism). This was much more challenging, and required a lot of thought. It was also rather disturbing in parts (Dan and Tashi's for instance, I'll never view the advert for 'Talk to Frank' in quite the same way as long as I live)! I was working with Joe and the sloans we used (In order) were:
Alice: Take a chance on a second chance Sunday
Twinnings
Ba ba ba ba ba
Joe: I'm loving it (spills his tea)
Alice: BANG and the dirt is gone!
Are you a crucnchy nutter?
It's a nine thing
Take a break
Joe: Have a kit-kat
Both: Resistance is futile
Joe: Have it your way (shouting at laptop, Alice turns around, concerned)
The future's bright!
Alice: Try something new today
They took a chance, on that second chance sunday.
We also practised throwing several juggling balls around the circle in a certain pattern, eventually so we were throwing many of them at the same time (with amusing results). Whilst doing this, we also were singing a song:
Pack your troubles in you old kit bag
And Smile, Smile, Smile
While there's a Lucifer to light your fag
Smile boy that's the style.
What's the use of worrying
It never was worthwhile
Pack your troubles in you old kit bag
And Smile, Smile, Smile
This seemed strange at first, but apparantly it is going to be used in the performace, with us throwing the juggling balls over the heads of the audience.
1st May- Drama Club 6-8pm
Today at drama club, we discussed what we'll be doing performance-wise for the rest of the year. We are no longer going to be peforming at the Brigton Festval, due to the fact that we do not really have anything to show to an audience- let alone 40 minutes worth of stuff. I think everyone was agreed that it would be better to do nothing than to scrape together something that was rubbish. We're planning a performance in July, a mix of our Beckett work as well as stuff from drama club.
The first thing we had to do was to devise a piece of drama that showed the morning routine of a couple who had been married for so long that everything was done automatically, with the husband being dependent on the wife. I was with Sam, and out performance went as follows:
Alice: (As Sam walks in quickly) Morning
Sam: Morning
Alice: Paper (passes him paper as he passes)
Sam: Paper (sits down)
Alice: Toast (passes him toast)
Sam: Toast (eats)
Alice: Butter (passes him butter, then takes it back automatically as he pushes it away)
Sam: No
Alice: Orange juice (puts glass on one side of Sam, then walks past him. He drinks the orange juice as she is passing and then places it on the other side of himself. Alice proceeds to pick up the glass and wash it up)
Alice: Tea?
Sam: Tea
Alice: (She gives him is tea and proceeds to sit down, but he stands just as she is sitting, and she sits on his empty seat) Bye
Sam: Bye (He walks towards door) Bye Kids!
We could only use limited amount of speech and actions.
We then had to put together a performance of a newly married couple, and the only dialogue we could use was slogans from adverts (this should be interesting for Eric- yet more british-ism). This was much more challenging, and required a lot of thought. It was also rather disturbing in parts (Dan and Tashi's for instance, I'll never view the advert for 'Talk to Frank' in quite the same way as long as I live)! I was working with Joe and the sloans we used (In order) were:
Alice: Take a chance on a second chance Sunday
Twinnings
Ba ba ba ba ba
Joe: I'm loving it (spills his tea)
Alice: BANG and the dirt is gone!
Are you a crucnchy nutter?
It's a nine thing
Take a break
Joe: Have a kit-kat
Both: Resistance is futile
Joe: Have it your way (shouting at laptop, Alice turns around, concerned)
The future's bright!
Alice: Try something new today
They took a chance, on that second chance sunday.
We also practised throwing several juggling balls around the circle in a certain pattern, eventually so we were throwing many of them at the same time (with amusing results). Whilst doing this, we also were singing a song:
Pack your troubles in you old kit bag
And Smile, Smile, Smile
While there's a Lucifer to light your fag
Smile boy that's the style.
What's the use of worrying
It never was worthwhile
Pack your troubles in you old kit bag
And Smile, Smile, Smile
This seemed strange at first, but apparantly it is going to be used in the performace, with us throwing the juggling balls over the heads of the audience.
Monday, 16 April 2007
Amazing NCIS Videos that you must watch
Being an NCIS boffin, this will probably be a regular installment. LeniJoanna makes the videos, all of them are great!
Its an interesting video. Originally it was done with a Kate/Abi theme, but then quite a few people said it would be better Ziva/Abi because of the original mutiny between the pair when Ziva first joined. But now I've seen both, I think there was more of an energy in the Kate/Abi one, maybe because Kate truly WAS like Miss America!
Maybe I just like Kate more than I like Ziva, and want more Kate Videos!
Its an interesting video. Originally it was done with a Kate/Abi theme, but then quite a few people said it would be better Ziva/Abi because of the original mutiny between the pair when Ziva first joined. But now I've seen both, I think there was more of an energy in the Kate/Abi one, maybe because Kate truly WAS like Miss America!
Maybe I just like Kate more than I like Ziva, and want more Kate Videos!
You will read!
Maybe this blog will actually survive more than a few months. None of my others seem to have. I think this time I'll blog for the sake of it, rather than trying to give it e meaning or purpose. I will not moan about stupid things, and instead I will give an account of my daily goings on.
Unfortunately for readers, this means lots of things to do with school and NCIS, and not very much to do with anything remotely interesting.
ENJOY!
Unfortunately for readers, this means lots of things to do with school and NCIS, and not very much to do with anything remotely interesting.
ENJOY!
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