I’m happy to finally be able to perform this beast, however I’d be lying if I said I wasn’t ready for it to be over. I love acting, I love Shakespeare, and majority of the time I love the Tempest. For some reason, I just am ready for it to be over. I suppose it’s probably because this show has consumed so much of my time, I’ve nearly forgotten what leisure is…nearly, of course.
Regardless, I’m ready for the performance. There’s something about being on stage that is truly one of the greatest feelings in the world. I feel invincible, and want nothing more than sit on my throne on top of the world. It’s hard to explain, but it’s the greatest high I’ve ever known in my life, and it’s what I crave. I honestly love acting because of the final destination, not necessarily for the ride.
As for now, I will have to continue going over my lines and blocking. All I hope is that others have done the same…and didn’t go too crazy over spring break. One can only hope.
This article says that researchers claim that having Facebook, or other social websites, actually makes a person more social. They state, "In fact, we believe there is sufficient evidence that social media afford opportunities for new expressions of friendship, intimacy and community." This research claims that social networking websites help to bring people together in far different ways, making newer and deeper relationships.
To be honest, I don't care how much research there is. This topic will always be an opinion question. Naturally, everyone will relate this question with personal examples. In general, everyone uses Facebook differently. Some like posting pictures, others like updating their statuses frequently, some write notes, etc. The options are limitless. Therefore, some will gain become more social after using this, and others won't.
However, in my opinion, I think Facebook goes out of its way to be counterproductive in making us more social. But if you want to hear more about that, then I guess you should read my up-coming argumentative paper! :)
It's an expression that we all enjoy, and nothing quite compares to that feeling of walking into pure freedom after 5 days worth of tireless work!
This week has been exhausting. For some reason, I'm just letting this week get to me. You know that feeling where the entire world has be piled onto your back in 2.5 seconds?
I feel like next week will be even worse; hell week is what we actors refer to as the week before our show when we are OH MY GOD PLEASE KILL ME NOW I'M SO FLIPPING STRESSED SOMEONE SAVE ME ASAP WHY THE HELL DID I EVER THINK THIS WAS FUN SOMEONE PLEASE LIGHT ME ON FIRE I KNOW I'M OVERDRAMATIC BUT I'M ALLOWED TO BE AHHHHHH. This is the time I completely forget why I love acting, and want to continually shove tacks into my eyes. However, I know that feeling on stage is the most rewarding, natural high I could ever receive. Once those lights hit me, and I see a full house, WOW is all I can say; I never, ever, ever want to do anything else. That specific moment is why I'm a psychotic being for 2-3 weeks.
So please, my friends, if I go from 0 to 60 in 2.5 seconds, forgive me AND still see the Tempest. That's all I ask of youuuuu!
Okay, enough with this blog post. Let's start this weekend off right!
Okay, so I'm a little late on this, but hey...better late than never! So I haven't completely solidified what I want to write about; however, I've been chewing on an idea for awhile, and think it might work. Also, I ended up finding a great article from the NY Times that really might help me.
Anyway I really want to explore if Facebook actually makes us more social, even outside of the website. Do you socialize more in-person, now that their background isn't entirely a mystery? Are we all more inclined to go out more, because Facebook has created a greater platform of communication. Or, do we lean more to the impersonal, Facebook and Facebook-like, tools because it is easier, faster, more efficient, etc. Do we shorten our in-person conversations, simply because it's easier to do it via computer screen?
I'm really excited about exploring this further...perhaps I'll even interview some people. Whitney, from my last peer editing group, had a questionnaire, and I really felt that she had some solid, primary based information. I might just steal that from her...shhhh!
Okay, this an extremely random post, but just go with me, mmkay?
So I have had the worst sinus issues ever. And with this rapid change in weather, I've been sick, sick sick. So my friend recommended a Netti Pot, which I had never heard of. I will spare you the details, but I'm feeling a lot better!
Anyone else have any miraculous Netti Pot recoveries?
La Cage Aux Folles--
This broadway musical is inspired by the movie, The Birdcage, which just so happens to be one of my favorites movies, ever. Ever since I saw a snippet of this show at the Tony's, I have been dying to see it. No literally, I beg my parents every waking hour. So thank you Facebook for reminding me of one of my greatest yearnings of all time. Every time I see this ad, it's a constant reminder that I have not seen this show yet, and a little part of me dies.
TWO
Are You Retro or Glam?--
So I'm guessing Facebook feels the need to give me a makeover, or encourage me to go on a ginormous shopping spree? Quite frankly, I'm not opposed to either. I love dressing up, and anything that falls under treating myself like a life-sized Barbie Doll. I'm just a total girl when it comes to clothes and make-up. Anyway, the ad tells me, "What's your best style? Find out at Boutiques.com." I'm not going to lie, seeing this ad did cause a 20 minute blogging hiatus for an online shopping session at Urban Outfitters online. I'm gonna go out on a limb here and say that this ad was fairly successful...
THREE
Experience Barcelona--
This ad wants me to study abroad in Spain's second largest city. No complaints here! I want to study abroad SO FREAKING BADLY. I'm really not being overdramatic. I honestly don't know where I want to travel; I've been to 5 different European countries and fell in love with all of them. Barcelona is one I've been considering, as long as I wouldn't be traveling in the summer. I may have lived in Vegas for nine years, but Barcelona sounds like the firey-pit of hell in the summer. I'm really going to have to thank Facebook for this ad, because I totally checked it out. I know I'm only a freshman, but I've been looking into studying abroad for awhile now, and I've never heard of this site. It's surely worth a try!
--Well that's all for now! I hope everyone had a fantastic weekend!
So my friend just showed this to me. Basically, it's a bunch of youtube videos that you can play all/partially/some at once, and it will still sound amazing. I experimented with this for over an hour, and still want to continue. Trust me, it's addicting. You've been warned. http://www.inbflat.net/
So has anyone read King Lear..and liked it? It's my favorite play ever...No, really, it is! There's something about this specific Shakespearean tragedy that stands out compared to his others. Maybe it's the idea that a man, who is seemingly normal, cannot see his whole world crashing around him. Is he in denial, or is he truly mad? It's something I chew on every time I come back to this play.
Why you ask, have I dedicated a blog post to such a random subject? No reason, really. I think whenever I'm in a pensive mood, Lear always comes to mind.
Hope you all had a great weekend!
By Joe Wilcox | Published October 1, 2010, 8:15 PM
Near the end of David Fincher's movie about Facebook, a young attorney tells CEO Mark Zuckerberg: "You're not an asshole, Mark. You're just trying so hard to be one." It's something of an apology for a movie that makes Zuckerberg appear every bit the asshole.
Early in the movie, Zuckerberg's girlfriend dumps him, saying: "You're going to be successful and rich. But you're going to go through life thinking that girls don't like you because you're a tech geek. I want you to know, from the bottom of my heart, that won't be true. It'll be because you're an asshole." Her comment and the one later bookends the movie. But there's something about the early asshole characterization that doesn't fit. The movie opens with Zuckerberg talking to the girlfriend (Erica Albright, played by Rooney Mara), and he comes off every bit the stereotypical over-intellectual, socially inept geek. He speaks his mind, to a fault.
The couple's conversation, which takes place in Boston late 2003, is one of the best opening sequences I've seen in film for years. The clipped dialogue, how Zuckerberg multitasks between topics, is mesmerizing. Albright is talking topic B, while Zuckerberg is answering topic A. He meanders lots. The scene also sets the tone for actor Jesse Eisenberg's portrayal of Facebook's cofounder. It's a simply, brilliant Academy Award-worthy performance.
Same can be said for the movie, which absolutely deserves some Oscar consideration. "The Social Network" isn't just a film of the moment -- that is cinema du jour -- but a tight, riveting drama that makes two hours blip by, kind of like the time spent on Facebook. I say that knowing the basic plot beforehand. I'm a long-time technology journalist after all. I'm familiar with the backstory about Facebook's founding, the intellectual property disputes and lawsuit settlements -- and still the movie captured my attention. Director Fincher and screenwriter Aaron Sorkin tell a good story. The dialogue is so exceptional, I now regret having never watched an episode of the TV show "The West Wing," on which Sorkin worked.
I pined for my college days watching Zuckerberg run across Harvard's campus from the restaurant where Albright dumps him. The lighting (East Coast scenes are all fairly dark) and cinematography are evocative. By the way, the soundtrack sets a surprisingly modern tone. I now regret not grabbing it on Sept. 28, when AmazonMP3 discounted to $2.99.
Albright's breakup, which I understand is fictionalized, sets forth the entire chain of events leading to Facebook's creation. Distraught, Zuckerberg seethes about Albright in a LiveJournal blog post and the same night creates a coed-comparison Website that crashes Harvard's network. All other events follow because of the breakup. "The Social Network" presents a simple motivation for Facebook's founding: It's all about a girl.
The other driving force behind Facebook is male, Napster creator Sean Parker who is surprisingly well-portrayed by Justin Timberlake. Parker enthralls Zuckerberg, guiding him to California and infecting him with the idea Facebook can be not a million-dollar company but a billion-dollar one. I can't attest to the accuracy of Timberlake's Parker characterization, but I enjoyed it.
"The Social Network" is a morality tale about ambiguous morals. Zuckerberg either has none or operates by a different set of morals than his protagonists. Hint to the latter: Something Parker says about the rules being different on the Internet that resonates with Zuckerberg. All the characters gain depth by being shades of gray. No one is purely anything, like real people are supposed to be.
But Zuckerberg's character is the most perplexing. There's something Shakespearean about Zuckerberg in an Asperger's syndrome kind of way. For someone creating a service for defining and maintaining relationships, Zuckerberg strangely and methodically destroys every possibly meaningful relationship around him.
I carefully watched the computers and other devices to see if the filmmaker authentically portrayed the era -- granted, even if only six to seven years past. I noticed at least one faux pas: What looked like a modern MacBook Pro used by a DJ in a 2003 party sequence.
Otherwise, "The Social Network" is riveting and will appeal to anyone using Facebook -- and even those not. I saw an early morning show today, and, to my surprise, most of the audience was over 60 years old. I expect that younger viewers will pack evening shows. Certain movies capture the spirit, the essence of its generation, such as "The Graduate" did for late-1960s Baby Boomers (I compiled but decided not to post a list for other decades). "The Social Network" may be the movie for the Net Generation.
I give "The Social Network" five stars. Do see it.
Another cigarette ad, right? Actually, I'd really have to disagree with that. Granted we have the typical "Cool Guy" lighting up his Camel cigarette, seemingly taking cool to a whole new level. And quite honestly, their tactic is very true. Camel wants to smoking something hipster-like, and that practically everyone can partake in. The company uses the classic example of a "Greaser". Let's face it, unless you've been living under a rock, you've at least heard of the movie Grease; it presents a timeless facade (the Greaser) which we alladore. Camel intends for this ad to apply to anyone; it implies that in order to be cool, one must smoke Camel, because it's a "Pleasure to Burn".
So I have never, ever, EVER blogged before. However, my mom always tells me I could "talk the paint off a wall", so perhaps blogging + Nicole = success? Sounds reasonable...
