Reality Revision

Change It Up

2009-10-12T00:54:00.002-04:00

As of right now, Reality Revision is no more. I have been working on creating a brand new blog and now it is up and running. If you want to keep reading my internet rambling please check out my new blog here.

Thank you to everyone who has read my work on this blog. I hope you continue to follow me at my new URL. I have so much appreciation for my readers. You don't have to spend any of your life reading what I write and yet you do. So, thanks again.

Much love,

Ruby

Time for a change?

2009-10-04T12:03:00.001-04:00

I'm thinking of giving Reality Revision a new name and a new look. I'm not sure what I want it to be quite yet but the thought of innovation has crossed my mind. That would change the URL, which means if I do change it you better update your bookmarks.

Any thoughts?

A Decade

2009-09-29T15:36:00.003-04:00

I've been avoiding work all day and in that avoidance I came across this. It's an article about the opening of The Laramie Project: 10 Years Later which is an epilogue to the previous play. It was created after the death of Matthew Shepard. He was killed in what is believed to be a hate crime because he was gay.

I've never seen The Laramie Project but I've heard really good things about it and how it helped change the face of gay rights in America. I hope that this new piece, which is opening on the 10th anniversary of Matthew's death, is another powerful piece of theatre that continues the battle where the first piece left off.

Beyonce Does Youtube

2009-09-29T13:57:00.002-04:00

Single Ladies is a pretty epic music video. It is so epic that it has caused a bit of a Youtube phenomenon. Everybody seems to feel compelled to make a video of themselves dancing to the song. Here are my favourites.

Special thanks to Jesse for ranting about this in his facebook status so much that I had to watch it.

The credit on finding this one goes to my friend Emily. I think this was also a facebook find.

Quote of the Day - Sept. 28/09

2009-09-28T16:15:00.003-04:00

"That's what happens in Canadian Educational television: panflute."
- Alexis, in lecture while we were watching a film about the Group of Seven in Theatre History class. Let me repeat that. We were watching a film about the Group of Seven in Theatre History class.

Also, I have another quote that I forgot to put up from awhile ago. It is too glorious to not post AND the adage 'better late than never' totally applies here.

"Your shoes look like they know kung-fu."
- Shannon, to me in while I was playing darts in the Ab with Kevin and Fraser

Quote of the Day - Sept. 24/09

2009-09-25T07:52:00.002-04:00

"He's gay. He can get away with it."
- Andrew, on people with ridiculous email addresses

Quote of the Day - Sept. 23/09

2009-09-23T23:35:00.003-04:00

"Jeremy Piven had mercury poisoning by the way, Ruby. You were a tad hasty in your boycotting of him."
- from my brother, in a text message with absolutely no prompting from me

Temperature Crisis Averted

2009-09-23T13:14:00.002-04:00

The people who live in the basement apartment of my house decided to turn some sort of switch that made the air conditioning turn off. Now it is a lovely normal temperature in the house again.

Hurrah.

Boiling

2009-09-23T00:01:00.002-04:00

For some reason unbeknownst to me, it is about 1000 degrees in my room right now. It is the middle of September and I can't sleep because it's too fucking hot. Amazing.

This is not really a weather problem. It's more like a none-of-my-roommates-can-work-a-thermostat kind of problem. I am just loving life. Especially the part where I am being forced by my interdisciplinary liberal arts education to take a university science course. I'm all for science, in theory. It's great when other people are doing it but I really came to school to learn about theatre not the scientific method.

Clearly, I have been in a great mood in the past couple of days. Atleast I'm writing something.

Failure

2009-09-21T23:12:00.002-04:00

I am consistently writing about how awful of a blogger I am, and this post is no exception. My life has been so hectic of late, that all I want to do when I get home is crawl into bed. Today, for instance, I went to class, worked on homework for 3 hours, went to another class, and then went out for burgers and beer with my friends. That last part wasn't nearly as hectic as the rest but it was necessary to continue to be alive and exist as a human being.

I've been thinking about a lot of deep, meaningful things lately like love and lust, and dating, and boys and girls and ... Maybe my unconscious mind is trying to tell me something there. I've just been too lazy to write any of these thoughts down. Oh well. Eventually, I'll sort through all the psychosis in my head and deconstruct it into bite size pieces that you can analyze and determine that I am royally fucked up.

Good night.

Frosh Week 09

2009-09-13T18:31:00.002-04:00

I have been a little more absent than usual on here since I have been Bossin' it up with Winters College Frosh. It's been really fun. I had a really good time. It's like summer camp for 18 year olds and you're their counsellor. I am really glad that I did it. It was a really fun experience to meet all the incoming Winters kids and pass on the traditions.

What ended up being better than meeting the frosh was getting close to some of the other bosses. Most of them I knew by name or had seen them around Winters and I'm happy to report that I made some new friends.

Trippy

2009-09-09T21:18:00.000-04:00

Today is September 9th, 2009. Otherwise known as 09.09.09.
Fuckin' sweet.

The Island

2009-09-04T21:25:00.002-04:00

Yesterday, I headed to Centre Island just off of Toronto on Lake Ontario to chill with some friends on the beach. LIttle did we realize that the particular beach we were going to was a 'clothing optional' beach. Instant hilarity. Right as we arrive, a slightly intoxicated friend runs up to us an yells, "There is so much 80 year old dick here!" It was a really good day.

I ended up practically carrying a girl (who I had just met that day, by the way) to the ferry because she was too drunk to walk unaided while she ranted about her exboyfriend. Fun times.

Then Emily and I got sick of hanging out with a large group of people drunker than us so we wandered around downtown looking for some good food and came upon Fran's. Fran's is one of those delicious diner type places that always serves amazing breakfast. The first time I went there it was 3am. Glorious.

Arg!

2009-09-01T14:41:00.001-04:00

Parents are aggravating. Just because I'm old enough to 'deal' with them splitting up does not mean that I want to hear about every single detail of the seperation. Fuck!

lundy

2009-08-26T15:07:00.003-04:00

puisque vous voules absolument quon vous rende vostre petite boite, la voila, je vous conjure de louvrir et de recevoir aussi tendrement que je vous le donne un petit present quil y a long temps que je vous destine, jay fait retailler le diamant avec plaisir dans la pensee que vous le garderes toute vostre vie je vous conjure ma chere bonne et que jamais je ne le voye en d'autres mains que les vostres, quil vous fasse souvenir de moy, et de lexcessive tendresse que jay pour vous, et par combien de choses je voudrois vous la pouvoir temoigner en toutes ocasiones quoy que vous puissies croire la dessus vous nen croyes pas asses

How To Write a Letter 2009

Later London!

2009-08-26T14:07:00.003-04:00

I am moving tomorrow. I am definitely excited but the precursor to moving is packing. I hate packing. It's awful. I am a 'stuff' person. I like momentos and it is in my genes to not want to throw things out. My grandparents house could attest to this. If it's genetic it's not my fault, right?

Because I hate packing so much I end up procrastinating and my favourite form of procrastination right now is Degrassi: The Next Generation. JT died from getting knifed in the back, Emma and Shawn thought they were going to have a baby but then it was a false alarm, and Paige and Alex finally got back together. Clearly, I am way too emotionally invested in these characters.

Twitter Wisdom

2009-08-23T15:20:00.002-04:00

Follow me?

Kids Say the Darndest Things

2009-08-22T18:53:00.003-04:00

A Dialogue

Characters:
- Me
- My seven year old cousin

Cousin: I got an MP3 player for Christmas in Florida.
Me: That's awesome. What kind of music do you have on it?
Cousin: Everything.
Me: Okay... Who's your favourite?
Cousin: Muse.

True story. And possibly one of the best conversations I've ever had with a child. She was dead serious. I've heard of Muse but I don't think I could name any songs by them. This is what trusty Wikipedia has to say.

Muse are an award-winning English rock band that formed in Teignmouth, Devon in 1994. Since their inception, the band has comprised vocalist, guitarist and pianist Matthew Bellamy, bassist and backing vocalist Christopher Wolstenholme and drummer Dominic Howard. Muse are known for their energetic and extravagant live performances and their fusion of many music genres, including progressive rock, classical music and electronica. Muse have released four studio albums – Showbiz (1999), Origin of Symmetry (2001), Absolution (2003) and Black Holes and Revelations (2006) – the last of which earned the band a Mercury Prize nomination and a third place finish in the NME Albums of the Year list for 2006. Their fifth studio album, The Resistance, is due to be released on 14 September 2009.

This is why I love my family.

Seriously?!

2009-08-21T15:14:00.004-04:00

How do you spell 'attention seeking behaviour?'

Tennis Fashion 101

2009-08-20T22:20:00.014-04:00

Yesterday, I spent all day at the Rexall Centre at York watching tennis with my mom. It was a good time. I am by no means a tennis fanatic (like some people I know) but I like the sport and I know the players so I can keep up with the game. So this post will be my breakdown of my day of tennis.

Brodie: I dare you to link this post to your blog.

The first match that I saw was Dinara Safina of Russia against Aravane Rezai from France.

Dinara Safina: Headcase
Style: This look is all business. Her red Adidas with matching wrist band says that she knows how to coordinate but wants her play to do the talking. Sweating can sometime be hot but unfortunately this much sweat is taking it too far. I guess I can forgive her since it was approximately 45 degrees celcius on court that day. She is also rocking a heart necklace because what girl doesn't want to feel pretty? (Note: sarcasm) In reality, I think jewelry on court is stupid. You're there to play tennis not win a beauty contest.
For functionality and matchiness I give this look 7/10.

Aravane Rezai: This photo is from some other tournament but she's wearing the same outfit.
Style: Rezai is much more business casual. Her primarily white shirt with pink accents are much more fashion forward than your typical solid colour tennis outfit. The black frills are, in my humble opinion, way unnecessary. She looks a little bit like a 12 year old who finally got to pick out her first tennis ensemble and then cut a slit in the front to feel more grown up. She is not going to intimidate anyone. I have to give her some credit for her lack of obnoxious jewelry.
For gross frills I give it 6.5+1/10. She gets a bonus point for winning the match because winners always look hotter.

The next matchup was Maria Sharapova from Russia and Sybille Bammer from Austria. I had never heard of Bammer and I was impressed because she did alright for herself against the Russian.

Maria Sharapova: Summer Appropriate
Style: Maria is one of those players that is almost more well known for what she does outside of tennis than her play. She's makes a crazy amount of money on advertisements. Remember this? Hence why her image is very important. I think this outfit on her. It's something I don't think many other players would wear. I've dubbed it the tennis sundress. It looks comfy and would keep her cool in the crazy hot weather that they are playing in in Toronto right now. It is also a lovely colour and makes her crazy long legs look even longer. And she's got a headband to remind people that she is playing tennis not going to the beach.
I give Maria a 7+1/10.

Sybille Bammer: Neither of those photos are from the Rogers Cup but she was wearing something like the top one but it was entirely dark green and the skirt was the same colour. The second photo is the shoes that she was wearing.

Style: I love cool running shoes and that was the first thing to catch my eye. They were bright blue and were made even more awesome by the fact that they didn't match anything else she was wearing. Her whole ensemble reminded me of something I would see out at a club (minus the shoes). It was really tight and was sort of shiny. For someone I had never heard of I definitely enjoyed her outfit. She can come dancing with me anyday.
I give her 7.5/10 but it's mostly for the shoes.

Next up was Kim Clijsters and Victoria Azarenka.

Kim Clijsters: Post-Baby Comeback
Style: This photo is from last week in Cincinnati because I can't find a photo of her from the Rogers Cup and this one is pretty badass. I'm pretty sure her outfit was similar to this one but it was a black shirt. I'm a big Kim Clijsters fan and I also liked her style. It is simple, ergo, not distracting. She wants you to judge her by her game instead of her clothes. I can totally respect that. I hope she goes far in this new comeback of hers (I just looked at the draw and found out she lost. Damn!)
I would give her a 7+1/10

Victoria Azarenka: Crowd Un-Favourite
Style: I like people who aren't afraid to wear colour. Too much of tennis is bogged down in this whole Wimbledon white thing and I say break free and wear your favourite coloured shirt. I don't remember much about Azarenka other than the crowd was firmly against her. Kim was definitely the fan favourite and used that momentum in the match. Wait a second, did I just talk about the play? Shit, I should be leaving that to the professionals who write real tennis blogs.
I give her a 7/10. She was just average but that is a lovely colour of blue.

The last match that I saw was the first evening match between Serena Williams and Yaroslava Shvedova.

Serena Williams: Kicking Ass and Taking Names
Style: Serena is known for her slightly outrageous on court fashion. The cat suit debacle is my personal favourite, and if I remember correctly she didn't even win that match. She was in a very matchy mood on Wednesday, clearly. Her yellow 3/4 length sleeve shirt was complimented by a yellow headband, socks, AND yellow nail polish. That is a new one. I don't think I've ever seen a player match their nails to their outfit. Way to break new ground, Serena. She is the worst for wearing giant jewelry which you can see in the photo. A large diamond encrusted necklace is clearly going to help you win the title, as are the large hoop earrings. It goes against everything I stand for but I kind of enjoy her enormous jewelry. To me, it says "I am so good that I will weigh myself down with metal and I will still beat you."
I am definitely a fan so I give her 9+1/10.

Yaroslava Shvedova: Didn't Entirely Suck
Style: Again, this photo is not from the Rogers Cup but it is the same thing. It is useful that the sponsors give them pretty much the same outfits all the time. It makes my job much easier. I like this look on Shvedova. My mom's favourite part were the shoes which were Lacoste and looked like golf shoes. I think they are kind of ugly. She was complimenting this look with some lovely white tape on her shoulder and thigh. I was impressed that Shvedova didn't totally get destroyed. Yeah, she lost in 2 sets. Yeah, she didn't win too many games but she held her serve fairly well and was hitting some great forehands. It was a good match to watch them battle it out from the baselines.
On another note, people were calling her Borat. I get that she's from Kazakhstan but, seriously? I was a little upset with humanity.

So that's my day at the Rexall Centre. All I have to show for it is this post, a new wallpaper photo for my cellphone and a really bad sunburn. Special thanks to my good friend Brodie for linking to this post from his tennis blog, Mind the Racket.

Brand New Style

2009-08-18T12:04:00.004-04:00

Yesterday, I had to wake up early to go to the Optometrist. I was already generally unimpressed with the idea since there is this procedure where they shoot air into your eye for some reason and I hate it. But, having to wake up early for it was the last straw.

Before I get into the conclusion of the 'Eye Doctor Story' as it shall be known, I should explain the reason behind needing an eye appointment. While I was in Massachusetts, my glasses mysteriously disappeared, and then after I booked the appointment, they reappeared. I'm still waiting for them as they are being mailed to me. Internationally!

What I discovered is that one of my eyes is better than 20/20 and the other can barely see anything farther than 10 feet away. That leads me to the conclusion that I really should be sporting a monocle. Seriously, why wear glasses when I really only need one. I think I'm going to make this a new trend.

THE REVOLUTION HAS BEGUN!!!

Quote of the Day - Aug. 15/09

2009-08-15T20:37:00.001-04:00

"A hard boiled egg and a shot of tequila is not brunch."
- Texts from Last Night

O Canada!

2009-08-13T18:52:00.004-04:00

I'm back! It is lovely to be back in good ole London, Ontario. I tried to blog while I was in Amherst but I totally failed. I'm keep saying I'm going to try to write more consistently but this time I actually mean it. I promise to come up with lots of ridiculous things to write about. Really, I promise this time.

So I have decided to compile a list of things that I like about being from Canada:

1. I am legal. The drinking age of 21 in the US of A is a tall order that I did not enjoy.

2. Being Canadian makes me not white, atleast according to my friend Cheyenne.

3. We know how to pronounce the word foyer. It's a foy-ay, not a foy-er.

4. We have a currency that doesn't overload your wallet with useless $1 bills. Plus, the toonie is simply the coolest coin ever.

5. We have universal health care. Even if Obama's health care reform bill makes it through, it still won't be universal.

6. We are a lovely people.

I don't even like Family Guy!

2009-08-13T14:58:00.004-04:00

So I was perusing my Twitter feed today when I came upon this article. I only sometimes enjoy Family Guy. It is demeaning towards women and most minorities so I'm not sure how I feel about Macfarlane 'outing' an animated toddler in a mainstream magazine.

Pop culture is getting more and more ridiculous.

Quote of the Day - Aug. 13/09

2009-08-13T10:58:00.002-04:00

"I may not be the smartest crayon in the box, but I'm not that dumb."
- Jordan, from Big Brother 11

She is that dumb.

For My American Buddies

2009-08-10T22:11:00.001-04:00

I just wanted to start this note off by telling everyone that I did indeed make it back safely into the Great White North. It's still a lovely place.

En route home, while my father was driving, I started playing a game in order to pass the time. The game involved trying to spot license plates from different places on the highway. Sounds boring, right? Wrong. It entertained me the entire 9 hour drive home. These are the states that I got.

1. Arizona
2. Alabama
3. California
4. Connecticut
5. Delaware
6. Florida
7. Georgia
8. Illinois
9. Indiana
10. Iowa
11. Kentucky
12. Maine
13. Massachusetts
14. Maryland
15. Michigan
16. Minnesota
17. Missouri
18. Montana
19. Nevada
20. New Hampshire
21. New Jersey
22. New York
23. North Carolina
24. Ohio
25. Oklahoma
26. Pennsylvania
27. Rhode Island
28. Tennessee
29. Texas
30. Utah
31. Vermont
32. Virginia
33. Washington
34. West Virginia
35. Wisconsin
** Extensive research was necessary to discover that Washington DC is not really a state but just a territory but I did see a license plate from there so I'm giving it an honourable mention. Plus I got some provinces too.**
1. Ontario
2. Quebec
3. Manitoba
4. British Columbia
5. Saskatchewan

Then I thought to myself that I had no idea where half of the states were located within the country. So I figured it out. Aren't y'all proud of me?

Quote of the Day - Aug. 3/09

2009-08-03T20:47:00.001-04:00

"I’ve always just been really honest about who I am. It would be against everything I believe in as a person to lie about it. It would contradict everything that I think. And the reaction to it has been more than worth it."
- Nicole Pacent of the webseries Anyone But Me on being an out 'celebrity'

I'm going to post a photo of Nicole once I have a better internet connection because this girl is georgeous and I kind of have a bit of a crush on her.

Inked

2009-07-17T11:19:00.005-04:00

A couple days ago, Emily got a henna tattoo on her back at the farmer's market here in town. It looked cool for a while but then faded after a day which was pretty sad because she paid a pretty good amount for it. In order to rectify this problem Emily and Grace went out an purchased a home henna tattoo kit. They then realized that they had way more henna than they wanted to use on themselves so they started sharing it with everyone. I was game for whatever they wanted to do so this is what I ended up with.

The next night there was still more henna and my friend Cheyenne decided that she wanted to tattoo me. I didn't really care because it's not permanent so this is now on my right arm.

I imagine these will still be visible on my arms when I come back home so you will all get to check them out.

Quote of the Day - ?

2009-07-17T11:04:00.003-04:00

"I don't think of you as white because you're Canadian."
- my fellow intern Cheyenne on why she makes fun of white people to me

Amherst Diary: Week 1

2009-07-12T10:40:00.005-04:00

I have come to the conclusion that I have been MIA for long enough and that I should probably write an update for my adoring blogger public. I have been in Amherst (pronounced AM-erst), Massachusetts for a few hours more than a week. It feels like it's been so much longer than that. I can't exactly put my finger on why it feels so much longer, but it does. This is the part where I will regale you with tails of my adventures.

I spent the majority of the 4th of July attempting to sleep in the back of my mother's Volkswagen Beetle. If you have ever seen one of those cars that is a feat unto itself. My mom and my aunt Chris split driving duty all the way from London.

View Larger Map
Trust me, it's far.

We finally arrived at a huge brick house on Snell Street. As we are pulling up, the maid of the house next door in full maid uniform is getting the dust off of some carpets outside. That actually happened. We met Sabrina the Artistic Director of the Ko Festival and I met most of the rest of the interns. They are (in no particular order) Emily, Grace, Eric, Forrest, Cheyenne, and Elena. We all get a long really well. Surprisingly well, in fact. I don't usually like people but I like all of these people.

Once we actually got the theatre, we spent the first few days hanging and focusing the house plot with Holly, the TD. She is an amazingly fabulous woman. She knows so much about everything that we're doing and takes the time to teach us about it even if we need to get things done quickly. Her work philosophy is to work smart, not hard. In her opinion (which I wholeheartedly support), it is better to ask the right questions and do the job correctly the first time than the have to redo it later.

The first show of the Ko Fest season is "Help! Help! I know this title is long but somebody's trying to kill me!" performed by Drew the Dramatic Fool. The show was an extended clown act where the clown realizes that all the other performers have been murdered but the show must go on so he has to perform all the acts himself. It was really funny. Drew worked with Jacques Lecoq (I know someone who will be jealous of that) in Paris and has been working as a clown for something like 20 years. He's also a really cool guy and hangs out with us in the house. I don't know if I mentioned that already but the artists live in this giant house with us.

The show opened on Friday and ran for 3 performances. My job was box office. Box office sucks, end of story. Although I did witness a women lend another woman who she'd never met $40. That was pretty intense.

I am the lone Canadian at this American festival and it's pretty hilarious. It has become a running joke with the interns and I am completely fine with it. I got called on having an accent once too. That was interesting. I know I don't say 'aboot' but I do clip the end of some of those syllables and that's what someone heard. Emily told me she likes the way I speak because she is a big fan of dialects. I don't think the weird colloquial slang that formed in Winters last year counts as a dialect but whatever.

I will try and be better at posting atleast once every few days so you don't think I've fallen off the face of the Earth.

Dear World:

2009-07-10T11:22:00.001-04:00

I am not dead. I am just in Massachusetts with a really shitty internet connection.

Quote of the Day - Jul. 1/09

2009-07-01T16:09:00.001-04:00

"ABC has picked up an internationally-produced show about astronauts starring Ron Livingston. The thing was actually pitched at one point as "Grey's Anatomy in space". So. A couple days ago we learned about that Canadian show Coppers that was picked up for distribution by ABC. It was described as Grey's Anatomy about rookie cops. Basically, everything is Grey's Anatomy and foreign. That's your new TV, folks. Enjoy it."
- Gawker.com on the state of next season's television lineup

Fuck You

2009-06-29T08:02:00.003-04:00

Dear Neighbour,

In the spirit of being neighbourly, I think it is reasonable of me to ask you not to use offensively loud power tools at 7:30am. I have been up late and would like to sleep in but, alas, this is impossible due to said noise violations. I understand that if your hedge needs to be trimmed or wood needs to be sanded that there are only so many hours in the day to finish these tasks but, if you please, as a favour to the neighbour with the window that faces your house, wait until noon.

Sincerely,

Ruby

A Sad Day

2009-06-25T19:21:00.003-04:00

Two iconic figures in the pop culture landscape died today. The first was Farrah Fawcett after a battle with cancer and the second was Michael Jackson from sudden cardiac arrest. Both of these entertainers left behind legendary legacies and will be greatly missed.

R.I.P

Who gave this man a TV show?

2009-06-24T13:38:00.001-04:00

Because I am unemployed and have a lot of spare time on my hands, I found myself watching "Dr." Phil. I don't normally watch his show but the title of this one caught my attention. It went something like this, 'Teen Trends: What Parents Should Know About Their Children.' I feel that I can justify watching this brutal show just to see what Dr. Phil would say about the following "teen trends:" texting, 'sexting,' and the punch out game. Up until 13 days ago, I was a teenager and would qualify for the trends. Apparently a lot has changed in two weeks because I've only heard of one of these trends, and it's the obvious one.

Skipping past all the bullshit at the beginning of the episode and his warnings to parents that all of these thing could be happening to their children. Ooooh scary! Dr. Phil starts talking about texting. Which, I can admit, is a teen trend I partake in. As examples for this trend he has on a 13 year old girl and a 17 year old boy. I like that there is an age range and both genders represented so that it doesn't appear to a strictly a boy or girl issue. Here are the facts and figures:

13 year old girl: 14 528 texts in one month
The math (from the show):
14 528 texts
30 days in a month
= 484 texts per day

17 year old boy: 125 763 texts over 3 months
Over 50 000 text messages one month

Both of those kids, and those kids parents, are fucking insane. That is so crazy I cannot even begin to describe it. How is it okay for your child to be sending 50 000 messages in a month.

More math (This is all me):
Let's say it takes 10 seconds to send the average text message. If you are sending 50 000 texts in a month that means you are spending 138.88 hours of your month texting. That's almost 6 whole days of texting. AND that doesn't include reading all the responses. That pretty much doubles the time. Again, FUCKING INSANE!!!

But the most insane part is yet to come. Dr Phil says that this is okay. He says that as long as kids are still actually seeing real people and not getting all their social interaction from texting then 50 000 texts a month is totally reasonable. Where did he get his PHD from again?

Next Dr Phil tackles the hard hitting issue of 'sexting.' Which is an oh-so-clever amalgamation of the words 'sex' and 'texting.' This includes scandalous messages or photos being distributed between teens via their cell phones. This does actually seem like a legitimate issue. Apparently, according to US law, anyone distributing or receiving photos of anyone that's underage is child porn. That's a pretty scary allegation if you're 13 or 14. The case study for this one was a 12 year old girl who's parents had caught her 'sexting' multiple times. They came to the conclusion after interviewing her and her parents that it had nothing to do with sex and everything to do with attention. That just made me sad. Her parents were talking about how she had no self-esteem and being the girl in the bikini that everyone saw the photo of was a kind of attention she could get.

My question was why does a 12 year old have a cell phone? That seems kind of ridiculous to me. When I was 12 I definitely didn't have any need for one but I was 12 in the year 2000. Times have changed. I can understand parents wanting their kids to have a phone for safety but then you have to take out the texting plan.

The third and final section of Dr Phil's enlightening program was the Punch Out Game. This is a game in which teens punch each other in the face. That's it. No complicated rules, just plain ole machismo is action. It can also be coupled with posting videos on Youtube so that other people can see you getting punched in the face. 'JR' was a kid who played this game to build up resistance so that he could be a better Ultimate Fighter. Dr Phil's response was "You can't build up a resistance to brain damage." Then they showed the kid who played this game and was horribly injured in a freak Punch Out Game related accident to scare all the children straight and then the show was over.

Finally.

Identity

2009-06-23T02:29:00.002-04:00

I want to be someone who is comfortable in their own skin.

Recently, I've been thinking a lot about who I am and what that means. The conclusion that I've come to is that I am more questions than answers. I might be a lot of things. I can't say anything definitively about myself because it involves having experienced. I don't have any experience.

I can't tell you what has brought about this existential crisis but the title of the play that it will someday inspire is going to be called "Hypothesis" or some variation on that word. I think it's catchy.

Truth or Dare

2009-06-21T22:06:00.001-04:00

I dare you to click ---> HERE <--- and then go see the show because it's hilarious.

R.I.P. Sunglasses

2009-06-19T00:01:00.002-04:00

I lost my sunglasses today. I'm actually a little bit upset about it since I really like them. But they only cost $12 and were kind of lop sided so I will get over their loss. May they rest in peace.

My Guilty Pleasure

2009-06-18T16:24:00.003-04:00

I just really like the song, okay?

So angstily brilliant.

Quote of the Day - Jun. 17/09

2009-06-17T18:01:00.002-04:00

"It doesn't matter. You should be cool because you're cool."
- Joshua Holland, from this interview for Anyone But Me

Missed Connections

2009-06-14T02:26:00.004-04:00

Dear Cat Suit Girl,

You pretty much made my night. Not only were you the hottest girl in the club, you were rockin' some sort of American Apparel leotard with a hood. That is all sorts of awesome. Plus, I have infinite respect for someone who dances like a go-go dancer and doesn't look like an idiot. Props to you, girl.

Had the situation presented itself, I totally would have told you this is person but alas, the stars did not align. I hope that you had as good a time at the club as I did.

Yours truly,

Ruby

Quote of the Day - Jun. 11/09

2009-06-11T16:26:00.002-04:00

"Can't go wrong with a sassy medical show."

Thanks Perez.

Quote of the Day - Jun. 10/09

2009-06-10T17:21:00.002-04:00

Hazel: "MORE BOOZE is two words, Clarice."
Clarice: "That doesn't matter in Strip Scrabble. Now take your pants off."
- Girls with Slingshots

Officially Over

2009-06-10T11:11:00.002-04:00

I can't believe I haven't written anything about this yet. But at the adage goes, it's better late than never. I am 100% officially finished with second year university. Which means that if all goes according to my current plan, I am half way done. That is a little bit terrifying but mostly it's just awesome. I'm so ready to get out into the world and have a real life.

I want to be working on shows all the time instead of writing essays. At the same time, I understand why having a solid base in theatre history and design is necessary to having a sucessful career. I get it. I'm just putting in my time at school until I can go out into the realm of professional (or not so professional) theatre and make my mark. I'm sick of this feeling that I'm biding my time. It always seems like I'm waiting for things to be start. Maybe that's just the way I am.

----------------
Now playing: Bob Sinclair - Jamaica Avenue
via FoxyTunes

11:00 Number

2009-06-08T21:33:00.002-04:00

Because I foolishly forgot to comment on Neil Patrick Harris' fabulous hosting job, he will get a whole new post to himself. This is his big moment at the end of the night with an 11 o clock number.

The 2009 Tony Awards

2009-06-08T13:47:00.003-04:00

Let's start with the opening, shall we? I highly recommend you watch the videos (if you have the time) and then read the text that follows because I am going to be making direct reference to the videos. It will be more fun for you if you know what I'm talking about.

For an opening number for the Tony's I say it was average at best. The sound was off (a problem that would continue for the whole show). It sounded like there was someone warming up backstage during the West Side Story/Guys and Dolls mash-up. I'm blaming it on Maria, or whoever left her mic on. I don't think I liked the whole mash-up thing they were going for. I would much rather have had a short performance from each show that then smoothly transitioned into the next one in a cool way. But that's just me. They started doing that but then it was one performance would end and the cast would walk off and then the next cast would come on. If you go to about 4:50 of the video you can watch Brett Michaels get closelined by the set. Apparently he 'missed his mark' and then walked into a flying piece of scenery. Shrek: The Musical, I have one word for you: "WHY?" Although, it was pretty cool when Pinocchio's nose grew. I loved how Dolly Parton opened the segment for 9 to 5 and then Allison Janney was in it so it got even better. In other news, Liza Minelli is one of my personal heroes. She is so crazy and fabulous that I can't not love her. And her show won the Tony for best Special Event on Broadway so 'Congrats Liza!' Did you understand any of her lyrics? Because I know I didn't. I have never been a fan of Hair but they might have convinced me. More on that later.

All in all, it was a decent opening. It doesn't hurt to have superstars like Elton John, Dolly Parton and Liza there to open the show so all is well thus far in Tony land. Here are the nominees for Best Musical.

Billy Elliot

I liked this number but it seemed like it needed more emotional context. It didn't help that Elton messed up the introduction. The Billy in the video is played by Trent Kowalik. He, David Alvarez, Kiril Kulish won the award for Best Lead Actor in Musical for their alternating performances as Billy.

Next to Normal

I didn't know anything about this show prior to watching the broadcast last night and it intrigues me. I like the idea of a rock musical that deals has a real issue at it's heart. It sounded like Alice Ripley was a little off the music but that might just be me because I've never seen the show before. I definitely think she deserved her Best Lead Actress in a Musical award.

Rock of Ages

The entire time I watching this clip I was trying to figure out who the lead guy way. He's from American Idol. I puzzled it out. This show looks fun but that's about it. Kind of fluffy and entertaining which is exactly what musical theatre is supposed to do. I wasn't alive when this music was popular so it doesn't have much of a draw for me.

Shrek: The Musical

It's impressive to me that they took a movie that was actually funny and created a musical that was so not funny. Sutton Foster has done some great stuff like The Drowsy Chaperone and Thoroughly Modern Millie so it saddens me that she is in this. Is it just me or is Lord Farquad a really bizarre Nathan Lane impersonation?

I have a couple more highlights to share with you. The first is Hair. It won best Revival of a Musical for obvious reasons. As I said earlier, I've never really been a fan of Hair. I just didn't get it but I think that was because I'd never seen it staged. The energy of that show was infectious. It made me want to be in it just because it looked like everyone was having such a good time. The award presentation was just after they'd performed so the cast came out to receive the award in full costume which just seemed fitting. Oh yeah, and Anne Hathaway introduced them. That's pretty cool.

Hair

This is my last one. It's the three Billies winning for Billy Elliot. They are so cute and none of them know what to say.

I'm looking for one more video but I can't find it quite yet. It's an acceptance speech by Karen Olivo who played Anita in the revival of West Side Story. I will post it as soon as I find it.

I hope that you've enjoyed your journey into my Broadway obsession. If you're interested you can check out the full list of winners here.

Big Yellow Taxi

2009-06-08T11:36:00.004-04:00

Today I had a "you don't know what you've got til it's gone" momemnt. Thanks Joni Mitchell for that lovely song lyric. This isn't nearly as dramatic as I'm making it sound but carpe diem is kicking my ass today.

I have been wanting to do the London Fringe's Poetry Slam for the past two years and could never get up the nerve to do it. This year I found the performed in me again after doing stand up comedy and doing a poem for my playground cast so I was all gung-ho (spelling?) about the Poetry Slam. Then, I was checking out the London Fringe site and lo and behold there is no Poetry Slam this year. Figures, right? The one year I finally have enough confidence to actually enter, there isn't one.

Oh well. I'll get over it. My Tony Awards recap is going to be up in the next few days because there were so many golden moments that I have to recap it. Not the best show I've ever seen but there definitely were somethings worth talking about.

HAPPY BIRTHDAY TO ME!

2009-06-07T12:22:00.000-04:00

I'm 20 years old today. Yikes.

Acoustic Love

2009-06-05T16:58:00.004-04:00

I like rediscovering music that I used to love. I've had Sara Bareilles' album Little Voice on my iTunes for a while. I used to listen to it a lot. She's got a great voice, clever lyrics, and she's not bad to look at either.

I've most recently been a fan of hers in her collaboration with Ingrid Michaelson for Winter Song. It's so pretty it hurts. Today I just felt like listening to some of her stuff and came across some amazing acoustic versions of her songs on Youtube. They are so glorious they are actually blowing my mind. They are so much better than the album versions and they actually show that she can sing and has soul.

I'm being selfish here. I'm really only posting them because I want to be able to find them again easily and posting them up here is the best way. Enjoy!

This first one is fun because she forgets the words to her own song.

I'm Clearly a Feminist

2009-06-05T12:11:00.003-04:00

I was reading some blogs and stuff today to avoid doing real homework and I came across this. If you have a moment or two I would check out that article. It's a letter to Pixar asking them to create a film with a female lead who is not a princess.

I have nothing against princesses. I have nothing against movies with princesses. But don't the Disney princesses pretty much have us covered? If we had to wait for your thirteenth movie for you to make one with a girl at the center, couldn't you have chosen something -- something -- for her to be that could compete with plucky robots and adventurous space toys?

I most definitely agree with that. Why can't we have a strong female lead for young girls to identify with?

Well, the whole big world has a lot of little girls in it, too. And not all of them are princesses -- and the ones who are princesses have plenty of movies to watch.

Exactly

2009-06-04T12:48:00.001-04:00

This article explains exactly why I can't stand Katy Perry.

Quote of the Day - Jun. 1/09

2009-06-01T23:18:00.001-04:00

"She is obviously a vampire. A gross, English titty vampire."
- Debra Morgan, from Dexter

In other news, I have to wake up in 4 hours to start my day tomorrow. Please kill me.

Farewell

2009-06-01T12:22:00.003-04:00

I have spent my last night as a Winters resident. It was uneventful. Lindsey and I watched the Hills finale and then the first part of the MTV movie awards. After that we went out seperate ways, her to finish an essay and me to pack. We also walked to the library, which I completely forgot about until right now. Then I went to bed. It's unfortunate that we didn't do something really awesome, or even something really lame all together. Whatever, we survived the year and that is all that really matters.

Technically, I'm not actually done since I have a few more vis portfolio's to finish up. But I'm going home so it'll be weird to be doing homework at the end of the year. Oh well. Such is life at Theatre@York.

I think I'm going to miss Winters. It's been my home for two whole years so how could I not miss it, even just a little. It's the place I made all my friends in first year. And then made new friends in second year. The place I partied way too much and stressed about streaming. Then I got to see the first years doing the exact same thing and be really jealous of their spare time.

I can safetly say that I grew up there. I can look back on the fond memories of kraft dinner, random television, and a Musical Theatre party for the ages. We've had a good run Winters, but I'm glad we're over.

Sunscreen and Spaghetti Straps

2009-05-28T13:14:00.004-04:00

Summer is so close I can taste it. And how do I know it is almost summer in the realm of Winters Residence? One word: streaming. Streaming the rite of passage that everyone in the theatre program at York has to go through to make it into second year. It is an emotionally grueling roller coaster of crushed hopes and dreams. Sounds fun, right?

Not even close. Having survived last year, I can say that it is way nicer being on the outside. But that's pretty obvious. I don't think York should use this process anymore. It's barbaric. Theatre becomes about competing with everyone else instead of being the best that you can be. It has nothing to do with being an artist that is apart of a community of other theatre artists and becomes about what label you have. What exclusive clique you have the honour of being a part of. It doesn't make any sense to me.

I've seen the process kill people's passion for theatre. I think that's the saddest part. York has decided that they were not meant to be act, or devise theatre, or work backstage, so therefore, there is nothing left that they can do. That is the one thing I would like to impart to all of the first years that I know. I would say: Don't let York tell you who you are! The powers-that-be at York do not have the right to tell you that you are not an actor. You may not be in the conservatory but that does not mean you are not an actor, okay? Atleast your list is posted online so you don't have to suffer potential humiliation of having to find (or not find) your name on a piece of paper in a hallway filled with your peers.

Best News I've Heard All Day

2009-05-26T23:45:00.002-04:00

So apparently the genius known as Aqua has released a new single. They have brought us such gems as Barbie Girl and Dr. Jones. Please enjoy! The lyrics are pretty fantastic.

Words of Wisdom

2009-05-25T00:46:00.001-04:00

Fall in love or fall in hate.
Get inspired or be depressed.
Ace a test or flunk a class.
Make babies or make art.
Speak the truth or lie and cheat.
Dance on tables or sit in the corner.
Life is divine chaos. Embrace it.
Forgive yourself. Breathe.
And enjoy the ride...
- Solbeam

Thanks Lori.

Mathematics

2009-05-25T00:33:00.002-04:00

7 - Days until I will be back in London

48 - Sketches I should have done for tomorrow

22 - Sketches that I actually have done

5 - Tabs open in Firefox right now

2 - Obnoxious voices are yelling about bullshit in the quad

27 - Followers on Twitter

1 - Beer in my fridge

13 - More days until my birthday

Design Redesigned

2009-05-21T22:10:00.008-04:00

Here is my latest design project for you to peruse at your leisure. The assignment was to create a 2D and a 3D visual metaphor based off of a scene of Shakespeare. I chose to do Act 1 Scene 1 of Hamlet, when Horatio, Bernardo and Marcellus see the Ghost for the first time. It's a pretty snazzy scene, in my opinion. And Hamlet is my favourite of all of Shakespeare's work so I think it was a good choice.

The metaphor that I chose was a storm because it parallels the foreshadowing of the tragedy that is to come in the House of Denmark. This is my 2D. It's my 'stylzed clouds.' I apologize for the shoddy photo quality but I didn't realize the photo was so awful until after I handed it in so I can't take another one.

This is the outside of my 3D.

This is it opened up.

And now for the close up.

I've also been changing up some of the colours and adding widgets and things so I hope you enjoy the slight redesign.

Done and Done

2009-05-21T21:51:00.003-04:00

I am so close to being finished second year I can taste it. I have written finished all my project, written my exams and only have 8 vis portolio's and my sketchbook left to hand in. I'm pretty extatic about being almost done. This year has been really brutal. York has had it in for its student body. I'm not surprised by the number of people who are leaving to go to other schools or take a break from the uphill battle that is post-secondary education.

I am trying to be positive. I am usually really cynical and pessimistic but I do believe that everything happens for a reason so I've got to think like I believe it. I'm trying to not hate what I can't change and understand that York does not get to tell me who I am. I am going to school to get an education but I don't have to become a robot and regurgitate what is being told to me. I will not be a York clone, got it?

I'm ready to be away from this environment for a while. I love everyone that is around but I'm so ready for a change of pace. I'm going home for a while, I'm turning 20 soon, then I'm off to Amherst for my internship. I think I'm most excited for that. It's an adventure. I haven't had a real adventure since I got to school at the beginning of first year. I'm a little bit sad that I won't get to spend as much time with my Londontowne buddies but hopefully it will be worth it.

Thoughts at 2am

2009-05-16T01:58:00.004-04:00

I've heard that love is irrational. I would agree, but I would like to add that lust is irrational. It seems to me that I always seem to want what is impossible. I have two crushes right now and both are in relationships. This is ridiculous. I don't know why my mind decides to make me deal with this. It's unnecessary and stupid. It is just me putting myself through hell for no reason. I know that I'm the one responsible for these feelings but at the same time, I don't know what part of me makes these feelings happen. If I had my way, I would like someone that I could potential have, instead of all of these people that are entirely off limits. My brain hates me.

Metaphors

2009-05-13T19:21:00.002-04:00

I am again apologizing for being a terrible blogger and I am again going to blame it one school. But soon I will be done. Soon I will be free and can write blogs all day at my leisure. I could even write them by my pool. It shall be glorious.

Since I don't have much to say, here is a series of facts that I wish to impart to my eager public.

- I went to the bathroom this morning and there was a toonie in the toilet. I am not that desperate.

- I have the world's worst headache right now.

- I have applied for an internship for part of the summer in Amherst, MA and I really hope that I get it

- I am going to be ridiculously broke next year

Monday night I was hanging out in Lindsey's room and we were discussing random stuff to avoid doing our homework and out of this conversation came what we shall call 'The Metaphors' These are not really metaphors. They are just funny things that I came up with.

A Mystery: someone who is "quesionable"
Katy Perry: a girl who hooks up with girls but is straight

There is a third metaphor but I can't remember what it is. Once I remember I shall post it up. Really, I just posted that so I wouldn't forget it.

Oh yes. And the party code is thus.
Peaches = Good to Go
Rainbow = Save Me

Quote of the Day - May 6/09

2009-05-06T14:13:00.003-04:00

"I think a keytar would really make this outfit happen."
- Michael K, Dlisted.com in reference to this interesting ensemble.

Hilarious.

Why I Love Twitter

2009-05-05T21:33:00.003-04:00

I think Twitter is awesome. I don't think I can adequatley explain how great it is. You just have to experience for yourself. Since I'm one of those people that is slightly obsessed with all thing social networking, I'm hooked. This proves how fantastic Twitter is.

This video was a link in one of the people I am following on Twitter and I am so glad I clicked on it. It's so brilliant I am going to watch it again. Isn't it a scarily good parody?

Time Out

2009-05-05T11:57:00.002-04:00

I have way too much work to be doing right now but I have decided that I owe it to this blog to write something since I have been neglecting it. School sucks. And because school sucks everything else seems to suck too. My only summer job that I had lined up has just been cancelled. I can't find any other work as of yet. Life is balls right now. I'm just waiting for the summer to get here. Summer isn't looking all that rosy as of yet but I am hoping that everything will fall into place eventually.

I am planning to upload some photos of my most recent design project because I think it's alright. Not great. It looked cooler in my mind than it ended up looking in real life but what can you do.

Smothered by School

2009-04-23T11:57:00.003-04:00

York University is trying to kill me. 'Tis attempted murder, I swear. I have what feels like 1000 assignments all at the same time and I'm still working on the show so I don't have any time to do any of them. It's ridiculous. Oh well. That still isn't going to stop me from getting really drunk on Saturday night at the cast party. Maybe I will have good stories to share from that night. We'll see.

I apologize for the lameness of my blog of late but really I haven't had to time to eat or sleep so blogging, unfortunately, ended up really low of my priority list. I'm also pretty sure my readership has gone down recently since I haven't been updating but hopefully everyone will come back once there is new content to read on a regular basis.

I'm hungry. What should I have for lunch?

Here We Go!

2009-04-19T10:08:00.004-04:00

Tonight is the very first preview of Theatre@York's 'The Bewitched'! That means that I have officially survived Tech Week and am now safely into performance week. Which really isn't any safer at all. Now we have an audience to contend with.

Centennial

2009-04-15T11:47:00.003-04:00

There is too much pressure to write something brilliant and insightful for my 100th post. So instead of attempting to live up to that, I'm just going to write this.

Happy 100 Posts Reality Revision!

Osmosis

2009-04-12T15:56:00.003-04:00

I don't exactly remember all the way back to Grade 11 science when we learned about those fancy sciency things but I'm hoping that if I sit in the library long enough an intelligent idea for my essay will appear. This process is being hindered by the fact that I hate York's library. I actually hate it. It is the ugliest building ever and it is always packed with obnoxious people talking loudly on their cell phones.

Today it is pretty quiet though, but it is Easter Sunday so it makes sense that no one is here. Everyone is at home eating delicious dinners or something else equally family and/or Jesus oriented. I have talked to both my parents in the past 24 hours which rarely happens nowadays so I guess I have been partaking in the family part of this day, sort of.

I am supposed to be writing an essay proposal about one of the theatrical genres that I have been studying this semester. I have chosen to do Theatre of the Absurd because I think it's awesome but other than that I have no idea what I'm going to do. I need to either find a link from this genre to a modern cultural form, compare it to anything we studied last semester, or discuss it's influence on current theatrical transitions. It's brutal, but I'll figure it out.

Seriously?!

2009-04-11T01:28:00.001-04:00

I was playing Rock Band 2 this evening and it told me that 'Panic! at the Disco' officially changed their name to 'Panic at the Disco' in 2008. That's ridiculous.

North Renaissance

2009-04-09T21:31:00.004-04:00

My new strategy to survive Vis is to make a playlist for every portfolio. This one is just a series of random songs that I listened to in order to stay focused. It's essentially a mosaic of songs. Next time I think I'm going to come up with a theme or something.

Whine Up - Kat Deluna Ft. Elephant Man - Whine Up
Untouched - The Veronica's - Hook Me Up
Cross My Heart - Marianas Trench - Cross My Heart (Single)
Million Voices - Wyclef Jean - Hotel Rwanda Soundtrack
Pure Imagination - Willy Wonka and the Chocolate Factory Soundtrack
Hoodie - Lady Sovereign - Public Warning
Walking On Broken Glass - Annie Lennox - Diva
Paranoid (feat. Kid Cudi) - Kanye West - 808's and Heartbreak
The Diary Of Jane - Breaking Benjamim - Phobia
Beautiful Soul - Jesse McCartney - Beautiful Soul
Finale - Lin Manuel Miranda - In the Heights
Chasing Pavements - Adele - 19
Fast Car - Tracy Chapman - Collection
Yeah - Usher Feat. Lil' Jon and Ludacris - Yeah
Somewhere Over The Rainbow & What a Wonderful World- Israel Kamakawiwo'ole
Those Were The Days - Lady Sovereign - Public Warning
Personal - Stars - In Our Bedroom After The War
Your Song - Alessandro Safina and Ewan McGregor - Moulin Rouge Soundtrack
Never Never Love - Pop Levi - Never Never Love
Homecoming - Kanye West (Ft. Chris Martin) - Graduation
Temperature - Sean Paul - Applause Riddim
Dick in a Box- The Lonely Island (feat. Justin Timberlake) - Incredibad
If I Never See Your Face Again - Maroon 5 (Feat. Rihanna) - Good Girl Gone Bad: Reloaded
Seasons of Love - Tracie Thoms, Jesse L. Martin, Cast Of Rent - Rent
Winter - Vivaldi - Four Seasons
Take What You Take - Lily Allen - Alright, Still
Year 3000 - Jonas Brothers - Jonas Brothers
Sweet Religion - Imogen Heap - I Megaphone
Steam Heat - Fosse - Fosse Soundtrack
Right Round - Flo Rida - Mail on Sunday
Le Temps des Cathedrales - Original Paris Cast - Notre Dame de Paris
My Moon My Man - Feist - The Reminder
American Boy - Estelle (feat. Kanye West) - American Boy
Take the Time - Dream Theater - Images & Words
I Hope - Dixie Chicks - Taking the Long Way
Let's Hear It for the Boy - Deniece Williams - Footloose Soundtrack (Expanded Version)
Long Division - Death Cab For Cutie - Narrow Stairs
Put Your Records On - Corinne Bailey Rae - Corinne Bailey Rae
Viva La Vida - Coldplay - Viva La Vida
TThhee PPaarrttyy - Justice - †
Señorita - Justin Timberlake - Justified
Move for Me - Kaskade - Strobelite Seduction
Poker Face - Lady GaGa - The Fame
oyful, Joyful - Lauryn Hill - Sister Act 2 Soundtrack
Drive My Soul - Lights - Lights
Shake It - Metro Station - Metro Station

Slacking

2009-04-02T15:58:00.003-04:00

Currently, I am a shitty blogger. In order to remedy this issus I will compile a list of things that you may be interested to know.

1. I skipped a class this morning. I normally don't do that but I am tired all the time right now so I felt like I deserved a few extra hours of sleeping.

2. I should be done class for this year by now but am instead going to be in classes until May 22nd. It's balls.

3. I thought I was over my seriously unfortunate crush. Turns out that is entirely false.

4. I have become slightly obsessed with the show Skins. I have watched the entire third season since Monday. Today is Thursday.

5. York's Playground festival restored my faith in independent theatre. And my own creativity. I don't suck at what I do.

6. School is so ridiculous right now that no matter what I do there is always another mountain of homework.

7. I am unsure if I should have put a comma in #6. I had one but then took it out because it looked wrong.

8. My friend Sarah told me that I smell nice today. That is a pretty good compliment, if you ask me.

Quote of the Day - Mar. 29/09

2009-03-29T18:05:00.001-04:00

"I need to do some digestion yoga!"
- Astrea, after eating Cat's amazingly delicious peanut butter pie

Starstruck

2009-03-29T14:34:00.005-04:00

Currently on my person are every key to every door in the theatre department at York. And I don't even have them for anything to do with theatre. It's for Emily's film, Starstruck. I think that's Hilarious.

I am in the centre of all these people who seem to all know what's going on. I have no idea what any of them are up to. But it all is pretty complicated. My task is to be in the room. I know, so difficult but I think I'll manage. But actually, that is my only job. Because I am here, they are allowed to be in the room.

We are shooting in the dressing room to ACE 207 which is where The Bewitched rehearses and because I'm the ASM I am in charge of the space for the day.

The following is a live blog of the film shoot in progress. My limited film knowledge is going to become painfully apparent.

2:43pm - The actors, Donnell and Astrea have just been brought in. The lights that they just turned off because they are too hot, are being turned back on because they need to see the lighting for the real shot. People are adjusting things that I don't understand.

2:45pm - Donnell is being placed on his mark for the shot. More adjusting. Emily is overheating but is surprisingly calm. Tere is lots of light meter-ing. We are at a '4'. That has something to do with lights. Emily is discussing the possibility of a coathanger being in the back of the frame. It is still there so I guess it's not being "art dec'd."

2:49pm - Matt is measuring focus with a tape measure. I thought there would be a fancier tool for that. He is now being asked to pull focus. Emily has explained to me what that is but currently, I don't remember what it means.

2:52pm - Acting rehearsal has begun. Astrea is singing and attempting to fix the eyeliner that is streaming down her face. Nice job, makeup people. I just got to see Emily is her real director mode, even though technically she's the producer, I think. A tie straightening motion almost got cut, but then it was saved at the last second.

2:55pm - Second rehearsal has just completed. I can't type when things are going on because the clicking of keyboard keys is definitely not period. There is going to be one more rehearsal for camera and then make-up will get to reset. How exciting!

2:59pm - Make-up is resetting on Astrea. The camera people all seem to be ready to go. Emily just started singing Hugh Jackman's song from the Oscars.

3:01pm - Emily just asked for everyone who was not a part of the shot to leave the room. I guess that's the end of the live blog because I am now in a different room and have no idea what's going on. But it is significantly cooler out here.

3:03pm - Emily's phone just rang. I hope they weren't in the middle of a shot.

3:05pm - Emily just called 'action.' That's all that I can here from outside but it seems quiet in there now so they must be filming the scene. She just yelled 'Cut!' so that's one take down.

3:07pm - Another 'Action!' Take 2 is a go.

3:09pm - The actors just came back into this room. I guess there done for now. Is there another shot in this location? Astrea is done with sad. This is exciting for everyone. She now gets to change costumes.

3:12pm - Make-up is going to 'decryify' Astrea because now she's on to her happy scene. She did it. That's the end of the film. It's great.

3:19pm - Everyone is now reviewing Chris' production stills. He claims that he is going to photoshop them into porn because there is no money in production stills.

I'm getting bored now. There is another shot that you aren't going to get to hear about because I'm over it. But this part was fun.

Playground

2009-03-27T19:24:00.006-04:00

As of this afternoon, Filler Exclaimers has officially closed. While it is kind of lame to close on a matinee, I am so happy that this show marks my directorial debut at York University.

Filler Exclaimers by Fraser Stevens, Puzzle Piece Productions. Directed by Ruby Bantock. Series A Intermishaps. From left to right: Brendee Green, Brooklyn Doran, Jimmy Paterson, Melissa Lepp, Elizabeth Goodman and Astrea Campbell-Cobb.

OH MY GOD! SHUT UP! LAME! FUCK! DUDE! UM! LIKE! WHAT? WELL! SICK!

Quote of the Day - Mar. 26/09

2009-03-26T23:53:00.002-04:00

"How did he go from Santa to Salad Fingers?"
- Alexis

Quote of the Day - Mar. 24/09

2009-03-25T11:58:00.004-04:00

Astrea: "Cheers to hot bitches!"
Fraser: "And bitchy hotties!"

Sitting on the Ab patio in the freezing cold drinking pitchers may lead to temporary insanity.

Excuses, Excuses

2009-03-22T11:19:00.003-04:00

Before I begin, I am aware of the irony about writing a blog post about not having anything to blog about. Now that that's out of the way, I can start the actual post.

I write in this blog because I have extra thoughts bouncing around in my head all the time and this is a convenient way to express them. My mind is always going really fast. I have no way to compare it to anybody else's unless they develop the technology to let me get inside someone else's brain but it seems pretty fast to me. Because of this a random idea will pop into my mind and then it will quickly become something I can write about. Lately, I haven't had anything to say. My theory on this is that I've been so tired and working on so many other things that my brain has decided to abandom ship. This wouldn't be the first time it has done that.

I'm hoping that I will adjust to having no free time and almost no social life because of all this work. I plan on holing myself up in the library either tonight or tomorrow night. And I hate the library, so that is saying something.

On another note, I love sitting in the hallway at 1am outside of my room just because we can and we all just wanted to be in each other's company.

Quote of the Day - Mar. 19/09

2009-03-20T09:11:00.003-04:00

"It's like extreme sports ... only with men."
- Lindsey

Since we all know so much about sports, Emily has claimed an 'assist' on this one for providing the set up for this line. I am convinced this means nothing but I wrote it out anyway.

3 Days

2009-03-19T12:47:00.002-04:00

The title is referencing the amount of time that has passed since I wrote a post. I'm surprised I survived that long because blogging has become something of an addiction for me. It is fairly likely that these types of long (that's relative) breaks will be happening more often. My life is going to get more and more insane in the coming weeks. I'm excited about it, but it will be insanity nonetheless.

I've probably written about this already but here I go again. Rehearsal's have begun for the show I'm working on so that is eating up my time. I still have Vis due everyweek. This weekend is Playground Q2Q and Tech Dress. I've got a lot going on. Who am I kidding though really, this is exactly the way I like it. As long as I've got enough spare time to see people that I like then all will be well.

Quote of the Day - Mar. 16

2009-03-16T20:10:00.001-04:00

Astrea: "I worked in a volcano."
Fraser: "What!?"
Astrea: "Shovelling lava!"

Quote of the Day - Mar. 14

2009-03-14T20:33:00.002-04:00

"Princess Sparkle does coke, pardon?"
- Alexis, whilst ~~flirting~~ conversing with a certain someone we know on the phone

Swag

2009-03-14T15:38:00.003-04:00

I have been a student at York University for going on two academic years. That's a pretty long relationship. It has most definitely had it's ups and downs but today we made a significant breakthrough. I bought my first and second piece of York stuff. I have owned a York T-shirt for a while but I didn't actually buy it myself. It was a gift from a friend of my mothers for my birthay the year before I came to school.

I bought myself some York swag, not out of my devotion to the school, but because I'm chronically dehydrated. Hence, I bought a water bottle, and a Winters College pin but I bought that because Winters is a great community. And because I'm now one of those people that you've "seen around the Ab." Fantastic.

On another note, I may not be able to most as often as I would like for the next month or so. I am working on two shows that are going up so my life will be consumed by that for a while. I will attempt to keep all of the Reality Revision fans in the loop, plus I know certain people will hurt me for not keeping this updated.

Brought To You By The Letter 'D'

2009-03-12T17:40:00.002-04:00

When I am writing I enjoy the freeom to you use whatever letters I esire. My keyboar oes not seem to be on the same page as me because everytime I try to type a certain letter, it ecies not to o what I say. This is aggravating, to say the least. It appears as if some sort of particle has wege itself unerneath the key an refuses to move.

This problem is righte if I press really har on the key. Like so: DDDDDDDDDD. Thusly, the key is not broken, just impaire. Hopefully, this situation will right itself soon enough.

Goamn!

Quote of the Day - Mar. 11

2009-03-11T18:40:00.002-04:00

"Just so you know, a lightbulb is not the way to my heart."
- Jon, in the oh-so-thrilling stagecraft lecture at our table of cynicism

Theatre Etiquette

2009-03-10T22:31:00.005-04:00

I am a Theatre Major. I spend all of my classes studying some aspect of theatre so, evidently, it is something that is important to me. It is unfathomable to me that someone could leave their cell phone on during a performance and allow it to ring, loudly, might I add. Not only did it ring in the middle of the show, this woman took forever to shut it off. In that situation she already looked like a jackass for completely stealing all focus from the scene, but she didn't even rush to silence it. There was not nearly enough hustle, in my opinion.

The show in question was Edward Bond's The Bundle directed by Alan Dilworth, featuring the Graduate Acting students. It is definitely worth seeing. Both for the technical aspects and for the acting. I had to try really hard to get back into the story after cell phone woman took me out of it. It's ridiculous to me that so many people worked on creating the world of the play inside the theatre and all it takes is one stupid person to wreck the moment. Needless to say, I was pissed.

Proof

2009-03-10T12:16:00.004-04:00

On a related note, my favourite science is alchemy.

Quote of the Day - Mar. 9

2009-03-09T13:47:00.003-04:00

"I want to make theatre I love with people I like and I'm willing to eat ramen for the rest of my life to do it."
- Alexis

Well said, friend, well said.

Intro to Design

2009-03-09T00:54:00.002-04:00

This is proof that I am a little bit certifiable. But hopefully, I will get a good mark.

Quote of the Day - Mar. 8

2009-03-09T00:18:00.000-04:00

"You never google a medical problem!"
- Alexis

Daylight Savings Time

2009-03-08T03:15:00.001-04:00

According to my computer, it is 3:15am. We have all collectively sprung forward into waking up an hour earlier than we think we are. My mind knows that it is only 2:16am and therefore, I don't want to sleep. There is quite a large psychological different between 2am and 3am. I'm not sure what it is. 2am seems entirely reasonable, whereas, 3am is fucking craziness.

Residence Life

2009-03-06T01:01:00.002-05:00

A fine arts residence building is an interesting place. There is always a lot going on. I'm up working on my scale model for design class, my nextdoor neighbour is sick and in her bathrobe, and her neighbour and all her friends are watching Buffy the Vampire Slayer. I didn't say that lots of important things were going on, just lots of variety. One thing that frequently takes place is residence parties. The idea of a residence party in my building is to take a small room and to shove as many people inside of it as possible then attempt to keep them all quiet enough to not get in trouble. Add alcohol and voila!

I'm just trying to get my work done and maybe get some sleep. It's kind of depressing to remember first year and all the res parties I went too. Then I think a little harder and remember the rest of first year. Then I don't feel bad at all.

The Asshole Glasses

2009-03-03T20:22:00.005-05:00

In my defense, I wear them ironically.

This is my personal favourite.

Special thanks to Brendee for the name of my glasses.

Quote of the Day - Mar. 3

2009-03-03T20:13:00.001-05:00

"I have no idea what you just said, but your mouth looked beautiful while you were saying it."
- Alex to Jesslyn while on the TTC

Slackin'

2009-03-02T10:20:00.005-05:00

I haven't been keeping this as uptodate as usual, but I have many legitimate reasons. I have been working up a storm recently. If I were to psychoanalyze myself, I would say that this is due to the fact that I didn't do as well as I wanted to on the exam I wrote on Friday and I'm overcompensating. But if this overcompensation got me to finish most of my drafting assignment and a good chunk of my room model then way to go psychology.

Because I've been holed up in my room building things in 1" = 1' scale or in 157 drafting away, there hasn't been much to report. I don't even have any "Quotes of the Day" because I've been primarily alone and I can't quote things I say to myself, that would just be weird.

So instead of writing about what has already happened, I will give you a preview of things to come.
- meetings with my Design and Stagecraft professors
- the Cheese Lecture
- the ROM trip
- 4 hours of Playground rehearsal
- the start of semester 2

So if any of those topics tickly your fancy then check back in the next couple of days and maybe I will have written about then for you.

My Modelling Career

2009-02-28T18:51:00.004-05:00

I was checking out some blogs of people that I know when I came across a photos of myself. Surprise!

My friend Iris was putting together a portfolio to apply for OCAD and asked me and some other people that I know to be in photos. I had entirely forgotten that this had happened since it was a while ago and my brain has been filled with theatre history for the past week so it was a welcome surprise to see these pics. I think that they all look really cool.

My only complaint is that something weird is going on with my hair. But I'm over it.

Quote of the Day - Feb. 27

2009-02-28T10:15:00.002-05:00

"It's not not fun."
- Melissa, in reference to a party she was in the middle of

I was the only person who thought this was funny.

Back

2009-02-27T11:55:00.002-05:00

I am back at York after a short vacation in Londontowne. I'm pretty happy to be back. My week at home was nice (home cooked dinners are always a plus) but it was a little bit tense for me. I was going back to a recently "broken home." Helping my dad move an arm chair into his new apartment is not exactly my idea of a good time but I lived and now I can go back to not thinking about it due to the luxury of 200kms between us. That's a little bit immature but I have enough craziness to think about at school.

Written Worries

2009-02-24T15:57:00.004-05:00

I don't think I am beautiful writer. I think I am a half decent writer but I aspire to learn to write beautifully. I was reading some articles today and all I could think of was how amazing this writer was. Everything she wrote was just so perfect.

At this point in my life, I don't think I even deserve to call myself a writer. I'm not actually doing any writing. Blogging does not count. The number of blogs that I've read where spelling, punctuation and grammar have been completely ignored makes me realize that blogging is amateur. I don't want to be an amateur but I'm not exactly sure what I want to do either. I'm paradoxical, I realize.

I know that written beauty exists, because I can recognize it but I still can't make it happen myself. I'm working on it, and I promise to get back to you when I know more.

The writer that I was reading earlier goes by the name of Malinda Lo, if you are curious to check it out.

Quote of the Day - Feb. 23 [2]

2009-02-23T20:32:00.004-05:00

Me: "Do we have any pop?"
Mom: "No."
Me: "Not even diet?"
Brother: "It's the new cigarette, Ruby."

Dead serious. This actually happened.

Vocabulary

2009-02-23T16:29:00.003-05:00

I was watching a video blog and I just heard the best amalgamation of words ever.
The term is 'gaysted.' It took me a second to figure it out but it is the words 'wasted' and 'gay' smooshed together. So it's definition is when one becomes so intoxicated that they participate in activities (aka making out) with someone of their own sex.

But I think this term is entirely unrealistic because I have never seen this happen nor have I ever been involved in such shenanigans.