Old Sock Drawer

Currently listening to: “Elizabeth” – The Dreadnoughts

So, it’s been a while. I apologize for the schizophrenic nature of this entry in advance.

For the past three days, I’ve been at UBC Model UN (UBCMUN), wading the waters of faux-international diplomacy and (“fair and balanced”) journalism. Representing the Democratic People’s Republic of Korea (read: North Korea) in the International Press Corps, I wrote accusatory articles, momentarily feared for my life, and spent much time scuttling between the Security Council and other committees, while my fellow delegates were drilled on our nuclear ambitions and faced press conferences. How does one go about describing their first UBCMUN experience? It’s like…a very intense three-day long Improv show wherein one tries not to drop character. I’d definitely recommend doing UBCMUN if you have any interest in international affairs and diplomacy whatsoever. And if you’re really awesome at Improv, that would be a lot of fun for you too!

UBCMUN aside, this is my latest pet project:
off the bookshelf
Being easily caught up with assorted school/extracurricular commitments, I’ve been letting my literary interest fall by the wayside. This year, I intend to read at least a non-academically-required book a week, after which I shall post commentary upon its content and anything else I find related and relevant.

Also…Arts Week 2010! Check out all the fantastic activities and events the AUS and its affiliated departmental clubs have lined up for this week here. I am personally extremely excited for poetryhAUS (poetry slam and Improv show) on Thursday night, and Le Club Français’s crepe sale Friday at noon! Shenanigans galore, come on out.

End ramble, off to read Candide.

Tags:   Arts Week 2010 · AUS · books · UBCMUN2 Comments

Everyone else is going to write/has written terribly philosophical and thoughtful things regarding the turn of the decade, so I shan’t bother with the melodrama and cut straight to the madcap fun bit: the best of the past year. I’m aware that one usually ought to do this sort of thing before the new year actually dawns, but unforseen circumstances have me doing this at nearly noon the next day, what larks.

So without further ado, the best of ’09 (and by “best” I just mean that it was extremely enjoyable or particularly inspiring; this is no hopped-up hoity-toity selection process).

Book:
If you must only read one book a year, make sure it’s this one.

I have so much love for this book that it is getting to be fairly ridiculous. Empire of Illusion by Chris Hedges is a veritably righteous rant about the dearth of literacy, our self-destructive obsession with media, and the stronghold of two-second/160-character soundbites. No one is spared: WWE wrestling, pornography, and the Ivy League all fall under Hedges’ pen and iron wit. I’ve written a rather lengthy and geekishly gleeful entry about it here on why you should read this, bow down to the brilliance, and weep.

Musical:
The best original musical libretto/score of the year was definitely Next to Normal. Robbed at the Tonys, I say, robbed!

A stunning drama about family, bipolar disorder, and all the ups and downs in between, N2N is not only a brilliant piece of theatre, but also a wonderful exploration of the validity of what society terms normalcy – or something like it. Also, the Original Broadway Cast Recording features the unbeatable Alice Ripley, which in itself is a reason to check it out.

Album:

Regina Spektor’s third CD, Far, is a charming and darkly whimsical collection of songs with a slightly different feel than her previous works. Featuring gems such as the snarky “Folding Chair“, the peppy “Dance Anthem of the 80s” (click for music video!), and the glorious “Two Birds” wrapped in a delicate piano-pop drape, this is definitely one of my favourite CDs of the year.

So come on on’10, let the new year of literary and musical wonder blossom! There are already several pieces of musical theatre I have my eye on…we’ll see!

And with that, to all, a gloriously happy New Year.

Tags:   books · music · recap2 Comments

Currently listening to: “The Banks of the English Bay” – Said the Whale

It’s been forever since I’ve done a live theatre review! Yes, I fail at attempting to be a mini-Great White Way report. Having neglected to write about Les Miserables, Rent, Catch Me If You Can, Wicked, and others, I think it’s time for one…

Last night, I finally got around to watching the Vancouver Playhouse’s production of David Yazbek’s Dirty Rotten Scoundrels, a rollicking romp of a musical involving con artists, mad scheming, and a match of wits. The delightful jazz-infused musical numbers will have you toe-tapping in no time, and the dance sequences are an absolute pleasure to watch. But what really makes the show is all the colour, the colour, simply popping and shining brightly in unabashed garishness and sheer fun. Accompanied by a libretto dripping liberally of snarkiness and charm, this musical is two hours of unbridled entertainment, the occasional schadenfraude, and laughs galore.

I’d say go see it, but last night was the closing night of the engagement. Have you seen it already? Wanted to see it? Give me your thoughts and opinions on the show! In upcoming news, I will most likely be seeing Forbidden Broadway mid-January, so await a review of that in due time.

Tags:   live theatre · musicalsComments Off on #089: Dirty Rotten Scoundrels @ Vancouver Playhouse

This is the best short film I’ve seen in a long time. Thank you, Cameron, for sending the link!

Validation

A heart-stoppingly beautiful tale about the magic of smiles, a little precious something to tide us over the rest of the holiday season, all wrapped in a delightful package of frothy whimsy. Ah, j’adore.

Tags:   youtube2 Comments

Currently listening to: “I’m A Realist” – The Cribs

Four exams down, one to go. I think we’re overdue for a blog entry.

In sheer reverse voyeuristic curiosity, I’ve been tracking this blog with Google Analytics. By far, the most epic feature involves tracking the keywords searched on Google that led to this blog, which range from predictable to mildly amusing to absolutely priceless. I’ve taken the liberty of showcasing some of my favourites verbatim (without editing for grammar).

The Literary Ones:
A good portion of these are book/author-related, which doesn’t really surprise me, as Arts One took up a good chunk of my life last year, which means plenty of rants about Rushdie and raving about Rousseau. On that note…

“artsone ubc rousseau questions”
Arts One kids, searching this is not going to help. Go to lecture, because if I remember rightly, Crawford does this lecture (and thus, is frankly brilliant).

“huis clos download”
Jean-Paul Sartre would be rolling in his grave! I do have an extra copy of the play though; any of the 30 people who might have thought it advantageous to Google for it can have it.

The Pop Culture References:

“john stuart mill, of his own free will,”
-from the Philosophers’ Drinking Song by Monty Python. Hint: go to the Philosophy section in your local bookstore, get out books from each of these authors (except Socrates) and shuffle through them while singing the song.

“what happens at the end of jeux d’enfants?”
Spoiler much? No, I won’t tell. You’ll just have to watch the whole movie. Better still, come over and we’ll have a French film marathon.

“i’d rather be, nine people’s favorite thing, then a hundred people’s ninth favorite thing.”
-from [title of show], which inspired the title of this blog. A little life philosophy for you there.

“in the night garden is creepy”
Yes. Yes, it is.

The Randoms:
These are my absolute favourites.

“glee is preventing me from studying finals”.
I definitely took that hour out of my Wednesday night and watched the Glee finale instead of studying for Political Science, so I totally hear ya.

“vintage double decker bus for sale in saskatewan [sic]”
I’ll be sure to ask my friends in Saskatchewan. I also wish you the very best of luck in your endeavour as you are officially my hero for being actively on the search for such an item.

“sad one liners from children”
Firstly, that’s terrible; I hope you are well and truly ashamed of yourself! Fancy that, looking for quotations from miserable children. It did make me laugh really hard, though; what a case of schadenfraude on both our parts.

“totem park residence ghost”
I HAVE NOT HEARD OF THIS. Can someone clue me in, please? This sounds terribly intriguing.

Anyway, enough said for today; remember, Google, Mystery Google, and Wikipedia are your best friends.

Tags:   Google Analytics2 Comments