When I was young I adored Arthurian legend. I read just about every book I could find on King Arthur, Merlin, Camelot and The Lady of the Lake. I should clarify; I didn’t read the educational based-on-fact history books – I read the ones with magic and betrayal. Thus, my knowledge of Arthurian legend is steeped in chivalry, sorcery, adulterous drama, noble quests and a larger-than-life surreal world. I lost many a day buried in my fantasy books. I used to curl up in a comfy chair in the living room (preferably with a fire crackling) and read for hours – usually only taking a break to turn on a light because it was suddenly night time and too dark to read.

You can imagine my delight upon discovering that Camelot and Arthur’s castle are (were) both located a mere hour from my new home. It has been theorized that the modern-day Camelford is roughly where the ancient/mythological Camelot was established. Tintagel is thought to be where King Arthur would have had his famous court: Guinevere, the round table (complete with chivalrous knights), the start of the Quest for the Holy Grail – this is where all of the magic would’ve happened. All this history and legend right on my doorstep!

Here are some pictures of my stroll back through ancient (mythical) history:

Ahora más en serio, aunque también sobre el rey Arturo, Lanzarote y Ginebra: una intensa escena del film El primer caballero (1995) en que aparecen la reina y su amante a punto de trangredir la línea que les separa del torbellino erótico.

“El amor todo lo puede”, solemos decir; pero claro, es que ella ya está unida a otro. Entonces… ¿cuál es el remedio del amor prohibido? ¿Llegan a besarse en este momento? ¿O el deseo se quedará para mejor ocasión? ¿Alguien sabe qué escena de la película es ésta y cómo continúa la historia?

Parte de la respuesta en este enlace: Lancelot y Lady Ginebra.

Aunque la película no es una maravilla, tiene buenos momentos y sólo por ver a tres “monstruos” del celuloide como Richard Gere,  Julia Ormond o Sean Connery ya vale la pena.

Ieri sera a casa di amici ho rivisto per l’ennesima volta il film Forrest Gump , io lo considero talmente speciale da meritare una rivisitazione . Faccio prima una premessa : io credo che  la filmografia statunitense ( Hollywood) è una filmografia di stato , controllata fin nei minimi dettagli dalla United States Information Agency (USIA) , un agenzia federale pubblica nell’esistenza ma segreta nell’operatività ( come la CIA) istituita nel 1953 allo scopo di creare nel pubblico internazionale una precisa ancorché falsa immagine degli USA. L’agenzia non si occupa solo di Hollywood ora conta sui 30.000 dipendenti e ha sede al 301 IV South West Street di Washington. Ma veniamo al nostro Forrest Gump. È un film inquietante e pericoloso , perchè non solo oltremodo carico di propaganda politica e culturale , ma anche costruito con tecniche subliminali sopraffine e atte ad arrecare danni significativi. Racconta la singolare vita di un americano di Nome forrest Gump ,semiritardato e , da bambino poliomielitico, cui capita di avere contatti sia pure fugaci con molti grandi personaggi e di partecipare ad eventi storici nodali del suo tempo. In pratica una carrellata di 30 anni di storia americana , diciamo dal 1955 al 1985, dandone senza farci accorgere una valutazione precisa. Il film è del 1994 lo conoscono tutti per cui evito di dilungarmi nella trama. Ecco allora gli elementi di propaganda intenzionale che sono presenti nel film.

1)Forrest è descritto come gli USA vorrebbero che il mondo credesse l’americano tipico : forse poco intelligente ma onesto e ben intenzionato , candido sino all’ingenuità ; uno che se fa del male lo fa per stupidità o per eccesso di zelo ( tipo i bombardamenti”intelligenti” o le due bombe atomiche sul Giappone o le oltre cento guerre dichiarate ai vari paesi di tutte le latitudini, da quando questo paese e nato……..loro sono cosi per nulla cattivi solo un po’ bamboccioni) E’ propaganda culturale , perché l’americano tipico è l’opposto : astuto , cinico e malintenzionato , e quando fa il male — pur ridendo , come in genere — sa di farlo. Serve perché gli americani amano fare gli sprovveduti per non “pagare il dazio” . Dopo aver compiuto una delle nefandezze varie, mettiamo un colpo di stato o una strage di civili ( esempi ce ne sarebbero a iosa) sono dispostissimi a d attribuirli al loro “zelo anticomunista” forse eccessivo; a “informazioni sbagliate o incomplete” ; a “bombe intelligenti” delle quali con falsa ritrosia ammettono qualche volta i difetti: ma anche a pura e semplice dabbenaggine . Tutto pur di non dire “ABBIAMO SOVVERTITO , UCCISO perché COSI AVEVAMO PROGRAMMATO. Non dico che non esistono americani come Forrest del film. Esistono in verità , e si possono prendere a modello per un film. Frank Capra lo ha fatto molte volte . Ma averne inserito uno come protagonista di un film come questo non può non che essere una scelta precisa e maliziosa.

2)Attraverso l’abile montaggio di filmati d’epoca vediamo Forrest in contatto con i presidenti Kennedy,Johnson e Nixon . Ci sono più strati di falsità. Questi episodi sono presentati come incontri di un uomo comune con il potere incarnato , e cosi si dice implicitamente che i presidenti americani comandano.

3) I presidenti americani invece non contano proprio niente. Il potere negli USA è detenuto dall’establishment imprenditoriale , in particolare dalle multinazionali , e il presidente, è solo un impiegato incaricato di fare i loro precisi interessi nel mondo, il che è la definizione di sempre della politica estera americana. Gli USA in effetti sono UNA DITTATURA IMPRENDITORIALE . Dire o suggerire che i presidenti americani comandano è pura propaganda. Quindi si presentano i tre presidenti secondo i soliti cliché ; Kennedy idealista, democratico,benintenzionato;Jhonson populista , democratico ,benintenzionato;Nixon disonesto ,poco democratico male intenzionato ( e perciò sarebbe stato allontanato dalla carica,e cioè licenziato). Tutto falso erano dei presidenti americani e perciò erano tutti uguali , tutti dediti a fare gli interessi all’estero dell’establishment , con i soliti metodi spietati .kennedy fece uccidere Ngo Din Diem ; tentò di fare altrettanto con Castro ( per venti volte secondo quest’ultimo) ; diede impulso alla sovversione in Indocina ; fece preparare l’orrendo programma –quadro di manipolazione pscicologica di massa che fu chiamato in suo onore Camelot ( come i media americani chiamavano Kennedy, perché era nobile e senza macchia come un cavaliere della tavola rotonda ; il programma per chi non lo sapesse , THE QUARTER MAN che fu usato dalla CIA per il colpo di stato in Cile del 1973 faceva parte di Camelot) Johnson fece mettere in scena l’incidente del golfo del Tonchino e poi iniziò i bombardamenti di civili in indocina che alla fine tirate le somme , avrebbero provocato 6 milioni di morti . Nixon era come loro , appena un po’ meno simpatico , e fu licenziato solo perché aveva sancito la sconfitta nella guerra del Vietnam.

4) La sensazione della democraticità del sistema americano pervade tutto il film. Lo fa in maniera indiretta , dandola per talmente scontata da non meritare evidenziazioni . Come si è detto , gli USA non sono affatto una democrazia . Sono un sistema totalitario , che si regge sull’esclusione del voto di più della meta della popolazione e sulla repressione del dissenso . Sopra l’ho chiamata una dittatura dell’imprenditoriato , e questo è. Dire o suggerire che sono una democrazia è propaganda

5) Durante una manifestazione hippies e di neri a Washington un uomo un po’ anziano e in divisa stacca goffamente la spina del megafono dell’oratore di turno. E’ una inserzione di propaganda sublimale: suggerisce che gli eventuali boicottaggi alle manifestazioni progressiste degli anni 60 –dei pacifisti , dei figli dei fiori ,dei neri-furono dovute ad iniziative estemporanee e personali di singoli benpensanti , sia pure magari appartenenti a qualche corpo statale o federale. Abbiamo invece avuto modo di vedere a proposito del movimento dei diritti civili dei neri che si trattò di ben altro, che si trattò di una repressione ufficiale , e violentissima benché surrettizia , ordinata dal Congresso.

5) Nel film i movimenti degli hippies pacifisti o dei neri per i diritti civili sono potentemente diffamati . I loro happenings sono tutti disordine , ubriacatezza, droga e intemperanze sessuali. Non è certo la parte “buona” dell’america. La parte buona è evidenziata da Forrest , che casualmente capita in una di queste manifestazioni vestito in alta uniforme (è in licenza dal Vietnam , dove faceva il suo dovere ;mantiene la divisa perché — ci suggerisce la regia –ne è orgoglioso) . Viene proposto un party delle pantere nere ,cui partecipa Jenny l’amata di Forrest : alcol, droga e tutto il resto .Un giovane presentato come comunista , segretario di cellula ,picchia Jenny senza apparente motivo: si sa come sono i comunisti .La salva Forrest , nella sua divisa . Non sono opinioni del regista o dei produttori ; è propaganda dell’USIA.

6) Nel 1978 l’USIA ha stabilito con molta precisione come Hollywood deve rappresentare la guerra del Vietnam , sia dal punto di vista politico che tecnico-militare. Politicamente va detto , o dato per sottointeso , ch egli Usa intervennero per difendere il sud dalla minaccia comunista. Dal punto di vista militare non andavano assolutamente mostrati i bombardamenti di civili e tutta la guerra andava ridotta a una guerriglia nella foresta , con piccole pattuglie americane che si difendevano dai da proditori attacchi di elementi non in divisa .Panzane naturalmente, propaganda. Gli usa intervennero per assicurare a tutte le loro multinazionali le risorse del paese e dell’Indocina tutta ; interessavano particolarmente le foreste di alberi della gomma buoni per fare i pneumatici . I bombardamenti di civili erano quotidiani , e cosi fu per anni . E la guerra fu una classica guerra moderna, risolta non dai guerrieri Vietcong ma dalle artiglierie , e dalle divisioni corazzate, meccanizzate e di fanteria dell’esercito regolare del Vietnam del nord . E’ importante invece far credere che si sia trattato unicamente di guerriglia : si giustifica in qualche modo l’esito del conflitto .Invece ammettere una guerra regolare rivelerebbe una verità che gli usa vogliono tenere nascosta , la congenita e stupefacente debolezza delle loro forze di terra , che non sono in grado di battere nessun avversario , praticamente( nel 1968 , l’anno dell’offensiva del Tet , quando i carri armati del Vietnam del nord giunsero a Saigon , 540,000 equipaggiattissimi soldati americani appartenenti a 51 divisioni,appoggiati da una potentissima aviazione e serviti da 850.000 ascari Sudvietnamiti , avevano a che fare con il seguente avversario : 87400 regolari nord-vietnamiti ripartiti in 10 divisioni , 56000 Vietcong , altri 69000 guerriglieri sciolti , e 50800 elementi non combattenti addetti ai trasporti ,sanità propaganda e cosi via) Forrest va alla guerra in Vietnam e le sue vicende concordano con la versione USIA , COME è PER TUTTI GLI ALTRI FILM di Hollywood ,è ovvio . Non si parla dei motivi della guerra, ma se ci fosse stato qualcosa di losco l’intelligente e democratico tenete Dan lo avrebbe detto no? Quindi il combattimento a cui partecipa Forrest e tipico di quanto prescritto dall’Usia : la sua pattuglia cade in un’imboscata .Di carri armati Nordvietnamiti che avanzano in file serrate e di carri armati americani abbandonati dagli equipaggi in fuga non c’è traccia.

7)A parte come un cammeo va trattata una scena di Forrest in Vietnam. In una sequenza di pochi secondi si vede la pattuglia di F avanzare in perlustrazione col fucili spianato in una risaia , fra i contadini sud vietnamiti che rimangono chini a lavorare tranquilli sulle loro piantine , come se niente fosse .E’ una scena subliminale. Trasmette un messaggio preciso: che i contadini sud vietnamiti in generale –si fidavano degli americani , li consideravano amici e alleati. Una falsità; i sud vietnamiti , e i contadini in particolare , erano terrorizzati dai soldati usa . Basti ricordare l’episodio di May Lai , dove nel novembre 1968 la compagnia Charlie sterminò tutti gli abitanti perché nei pressi erano attivi guerrieri ; le vittime furono 500 , ed erano donne e bambini perché gli uomini erano a pesca. Esiste un filmato di tale operazione , girato da uno dei soldati .Da notare che Hollywood non ha mai tratto un film da tale episodio , che pur si presterebbe.

Analoga la scena in cui il reduce tenente Dan presenta la nuova moglie a F: nel doppiaggio italiano è definita una latino americana, ma ha i tratti somatici indocinesi , addirittura vietnamiti ( messaggio subliminale: i vietnamiti non ci tengono rancore , perchè non gli abbiamo fatto nulla di male) Nell’originale inglese la donna è definita “vietnamita”e cosi è il doppiaggio nei paesi meno evoluti.

9)Una sottile propaganda culturale è propinata da F podista .F corre a piedi per gli States senza mai dire nulla .La gente pensa che abbia qualche messaggio da comunicare e diversi giovani cominciano a trotterellargli dietro in attesa . Dopo tre anni e due mesi F si ferma ed i giovani pendono dalle sue labbra, ma lui dice “sono un pò stanchino”. penso che tornerò a casa . E’ una irrisione per coloro che attendono qualcosa dai pensatori , dagli ideologi , da tutti quelli che non ritengono soddisfacente il sistema americano e continuano a cercare. Per l’ USIA il sistema usa è perfetto e chi spera di trovare alternative è un illuso.

10) Nel film c’è un chiaro elogio al capitalismo americano . Dopo il Vietnam Forrest e il tenente Dan, uno semiritardato e l’altro senza gambe, diventano miliardari con la Budda Shrimp Company .Messaggio subliminale : sono due meritevoli e il sistema — che è giusto —- immancabilmente li premia , sia pure dopo averli fatti penare un po’. Si fa di più .Si suggerisce infatti — sempre per via sublimale – che è Dio stesso a guidare tale sistema : provoca una tempesta che elimina la flotta peschereccia della concorrenza. E’ l’dea fondamentale del Calvinismo , la religione americana : Dio fa arricchire i meritevoli , o gli insondabili prediletti , e manda a ramengo gli altri. Segue un po’ di propaganda subliminale della Apple Computers :Forrest e Dan si arricchiscono ulteriormente investendo in azioni di questa multinazionale , che diventa veicolo di positività e quindi positiva essa stessa. Diventati capitalisti consolidati i due fanno beneficenza : elargiscono donazioni alla parrocchia protestante locale, soccorrono finanziariamente la madre dell’amico nero Budda morto in Vietnam , e fondono un ospedale a Bayoula , il paesino dei pescatori di gamberetti rovinati dalla tempesta divina. .Nella vicenda è contenuta ( in via subliminale) una diffamazione dei neri : i pescatori di Bayoula ( paesino della Luisiana sul delta del Missisippi) sono tutti neri e sempre stati in miseria, ma ecco , arrivano due bianchi a fare il loro mestiere e diventano miliardari.

11) Forrest ha una vita punteggiata da contatti personali, benché fugaci con grandi personaggi pubblici : conosce Elvis Presley (cui addirittura ispira le tipiche movenze) ; incontra i presidenti J.F.K,L Jhonson e R.Nixon ( e ne innesca la caduta) partecipa casualmente ad una intervista televisiva di J. Lennon ; assiste all’attentato del governatore Wallace. Occorre in qualche modo rendere verosimile tale sequela di eventi pubblici e si ricorre ad altri strumenti sotterranei , che riguardano accettabili concatenazioni di eventi sul piano privato e predispongono ad accettare anche quello a livello pubblico . Il filo conduttore sono gli arti inferiori del corpo umano .Forrest bambino guarisce dalla poliomielite e diventa valido maratoneta .In Vietnam il tenente Dan lo ammonisce come prima cosa a tenere i piedi asciutti ( le risaie) Lo stesso tenente perde proprio le gambe .Il collegamento con la sfera pubblica avviene con il governatore Wallace , rimasto paralizzato nell’attentato , e su una sedia a rotelle , come il tenente Dan. Il tenete alla fine cammina con delle protesi che richiamano gli apparecchi portati da Forrest bambino.

12) Ma questa la lascio trovare a voi………vi do giusto un suggerimento. Andate a vedere la biografia di una certa Jean Seberg ( attrice assai nota negli usa ma anche in Europa ) e confrontatela con la figura di Jenny Curran l’amata di Forrest e vi stupirete delle analogie tra le due……………………

Molti lettori Italiani potranno obiettare di non aver mai sentito parlare della Seberg.Può darsi, ma altri si

Ci sono paesi poi dove la vicenda ebbe un eco maggiore che in Italia , inducendo strascichi più lunghi nella memoria .In Francia ad esempio e senz’altro negli USA. Non tutti i critici cinematografici europei inoltre sono come quelli italiani , o come Paolo Limiti odoratore di Hollywood e delle sue bionde star del passato ben si guarda dal citare anche minimamente la vicenda “ Seberg” .Povera Jean Seberg .Le diffamazioni dell’FBI la uccisero .Ora anche le diffamazioni di Hollywood pesano sulla sua tomba.

Giusto per solleticare la vostra curiosità fate qualche ricerca sul programma : COINTELPRO, oppure su qualche nome del tipo Huey Newton, Abbie Hoffaman, Bobby Seale, Holly Maddox o sul quel “ buon uomo” di Robert Maheu e della sua passione per certi filmetti pornografici ( ne sa qualcosa , sua malgrado il compianto M.L.King) e se non bastasse il “buon uomo” si ripete anche nei confronti del presidente dell’indonesia Sukarno e della cantante Eartha Kitt. Ma si sa …è tutto roba fatta in buonafede e che diamine !!

Transcripcion del reportaje telefonico a David de Proyecto Camelot en PDF

• Después de estas entrevistas, abajo del todo hay a más de David Wilckoc ,el proyecto camelot , libros pdf, documentales…

Primera entrevista.

9 Septiembre 2008

B: Algo que me he preguntado antes y me pregunto si te lo habras planteado tambien. Solo quiero comentarlo entre nosotros. Hace un tiempo, cuando Putin dio una entrevista sin precedentes en la CNN , ¿Por que crees que no se limpio con informacion mas sorprendente?… ¿Es que no seria el momento y esto va a salir mas tarde?… Esa es mi pregunta.D: Pienso que estas en lo correcto. Hay un gran interes en no mostrar el contenido del sombrero demasiado pronto, porque con lo que realmente estamos lidiando – y esto enlaza con el testimonio de Benjamin Fulford y por lo tanto con la orientacion de tu pregunta inicial – es que existe una division en el Partido nazi que ocurrio cuando Hitler decidio ir en contra de los Rothschild durante la Segunda Guerra Mundial. Mato a todo el mundo en todas las logias Masonicas en toda Europa. El literalmente cometio genocidio con las logias Masonicas. Mucha gente no sabe esto. Hay un sitio web por ahi – que va a estar en mi articulo – Creo que si escriben en Google “Scarlet y la Bestia ” lo encontraran, pero voy a tener los vinculos en mi articulo. Este hombre ha hecho una investigacion realmente sorprendente, que incluye el hecho de que Hitler esencialmente elimino a todas las logias masonicas, porque sabia que era la unica organizacion que tenia suficiente secreto y suficiente motivo para ser capaz de organizarse para derrotarlo…seguir leyendo, clic aquí.

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David Wilcock es una de las más interesantes personas que está haciendo un serio intento de explicar los rápidos cambios que el mundo está atravesando hoy en día. Aunque polémicas, sus opiniones son bien pensadas, profundas, y respaldadas por una gran cantidad de datos científicos.

Entrevistamos a David sobre el tema de la Ascensión y el “cambio” energético – un cambio que viene, de acuerdo a Wilcock y otros, como Gregg Braden, que involucrará no sólo a los individuos, sino a nuestro planeta, nuestro Sistema Solar, y de la propia Galaxia.

Con el fin de prepararnos para esta información, David comienza con la historia de la Creación. Podemos creer o no. Ciertamente, no puede ser “documentada” en forma habitual. Sin embargo, le sugerimos que se reserve el juicio hasta que lo haya leído y haya absorbido la increíble, demostrable, a hechos científicos de lo que está ocurriendo en nuestro Sistema Solar y el planeta Tierra….Leer mas

- Wynn Free (visita su sitio web en WynnFree.com).

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• David Wilcock;

todo sobre el 2012 y más..

Contenidos

• 2012 El retorno al proyecto Camelot
• Camino de ascensión
• El enigma del 2012 y la glandula pineal
• El lado brillante del 2012
• El 2012 y las razas que nos visitan
• Rafapal hablando sobre el 2012
• Mensaje de Jessica Mystic para el Mundo

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• Leer, si le interesan las hipótesis de la existencia de razas extraterrestres …

Anonimo-Los-Reptilianos

EL mayor secreto (David Ike)

La cuarta dimension-Bob-Frissell

• ¿Existen poderes ocultos? ¿Un gobierno tras la sombra?

• PROGRAMA ESPACIAL SECRETO

• Informe Maniqui- James Casbolt

• William Cooper explica que son los Iluminati

• Entrevista a David Wicock

Ver video referente a la entrevista…Click aquí

• Transcripcion del reportaje telefonico a David de Proyecto Camelot

• Fuentes;http://projectcamelot.org
• Foro;http://projectavalon.net

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• Documentales

Ingeniería inversa- Hangar 18

Nuestro pasado extraterrestre

Las profecías del 2012 reveladas

Los Rayos de los dioses: El Universo Eléctrico

Club Bilderberg.

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También existe la posibilidad de un contacto ficticio con seres extraterrestres..Y por si acaso se presentan(los ETs) estén prevenidos, pues ya nos avisaron diciendo que otros vendrían en mi nombre…paciencia, discernimiento y ante todo buen corazón, para que este sea nuestro guía…finalmente llegaran los tiempos de paz real…

Lease proyecto Blue  Beam:

Proyecto Blue Beam

Publicado el 27/10/2009 por lukranaxem

HAY UNA AGENDA PARA CONVENCER A LAS OVEJAS ,
OSEA NOSOTROS , DE LA AMENAZA DE UNA INVASIÓN EXTRATERRESTRE .
PARA  INSTAURAR UN GOBIERNO MUNDIAL EN POCOS AÑOS.

VEAMOS EL SIGUIENTE VIDEO SUBTITULADO Y LO QUE DESCUBRIÓ EN SUS INVESTIGACIONES QUE LO LLEVARON A LA MUERTE…Leer más

Bibiana Bryson

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Bibiana Bryson

• Libros de espiritualidad.

Manual Completo Relajacion

Visualización+creativa.

La ciencia de la naturaleza

Trabajadores+de+la+Luz

La Pirámide de Fuego

Secreto revelado

Video;

A.D.N. y Geometría Sagrada

Las nueve revelaciones y el principio de sincronicidad

I loved you once in silence . . .

Yes, today has been one of the most lonely days I believe I have lived through in a long time. Memories, memories of Camelot long since gone. Camelot revisited. A broken heart today. Much the same heart I’m sure Caroline Kennedy feels as well. We both have lost our “Sweet Camelots” over the last few years of our lives.

For those not aware, today is the anniversary of the death of President John F. Kennedy. How do I remember this date, especially being that I am so stinking horrible with history? Because this date is also my mother’s birthday. She turned 78 today. Not that she probably even had an idea it was her birthday or the anniversary of the assasination of President Kennedy.

For years I was so close to my grandparents, and so hurt I was left behind when my mother remarried, that I would only allow myself to love her in silence. Why? I would ask myself this question many times? I guess I will never know. I did not choose to ask my grandparents, and I would not ask my mother either. A few sessions of counseling helped me realize where the distance came between my precious mother and I.

Not until she became so ill in December 2008, and I spent much time at the hospital and ER with her, did I realize how very, very much she loved me. I believe she felt leaving me with my grandparents I loved was not only for my happiness, but also probably for my safety from my abusive biological father. She knew as long as I was with my grandfather, no harm would ever come to me. I now believe her decision was a self-less act of love . . . isn’t it sad only old age makes us so much wiser?

Did I get to see her today? No, I did not. I have not been able to go see her because of this stinking accident I had in July, and then today because of this horrible cold. I could not risk giving her, or another elderly patient at the nursing home, this cold.

I still have my mother with me, but I might as well not. Dementia has taken over her mind, and I’m not even sure she will know me when I do get to see her. She lives a real Camelot fantasy life with each remaining day of her life. She does not even realize I almost died in July at the hospital.

Mom and Lady — Lady looks like my Tinkerbell

I miss those crazy calls several times a day, I miss the hugs as I would leave from visiting her, I miss the homecooked meals I shared with her, I miss that twinkle in her eyes when she talked about her two grandsons and her great-grandchildren, I even miss her love for that crazy doll collection . . . my heart misses her so much it hurts.

Yes, John and Caroline lost their precious father on November 22nd many years ago, but I lost my precious mother today. Both were Camelot lost, and both died from loss of their brains. One went fast, but the one I love is going slowly.

Mom, happy birthday, I do love you. I wish I had realized it many, many years ago! How I wish I could go back in time to those days of Camelot again, but now I can only have memories of Camelot Revisited.

Yes, that is me in the zoo picture with my mother. I would love to be skinny like that again too! I had to make you laugh at the end. Thanks for reading and allowing me to share my deepest feelings on this lonely November 22nd, 2009.

“We flung wide our prison door. . . And now we have twice the pain than we had known before” . . . What a poetic way of describing the pain that is love . . .

King Arthur: But even the thought, “I’m not thinking a thought” is thinking, isn’t it?
Merlyn: Yes, and thinking is the sort of thing you should get into the habit of doing as often as possible. It’s best in everything, except love.

Five months ago, we ruminated about “Unallot,” the magical fiscal fiefdom created by Governor Tim Pawlenty.

“Don’t let it be forgot
That once there was a spot,
For one brief, shining moment
That was known as Unallot.”

In the magical kingdom of Unallot, a Governor who feigns surprise about huge deficits that have been forecasted and publicly discussed for months can effectively dub himself a King who is free to unilaterally dictate budgets without involving the co-equal branch of government that is constitutionally authorized to appropriate funds.

Well, today, the Minnesota House voted along party lines to support a lawsuit that would unallow Unallot, setting up a consitutional showdown that now has national political implications. The lawsuit also impacts thousands of vulnerable Minnesotans. Finally, I’d argue, the lawsuit will also affect future Repubican legislators who could be be flattened by future DFL Governors taking up residence in Unallot.

“Unallot! Unallot!
I know it gives a person pause,
But in Unallot, Unallot
Are those really the legal laws?”

In short, the third co-equal branch of government, the judiciary, will soon decide whether the gubernatorial kingdom of Unallot is real, or make believe.

- Loveland

The wreath is the means of fastening the crest to the helmet. The crest is placed above the helmet. When an artist depicts a shield with the crest above it on the wreath but the latter not attached to the helmet, he is guilty of an heraldic no-no. The crest cannot be airborne as though independent of the rest of the coat of arms. The wreath was of silk with a cord twisted round it and the crest was fastened upon it. The modern practice is to show the wreath in the alternate colors of the shield, usually the primary metal and primary color. 

The crest itself is perhaps the most well known of all the parts of a coat of arms. Crests were very rudimentary things at one time, probably made of leather or light wood. The wonderful crests of modern times would have been out of place in medieval warfare. One Burmese knight has a Chinese pagoda as his crest. In other cases there are sailing ships in full sail as crests and all sorts of strange and unusual bearings. The origin of the crest is not easy to determine, but there is something to be said for the idea that it came from the sport of the jousting tournament. Tournament jousting was an expensive business and only the wealthier families could afford to partake. The loser had to give up his armor and horse to the victor. In one case, that of Prince Edward, later King Edward I, he was only able to participate in a tornament after his mother pawned some of her Jewelry to pay for his equipment. In Germany there was a ceremony known as the Helm Schau ( Crest Show) when the squires of the knights participating in the tournament carried their masters helmets on display so that all could see the crests.

Seymour M. Hersh’s The Dark Side of Camelot is an investigative tour de force. Delving into the Kennedy legacy, Hersh traces the dark alley dealings of three generations of Kennedy men, focusing on brothers John “Jack” and Robert “Bobby” Kennedy. What emerges is not so much a story of uncovered scandal, but a richly psychological portrait of a gifted man burdened by familial obligations and personal pressures. Strengthened by interviews from the people engaged in Kennedy’s every move, this testament to journalism elucidates the high costs of politics.

Now, I’m fullly aware that the whole games industry is based up ripping each other off, but usually they try and do it a little bit tactfully. When it comes to the point that one company is making a retarded version of another’s game, then perhaps it’s time someone called them up on it?

If you’ve used the internet at all in the last few months, then you’ll probably have seen adverts for Evony. You know, the one with the boobs? Yeah, you know it. And if you don’t, then here’s a link. Knock yourself out.

http://www.evony.com/

Don’t get me wrong, Evony isn’t a bad game. I enjoyed it, for the various times I could be bothered to play it. But that’s because I’m sad and I like the sense of achievement you get from very slowly creating something to try and be better than everyone else, then realising it’s the same as everyone elses. But that’s not the point here.

If you have Facebook, and you keep up to date with new game/application things that come along to irritate people and waste time, then you may have noticed this:

http://apps.facebook.com/kingdomsofcamelot/

Now, there’s ripping off, and then there’s exactly the same. “Kingdoms of Camelot” is in every aspect the same as Evony, even down to at some points paraphasing and others pratically copy-pasting descriptions from Evony to add to buildings with different names.

If you’ve played Evony, you’ll know the drill of what’s going on here. It’s a real-time building type MMORPG thing. You build a city, it takes a long time, you train troops and attack other people’s time-consuming constructions and gain status and power and you join alliances and blah blah.

I know I’m making it sound like I don’t like it again. But I really do. Not because it’s good or anything. Mainly because it’s got the balls to keep using 2D graphics in a world so obsessed with 3D. I’d talk at length about good 2D is better than shitty 3D, but a) I can’t be bothered right now. And b) Yahtzee beat me to it.

Anyway..

That’s the two Map screens. Yes, on both games it’s called the Map screen. And then both have a Map screen. And every other screen. The same. Oh God.

So, if you’re a fan of Evony, and faniced playing a worse version of it with a severe graphical downgrade on Facebook, then you know where to look.

Enjoy yourself, you weirdo.

Let’s face it, this music release season has been one album-cover-bomb after another.

I guess everyone reaches a point in their career where they just don’t care what they do anymore; however, when every singer nationwide reaches that point at the same time, people start to notice (and care). We had high hopes for Miss Alicia Keys, but here she is looking medieval chic.

*stifles laughter*

First of all Alicia, thanks for putting your name prominently on the album because if wasn’t there, we’re not so sure we’d recognize you.

Second of all, why did you decide to dress up like a high fashion version of Lancelot? I suppose he did fight for freedom, which goes with your theme, but there are so many other less dated freedom fighters to choose from. Like Martin Luther King or Mother Teresa or Kirstie Alley (we love you, Kirstie).

The doves are a cheesey touch. Period. They represent freedom, we get it, but let’s be a little less cliche. You’re bejeweled head gear is OOC, and the chastity belt might be sending the wrong message, don’t you think? We miss the ghetto Alicia that just sat at the piano and belted out power ballads. No flowy togas, no million dollar swim caps, no birds. Just you tickling the ivories while we watch it over and over again on YouTube. That’s what we call perfection in a 3 minute video.

Bahaha Camelot joke. Man, I do miss that play sometimes. We had fun. It was an awful play and we didn’t ever have it together until the last night and even then were forgetting our lines and skipping things, but it was good. ONWARD!

So, today there was a write in and it was fantabulous. I’m AHEAD on my goal for the day, which is INSANE!!! and I feel great about it.  Actually I just beat my word goal for TOMORROW! I’m now at 13,790 words. Hopefully I can keep up ahead of the game this week, but it IS nice to have some slack. I never thought that I would be in this place. But today with the write in and tons of word wars, I am doing great! Sorry my post for today blows, but I’ve used all my writing skills on my novel for the day.

Highlight of the day? You ask. Your confident answer is: Plum tea from Sipping Streams. Yum.

BroadwayWorld recently published an interview with Michael Kunze about his musical adaptation of Rebecca, which is aiming for an English language transfer to the a major commercial centre like the West End or Broadway. Kunze takes great pains to try and distinguish his work from traditional Broadway fare, so let’s take what he says, put it under a microscope and see if it holds up. The boxed sections below are all quotations from the interview.

The dramamusical is a tool to make clear that this is not a typical Broadway-type musical, which is more a musical-comedy. In what I do, we do drama with music. The way I write the shows is that I basically write the drama, of course with the music in mind, but the music is something that comes next, like a movie. The music is a very important element, but the most important element of the drama is the story, so the music really serves the story, and the music doesn’t really have a right in its own beside the story, like a number that is just made for the music and the dance.

Huh? It seems that Mr Kunze hasn’t seen any musical since 1926. He doesn’t seem to be aware of – for example – Show Boat, South Pacific, Sweeney Todd, Marie Christine, The Light in the Piazza. He doesn’t seem to be aware that musical theatre in the American tradition extends beyond the tradition of musical comedy that was dominant until the 1940s, but which made way for the Rodgers and Hammerstein musical play, in which music is most certainly in the service of the drama and for the various forms of the concept musical, in which the music is often related most clearly to the ideas that are being communicated in the show from the very moment of its inception. Even if we look at the musical comedies that have appeared after the Rodgers and Hammerstein revolution, many are far more integrated than their counterparts in the 1920s and 1930s. So I’m left to wonder whether this is a case of ignorance or self-importance.

It really isn’t something that I’ve invented. Jesus Christ Superstar [and] the other Andrew Lloyd Webber stuff, if you exclude Cats, follows the same kind of basic idea. Well, Andrew would never say that the music only serves the story, but that’s what it really is. He uses the music to tell the story, and that’s what all dramamusicals do.

All right, so he seems to know something about British musical theatre and deems it of a high enough standard to rank alongside his “dramamusicals”. But is it true of Andrew Lloyd Webber’s musicals that the music serves the story? Without engaging in an elaborate discussion on the matter, I’d be willing to bet that there is at least one example in each of the Lloyd Webber musicals where the music does not serve the drama fully. Off the top of my head – and to keep in line with the example Kunze himself cites – there’s “King Herod’s Song” in Jesus Christ Superstar, although the newer, rock-flavoured arrangement does help its cause somewhat. So it seems that perhaps the music does not need a particularly profound dramatic agency for it to serve the drama in these “dramamusicals”, which of course contradicts Kunze’s original thesis, that ‘the music doesn’t really have a right in its own beside the story’. What other purpose does a song like “You Can Get Away With Anything” in The Woman in White, for example, have if it doesn’t really serve the character and the humour comes not from the lyrics but from a pair of rats that clamber in and out of the actor’s costume? Or is Kunze saying that the music in a case like this still serves a dramatic purpose, even though the song as a whole is a failure because of the lyrics?

I think all the shows that concentrate on a dramatic story are dramamusicals. Billy Elliot is a dramamusical. Wicked is a dramamusical. I just want to distinguish where theatre is more theatrical than in a classical Broadway musical which is based on the vaudeville tradition, on dance, on spectacular things happening, and this is not what I look for…. I think (Wicked is) a milestone in the development of the musical, because in the history of the musical, this show will be regarded as the first one that really combines the European tradition with the Broadway tradition.

Now I’m just beginning to chuckle. Wicked being taken as a prime example where the music exists in service of the drama? The book of Wicked was forced to fit in with Stephen Schwartz’s ideas regarding the way the story should be told. The book in its best moments is competent, but completely falls to pieces in the second act, completely ignoring the very concept that Maguire had in the first place: to fill in the gaps of the story behind The Wonderful Wizard of Oz without contradicting the basic mythology in that particular book in the series and its iconic movie musical adaptation and thereby offer a different perspective on the story. Winnie Holzman, spurred on by Schwartz, creates a story that prides itself in tying itself all up very neatly, but it does so with little sense of logic and the songs that punctuate the book become less and less credible as dramatic building blocks as we speed towards the final curtain. This doesn’t even begin to engage with ideas around the way the music is orchestrated, which separates it out even further from the given circumstances of the show. It doesn’t even work to access the show from the perspective of post-modern deconstruction, which is surely the very point of creating a musical of this nature, because the choices are so inconsistent – and in contradiction to Kunze’s view on the show, constructed around “spectacular things happening” rather than on any firm set of dramaturgical principles. Perhaps Wicked is a milestone, but it’s not one that develops musical theatre as an art form. In what is commercial, yes; in what is popular, sure. In what artistically successful and dramatically compelling; most certainly not. And I’m still not clear on what specifically European musical theatre traditions are incorporated into this hybrid form, but based on what Kunze has said about the “dramamusical”, I’m convinced they do more harm than good.

I believe in drama as the key entertainment in theatre, and I think I’m not the only one who does. I didn’t even invent the name dramamusical, that was invented by a journalist. I just think it’s more European because I think the tradition of opera with the highly dramatic stories lent more to that kind of art-form, and I think that also our audiences in Europe, and I really include here in England, are more interested in going to theatre and have a real theatrical experience, a real emotional experience at last, not just an entertaining evening, but something they can discuss after the show.

Well, at least Kunze displays some humility by admitting that he did not come up with the idea of a dramatically integrated musical. I wonder who the journalist who coined the term is; I’d love to have a look at what he has to say about this potent new musical theatre form he has identified….

The comparison with opera that follows is not one that works for Kunze’s argument either. Opera by its nature is led by the music; it is music theatre rather than musical theatre and, as long as it is technically well-performed, opera often manages to be excused in its shortcomings as drama. This is, of course, a generalisation as there are operas, particularly those that are more contemporary that do integrate dramatic aspects more successfully into the theatrical whole and certainly even many traditional operas have a strong narrative and thematic thrust – but they are still led first and foremost by the music, hence the prominence of the composer and the conductor in any discussion of any opera.

Then we get to what effect Kunze believes a musical should have on its audience. In his eyes, musicals like Wicked, The Phantom of the Opera and his own shows offer a rare, real emotional experience that delivers a sense of enlightenment hitherto unseen in the musical theatre canon and one to which the American musical theatre tradition holds no claim. Clearly, he’s never heard of Carousel, Cabaret or Pacific Overtures. Obviously, there is no such experience to be had in Camelot, Follies, Fiddler on the Roof.

I’ve never really engaged with Kunze’s musicals, but his work must be truly phenomenal if it is what he implies they are: impeccable examples of musicals in which all other elements are in service to the drama. I must get my hands on Elisabeth, Tanz der Vampire or this impending masterpiece of the musical stage, Rebecca, and see for myself – but they had better live up to the high expectations that Kunze has created for them….

Ya tenemos la confirmacion oficial:

KND VA ESTAR EN EL EVENTO DE COMICS Y ANIME DEL AÑO!

ANIMATE 2009!

Nos presentamos el:

Domingo 22 de Noviembre

A las 15:30 hs

Les dejo la info oficial:

It’s amazing how a single bullet, a magic bullet if you will, can change the course of history. It can turn the kids into the adults and vice versa. As Trudy Campbell said, “I don’t care what your politics are, this is America, and you can’t just shoot the President!” If only that were true, Trudy. But adults can say a lot of things when they’re living their lives in front of the TV, either in the office, in the living room at home, or in the hotel room after your nooner, and last night’s episode of Mad Men, “The Grown-Ups” showed that better than anything. So let’s go back, and to the left, as we talk about the birth and death of marriages and the day that the 60s really began…

August Bravo: Dia de los Mad Men! And the whole country’s drinking…

Marco Sparks: I loved the beginning of this episode, the first image there of Pete curled up on his office couch, squeezed tightly into a fetal position, waiting for a woman to bring him warm nourishment. Only that hot cocoa was instant, made with water instead of milk!

August: Watching last night’s episode really made me like Trudy. She’s certainly a trophy wife, yes, but she’s always by Pete’s side.

Marco: On this show, she’s the definition of “devotion.” I mean, she was this close to sleeping with an old paramour to help Pete get a short story published in… what was it? Highlights For Children? Fitting.

August: It’s probably women like her that made that decade what it was, for better and for worse. Am I envious of Pete here, just a little? I sure am.

Marco: I have to say it’s a joy to watch Alison Brie, who plays Trudy, on Community.

August: And now we go back to Pete. We all knew he wouldn’t get that job, right? We all wanted him to not get that job. At least I didn’t want to.

Marco: Because you’re the vice president, treasurer, and refreshments organizer of Team Cosgrove, aren’t you?

August: I think Ken really did deserve it. Maybe.

Marco: We really have no idea since we never actually saw him doing his job. He was mostly just showing up to ask him people to go get a drink with him or riding lawn mowers into the office.

August: He never really stressed about it. He was just Cool Hand Luke about it, like, all of the time.

Marco: Poor Pete. People saw him working, so they assumed he was working. They saw Cosgrove chillaxing with that stupid grin and “that haircut,” they just assumed he had everything under control.

I wonder if this is the last time we’ll see Duck, abandoning his sexual conquest of Peggy temporarily (I love her roommate asking why she was with him if he’s not married) to call his kids.

August: Time to get down to business…

Marco: And Jackie turned to Jack Jack and said, “Mr. President, You can’t say that Dallas doesn’t love you…”

August: We all knew it would happen this season…

Marco: Weiner said he wasn’t sure we’d see it this year, or how in depth it’d be covered, and yet, this was the defining moment of this season, and the moment so strongly hinted and foreshadowed this whole year, with Roger’s daughter’s wedding date and the constant references to Dallas.

August: Yeah, we all knew it would happen. Maybe in next week’s episode, I think some of us were thinking, but we knew it was going to happen. Hell, it already did happen. Kennedy is dead.

Marco: I love the constant use of news footage, of the characters literally trapped in those moments, time brought to a standstill as they can hear the beats of their own fucked up, broken hearts. And especially poignant with the deaths of Ted Kennedy and Walter Cronkite in the past few months, too.

August: And Lee Harvey Oswald is dead too.

Marco: Who cares about justice when you can just hand the situation over to the mafia.

August: I love the moment that everyone finds out about it, the way the phone calls are ringing off the hook throughout the entire building, going unanswered, and then, all of a sudden, they stop. Silence everywhere. It’s both what you’d least expect and exactly what you expect.

Marco: And in strolls Don Draper, just a few seconds late to a scene, as he seems to be in every scene in this episode, asking, “What the hell’s going on?”

Actually, the scene with Harry Crane and Pete is what I loved about the actual finding out of what happened in Texas. The TV’s on in the background, broadcasting a special bulletin and they’re whining about their jobs. Pete’s complaining like a sad little kid and Harry’s trying to sound like a mature adult. And then the hilariously ironic line: “I’m going to die at this desk unnoticed.”

August: Man, Roger is just so unhappy. His kid of a wife can’t control herself. And neither can Roger. Calling Joan while his wife number whatever is passed out drunk next to him. That takes guts. And I don’t think Roger even cares anymore.

Marco: What a long, strange journey it’s been since the party in “My Old Kentucky Home,” both of which were thrown by Roger, both of which involved Betty having an encounter of sorts with Henry Francis from the Governor’s office, and both ending with Jane passing out from “not eating enough” with her booze.

Did you notice that Jane constantly reiterates that she’s “a good person?”

Except now this is a world where a President has been killed and Roger can’t find the jokes in the face of this true, uncertain horror. At the end of last season it was the Cuban Missile Crisis and the end of the world. This is worst. This is what happens after. This is the real world and it’s time to be grown ups.

But, man, Joan is the saving grace of this show always. If next season involves the Brits having sold Sterling Cooper to Duck’s company, I can only hope they get Joan back. Also, I think it’s fair to point out that in Roger’s life, to take Pryce’s words as metaphor, Jane is Ken Cosgrove and Joan is Pete Campbell.

August: Oh?

Marco: Don’t start writing Roger/Pete slash fiction just yet. I just mean that Jane made Roger feel young, like he was invincible, and everything was easy and there was no work required to achieve his needs. And it’s because the women he wanted wanted someone else. But Roger would have to work to be worthy of Joan and he knows it. And it means he’d have to acknowledge that there’s something he desires so passionately in this world.

We can only hope for good things when Dr. McRapist gets his legs blown off in ‘Nam, all Born On The Fourth Of July-style.

August: Man, this whole episode. No one cares about their own lives. Not unless they’re on the TV. In fact, for the first time the only person who does care is Don. Everyone’s focused on the President, or lack thereof, the wedding, their promotion/de facto demotion, a certain busty redhead, or a Governor’s aide. Everyone’s mind wanders. Their wants and needs. Everything just means nothing anymore.

Marco: The things you thought were important? Turns out they weren’t, not really.

August: Watching Betty kiss that guy made me die just a little inside. It really did.

Marco: I liked the little bits leading up to that. No, Don, while it may be good for the family, a family drive isn’t going to fix things. Not when they’re determined to be broken.

But the actual shot of Betty’s car joining Henry’s in the middle of the nowhere? Interesting. Added with that music, it felt like a very Hitchcock-ian thing for a few moments there. That said, I don’t know that Betty would be all that great as one of Hitchcock’s famous icy blondes. Well, maybe.

August: I was watching that scene and I kept thinking, “Hey, asshole, that’s Don’s wife!” You can’t do that. And she can’t do that! But the lies are finally starting to get to her.

Marco: Sneaky of them last week to think that maybe she had been won over by Don taking the mask off to reveal the inner Dick Whitman hidden beneath. But now he can never put that mask back on.

I really can only see Henry Francis as a plot device rather than as a character. Mostly because that’s what he is, a shade of something, an element to draw out parts of Betty, to wake her up.  But do you think that, by this point in the story now, he and Betty have slept together? I mean, he’s proposing marriage to this not so happily married mother of three, so wouldn’t they have to have? Silly little religious aspects aside, how realistic  is entering a marriage/serious relationship with no time in the lab testing sexual chemistry?

August: Ah, I don’t know. Mostly, I don’t think she’ll leave Don. I don’t see it as realistic. I think this goes back to how they toy with our expectations and our grasp on the dramatic tension. We think she will, but she won’t.

And WTF was that faux proposal? Betty could not have taken it seriously. I really hope not. If you’re tired of being shackled by your husbands lies, then another man is not going to necessarily be the answer. I guess that was just the best available 1960s pick up line.

Marco: Also, had to love her response to him asking why the kids were being allowed to watch the Kennedy assassination coverage: “What am I supposed to do, Don? Am I supposed to keep it from them?” It took me a moment to really feel how subtle but powerful Betty’s weapons were in that scene.

But I think she wants to feel something other than helpless, or maybe just something in general. And that moment as she was watching Oswald get shot, it was almost like she herself had been shot. I think people complain about January Jones’ acting ability, like when her ex-boyfriend Ashton Kutcher advises her to give up the craft, but I think she’s perfect as Betty.

August: And then there’s Don, trying to be a better guy? A better husband? Maybe. I think Don’s trying to work it out in a way. And maybe that scares Betty a little? All the staying home, the taking care of baby Gene in the middle of the night, the trying to care.

Marco: If this is Don’s reaction to having to finally lay all his cards out on the table, Betty can only be wondering what he was really up to all those times he was supposed to be working.

August: Is Betty going to become the new Don Draper? After all, if Don Draper can be someone else, why can’t she?

Marco: Ooh, I’d watch that show. Part of me is starting to think that if these two were to actually grow up… well, it may not be together.

And I liked Sally’s continued role as watcher in this episode, first glued to the television as things that she may not yet understand in the country, but then taking the both boiling and freezing cold temperature in the kitchen and living rooms, the atmospheric changes between her parents.

August: “I kissed you yesterday and I didn’t feel a thing.” This has to be affecting someone other than just me. Hearing lines like that, which I have before, just makes one cringe. It cuts into the heart of you. And Don. Just sitting there. In confinement. In the dark. What does he do? What can he do? His own wife doesn’t love him and the words don’t come to him so that he can fix it.

Marco: Again, I think for everyone who’s complained that this season has gone by slowly and just dragged, I would point out A) how much character developments/moments we witnessed within this episode, and not just with a few characters, but spread across the spectrum of the cast. Everyone shined. And B) again, I would use this as a yardstick compared to “My Old Kentucky Home.” Everyone’s changed. Everything’s different now.

August: And there goes Trudy again. Was that a motivational speech? Trying to get him up and go? Who does that? Only trophy wives. Only Trudy.

Marco: Trudy is a trophy prize that Pete has never quite earned. But again, look at the differences and the things that are the same about them from then til now. In “My Old Kentucky Home,” they were the power couple, working together, trying to impress their elders, putting on the dance and show. And now, they’re unified together on that couch, stronger together. The most telling moment is when Trudy, so beautiful in her blue dress, takes off her dancing shoes and sits back on the couch with her husband, the man stuck in the fetal position at the start  of the episode and who is now finally starting to sound like an adult.

August: And then there’s the refuge of an empty office. Except for Peggy, the woman hard at work.

Marco: Perhaps because Don and Peggy are essentially the same? And I think they both realize that that Aqua Net ad is just fucked now in the face of Kennedy’s death.

August: I thought this episode would be a lot more. I mean, it was everything it was supposed to be. And so much more. I just envisioned something entirely different.

Marco: And maybe that’s why it was so good?

August: Maybe. And seriously, they can’t give me a good preview for next week’s episode?

Marco: Oh, that preview is genius. Just clips from over the course of this season. Mad Men is a show drifting up the river of history that’s already gone by and sometimes you can only look back at what you’ve already seen and done and just guess what’s next. What happens next could be anything. And whatever you think it is, it’ll be something else, but you’ve got to be prepared. Sitting in the dark while you wait for the dawn to come is just part of being a grown up.

So, currently I have a reading list that is three books long. And they are all pretty thick. The list is currently:

The Mists of Avalon

Sepulchure

The Fire

And I’m probably going to go backwards. The Fire is the book that I am halfway through at the moment and the only book that I haven’t read before. It is the sequel to The Eight, which I read around the time that Da Vinci Code came out. It’s a really cool story because it tells the tale of a nun during the French Revolution and a woman in 1972 and they are both searching for the a legendary chess set, called the Montglane Service, a service that belong to Charlemagne. The Fire is similar, following the original main character’s daughter in 2003 and another young woman in 1822. At first, I didn’t like it because one of the original characters was killed in the Prologue. However, the title The Fire and the image of the firebird on the cover has me thinking that maybe death is not permanent. What is also fascinating about the sequel is that it follows the other team. The Eight followed the Black Team in Chess, where The Fire follows the White Team. After reading the first book, I thought that The White Team was the “bad” team, so now I am terribly confused. I think it might be more about power and keeping it out of the wrong hands. But like I said, I’m only halfway through and I’ve having trouble finding time to finish it and read the other two books and everything else in my life.

The Mists of Avalon is the next book that I am working through. I don’t know what put it in my head to read this, but I felt the sudden need to read this book again. I love anything magical and different, so the different idea of Morgaine not being the villianess is really interesting. And I became a little obsessed with the Knights of the Round Table, even putting them into my fanfiction “Not What I Agreed To”. But I have a little trouble getting through this book because the heavy themes, particularly the Christianity vs. The Old Ways of Druids and Priestesses. Both sides have their intolerances and often compel be to put the book down, because it starts to make my head hurt. And even though I know what happens to Arthur, Morgaine and the rest of the Court of Camelot, I still dread reading forward a bit, because I feel bad for them. Their lives were manipulated by destiny and I wonder if they were ever really had any say in the matter. It’s kind of a heavy read, so it helps me that the story is a well known one. It gives me the oppurtunity to focus on the themes and issues and not so much on the story. It doesn’t mean I don’t dislike many of the characters on occasion. Humans are not gods and dieties to play with lives the way that some of the characters do.

And third, Sepulchre, is another story that takes place in two different timelines. I’ve already read it and really enjoy it, more than Kate Mosse’s first book Labyrinth (and feel free to laugh about that one). Part of my draw to this book is that fact that I would really like to learn Tarot and the plot has a lot to do with Tarot and a particular deck and what it means to this family in the two generations. It is also about family and how far people are willing to go to protect their blood, even if it means making a deal with the Devil. There’s a lot going on in this book too, with the families and the way that everything ties together, enemies and villians, the Tarot deck and even a question of the Devil. I’m not reading it at the moment (I just got it from the Library) and some of the details are fuzzy, but it was a really good read the first time around, even if there is a lot of tragedy in the one woman’s life. Fate turns it around and makes things work out in the present day.

Yeah, I don’t do things by halves. When I decide the there is something I need to read, I go all out. And all three boks are awesome and worthwhile reads. And when I’m done with them, I hope to start working on my next personal project. I have a character who I would like to write about, but I’m having a little trouble working out the details about her story and where her life is going to go. So another distraction wouldn’t be turned down. If anyone has suggestions for reading books, I’ll take ‘em.

Happy Reading!

“Sometimes the only plausible vacation is found by venturing into the past.”

Stanton’s Sheet Music receives many inquiries from customers who “just got put in charge of the school musical” and want to know where to start. Although MANY choral/band directors and drama teachers are also expected to direct musicals, it seems that most college courses skip right over this topic. One of your first steps will be to decide upon the musical you’d like to stage. While Stanton’s does sell Broadway vocal collections, choral/band arrangements and other musical theater products including most Broadway Junior productions, we CANNOT contract the licensing rights that give you legal permission to perform the work—for that you must contact the appropriate licensing company. Some of the largest licensing companies are:

Musical Theater International
Since its founding in 1952, MTI has been supplying musical materials to theatres worldwide, whether it is the newest hit from the Broadway or London stage, or a timeless classic. MTI has been a driving force in cultivating new work and in extending the production life of the great American musicals such as Guys and Dolls, West Side Story, Fiddler On The Roof, Les Misérables, Annie, Damn Yankees, The Music Man, Godspell, Little Shop Of Horrors, and the musical theatre collection of Stephen Sondheim, among others.

Rogers and Hammerstein Organization
Founded by Richard Rodgers and Oscar Hammerstein II more than 60 years ago, the R&H Organization represents a wide variety of entertainment copyrights and over 200 writers. In addition to Rodger & Hammerstein classics like The Sound of Music, Oklahoma!, The King and I, and South Pacific, they also offer a range of popular musicals including Annie Get Your Gun, The Light in the Piazza, Babes in Arms, and Joseph and the Amazing Technicolor Dreamcoat.

Tams-Witmark Music Library, Inc
Tams-Witmark licensed the first high school production of a Broadway musical approximately 75 years ago. Today, thousands of schools and community theatres are presenting Tams-Witmark musicals each year, including A Chorus Line, Anything Goes, Bye Bye Birdie, The Wizard of Oz, You’re a Good Man Charlie Brown, Oliver, Hello Dolly, My Fair Lady, Cabaret, Crazy for You, Forty-Second Street, Camelot, Kiss Me Kate, Gypsy and Brigadoon.

Samuel French
With offices in New York City, London, Hollywood and Studio City, California, Samuel French has been representing playwrights since 1830. They began hosting the Samuel French Off Off Broadway Play Festival in 1975 which has resulted in the publishing of 181 new plays since. Some of their most popular offerings are: Anne of Green Gables, The Best Little Whorehouse in Texas, Chicago, Clue: The Musical,  Grease,  Kiss of the Spider Woman, The Mikado, Nunsense, Peter Pan, The Rocky Horror Show, and The Secret Garden.

All of these reputable companies offer script preview programs (similar to Stanton’s 21-Day Trial) and helpful websites to guide you through musical licensing procedures. Several variables determine how much money the performance rights will cost, and the only way to get a quote is to begin a dialogue with a licensing company. Stanton’s advises you to begin this process as far in advance as possible so that you have plenty of time to research and choose the best show for your particular situation.

Now all you have to do is cast the show, run rehearsals, build sets, sew/rent costumes, book a pit, and print programs. Simple, right?

This 13-part drama series puts a new spin on the story of the infamous sorcerer, Merlin. Set in the mythical City of Camelot, the story follows young Merlin’s dangerous journey as he comes face to face with legendary and fantastical characters.(taken from here)

Here’s something for the younger ones. I noticed this series just a few days ago and it reminded myself that in my childhood I always wondered how Merlin evolved. So it came as no surprise to me that there is a TV series lifting that now. It is kind of cheesy and to be honest not my favorite show, but if you just finished reading the Arthur’s Saga or like that kind of stuff you might enjoy it. And the thing that makes it interesting is that although Merlin uses Magic, the focus is not entirely on that aspect.

Friday morning I was speculating on the air that Barack Obama and Massachusetts Governor Deval Patrick aren’t really all that tight despite media assumptions of a “close” friendship.

My mom and I saw the musical Camelot today. It was good. The guy who played Lancelot was hot a lot. Haha. He had a jaw-dropping baritone voice; curly flaxen hair I wanted to climb into; and a strong, solid, sexy body I couldn’t take my eyes off of! He was like a blond Adonis. His face was pretty cute, too. He and I would have good-looking, uber-talented children. They would grow up to star on Broadway and win Oscars! Haha.

It was interesting to see this show, because a few months ago, I saw Spamalot. That was a hysterical show! I’m a HUGE Monty Python fan anyway, so it was going to be funny to me no matter what. And I’ve been listening to the soundtrack the last few days. The woman who played the Lady of the Lake in the original cast blows my mind: Sara Ramirez, now of Grey’s Anatomy. What is she doing wasting her talents on that dumb show??? She is UNBELIEVABLE!!! What’s fun is, she sings in my key, so I can sing her songs. Obviously, I can’t sing them as well as she does, but I’m psyched we share a key. It’s very validating. Now, I just have to learn the words and get a karaoke track to “Find Your Grail.” She sings it all funny and stuff, but I’d just sing it straight, because no one can do what she does with a song!

I’d kill to be able to go back in time and see the original cast do Spamalot. I’m a big David Hyde Pierce fan, too. I always want to call him Niles Crane. Forever, that’s how I will think of him.

Go see Camelot, then Monty Python and the Holy Grail, then Spamalot!

P.S. The only good thing about Grey’s Anatomy is Patrick Dempsey. When he’s talking to the woman he loves and he gets all quiet and intense and almost whispers, it’s like … I would die for him. I would kill and maim for him. I’d rape and pillage.

Goodnight!

Oh, it was so nice doing Rhode again :3 she was my very first cosplay. I felt that I didn’t do her justice then, so I had a chance to make up for it now. Shizu’s tailor is awesome, therefore my dress is so purdy <3 I hope to be able to wear it again! ( NOT FOR CNY PRZ VALDA )

So anyway <3 I did Rhode in her casual dress, when her father made his first appearance! Had the shoot last Sunday, at Victoria Concert Hall.

Color reference from here:

I followed the manga and had black hair and black tights because it looks nicer. Rhode is so cute without her spikey hair. Sorry, but I had something against her durian head LAWL.

Here’s the epic thing. I used part of my real hair during my first cosplay of Rhode. And I also did the same thing for this Rhode cosplay. Reason being my wig bangs were too short,  so I “extended” them using my real hair. 8D I feel like such a cheater.

Anyway, I love my epic team of Shizu, Kiri, Valda and Thelindra as Kanda, Allen, Lavi and Lenalee <3 I’m sorry for being such an extra Noah HAHAHA. Thanks to the photogs, and thumbs up for the saikangs for the great shoot. I’m glad no one got heatstroke from the stupid weather.

PICTURES SHALL BE UP SOON?